#like lab then exam what if I killed myself!!!!!!

[girlstressed]

i’m soooo fucked for physics LMAO

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[victorianboyfriend]

TWO EXAMS DOWN ONE TO GO

[mixelation]

mutagenicity. tori vs itachi :^)

from their chunin exam tournament. exact details might change later. itachi references tori having a "cellular destruction technique," which is an idea i was toying with that i don't think i've talked about much? basically the idea is it's a medical technique (which tori probably learned in a lab setting) but applied very poorly to rip cells apart/pull them away from each other. it's pretty nasty if she successfully hits you, but also, tori isn't very good at taijutsu yet

--

Itachi watched as Tori took her stance across from him. The proctor called for them to start. Tori’s body tensed, but she didn't move. The stance she’d chosen was one from Kushina, not one of the Oto ones she would be more comfortable with. Better optics, Itachi thought. Tori might not be a strong combatant, but she understood how to put on a show for other people. 

Her stance was awkward, and Itachi thought back to when Tori was nothing but a random civilian woman with a bunch of tricks up her sleeve. She was putting on a show for him. Even as he intellectually knew Tori was perfectly capable of taking another early-career genin in taijutsu, his subconscious insisted she was a complete non-threat, a little girl to be immediately dismissed. It was a trick as effective as any genjutsu. 

Itachii took his hands out of his pockets, shifting into his own preferred opening stance. They both knew he was going to win. Tori’s goal wasn’t to beat him. It would be firstly to make it seem as if she were trying her hardest, to prevent suspicion; and then secondly, to prove herself proficient enough at shinobi arts to win a promotion. 

Itachi didn’t plan to seriously injure her, of course, because that would be counter to the mission. It would be in character for him to go easy on his own teammate. But he also wasn’t going to give her any opportunity to show off unless she earned it. 

His moving into a battle-ready stance was enough to cast several genjutsu, even without the sharingan. Tori stood as she was, unaffected. 

Interesting, Itachi thought, and he let his sharingan flicker on and off for just a couple seconds. 

“You’ve done something to your chakra,” he realized. 

Fuinjutsu, almost definitely. A seal applied directly to the body, to control and randomly disrupt chakra. Certainly a jounin-level endeavor, to manage it without killing herself. Itachi waited patiently for her to brag.

“Like I’d fight you without genjutsu-proofing myself,” Tori replied. 

Ah, she wasn’t going to brag. Alright. 

“This does also prevent you from using any ninjutsu,” Itachi drawled at her. 

Tori smiled humorously back at him, showing her teeth. “Don’t need it,” she replied. 

Itachi thought it was deeply stupid to decide to force him to attack with taijutsu or ninjutsu, but if that was what she wanted… 

He had her in a hold in less than a second, but clearly Tori had anticipated this because she angled her foot at him, chakra flaring. Itachi let her go, flash stepping away, and Tori corrected her footing, dropping her civilian act. 

He activated his sharingan, not because he needed it to counter her taijutsu or to dodge the shuriken she tossed at him, but because Tori had clearly done something very weird to herself. The chakra disruptor, he surmised as she ran at him, was not a single, central seal, but four separate ones at her shoulders and hips which somehow let the chakra in her hands and feet flow normally. This would still prevent her from doing anything that required drawing chakra from her core, but allowed manipulation chakra in her hands and feet. 

This meant she was still capable of activating a seal or using her half-formed cellular destruction technique. 

Horrifying, Itachi thought as he casually cast a genjutsu to shut off feeling in her feet. This one took hold and she stumbled, taking a hit from one of his kunai to her forearm. 

“Hey!” Tori yelled at him, annoyed as she dismissed the genjutsu. Itachi cast the illusion again, and she dismissed this one almost instantaneously. “Hey!”

She leapt for him again, because even Itachi would have a hard time dodging her cellular destruction at close range. It was sad for her, that she hated taijutsu while also setting herself up as a close-range fighter. 

He flash stepped further across the arena and spat a fireball at her. Tori made the very interesting decision to roll under it and keep her momentum in his direction. Itachi was pretty sure she’d picked that one up from Deidara, who did not particularly care if Itachi set him on fire as long as Deidra got to throw a punch at him. 

Itachi spat another fireball at her on the ground and simultaneously set a genjutsu to make both her hands and feet feel like they were burning. He couldn’t manipulate her brain to make her panic over it or give her visions of them actually being on fire, but he could certainly make them scream at her in pain. 

Tori did not successfully dodge, although she slammed her hands on the ground to toss her body to the left despite the pain. Her face contorted as she obviously bit the inside of her cheek, either out of pain or to break the genjutsu or both. 

In a practice spar, Itachi thought she’d probably whine and call him mean. But this wasn’t practice. She knew he was mean. He was on top of her before she could put the flames out on her clothes, grabbing both her wrists to keep her hands away from him. He pinned her legs with his own. 

“Yield,” he commanded. 

“You know, I don’t really get what the parameters of this fight are,” Tori replied. “Like, obviously I should have just yielded from the get-go because I fight you all the time and I know you’re going to win, but am I pretending to be casting my life away on command of my Hokage? Is it good or bad if I decide to take us both out?”

There was chakra building under her, and Itachi flung himself off her. If she was taking plays out of Deidara’s play book, Tori was more than capable of creating an explosion. 

He clicked his tongue in annoyance when the chakra was a barrier instead. Those took enough time to set up�� the seconds necessary to grab and then open a scroll at the least– that he would have been able to intervene without the distraction. He should have anticipated this, but he was not willing to let himself be blown up for an exposition match, and he’d erred on the side of caution instead. Well played, he supposed. 

Fine, I’ll let her show off, Itchi decided, and chucked several exploding kunai at the barrier. He wasn’t going to waste chakra on pointless endeavors. 

The kunai went off, and when the smoke cleared, Tori was in her little domed barrier, applying bandages to her burns. Itachi made her finger tips think they no longer had bones. She shot him an acidic look. 

“Protector-san,” Itachi called. “What are the rules regarding stalemates?”

There was no doubt that Tori’s barrier was very, very secure– she tested them against Deidara, after all. There were ways Itachi could get into the barrier, but they would all be very over the top for an exposition match, and also many of them were talents he didn’t want to reveal to all of Iwa. It wasn’t like Tori was using her reprieve to pull out her actually frightening fuinjutsu. 

(He was a little interested, actually, in what that fight would look like.)

The proctor blinked at him. “We don’t have them. One of you will run out of chakra first, surely.”

He glanced over at Tori’s dome. Tori ignored them, next dressing the gash in her arm from a kunai. Itachi crossed his arms, and waited. He thought about casting more genjutsu, just to fuck with her, but he also had to fight Deidara next round. Genjutsu was chakra-light, but it would add up. 

Thirty minutes later, the crowd was getting restless and a handful of people had started booing. Tori stood up and stretched. Itachi, who’d been dutifully watching her the entire time, slipped back into his battle-ready stance. This timing matched about what his expectations had been for a small barrier not using natural chakra. 

“I yield!” she yelled, waving at them. 

The barrier dissolved, its chakra having run out. Itachi relaxed his stance. 

“Why did you make us wait?” the proctor asked. 

“I don’t know,” Tori replied, blinking innocently back at the proctor. “He could have spontaneously gotten stomach cramps or something. You never know.”

The proctor pinched the bridge of his nose, but Itachi was named the winner. 

[lyranix1201]

I have so many plot ideas for a nevermore fanfic, but there is a small problem.......

I need to write it😭.

(it feels like torture not being able to write something, that you have been planning to write for so long).

It's a pity because I have so many ideas, like:

2 pirate AU (one of them, is were lenore is the captain of the well know myth called the flying Dutch man. and the other one, is lenore being a pirate and meeting a fortune-teller/princes Annabelle lee)

Mafia/cleaning service AU [ let me explain myself 💀. basically lenore and some of her friends (Berenice, Duke and pluto) work for this organization called Nevermore cleaning service, whose main objective is to Clean up crime scene's for the mafia.] (I have been writing the first chapter since April, and I'm still not finished😭 I hate being a perfectionist sometimes.)

3 what if scenarios. [ what if lenore didn't run after Annabelle after their argument (in this fanfic, I am pretty much just torturing Annabelle and lenore, I'm not even kidding 🙂🙈. I am going to put lenore and Annabelle lee through hell and back ). what if the misfits and the clusterfuck (we need better names for them) team up and escape nevermore, and I mean they team up immediately after they meet. What if Annabelle and lenore actually made a good plan together and didn't die.]

Jazz club AU ( everyone is dead and works in a jazz club except Annabelle lee)

Train conductor AU (technically you could call it that. Everyone is basically trapped on a moving train.)

"Mr. And Mrs Smith" AU ( inspired by the serie that came out in 2024 on Prime, not the movie. I have currently only seen 2 episodes, in summer break I will finish watching it.)

One were everyone works in a hotel and everyone is also death.

One were I got inspired by the series called "Umbrella Academy" that is on Netflix ( I remember watching this series like 2 years ago, and let me tell you something. well watching this series it felt like I was having a fever dream😵‍💫, and it didn't help that I was having an all nighter.)

Cult AU

Time traveler/Imortal AU

Superhero AU

Vampire AU ( you can't go wrong with Vampires)

A fanfic inspired by a books that I found in my portuguesa school library. The book is caled the "magician nephew"( yes it is in English, somehow I found a few English books there. I haven't finished reading the book, exam season is killing me.)

One were we follow theo in nevermore

one-shots( were lenore and Annabelle lee are just spending time together)

One were the cast are going on a camping trip.

And last but not least, 2 crakefics. one is inspired by a childhood series that I used to watch when I was a kid, that is on Disney channel called lab rats. And the other one, that I somehow promise myself to make, that is a lenore as snow White fanfic.

There are many reasons why I haven't finished one Goddamn chapter of any of the fanfic.

Knowing multiple languages (dutch, english, Portuguese and French) is a blessing and a curse, My dyslexic ass can't write for shit. I have so many difficulties in writing in all languages and i can't even write a simple frase in English, without going through the seven stages of grief.

(funfact: I fucked up, I couldn't even write the word dyslexic correctly, I wrote it like: deslesic at first 😭☠️) how the fuck can i be dyslexic in 4 goddamn languages. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME.... FREE ME FROM THIS TORMENT.

[topguncortez]

How I Met Your Mother- J. Machado

pairing: Javy "Coyote" Machado x Valerie "Val" Bates word count: 1.0k synopsis: the story of how Javy and Val met. Coyote & Val Masterlist | Opposites Attract Masterlist

“I am going to kill you,” Javy cursed as Jake was filling out the paperwork for him. He was sitting in a wheelchair in the waiting room of the hospital. What was supposed to be just a simple workout ended with Jake accidentally dropping a fifty pound plate on poor Javy’s foot. His foot had immediately swelled up and was now an angry purple and blue. 

“I already said I was sorry,” Jake said, “I got distracted.” 

“Clearly,” Javy rolled his eyes. Jake was expecting a call from his girlfriend who was over in Italy with her parents. He had been distracted since the day she left and Javy was counting down the days when she’d return. Javy loved Jake like a brother, he was his best friend, his wingman, but man, was he annoying when it came to missing Y/N. 

“Hey, don’t blame the lady,” Jake scolded. 

Javy chuckled and adjusted his position in the wheelchair. His butt was starting to hurt from sitting so long and waiting to be taken back, “I don’t blame her. Out of all the girls you have ever been with, I actually like Y/N. I hope you don’t screw this one up.” 

“You and me both,” Jake said, right as a nurse called out Javy’s name, “Want me to go with?” 

“Nah, I’m good,” Javy said as the nurse came and grabbed him, “Stay gold, Ponyboy.” 

“I'll never let go, Jack,” Jake smirked and gave Javy their ‘secret’ handshake before the nurse took him back. The nurse took him back to one of the exam rooms. 

“Valerie, will be in to see you soon,” The nurse explained and checked the IV in Javy’s arm, “Do you need anything?” 

“Can I get one of those warm blankets, please?” He asked and the nurse nodded, “Thank you.” 

Javy looked around the small exam room and noticed his x-rays were on display. He winced at seeing the clearly broken bones in his foot and hoped that this wasn’t going to take him out of flying for very long. He and Jake had just gotten back to Lemoore from TopGun school, and he wasn’t ready to be grounded just yet. Jake finished first in the class, and Javy finished second. They both had an opportunity to be instructors, and Javy almost did take it, but opted not to. He wasn’t ready to settle in his career yet. There were still missions to fly and places to see. 

He sighed and slunk down in his wheelchair, leaning his head back a bit and closing his eyes. He was exhausted. Usually by now on Saturday’s he was taking a nap after going to work out at the ass crack of dawn with Jake. He didn't understand why the man had to wake up at six on a Saturday to go the gym, but Jake said it was part of his routine. Javy almost dozed off as there was a knock on the door. He didn’t bother to sit up, thinking it was the nurse bringing him his warm blanket. But the second a young beautiful woman walked through the door, he was quickly pushing himself up and trying to look presentable. 

“Hello, I’m Valerie Bates, you must be Mr. Machado?” 

“I uh. . . y-yeah. I-I Javy,” He was mentally slapping himself. It was like every coherent thought had left his head. He suddenly forgot how to speak in the presence of a woman who was clearly a lot smarter than him. Valerie chuckled and sat down on a stool across from Javy. She signed into her laptop, looking over Javy’s case and pulling up his labs. 

“Well, good news is your foot is not broken, just a fracture,” Valerie said, “I think we can just fix it with a boot and rest.” She looked over at Javy and he just smiled. She raised her eyebrows like she was expecting him to say something. 

“You’re pretty,” Javy blurted. Valerie blushed and looked down at her laptop, “Oh my god, I am making a fool out of myself.” 

“It’s okay, Mr. Machado,” Valerie shook her head with a smile on her face, “It’s probably the pain meds in your body. But, I want to know your opinion on just doing a boot.”

“I’m a pilot,” Javy said, “How long will I be out if we do the boot?” 

Valerie looked at the x-ray, “I’m going to say eight to ten weeks. But, you’re young and if you do everything as I tell you, then it could be quicker.” 

Javy clenched his jaw. He thought of all the detachments, missions and possible deployments he would be overlooked because of the injury. He suddenly wanted to go through a fifty pound plate at Jake for causing this. It was as if Valerie could read his mind and moved a bit closer to him. 

“If you are worried about this affecting your career, it shouldn’t. I know eight to ten weeks sounds like a very long time, but it’ll go by pretty quickly. You need to be on total rest for the first two weeks, and then you can get back to working out and keeping yourself in flight shape.” 

Javy looked up at Valerie and noticed how beautiful her eyes were. They were like endless pools of honey with strands of gold mixed in them. She also smelled of lavender and vanilla, which reminded Javy of him of being home at his grandmother’s house. 

“You promise?” Javy asked, and Valerie smiled. 

“I promise,” She answered and then pushed herself back away from Javy, going back towards her computer, “Now, I will have the ortho tech come in and fit you for your boot, and I will have you follow up in four weeks.” She grabbed her laptop and stood up. 

“Wait, where are you going?” Javy asked, and moved as if he was going to stand up and then remembered that his foot was broken. 

Valerie furrowed her eyebrows, “I have other patients to see.” 

“But. . .” Javy was trying to think of something to say that wasn’t going to make him sound absolutely pathetic, but he could not think of a single thing except, “Will I see you again?” 

A smirk graced her lips, “In four weeks for your follow up. Have a good day, Mr. Machado.” Valerie walked towards the door and opened it but not before Javy called out. 

“It’s Coyote!” 

“Callsign?” Valerie asked. 

“Y-yeah,” Javy answered, “How did you know about-” 

“Have a nice day.” 

Javy sat there in awe as she walked out the door. He had talked to her for all of twenty minutes and was already so in over his head.

note: Sundays are Opposite Attract Days, so send in blurb ideas, asks, requests whatever you want! :)

[hellyeahsickaf]

If you want to get mad about how fucking awful some doctors are, here you go

With my post about medical discrimination against addicts and disabled people gaining traction again I got a few people asking about how I'm doing after my kidney infection and what happened in the ER. I'm better, could've been much worse but when I was seen they gave me antibiotics before anything else- it was the one thing they did right

I knew I had a kidney infection, I told them that I had a UTI and checked off all of the boxes for a kidney infection which is potentially deadly and leads to sepsis in as little as 12-48 hours if untreated. Pro tip because I'm an idiot- always see a doctor for UTIs, you can't just self treat them even if it seems to be going away as was the case for me. That's how it reaches your kidneys. Whoops 🥴

I waited a few hours which is expected but I got progressively worse. I also reported my pain as an 8/10 (9 by the time I was seen), migraine, fever, chills, weakness, dizziness, fatigue, nausea, probably some other things. I was shaking, crying, curled up, truly some of the worst pain I've ever felt next to gallstones. Maybe others handle this kind of thing better. Or maybe most grown ass men they see in this condition either have serious injuries or are addicts putting on a show. In which case they'd still be truly suffering. It shouldn't matter if they're an addict if they're in the ER desperate for relief in that moment. But yeah, I was ignored for most of the night aside from being given antibiotics and Tylenol. I just reread my clinical notes from that night actually and got mad again lol

I saw the doctor for under 5 minutes that night. He asked why I was there and how I was doing. I told him how awful I felt and he didn't carry out any examinations, it was the first time I'd gone to the ER and wasn't even asked to wear a gown. Either way he was extremely neglectful. Had the nerve to report exams for ENT, eyes, cardio, abdominal, skin, etc that never happened. He didn't lay a finger on me. Reported answers to questions I was never asked like whether I've had past surgeries (he put no when I have). And at the end of his clinical notes he states the following:

"..While I considered a CT abdomen/pelvis, I do not currently feel it is necessary based on the patient's physical exam and clinical history and review of any labs that were ordered. Patient is otherwise well appearing; feel it is reasonable to discharge the patient home at this time with close outpatient follow up."

So he claims he considered a CT scan but based on the results of exams he never performed and clinical history he never asked for and the fact that I was "well appearing" (felt like I was dying), he felt it was "not necessary" to order a CT scan. Only at the end of my visit- 6 hours later was I given an effective painkiller. This negligence genuinely could have killed me and I didn't want it to happen to someone else so I reported him for malpractice. They carried out an investigation and concluded there was no wrongdoing on his part. The woman that was in charge of being in contact with me during the investigation was really nice and also pissed off on my behalf and rightfully so. Also some days after my visit I got a lab report indicating that the strain of infection I had was fairly uncommon and pretty fuckin dangerous with some strains being immune to antibiotics

Maybe I should have advocated for myself better but the condition I was in, I could hardly talk at all. I just hate that he just gets to keep practicing medicine and jeopardizing the health of his patients to make his job easier despite the fact that it could kill someone. It's fucked up how easy it is for doctors to get away with this shit really.

[alexdelray1]

Miles 42 x Fem Reader.

Warnings: Bad words and mentions of death.

Type: Fluff.

One and last time people. I am Reader Corrow.

I come from Earth 42 and at the age of 15 I was infected with spider DNA through an accident in my aunt's lab. Better not to go into details. I've been the only Spider-Woman for several months now. I saved a lot of people, arrested some bad guys and killed one guy in self-defense, but it's not the best memory. I'm not the best student or genius so my aunt made my costume understanding my situation. It is beautiful. I just don't know what else to say about it.

I've been going to 'Visions' school for two years and I'm studying there to become a scientist. Great ambition, great power and great responsibility. It's true that it's terrible pressure, but it works. I also have my friend Miles. He's kind of how to say...weird. He wasn't always like this, but after his dad died, he started to get darker and more mysterious. At first I thought it was normal after losing a loved one that he goes somewhere at night and don't want to talk as much as he used to. I went through it myself, but it's been going on for a year. So is Prowler's presence on the streets of New York.

-Miles, do you have time today?- I asked him on the way home from school. Miles looked the other way, still serious.

-Not really.- he replied, sighing.

-What are you doing today, mister mystery?- I joked and chuckled.

-None of your business.- he replied still seriously.

-Ok I understand. Don't be so tense. - I didn't want to delve into the topic anymore because I knew that he would sulk soon.

-Sorry. I just don't have time lately. Do you understand?- He stopped and asked me.

-Yeah. I see. We have exams soon anyway and you're top of the class. You can't take a geek's nose out of a book.- I laughed and started walking towards his house again because it was closer.

-Yeah. Sometimes I wonder if I'm smart or you're a bunch of idiots. Eh, I'm betting on both.- Miles finally joked and we started laughing.

-Maybe you're right. Okay, we're at your place. - I said and we stood in front of his tenement house.

-Bye Reader. See you tomorrow.- He replied and started walking up the stairs to the door.

-Bye Miles.- I said goodbye and walked the other way. I hope he doesn't fall asleep at his desk again.

TIME SKIP.

This costume is not only very comfortable, but also metal. I normally have Tony Stark-like technology. And it's fucking awesome with that costume. Now all I have to do is wait for some motherfucker to come and destroy it by ripping my stomach open. But that's not until I get a kid and Marvel thinks my life is a little too happy.

-This view gets prettier every night.- I sighed while sitting on the roof of the skyscraper. It's night time and the criminals get up to get kicked in the ass by me. My spider sense warned me. I caught the knife that was thrown at me.

-And you keep getting uglier and smaller every night.- Prowler commented behind me.

-I can say the same about your dick Prowler.- I retaliated and he let out a disgruntled grunt.

-Hahaha funny now let's get serious.- He said sarcastically and aimed a blow at me.

-You know there's always time to switch sides.- I said blocking his attack.

-No thanks, I like my old good side.- He replied trying to throw me off balance.

-It's funny, because you're not on the good side at all.- I laughed, kicking him in the face and he fell a few meters away.

-You're probably always like this.- He commented and got to his feet, preparing to attack.

-Oh, you are very nice. I'll be honest.- I said and he laughed.

-What can I say. I'm always nice to some level.- He replied and attacked me.

-This level is probably in the negative.- I jumped and landed behind him.

-As always, painfully honest. And don't wait. It means that you lie to most of the people around you with some excuses. Tell me. How many people know you're Spider-Woman?- he asked, trying to evoke my sadness.

-Do you count the dead people?- I asked, placing my hands on my hips.

-You can't discriminate against the dead.- he replied, raising his arms.

-Two. And don't try this tactic. I bet you do that yourself. Lie to everyone. Except for one person. I don't believe you're alone in this shit.- I said.

-Maybe you're right. May not. You're an interesting person. I'm curious what faces you are making under this mask now. - He confided and started to approach me.

- You sound like a psychologist. And under my mask I make faces that are meant only for me, my mirror and nice people. And you don't look like a mirror or a nice person.- my 'watch' started to pip.

- Shit.- I cursed and started to fight the Prowler.

-Spider-Woman from Earth 42 is being called to the main hall on Earth 2099. Immediately.- My 'watch' started chirping.

-What?- asked the confused Prowler, trying to grab my hand on which I had a 'watch'.

-Fuck. Lyla. Can't you see I'm busy?- I asked my "watch" and kicked the Prowler in the face.

-It is very important. We have a 'rebel' and you have to help the others stop him.- Lyla said without showing up.

-It's so stupid. Let the boy or girl do whatever they want on his or her earth.- I sighed, ignoring the fact that the Prowler got up from the ground.

-But he's an anomaly on his own earth...- Lyla said and I froze.

-Oh shit. I'll be there in a moment. Sorry handsome, but I have work to do. - I said and stood on the edge of the building.

-Wait! What's the deal with Earth 42 and what was it?!- Prowler tried to run up to me, but I jumped off the roof.

-Bye bye!- I said and opened the portal. I flew into it, leaving my villain behind. What a pity I couldn't kick his ass longer.

END. Do you guys like Beyoncé?

[lostonehero]

What remains after eternity

Aftermath

Trevor frowns, staring at the vial of dark red, nearly black blood. He knows for the fact that all the progress they had was erased. He couldn't tell how long it'd been, but that didn't really matter. He can make a few observations, Lyf regrew and cuts off his wings multiple times to have food to share. Marius has finished his heat transformation, and his new parts and abilities seem purposely dormant due to the starvation and virus. He glanced over to the pair of sleeping twins who hadn't moved. He doesn't envy them.

"Trevor." Janet's voice makes him turn to face her. "So?"

"I barely started." Trevor sighs. "It's not good, Raphaella started the ivs, and the broth is being kept warm." He puts down the vial of Marius's blood. "I've got samples from his spinal fluid, blood, and marrow. The progress that has been made is completely wiped out. We're back at square one. I hate to say this, but I welcome the challenge. I know it's not a game. I just..."

"Treat it like you would of before." Janet gently headbutts Trevor. "They need you to be at your best for this. You should also be nice to his metal arm. Remember it's sentient."

"I almost forgot about that." Trevor smiles softly. "Alright, I need to do some tests. Do you mind keeping watch while I bring my samples to Raph's lab?"

"Why do you think I'm here?" Janet chuckles. "Aurora has my back to alarm for you."

"I do!" Aurora chirps. "I have also informed Nastya who was the first to find Marius. As per the twins' request, only the ones inside myself have been informed besisdes Nastya. Raphaella and Misery are waiting for you, Trevor."

"Thank you, Aurora." Trevor collects his samples and heads off.

Janet hums when he is out of earshot. "Aurora, be ready for whatever comes next."

"I always am." Aurora clicks.

.....

"If you keep asking me what I think I'm going to light you on fire and see if your ashes works which I know won't." Trevor growls.

Jonny clears his throat. "Want to repeat that?"

Trevor gasps, stumbling off his step stool. "Dad! I uh..."

Jonny laughs. "Still my baby boy." He smiles softly. "Get up and tell me what you've figured out. I know I ain't the best with this science shit, but Janet asked me to check up on you."

"It's not good." Trevor sighs as Jonny takes a seat on the exam table. "Whatever progress they had was wiped out for Marius, er Byron? I don't know what to refer to him as since he isn't lucid or has woken up. Anyway, it seems that without the updates from Raph or Misery, the virus mutated and took over again. At this point, I wouldn't suggest curing it.... I mean, well, the best thing to do would be to work backward kind of." He hops up next to his dad to sit. "There isn't getting rid of this virus. If I could engineer it to basically fuse to his very DNA, there could be a chance that it would change him, but he would finally be whole again. I just don't want to do anything drastic like that without consent. I mean, I would have before, but he's like family now, and I know he can't answer for himself...."

Jonny rubs his son's back. "Relax Trevor, you can ask his mate, or even his daughters." He pauses as Trevor leans on him. "Just explain it to them and give them the risks and how it would work."

"Are you sure you're ok with this, with me?" Trevor frowns. "I've done so much awful. I hurt so many people in the name of my own selfish need. I just... I feel like you shouldn't be ok with this."

Jonny snickers. "Trevor, I ain't no saint either. I've killed for less. I've hurt others for even less than that. I'm a terrible person, and honestly, I can't say I regret my actions." He sighs and gives his son a half hug. "You have a moral compass that I had beaten out of me. I'm proud of you regardless of what horrors you committed. You hesitate, and I wish I could say I could do the same."

"Thank you." Trevor pulls his dad into a tight hug.

Jonny can feel a wet spot where his son is crying. "Come on, we should check on them."

"Aurora?" Trevor mumbles in his dad's chest.

"Yes?" Aurora chirps.

"You're a little shit." Jonny can feel his son shake in a silent laugh.

"Is Lyf awake yet?" Trevor continues to cling.

Aurora chuckles. "That is quite adorable."

"Fuck off." Trevor mumbles.

"Alright, alright." Jonny pats his son's back. "Is the space cop up yet?"

"Lyf has woken up for a brief moment of panic but fell asleep as soon as he saw his twins. The twins are currently trying to wake him to eat some broth, but they are unsuccessful, so they are currently lying on either side of Lyf. I think they are playing 20 questions with Janet." Aurora chirps. "Nastya has managed to wake Marius to feed him some broth, but he is not lucid in the slightest."

Trevor pulls away, rubbing his eyes. "I'm not surprised. The damage on Lyf's body is self-inflicted. He cut off his own limbs, mostly his wings to feed the both of them. With the rest and iv, his body is probably in shock, adjusting to not being in survival mode. Similar occurrences have happened when Thomas and Laz have been trapped in places. Laz sacrifices himself to keep Thomas alive." He scratches his neck. "Tink used to be a scholar before they went mad. They may have done something similar. Aiden is made of stone he can't accomplish that. Izzy has mentioned something similar, but I've never observed it. What I mean to say they are all different species, but they're all acolyte, so with what I have observed, it should take approximately a week for Lyf to be fully recovered unless Yog Sogoth gets involved. Well, he will still look starved, but he will be mentally and physically healed." He hops off the table.

Jonny smiles proud of his son. "Well, that means you have time. You can discuss the options with the twins to start with."

Aurora hums softly. "Raphaella would also like to look at the samples now."

Trevor sighs. "Fine, fine." He waves Aurora off. "Can you come with me to check on them?"

Jonny nods and hops off the table. "Of course I can."

.......

"Aren't you two spending time with your respective husbands?" Aurora chirps spotting Thomas and Mae.

Mae rolls her eyes. "Laz, Charlie, and the fledgling god have been talking for hours at this point, and I'm bored listening about human things. They're allowed to catch up, but fuck I don't care in the slightest about their history. I don't even know what the fuck they're talking about." She throws her hands up. "Like what the fuck is a ice box? Why are they're churches so fucking lame? How the fuck did they accomplish anything? Like I wanted to hear about the war, but all of it is stupid god bullshit. If I wanted that, I would bother Nexus or Scratch."

"Please don't." Thomas sighs. "Human culture and history isn't excatly something either of us are interested in. That kind of stuff is Janet's thing. I love Laz, but we'll he also gets fucking bored when we talk New Texas." He cracks his back. "Besides, I want to play chess, and Trevor is the best at it, and I want a challenge."

"I ain't a fan of chess, but I do have to ask dad when Izzy and the others came by and why Izzy and Grams are doing the horizontal tango." Mae blinks as Thomas stares at her.

"What the fuck did you even say?" Thomas stares at his twin.

"Grams is fucking Izzy. From what Pa said, because I actually saw him out as far as he could go away from Grams. They've been at it for like six hours at this point. Also, Pa is a hologram brain in the machine thing. Why does he have a limp?" Mae crossed her arms. "Also, Carmillia was nailed to a cactus."

"I clearly went a different route than you did." Thomas shakes his head. "Does Pa look pathetic?"

"He looked confused." Mae shrugs. "Anyway, Aurora, do you know what happened?"

"I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about." Aurora pauses. "I can ask your father."

"Nah, I'll find him." Mae hums softly. "Besides, I heard there's newbies here."

"I wouldn't call them newbies they're technically older than us." Thomas sighs. "Well, that's what Laz says."

"Unfortunately, he's normally right." Mae huffs. "Hopefully, Alex is lingering around somewhere here. I'm so bored I may even play a hand of cards with them."

Thomas snickers.

"Oh fuck off. You suck at cards it's not even fun winning against you." Mae headbutts her brother from the side.

Thomas headbutts back and then gasps. "I WAS FUCKING RIGHT!" He points spotting Trevor who freezes like a deer in headlights.

Mae growls, letting off a string of curses, making Aurora squeak out in surprise. She pulls out something from her pocket and growls louder, shoving it at Thomas. It was an old, worn doll looking closer at it. "Fuck you Trevor." She headbutts Trevor hard enough he falls on his ass.

Trevor blinks incredibly confused. "Um.... What did I do?"

"You helped me win an old bet." Thomas chuckles softly, holding up his prize that Trevor recognized immediately.

"Ok how the fuck did you convince Mae to bet that first, Secondly what bet?" Trevor huffs as Thomas helps him to his feet.

"I knew you became a mad scientist, Mae didn't believe me, and so we made a bet ages ago." Thomas sighs. "I will probably give this back to her, though. It ain't right keeping it knowing how much it means to her."

"You brats kept that thing?" Jonny interrupts startling the two. He plucks it from his eldest and hums. "Where's yours?"

"Technically, that is Thomas's." Trevor rubs his arm. "He gave it to Mae after a nasty encounter with raiders that burned it to break her. It didn't go as they planned."

Jonny had a slight blush on his cheeks. "Fucking if you want a new one I can just make another one." He looks away. "Why are you two back?"

"You would make us another one?" Thomas swallows. "I uh... well, of course we're too old for it, so you don't have to."

"Shut the fuck up." Jonny rolls his eyes. "You're getting new ones. That means you too, Mae. Get the fuck out of the vents."

Mae hops out of a vent landing next to her dad.

"How the fuck do you keep doing that?" Aurora chirps.

"It's just climbing." Mae rolls her eyes. "Why go all mad science now?"

"It's a bit complicated." Trevor frowns.

Jonny sighs. "You're the only two not here for what happened. It's only been 12 hours, give or take. Marius and Lyf have returned in worse shape. The gods took them and sent them back, and none of us knew how long it's been for them. They're starved, and Marius's virus has completely taken over again somehow, even worse than before. None of it is good, and the twins requested we don't tell anyone until they return to Aurora."

"Oh." Mae crossed her arms. "What do you need me to do?"

Trevor lights up slightly, pulling out a list. "I have a request for supplies and ingredients for my work."

Mae snatches it and looks it over with a smirk. "Honestly, Trevor, I expected something more insane. Yeah, I'll grab this shit. You're going to integrate this virus into his DNA to have his body adapt and change so he won't be sick. That's clever."

Trevor stares at Mae mouth agape. "How the fuck...?"

Mae winks. "I'll handle it." She grabs the small cloth doll from Thomas. "I'll be back in an hour tops."

Thomas shrugs. "Don't look at me! I would have suggested isolating the virus strain and reverse engineering it to become a boost to his system and heal himself from the inside out."

"That's not.... where the... How the fuck do you know that?" Trevor stares at Thomas since Mae is already out of earshot.

Thomas looked uncomfortable. "Let's just not look into why we knew that stuff."

Jonny takes a breath. "Thomas, I'm going to need you to keep the twins away when Trevor looks over Lyf and Marius. They know of your brother and don't trust him in the slightest."

"Sure, I can do that." Thomas nods. "Why are you referring to them as twins? You don't refer to me or Mae as twins."

"They're identical." Jonny pinches his brow. "Impossible to tell them apart. Their names are Freya and Selene, and unlike you and your sister, neither of them are older."

"Ah." Thomas frowns. "You alright with that, Trevor?"

Trevor nods. "Yeah. Just be careful they're more on the xeon side of their lineage and are incredibly toxic like physically."

"It's not like I'll die." Thomas stops. "I'll be careful."

Jonny nods. "You both better be careful."

"Yes, dad." The two say at once.

......

Lyf gasps, and the remains of rainbow static fill his vision. He froze as his vision slowly game back to groans and whimpers of pain. With effort, he sits himself up. Both of his girls were on the floor at either side of his bed. He watched in mute horror as their limbs reformed, and a mark glowed on their backs.

"I warned you two." A male voice sighs.

"Be nice, Trevor. Also, your hair is on fire." Another male voice rings out.

"Fuck not again!"

"W-What?" Lyf's voice was barely a whisper.

Both twins left bloody handprints on the side of Lyf's bed, burning through the blanket.

"We're ok."

"Just give us a second."

"Don't push yourself either of you." Lyf finally looked over to recognize the voice belonged to Thomas. "Just because you've got the mark of Terminus does not mean it's easy no matter how often you test it."

"We know!" Both twins growl at him.

Thomas holds up his hands. "I ain't looking for a fight. Neither of you is in any condition for that either. Give Lyf some space. He's awake."

The twins step back with a stumble holding there quickly, closing wounds.

"N-no." Lyf croaks out.

The other male, who was Trevor? Lyf wasn't certain. "Relax." Trevor helps Lyf to sit up fully. "Take a breath, and please don't pull out your ivs. Janet is currently keeping an eye on Marius as he plays and wanders around." He takes out a thermos and gently feeds Lyf. "Now that you have something in your stomach. Your twins are fine they look to have just finished healing, and they know it was an accident."

Lyf takes a deep breath. "Freya, Selene?"

"Yes!" The two say at once.

Lyf smiles softly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

"It's not like you could kill us."

"Selene!"

"What? I'm right."

"You don't have to say it."

"Freya, we both know Papa would freak out if we were mortal."

"Girls." Lyf sighs he looks awful and exhausted but relieved. "Girls, that's enough."

"Yes, Papa." Both say at once.

"Before you ask, I'm working on the next steps for Marius." Trevor crossed his arms. "Mae got what I needed about six hours ago. Thomas has been trying to get the twins to eat and sleep in proper beds, which hasn't worked. The next process will be done within the hour if you wish to stay awake for that. I'm taking a different approach, and hopefully, that will be a permanent solution." He looks away. "It's not going to be an easy process, and I will be locking myself in the same room as Marius to see this through."

Lyf looks down at his hands. They were discolored greatly. He knew he looked horrid. He hurt his own children. He balled his fists. "Don't you want to know what happened?" He sounded broken.

"I'm not my father." Thomas frowns with a tisk before Trevor can answer. "I can make my own assumptions, however. It's been ages, and the food was non-existent. You cut off your own wings multiple times just to feed Marius, and you neglected yourself. Your hair isn't evenly cut it was probably burned with an acid like substance, most likely the rain on Xeonia. Even with the adaption from your heat bond, it did not protect you from the harsh reality of the planet. From added context, you arrived on Xeonia before Marius was even born and stayed long after, but before the spread of the virus of the first time. You're paranoid, obviously from losing your children when they were young, younger than we were with our dad. Marius quickly lost lucidity after your kids vanished. He was hiding it from you and them with games and stories."

Lyf sucked in a breath staring at Thomas.

"S-stop!"

"D-Don't."

Thomas narrows his gaze, ignoring the pleads. "It didn't get better. Wars are horrible when you're searching for answers. Even more so when you're trying to keep your own partner nearby. How many times did you reduce him down to his arm to get through? More than you can recall."

Trevor scurries out of the way. They all had these fits dad would call them. They never remember when it started. Only know the story once they finish telling it. It's a curse from their grandfather's side. The gods don't even know what it is. He hates it. He could never purge it from himself.

"A time of peace came and went you almost abandoned Marius as dead weight." Thomas tilted his head. "You locked him in a bunker, didn't you?"

Lyf shakes. "I... I.."

"He wasn't aware. He starved with no one to care for him. I wonder how many times he collapsed from the sheer exhaustion of it all. You dug him out once the rumbles of a new war were coming, and you saw first-hand the true reason why he lies. Why he pretend to play dumb. Why he never talk about his home planet."

"That's enough!"

"Shut up!"

The twins seemed stuck in place as Thomas barely glanced at the two, returning his gaze to Lyf.

"Tell me, was it worth it? Was it worth it to witness the horrors? It wasn't a war. It wasn't a drought, and it wasn't a famine. No virus, no dictator. It's just pure evil throughout the planet. Horrors even the gods couldn't stomach. You couldn't flee. You would leave Marius behind. You could never abandon your mate. A war would have been mercy. A famine would be heaven. A virus would have left to sanctuary. What you witness. What you saw was nothing but pure madness and horror. Tell me, did you enjoy watching Marius's parents get -" Thomas can't continue holding his throat from a clear bullet wound, and the static in the air lifted.

Eyes landed on the figure holding the smoking gun, and the screaming from Thomas as the mark did its job was silent.

"Some stories shouldn't be told." Mae's boots sounded so loud against the metal floor as she slung Thomas over her shoulder. "Janet strapped Marius down for you. Get to it." She watches Trevor basically run out of the room.

"Why?" The twins watch Mae put Thomas in a bed, wrapping him up tight.

"How did he know that?" Lyf swallows.

Mae looks back to Lyf. "It ain't your business."

"The fuck do you mean!"

"You shouldn't know that!"

Mae lights up a cigar and takes a deep breath before walking close to the three. She blows out thick smoke on them. "It ain't your fucking business. You aren't my fucking kin." She growls tail lashing behind her.

The twins growl back.

In an instant, both twin's braids fall to the ground in a bloody heap. Mae tosses her cigar on the mess, causing a fire separating them. "I won't say it again."

"Sallie, stop." Thomas's voice was strained. The wound in his neck was still sluggishly bleeding. He sits himself up. "We all have some version of this. Dad has it the worst. I ain't proud of it, and I'm sorry."

Mae watches the fire die, leaving a sickly sweet smell behind. "Tommy."

"Dad ain't get his storytelling from age." Thomas grimaced, holding his throat.

"What do you mean?"

"Did the gods curse you?"

Mae let's out a hiss. "It ain't the gods."

"Sallie...." Thomas wheezes and swallows. "None of know what it is, and neither do the gods."

"Just drop it." Mae growls.

Thomas gets up and grabs Mae's hand with his bloody hand. "Stop." He takes a breath easier. "Come on, let's just find dad."

Mae nods, holding onto her twin tight.

Lyf waits to speak until they leave. "Girls, I'm sorry I hurt you both."

"It's not your fault."

"We're fine!"

"That's not the point, and you both know that." Lyf sighs. "You both don't have to pretend I know we're basically strangers, but you both are still my babies and... and I just want... I want to be your dad."

"You're already our papa."

"That's all we want."

Lyf smiles softly.

"Besides, we've already seen you at different points in the timeline before us."

"We know you're different, and it doesn't scare us. We're different, too."

"We also know you still can't tell us apart."

"We also know that we love you."

"Alright, push the beds together and lay next to me. You both need to recover. I know your hair is alive. No arguing it's just a flesh wound." Lyf smiles as the beds come together, and he lays back down.

"It is just a flesh wound."

"Our hair already grew back."

"Hush girls." Lyf chuckles.

.......

Jonny glanced up at his twins and returned to his sewing. "Get your bloody hands away from my work, and you can stay."

Mae seemingly realized that she had blood on her hand as she let go of Thomas's hand. "Dad I..."

"No." Jonny clicks his tongue.

"No?" Thomas growls.

"No, neither of you have to say anything." Jonny puts down the half finished doll. "You two haven't changed no matter how old you get. You only hold each other close like that after the curse rears its ugly head. I'm guessing it was Thomas from the dried blood around his throat. Now, you two can either sit while I work or get cleaned up." He sighs, watching his twins sit together by him. "Just because I am able to use it doesn't mean I expect any of you to be comfortable with it. I will say it as nausea till it gets through your thick skulls. I don't know what it is, and it shouldn't define either of you."

Thomas looks a bit embarrassed. "Sorry for getting mad."

"I should bring back that stupid fucking jar just for you." Jonny huffs picking back up his project. "You have my temper boy, and I expect nothing less."

"It was about Lyf and Marius." Thomas crossed his arms as Mae leans on him.

"And? Thomas it takes a pair of eyes to just look at the two to know something went fucking wrong." Jonny rolls his eyes. "Tell me something I don't know. You're smarter than that."

Thomas huffs but he had a small smile on his lips.

"I saw gramps." Mae hums.

This causes Jonny to stop and stare at his daughter. "Why?"

"Well, I asked. He seemed confused, but Grams and Izzy were going at it in the sand. Grams let him wander while she was busy, and he kind of just stood there. He has a limp, which is weird because he's basically a ghost in the machine." Mae shrugs. "I also saw angles of Grams. I don't think I will ever be able to forget."

"Ew." Thomas makes a face of disgust.

"He still has that limp." Jonny sighs and returns again to his project.

"I went a different way, so I didn't see any of that. I'm glad about that." Thomas sighs. "I think if he's still out, Alex would ambush him for a game of cards."

"That was his game of choice." Jonny hums. "I have been meaning to talk to him. I ain't looking for closure, so don't either of you start." He looks up to give a look to the two. "Mom says he's better now, and I don't know. I think I might want to try. You brats can bother him. I never said you can't."

"I bother him plenty!" Aurora interrupts. "Valerie gives him free roam, and he tries to hide in my programming. It's quite fun scaring him. It appears that given freedom is a new way your mother has found a way to hurt him."

"Can you not interrupt a conversation with my children." Jonny rolls his eyes again.

Mae and Thomas giggle.

"Dont encourage her, you brats." Jonny puts his sewing project to the side. "What do you want, Aurora?"

Aurora ignores Jonny. "Children, tell me stories about Jonny raising you."

Mae laughs. "Oh, now I won't say shit."

Thomas snickers. "That's literally the worst way to get information from us."

Jonny smiles proudly.

"Nastya was right they are just mini, yous!" Aurora huffs. "Jonny took on space cats before he was reunited with you."

"Yeah and?" Thomas gets up, picking at the dried blood on his hands. "You should if seen dad panic when we reached 18, the idiot thought we would leave."

Jonny chuckles softly.

Mae gets up after her brother. "Fucker thought I would give up my game, and I will get you one day." She smiles. "Besides, dad had pets when we were growing up. He also taught us how to kill skin and cook them. New Texans are a social species. We don't do good alone. If you actually looked at Ivy's archives, you would know that."

"We are an uncomfortable close social species. Fucking if dad ends up knocked up and I start leaking I'm going to be pissed." Thomas groans. "It was bad enough when you were expecting. Laz freaked out so bad he thought I was expecting."

Jonny starts to cackle.

"It is not funny! That ass wouldn't touch me for months! Dad, stop laughing!" Thomas huffs now red face.

Mae giggles. "It was hilarious you're just a baby."

"Oh fuck you." Thomas growls.

Jonny gets up and grabs his twins by the ears. He takes a breath. "No fighting you brats."

Thomas and Mae huffs.

......

The sun was just coming over the horizon. Trevor was still in the room with Marius. It's been a week. Alex huffs watching the sun rise. They were outside Aurora leaning on her. They heard a noise that made them quirk a brow. They watched Tim walk by waving, but he was nearly silent. They decided to check it out.

Billy sat on the sand. He clearly had mass since he seemed to be counting the grains in his hands. He was in loose-fitting clothing, obviously New Texan. He was shaking enough to see that he was clearly rattled.

Alex knew that look. They knew that look from their own father after.... they sit next to their gramps. They pull out a deck of cards. "Well, you shuffling or am I?"

Billy jumps clearly, just realizing that Alex was next to him. "What?"

"Fine, I'll deal." Alex starts to shuffle. "Dad says your game of choice was anything cards. Never said if you were any good."

"I was a drunk." Billy hugs his chest. "Val won't let me back in my machine."

"Shame, you'll just have to entertain me then." Alex deals out two hands and places the deck down.

Billy picks up his hand with a raised brow. "Why?"

Alex gives a knowing look. "Does it really matter?"

"I suppose not." Billy seems taken aback. "You have it too?"

"We all have it." Alex hums softly. "I always assumed it was from grams, but seeing from your reaction, she doesn't know." They put down a card. "I ain't gonna tell."

Billy seemed confused. "Why? I ain't doing nothing for you."

"Suppose not." Alex picks up a card. "Why does it matter? It ain't like it will kill me."

Billy threw down his hand and raised his brow. "You ain't bad."

Alex hissed. "Neither are you. Not anymore, I guess." They take the cards and shuffle. "Janet, you can join us."

Billy whips his head around to spot Janet, who sits next to him.

"I can play a game or two." Janet hums softly. "Mae says you have a limp."

"Always had a limp." Billy raised a brow.

"That is annoying." Janst sighs. "Anyway, I did grab breakfast for you." She tosses over a wrapped sandwich. "I made it, had a feeling you would be out here."

"Where's dad?" Alex unwrapped the sandwich.

"Sleeping in as far as I know. Everyone's split up in two groups. There's the mess Tim made and doesn't quite understand, and then Marius and Lyf. It's a fucking mess." Janet frowns. "The twins are nice to talk to, but they're still scared of me."

"I can't help you with that." Alex quickly finished their food. "Just because we know each other doesn't mean I can just fix what they think of you."

Janet picks up her cards. "Ain't asking you to. So why play with gramps?"

"He's pretty good." Alex shrugs.

Billy frowns. "Val won't let me back in my machine."

"I figured as much." Janet hums. "Are you sure Henry's real? Haven't seen him once. Brian and Misery sure, but Henry, not at all."

"He's terrified of you and Trevor like how Laz is scared of grams." Alex hums drawing a card. "Ain't his fault, just look at what Carmillia did to Brian."

"That's fair enough." Janet furrows her brows, looking over at Billy. "Nanobots?"

"Correct." Billy tosses a card down.

"Unlike Trevor, I'm not one for science. I prefer history and different cultures." Janet picks up another card. "So why haven't you come inside? Aurora is amused by you, and dad does want to speak to you."

"I don't belong." Billy scowls as Janet throws down her hand.

"None of us belong anywhere anymore." Alex collects the cards.

"It's not like New Texas is the same. Our home is a museum." Janet leans back. "We want to stay with dad, but who knows how long that will last before the gods get bored." She lights up a cigarette. "You ain't special."

Billy blinks and looks away.

Alex puts their cards away and lays back in the sand.

Janet joins them. "Just enjoy the quiet moments." Blowing out smoke, she sighs. "Unfortunately, with our luck, it won't last."

"Ain't that the truth." Alex sighs.

Billy seems uneasy but joins them, laying down. "You should hate me."

"So?" Janet blows out more smoke.

"Time has a habit of dulling hatred into annoyance." Alex yawns. "Fucking every time you get me all introspective."

"Sucks to suck." Janet snubs out her cigarette.

"Fuck you." Alex huffs.

.......

"The fuck are you doing?" Jonny raised his brow at his four kids outside Aurora currently burying Billy in the sand.

"It's pretty self-explanatory." Mae rolls her eyes.

Jonny sighed and pinched his brow. "Why?"

"We're bored." Thomas shrugs. "Also, gramps hasn't moved." He was clearly missing one of his horns.

"Thomas got mad at losing, and I took his horn." Janet hums. "You really suck at any sort of game."

"Fuck you." Thomas huffs.

"Mae started it." Alex shrugs. "Grams came by, but she sucks at games like Thomas does, so she left."

"Again, it would be Thomas sucks at games like grams does. Respect the age difference." Mae sighs.

"Stop." Jonny rubs his temples. "Dad why the fuck are you letting them bury you?"

Billy shrugs. "Val won't let me back in my machine."

"Can you give a different reason that one is getting stale." Janet scoffs.

"You're just mad you can't take his horns because he's made of nanobots." Mae sticks out her tongue.

"I am going to get a better collection than Tommy ever had." Janet rolls her eyes.

Thomas blinks. "It's not really a collection. It's literally mine and Mae's horns I made into actual instrument horns."

"Fuck you." Janet scoffs.

"They've been at this for hours." Billy mumbles.

"Of course they have." Jonny crossed his arms. "Have any if you done something productive or just bothering your grandfather?"

"I say this is productive. It's family bonding, dad." Alex snickers.

"You can join us." Mae smiles softly.

Janet pauses. "Why does he have a limp?"

"Seriously?" Thomas sighs. "Obviously, it happened before what gram did."

"Then dad would know! It ain't like gramps will say shit." Janet huffs throwing sand at Thomas.

Jonny looked at his father, who again just shrugged. "Brats, I gave him the limp. Seriously it's not that fucking important. Now dig him out."

A collection of groans as Billy is pulled out of the sand and pushed in front of Jonny.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm the worst now. Thomas, give me your chess board." Jonny grabs it from his eldest, sets up a pile of sand, and sits setting up the board. He puts his goggles on and motions to his father. "A game, and you brats can watch it you behave."

Billy raised a brow and cautiously sat down on the other side. "What's with the goggles?"

"My eyes are shit." Jonny sighs. "Barely can see without them."

Billy gives a soft, huh? "That's explains a bit. Ain't you going to shoot me again?"

"What's the point? It ain't like it will stay." Jonny makes the first move. "I understand why you did what you did. I don't agree, but I understand."

"I was a drunk." Billy moves the next piece. "I beat the shit out of you for being a kid."

"You were a drunk out of necessity. Ma doesn't know the truth." Jonny hums softly. "And I expect you to keep your mouth shut. Ignoring the culture of the time and how society was set up. It could have been worse. Gambling and drinking were your escapes, I know for a fact you only did what you did to Ma out of obligation."

The four watches held their breath.

Billy sighs. "If it wasn't me, it would have been another just how the world worked." He raised his brow. "You already knew that."

"Ma told me." Jonny hums softly, taking his father's piece. "I don't know everything, and I don't want to. All I know is that Ma wants me to give you another chance. Even without her encouragement, I wanted to have a talk with you."

Billy tisks. "I ain't worth that. I blew my chance." He moves another piece. "You shouldn't trouble yourself."

Jonny knocks over his king and leans back as his father resets the board. "I've had a lot of time to think. I've seen empires rise and fall. Love comes and goes, and monsters become heroes. I don't consider myself good in any capacity. I don't even know why my brats like me." He looks over to his kids then back to his father. "There really isn't anything left for me to do. I can't die. I don't age. It's only a matter of time till I'm alone again." He stares at the reset board. "After everything, you forgave me, and I never deserved that."

"You were a child." Billy moves his own piece going first. "I knew one day you'll kill me just as I killed my own father."

The kids' eyes widen as they stare at their father.

Jonny's neutral expression doesn't even flicker of a change. "So you wanted me to kill you."

"In a sense. It would have been a fitting end." Billy raised his brow at his son's move. "You don't see it that way."

"I don't." Jonny hums softly. "It's a fucking stupid ending to hope for. We've seen countless stories that played out in a continuous cycle. You picked a coward way out." He lets out a breath. "You were a drunk barely aware of anything around you. You took to the bottle to escape. You would have ended up dead on your own without me."

Billy's eyes widen as Jonny takes his king in only a few moves.

"It wasn't even a kill, I left you alive." Jonny sighs. "You weren't the man I heard about. Hell, even Ma told me stories about the rumors about you. Not that she believed them. I know there was truth in them." He finally shows emotion with a frown. "You were run out of every town till you ran to the shithole that was Jack's territory. I wouldn't call you two friends, but he knew your history. He offered you sanctuary in exchange to get rid of the growing resistance at the caves."

Thomas covers Mae's mouth before she can interrupt.

"It wasn't personal." Billy sighs, setting the board back up. "Val was the leader. Jack had me make an example."

"It went sideways." Jonny narrows his gaze.

Billy nods. "I was the fall guy. My reputation Jack used that. I ain't a saint boy." He sighs. "I was the town drunk in that shithole. Gambling and drinking are what I was known for now. Whatever I was before ain't anything."

Jonny holds the king in his hand. "That ain't true for shit." He tossed the king at his father, who catches it without blinking.

Billy stares at the worn wooden piece. "What makes you think that?"

Jonny crossed his arms.

Billy chuckles. "You really are my kid."

"Suppose I am." Jonny gets up. "Brats fucking behave." He turns and heads back to Aurora and stops right by her entrance. "I'll see ya later."

Four pairs of eyes stare at Billy.

Billy narrows his gaze. "That fucker."

"What was your relationship to Jack?" Thomas shoots off first.

"Did Grams really take Jack's eye?" Mae goes next.

"Just what were you known for?" Alex jitters excitedly.

"Did you have siblings?" Janet huffs as eyes stare at her. "It's legitimate questions! Gram has siblings."

"They ain't blood related." Billy flinched as eyes refocused on him.

"What!" The four shout.

"Vindication motherfuckers." Janet smirks. "So, do we have any great aunts or uncles?"

"They're dead." Billy blinks he wasn't exactly prepared to lie about these questions. He supposed his kid did find this a fitting punishment, and it wasn't painful, just confusing. "Jack and I er..."

"Jack was a worse man than Billy ever was." Audrey interrupts she was clearly in her android body. "We are still family."

Billy looked away. "Didn't say you weren't."

Audrey had a look of pity on her features and sighs. "Billy, where is Val?"

Billy's eyes glowed for a moment as he tensed. "My system is 20 clicks north."

"I ain't here to get you riled." Audrey sighs. "Is it true she is on a date?"

"You mean with Izzy?" Mae shrugs. "She did stop by lost at cards and went off. They did have fun in the sand, but I ain't saying they on a date."

"It would be nice, though." Alex hums.

"Fair enough." Mae nods.

"Wait, what do you mean by Jack was worse than gramps?" Janet raised a brow.

"Gramps is literally right there." Thomas points at Billy, who looks slightly uncomfortable being known.

"Well, yeah, but he talks like dad, and none of us can tell truth from fiction if he doesn't want us to know." Janet sighs.

Audrey gives a look to Billy, who shrugs.

"It don't matter if they know." Billy gets up on his feet. "It ain't like he's around."

Audrey grimaced. "You could say they were in a relationship. Not a good one, but it was something."

Billy scowls. "Don't coat it in honey and feed them shit." He sighs. "I was his toy as per requirement of my sanctuary. Part of that is why my boy exists. I was told to make an example of the leader of the resistance."

Audrey looked sick. "Right well." She pats Billy's back. "To be fair, I've never seen anyone drink shine that fast."

"I ain't need your pity." Billy huffs. "It's what happened.... why are you looking at me like that?" He looks at Alex.

Thomas made a o with his mouth as it clicked. The rest had looks of understanding.

"Well, dad did say we were allowed." Alex gives a look to their siblings.

"I suppose it wouldn't be much of a shame." Thomas nods.

"Wouldn't be that difficult." Mae smirks.

"I'm sure Trevor wouldn't mind being in the dark a bit longer." Janet narrows her gaze.

Audrey thins her lips. "Now kids, your grandfather wasn't a good man, but that doesn't mean he hasn't changed..... I...." She watches as the four grab and left Billy up. "Kids?"

Billy blinks clearly, incredibly confused. "Are you going to pull me apart?"

The four laugh and run off carrying their grandfather's. Audrey chases after them.

.......

Lyf looked healthier, and his twins stood at either side of him. He grimaced seeing the state Trevor was in as he left the reinforced room.

Trevor was in shredded bloody clothes. His eyes were sunken in from starvation. He had many new scars and discolored skin. He staggered out of the room with a heavy sigh. "He's asleep. I honestly can not tell you if his mind will be intact the next time he wakes. He's still suffering from the effects of starvation on that scale, but the virus to his DNA did work. His body had adapted to it entirely."

"What does that mean?"

"Can we see him?"

"Make sure you have food in case. He's a bit like a wild creature." Trevor sighs. "He needs more time to recover."

Lyf pushed forward. "Go rest. I'll take over the watch on him. Thank you."

"Where my dad?" Trevor swallows.

"Jonny is making lunch."

"Jonny is making a lot."

Trevor nods. "Thank you." He pauses. "Let him rest. There is no telling what is going to happen when he wakes up."

Lyf watches Trevor leave and heads into the room.

Marius is laid out naked. He is pale, and there seems to be new spines along his wings. He was still incredibly skinny, but he did have color in his face again. He was breathing that odd pattern that was normal to him and his species. His lower half up to his hips were covered in a thick fur that he knew to be soft. The bald spots in his fur on his legs and wings seemed to have healed, which was a relief. He looked peaceful asleep.

"Girls, leave me with your dad for now. Let me be the first he sees when he wakes again, and if he isn't himself, then let me take that damage." Lyf gives a sad smile. "I would never forgive myself if I let him hurt you, and he would never forgive himself even if it was an accident. I hurt you both already, and I don't want to do that again."

"Papa, we're already healed."

"We can handle anything."

Lyf gives them both a tight hug. "My beautiful little girls. That isn't the point." He lets go. "Let me do this."

"Papa that isn't fair."

"We can handle this."

"We aren't little kids anymore!"

"You can't just lock us out."

The twins can't argue anymore as a flash of rainbow static and the door was shut cutting them off from their parents again.

[lqfiles]

IVE BEEN GOOD KINDA… like lowk work and school is stressing me out and i hate my coworkers Bad and i might start carrying rocks in my purse too! 😂👻🙏🙌😭😍

the new smau btw like.. bae u play apex?? MY TWIN WE ARE NEVER BEATING THESE ALLEGATIONS I LOVE APEX 😂🙏🙌😭😭😭😭🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌😭😭😭🙏🙏🙏

but omg no it’s not my last semester i decided to take summer classes after my spring semester ended so i’m going straight into the fall semester after my summer sections are OVERRR like why would i ever do this to myself 😭😭 (i had to) (i had no choice)

but i’m SOOO LOCKEDDD INNN.. (me seeing ur notification and reading the new update like i don’t have a lab report and exam due in 5 hours)

but god this enemies to lovers i can smell it … haechan … u need y/n sooo baddd u need y/n soooo badddddddd

now what is ur rank in apex.

- 🌷

take it easyyy take breaks if you need to!! i wouldn’t say to quit your job because that’s extreme but you should definitely try to minimise your interactions w your coworkers.. or they need to start being bearable #YOUARENOTTHEISSUE!!! LMAOOOO we might all have to carry rocks, the way i threatened a friend today w the same rock threats that karina and y/n use plsss 😭

uni sounds soooo complicated i have no clue how i will deal with that.. YOU NEED TO LOCK IN THO you got a lot on your plate right now but i’m sure you’ll finish it and KILL IT… YOU GOT THIS TWIN IM SENDING TOU GOOD ENERGY AND I HOPE YOU GINISHED YOUR LAB REPORT OR ILL BLOCK YOU😑 (jokes)

AND KEY WORD IS USED TO…. i used to play it during the summer of 2022 RELIGIOUSLY like i was staying up till 4 am in the morning playing it on my phone because i was so facking goated at it like don’t even play w me 😂‼️ urmmm idk remember what my rank was honestly because i started in the summer and i think i deleted the app when the new school year started because of storage issues 😓 i could check my ea account but idek remember my password for that 😅

he needs y/n sooooo bad like he doesn’t know it yet but she is perfect for him trusttt he will want to start doing gfs very soon 😂😂🤫

[janeykath318]

Lines (Shieldshock)

“You’re hotter than a bunsen burner set to full power.”

“You’re like an exothermic reaction: you spread your hotness everywhere!”

“Oh, gosh. Someone kill me now.” Darcy whimpered at her own line and fled the room. Steve’s face was a bright red and currently buried in his hands. They were on the second day of this Steve and Darcy pick up line spree, and it was starting to get weird.

It had all started yesterday when the Avengers returned from a mission and Darcy had been handing out her famous brownies.

When she’d handed hers to Steve she’d said “Are you a compound of beryllium and barium? Because you’re a total Ba-Be.”

Steve’s reply had stunned his friends. “You must be a magnetic monopole, because all I get from you is attraction.”

The scientists among them had burst out laughing and Steve and Darcy had both turned red. When they’d tried to interact at supper, a similar exchange happened and many eyebrows rose.

“Damn, Steve, you’re worse than I used to be.” Bucky had observed with an impish grin.

“You’re a bad influence,” Steve had muttered.

“Don’t stop. This is getting really entertaining,” Tony observed, munching popcorn.

“It would be if we could control it.” Steve sighed. “I physically cannot say anything to Darcy that’s not a pick up line. My brain gets overridden by what comes out of my mouth. And I’m pretty sure it’s happening to her, too.”

“The power of lust, I presume,” Tony theorized. “Clearly, the UST has reached dangerous levels. I’ve seen the way you look at each other.”

“Not helpful, Tony,” Rhodey put in.

“I think Steve is right,” Bucky put in. “You can see their mouths start to form completely different words from what they end up saying. It’s like they’re being overridden.”

Steve’s longtime bestie looked deeply concerned and Tony grimaced at what he was implying.

“I see what you mean,” Natasha put in thoughtfully. “They’re perfect for each other, but it has to be consensual. Something or someone is taking matchmaking too far.”

“Let’s test this theory a bit,” Bruce suggested. “If it checks out, we’ll have to have them both undergo medical exams.”

Steve made a face, but nodded.

“Someone’s gotta find Darcy though,” he sighed. “I think she’s run off to her lair, as she calls it. I’d go get her, but…… you know…” He shrugged helplessly.

“You might accidentally proposition her?” Tony asked gleefully. Steve glared at him.

“Have you tried non-verbal communication?” Suggested Clint. “Writing a note or text her? Find out how far the control goes?”

Steve’s eyes brightened and he eagerly snatched the pen and memo pad thrust at him.

Darcy, meanwhile, was moping in the small break room outside the lab. It had been fitted out with a couch, tv, and vending machines and was a very cozy spot to relax in. She wasn’t feeling very relaxed as she thought about the situation with Steve. Yes, she was crazy about the man, but she sure didn’t like feeling out of control. Steve would probably never want to speak to her again if they couldn’t figure out what was causing the uncontrollable pick up line syndrome.

Right as she was mourning a potentially ruined friendship, There was a knock at the door and she looked up to see Steve silently standing there.

Clapping a hand over her mouth to prevent any more episodes, she shook her head at him vehemently. Steve gave her a knowing grin and silently handed her a note written in elegant cursive.

Darcy,

Can you come back to the meeting room? We want to test a theory and brainstorm solutions. You don’t have to talk to me, but it looks like with writing we still can communicate without hitting on each other. I wrote this myself and didn’t have any issues.

This was hopeful. Scrambling for a pen, Darcy flipped over Steve’s note and wrote on the back.

Thank Goodness. Also, I’m really sorry, Steve. Can we still be friends?

She showed him her response and he quickly added his response.

Nothing to be sorry for. It’s not your fault. Of course we can still be friends. Life would be sad without you in it.

Awww. That’s super sweet. Also, your penmanship is commendable. Forties thing?

Steve chuckled and swiftly replied.

Nope. My mom taught me. Bucky’s is chicken scratch.

Darcy laughed out loud and got up from the couch.

Let’s go, Soldier. I apologize in advance for the inappropriate things I’ll say to you.

Ditto. Steve replied. They shared rueful smiles and headed back to face the music.

“Okay, Steve and Darcy, we’re going to give you each a sentence and then you’re going to say it back to one of us, then again to each other, okay?”

They nodded simultaneously and the test began.

They were both able to repeat back to Bruce the sentence that he had given them, but when they turned to each other what came out was:

“Your angles must be less than 90 degrees, because I think that you are so acute,” Darcy blurted.

“You must be mitochondria, because you’re the powerhouse of my heart,” Steve replied, wincing at himself.

“Not gonna lie, that last one was pretty cheesy,” Bucky commented, grinning again.

Darcy silently agreed, though the look on Steve’s face was so comical, she had to laugh.

“I love how they’re all science themed,” Tony observed. “Very thematic for Darcy.”

“Oh, hush,” Darcy reprimanded him. “This better not be anything you caused.”

“Nope.” Tony denied. “Pepper would slay me.”

“Well, it looks like we’ve established that Steve and Darcy can speak normally to other people, but not to each other,” Bruce summarized. “And they can converse with each other normally via written word. Interesting.”

He thought for a moment, then continued with a question.

“Can either of you two think of any unusual things that happened to you this week? Lab incidents? Mission mishaps?”

Darcy thought hard and she could practically see the gears turning in Steve’s head as he did the same.

“No, nothing I can think of. Mission was routine. They didn’t even get close enough to really cause any issues,” Steve reported.

“Well, Jane and I went out for drinks with Thor and Loki before she left for that conference. Loki was on his best behavior for once, but that doesn’t mean much. I got a little too drunk and might have confessed something to him that I shouldn’t have,” Darcy admitted, with a sinking feeling, not daring to look at Steve.

“Oh, yeah. What do you want to bet that the god of mischief decided to “help” things along?” Clint asked.

“Seems like something he’d do,” Bucky agreed.

“Yup.” Darcy sighed. “I’ll go see if the Big Guy is still around. We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

A quick call to Jane revealed that Thor was still on earth and would get there as soon as he could.

In the meantime, Bruce had Steve and Darcy undergo medical checkups and brain scans just to check that there wasn’t anything else causing the issue. Everything came back clear, so Loki was deemed the culprit and all they could do was wait for Thor to track him down.

The wait felt interminable to Darcy, who missed talking/flirting with Steve. Natasha got fed up with seeing them writing on note pads all the time and made sure they were given each other’s phone number. The switch to texting resulted in the sharing of funny memes and Darcy making Steve laugh so hard he grabbed his own chest. She felt very satisfied and also very smitten. Finally, she took matters into her own hands. They were alone in the kitchen, waiting on their coffee to finish brewing when she plucked up her courage to admit the truth.

Hey, Steve,

I wouldn’t be mad if you asked me out for realsies. What I drunkenly confessed to Loki was that I really, really like you.

Her heart was in her throat as she waited for his response, but judging by the way he smiled as he typed, she felt sure it was going to be positive.

Darcy, I would love to take you on a date. I’m ashamed of how chicken I’ve been about it, but I’ve liked you for a while. Insecurities got the better of me. I’m definitely a work in progress, but I do think you’re hotter than a bunsen burner.

Darcy flushed and looked up to meet Steve’s gaze. He gave her the innocent boyish smile he was known for, but followed it up with a suggestive wink. Holy cow.

You’re gonna kill me with your cuteness, aren’t you? She typed.

Not purposely. I’d like to have you around for a long, long time.

“Are you the Higgs-Boson Particle? Because I’ve been colliding and colliding and I finally found you,” Darcy proclaimed, forgetting herself in her delight.

Oops. She typed out, reddening again. What I was trying to say is “I hope you’re around for a long time, too.”

Thor and Loki arrived two days after this monumental conversation and Darcy didn’t have the heart to be very angry with him.

“The mutual pining between the two of you was nauseating and I decided to help things along,” Loki told them haughtily. “The spell will dissipate instantly if you kiss, and will wear off more slowly if you have communicated your feelings for each other.”

“How slowly?” Steve asked.

“No more than three of your measly human days,” Loki answered, looking rather smug as he observed Steve and Darcy.

“That means we have one more day until it wears off,” Steve said. He looked questioningly at Darcy.

Meet me in my lair in one hour. She texted, shooting him a wink. Steve happily obeyed.

“I’m attracted to you so strongly, scientists will have to develop a fifth fundamental force,” he told her just before she kissed him senseless.

“I guess it worked,” Steve breathed breathlessly when he’d finally caught his breath.

“Yeah, it did,” Darcy agreed, glad the words coming out of her mouth were her own again. “But I have one more line for you.”

“Oh? Do tell,” Steve encouraged her, arms still around her.

“You must be from the cosmos because your body is heavenly.” She whispered coquettishly, running her hand down his muscular arm. Steve turned an adorable shade of pink and kissed her again.

[the12thnightproject]

Tempest in Time Prologue Part One - The Wormhole

Katsuko and her brother Toshiie are pulled through a wormhole to Japan, 1575

“Did you repair the drone?” I didn’t bother with a greeting.

Toshiie remedied my omission. “Hello. How was your week? I’ve missed you.” His snark burned through the 4G network. You’ve heard those stories of exploding telephones? If sarcasm could explode a phone, my brother would have killed three of mine already. “And yes, it’s fixed.”

I impatiently picked at my toenail while I went through the niceties with my twin. “Sorry. Hello. How was your week? I’ve missed you.” I had missed him, actually. At least as much as I missed anyone.

“Someone threw up in bio lab. That was the highlight.”

“Ew.” And he likely wasn’t being sarcastic. Knowing Tosh, it might have truly been the highlight of his week. He was studying nursing, with an eye to someday going to Medical School, so vomit and blood and bodies never bothered him. As a perpetually overworked student, his life was the lab, homework, and sleep.

Good thing he had me to break him out of his patterns. “Just dropped a pin to your phone – can you meet me there in an hour? Bring the drone.”

A loud sigh attacked my eardrum. “Katsuko, I have exams to study for. So do you.”

I was half-heartedly studying physical therapy. Very half-heartedly. These days there wasn’t much I was doing full hearted. Except…

“Please, please, please!” I had already changed from the outfit I had worn to class that morning, into sports bra, tank, and sweats. I stuck the phone between my ear and my shoulder, so I could I tape up my wrists. I knew Tosh wouldn’t turn me down.

With another (overly) dramatic sigh, he agreed. “Fine. See you in sixty.”

This time, Tosh was the one who skipped the greeting, hanging up without a goodbye. That’s typical of us. I hate saying hello. Tosh hates goodbye.

Sixty minutes was enough time to grab my beloved blue hoodie, my phone, a couple bottles of water, and some vegan power bars. I stuffed them all in my backpack, and ran out the door…

... and ran back in to grab my IC card.

As I dashed out the building again, I bundled my turquoise streaked hair in a lopsided ponytail, IC card clenched in my teeth as I chased down the bus.

In less than an hour, I was warming up in front of a three-story building, plotting out my route.

Tosh was late, as usual. I sometimes teased him about living on Toshiie time, but I was used to building an extra ten minutes into a schedule if I really needed him to be punctual. Eventually, he rolled up while I was pacing out the dimensions of the courtyard in front of a three story building. I watched him park his moped, then jog down the sidewalk, ignoring the admiring glances he was drawing from men and women alike.

You know how in some families, one kid gets the looks, and one kid gets the brains? Beautiful, brilliant Toshiie got both.

Me? I got the –

Thwack!

I winced as Tosh tripped over air.

-Coordination.

He stumbled a few steps toward me. I rushed forward to rescue his gear bag, knowing it was full of expensive camera equipment.

“Oh sure, save the bag, let your brother fall on his face,” Tosh grumbled.

“You just got this fixed from the last time.” I unpacked the drone.

He nodded, seeing my point. “What’s your route?”

I gestured to a series of railings, the exterior stairs, and the roof. “If you can, get hand-held for a wide angle, and send the drone above. Once I’m on the roof, meet me behind the building – there’s a park, and get ready to track my descent.”

There was no reason to explain any more. What’s the phrase – it’s better to ask for forgiveness than permission?”

My warm up complete, I centered myself in a handstand while Tosh set up the cameras. Once he gave me a thumbs up, I flipped back to my feet and took off…

It’s called Freerunning. That use of obstacles to propel yourself through space, using your hands, feet and the environment as you nearly fly up, down, across, and under the landscape. Martial artists might call it by the French term, parkour, but I love the word freerunning. Free running.

Running free.

I hopped from one railing to another, balancing briefly on metal as I jumped over the side of the stairwell, then bounced to the wall of the next landing – zig zagging up levels until I flipped onto the roof. With a handspring for extra flair, I zipped across the rooftop.

When I was little, my mother, “exhausted” (her word) by my bouncing around our apartment, enrolled me in artistic gymnastics. That was fun for a few years, but I got bored with all the rules. Now, it’s me and the sky.

In winter, that means snowboarding every chance I get. In summer?

Running free.

At the other end of the rooftop, a metal safety rail lined the edge. I jumped up on the railing and impulsively tried a handstand and – the something shimmered in my peripheral vision, almost like the horizon was put together unevenly, no, that must have been the drone hovering — I shook my head to clear it, then--

Whoa! Ok. Balance check there.

That could have been bad… but what a rush!

Off I went again, ricocheting between the walls of the two buildings, and somersaulting into the park. I vaulted over the railing, jumped up to catch a bar of the jungle gym, using momentum to swing to another bar before throwing myself toward the soft sand at the end.

Out of breath, I slammed a water while Tosh recalled the drone and played back the footage.

“Fuck!” He was frowning into the camera.

“What, didn’t it record?” I rested my chin on his shoulder to peer at the replay. It looked like it recorded. It was already uploaded to the cloud, in fact.

“It recorded.” He rewound the video to the moment where it looked like I had almost fallen off the roof railing. “Katsuko – you could have been killed.”

“I wasn’t, though.” I broke into my energy bar stash and offered him one.

He pushed it away. “I’m done.”

I didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “Wait. Don’t. I’m sorry.”

“No, you’re not.” But he hugged me in spite of his harsh tone. “I can’t keep watching you chase death.”

“Stop it. I’m not like that.” I’m not like her. “That’s not what I’m doing.”

“What are you doing?”

“I…I don’t know.” It was the truth. All I knew is that I had to keep running, or there would come a day when I wouldn’t be able to get out of bed. “Let’s get out of here.”

No need to specify where. When Toshiie and I needed a place to talk or to think, or both, we’d head out to the Togakushi Shrine area. It was the one place that seemed to speak to both of us, although I knew that Tosh preferred the shrines, while I was happiest on the trails.

We took his bike out to the shrine, and once there, walked quietly through the 400 year old cedar trees that marked the path to the upper shrine. Finally he asked, “If I begged you to stop, could you?”

My throat closed up at the thought. “What is this? An intervention? It’s not like I’m an addict.”

“I think you kind of are, actually.”

Seriously? His Introduction to Psychology course was going to his head. But I knew that he meant every word. “Wait, ok, how about this. I’ll stop taking extreme risks, ok?” I could do that. At least I wouldn’t take any risks if he was watching. In a few months, when the mountains were covered with snow, I’d take my board out to X-JAM as often as possible, and scratch my risk-taking itch on the half-pipe. So… really, I only had to behave through the rest of summer and fall.

CRASH! BOOM!

Distracted by our discussion, we hadn’t noticed the weather changing, until the crackle of lightning startled both of us. Within minutes, rain was pouring buckets. 

“Once again, the weather forecast was completely wrong.” Tosh muttered curses at the weatherman as he tried to keep the rain off his gear.

The timing was bad, but aside from that, I love storms. Something about the electricity in the air makes me feel more alive. I tilted my face to the sky and – “That’s weird.”

“It’s water, doofus.” Getting rained on makes Tosh cranky.

The entire landscape was vanishing under a dark mist. “Tosh, have you ever seen a fog bank in a storm?”

“What are you -?” He finally looked up from his camera. “You’re right. This is weird.”

It was still thundering and lightning, but the rain had turned to a thick soupy fog that blotted out almost all light, the seeped around and into my body. We were fading, becoming as unsubstantial as the mist that poured through us.

Tosh raised his hand. It looked translucent. “What the hell?!” His words came out as a whisper, as if the fog had invaded his throat.

I felt dizzy and ill, like the time after I broke my ankle and had had an allergic reaction to the anesthesia. Tosh grabbed onto me, his arms spasmed around my back. I closed my eyes and buried my face in his shoulder. I could feel he was shaking, or maybe that was me, and then-

THUNK. The two of us crashed onto the ground, onto a carpet of what smelled like pine needles?

I cautiously opened my eyes. Yep. Pine needles. The storm had passed as quickly as it had begun, and the sun was as bright as midday, though it had to be close to eight or nine p.m. But in the bright sunlight, I felt cold. And… was that sn-?

Brrrrr – my hoodie was not nearly warm enough any more. But I was better off than Tosh in his windbreaker. “But, it’s summer,” was all I could think to say. I rubbed my hands together. “Reverse global warming?”

“Actually global warming has been known to cause odd weather patterns,” Tosh said absently as he fiddled with his phone. “No bars.”

I got mine out. Nope. No bars, no GPS.

Something else seemed… eerie. It was silence. The daily hum of electricity, distant traffic, airplanes, that background white noise was all the more conspicuous for its absence.

“The footpath is gone.” Tosh kicked at the now overgrown carpet of brush below us.

“So are the cedar trees.” We were still in a forest of sort, but the comforting presence of the giant cedars was no longer there.

“Theory?” In the back of my head was a rather loud voice telling me that there had been an apocalypse and we were both dead. Funny, after spending the last year of my life not caring whether or not I lived or died, now that the possibility was in front of me, I really hoped I wasn’t dead.

He held up three fingers. “I got three. Apocalypse – like the snap in The Infinity Gauntlet.”

So he was on the same mental path that I was. But were we victims of the snap, or the only ones left behind? “Or…?”

“Or maybe we’ve somehow slipped into a different version of our universe?” One finger left. “Or, maybe it’s something simpler. One of us is dreaming.”

Dream. Yeah. A dream would be an acceptable explanation. “You couldn’t have led with the theory that doesn’t involve mass death?”

Tosh shrugged. “I went with the bad news fir-“

“Shhh!” I put my hand over his mouth.

What was that noise?

The clang of metal.

Harsh voices…

Hoofbeats… horses?

Tosh and I held still, unsure whether this new twist would be an improvement or make things worse?

A group of men in armor – dressed as samurai?! – burst out of the trees, brandishing swords and pikes.

“Whoa!” Tosh looked at the lacquered armor that covered the warriors. “Someone’s LARP group is uber committed.”

The person who appeared to be their leader barked something at us, but their dialect and accent was harsh and unfamiliar. I wasn’t entirely sure what they were saying. But the gist was something along the lines of robbery and enslavement… I think…? Tosh and I looked at each other, and wordlessly decided that our best bet was to run.

Unfortunately, immediate danger didn’t make Tosh any less clumsy. He went sprawling over a log, and while I was trying to help him to his feet we were surrounded. “Tosh, do you understand what they are saying?”

He shook his head. “I think they want to sell us… to the nanban?”

I had no idea what the nanban was or why it wanted buy people, but they were examining us like merchandise, so that was probably the correct interpretation. They pulled my hair out of its ponytail, marveling over the turquoise streaks, which apparently meant they could get more money for me?

That’s enough! When one of them checked my teeth, I bit him. That earned me a hard punch to the stomach. Another man was fascinated by the zipper on my hoodie. When he managed to unzip it and got a look at my thin tank top, he muttered, “Woman.”

Alright, the good news at least is that I was developing a better ear for their dialect. The bad news was that I didn’t actually want to know what they planned to do with a female prisoner. When the leader came in to take a closer examination of my body, I reacted instinctively and kicked out. I saw the punch coming at me …

Oh this is going to hur--

What brought me back to consciousness was the sensation of cold and damp -- I had been dumped into a snow bank. There were sounds of clanking metal again, yelling, grunts, then a yelp of pain. I opened my eyes to see the apparent leader of the bandit gang fighting with an old man (said “old man” would, if he could hear me, object to me characterizing him that way, but in that moment, he seemed quite elderly). The old man had amazing fighting abilities, whirling and punching with a spear.

In no time, my captor was groaning on the ground, his leg bent at an odd angle.

“Come on child.” My rescuer hurried to my side and wrapped me up in a warm cloak. “You’ll catch your death of cold.”

Still dizzy from the blow to the head, it took a moment to realize that… “Wait. Where are the others?” Where’s Toshiie?

“Others? There was this one man and you.” The man gave a shrill whistle, and a horse whinnied in the distance, then trotted up to us.

I explained what had happened with the bandits. “The rest of them must still have my brother. We have to go back to get him.”

He shook his head. “They’re long gone by now.” But in spite of his protest, he took me up on his horse, and we headed back through the trees. He was correct though – they were long gone.

“Is there a way to track them?” If this man could fight, then maybe he could-

“Not in this storm.” The snow had increased from light cotton balls to a swirling curtain of fat flakes. I shuddered, partially from the cold, partially from the fear that this was another storm that would pick me up and dump me somewhere else. Somewhere worse, than wherever here was. I flinched from the thought of what would be worse than armed bandits who wanted to sell me into slavery.

Dinosaurs. Dinosaurs would be worse.

After a long, cold and ride up a steep path, we arrived at gated manor near the top of the mountain. The storm was raging, and my teeth were chattering by then. The man gave my outfit a critical look. “Do you have any other clothing? Anything more suited for a woman?”

“No. When I left my – home – this afternoon, I expected to return in a couple hours.” I had no idea how much time (ha!) had passed. More than a couple of hours. More than a day. More than a century.

He helped me down – my legs had gotten cramped and stiff during the ride. “Where is your home? When the storm ends, I can send one of my apprentices to take you back.”

“It’s not going to be that simple,” I said, after getting a good look at a building that looked like it had been constructed recently – but it was an architectural style that I recognized from samurai houses that I had visited on school trips. That, along with the evidence of the missing cedar trees, and the men in armor, was leading me to a conclusion that I wouldn’t have believed if I hadn’t been in the middle of it.

But to announce that I was from a few hundred years in the future seemed to me to be the fastest way to get a one-way ticket to whatever this era’s version of a psychiatric hold was, so, instead, I simply said, “Our home was destroyed by the storm.”

He gave me the universal “I don’t believe you,” look, but he didn’t press the issue. In the years since, I have never told Yamaoka Akihira (that’s his name, but he lets us call him Aki) the truth about where I came from, but I’ve also managed, thanks to him, to become a much better liar.

“Alright,” he finally said, as we entered his house. “Do you have anywhere else to go?”

“No.” I was grateful to be out of the wind and snow, and not particularly interested in going back outside.

He rubbed his chin – a gesture that I’ve since come to recognize as his only “tell” that he’s calculating out several moves in an extended mental shogi game, before saying, “I suppose it’s a good thing that I hadn’t yet found a new maid.”

[dspdick]

hello everyone. i hope you have some snacks on you because i have yet another thing to rant about. fortunately it isn’t about the bunch of idiots i have the misfortune of calling classmates, instead it’s the cursed place where i chose to continue my education. let’s yell about university.

for starters, i would like to point out that this is an expensive university. like. 900€/month expensive. i get to pay almost half of it because i have a discount due to my high school grades, but you have to keep it up during your stay in college and once it’s taken away you can’t ask for it again.

given the exorbitant price every single of its students is paying, you would think that my class would be in a decent building. wrong. we’re in a prefabricated shitty three-story building in the other side of campus from our labs. because medicine students have their own simulation clinics and the business students get a bajillion brick buildings but fuck the genetics kids amiright?

speaking of labs. the installations are cool and all but the materials need a serious upgrade. I CANT DO A PROPER GEL ELECTROPHORESIS IF THE MICROPIPETTE DOES THE EQUIVALENT OF A DRIVING NEWBIE WITH A MANUAL CAR. also the ph-meters are the bane of my existence and me the bane of theirs.

also. the lab practices are four hours long. which wouldn’t be too bad if they didn’t make us start them at three or four pm when we’ve been in classes from eight or ten am. yes i spend close to twelve hours on campus on lab weeks yes they also pretend that we have time to study.

BY THE WAY. OH MY GOD. studying. i know it’s necessary. but i have EIGHT SUBJECTS THIS SEMESTER. EIGHT. students in other universities have less subjects per year. one of them is a lab subject and we have a fuckin. oral and practical exam. ITS A LAB SUBJECT?? WHY DO I HAVE TO LEARN THE PROCEDURES AND WHY EVERYTHING IS DONE PLUS DO A NiCE LaB nOTeBoOk. SUCK MY DICK.

that and the fact that i not only have science subjects but also philosophy, communication and fucking BUSINESS. yes they’re useful but i frankly haven’t seen a subject with a worse organization than my philosophy class. and on top of that my business teacher just keeps sending projects and questions. maam your class is worth three credits. be grateful i do an effort to get out of bed and spend two and a half bitchass hours to listen to you yap about ip and business life cycles at eight thirty in the morning on a friday.

and now that i mention this, i still can’t believe we’ll have to do 50 mandatory hours of volunteer work next year. yay for volunteer work, i’ve done before and it’s amazing. but you can’t expect someone who spends 10+ hours in college regularly to do the same amount of time as people who only have 3 to 4 hours of class per day.

the worst part of all is the fact that our degree supervisor just expects us to act like phd students or some shit. she literally told to the class presidents that “we can’t expect to have compromises and extracurriculars outside of university. we have to focus on our college life”. this is our first year. i don’t even want to think about how we’ll be treated from now on.

and i guess this is why im so scared. i like genetics. love it, even, when applied to things i enjoy and not a clinical environment. but i want to live my life and be able to truly rest and enjoy and not want to kill myself constantly over the amount of workload that we have to deal with.

i don’t know if i’m going to drop out or keep going but all my options are bleak. either i continue and somehow survive college enough time to get my degree without having killed myself, or i drop out. and from there i have more options. a) immediately switching to a different college and/or undergrad, b) taking an off year and changing my undergrad.

i don’t even know what i’m going to do. i’m exhausted on all the levels a human can be tired and i have no idea if i have it in me to keep going or just take the easy out.

[cupcraft]

Inspired by this post I wanna do a year in review tho honestly it's gonna be boring

January: worst block ever, 100% virtual school again, mental break downs

February: failed my first exam in grad school yikes and felt like I was exploding

March: pulled it back and passed the class and brought myself up to B range yippee (my classes are pass fail 70 is passing for reference) and left the hardest block to never look at again (until the standardized test ig...)

April may and 1/2 june: school honestly and lots of issues with how poorly taught the last block in June was

Other half june: vacation to write fics and the lab rotation that would become my PI for my thesis!! Great experience lovely time. The technoblade stuff :( affected me quite a bit.

July: my other lab rotation. Terrible awful no good time for 1000 reasons most of all that they wanted me to keep working during the semester post rotation and I had several email arguments srsly. Idk when the apps were but I think this is when I got accepted to dreamoire zine.

August: zine writing, terrible block once more but passing a okay I guess kinda sorta.

September: final for this block killed us all so bad, still zine writing but also maybe thos is close to the dsmp poem zine acceptance (I forget exactly timing). Entered long hard block

October: in my long hard block and learned a lot honestly. Thesis meetings. Doing those zines. I'm so boring. Think I also started my ccrime gas stationverse series here

November: honestly this was a rough time mental health wise, fandom wise, school wise. I ultimately went on medication for the first time. Passed the hardest block. Got back into the writing swing and finished dreamoire stuff I think...

December (what's been so far): finishes my longest fic ever, meds working really well I'm a lot happier, on break finally, gonna start standardized test studying, and finishes dsmp poem zines. Doing good. Osmp return + wine stream happiness. Fandom anniversary too.

Thanks for being here with me followers and beloved moots.

[koravelliumavast]

I posted 4,761 times in 2022

That's 4,731 more posts than 2021!

2,053 posts created (43%)

2,708 posts reblogged (57%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@dustbringermoash

@lordofscars

@isdalinarhot

@stardustravens

@jewishdainix

I tagged 3,814 of my posts in 2022

Only 20% of my posts had no tags

#cosmere - 727 posts

#brandon sanderson - 619 posts

#stormlight archive - 479 posts

#books - 241 posts

#mistborn - 221 posts

#kaladin stormblessed - 186 posts

#adolin kholin - 155 posts

#tlm spoilers - 149 posts

#kelsier - 129 posts

#the lost metal spoilers - 116 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#chem lab practical. this is one of the exams but i’m confident that i may know what i’m doing but i also don’t know what it’s about exactly

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Screw the whitespine uncaged THIS is one of the best parts of words of radiance

See the full post

688 notes - Posted April 29, 2022

#4

When people bash tua because every seasons the same and why is it another apocalypse and blah blah blah just admit you’re boring and don’t like fun and the irony that no matter what they do to fix the timeline and shit, they’re still going to have an apocalyptic world ending event caused by one of them.

747 notes - Posted July 16, 2022

#3

I love that almost instantly after the Percy Jackson book was announced that people were like Percy could just say I saved you like a shit ton of times, you offered me immortality easy but COLLEGE LETTERS is where you draw the line and make me go on a quest?

754 notes - Posted October 19, 2022

#2

Probably The best Stormlight Archives review I’ve seen because it’s complaining about everything that I liked about the series but it’s also hilariously true:

“This book is mind-bogglingly bad. I'm always looking for fantasy books and I knew this was very popular so, after a few years I've decided to try it. I can stomach the childish depiction of characters but I cannot bring myself to accept the utter idiocy of the setting. The opening is painfully bad: an all powerful assassin kills a king and his guard by having superpowers taken straight out of videogames. Then we are introduced with the hero, who, of course, rejects the greatest conceivable honour in the world out of pure spite. He is then spared his life out of sheer plot armour, and the reader is left wondering why he hasn't been killed for constant rebellion. His mates are all killed, but he survives because, oh, he's sooo special. Slaves are paid a living wage so that there is a way for the hero to earn money because it's needed by the story. When the hero screws up, his senior officers are killed immediately but he's instead given a chance to survive, and, not very surprisingly, he does. Then there is a war in the Shattered Plains: for six years the warriors, instead of fighting, go looking for overgrown shrimps to steal the enormous emeralds that grow inside of them. I kid you not, this is the primary purpose of the war: not beating the enemy but killing the shrimps while they're pupating (to turn into what, an enormous blowfly?) before the enemy slays it. The entire strategy works like this: the entire army is sitting idly, wearing fashionable scarves and drinking wine. A horn sounds in the distance announcing that a shrimp has been found. The warriors scramble to arrive first, before the enemy but, more importantly, before the other commanders. The moronicity of the portable bridges defies belief. The idiocy never seem to finish: soldiers with organic armour, illiterate kings with learned wives, even the regular storms that make magic. The hero, of course, discover magic that has been hidden in plain sight for countless years. In a specific kingdom, people live with feet constantly in two inches of water. In another, people eat horns and shells. For some reason, on a different planet, people know of Japanese katas. I could go on for hours: avoid this book.”

875 notes - Posted May 23, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

You know what isn’t talked about enough? The fact that Adolin is terrifying. Because in fanfics Adolin isn’t super scary but Adolin made his enemies summon fearspren when he was outnumbered 4-1. In Sadeas’ pov after the duel it says that Adolin TERRIFIED Sadeas.

976 notes - Posted October 1, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[clownstowns]

i fucking hate fucking school how the fuck am i going to take a whole ass fucking class for months do so god damn good on the labs assignments quizzes midterm EVERYTHING and then mess up the fucking final that I SWEAR TO MOTHER FUCKING GOD DAMNED JESUS FUCK i studied SO FUCKING HARD for like i thoroughly understood the fuck out of that shit and i could apply it as well like i did practice finals and they went fine but i swear to fucking shit they put witchcraft sorcery into the final that i had to do. i did that shit and i was confident like at least a 55 istg but no a fucking 30 is what they god damn gave me. and if i think they may have marked mine wrong i need to buy MY exam that I wrote back from them and point out where they went wrong marking. and i don’t even think they marked mine that wrong honestly i think i was just so ‘unlucky’ to get the hard exam ☹️ oh boo boo bitch i’m gonna kill myself. I WORKED SO FUCKIG. HARD AND PAYED SHIT FOR THAT GOD FAMN FUCKING CLASS ohhhh oooo poor mee oooo ohhhhh nooooOooo

i so badly wish i could get something out of cutting the fuck out of my skin all bloody and shit then send pictures to the dam school and say THIS IS WHAT U DID 😫😫😫 and then they’ll say ohhh oh nooo here’s your money and your grades cus you worked to hard cutting your leg off bitch and id say thank you and everything will be fine i wish i was never born 🎉