#make them queue athena

[silver-inked-quill]

Detective's rescue

Pairing: Eddie Diaz x Reader

Summary: Eddie's relationship, the reader is a detective, they both on 24hour shift. Reader responds a 9-1-1 call and ends up needing first aids

Warning: blood, angst, OD symptoms described, mention of drugs

Being a detective on patrol wasn't the best thing ever to be frank, but it was something when you knew your boyfriend would accompany you all night long with his own 24 hour shift, it was rare thing for our double shifts to be on the same time, but when it happened I both liked it and didn't like it, we were both out. I usually work on cases in the office and do my research and help the firefighters with cases and they help me occasionally.

"So where are you strolling now?" Eddie asked, I was driving while I had a Bluetooth headphone.

"In the area of the homicide, the father killed his daughter while the mother was away… there is still no handy information for a warrant so I am looking for something I've missed" I explained briefly as I was driving past the house.

"Baby…" Eddie started to say, I knew how he felt when I was getting so passionate about a case. He disliked it, I overworked myself and forgot many things such as sleeping, eating or going to my shift.

"How about you? Didn't hear anything from dispatch, quiet night?" I wondered, cutting him off elegantly, setting my line of defense. I wasn't like Athena, I do not leave my job behind once my shift is over, I admire her for that though. I actually have to spend more of my personal time researching and studying. I have to go undercover to gather information, but I am not complaining. Sometimes though I need my people to understand me.

"Yea we are just hanging around." He replied with a heavy sigh he didn't respond to the q-word, I knew he wouldn't be bothered. I knew the response was unwilling. He knew my drill "Buck fell asleep at the Gym, Bobby and Hen are playing chess and Chimney is cooking" he analysed their situation and I smiled.

"Tell him to make an extra plate for me, I'll be dropping by" I spoke hoping that would make up for my big-headed behaviour.

"Oh You i decided to have a proper meal other than burgers and donuts" he joked with small giggle.

"Happens sometimes" I chuckled when I heard the wireless "babe hang on"

"This is 221-L99 available tell me the issue dispatch" I asked, I could tell it was May.

"Alright, there's drug dealing on the "overroof" club, there's a rave going on, some ODs based on caller's information, 118 of LAFD shall be there to take care of those." She informed me as I heard the bell on Eddie's side.

"I'll be in touch Dispatch" I spoke as I was connected to the team I would cooperate.

"Diaz no phones on patrol" I spoke as I was driving and couldn't finish the call. "221-L99 moving on scene. I am nearby I see three overdosed in their twenties one male two female they are simply left on the ground I am engaging the victims now." I spoke and got out of the car.

"Copy detective" Captain Nash affirmed me.

I approached the victims and checked the pulses. "All alive you need to come in quick…" I couldn't leave the uncouncisous civilians alone.

"Already ahead of you detective you are clear to proceed" my boyfriend replied sweetly, or at least that's what I thought.

"Dispatch moving in the club incognito, there's no bouncer or doorman" I informed them and opened the door. This wasn't a good sign, the dance floor was empty and so was the kitchen, I would have to go down stairs. "Ground floor empty moving to basement staircase" I announced and moved i could hear voices. "Dispatch sent some back up, I hear people" I spoke and dispatch obeyed my request.

I was right behind the stairs and I heard enough keywords that included heroin, drugs, and that the police can't find. That was my queue. "LAPD hands in the air" I yelled, Eddie always said that my voice in that phrase was so cold, smooth and dictated he found it sexy. "Don't move" I ordered. My voice was strong. They were three but I had a gun.

"Nope ass" one said and charged to get my phone I kicked him to the ground he slid to the floor with no Injury but before i could get in control of the other two, they had two bags of drugs five kilos each if I calculated correct the moment one of them came and punched in my face causing the white dust to be spread all around me in the air I stumbled backwards fell hitting my head on staircase, I took a deep breath trying to orientate, my vision got blurry.

"Detective Y/L/N, report" I heard dispatch between the ringing of my ears but the only response I could find was groan, I felt my heart going erratically with the beats. I was shaking.

"Detective" It was Captain Nash this time, his voice tense. But there was a pause. "Dispatch three offenders running away with two white bags one leaking" he reported and that's when my sudden dysphoria was making sense.

"Help" I managed to pronounce "OD" as I started to shake. I couldn't make out what I was hearing or what was going on, suddenly I saw Eddie in a mask with Chimney. They moved me outside my eyes were wide open but I couldn't react I was shaking, my body started twitching, I was held down, I could recognize Eddie's arms pressing me down, and smaller but still powered hands in my legs, chimney my guess. I coughed I could feel the salty, warm liquid laking inside my mouth, I coughed again.

"Baby… I am here" Eddie's voice was fading as black spots invaded my vision as I started having trouble breathing.

"I get no pulse" Chimney announced, "Hen start compressions" he instructed as he pushed on the oxygen in my face

"Oh no no honey, please-" before Eddie could finish his sentence I heard Buck taking him away as another person took his position next to me.

"Captain bring the AED" Hen requested she kept the pounds on my chest.

"Still unresponsive" Chimney said, causing Eddie to make a movement closer to me, Captain and Buck held him back

"I'm unbuckling the shirt, we are shocking" Hen spoke I heard footsteps

"Eddie please leave" Captain requested with a heavy sigh, I am sure he thought of the time Athena was in my position.

"Just let me be by Y/N Captain" Eddie requested , next thing I feel his warm loving hands on my face removing my hair stroking my cheek his fingers on my neck in desperate hope he would get the slight pulsation in my veins.

"Eddie hands" Hen spoke and he removed them as I felt electricity, I couldn't define what kind of pain it was or if it was, more like a sting to my whole body that would either wake me up or be the last thing I feel…

"Give me more Chim" Hen encouraged him the third clear was heard, the screen kept beeping. There was silence other than that.

"No no no baby no" Eddie panicked he started compressions but Buck pulled him off of my body. He yelled at him Buck yelled back I wasn't sure, my ears started ringing, was I dying…? The first ponder that dominated my mind, made my stomach twitch. I coughed vomit out…

I was alive

"Hey girl, hey easy now" Hens' voice sounded and turned me to the side to let it all out. Chimney secure my position so it wouldn't cause any damage.

Eddie raced next to me, he leaned in and kissed my forehead "oh god love, you scared me so much." I smiled as I turned on my back looking at him upside down as he leaned above my head.

"I'm sorry" I smiled and reached his face, I was shaking rapidly, he simply took my hand and kissed the palm before bringing it to his cheek, his cheek so hot against my freezing skin.

"Hey no no, it's not your fault, we must get you to the hospital now alright?" He smiled down at me and my smile faded at the hearing of the location I had to be.

"I won't be admitted in, I'll sign out" I announced, the sweet moment long gone as I made a move to get of the stretcher.

"Wow,now detective, you have to be cleared out in order to return to your cases, we are transferring you to the ER. I have to do it by the book, you know the drill" Captain Nash intervened immediately, and I could see the relief on my fiancee's face.

"Ah now we are by the book, that's nice to hear" I barked, I knew I was wrong, but hospitals, hospitals gave me anxiety, Eddie would have to go to Christopher eventually and I don't like being alone in those white cold rooms. "Guys please" I pleaded

"you are facing an extended pcp od, and a small hit on the back of your head, your blood pressure is perilly high and you have extremely unstable arrhythmias" Hen essayed the reasons I should listen to them as my eyes turned teary I was panicking.

"Hey hey sweetie" Eddie sighed "I'll be with you the whole time" he promised and kissed my cheek gently as they all stood up carrying me to the ambulance. He stepped in sat next to me while Hen joined, just in case. He was holding my hand, just looking at me, his ember eyes, he was worried even if he wouldn't admit.

"What about Christopher?" I asked concerned.

"Buck is already on his way, but how are you feeling Y/N?" He asked me softly stroking my head.

"I have dysphoria" I explained and soon Hen gave me a mask my eyelids turned heavy as I slipped from counsiousness.

I don't know what time it was, or how long I've been out. I blinked my vision clear, the lighting was dim in the room Eddie fell asleep on the chair next to me, I couldn't help but smile. He did stay. I stood up holding on my IV, feeling lightheaded, I moved to the bathroom, I looked terrible red eyes pale skin, weakness though was the worse.

"Y/N;" I heard his voice call my name in alert.

"What is it?" I asked making abrupt movement to get to the door I leaned there feeling another hit of vertigo getting the best of me.

"I thought you left, hey let me help you baby" he sighed in relief and approached, he was still on patrol clothes. He scooped a hand over my waist and held my weight as he walked me to the bed, softly placing me to lay down.

"Can I kiss you now? Or I am still high?" I asked him placing my hands around his neck, the IV tube got tangled between us, he smiled getting it out of the way. He leaned in and kissed my nose. His lips formed a smile.

"You have been good tonight, not running away, so it is well deserved" he smiled and located his lips on mine, the sweet kiss forming, he was gentle and cautious as he was touching me.

"Mhm mostly because I have been unconscious all night long and I get dizzy after three steps, that played it's part too" I spoke and kissed his cheek softly

"Let a man be happy" he spoke faking frustration before he kissed me again. And again.

[gibbdoodles]

Okay, the more I've thought about "600 strike" the more I think of re-works for it. I'm never one to do fix-it fics, but I truly do think that this song, mainly the fight behind it, could have been done differently. Thematically speaking, I don't have a problem with Ody torturing Posedien. It lines up with Jay's goal of "Ruthlessness" BUT it really dampers down Posedien's power and really makes him feel weak. Essentially a character assassination. I have a few different approaches that would make it feel, in my mind, more in line with the power level that Posedien should have, while still keeping in line with themes. 1. Ares is now Odys patron god, taking over while Athena is... compromised. I think it'd be fascinating too if there would be hints of it earlier in the musical as well, like soon after "My Goodbye". Possibly in "600 strike" its fully revealed that Ares is protecting Ody and boosting his power. and hey I know Jay likes anime powers so maybe Ares has a power where he can temporarily bring back dead soldiers to fight, or at least projections of them. this way Ody can fight alongside his brothers one last time. This one I THINK I've seen others toy with as well, but I cant think of a specific person right now. 2. This would be a bigger change, what if Posedien gets a favor from Hades and brings Odys men back to fight AGAINST Odysseus, Ody must fight and defeat all of them. Including Polites. He hammers down the ruthlessness point with that. And instead of torturing posiden, Posedien WILLINGLY lets him go. Ody learned his lesson. He now believes that "Ruthlessness is mercy upon himself" Posiden made his point and won. There's no longer a reason to kill him. He can still keep that dope "Next to my wife" line too, but this time Posedien is doing it more condescendingly. 3. Plays out a lot like 2 but now Posedin actually kills Ody and the 600-men fight takes place in the underworld, ody fighting his way through his men to return to his body. Bonus: Hades cameo. Hades is like "I respect your love for your wife, I'll give you a chance to return home" Queue the fight. Now would all these ideas work perfectly? No. But I do think its a good showcase of how I might work around my biggest hangups in the song. I hate to be so critical, I do adore the musical, but it's just a hump I can't get over.

[oonaluna-art]

In summary: I am in graduate school and don’t have as much time for drawing/writing as I did previously.

Following some recent comments, I realized that some followers are interested in a more detailed update on the status of my creative projects. I wanted to offer an explanation to those curious, as I often like knowing what my favorite creators are working on. 

---

What follows is a summary of my active projects and their status; they are ordered alphabetically rather than in order of importance:

City of Medusa: A semi-modern retelling of the story of Perseus and Medusa becoming friends, emphasizing that both were victims of circumstance. -- This project is canceled. The first draft was completed, but the story felt too personal and emotional to tell, focusing heavily on themes of depression and mental illness. I would have made myself depressed while fleshing it out as a comic.

Daughters of the Sea: Focusing primarily on the protagonist, Photine, this story is of several teenage protagonists (and one villain) who find magical rings that imbue them with the power of the Greek god Poseidon. The two groups fight over personal drama, and who will unite the rings to become Poseidon’s heir. -- This project is inactive. I would like the prose series to be a trilogy, but I am stuck on the second book's ending.

Juno’s Legacy: The story of a young woman who discovers that she’s the reincarnation of an ancient, immortal warlord. She travels the universe while trying to establish her role in a series of interplanetary nations that have gone on 1,000 years after her death. This world is filled with allies and enemies who have a variety of opinions of who she was and who she should be. -- This project is semi-active. I am several drafts into the first book, but I keep putting this project on the back burner.

Maite: The story is set in the Late Greek Bronze Age, during a period of armistice in the mythological Titanomachy War. A young woman partially raised by Athena discovers that her father was an Ancient Greek Titan. After running away from her home, she sets out on a quest to discover who her father is. -- This project is semi-active. Currently, the comic is in its first draft of the script. I am not 100% sure I will pursue this project, but I will make my decision after I wrap up Our New Hope.

Our New Hope: A comic-format fanfiction of the Skywalker twins discovering their identities in their teen years (12-14) thanks to Ahsoka Tano and Darth Vader entering their lives. -- This comic is on hiatus. I had planned to finish this before leaving for graduate school, but my laptop broke, so I wasn’t able to work on it anymore. I hope to finish this project after completing my one-year program.

Resurrection OCT: An Original-Character Tournament around the theme of winning a flower that can return one individual from the dead. This is my only active project on the list. I help judge and moderate this community. If you’d like to follow the story, check out the canon reading guide I made on TVTropes.

---

As a final announcement: I am aware my art is slowing down. I’ve decided to queue up some of my old works.  If you don’t want to see these “re-runs” just blacklist the tag “OonaLuna reblog.” Once I’m done my graduate school program, I will resume my old hobby. You will still see a handful of new posts, as I haven’t totally given up drawing.

[sabraeal]

If the Mind Is Willing, Chapter 7

[Read on AO3]

Written for @bubblesthemonsterartist, who has been waiting quite patiently for four months to really get a giant dose of TTRPG information, and truly, I do not know who is torturing who with this fic anymore 🤣

Classic Japanese aesthetics; that’s what Satsuma Estates boasts on their website, right below a scrolling banner with artful pictures of their “related amenities.” The hotel Zen garden, for one, conveniently angled so the student center isn’t visible from the koi pond; their conference rooms complete with tatami mat floors and faux shoji walls —modern forced air vents not shown— and the pièce de résistance: their honeymoons suites, the blurred suggestion of a white porcelain hot tub hidden behind the sleek, Asian-influenced furniture.

But for all their touting immersive, meditative Eastern Experiences, the double-queen Yamazaki’s booked is as Western as it comes. Both beds and bedside tables queue up along one wall like oarsmen in a galley, bolted to the floor just in case the freshmen in overflow housing gets interesting ideas about interior design. Considering how only two weeks ago, three students from one of the campus high-rises decided to see how their common room couch would look falling off the twenty-first floor balcony, it’s a prudent precaution. Even if he keeps jamming his toes into the TV stand straddling the aisle across from their beds.

Which Yamazaki manages one last time as he stumbles to the door, catching himself on the entryway with a muffled curse. “Was there really no other place to put that? They make ones that go on the wall now!”

Saito’s gaze lingers on the entertainment center, long enough that Yamazaki half expects a lecture on the history of hotel furniture to fall from his mouth, fully formed, like Athena from Zeus but filled with more pedagogic minutiae. But instead it slips back to the hallway, taking in his shoes— still beside the door— and the wall he’s idling against, and Saito says instead, “Are you ready to leave?”

“Just a minute,” he grunts, reaching down to slip his shoes on. And tie them for good measure; the rest of those uncultured heathens might just slip them off— laced!— and leave them at the door, but he cares about the long game. The continued integrity of his sneakers’ heels is worth a few extra seconds. Or at least it would be, if Saito didn’t keep looking at him with that mild stare of his, like somehow he’s the one causing a scene.

“You think we should check up on her, don’t you?” His voice strains as he stands, swinging steady as he crowds Saito in the jamb. “I’m not just— it’s the rational thing to do, isn’t it? She’s three floors up, on her own, and—”

“Behind a locked door,” Saito reminds him with infuriating patience. Not that he’d put up much of a fight when Yamazaki suggested they go just a few minutes ago. Oh, he’d raised his eyebrows— a hint, maybe, that this was all a little much— but he’d gotten up, no badgering necessary, and put on his shoes. Left Yamazaki to scramble after him, hurrying to put out his armor to air and arrange his jinbei for proper wrinkle protection. Stood there waiting for him like it was his idea in the first place. “If you just wanted to see her, there is no need to—”

“That’s not it at all!” The lie might land better if his skin wasn’t so eager to give him away. His whole face could violate dorm regulations for how quickly it burns. “It’s just— you know how Yukimura is. Someone could knock on the door and she wouldn’t even think to look through the peephole.”

Saito’s head tilts, considering. “A compellingly plausible scenario.”

“Then you agree, don’t you?” His height rarely bothers him— he’d rather be able to fit into attic crawl spaces than hit his head on every doorway he chanced across, like Harada— but in moments like this, Yamazaki can’t help but wish he had a couple more inches; enough to at least look across to meet Saito’s gaze than up. “We should go look in on her, just in case—”

A hand lifts, cutting him off as thoroughly as a cleared throat. “I already agreed that we should go up. I simply think it would behoove you to be more transparent about your reasons for doing so.”

“Wha—? My reasons?” he splutters, nearly tripping over himself to keep up as Saito starts down the hall. It takes him three doors to realize theirs is still open, light spilling across the aggressively neutral carpet, and he traipses back to close it, the lock beeping shut behind him. “I’ve already said that I’m concerned someone might try to—”

His phone buzzes, so loud even Saito glances at his pocket.

[The1andOotori] sorry to keep you all waiting we’re absolutely slammed at check-in this year

[Susumu Yamazaki] No need to apologize

[The1andOotori] i know i know problems we want to be having anyway, Enemoto wants to move our little chinwag until after dinner if that’s good with you

“Ah.” Saito leans over the screen, the corner of his mouth slyly slipping up. “And there is our excuse.”

“I wasn’t looking for an excuse.” A flimsy protest when the relief of having one was already washing over him. “It was the rational course of action considering her situation and the, er, proximity to dinner.”

Saito hums, not a note of it sincere. “Of course.”

[Susumu Yamazaki] Of course. We can make ourselves available at any time that is convenient for you and the other Game Masters

[The1andOotori] great thanks Enemoto just didn’t want to cut things short because time got tight and Itou thinks it’ll be more fun this way apparently filling you with confidence, i know

[Susumu Yamazaki] We’ll be ready.

*

Saito waits for the elevator doors to close before shoving the first pin into the cork board of his mental wellbeing. “Was there a reason you chose to take the front passenger-side seat this afternoon?”

“What do you mean by that?” His mind sifts through the question with a fine tooth comb, detecting only curiosity rather than complaint, but that doesn’t stop Yamazaki’s shoulders from picketing up around his ears. “I offered it to Yukimura, but she told me the arrangement was more optimal if she remained in the back.”

Both Saito’s eyebrows lift. “More optimal?”

Yamazaki shoves his hands into the windbreaker he’s got zipped up to his throat, warding off the ambient chill of the hotel halls. “She thought you might prefer a more familiar copilot.”

Saito blinks. “It was only twenty minutes away.”

He slants him a weary glance. “That was exactly her point.”

That pulls Saito up short, brows furrowing deep enough that they drop beneath the dramatic sweep of his bangs. “You could have given it to Heisuke.”

“What?”

“The front seat. Shotgun, as they say.” Saito’s head tilts, the question implicit in its angle. “You could have given it to Heisuke, and then you would have been able to share the back seat with Yukimura.”

It’s not until his jaw begins to work, trying to put something— anything— together that he realizes it’s been hanging open. “I was trying to be considerate!”

“You were considerate,” Saito agrees, the words nearly lost over the ding of the doors opening. “But failing that, you could have been clever. In any case”—he steps over the threshold, into an identical hall from the last— “have you changed your mind?”

“M-my mind?” It takes him a whole minute to remember he had feet, the kind that he could use to not only leave this little metal box, but that he should. Unless he wanted to be at the whims of whoever called it next, that is. Which he nearly is; the doors box at his shoulders as he steps through, only a twist of his torso letting him slip past before they bounce off. “About what?”

“About telling Yukimura.” Saito glances back at him— only Yamazaki’s blank stare to meet him— and clarifies, “About your feelings for hime-sama.”

Well, first off, he’d rather die. Second— “I don’t feel any way about hime-sama,” he manages, so even, and it’s almost not a lie.

Saito is too sincere for sarcasm, too direct for deadpan, but yet there is something utterly leveling about the way he says, “Pedantry over diction does not save you from its meaning.”

“It’s not me, it’s…a trait I roleplay.” It’s splitting hairs, honestly, but Yamazaki refuses to cede this ground. For his own sanity, if nothing else. “And it’s better if she doesn’t know. If she did— well, you know how Yukimura is. She’d feel pressured to have hime-sama reciprocate no matter how she actually felt about it. Ah, hime-sama, I mean.”

Impressive how confident he sounds, how authoritative; like he has a real, solid reason not to address the situation, instead of avoiding it solely because his knees go to jelly the minute he  contemplates saying the word ‘love’ in Yukimura’s immediate vicinity. Saito evens nods, like it’s a logical consideration, and not one he’s invented to keep himself from stammering out backstory like an idiot.

“I cannot refute that.” Surprisingly. “But do you really think Yukimura hasn’t already entertained the possibility? Hime-sama’s backstory is…thorough to say the least. Certainly more than most players invest into a character that might never come up in the course of play.”

“Because she is a crucial part of how both your character and mine were constructed.” It had been a novel concept at the time, one that Ootori had been all-too eager to encourage— two characters built with the assumption of a third, their set of skills incomplete without her. It had felt…fitting at the time. “Not just because, er…”

Saito’s back is to him, expression a mystery, but Yamazaki is almost certain he isn’t imagining the arch tone when he offers, “You’re in love with her?”

“I’m not— my character is in love with her. Hime-sama,” he clarifies, after the fact. “Not Yukimura.”

“Exactly,” Saito agrees, far too easily. “That would be you.”

“I'm not—!” His teeth snap shut at the warning simmer beneath his skin, just waiting for the lie to slip out so it can spread from collar to hairline. “I was the TA for her Biology section. It would have been completely inappropriate for me to—”

“Start a physical relationship with her while her grade was dependent on your objective assessment. Which you did not,” Saito reminds him, as if he might have forgotten starting a torrid affair with a student. As if he hadn’t been scrupulous over showing the smallest amount of favoritism, just in case one of her less academically inclined classmates started taking notes about how often the Lab Section 3 TA floated around Yukimura’s bench. “But the first semester has ended.”

“Well, yes.” Not like he’d been wringing his hands to the bone as the days counted down, hoping that he’d make it one day longer without Matsumoto calling him into his office to write him up for some sort of academic misconduct. That sort of misdemeanor goes on permanent records; the kind that med schools care about. “But that’s besides the point.”

Saito’s eyebrow twitches, so quick Yamazaki’s not sure if it’s a flinch or a feature. “Is it?”

It’s rhetorical, a question that doesn’t beg an answer; Yamazaki knows that. It’s just that he has one, a reply and a protest wrapped up in a single convenient package so that he can put this topic of conversation in the ground once and for all. But while he’s marshaling his thoughts, putting all his arguments into convenient order, they take a turn down a hall and Saito says, “That’s it. Yukimura’s room.”

His parents weren’t the kind of people that keep screens in their house— it had taken his older brother going off to college before they’d broken down and bought their first cell phone; one they’d shared, leaving it on the charger instead of in their pockets, utterly useless until a patient introduced his dad to Candy Crush and revolutionized the way electronics were seen in their household. But Yamazaki had friends, the sort that had cable or sometimes even Netflix, left on continuously in the background as their own parental figures took meetings or worked on spreadsheets two rooms over. He’d seen cartoons, that’s what he’s getting at. Even the old ones, the kind where some hapless man-animal thing— fursona, Heisuke’s enthusiastic whisper echoes in his ears before he can chase it away— has his arms stacked so high with boxes it sheds layers through doorways and around corners, each package so weighty that it’s a balancing act even on level ground. All it takes is a stray pebble, a wrinkle in the carpet, and—

And every last box tumbles to the ground. Which is what Yamazaki’s thoughts do now, right when he least needs it.

“Our fellow players are aware of the Daodoji’s feelings toward hime-sama,” Saito reminds him, pointed. “If you believe it is a secret, it is a poorly kept one.”

“Well, yes, I know.” Though Yamazaki had been hoping it would have been more of a reveal, a slow peeling back of his Harrier’s stern layers to show the man beneath. Instead, he’d mentioned her name once— a very professional hime-sama, in his opinion— and Greg had thrown up The Potato to wheeze out, ninja boy’s down bad, huh? “But they found that out through the course of play. Not because I…debriefed them before session start.”

Saito hums, unconvinced. “I only mean to suggest that it might be beneficial to give Yukimura forewarning now, rather than to wait until after she meets our companions tonight.”

Yamazaki manages a respectable, “Why would you think—?” before Saito concludes, “Since they will almost certainly inform her themselves.”

His jaw rebounds off the collar of his jacket before Yamazaki realizes it’s even dropped. “Everyone here are seasoned players! They would never” — he practically spits out the word— “metagame like that.”

“I agree. Such experienced roleplayers would never compromise the integrity of the game.” Saito stops right at Yukimura’s doorstep— er, so to speak— and slants him a meaningful glance. “But they would meddle.”

Yamazaki grimaces. As firm as their party might usually be about the boundary between character and player, even he can see: a real, live hime-sama might prove too much of a temptation.

But it’s easier to knock than to admit Saito may have a point. And so that’s what he does; three firm raps to end the conversation.

“Are you afraid of bleedthrough?”

Yamazaki whips around. “Excuse me?”

“I mean of the Daodoji’s feelings toward hime-sama,” Saito continues, heedless of how firm a period Yamazaki’s put on this conversation. “And your feelings toward Yukimura.”

God, she could be on the other side of this door right now. “N-no! Why would you— why are we talking about this right n—?”

The door rattles open, and there she is, the wide neck of her shirt askew across her shoulders, hair slipping from the twist of its holder. And just like clockwork, the terrible donkey kick of attraction hits him straight in his stomach, painful no matter how hard he’s braced.

“Good evening, Yukimura,” Saito says, formal. “It’s time for dinner.”

“Oh!” Her breath catches, and, ah, she must have ran to the door. It’s obvious now; apparent in every ragged rise and fall of her chest. Which he’s not watching with any particular interest, just, er, noticing. “But didn’t Keisuke say that we would be…er…?”

“There has been a change in plans,” Saito intones, incidentally ominous, and Yamazaki hurries to add, “Check out ran a little longer than Ootori planned. He says they’ll grab us after dinner.”

“Oh, all right!” Yukimura’s too-wide eyes ease, her smile easing to more its more natural bounds. “Just let me grab my shoes. Er, I mean, unless I need to wear something more, um…?”

“Dinner is out of character.” A welcome break, most days. As fun as losing himself in the story is, it’s a relief to come back from it too, to drag himself out of the high-tension, high-stakes world of Rokugan and into the real one, where his most pressing problem is whether Matsumoto has turned in his grades on time. “There’s going to be a bit of a prologue tonight to tease the main plot of the event, but we won’t be expected to be in costume.”

“Ah, sounds great!” She props the door open, just wide enough to imply an invitation. “Just give me one minute, and I should be ready to head out. Are we going to go pick up everyone else, or…?”

“I will let them know we’re heading down,” Saito informs her back as she pads across the floor, disappearing through an open entryway. “We’ll meet them in the atrium.”

She answers— he hears something like her voice from one room over, the last bit of it pitched in question— but the words are lost, leaving only the rise and fall of it behind. Yamazaki glances at the gap between door and jamb, more than wide enough for him to lean through, to take even the briefest glance of the space, if he wanted—

And Saito strolls right through, the soles of his boots silent on the faux tatami carpet. “Your accommodations are quite nice, Yukimura. Very…spacious.”

Yamazaki strains a sigh through his teeth and shuffles in after him, only to haul up short. The angle is different, but he’s seen that low, bamboo coffee table before, the corner of that sleek modern couch. And if he angles himself creatively enough, the white porcelain edge of a tub through the bathroom door— “Definitely not standard.”

Saito hums, mild. “They did specify that it would be an upgrade.”

“It’s a little silly isn’t it?” Yukimura’s doesn’t so much laugh as quiver at a high pitch, her smile stretched far too thin. “Sort of a waste when it’s just me here.”

“Would it make you more at ease if you had someone with you?” It’s not a casual offer; not with the way Saito narrows his eyes, not at Yukimura but over at some corner with only a waste bin tucked into it. “I’m sure any one of us would be happy to share accommodations with you, if you are uncomfortable with being alone.”

“Oh!” Relief washes over her, easing the knot between her brows and the stiff line of her shoulders— just before it’s swallowed whole by her least sincere smile. “No, no, really, I only have a couch to offer, and you’ve all paid to have beds! I couldn’t possibly impose.”

Her daily personal sacrifice complete, Yukimura traipses past them with a spring in her step, squirreling her shoes out from where she left them beside the door. A half dozen thoughts jostle behind his teeth— it’s not imposing if we want to help, and I’ve never heard of a free upgrade to the Honeymoon Suite, and what were you doing in the bedroom if your shoes were out here the whole time— but he bites his cheek, shoves his hands in his pockets, and minds his business.

Too bad he’s the only one.

“I doubt it would be a problem.” A quick glance is Yamazaki’s only warning before Saito offers, “I know Yamazaki wouldn’t mind if—”

Saito has too many abdominal muscles—squarely the fault of all the hours he spent swinging around bamboo swords at the dojo— to be quieted by the elbow Yamazaki shoves into them, but it at least stops him long enough for Yamazaki to hiss, “What are you doing?”

“Helping,” he says, infuriatingly mild. Good thing Yukimura is too busy struggling with both her flats and her conscience to hear.

“Well…don’t!” Heat already prickling at the highest parts of his cheeks, and god knows what’s going on with his ears. “If Yukimura wants…you know…she would let us know!”

Saito’s eyebrows twitch up under the generous sweep of his bangs. “Is that so.”

It’s not a question; it doesn’t need to be when Yukimura bounds up to them with all the restrained energy of a puppy on its best behavior and says, “You two don’t need to worry, really! I’m used to being alone.”

In terms of height, neither he nor Saito have much to write home about, but it’s enough to look square over Yukimura’s haphazard ponytail and exchange equally bone-weary stares.

“Are you sure?” Yamazaki presses, pockets cunningly concealing the way his fingers curl into fists. It’s the best way to make sure he doesn’t do something stupid, like grab her phone and leave a nasty voicemail for the man she calls her father despite all evidence to the contrary, or worse, touch her. “Saito’s right, it wouldn’t be a big deal if—”

“It’s fine.” There’s a finality to the way she says it, a resignation. “Really. Don’t worry about me.”

It’s not worth it, she doesn’t say, but Yamazaki hears it loud and clear, quivering in the empty space it leaves behind.  “Yukimura—”

“It’s dinner time, isn’t it?” She smiles like punctuation, marking the end of one page and the start of another. “You guys must be hungry.”

They exchange another glance— wary and concerned in equal measure— but it’s Yamazaki who finally says, grudgingly, “I could eat.”

*

“Damn. I gotta say, I didn’t expect this thing to be so…big.” Nagakura puffs up, neatly dwarfing the dining chair he’s settled most of himself into. “There’s got to be, what? Maybe a hundred people here?”

“Something like it.” Saito surveys the room, plate still untouched on the tablecloth in front of him, tallying up each head between the double doors and the buffet. “One of our better turnouts. It seems Marie’s new social media strategy has been reaching more of the local roleplay community.”

“Marie.” Harada rolls the name around in his mouth like he’s savoring it, interest too sudden for Yamazaki’s personal comfort. “Was that the cute blonde at check-in? Does she play too?”

“Is she single?” Nagakura adds, smile all teeth.

“She’s a Game Master,” Yamazaki explains, each word weighty with his disapproval. “She doesn’t play, per se— or at least not the way we will. She may take on the part of an NPC— maybe even multiple NPCs, depending on what’s needed— or she could simply be one of the administrators running the scenes. We won’t know until they do character introductions, and even then, only if she’s playing a major character for the campaign.”

“Too bad.” Harada props his chin up on the heel of his hand, like some sort of Byronic poet, minus both the dark and brooding. There’s more than enough wistful sighing, though. “I think I’d like to run into her a couple more times.”

A reaction Yamazaki can only term as distressing, to say the least. He opens his mouth— ostensibly to  inform him that this is a live-action roleplaying event and not…speed dating— but Saito swoops in first with, “I believe she is not currently romantically attached.”

Harada perks. “Really now…?”

Yamazaki furrows his frown into its most forbidding depths. “Don’t—“

“Toshi!”

The greeting’s warm— eager, even, before he even sees the frantic wave from across the room, or the girl bouncing on the toes of her scuffed up tennis shoes— but it has an immediate and, unfortunately, curious effect on the table he’s seated at. Or at least most of it— Yamazaki stiffens instead, glowering at the too-knowing look Saito levels his way

“Toshi?” Heisuke bobs around in his seat, half on top of it to see over the crowd. “Who d’you think they’re calling for?”

“You don’t think he’s here, do you?” Nagakura cranes his neck over his shoulder in what he tries to pass off as a cursory glance. “I mean, Shimada is, isn’t he? God, that would harsh the whole vibe. Hijikata out here, glaring at everyone, knee deep in nerd girl pussy—”

“The professor would not be— he would not be partaking in any sort of…of…” It takes Yamazaki’s mouth several seconds to settle around, “genitalia.”

It’s the force of his guffaw that whips Nagakura around, eyes wide and enjoying himself entirely too much. “You gotta be kidding me, my guy. First, he absolutely would be. Can’t go anywhere with that guy without panties—”

He stifles a yelp, leaping out of his seat before he catches Harada’s pointed look across the table. To where Yukimura sits, pink from hairline to collar— and with the sweeping line of her sweater, there’s quite a bit of it on display.

“Er…I’m just saying…he’s popular, you know?” Nagakura clears his throat, but it does nothing to hide the rosy tint of his own cheeks. “And second—”

“Toshi! There you are.”

It’d be rude to pretend that he has never met the gaggle of fellow college students that traipse up to their table, Greg and his infectious grin at the helm, but Yamazaki can’t suppress the cringe. Not when everyone is just staring at him like he’s got more than the standard amount of accepted heads. “H-hey…”

“We’ve been looking all over for you.” No one’s ever accused Greg of being able to read a room, and he certainly doesn’t develop a proficiency now, clapping him on the shoulder in a stunning display of strength and laughing loud enough to rattle the ventilation system. “Can’t do this thing without our favorite ninja, can we? And Goro, you’re here too! This weekend is going to be fucking epic right?”

By the stares he’s getting from his housemates, epically embarrassing is more like it.

“Toshi?” Harada echoes, attention fixed to him with the sort of consternated concentration that suggests the gears are churning but they won’t catch. That they can’t possible be catching, because then—

“You’re Toshi?” It’s a miracle Nagakura’s slack jaw contracts enough to manage the question; one he repeats for an additional, “Really?”

“Woah!” Heisuke surges forward on his chair, mouth split into its widest, most friendly grin, like a golden retriever you can tell is about to gleefully vomit on the carpet. “Is that because you’re Hijikata’s biggest fan?”

“N-no,” Yamazaki stammers out, palms itching where he grips the table. “That’s not…I mean…”

“Listen, I know you look up to the guy,” Harada starts, the corners of his eyes creased with pain, “but not really?”

“Maybe I took a little inspiration,” he admits; better to cede a small amount ground and win the war than lose it and the day altogether. At least, that’s what the professor always taught. “But it’s not like I…I mean, he’s not really…” He darts a helpless look toward Saito. “Help me out here!”

Saito fixes him with a stare so eloquent it somehow says both you’re on your own and you made this bed all on yourself with only the angle of his eyebrows.

“Whatever,” he mutters, shoulders hunched up around his ears. Not like it does anything to hide how red they are. “Just don’t say anything.”

“Oh.” Okita’s mouth pulls wide in a grin so unhinged it would give the Cheshire cat some pause. “I’m posting this to Twitter as we speak. Gimme a sec, I’ll at Toshi too—”

Yamazaki groans, sinking further into his seat. Death would be a mercy.

“Oh, hey, are these the friends Ootori was talking about at check in?” It’s no surprise that Jeff’s the one to step forward, scritching awkwardly at his beard as he surveys the two circular tables they’ve pushed together, only half the seats filled on either one. “Your…roommates, right?”

“Housemates,” Saito corrects with unerring precision, oblivious to the way the party stifles giggles behind their hands, exchanging the sort of looks that Yamazaki, even in the mood to be uncharitable, can only call fond. What had Kyle said last month? Looks like we’re about to be blessed with a bout of Goro’s meticulous pedantics, again. “I had not been aware that it would be such an exceptional circumstance to have made its way around to other players yet.”

“Are you kidding? You guys have been playing longer than most of the people in this group except the game masters.” Kyle crosses his arms over his hoodie, tugging impatiently at one of the pull strings. “We didn’t even know you had other friends.”

“I think some of us could have guessed,” Katie deadpans, goodwill already wearing thin in this crowd. “I mean, it’s not like the both of them do bad for themselves or whatever.”

It’s only because Yukimura’s next to him that he catches the little ripple across her friendly face, the barest twitch of her eyebrows as she murmurs, “Do bad for themselves…?”

“Is that why you got held up at check-in?” Jeff asks, dropping into the conversation with the subtlety of a brick. “Some of the guys were saying Ootori was giving you some kind of trouble.”

Jeff’s too nice a guy to stare right at him, marking him out as the Origin of the Problem, but he’s also not looking hard enough to rattle Yamazaki’s teeth. “Er, no. Not as such.”

“You get some new gear or something?” Greg offers; the most likely explanation. “I know Kyle had a new katana this year, and it took him forever to get through the line.”

“Marie couldn’t seem to keep her head out of her ass,” Kyle grunts in agreement, warming to the idea of conversation now that he’s got something to complain about. “I swear I filled out those stupid forms twice before Ootori took ‘em straight out of her hands. Let her go take a walk around the hall before she sat back down and filed them all. A real pain in my ass.”

“Oh, shut up.” Katie’s eyes roll, all the more obvious for how bright they are. “Like you could even do one administrative task without catastrophically fucking up. You can barely keep your character sheet up to date, let alone bother with anyone else.”

“Well, it’s not my job—”

“No new weapons,” Saito confirms, pitched to cut off the argument before it starts. “But Yamazaki has done some impressive improvements on his costume.”

“Whaaat? Toshi, when are you gonna help me with my costume?” Audra shoulders her way past the rest of the pack, nearly tripping over her own toes in the process. She’s all energy already, still bouncing on her toes, looking him over like she might find some hidden hint of embroidery. “Your needlework always comes out so nice. You have to show me how you do it.”

“It’s not anything complicated,” he insists, like he always does. “Black on black just looks impressive.”

“But it is hard.” Her lip juts out, just like some little kid one ‘no’ away from causing a scene in the food court. “I always lose track of where I am! How can you even keep track of the needle when—”

“So if you didn’t bring new shit or whatever, what’s crawled up Marie’s butt and died?”

“Jesus Christ, Kyle, what the hell is wrong with you?” Katie wheels around on him, finger already mid-wag, ready to dig it right into the graphic print across his chest. “It’s not like that’s Toshi’s problem!”

“Oh yeah? You really think—?”

“So are you going to introduce us?” Audra asks at a rather pointed volume, her dark eyes flitting over Nagakura first, then Harada, before her brows twitch an infinitesimal degree toward her hairline. There’s interest there, the kind that wants to make him slump his head into his hands and groan; it’s not as if she’s been shy about sharing her physical preferences— namely that she likes her men climbable, which isn’t exactly a feat when most fourth graders could stare her in the eye. But there’s also a healthy dose of skepticism, like it’s somehow impossible he might know a couple of guys who could lift, let alone live with them. “You brought so many I think I’ll need a cheat sheet to remember them all!”

“Sanosuke.” Harada’s quick to slide a hand out, eyes meeting hers at half-mast, smirk hoisted to his most charmingly casual. “But you can call me Sano.”

“Shinpachi.” Nagakura practically climbs over Harada to thrust out his own hand, that winning politician’s son smile sparkling beside Harada’s more subtle one. “But all my friends call me Shin.”

“A pleasure,” Audra giggles, like this isn’t a complete and utter nightmare on every level. It was bad enough having his roommates and fellow players in the same room, let alone…mixing like this. Perhaps even…sexually. Yamazaki suppresses a shudder.

“I’m Heisuke!” Not one to be left out, Todou sticks his hand out too, friendly as a dog wagging its tail. “You can call me…uh…Heisuke.”

“Nice,” Harada murmurs, all teeth. “That’s a good one.”

“I think so!” Todou chirps, utterly guileless as Audra gives him a firm shake. “You guys are Hajime’s friends?”

“And Toshi’s,” Katie confirms, watching both big men like a hawk as Audra pulls back, a troublesome grin painted across her mouth. No, a thoughtful one, which is worse. “We’re not Crane clan, but well, we’re all still friendly.”

“Allies,” Kyle offers, earning himself the filthiest glare she can summon up in mixed company.

“I’m a lion.” Heisuke grins at them with all the hapless joy of a small child showing off his best Spiderman costume. “Because it’s my—”

“Sano and Shinpachi have also chosen to play members of the Lion Clan,” Saito interjects, smoothly skirting around yet another fursona incident. “And Souji will be playing a member of the Cat clan.”

“Cat Clan?” Jeff huffs, surprised. “That’s not a usual choice.”

“What can I say?” Okita hums, so mild, like he isn’t going to relish every opportunity to put a knife in their back. “I guess I just have a real affinity for cats. Some might even say a—”

There’s a thump beneath the table, swift and precise, and Okita’s smile turns positively angelic.

Greg laughs, hooking his hands on his hips. “They’re a tricky bunch, you know! I guess we’ll have to keep an eye on you.”

There’s more teeth than tenderness in the smile Okita turns to him. “You can try.”

Katie zeros in on where Yukimura sits— a girl-seeking missile, Jeff called her once, with a laugh, she can smell a potential player from fifty paces— and asks with all the delicacy of an inquisition, “And what about you? Who are you playing?”

“O-oh, me?” Yukimura’s flustered, cheeks already flushed from the attention. “Ah…Doji Kaoru.”

At their blank looks, she adds, “I think she’s, um…Hogkyu’s daughter.”

Jeff’s eyes bulge. “The Hogkyu? Doji Hogkyu?”

“Um, yes, I think.” Her head tilts, thoughtful. “The daimyo of Crane Clan.”

A nuclear explosion would have hit with more subtlety and far, far less collateral damage.

“You’re hime-sama?” Audra breathes, clasped hands turning it halfway to a prayer. “Really? Hime-sama?”

“What,” Kyle manages around his slack jaw, “the fuck, dude?”

Katie’s the first to round on him, all of that Torquemada-level focus leveled squarely in his direction. “You’re really letting someone play her? The real hime-sama? No joke?”

“You could have told us you had a girlfriend,” Greg adds, somewhere between admonishing and elated. “We’re happy for you! Especially since she’s such a—”

“Oh, I’m not”— Yukimura waves her hands, the rosy pink dusted across her cheeks spreading north and south, turning a deep sun-burned red— “we’re not— I mean, I only, um…?”

“Yukimura is a friend,” he informs them with as much authority as can be mustered in front of five people who regularly witness his transformation into a ninja for four hours at a time. “It was her first time joining a roleplaying game, let alone one of this scope, and she inquired as to whether it would be possible for her to assume a previously established character with ties to veteran players. Hime-same was simply the best fit.”

Kyle’s gaze flicks up her from flats to flyaways, and he snorts. “Oh, I bet it was.”

Jeff spares him a quelling sort of glare. “Don’t start.”

“It’s not a big deal,” he blusters— uselessly, he knows, but protesting too much is better than not protesting at all. At least while Yukimura is here, trying her best to look anywhere but at him. “Ootori was planning on introducing hime-sama this session anyway. Yukimura merely saved Marie the trouble of playing her.”

“Oooh.” Audra winces, her and Katie trading needlessly sympathetic glances. “Poor Marie.”

“Has anyone bothered to tell her?” Katie asks, accusing, as if somehow that would be his job, rather than Ootori’s.”

“Marie met Yukimura earlier, at check-in.” There’s a sternness to the wait Saito shapes the words, a tone he rarely takes when he’s not kitted out in Goro’s armor. “I was under the impression it had been previously discussed, after Toshi approached Ootori about Yukimura’s participation.”

Air rattles out from between Kyle’s teeth, judgment heavy in every sibilant hiss. “Well, that’s one fucking mystery solved. No wonder Marie was acting like something bit her—”

The lights flicker, and Ootori’s voice booms from over the PA system. “If everyone could take their seats, the formal welcoming ceremony will be starting soon!”

“You guys want to sit with us?” Nagakura asks, so quickly it’s more reflex than conscious thought, a gracious host through and through. “We’ve got plenty of seats.”

“Oh, sure!” Greg’s already sidling over, taking the empty space next to Okita. “That’s real kind of you.”

“Nah, nah, not at all…”

Katie’s quick to take Yukimura’s other side, tossing him a glare that could melt pavement. Audra settles in beside her, legs crossed over the cushion.

“I don’t think we were properly introduced,” Katie says with as much manners as she can summon outside of character. “I’m Katie, I play—”

The drops into darkness cutting conversation down to a gasp— for most, at least; Katie’s only muted to a muttered, though heartfelt, “Oh my fucking god.”

One that’s well-earned, since the lone light that pierces the darkness is a spotlight, trained on where Itou sits, every inch an imperial prince in his seven-layer kimono.

“My countrymen,” he intones, head bowed before his audience. “I am humbled by the number of you that have come to lend your support in these troubled times…”

*

For all his years among the Doji, bowing and scraping in the presence of daimyo and bushi, Toshizo must admit— none have possessed the presence this prince does in a single hair, let alone taken in his entirety. He was just as their eyes in the capital had reported; young and vigorous, in every way the inheritor of his father, both in beauty and bearing. No daimyo’s hair has ever shone with such luster, nor retained such a purity of color; it glistened in the firelight like a dark mirror, an abyss that those touched by the void could have no hope of escaping. And when his voice finally lifted in greeting—

Ah, it was as if the Jade Dragon whispered into his ear herself.

“My countrymen.” It is not the place of a prince to prostrate himself before his followers, but even so, his tone is all that is good and modest. “I am humbled by the number of you who have come to lend your support in these troubled times.”

“What else are we to do?” Goro mutters beside him, too low for all but the closest ears to hear. Too many, even still. “Our only other choice is a madman.”

It is an effort not to glare, not to shush him with the same precision his cousin wields his blade, but Toshizo knows better than to feed this mood of his. Not when that Dragon Clan girl is watching them with such interest, her smile never quite reaching her eyes.

“As you are all well aware by now, my lords, my honorable father has already released his newest edict of succession, announcing his intention to have me supplant my brother as heir.”

There was murmuring now, a wave of renewed oaths, avowing their loyalty— and an even quieter minority who merely shifted on their knees, unsure of this new precedent. It was one thing to kill a man and usurp his place within the clan, and quite another to have it pulled out from beneath his feet, all without a single blade drawn.

“But I have ridden here without rest not to tell you what you already know. No…” The prince took in a shuddering breath, letting his soft flesh turn to steel before them. “I come to bear you news of the greatest misfortune: my father is dead, killed by my brother’s own hand and our family’s most blessed sword.”

Gasps ripple over the crowd, followed quickly by cries of grief and protest. Toshizo’s own blood cools in his veins, his limbs leaden where they lay, and he knows, the way his kind must, that the prince speaks the truth. Hantai Jodan has passed from this plane, and gone to where none but the Kami may reach him.

“It may seem impossible,” his son admits, his grief-stricken heir. “But it was witnessed by my very own retainer, the shugenja Iuchi Shahai.”

It is only now that Toshizo sees her, nearly lost among all the murmurings; that small form seated in the prince’s shadow, Iuchi Daiyu’s eldest daughter. There is not a man in this room who does not know of her, or of her father, the Ki Rin’s daimyo; notably missing from this assembly. All that they know is rumor of course; mere conjecture— that she is the single child by his legal wife, and not his notable lover, the Ki Rin’s champion. The one who was invited into the Forbidden City and taught mastery of meishodo, her family’s most guarded mystery; the same she later taught without hesitation among the Hidden Guard, angering the rest of the Iuchi. The one said, even now, to be the second prince’s lover.

The one who is currently looking straight at him, as if her magic might be able to peel back the membranes of his mind and allow her access to the secrets within. An odd occupation, for the second prince’s most masterful shugenja.

"You all must see now what I would not for so long: my brother will stop at nothing to see that he is seated on the throne.” The second prince squares his shoulders, facing them with all the pride of a Hantei. No— of the Hantei. “There will be plenty who support him simply due to his position as the eldest of my brothers, no matter what my father wished on his deathbed. If we wish to deny him the bloodshed he seeks, the only thing left to us is to press the legitimacy of my claim however we can. And if it is not my bloodline that will sway his supporters, or the words of my father, well…”

His mouth curves in a beatific smile, the lamb being led to the block. “Then perhaps the proper lineage of my wife will. From this day forward, I swear to do as so many of my forebears have— I will marry a Crane wife, and there is none among them more pedigreed than the Doji daimyo’s own daughter.”

*

Yamazaki flinches back, only his hands on the table to steady him. The Doji daimyo’s daughter. We were going to have to cast her for this session, that’s what Ootori had said, that rat bastard. It actually takes a load off my plate.

He stifles a groan. Didn’t it just?

“However,” Itou continues, too far away to see the way Saito’s wide eyes meet his, bright in a bloodless face. “It seems my brother is of the same mind as I, and has already sought the Doji girl’s hand. Hogkyu, in his infinite wisdom, rebuffed him…and paid for it with his life.”

“This explains Ootori’s insistence on Official Hallway Time,” Saito murmurs. “If the daimyo’s daughter is supposed to marry the prince, then we are not merely participating in the plot…”

“The daughter has gone into hiding. If she can be found, our marriage will cement my ties to the Doji Clan, and lend the legitimacy needed for the traditionalists to be swayed to my cause…”

They are the plot. Yamazaki’s fingers curl against the tablecloth. That is…an added complication.

A hand lands heavily on his shoulder, and he follows it right up to where Ootori grins, finger pressed to his lips.

“Hey guys,” he whispers, too pleased. “You got a minute?”

[spookybluebirdcupcake]

So I'm just getting through more 9-1-1 Lone Star and I wanted to share some of my 9-1-1 related thoughts

(I've watched to the end of season 7 on the main show though I do know some spoilers for season 8) and just at the end of season 2 of Lone Star)

1 (a). I am not a Buddie fan. If it happens like sure I wouldn't HATE it, but I don't want it to happen and my headcanon is that Eddie could actually be ace (I'm ace and I love platonic relationships in media so I'd love to see that!) I also don't hate Buck/Tommy but I am very confused by that episode where Buck spends all his time trying to get Eddie's attention and ends up saying he wants Tommy's and idk their relationship is just weird... my fav Buck relationship was actually with Taylor and I'm kinda mad they didn't last tbh.

1 (b). The writers of this show have no idea how to make characters start relationships. I love Bobby and Athena but the way they got together was so random. Buck and Abbie was a weird storyline/couple. Eddie doesn't know how to talk to women so I'll give them points for being able to use that as to why him getting into a relationship with someone is weird. TK and Carlos also kinda weird how it just sorta happens out of nowhere??? This show just doesn't know how to organically start a couple 😂 I do love the couples once they are established though because they are all just amazing!

2 (a). Judd and Grace are my fav 9-1-1 couple followed closely by Chim and Maddie. The difference is Chim carries Maddie but Judd and Grace carry each other... but it is also kinda fair given Maddie's trauma that she would need a bit more help. Chim is still a saint though. He was my first favourite character when watching season 1.

2 (b). The Boston episode and the Saving Grace episodes are 2 of my favs that focus on those couples and I feel like i haven't seen either of them get as much love as they should.

3. Eddie is my fav character and I am not even slightly sorry about the amount of posts I have in my queue of him 😂

4. Characters I thought I would hate but ended up loving: Eddie, Judd, and Mateo. I did start the main show being very frustrated by Hen - they did her dirty to begin with - but I never actually disliked her. I never liked Abbie and I was glad she didn't stick around - replacing her role in the show with Maddie was the best decision they could have made!

5. I miss so many characters that are no longer in there. I want May to come back so badly! And I did hear the actor wasn't a great dude but Michael was such a fun character!

6. The tsunami storyline was the best 3 episodes of 9-1-1 and you will never convince me otherwise. The power outage is in 2nd place though because those episodes were also insane!

7. Seasons 3-5 were the best, 6 and 7 had me losing interest and I'm honestly scared to start season 8 because I don't want it to be as bad as season 7

8. The crossover episode in Lone Star should have been a 3 episode arc and/or I would have loved them to have done more crossovers. I understand why they couldn't/why it wouldn't make sense but I still wish it could have happened.

9. I don't like Lone Star as much as the main show yet, but the end of season 2 has picked up a lot so I really hope it stays at this level! I love the diverse cast and feel like there are so many stories that could be told with these people.

10. Marjan and Eddie would be such a power duo if they worked at the same fire house and I would absolutely have loved to have seen that... I'm not super into fan fiction but I would read the shit outta that! I was so excited for them in the crossover ep but I feel like they weren't given enough time/story to really do anything fun. But I feel like that about all the characters being paired up in that episode which brings me back to number 8 😂

I probably have more I can add to this but that's all I can think of right now..

[buck-up-buck]

HMMMMM. Let's talk about THIS right now, because WTF.

Is Tim in my walls?

BABES.

Let's delve into this.

First of all, I WAS SO RIGHT ABOUT THEM MEETING IN THE HOSPITAL WHEN BOBBY BRINGS A PATIENT AND I AM GAGGING OVER THIS HOLY FUCK.

@thetangycheesemanwithaplan called the stalker AA plot which is posted below, for ya'll to see, which we just saw in the promo for 7x08 and I am FERAL OVER THAT.

SO NOW, let's delve into the fact that I...

Called Bobby wanted to gain his forgiveness, which is hinted in the promo.

PROTECTIVE ATHENA LIKE LOOK AT HER FACE IN THAT PROMO ARE YOU KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW!

The entire revenge plot like come on, I CALLED THIS SHIT SO HARD.

Amir losing someone in the fire, potentially a wife or fiance..... I SAID THAT I ACTUALLY SAID THAT!

NOW, onto my cheeky lil ideas for the next two episodes because I have some more thoughts... Again, these scream AO3 but, let me fantasies okay because that episode and promo did things to me.

Picture this.

Bobby walks into his lil AA meeting and low and behold, there is Amir, ready to throw all Bobby's troubles at him, and Bobby spirals because damnit he wants to make amends with this man and he is making it so. damn. hard.

NOW, Athena is like, you stay the hell away from this man Bobby or so help me GOD I will tie you to this goddamn dining room table with your firehose. So he listens....

UNTIL

He gets a text message from Buck, but no, it's not Buck, ITS AMIR, because AMIR HAS KIDNAPPED BUCK AND IS HOLDING HIM HOSTAGE IN AN ABANDONED EASY MOTEL IN THE DESERT.

"come get your boy. come alone."

Buck is all like "Father help" and Bobby of course is like "OH NO MY BOY" (if you understand this reference I love you, if not, it's okay you made it this far I still love you.)

Bobby shows up and he is READY FOR A GODDAMN FIGHT (Kenneth did day a conflict for Bobby in episode 8 and we did see this man put a LITERAL KNIFE TO BOBBY'S NECK) so if this does not scream fight (WHICH I ALREADY PREDICTED ANYWAY) then I don't know what does.

Buck is all tied up and a bit battered and bruised but mainly concerned about the fact that he can smell FIRE and Bobby is fighting this man while OH NO, THE EASY MOTEL IS STARTING TO BURN AND FUCK THIS IS NOT GOOD.

Tag Amir winning/getting an upper hand on Bobby and him and Buck both end up stuck in this motel burning down.

Queue, Ashes Ashes 7x09.

Now, we all saw the helipad in the sneak peek pictures of them filming in the desert so, imagine, IMAGINE, Tommy, Buck's sexy hot as mother fucking firefighter pilot boyfriend coming to save his Boyf and soon to be father in law.

SCREAMING.

Okay I'm done. Someone take tumblr off me.

[probablygayattorneys]

Ace Attorney asks:

2, 9, 16, 27, 39

Thanks for the ask!

2. Favourite case?

This is a surprisingly hard one so I am going to close my eyes and just whatever the first one I think of is what I'm going to say

Bridge to the Turnabout

Almost every case has redeemable moments but that one really stands out to me as the one that perfectly ties together everything the original trilogy was building towards, and is a masterclass in storytelling.

9. Favourite witness?

Adrian Andrews. Not as a witness, necessarily, but just as a whole character. She's just like me for real.

16. Least favourite victim?

Jezaille Brett is the one that most immediately stands out to me as someone who, in the middle of the case, I wanted to stop playing because I didn't want to catch the killer, except to shake their hand and give them a congressional medal of honor.

Also on the podium are Jack Hammer and Pal Merkatis. Leave Dee and Alita alone! SHE'S FINE! SHE WASN'T DOING ANYTHING! HEY! STOP!

27. Apollo’s perceive, Phoenix’s magatama or Athena’s Mood Matrix?

Gotta give this one to the magatama. Perceive is a cool mechanic but tedious in actual gameplay unless you know exactly what/where/when to look, and I'm too emotionally unstable to make sense of the Mood Matrix. Like, what do you mean I'm supposed to identify what a person shouldn't be feeling in a certain circumstance? I'm not a director at Pixar it's none of my goddamn business who was at the control panel in their mind at any given moment. I can't even make sense of my emotions and now you want me to make sense of someone else's? Fuck you!

Also I actually have a magatama necklace so bonus points there.

39. Would you like there to be another Ace Attorney/Professor Layton crossover game?

I don't know if I'd necessarily like to see the duo from the original trilogy with Phoenix and Maya but I'd love to see the trio from the prequel trilogy with the folks from Great Ace Attorney Chronicles. Emmy teaching Susato how to do a proper roundhouse kick and Susato teaching Emmy the art of a Susato takedown would be magnificent.

However, knowing what happened behind the scenes at Capcom the last time there was a crossover game, I'm not sure I'm willing to risk it. My queue tag actually means something to me, it's not something I say just so you know I'm not physically at my computer at any given moment. I live and die by the words. Anything that would risk Shu losing even more absolutely must be rejected immediately.

[staticintone]

Definitely not a one to one—no one’s getting a realization from him—but Athena is RAM Alastor, in the beginning. The Red edition also has some better retorts, but Green is better musically and feels more like Charlie.

Yes, it's me It's me, of course it's me! The one who gets it done Don't you see? It had to be You all turn away when I gut the fish Then you cry hooray once it's on the dish That's how we do this Yes, we! Yes, you and me I have always cared for you I'll always do all these things for you All these things that you are not prepared to do!

[You say you care, Athena, look around! The way you care grinds these Idols down

Time to put this girl in check

From up above, you played your puppet show You called it love, Athena, did you know You're turning them to ghosts?

This irritating speck Sorry little bird, time to wring your neck!]

None of you see! So it's down to me It's fine, I'll take all the blame! I'll take all the pain You think you see it all? You just see a scrap You want to make the call, you need to hold the map You cloistered children! It's time for you, and all who stand with you Yes, you too - form a queue! Time to follow through!

[death-himself]

ok season finale thoughts

THANK GOD they put in Luke training Percy, honestly that's a change I really like. The medium of film allows you to do flashbacks like that, and that's a really good change. they had me worried but thank god

I started checking how long things were for this episode to determine how I felt about pacing, the Ares fight was roughly 6 minutes long. For a 40 minute episode I think that's decent, but I still wish it were longer

the entire fight I thought they were on the beach in CA, so I was very confused when the Montauk cabin was there until later in the ep T-T

thinking about it though, the pearls teleporting them to Montauk is a nice change, especially since this Poseidon explicitly cares more about Sally

why were annabeth and grover trying to argue to keep the bolt?? that just...did I misread that scene what the fuck why

I guess it was just because they were worried about percy dying but like, it felt weird

that first shot of olympus, just incredible, loved that

the throne room...kind of underwhelming

BUT i paused for like 5 minutes counting the thrones, there are 11 and then a HEARTH FOR HESTIA I CANT I LOVE THAT

hestia gives away her throne to dionysus, so it doesn't make much sense, but since dionysus is at camp most of the time I think that works. plus I just love hestia so no complaints about that

Zeus is the first god to actually feel like a god, wish Hades also felt that way, but loved Zeus

rest in peace Lance Reddick, he was perfect in my opinion, I think it'll be hard to top him

the switch to Ancient Greek was cool, also really appreciated that they used the proper pronunciation of the gods' names (at least I think it's the proper pronunciation)

the throne room scene felt very similar to the book, so I'm pretty happy with it

they changed annabeth's hairstyle the second she got to camp lol

the aphrodite and athena cabins saw her come back alive and was like "awright time for a makeover" she was there for like 20 minutes max

I know a lot of people have been talking about how dark the show is, but as someone who hasn't been having that problem, the fireworks made those shots look so cool

I really hope people having that problem are also able to see in that scene, because the lighting is just so nice

AND THEY DID THE FUCKIN THING AGAIN Percy figuring out Luke so quickly, I got so mad, can this kid be tricked once

ok, how I would've done that scene so it's still somewhat the same but more interesting: they start going over the lines in the prophecy, they reach the betrayal line, queue a slow look of realization from Percy, swelling dramatic music, then maybe have Luke realize Percy's figuring it out and he trips Percy to the ground and pull out the scorpion

fuck the tell don't show thing they're doing, Percy didn't have to outright say, "o you stole the bolt" WALKER'S A GREAT ACTOR have him have that look of realization with the audience, he's shown he has the acting skills to pull that off really damn well

anyway Luke's "I'm here to recruit line" was my favorite part of that scene, that line felt scary

and I know they were probably going for a parallel of them training in the woods earlier vs actually fighting each other, but that didn't really feel necessary to be honest, we didn't really need that fight scene

and Annabeth revealing herself and Luke visibly panicking, I liked that too

this scene had a lot of cool things, but the way we got to that was disappointing

dionysus straight up not realizing percy's name wasn't peter wasn't funny to me at first, but now I'm realizing he was probably trolling so I can get behind that scene lol

that man definitely knew percy's real name and has always been actively choosing not to use it

they changed Annabeth's hair again, I'm in love. so ready for her to have a different hairstyle every season

that dream sequence felt a little unnecessary and it confused me a bit, but I'm alright with it

sally writing down everything kronos is saying in his dreams, love that

how they killed off gabe is exactly how I was expecting them to after watching the first couple episodes. and him wanting to pick the lock after Sally changed them makes him even worse. Having him try to do that along with looking through a package not addressed to him, PLUS him not even living there anymore. All that shittiness put right before him turning to stone definitely made it feel deserved

I came away from this episode not entirely satisfied, but content. This episode felt the most book-accurate to me, both events-wise and tonally. And I think that's because the chapters it's based off are the most serious in the book, so with the new tone the show's taking, it fits right in

I'm gonna make another post about my thoughts on the season overall, but I think I'm gonna rewatch the whole thing first

[bitterseaproduction]

Had a wild idea of an EPIC story of Athena taking herself & Odysseus back in time to somewhere in the Troy-Thunder sagas when things go wrong.

That part isn't too original -- some of the first fics I've latched onto go that route -- but when I considered my ideal 'things go wrong' rewind trigger, it wasn't anything canonical. Or before Ody makes it back to Ithaca. It's after he gets home. After he takes out the suitors. After he reunites with his son.

What could go wrong that late in the story? Well, I had a semi-separate thought: Where exactly was Penelope during that whole thing? How did she stay safe?

Then, with this what-if in mind, I thought, 'What if she wasn't safe?'

Queue the end of I Can't Help But Wonder interrupted by Telemachus screaming in his mother's rooms. Odysseus running in an instant, only to stop in the doorway at what he sees inside. Stopping completely, completely silent as his son sobs on the ground, not reacting, his mind shattered.

A still present Athena, at her greatest point of regret, propelled to take a drastic move she would have never dared before. But she cannot leave her friend--her friends--in such a state.

Queue Odysseus awakening nearly a decade earlier on his still intact ship, his still loyal crew about him, and the last thing he can recall the dead face of his wife.

Imagine that impact. Imagine how quickly he would get home again. The lengths he (and Athena) would go to to get him there.

...Imagine what an Odysseus like that would do to the hundred-plus men on his island when he gets home. The men who were not yet suitors. Who have no idea what's coming for them.

Imagine.

[frickingnerd]

Queue

number of posts in the queue: 38

⋆˖⁺‧₊ ANIME ₊‧⁺˖⋆

DanDaDan

yandere okarun

⋆˖⁺‧₊ CARTOONS ₊‧⁺˖⋆

Miraculous

dating rockstar!luka

love triangle with marinette & kagami

RWBY

mercury's s/o taking him in

arranged marriage with ironwood

bully!cardin falling for his victim

yandere jaune arc

yandere jaune with a bullied darling

yandere team jnpr

playfully avoiding ironwood's kisses

⋆˖⁺‧₊ BOOKS ₊‧⁺˖⋆

Percy Jackson

love triangle with the seven

⋆˖⁺‧₊ VIDEOGAMES ₊‧⁺˖⋆

Ace Attorney

love triangle with trucy & athena

dating ashley graydon

Danganronpa

love triangle with junko & mukuro

falling asleep gaming / chiaki

shuichi dating kokichi's sibling

Final Fantasy

love at first sight with noel

a place to rest / ashe

Fire Emblem

tharja with a s/o who's her polar opposite

don't talk like that! / touma

yandere yuri leclerc

sylvain caught making out with felix's sibling

take your hands off them / jakob

love triangle with dimitri & sylvain

too anxious to make a move / ignatz

takaya's s/o killing someone in self-defense

Persona

cuddling with ren during a thunderstorm

yandere resurrected!makoto

secretly dating takaya

caught making out with ren

hidetoshi comforting his s/o during a breakdown

The Legend of Zelda

link taking his s/o on a motorcycle ride

love triangle with link & sidon

yandere impa

Xenoblade Chronicles

love triangle with morag & brighid

love triangle with shulk & rex

love triangle with zeke & pandoria

we're NOT a couple? / ethel

[cracklands]

not an April Fools joke, this ain't a scene, welcome to✨CRACKLANDS✨

Unofficial hub for (almost) all possible crackships present across the Borderlands franchise! We're here to spread love around and share your most obscure crackships imaginable.

First, we want to differentiate crackships and rarepairs so there's no confusion:

CRACKSHIP - a ship between characters who have never met in canon. For example, Maya/Sasha have never interacted in canon, thus making them a crackship

RAREPAIR - an unpopular ship between characters who did meet in canon. For example, Handsome Jack/Krieg, though an unpopular ship, have interacted in canon, thus making them a rarepair

Got it? Now let's get into the rules!

We accept all kinds of ships! No matter if they're wlw, mlm, m/f or ot3s, they're welcome on this blog. Additionally, we also accept platonic relationships, as they will be tagged as #platonic

What we don't allow, are ships which go against characters' canon sexualities. So absolutely not shipping Athena with men or Hammerlock with women

We don't allow ships with underage characters and incestous ships. There are only 2 underage characters in Borderlands (Pickle and Ava), but our experience in fandoms have verified to us that we need to be clearly against it

We are not proshippers and we are against proshipping

As of Borderlands , Tina is an adult (she's 20) but we won't reblog romantic art of her during BL2 or Wonderlands

Gaige is 18 in Borderlands 2 and 25 in Borderlands 3. She's an adult

Angel is also an adult. As infantilization of her is extremaly prevalent in this fandom, we want to state, we're against it and we won't reblog any art which will portray her in such way

We will also not reblog any art that will misgender neither Zer0 nor FL4K. FL4K canonically uses only they/them pronouns and as for Zer0, we will only refer to them as they/them

Ships with Timothy, Rhys and Jack are welcome! But within each other, the only ship that is a crackship is Rhysothy, so we will only reblog them

The only characters who aren't allowed are Vaughn and Katagawa Jr. Just because

Crossover ships, as in from different franchises like Portal or Postal, are welcome!

However, we won't reblog art of OC/canon and self ships. We realize that some people might not like this term and calling their OCs like so and we don't want to be disrespectful. We will only reblog the art, if OP will send it to us and give us permission to post it

This blog will run on queue but we're happy to receive art for this space and discussions of crackships

Thank you for reading, now go forth and enjoy the crackships!

[evanbuckleyrecs]

Hi there!

I've been reading 9-1-1 fics for more than a year now and always feel frustrated that I can't share my love for some. So, I decided to make this page.

All the fics I have already bookmarked will be added to my queue, however when I read new fics, I'll probably post them almost immediately after finishing them.

I mostly read fics with Buck, hence Buck in my username. Buddie is the only Buck ship I read romantically (though when I just started reading 911 fics I did read a couple of Buck/Josh fics if I'm honest), besides that I read mostl Buck & Bobby, Buck & Athena, and Buck & Christopher. Occasionally I look for other Buck friendships as well if I'm in the mood.

I don't just limit to Buck-related stories though, there is a chance of some others being posted if I'm in the mood (like Bathena, Madney, Henren, or some other friendships without Buck)

Some fics will be E-rated, I'll try to tag everything appropriately so you can avoid posts if that's not your cup of tea.

If you see your fic here but don't want it linked on Tumblr, please send a message to me and I'll take it down!

I hope I'll be able to help you find some good fics!

[rpcburnbook]

Do you expect her to announce whenever someone comes to her? I’m confused on what you want here. // people want there to no longer be a platform for hate.

even if all those people, athena, fox, mickey, rach, etc, had said something and gotten their asks stopped, it never lasts forever. tattler will never retire a person's alias on her blog. you may see things about them stop for a few weeks or a month and then creep back up again, be it the nature of the queue or that tattler just drafts the asks until after a specific time, etc. we've all seen it happen. so i don't think it's an invalid criticism to say that she cares. if she truly cared this blog wouldn't exist let's be honest here.

at some point it's a broken record, even this stuff about doom. it's just the same shit over and over and over. once people make their point and their criticism they take it too far, there's a fine line between talking about how someone's behaviour and then a vendetta. all the people you listed in your original ask are definitely more on the side of a vendetta in my opinion.

the reality is that we don't actually need tea blogs. this back and forth about whether we need them is quite immature. having these spaces is petty, toxic and frankly just never going to be used for anything that brings good to the community as a whole.

i think no one is right, honestly. i think that everyone just needs to stop, go back to their communities, heal themselves and their communities, and move on.

just my two cents :)

~

[writeblrsupport]

Well, let's see:

Use the queue if you aren't already. Put anything writing related in there, especially WIP promos or book announcements. They'll space the posts out and you won't have to worry about the blog being inactive if you're busy, something happens, etc

Be confident in your messages. Worry less about what you think people want to see and what you would want to see if you were looking at this blog from the outside. I know Tumblr can feel like yelling into a void. Keep yelling, the light will turn on eventually.

Polls. People love polls. I can't think of any specific topics rn but anything writing related is good

Follower of the week/month promos, maybe?

Songs. Ask followers or friends for suggestions then post them so people can take inspiration, add them to playlists (which they can link in reblogs), etc

Let people suggest prompts maybe? Images, text, etc

Have people send in suggestions for media to refill the creative well. Maybe have a theme week every now and then, like once a month or every two months, where people can drop suggestions in the ask box and you can post them all together.

Reference posts about things related to writing: history, mythology, clothing, how to use other social media

Memes will always be enjoyed, even if they're just an occasional reblog of a TikTok video

I would suggest more positivity posts but I try to make those and they can be hard. Feels like it's been said all before, y'know?

Talk about what you like about writing, what stories you enjoy. Live blog things, create mood boards, whatever. The mods of the blog are part of the community too, and if you're wanting people to engage and talk to each other, then getting on a topic everyone likes is a good way to do it

It really does depend on what you're wanting this blog to be.

Tbh the best advice I can give is to see what kind of posts get activity and see what those have in common. Is it something you said or did? Is it the content in them? Were they all on a similar theme? Did someone reblog them from you?

I honestly have no idea how helpful any of this is. I hope it doesn't come off too harsh at times, please forgive me if it does. I like this blog and I want to see it thrive

We really appreciate this! Tagging my mods @sabels-small-sphere and @perasperaadastrawriting so they can see as well

Thank you

Athena

[3min17sec]

R - A - V - I

Alphabet meme Status: Accepting! @nilefreemans Note: Unless specified, these will be about 9-1-1

R - Which friendship/platonic relationship is your favorite in fandom?

Buck and Chris. My relationship with my best friend's daughter (hereby known as Sweet Lil' Bean, or SLB) is very similar to theirs. I met SLB when she was 2.5 years old, and began teaching her at my preschool shortly before she turned three. My co-teacher/her mom ended up becoming one of my best friends (to this day!) When I was out of work for a while, I took care of SLB just like Buck took care of Chris (with zero natural disasters, thank goodness!). When I see love Buck has for Chris, I'm reminded of my love for SLB. And like Chris, SLB has her own disabilities, but her family and I all fight hard to make the best life for her. I know I made this all about me, but it's the reason I love them so much!

A - Ships that you currently like a lot. (They don’t have to be OTPs because not everyone has OTPs.) Friendships, pairings, threesomes, etc. are allowed.

I'm gonna be honest- I like romantic relationships, but I'm really here for the friendships/familial relationships on the show. -The whole Lee family, of course including Chim! I've talked about them in length in tags to posts that are still in my queue, but suffice to say that they mean so much to me!!!! -Maddie and Buck. Our parenting situations are vastly different, but my little sister is nearly 9 years younger than I am, and we have no other siblings, so I understand the feeling of watching your baby sibling going through life and wanting to protect them but also let them grow. And the guilt for leaving, even if for me it was to attend grad school in another city. -Hen and Athena! They're such a great team, ride or die for each other! They build each other up and focus on each others' strengths, while also not being afraid to call the other out or poke fun of each other. -Hen and Chim, a classic! For all of the same reasons as I love Hen and Athena, though Hen and Chim are more prone to hijinks (I say more prone, but I will never forget Athena having to call Hen to grab the key to the handcuffs from her purse! I have never laughed so hard as I did in that scene!!! IDK if any scene will ever top it for me!)

V - Which character do you relate to most?

This one's tricky. I'm not sure if there IS one character I relate to most. I see my relationships with kids (especially SLB) through Buck's relationships with children. I see myself as a big sister through Maddie. I also see the way my body is similar in some ways to Maddie's, especially her post-pregnancy, and if she's beautiful, then I can love myself, too. I see my queerness in Hen and Karen, even if I'm not sure how I identify yet. And even though we're from different ethnic/cultural backgrounds, I still see my own culture/traditions and family in The Lees. I see the person I want to become in Athena, Bobby, and Hen. And I see myself in Ravi, the cute one who isn't always involved in the shenanigans, and sometimes is embarrassed by them, but love my found family all the same. So in the end, I don't think I can say I relate "most" to any one of them. I see myself in all of them, and to me that's even more special <3

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

......... B.B.C. Sherlock.

Before I was on tumblr, I was contributing fics and art to this fandom. I made really good friends on fanfic dot net. I made really good friends on d.eviantArt. I've even co-written fic with two friends, and I wrote a fic and a friend drew a scene from it!

Then I joined tumblr in 2012. And aside from the infamous trio that this show was a part of, the fandom itself was no fun at all. I made a couple friends in a niche part of the fandom, but as a whole the tumblr fandom disengaged me from the show (I mean, season 4 could have done that all on its own, but tumblr started it years earlier instead).

Thankfully I never got hate, but so many people were nasty in that fandom that I pretty much never made fanart or fic for a fandom again.

Looking back, I've forgotten how much time and love I poured into the things I used to created, and how I had a wider sphere of being known. Like I wrote a bunch of fics mostly about D.I. Dimmock and a couple about Lestrade, and I was known for that! Like Dimmock was my guy! My blorbo from my show! and everyone knew him!

Granted, my hands don't work like they used to, and I don't have the time or brainpower like I previously did. But still, I miss the bonds that I made, before either of those other sites went down the gutter.

I realize that I totally went off tangent, sorry about that. But clearly, you can see the feelings I have for that fandom.