#me getting tagged in something: YAY HOORAY

[the-scandalorian]

tag game

thanks for the tag, @keldabe-kriff 💜

favorite painter: kenneth noland, franz marc, rothko, o'keeffe, a lil monet of course

favorite writer: roxane gay, rebecca solnit, alice hoffman

favorite band: wu-tang, florence and the machine, kings of leon, sofi tukker

favorite meal and drink: chilaquiles, a nice cheese board, patron on the rocks with two limes, lemonade if we're talking nonalcoholic

favorite outfit aesthetic: black crop top, high waisted jeans, heeled boots, bright lip color

favorite singer: hozier, beyoncé, bon iver, princess nokia

favorite item i own: my laptop because that's where i write and some of my friends live in there

favorite possession: my dogs?? not a possession but you get it

favorite perfume: not a perfume guy but i love the smell of lavender and jasmine and also moroccan oil

np tagging: @frannyzooey @pentechnics @flightlessangelwings @whataenginerd @quicksilvermad @nothoughtsjustmeds @lowlights @shirks-all-responsibilities @toomanystoriessolittletime

[idkfitememate]

Hi! I was wondering if you could write another part for Otter creator! Like maybe them with Furina and Neuvillette having a tea party or something! (Possibly Wriothesley[?]!!), and they start realising more! (If Wriothesley’s there he should be oblivious for a bit!)

The Otter Chronicles Pt. 1

♡︎ « Next Part ⋙

૮꒰˶ᵔ ᗜ ᵔ˶꒱ა Pairings : GN! Otter Reader x Fontaine

૮꒰ྀི∩´ ᵕ `∩꒱ྀིა W.K. : 1.3k

໒꒰ྀིᵔ ᵕ ᵔ ꒱ྀི১ Tags/CW&TW : Fluff, yandere-ish behavior (really straining the term here), itty bitty bit of angst

“Tea party, hooray!” It was easy to see that Furina was excited.

Because today was the day for your first REAL tea party. Not just locked in a room with her for a day.

And yes you meant a literal day. Like a whole ass day.

Anyway-

Her and Neuvillette were going to FINALLY take you to meet Wriothesley! Yay! It was just a date to take about some royal officiant bullshit you couldn’t bring yourself to care about, but as per usual, they refused to take you out of their sights.

So here you were, getting all dolled up in Lady Furina’s lap. A new bow tie, a fancier hat, and somehow Otter friendly makeup.

Where they found it? You don’t know. Did they make it? You’re 99.9% sure they had it commissioned. Do you look good with cate eye eyeliner? Hell yes.

You were now being carried in the Otter Pack™️ (a rather large and plush satchel that Neuvillette carried around, filled with lush blankets and pillows and only the FINEST toys for you to play with) with your head sticking out of the top, your fur freshly combed and oiled. Neuvillette’s fingers curled through what wasn’t covered by the hat.

Hell, you even had on some adorable golden and lapis embedded clip on earrings - they wouldn’t dare pierce your ears for fear of hurting you and damaging your hearing.

People cooed at you in your Otter Pack™️ and you sucked that shit up, you were basically drowning in sparkles!~ All the while Furina and Neuvillette spoke above you.

“Are we sure we should bring mon preux chevalier? I mean, naturally we should share their beauty with the world but… in a place filled with criminals..?” Furina spoke in a hushed tone, not wanting you to hear her.

“I understand my Lady, but there is no one to trust to take care of them. Who will give them their favorite treats? Shine their coat? Scratch their tummy? No can do it the way we can, Lady Furina. Besides, we are here for only a Tea Party, it should only last around two hours with the matter we must discuss. Three hours at the latest.” Neuvillette replied. Though in truth, he had just as many issues with the whole situation.

It truly was a shame no one was as capable to take care of their darling Otter as them. *Dramatic sigh in French*

Arriving at the entrance to the Fortress of Meropide, the duo were ushered inside and directly into Wriothesley’s office.

“Lady Furina! Monsieur Neuvillette! How nice it is to have you in humble prison. Please, follow me.” Wriothesley smoothly opened the conversation, leading the duo to his tea table. Finally, he noticed the Otter Pack™️.

“*Ahem* I see we have a… guest?” Wriothesley mused. See he hadn’t been on the surface for a bit, and news travels slow beneath the waves, so had had no clue of the big hydro duo’s new friend.

“Yea. This is Le superviseur officiel du jury du palais de justice de Fontaine. La Loutre de l'Opéra Eclipse*.” Neuvillette responded curtly. You chittered happily at the title you had just been given as off the last trial held. And Wriothesley only sweated at the long title.

“I… see. Anyway, if we are ready to begin…” And with that you stopped listening.

You had been here for barely a few minutes and you were already bored. See, usually with Furina, something would be happening. Something spectacular! Or intriguing! Never had you seen her in such a… boring environment. Hell, you could tell she was bored but you supposed that being an Archon came with other bullshit jobs other than being pretty and revered.

You hopped out of the Otter Pack™️ and snuggled up in Neuvillette’s lap, and noticed the extra teacup in front of you. Chittering, you sniffed and licked at it, then curled up once more.

You were trying to hide your boredom, but seemed to be failing as you felt Neuvillette’s fingers comb through the fur on your back. You basically purred at the affection, before sighing. Furina turned to you and called out to you.

“Mon ange? Are you bored? Well I, Furina, have just the cure!~” She said in a sing-songy tune. After, she waved her hand and in a puff of hydro, Gentilhomme Usher, Surintendante Chevalmarin and Mademoiselle Crabaletta were summoned.

You jumped up, messing up your hat and allowing Neuvillette to fix it, before the four of you jumped up to play. The three swam around you in the air while you followed quickly on the floor, causing the three to laugh. Though, Neuvillette noticed something.

Now, already he and Furina noticed you were smarter than other Otters, being able to understand human speech. You could solve puzzles, and once you had even helped solve a rather hard case! But this was… something else.

Gentilhomme Usher, Surintendante Chevalmarin and Mademoiselle Crabaletta and even Singer of Many Waters could speak… kind of. They had their own little babbly language that only Furina could only understand sometimes, and even then it was rocky. That’s why they mostly acted out their wants and needs with over the top gestures… but you.

An otter.

Could understand them perfectly.

You weren’t the only otter they had been summoned around, but then those otter would run away or stay around in curiosity.

But you could understand everything.

You could understand what a god couldn’t.

And that’s when something inside the Dragon Sovereign clicked.

He had been an avid follower of The Creator. The one Above all. Listening gently to all their false promises of bringing his brethren back. If fixing this world of its problems. He would watch as they only cared for themselves. As they punished anyone who went against them. Punished the innocent. As they lavished in the foods and clothes and jewels bestowed upon them by their followers.

Yet the flowers wouldn’t bloom in their presence. The wind wouldn’t blow gently through their hair. The ground and earth wouldn’t stop its quakes. The water would calm its waves. The lightning wouldn’t slow its descent. The fires wouldn’t lower their flames. The ice wouldn’t smooth over and slow the snow.

In fact, flowers would wilt when around them. The wind would whip into windstorms and the earth would rumble with ferocity. Water would rise to heights uncharted and lightning would strike behind their heels. Flame would rise higher and higher and fill the air with ash and snow would turn to hail, ice turning to sharp points around them.

It was the opposite with their darling Otter. He knew something was… not quite right with them. They always had this feel about them.

The melusine would act weirdly about them. Giving them wider smiles and now that he was thinking about it truly… they seemed to always know what they wanted. Even the Clockwork Meka would bow in their presence. When they swam it was always as though the current would work with them, and fish and other creatures of the sea would always surround them, following behind them… almost like…

A veil.

A veil that matched the one their creator always had on in every art of them.

On any statue.

In any painting.

In any description in every book.

They always had a veil.

And glancing at their beloved otter?

Their blue tuff of fur? They lined their back? Combined with the flowing fabrics of their top hat?

Created a veil.

“Excuse me Wriothesley, me Lady Furina must go discuss something. Please keep an eye on ma moitié for us please.” Neuvillette spoke quickly, gently gripping Furina’s arm as she protested, and they both left the room.

You and the three summons looked at the closing office door, then at Wriothesley. He stared back.

“Uhm… hello there, little otter.”

You only chittered in response.

And as Neuvillette and Furina rounded a corner, the Sovereign pressed a hand to her complaining lips.

“My Lady, firstly, my sincerest apologies for dragging you out here. Secondly, I believe I have made a… shocking discovery about our ˈbābē…” Neuvillette’s voice was hushed, making Furina nervous.

“What.. what do you think you found..?” She asked.

“I believe… our darling Otter… is the true Creator…”

໒꒰ྀི˶˙Ⱉ˙˶꒱ྀིა Author’s note : Hehehehe… How will Furina react to this knowledge? What with Neuvillette do with this information? And will Wriothesley ever get over seeing an Otter so close to his Archon? Tune in next week to find out!~

Anyway, I love this and where it’s going! I haven’t had to write any angst and I feel it coming now! Hehehe ૮ ˶´ ᵕˋ ˶ა

* The official Jury Supervisor of the Courthouse of Fontaine . The Otter of the Opera Eclipse

[vaspider]

Surgery day, a good news/bad news story...

We gave Davos his antibiotics a couple of weeks ago and nervously watched as the (benign! yay!) tumor shrank. We hoped that between the antibiotics, the Cone of Shame, and time, his immune system would stop creating the tumor and the need for surgical intervention would be minimal, leaving us with only his teeth cleaning and the removal of a skin tag by his eye that kept getting infected bc he kept pawing at it.

And that happened! Hooray! Only his teeth needed to be dealt with!

Except that at some point in the past, since our vet doesn't do dental x-rays under age 5 except in emergencies, he apparently chipped 3 teeth chewing on something hard, which need to be pulled. They tell us he'll probably be much more cheerful and chipper once they're out. Great!

But uhh... that raises the estimate by about $750 which we simply don't have.

Anyway, I turned donations on this fundraiser back on and adjusted the goal to reflect the money we need to cover his dental surgery, and if you can help us a little bit more, it would be deeply appreciated. If you don't like GFM, you can find me on CashApp, Venmo & PayPal as vaspider.

Thank you. 💗

[your-talos-is-problematic]

WIP WIP Hooray!

Happy WIP Wednesday and thank you @thequeenofthewinter and @skyrim-forever for the tags! Tagging @throughtrialbyfire and @trickstarbrave (note- I think there might be people I’m leaving out so if anyone wants to be included in my default tags please ask!)

Here’s some very far-apart snippets from the little adventure of Afonya and Brelyna getting married (or trying to). It’s a pretty self-indulgent WIP, mostly just for funsies and to practice writing Brelyna’s parents. I’m really sad that I had to cut out the line “I’m marrying my wife” from it though :( didn’t fit with the timeline anymore

————————————————————————

“Something’s bothering you, love.” She ran a hand through the bottom of my hair.

I released a long sigh and rested my elbow on the railing. “There is.”

She smiled. “Are you going to tell me, or-“

“I want to get married.”

“Me too, love, but we’re already married.” She twisted my hair around her finger with a laugh.

“Officially. Under Azura,” I explained.

“Oh.” She dropped my hair. “In Morrowind.”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Which would mean… my parents,” she said, shakily.

“Yeah.”

She stared out into the snow beyond us. “I haven’t seen my parents in four years, I think. Or heard from them.”

“If it’s any consolation, I haven’t seen mine in almost eight,” I offered.

“It’s not.”

“Sorry.” I laid my hand on hers. “I know it’s a lot, Brey. But I want to be with you forever, and I want my Lady and my homeland to know it.”

“Vvardenfell’s far.” Her voice was quiet.

“We’re wealthy. We could get there and back easily.”

She sat down. “Vvardenfell. My home.” Her eyes widened. “My family.”

I crouched in front of her. “I don’t want to pressure you. You don’t have to decide now.” I reached out a hand to help her up. “Let’s go back to bed.”

She pulled herself up, folding me into a hug. I kissed her temple. “How many hours until sunrise?” she asked.

I scanned the sky, searching for stars above the treetops. “Three and a half.”

“Yay.” Brelyna sounded tired. I led her into the house, down the stairs, and back into our room. Once we were in bed, I stared at the ceiling, waiting to make sure I heard Brelyna’s snoring, before I let myself drift off.

I woke up at sunrise the next morning, as usual.

“Don’t tell him about the Thieves’ Guild,” she said. I looked up at her, eyebrows knitted. She stared at me a few seconds before realizing. “Wait! No. Definitely tell him about the Thieves’ Guild. I think he’s hired Morrowind’s a few times.”

“There you go.” I smiled. “I definitely won’t mention the Maven part, though.”

“That’s a good idea,” she said.

Onmund looked up from his notebook. “You really have me writing down which parts of Afonya to not talk about?”

“My dad’s scary, Onmund,” Brelyna said, eyes wide. “He once told me that he could tell someone’s social status from the way they held themselves. Most judgmental person I’ve ever met.”

“And you’ve lived with Altmer,” I joked. She rolled her eyes.

Onmund sighed. “Fine. You have Azura, the Thieves’ Guild, and all your Thane stuff. That’s missing a lot, isn’t it?”

“Well, the Companions are an obvious no. And the Imperial Legion.”

“Why?” he asked.

“Onmund, I am frightened by how little you know about Dunmer,” I said.

“Sorry. What about the College? They clearly have some respect for it, if they sent Brelyna there.”

“That’s the hard one,” Brelyna explained.

“Yeah. Obviously they’ll have to know I attend, since that’s how we know each other. Problem is if I should bring up being Archmage,” I added.

“There’s a strong possibility he still sees me as a ten year old who can’t make her own decisions. And I would very much like to avoid the idea that Afonya pressured me into any of this.”

I looked up from the soup. “I think we should be fine if I specify that we started dating before I became Archmage.”

“Agreed. Write it down, Onmund?”

“Got it. I can take over stirring,” he said.

“Thanks.” I handed him the spoon. “Is it bad that I’m nervous about leaving you alone with the kids?”

He laughed. “They’ll have myself and Gregor, Afonya. We’ll make sure they don’t set anything on fire.”

Brelyna stared at me with a look I knew too well. Please take over this conversation for me.

I cleared my throat. “My name is Afonya Orel. I’m the champion of Azura, and I’d like to marry your daughter.”

“Where will you go when you die?”

That was a hard one. 

Brelyna’s face flushed. “He means your physical remains, Afonya.”

Oops. I tried to hide my panic, but Aular held out a hand. “Not anymore. Explain Apocrypha.”

I shifted uncomfortably.

“Are there any plans for them currently?”

“I’ve promised at least a finger to the College,” I explained.

“Thank you.” I said to his turned head.

“You’re welcome.” He went back to his notes, seemingly uninterested in an explanation. I gave him one anyway.

“I married my wife.”

“I don’t care.”

“I know.” I smiled. “She’s a Maryon.”

That caught his attention. “I didn’t know the Maryons were still around.”

I nodded, but it was really hard for me to hide my laugh there. He’d met Brelyna, multiple times in fact, including ones where I’d introduced her as ‘Brelyna Maryon of House Telvanni.’ It was harder for Talvas to mask his emotions, evidently; he sniffled from behind his hand. “They are, serjo. And now up one member.

[yang4ever]

Btw pookie you’re so allowed to interact with textbook (love) notes if you wanna. I only say that cuz your about me mentions something about 18+ blogs/ writings. But you seem cool and swag, like a little sibling 😽

(If you actually don’t care about my story, disregard this message lol)

HI WHATS UP W THE PARENTHESES OFC I DO ur literally so cool and yea that's the exact wording id use to describe u too ur literally my older sister omg hooray!

eek yay im gonna start reading textbook love notes as soon as i finish my english homework bc i literally havent read any of the assigned book it's so bad

i wanted to interact w textbook love notes b4 but i saw ur warnings!! i dont think it'll be too bad for me 2 read it bc there's a lot of explicit jokes floating around high school and as a junior it's nothing i havent heard before

i just try to be wary of 18+ tags and accounts because i know in general i shouldnt be reading smut and it would make a lot of writers uncomfortable knowing im reading their works too like omg im going to get reported and theyre going to scold me!!!!:(

[sergeantsporks]

I posted 13,774 times in 2022

That's 8,527 more posts than 2021!

5,868 posts created (43%)

7,906 posts reblogged (57%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@spinaroos-47

@jess-the-vampire

@cryptic-coven-scout

@taags-old-account

@saturniidd

I tagged 12,803 of my posts in 2022

Only 7% of my posts had no tags

#toh - 9,982 posts

#asks - 4,539 posts

#the owl house - 3,027 posts

#toh spoilers - 2,048 posts

#toh hunter - 822 posts

#gilded family au - 773 posts

#hunter - 500 posts

#the golden guard - 454 posts

#toa - 249 posts

#emperor belos - 237 posts

Longest Tag: 138 characters

#my brother and i did something similar bc he didn’t like reading and i didn’t like math so we swapped passwords and did each other’s stuff

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Hooray, Gus didn’t get traumatized this episode! We just found out that he’s ALWAYS been traumatized! Yay!

7,404 notes - Posted May 7, 2022

#4

Idk why, but this is so funny to me

8,213 notes - Posted April 27, 2022

#3

Looking at Flapjack’s wiki and

One of these people loves this bird with all their heart and soul and would collapse into a depression ball if anything happened to it, and it is Not The One You’d Think

8,658 notes - Posted April 4, 2022

#2

They should form a union

11,081 notes - Posted May 22, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I just think it would be very funny if the collector DOES know how to play tag regularly, CAN play tag regularly, and WAS GOING TO play tag regularly with the other kids but chose to completely obliterate Belos first because that’s what you get for breaking a pinkie swear

18,202 notes - Posted May 28, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[andersunmenschlich]

I posted 166 times in 2022

That's 119 more posts than 2021!

30 posts created (18%)

136 posts reblogged (82%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@headspace-hotel

@dduane

@naiokiara

@simonalkenmayer

@dumpsterprophet

I tagged 137 of my posts in 2022

Only 17% of my posts had no tags

#ex christian - 29 posts

#bodily autonomy - 13 posts

#book 5 - 8 posts

#the chessmen of mars - 8 posts

#taran of helium - 8 posts

#public domain - 8 posts

#genderswap - 8 posts

#self-indulgence - 8 posts

#barsoom - 8 posts

#abortion - 6 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#i don't get to demand one of your kidneys because it's the only one i have access to and i'll die without it so you have to give it to me

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Sex, Gender, and Your Body

We have kids being told that they can't be what they are. It's not that there are myriad, innumerable ways to be a person in society—no, no, no. If you don't conform to very narrow stereotypes ("cultural expectations") about what gender ideologues say is "man-ness" or "woman-ness," then you're not what you say you are at all. You're what they say you are, and your body must be made to fit.

Why doesn't it bother you that people want to tell a young man that he can't be a man because he's too femme or too physically female? A young woman that she can't be a woman because she's too butch or too physically male? And then force them to go through puberties that develop their bodies in ways they're not comfortable with?

A man who isn't allowed to stop his body from growing breasts. A woman who isn't allowed to keep her voice unbroken. A human being who isn't allowed to have the body they could so easily have.

Why doesn't it bother you?

The solution isn't to get rid of gender designations. It's to decouple physical form from them.

A man can have any combination of physical characteristics and still be a man. Same goes for a woman, an enby, a demiboy, a demigirl....

Look at it this way.

If a person—any person, cis or trans—wants to wear pants, they should be able to do that without people calling them something they don't want to be called. If a person wants to wear skirts, they should be able to do that without anyone deciding to assign them pronouns without asking. If a man wants to wear his hair long, it shouldn't lead to him being called "her" or "xem." If an enby likes their hair short, they should be able to have it short without people deciding they're a "he."

In the same way, if a woman (cis or trans) wants a beard, she should be allowed to grow one. It doesn't make her less of a woman. If a man wants breasts, he should be allowed to grow them—it doesn't make him less of a man!

A demigirl or demiboy with female characteristics is not "really a woman," nor is either of them "really a man" if they have male ones.

Sex is not gender—gender is not sex.

And changing your body so you're more comfortable in it? That's yet another thing, and it should be entirely up to you, the sole and ultimate owner of your own body. Like the idea of what your default puberty is most likely to do to your body? Go through it! Want a different puberty? Go get it! Don't want a puberty, or aren't sure which one you want yet? Hooray for puberty blockers! Want to change something that's already happened, get something new, lose something you don't want? Yay hormones and three cheers for surgery!

Words are how we communicate. They provide clarity. If you can't tell the difference between biological sex, psychological and social gender, and physical form, how are you going to communicate with the people who can?

3 notes - Posted June 20, 2022

#4

What Is A Woman?

"Woman" is a social category, a role about half of humanity plays (by choice, by force, by default...).

It's a cloud of socially defined characteristics: behaviors, skills, clothing styles, hairstyles, shoe styles, approaches to emotion, expressions of emotion, expressions of the face, tones of voice, and so on. Every last one of these characteristics is not necessarily applicable to every individual woman: your average woman will embody perhaps half the cloud, and it's perfectly possible for two such average women to share no characteristics whatsoever.

If we dig down into the role, we find that in reality it doesn't exist as a solid thing, with solid boundaries. Around the edges, characteristics blur from "woman" into "man" (and between these two roles is a space full of characteristics we simply call "human").

But it's practical to talk about gender as though it is a solid thing, with solid boundaries.

Not to ask yourself "well, but how many characteristics does it take to make someone an actual woman?" or "which of these characteristics is objectively most important to woman-ness?" but to simply say instead, "She has all the characteristics I care about, so she's woman enough for me."

Some people have trouble recognizing that "being physically female" is only one of the many characteristics that exist within the social category "woman."

A lot of trouble.

"Being physically female is the most important characteristic of womanhood for me," these people howl, "and therefore it's the only characteristic that matters at all to anyone, and saying otherwise is a denial of objective physical reality!"

Sister post here.

3 notes - Posted June 4, 2022

#3

The core of the cult I grew up in was blood sacrifice. And I want to be clear here: I didn't know it was a cult! No cult advertises itself as a cult, and my parents were in it long before I was born—I grew up thinking this was just the way the world was. So the basic concept will probably sound pretty familiar: There's a supernaturally powerful being who created everything that exists. This deity created according to its nature—you know how some people can't write happy stories and some can't write sad ones? Yeah, like that. So it created everything, but didn't really have a choice in a lot of the most basic set up, and THIS is why blood sacrifice is necessary. You see, the deity is everything "good," and nothing "evil" can exist in its presence. Right? So if a human does something evil, well, life is good and they're now excluded from that, so they have to die. But! Blood is life. If the human can offer the right lifeblood to the deity, they don't have to die. Obviously it's got to be blood from someone who doesn't have any sins of their own to pay for, otherwise it wouldn't count: that blood would already be owed, so you couldn't use it to pay off your own debt, see? So the go-to here is animals, which works out pretty well because they can't sin—that is, they can't do anything the deity doesn't want them to do, because they're just animals, it's not like they have minds or free will or anything. The holy book I grew up studying (Dad was the local cult leader, so I spent most of my school years learning cult stuff), it has whole lists of what animals are best to sacrifice for what type of sin and/or sinner, which is exactly as boring as it sounds. Anyway, the deity of this particular cult is really, really picky. Basically all you have to do to sin (and thus deserve death and need to pay in blood) is be human. In fact there's a bit in the holy text that explains it's impossible to avoid sinning, everyone is a sinner and deserves to die. Which, given how picky the deity is—yeah, makes sense. So lots of blood sacrifice! Except you can't really do that in the modern world, right? PETA would be all over you. Actually it hasn't been acceptable in ages. So the cult worked it out where their deity used a young woman to create a human body for itself. Then it wore that human body like a really intimate glove for a few years, didn't do anything it didn't like (obviously), so no sin, then sacrificed the body's sinless lifeblood to itself. Which is the perfect blood, right? It's god blood! That can pay for so much more sin than animal blood. What this means in practice is that cult members swear themselves over to the deity as slaves, because it paid for their lives in blood, right? They owe it their very lives. It owns them, see? I had a weird childhood. Imagine knowing for a fact that you're always being watched. Always. You have no privacy, that's not a thing. You're never alone. And the one who's watching you, if it sees you do even one tiny thing it doesn't like, bam! Your life is forfeit. Which is going to happen. There is no escape. You can never be good enough to deserve anything but death. And the cult is really masochistic about this: it's not just physical death! That was good enough for their ancestors, but not for them, no. I grew up knowing that all I could ever earn was, get this, eternal suffering. But it's fine, because if you do this public ritual where you pretend to be bathing in god blood and then feel really, genuinely, horribly bad every time you do anything your god doesn't like, its blood will pay for your sins and you won't have to die! This is Good News™. (Sarcasm aside, that's legitimately what the cult calls this piece of information: "The Good News"). Which I suppose it is, if you already believe the rest of it. "You mean I don't have to pay for my sins with my life's blood? Yay!" Imagine teaching a kid that. Geez.

There was a lot of other messed up stuff in my specific corner of the cult (like outbreeding the heathen and beating your children and demonic conspiracies), but that's the basics: the blood sacrifice thing. That holds true across every iteration of the cult—and there are a lot of... varietals, I guess you could call them. Sects? Whatever: enclaves in different places with slight or not-so-slight differences in the beliefs they have around this basic core. It eats your life, this stuff. Wrecks your self-esteem! I was lucky enough to get all the way out about four years ago. It took me a while—indoctrination from childhood is tough to escape, and I guess I'll probably be dealing with a lot of the wounds for a while. But I've got Alex, and that helps more than I can say.

4 notes - Posted March 22, 2022

#2

Gaslighting in defense of the Bible

"Oh, it doesn't really say we're getting the genealogy of Jesus and then give us the ancestry of the parent who contributed none of Jesus's genes!"

("...the genealogy of Jesus Christ ... and Jacob the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom Jesus was born, who is called Christ" Matthew 1)

. "Oh, it doesn't really say God created everything in six literal days!"

("And there was evening and there was morning, the first day. ... And there was evening and there was morning, the second day. ... And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. ... And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day. ... And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day. ... And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day." Genesis 1 "On the seventh day God finished his work" Genesis 2)

. "Oh, it doesn't really say homosexuality is wrong!"

("You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination." Leviticus 18:22 "If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them." Leviticus 20:13 "...the wrath of God is revealed against [ungodly, unrighteous, foolish people] ... their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another" Romans 1 "...men who practice homosexuality ... [will not] inherit the kingdom of God." 1 Corinthians 6:9 [μαλακοὶ, from μαλακία; ἀρσενοκοῖται] "...the law is... for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for... men who practice homosexuality" 1 Timothy 1 [ἀρσενοκοίταις])

. "Oh, the Bible doesn't really say anything I don't like! You're just imagining it, misunderstanding, seeing things that aren't there! You can't trust your own judgment. Your perception of reality is unreliable. You're not really reading what you think you are."

. I have had quite enough of this.

I am sick and tired of being told that shit is actually chocolate.

I am fed to the teeth with this idea that I should trust in the Lord with all my heart—just plain trust that what I'm seeing with my own eyes isn't actually there—and lean not on my own understanding.

How often have I been told that I'm not wise enough to properly understand the obvious?

That the Bible is actually good, no matter what it may look like?

That really there's nothing bad in it?

. Enough. Stop this.

4 notes - Posted January 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

A Note:

I attack ideas and people separately.

This may not be obvious, since on my personal Tumblr page I mostly criticize my abusive parents, and thus yell at both them and their beliefs simultaneously. There is, however, a difference between attacking a person and attacking an idea.

When I express anger at my parents for beating and starving me, this is an attack on them as people: they knew they were hurting me and did it anyway.

When I express incandescent fury at the belief that "he who spares the rod hates his son," that is an attack on an idea: I despise the teaching that led my parents to believe hurting me would be good for my immortal soul (which doesn't even exist).

I often do these two things at the same time.

They are not the same thing.

7 notes - Posted January 14, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[firebrands]

🎉 HELLO!!! i can’t believe i have 2,000+ followers!!! what the hell!! (this happened a while ago but i was so focused on finishing my stony bingo card and now that it’s done, i need something new to focus on... lol.)

SO FIRST OF ALL, THANKS FOR FOLLOWING ME, i never thought i’d get to this many followers lmao i love you all?? i figured a fun way to celebrate is a... 

✨✨✨ fic raffle ✨✨✨

here are the mechanics:

must be following me, obv

one reblog = one entry. one entry per person (likes won’t count)

let me know if you’re reblogging from main, if it’s not obvious!

winners will be announced on July 28 12NN GMT+8! you can reblog this from now until then.

the prizes:

winner: 3-5k fic!✨ 

runner-up: 1-3k fic!✨ 

so as some of you may know... there are quite a few prompts in my inbox. but winning means i’ll work with you on the outline for the fic, and ask you about certain plot points—like a commission, but for free! hooray. the goal is for me to have the fic up within a month, at most.

feel free to blacklist firebrands fic raffle because i will be reblogging this a bunch of times hahaha

OK SO below the cut are things i can and cannot write for you. please go through it before joining. and thanks again!!! 🎉🎉

things i can write for you (a non-exhaustive list)

stevetony, ironbat, winteriron, superbat (!) + avengers as found family yay

fluff

angst (with a happy ending)

getting together, getting back together

AUs in general (except for very lore / setting heavy things like fantasy or steampunk)

missing scenes / canon-compliant but not a rewrite of canon (DOES THAT MAKE SENSE. i can’t rewrite the MCU for you, but i’m happy to fill gaps)

“five times” fic

epistolary fic

i can definitely write explicit fic, but i’d like to do it with a plot rather than just straight up 3k of porn. hehe. (happy to write bdsm, and you can check my kinktober tag to get a vibe)

you can also check out my fic trope ranking here 

sequels, prequels, remixes of any of my fic

a very short list of stuff that i don’t feel comfortable writing

superfamily

a/b/o

power imbalance (student/teacher, boss/employee, etc.)

kid fic / baby fic / pregnancy fic

crack fic (i’m just no good at it hahaha)

major character death (i mean... the limit is 3-5k. i think i’d need more to unpack that, lmao)

lastly, it’s not a requirement at all but if you do like my work and you have money to spare, you could buy me a ko-fi! 💖

[chaoticgoodcrow]

more KATAOW fix-it AU ideas up for adoption (spoiler warning!)

1) time travel... of a sort. everyone except Emilia get future memories sometimes, so the gang can do things better - manage the jaguar powers better, save Song right away, don't let Emilia have the journal, etc, and the humans are less fearful and angry towards the mutes because they remember their fun, safe and inclusive future, and vice versa. many of the mutes start getting along, Scarlemagne redemption is earlier maybe (doesn't kill the mod frogs, doesn't enslave the burrow humans, frees existing slaves... maybe, it's up to you) so humans don't mistrust mutes as much... Emilia has no army. happy ever after! you decide what happens to her. maybe she gets jailed or something. no "cure", everyone's fine and alive, hooray!

2) Hugo / Scarlemagne rescued with Kipo... yes. it's popular and I've briefly touched on it before, but I didn't talk about the greater implications. he doesn't enslave humans, so the tensions aren't as high, plus he lives in the burrow, so they get used to mutes, and he gets a good childhood, yay!! later he can get out of the burrow, with or without Kipo (most likely they got separated), gain power with his ability, and become a strong ally in the Human-Mute Alliance because he is with Kipo and his ability and newfound minions (the Goth Apes gang) are useful. also with him on Kipo's side, there is no Oh No! Scarlemagne Put A Bounty On Your Head! plot, which makes things a lot more smooth sailing for the gang because nobody's trying to kidnap them at every turn. they can focus on taking down Emilia, who is less powerful than in canon, as less humans are anti-mute. hopefully she won't have time to make the "cure", so everyone is fine and alive!

3) they don't turn Song back, so she's available for the burrow army fight and the final fight, both of which could really be helpful. don't get me wrong, I love their family bonding moments and her finally being free, but I also love deus ex machina, happy endings, Hugo / Scarlemagne alive, a lot less "cured" mutes, and absolutely hate how Emilia was beating a child up. she can turn back later, during peacetime, and have all the bonding in the world, they all deserve it!!

these AUs are more niche and about the "cure" especially:

1) saving Yumyan: if Kipo gets shot with all the darts, emptying Emilia's ammo, Emilia can't shoot Yumyan. (Kipo is immune. it's not OK to shoot a child, but at least there's no lasting effects...? actually, does it hurt to be tranquilized?) okay maybe if the Saviour Goose Of Plot Convenience™ stole Emilia's gun, she can't shoot anyone. problem solved.

2) somehow the journal gets damaged or lost or burnt or something. deus ex machina of some goose stealing it, Emilia can't make the cure, hooray! idk what happens after that, but the most is that she'll be stalled. back to being underground resistance, eventually her minions leave because inclusivity is more fun, maybe she turns herself into a mute, whatever. you decide.

3) Margot has a change of heart earlier, so she warns the gang before they go into Deathstalker territory, preventing them from being held captive. Or maybe they alter their team (preferably all-human plus Kipo), or go in with a plan, but ultimately they defeat Emilia, rescue Margot's brother, and make it out without anyone getting "cured". Margot and her brother join the Alliance - a few extra hands never hurt! they can get redeemed, or stay far away from the gang, up to you, but either way, reinforcements and no "cured" Yumyan (or other mutes) are good. also Kipo would stress less, and feel less guilty about Yumyan because he's ok in this au

4) (during the burrow army battle) nobody can hear Emilia, so she can't be freed, so she can't free the other humans, so all the humans get captured peacefully, no mutes get "cured", and they all become friends eventually.

That's all for now, thank you for your attention! All these AUs are free real estate! please pm/ tag me if you adopt them tho, because I would like to see them 🥺🥺🤣, thanks! You don't have to tag me if you don't want to though; I don't really mind, I just want more fix-it content lol

[nocompromise-noregrets]

Favourite Works Meme

Tagged by the fabulous @lemurious - THANK YOU I LOVE YOU <333333

Rules: Choose your favorite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc.) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you brought into the world in 2020. Tag as many writers/artists/etc. as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

2020 was a hell of a year for me. I last wrote anything of substance in 2011, and although I’d been posting to AO3 here and there, a lot of it was older stuff that I wrote back in the mid-2000s, and I hadn’t really found a fandom that inspired me enough to want to write much for it. I’d been heavily into the Tolkien fandom between about 2002 and 2004/5 but had fallen away as the excitement over the films faded, and for some reason the Hobbit movies didn’t get me back into it all at the time. (Now I wish they had!)

And then that LotR cast reunion video appeared on YouTube in early June. Honestly, it was like seeing dear old friends again who I hadn’t seen in years. I spent most of it alternately grinning broadly and weeping like a small child, and after it was over, I ran back to the films for a rewatch. Then I started looking at my old WIPs, and following blogs on here, and then...and THEN the words just started pouring out of me. I wrote around 430k between June and December, which is absolutely unprecedented for me - 2011 was probably my previously most productive year, in which I wrote somewhere just over 100k, none of which got posted anywhere other than my old LJ as it was for a tiny fandom that doesn’t exist on AO3 (it died before AO3 really got going and we all tacitly agreed never to speak of it again xD ).

So...my favourite works from 2020. This is going to be tough, because I love them all, but...

Firstly, the It’s Always Been You series, which grew from notes and a few scenes from a side-fic to a ‘verse I was playing in with @myfairprouvaire back in about 2003; I looked at it in June, thought ‘I want to read that fic...dammit, that means I have to write that fic’ and then...and then, miraculously, I DID. It’s very niche, being that it centres on the pairing of Orophin/Rúmil, which is rare enough without the obvious issue, but I adore them, they’re one of my OTPs, and it gave me the opportunity to explore their characters, plus those of Haldir, Arwen (<33333), and her brothers, who happen to be one of my other OTPs. Yes, I know, and I don’t care.

Secondly, once I got that out of my system (sort of, it’s still not finished), I had been percolating something about Bard and Thranduil, having not even needed my slash goggles to see the potential between them in Battle of the Five Armies. It probably helped that they’re both unreasonably nice to look at, damn them, and they kept looking at each other. Anyway, what I was expecting to be 10k of eventually-resolved-sexual-tension turned into the absolute monster that is the (currently just over 210k O.O ) series My Heart Is An Empty Vessel, the main story of which is currently standing at somewhere over 160k and has an epilogue, a sequel also in progress, and several side-fics AND allowed me to weave in my existing Legolas/Imrahil series A Little Piece of the Sea, which I also wrote some new pieces for this year. I love those two so much, so I was super happy about that. Empty Vessel also ties in to pretty much everything else I’ve ever written in the Tolkien fandom, including the It’s Always Been You series - everything is in the same ‘verse, and characters referred to in one series are the same versions as those in another. Hooray for self-referentiality!

Thirdly, there is the ridiculous Christmas-movie modern Bard/Thranduil AU It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like..., which is breeding a sequel and turning into a series as we speak, although I don’t have a title for the series yet. I didn’t think I had a modern AU in me, but it looks as though I do. I had so much fun with this one, weaving in little canon references and headcanons and references to the Empty Vessel versions of the characters (and making Sigrid and Tauriel girlfriends, yay!), and I’m really looking forward to seeing where the sequel goes.

And fourthly, I am going to put together all the challenge/exchange fics I wrote this year because I had so much fun with them and I’m super proud of all of them. Kicking off with Broken On The Inside, written for @lemurious, the Erestor/Glorfindel getting-together tale in which Glorfindel has sustained a head injury and is thinking about his time at the Last Homely House, home of the misfits, the outcasts, the broken and the damned. the only home, a piece of experimental poetry which is all that Elladan and Elrohir would give me when I asked them to tell me about sailing West for @secretlythranduil, and Two Princes, about Legolas and Imrahil getting together, aided and abetted by their interfering friends and Legolas’ Ada, were written for the same event (Innumerable Stars). Then for Have A Happy Hobbit Holiday I wrote Should All The Stars Shine In The Sky for @bayta-darell, about winter celebrations in Dale, with Bard/Thranduil, Sigrid/Tauriel, and Bain and Tilda being adorable, and for Tolkien Secret Santa I wrote Come Home for @gamjawo, featuring Elrohir’s childhood fixation with Maglor finally paying off. Aaaaand for Yuletide I wrote A Tale Untold, a post-movie A Knight’s Tale fic in which the Black Prince gives William and Jocelyn a little manor in the country and the gang all settle down to live happily ever after (featuring a Latin deed of grant that’s as close to accurate as I could get it, a translation thereof, and a bunch of stuff about how medieval manors operated, because I am That Kind Of Nerd), and Six Bottles of Wine, a 2011-Three Musketeers story in which Porthos bets Aramis that Aramis can’t seduce Athos, and there is, eventually, some debate as to whether it’s Aramis or Athos who actually wins the bet. And as part of those exchanges I received some absolutely wonderful stories which I thoroughly encourage you all to check out.

ETA: oh yeah and FIFTHLY how could I forget Overrun By Halflings, which is a thoroughly ridiculous little thing I wrote for Tolkien Crack Week, in which Rosie makes Sam take her and all the kids to Valinor to join Frodo, and Certain People Who Have No Room To Comment At All get a little sniffy about it. :D (and everything I wrote for Writers’ Month, and and and... :D :D :D I’m just ludicrously excited about all of it!)

I had such a wonderful time with all of these, and all the other fics I wrote last year. My life is infinitely better, and I am infinitely happier, for being back in the Tolkien fandom and for being able to write again. This time last year I honestly thought it was over. I thought I’d never find something to inspire me again. And then...all it took was that reunion video and BAM here we are. <333333

I think everyone’s done this one by now, but if any of you haven’t and want to, consider yourselves well and truly tagged!

[yaboylevi]

I love Zevi but the sauna cover not having Zeke and Levi not talking makes me think Isayama's editor could have rquested Isayama for levi to be saved just for the fanservice moment of the promise. Though I was surprised in the good way how the fans dont want levi to be fanservice anymore, to me the whole levi vs Zeke is ruining Levi (not Zevi) and Ereri is still the biggest ship so why, Isayama. I hate the promise plot

Hey there!

First of all, let me just say that, yay, Zevi is such a nice, fun ship!! I still remember fondly all of their funny moments after the timeskip… I wish we could have more, because I feel Isayama’s humor really shone through!

I’m glad it wasn’t ruined for you, though it was for me a bit. Maybe it’s simply because the focus was shifted away, or because of how… disgusting the torture scene was for me. Either way, since I feel less positive for Levi, even my love for ereri has dwindled a lot. So, good for you!

I am not sure I would call the promise “fanservice”. Well, to be fair, I am not even sure why Levi’s character was reduced to that. He has always had important links to various characters. The link with Eren, the family bond with Mikasa, the mentorship with the 104th, his friendship with Hange… some of these require a solution - in the form of a talk most probably. When in the past the 104th were hesitant, he was of great help. The ackerbond and his family legacy with Mikasa very clearly need resolution. Both Hange and Armin have been irresolute, constantly comparing themselves to Erwin, when Levi finally being honest about him would’ve solved it. Levi has been one to understand and accept Eren’s true nature since the beginning, his insecurities as well because they hit home, so he could’ve talked to him and alleviated part of Eren’s burden by lending a non-judgmental ear.

I get why all of this didn’t happen. Drama and conflict were needed to keep things…lively, so their resolution will be more satisfying in the end (I would like to believe this, but I also believe the journey should be entertaining, and it isn’t for me personally).

So, anyway. I would hope these things about Levi’s character will be touched upon by the end of the story, in a believable, interesting way (not like Connie’s arc, or Armin’s, Magath’s - they were lackluster or underserved or totally disappointing). I think his obsession with the promise was a way to stall him/keep him away from the “main problem” for the reason I explained above. It’s his setback, the thing that he needs to come to terms with, because he’s been stuck on it to the point that he’s become even physically stuck, by getting heavily injured and unable to move.

I don’t think it’s the editor’s fault. Isayama chose to do that to Levi. After all, what would he have struggled about after the timeskip (aside from Eren angst, which is the common denominator for everyone)? If you think about it, all of the characters have had their little side-struggle, beside the Eren-related one. Isayama decided to render Levi useless by making him obsess about dead comrades and revenge, which is in line with his character’s nature.

I don’t know what the fandom thinks anymore. I am glad if they are finally seeing the faults in their reasoning until now. Especially if it’s about him killing Zeke, which is something I’ve been against for so long… especially since he got caught in the explosion, that gave me actual, factual proof that it wasn’t gonna happen. I’ve been saying since that chapter (114-15? so 13 months ago…) that he won’t fight because of the injuries and so he needs to find another way of thinking that is not all about violence and revenge, but I remember people stubbornly wishing for the opposite (someone even tagged my recent art with wishes for zeke to be killed by levi...makes me wish i never posted that lol). However, if they are starting to change their minds about this, well, hooray!

(this might sound controversial, but I really don’t feel ereri is the most popular ship…hasn’t been for a while, actually. that’s what you get for neglecting their relationship in canon for 3-4 years, after all - no matter how much people insist on ereri existing only bc “fujos are horny”, our passion for the ship is mostly based on canon…)

[darkestwolfx]

Fight or Flight - Re-Review #38

The perfect scenery for an episode which is taking it’s title from an old saying relating to the natural instincts of animals and humans - the fight or fight instinct; whether you stay and hold your ground (a little like Kayo), or whether you try and run in fear of your life (I can imagine Gordon having to do this quite often when he is caught pranking his brothers). Oh, but did we mention, it’s actually in the air? Yeah, it took two minutes to get to that point!

So, because this episode darts around all over the place, I’m doing this review (again) in sections according to character and storyline, because I like everything to be all neat and tidy, okay? I’m thinking of all of you here by giving you ease of access to a complicated and jam packed episode - you should be thanking me.

Also, I will apologise in advance now for the fact that this review is mostly picture based - literally I think this section here is the wordiest of all.

So, moving away from the ominous cargo hold, which is no doubt bound to be full of idiots - because let’s face it, that is just the way that things work in TAG - let’s start with the fact that we are opening in space again! Yay, John’s domain. And the scenery is pretty damn right on this one. I love how if you look really carefully you can make out the different shapes of the continents below.

And here we have a space spider - someone call Gordon and Alan, it’s an alien! Oh wait, no, hang up, it’s only Brains. A rather nervous Brains - obviously the ‘flight’ part behind the title of this episode. It’s nice to see him up in (or on) Thunderbird Five again. It happened in TOS in ‘The Cham-Cham’.

“I’m just having a little trouble adjusting to being weightless.”

“It was the same for me when I started. You get used to it.”

But of course, they can’t even manage to do repairs and maintenance without something coming there way!

“Your databases are offline because I started a systems check. It’s ok, I backed everything up onto MAX.”

“Atta boy, MAX.”

Thank goodness for MAX, ey?

And here’s the situation;

“A cargo carrier experienced a missives systems failure. The ship is on a crash course for Anderbad City.”

Anderbad City first appeared in the TOS episode ‘Perils of Penelope’, with Anderbad being a play on Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s surname. It was given notable features such as the Anderbad Tunnel and the Anderbad Express, but it was never shown in full. TAG have added a Flight Control Tower, so we can assume that Anderbad is a big city with travel at the centre.

So, here we go, I thought I’d go back to the cargo hold first which is a little backwards I know, but I’m doing it because... just because okay? Reviewers choice.

Run for your lives! The machinery is striking back!

Scott nearly getting hit and then running back for the flight deck is absolutely hilarious. 

“We have a new problem.”

And I won’t deal with that part, I’ll choose to fly the zeppelin, is probably what Scott was thinking. Because, yes, that option seems so much better!

“Looks like we’ll need that back up, Kayo.”

It was probably a good thing that she was ready and waiting in this instance, because Scott couldn’t have done that much multitasking, great though he is.

“How are you guys doing in there?”

“Oh you know, just playing hide and seek with a giant bone crushing claw. You know, no big deal.”

Yeah, you’re right, the bigger deal is that you might die anyway, so playing hide and seek is probably the least of your worries right about now. In fact, that might be preferable depending on your viewpoint. At least that might be marginally more entertaining than sitting and waiting for death to come.

“How does a giant, mechanical loading claw take it’s tea?”

“I don’t know.”

“With a pinch of sugar.”

“That’s the worst joke I’ve ever heard.”

I have to admit, I’m with her on that one. Who even thought that joke up! And who heard that joke and then thought ‘hey, that’s a good one to go in the script!’ I didn’t even laugh, I will be perfectly honest.

“Don’t worry. I’ll get them out.”

“Why would I worry?”

Hmm, maybe because it’s a life threatening situation? Just hazarding a guess here.

Kayo should be happy anyway - she got to show off her bad-guy chasing gymnastic skills, even if it was only against machinery.

“International Rescue. Time to go. Follow me!”

“You’re kidding right?”

“No, I’m pretty serious.”

“We can’t jump and flip around like you just did!”

No, I don’t imagine you can.

“I’ll distract the claw so you can make a run for it.”

Literally the point of this episode,  isn’t it? Running for it?

I have a theme song for it - look up ‘Run for It’ by (you won’t regret it).

“Where does that lead?”

“Emergency exit.”

“This definitely qualifies as an emergency.”

Hell yes, I would think it does!

“Kayo, you need to get out.”

“Great idea, Scott, thanks for the suggestion!”

No need to be sarcastic - he’s just looking out for you, remember?

As a side note, look at the robot! I want one... I bet its more environmentally friendly than my car.

“The ship’s loosing altitude faster than my projections. But why?”

“It looks like the liquid hydrogen fuel cells have cracked open.”

“And I’m guessing that’s bad?”

Yes, Scott, that’s bad.

“The tanks keep the fuel isolated. but if an electrical fire starts on impact, you’ll get what we scientists call a big ka-boom. Which is also what my insides feel like.”

“What’s the time frame?”

“John says I’ll feel better once I get used to zero gravity.”

“I think he means before the zeppelin crashes.”

“Oh right. Factoring in altitude, wind speed, ship weight, adjusting for cargo, and letting x equal the rate of fuel loss, we get... oh my!”

“Scott, you’re gonna’ need to move. Fast.”

“FAB. And Brains, that means feel better soon.”

Yeah... that conversation gets me every time. They never said how fast Scott needed to move, but hey, it’s okay, because he listened. Considering the zeppelin appeared seconds later.

“Thunderbird two could nudge the ship and change course that way.”

Of course that is the first suggestion that Scott comes up with. Just shove it out the way and be done with it. Good plan.

“I would strongly caution against that. Those leaking fuel cells could easily rupture.”

Or not.

“Ka-boom, got it. Ok, I’m gonna’ need to get on board. Maybe I can regain some control of this thing.”

Yay, we get to see Scott pilot a zeppelin! That’s a change.

“Hey, Virgil, just taking a little air!”

“I’ve got Thunderbird One slaved to my controls.”

Yeah... because a line like that always means good things are coming. I love how Virgil at least knew what it meant - take Thunderbird One.

“All systems critical. We’re on auxiliary power with almost no altitude control or steering. I can’t risk landing with that fuel leak. I’m gonna’ point her down and bail out. She’ll crash safely into the lake before reaching the city.”

You can’t say something like that without expecting trouble.

“Crash course set, ready to bail out.”

“Hello? Anyone there? We’re stuck! We can’t get out! Trapped!”

“Hello? Can you hear me? John, did you get that? I thought everyone was off this ship?”

“Me too. Hang on. The numbers don’t match. They messed up their count.”

Great! And so we revert to the cargo hold, which I’ve already covered.

“Do we have time to get the crew out before we reach the city?”

“Negative. You’re gonna’ have to fly over the city, and bring it down in the open countryside on the other side.”

“We’ll never make it. We’re still losing height.”

“If you offload 90% of the fuel, there’s a chance you’ll be light enough to make it over the city.”

A chance? I suppose we have to take it because there’s no other option really.

“Ok, I’ll keep flying. Virgil, you start pumping out that fuel.”

Yeah, because that will buy us lots of non-existent time! At least it’s better than nothing.

“Oh, it’s going to be tight.”

“Tight, but we should make it tight? Or John’s space suit tight?”

“I don’t know if I know how to answer that question in a way that’s reassuring.”

“Space suit tight.”

Scott’s doing a really good job of flying under pressure here, I would just like to say.

“I think it should be enough.”

“You think or you know?”

“I think I know.”

Very reassuring Brains. I feel very non-reassured.

“That should do it, Scott.”

“Got to be sure.”

“Now, Scott, get out!”

Listen to John, for goodness sake, Scott.

Fly for your lives! There’s an explosion!

You know, Wolfie definitely understands the reason for this episode title now. They were being really clever - well done Dan Berlinka.

In my opinion, this is one of the closest calls that they’ve showed us, and I really appreciated that. TOS did it a few times in ‘City of Fire’ and ‘Danger at Ocean Deep’ (I’m talking proper close calls here, because I know there are many near misses), and TAG have done it quite often with Gordon, but this one was a really nice show of skill and panic, and absolute expertise at the end of it all.

“Yes! He made it!”

Hooray! We’ve succeeded! Let’s all go home!

After a hug... but maybe remember to not hug John... he looks like he’s feeling a little awkward there, Brains.

“Nice work everyone. We limited the damage at Anderbad city to one billboard.”

That poor billboard. But yes, successful.

And look what’s waiting at home!

I was wondering where Gordon and Alan had got to... “on a supply run”... yeah right, who’s great idea was that. They only have themselves to blame for what the boys bring back. Interestingly, they never said where Scott and Alan were at the end of the last episode (and I was waiting for that), so it was nice to actually see the pair pop up right at the end.

“Hey guys!”

“How was the supply run?”

“Routine. But wait till you see what me and Alan picked up at an antiques store on the way back.”

“It’s the same game John used to play all the time.”

A nice little reference back to ‘Skyhook’ here. Continuity at it’s best.

“You grab prizes with the claw!”

Yes, we do have eyes, thank you, Alan.

“Who wants to go first?”

Cue mass exodus of the lounge... And a tumbleweed to roll through in the wake of it all. (Actually, could some one get me a tumbleweed please? I feel like my cat would appreciate it. Shes called Munchies, by the way.)

“What did I say?”

“We should have brought some prizes.”

This is funny, because Alan probably said that, and Gordon probably ‘ignored’ him.

“Oh, claw machine needs prizes!”

“No wonder they didn’t want to play!”

I don’t think that was quite it, but hey, let’s not disappoint them anymore. Look at Gordon’s face.

P.S. This ended up more wordy and longer than I had expected! I’ve outdone myself for midnight pieces of work (and a very dodgy internet connection).

[angelofthequeers]

Ladybug and Reine Nuit: Chapter 6

The Bubbler

Disclaimer: I don’t own ML.

@miraculousl4dybug tagged as requested!

Part 5 | Part 7

“Don’t waste your time,” Adrien’s saying as Marinette and Alya draw level with him and Nino outside the school at lunchtime. “He’s not gonna change his mind.”

“Who’s not gonna change whose mind?” Alya says.

“His dad.” Nino grumpily blows bubbles with his wand. “Won’t let him have a b-day party.”

“Wait, really?” Marinette says. “That’s a load of crap! Did he let you have one last year, at least?”

“I didn’t have any friends last year,” Adrien points out.

“Oh. Right.” With a sigh and a small smile, Marinette holds out the gift that she’s holding. “Well, happy fourteenth birthday, Adrien. Even if you can’t have a party, at least we care.”

“You got me a present?” Adrien stares down at the blue wrapping paper. “You didn’t have to do that! We’ve only been friends for a few weeks!”

“We’re still friends,” Marinette says. “It’s not much but –”

“Anything from you will be the best present ever.” Adrien’s cheeks redden. “Uh – I mean – I know I’ll like it – because it’s from you – ugh –”

Marinette squints at Alya, who’s smirking behind her hand, but decides to just let it go. Adrien carefully peels off the wrapping paper, as delicate as though he was defusing a bomb, and his mouth falls open when he sees the blue knitted scarf inside.

“Handmade,” Alya chimes in, still smirking. “She nearly had an aneurism trying to figure out what colour would suit you.”

“I just remembered that you said you’d be happy to model anything I made, so…I thought you’d like it if I made you something for yourself,” Marinette says. “It’s a little plain, and it’s nowhere near the quality of the clothes you wear, but…I hope you like it.”

“Like it? Like it?” Adrien immediately wraps the scarf around his neck, then crushes Marinette in a tight hug. “I love it! Thank you, Marinette! I can’t remember the last time someone got me such a personal gift!”

“Ack – it’s nothing –” Marinette chokes. She gulps in air when Adrien finally lets her go, staring down at his new scarf as though it’s a piece of Heaven around his neck.

“Happy birthday, dude.” Nino presents Adrien with a medium-sized rectangle wrapped in green paper. Adrien beams when he uncovers a pair of headphones. “Best ones I could get! I know you could just get them yourself, but you don’t know headphones like I do.”

“I love them! Thanks, Nino!”

“Here you go, birthday boy,” Alya says, holding out a small red box. Before Adrien can take it, however, Alya is knocked aside by an unpleasantly familiar yellow figure, who proceeds to attach herself to Adrien.

“Happy birthday, Adrien!” Chloé chirps, giving him a big kiss on the cheek. “Mwah!”

“Thanks, Chloé,” Adrien says. “But you kind of pushed Alya –”

“Don’t worry about her. Did you get the gift I sent you?”

“Bitch,” Alya mutters from the ground.

“If you’re not going to be nicer than I don’t want your gift.” Adrien pushes Chloé away from him, while Nino helps Alya up. “Thanks for the birthday wishes, Chloé.”

“But –!”

“Here you go, Adrien,” Alya says loudly, holding her present out again for him to take. It turns out to be a Ladybug phone charm, which he delightedly attaches to his phone while Alya shows him the matching one on her phone. “Now we can be Ladybug besties.”

Marinette’s cheeks warm at that.

“Eh, I’m more of a Reine Nuit kinda guy,” Nino says, showing his Reine Nuit phone charm, which is black with a green paw on it.

“Uh, hello? I’m still here!” Chloé demands. She’s ignored.

“Same here!” Marinette holds up her phone to show her own Reine Nuit charm. “Ladybug’s cool and all, but she’d be nothing without Reine Nuit!”

Alya’s face flushes for a reason that Marinette can’t possibly put her finger on.

“Well, that’s my ride,” Adrien sighs when his car pulls up next to them. “Photoshoot. Later, guys.”

“Adrien –”

“Chloé, if you’re not gonna be nice to my friends then you can buzz off!” Scowling, Adrien gets into his car, leaving a stunned Marinette to hurry on to the bakery before Chloé recovers enough to throw a loud tantrum, while Alya heads back into the school and Nino heads in the opposite direction.

.

A couple of weeks ago, Alya might have totally freaked out at the sight of a gigantic purple bubble snatching up Ms Mendeleiev as she scolds two boys in the courtyard. Now, though? She just sighs and ducks away into a nearby empty classroom to transform, slamming the door shut just in time to avoid a bubble coming after her. Honestly, akumas have gone from awe-inspiring and surreal to just an everyday inconvenience, and this is only the third akuma that she’s ever seen.

“Go away, I’m getting my beauty sleep!” Plagg complains when Alya opens her bag.

“You’ll need another ten thousand years of that, then,” Alya says. “Plagg, claws out!”

In a flash of green light, Alya is replaced by Reine Nuit, who darts out of the room and back to the courtyard just in time to see her classmates caught in a massive bubble. The person behind the bubble is…absolutely hideous. Whoever this Hawkmoth is, Reine Nuit is going to be having very strong words about colour coordination, because blue skin with a bright red cropped shirt and yellow accents? Ugh. Especially with the black around his eyes, the ridiculous red stalk on his head, and the red, blue, and yellow leg warmers. At least his pants are black and not another outlandish colour. And at least there’s no green in there; Reine Nuit’s pride is sufficiently intact with the knowledge that this akuma hasn’t jacked her secondary colour.

“Come on, dudes!” the akuma says in an awfully familiar voice. “We’re gonna have a party for Adrien and it’s gonna be rockin’!”

Reine Nuit’s eyes widen. Nino? How the hell did Nino even end up akumatised in the first place? Probably over Adrien not being able to have a birthday party, judging by how he’s currently abducting their classmates to celebrate.

“Hey!” Reine Nuit leaps into the centre of the courtyard. “Let them go, Nino!”

“It’s Bubbler now!” Nino declares. “And you’ll be Adrien’s guest of honour!”

Reine Nuit dodges the first two bubbles that Bubbler sends easily. She bats another away with her baton, then leaps off a nearby pillar to narrowly avoid a fourth. But she’s not the lucky hero here; Bubbler’s next bubble catches her, knocking her onto her face as it floats up to join the bubble with her classmates.

“This is gonna be the best party ever!” Bubbler says, rising into the air with his captives and soaring towards Adrien’s mansion. Reine Nuit scowls and rolls onto her back so that she can cross her arms. That little shit Plagg had been right when he’d called her impulsive and brawny. If she tries hard enough, she can just imagine his smug smirk, but doing that makes her want to rip her own eyes out, so she forces her brain in another direction.

How is she going to get out of this? She can’t use her Cataclysm unless she wants to plummet to her doom, what with how high in the sky they are. And besides, there’s no guarantee that she’d manage to get away from Bubbler, and then she’ll be stuck timing out and revealing her identity. No, the best thing she can do for now is wait for Ladybug.

In the Agreste courtyard, tables of food and a DJ station have already been set up; clearly Bubbler’s doing before coming to kidnap the party guests. He frees the students from their bubble, but keeps Reine Nuit trapped next to the DJ station, no doubt so that he can keep an eye on her.

“Get ready!” Bubbler orders when the mansion doors start to open. As soon as Adrien emerges, the guests start to cheer and wish him a happy birthday while side-eyeing Bubbler and his giant bubble wand.

“Hooray, yay, happy birthday,” Reine Nuit deadpans, crossing one leg over the other while reclining in her bubble. May as well make herself comfortable until Ladybug arrives.

“Hey, hey, hey, birthday boy!” Bubbler booms. “Guess what? Daddy’s gone! While the cat’s away, the mice will play!”

Adrien’s eyes widen. “Nino?” That’s as far as he gets before a red yo-yo wraps around his waist and sends him flying past the crowd and straight into Ladybug’s arms, where she’s perched on a low fence.

“Hey!” Bubbler whips out his bubble wand. “Give me back my bro!”

“Sorry, but the party’s over!” Ladybug meets Reine Nuit’s eyes and winks. “I’m taking the birthday boy out!” She turns and leaps away with Adrien. Bubbler snarls and zooms after her in a burst of bubbles, leaving Reine Nuit unsupervised at last.

“Cataclysm!” Reine Nuit pops her bubble and lands in an awesome superhero crouch, while the party guests (minus Chloé) cheer. Reine Nuit’s eyes dart around in search of food to refuel Plagg when she times out, and her face lights up at the sight of a massive cheese platter on one of the tables, with – thank god! – Camembert. She runs over and grabs the plate, then salutes the party guests. “Gotta split! Thanks for the snack!”

Her ring beeps as soon as she rounds a corner, so she says, “Claws in,” and lets Plagg out. He falls into her free hand, groaning dramatically and swooning.

“I’m ever so hungry!” he moans. “How will I go on? I – Camembert!”

“Yeah, yeah, hurry up,” Alya says as Plagg devours the cheese platter. “Ladybug needs my help.”

“Gouda’s real nice,” Plagg says thoughtfully. “Not as good as Camembert, but it’s still got that delicious taste of –”

“Plagg!”

.

“I gotta say, this is the best birthday present ever!” Adrien says as Ladybug hops and swings through Paris with Bubbler on her tail. “Besides the scarf my friend made me, of course.”

Ladybug fights back her wide smile at Adrien’s words. Instead, she says, “I’ll make sure to gift-wrap it next year!” and takes a sharp right to avoid Bubbler’s bubbles, making Adrien clutch her around the neck even tighter.

“Give me back the birthday boy!” Bubbler shouts. “You’re, like, totally ruining the party, dude!”

“Then bring back the adults!” Ladybug calls over her shoulder.

“Never! Adults are boring! All they do is boss us around!”

“Kids need adults!” Ladybug throws her yo-yo and swings in a wide arc to land behind Bubbler, then run back the way they came. Bubbler skids to a halt in mid-air and resumes chasing after her. “Adults look after kids!”

“Most of them, anyway,” Adrien mutters rather bitterly.

“Ugh, you wanna be an adult? Then go and join them!”

In her attempt to dodge Bubbler’s next attack, Ladybug slips on a roof tile and goes flying over the fence of the park, screaming. She instinctively wraps herself around Adrien and braces herself to take the brunt of the impact, since she’s the one with the super suit that protects her bones and squishy parts and Adrien isn’t. As it is, he’s still groaning when they finally stop rolling.

“Adrien!” Ladybug dives to protect Adrien again but she’s too late; Bubbler’s bubble captures him and lifts him into the air, too high for Ladybug to risk trying to pop the bubble in case she can’t catch him and he ends up breaking his neck.

“Just chill there, bro,” Bubbler says to Adrien, then looks at Ladybug. “As for you, you’re gonna learn that what goes up doesn’t always go down!”

“Ms Mendeleiev would disagree,” Ladybug says. “Isn’t that one of the three Newtonian laws?”

“I’m a rainbow guy who can blow magic bubbles to trap people,” Bubbler deadpans. “What part of this do you think follows science, dude?”

“…That’s actually a good point. Gah!” Ladybug ducks to avoid a surprise bubble attack.

“Stand still, will you?”

“Why would I willingly stand still and let you catch me?”

God, what she wouldn’t give for Reine Nuit’s help right now. Bubbler’s sending attack after attack, wearing her down, giving her no chance to retaliate unless she wants to risk a bubble to the face. She can’t even use her Lucky Charm in case Reine Nuit turns up and she then has to come up with a whole new plan.

“Ladybug! No!” Adrien cries when Bubbler sends out a swarm of green bubbles that surround Ladybug and then hone in on her. She squeezes her eyes shut, expecting to go flying at any moment…but that moment never comes.

“Ugh, seriously?” Bubbler whines as Ladybug opens her eyes. She can’t help the wide grin that spreads across her face at the sight of Reine Nuit in front of her, staff in front of her, clearly having deflected the green bubble attack for Ladybug. “You again?”

“You left me,” Reine Nuit seethes, “in a bubble.”

“That’s…kinda my job, dude. I’m the Bubbler.” A purple mask outline appears over Bubbler’s face, and Ladybug and Reine Nuit exchange frowns. What does that mean? “I know, I know, Hawkdude.”

“Hawkmoth can speak to them?” Reine Nuit mutters.

“Makes sense,” Ladybug murmurs back. “Why turn someone into a supervillain if you can’t keep track of them?”

“Give me your Miraculouses!” Bubbler demands, holding out his hand. “Or Adrien won’t get his super cool party that he totally deserves!”

“Not that I don’t appreciate it, but I want a party from Nino,” Adrien says, his phone out to record the confrontation from inside his bubble. Of course. “Not a supervillain made by some guy with zero fashion sense.”

“I know I look like a douchebag,” Bubbler says. “But I still got powers!” He shoots a jet of red bubbles at Ladybug and Reine Nuit, who leap behind a tree and a bush respectively to dodge the attack, then leap out to dive at Bubbler together. He smirks and summons a bubble to lift him out of the way, resulting in Ladybug and Reine Nuit colliding head-on and crumpling to the ground in a groaning heap.

“Maybe you should Lucky Charm it,” Reine Nuit moans, trying to untangle herself from Ladybug’s legs. She winces when Ladybug accidentally kicks her in the head. “Ow!”

“Seriously?” Bubbler says. “You guys are pathetic.” With a wave of his bubble wand, he has them trapped in a bubble together and floating metres off the ground, only to sigh when the purple mask reappears over his face. “You think I don’t know what I’m doing, dude? Just wait for ‘em to run out of air, then I can grab their things without a fight.” A pause. “Yeah, I might look hideous but I do have good ideas.”

“I think you’re right,” Ladybug says, pushing herself up. “Lucky Charm!”

“Okay, wow, I’m glad I didn’t get the earrings,” Reine Nuit says when Ladybug is given a ladybug-patterned long-sleeved shirt. “Although to be fair, that is still more fashionable than what that guy’s wearing.”

“Hmm.” Ladybug frowns as she looks around, her mind frantically working overtime to try and concoct a plan to get the akuma’s bubble wand, which is no doubt where the nasty akuma is hiding. Her eyes land on Reine Nuit, a nearby tree, Adrien’s bubble, and then Bubbler. “Got it! Reine Nuit, I need you to get us out of here and then make him go near that tree. Use Adrien as bait!”

“You already have a plan?” Reine Nuit says incredulously. “It’s only been, like, two seconds! Whatever. Cataclysm!”

Once they’re free from the bubble, Reine Nuit heads for Adrien and uses her staff to propel his bubble in the direction of the tree that Ladybug had indicated. With a growl, Bubbler follows and shoots a jet of bubbles at Reine Nuit, and Ladybug takes advantage of the intense battle between her partner and the villain to scale the tree without being noticed. She holds the shirt open from the bottom, then leaps out of the tree to crash on top of Bubbler with a bellow. Just as planned, the shirt slips over his head and pins his arms to his sides, rendering his bubble wand useless. Ladybug hums as she ties the sleeves around Bubbler to make the shirt stay, then easily pries the wand from his hand.

“No more evildoing for you, little akuma,” she says, snapping the bubble wand to release the purple butterfly, which she snags with her yo-yo. Once it’s purified and is flapping off into the distance, Reine Nuit hands Ladybug the shirt that she’d yanked off Bubbler, and Ladybug smiles at her partner as she takes it and throws it up into the air. “Miraculous Ladybug!”

“This is so cool! I was supervillain bait!” Adrien cries, dancing on the spot when the healing ladybugs deposit him on the ground after dissolving his bubble.

“Wow, you really are sheltered,” Reine Nuit comments dryly.

“Like you wouldn’t have been the same if you hadn’t been a superhero,” Ladybug teases. Reine Nuit snorts.

“Okay, point.”

With the damage undone, Bubbler falls to his knees and his hideous outfit melts into purple-black nothingness to reveal Nino.

“How’d I get here?” he blinks, looking around with furrowed eyebrows.

“You were an akuma! You totally abducted me and everything!” Adrien says.

“Pound it!” Ladybug and Reine Nuit chorus, doing their fist-bump.

“Sorry, dude,” Nino says glumly. “I probably ruined the whole day for you.”

“Are you kidding?” Adrien says gleefully. “Best. Birthday. Ever!”

“Alright, let’s get the birthday boy back home,” Ladybug says. She scoops Adrien up bridal style and turns to Reine Nuit. “Are you okay to take Nino back to school?”

“You bet!” Reine Nuit gives her a thumbs-up and then approaches Nino, kneeling to be on eye level with him. “Don’t feel bad, okay? I mean, there are way worse reasons to become an akuma than wanting to celebrate a friend’s birthday.”

“But I’m the one who got upset,” Nino says.

“Hey, this is Hawkdouche’s fault. Not yours. Don’t ever think that feeling things is wrong.”

“I think she’s got it well covered,” Ladybug says. With a flick of her wrist, she’s swinging out of the park and through the streets in the direction of the Agreste mansion, Adrien whooping and holding on tight. Once they land in the mansion courtyard, now free of party guests and DJ equipment, Ladybug sets Adrien down.

“Thanks for saving my friend, Ladybug,” Adrien says, scratching the back of his neck. Ladybug smiles.

“It’s what I do.” On impulse, she quickly kisses his cheek, giggling at how his face immediately flushes dark red. “Happy birthday, Adrien.” Then she’s off, swinging through Paris to get back to the bakery before she transforms back.

.

“There you are!” Marinette hugs Nino when he and Adrien are back at school at the end of lunch. “Are you alright? I heard you got akumatised!”

“Yeah,” Nino sighs. “I was super bummed that Adrien’s dad wouldn’t let him party. But Reine Nuit told me not to blame myself.”

“She’s right, you know,” Alya says from behind Marinette. “It’s not like anyone actually wants one of those icky butterflies in their head.”

“Did your father at least get you a birthday present if he’s not letting you have a party?” Marinette says. Adrien shrugs.

“A pen. Same as the last three years.” His face brightens. “But I got to swing around Paris with Ladybug and get up close to an akuma, so I’d say that more than makes up for it! Plus, I got these awesome gifts from you guys.”

“Too bad you didn’t get a selfie with Ladybug,” Alya smirks as they head into the school. Adrien groans loudly.

“I didn’t even think of that! A selfie would’ve been the best present ever! You think if I pray loudly enough, she’ll hear me?”

Marinette just grins and rolls her eyes. “You can certainly try.”

[endless-vall]

I needed to see you - Ethan x MC fanfic

Summary: After Ellie’s successful Ethic’s Hearing, her roommates throw her a party to celebrate. A lot of familiar faces scatter around the house, but is the one person she looks for will be there?

Author’s note: Another MC x Ethan fanfic, since I finally have some free-time and just LOVE this couple. Let me know what you think! <3

Tagging: @cora-nova @lilyofchoices @paisleylovergirl @dandeservestheworld @mfackenthal @quacksonlover @blackcatkita @writtenbycandy .  Let me know if you wanna be tagged in future works for Ethan x MC/Open Heart/Perma tag! Let me know if you want to be untagged! ^^

The chat with Ethan was open on Ellie’s screen. She was staring at her phone for the last fifteen minutes.

Still no response...

- Hey, wanted to check up on you. How have you been? - Ellie

- I confessed everything. Everyone tells me it was stupid. You’re probably thinking the same thing.... Just wanted to tell you. - Ellie

- My ethic’s hearing is tomorrow morning. Wish me luck! - Ellie

- By some higher power... I actually passed it. I get to keep my medical licences. I’m still a doctor, yay! - Ellie

Her shift ended a couple hours ago. She was sitting in her bedroom, the sound of her roommates (minus Landry since, thankfully, he moved out) were preparing a party to celebrate their victory.

Not as big as the housewarming party, really. Just a couple of friends. Medical interns, the surgical interns with Bryce, Rafael and a couple of nurses who supported Ellie at the hearing. Apparently Danny convinced some of them to vouch for her and Ellie was entirely grateful. 

She was supposed to be relieved, happy... But something was missing. And she knew exactly what it was.

Her gaze wandered back to the phone in her hand.

She was hopeless.

She knew Ethan needed time. She wanted to be there for him but knew he needed his space right now. 

And she was willing to give it to him, really. But she couldn’t help but feel a sting in her heart for not being able to talk to him. To see him. To hear his thoughts. Even the snarky ones, the brooding ones. The collected, calculated, cautious ones.

“Ellie, are you ready yet? We’re almost done setting everything up--” Jackie entered the room without notice, but she stopped mid-sentence when she saw Ellie moping around.

“Oh hell no-” She pulled the phone out of Ellie’s arms. “You are not sitting around here sinking into some kind of pity-party since Mr. fancypants isn’t replying to your messages. Get up, get dressed, and get your butt over to the living room who’s filled with people who came here to celebrate with you!”

Ellie stared at Jackie stunned, mouth falling agape. 

“Are you going to keep staring at me or are you going to put a bomb outfit and get out there?” Jackie wasn’t playing around, and Ellie stood up, nodding.

“Fine. You’re completely right. I’ll get ready in no-time. Can I have my phone back?” Ellie put a confident smile over her face. 

Jackie WAS right. Ellie should be out there, celebrating.

Ethan will come around, eventually, she hoped. But she shouldn’t be sitting around and wallowing while waiting for him. He wouldn’t want that for her either.

“Once you’re dressed. And put it on silent mode. Understood?” Jackie ordered.

Ellie nodded frantically, and got up. She pulled a nice dress out of her wardrobe and put it on. She took off her hair-tie and finally let that messy bun of hers fall gracefully over her shoulders.

Turning around, she grinned at Jackie.

“How do I look?” She was smiling for real this time.

“Amazing,” Jackie nodded proudly. “Now let’s go!”

Letting Jackie pull her out by her hand, Ellie entered a buzzing with life living room.

Everyone seemed to have a good time, playing drinking games or just chatting. But everyone stopped in their tracks and looked over to Ellie.

Smiles already spreading over all of the familiar faces, they raised their drinks at her.

“let’s welcome the woman of the hour!” Elijah called. “Hooray!” Everyone answered.

It felt a bit silly, since they were celebrating Ellie avoiding being fired and losing her medical licences rather than some actual accomplishment, but it was still heartwarming to watch how all the people she cared about cared about her and gathered in one place to support her.

She took a glass of her own, and raised it at them. “Thank you all for coming, hope you have a good time!” And everyone drunk up.

She mingled with the people who came to the party, greeting everyone as she approached. After a few beers she decided to take a break, and get out to the balcony to get some fresh air.

There were certainly more friendly faces here than she’d anticipated. Even Aurora showed up. It didn’t come as too much of a surprise, given she and Ellie had become closer friends over the time, but it was still notable. 

But even among all the familiar faces Ellie still couldn’t help but to search for one certain face.

Ethan’s, obviously.

And she didn’t think he’d come. How could he? He didn’t even know about the party... Let along reach out to her recently.

Shaking her head, she looked back inside. She was about to enter when she saw through the transparent curtains at the balcony’s door that Sienna was opening the front door, welcoming another guest in.

He was much taller than her, and Ellie’s heart fluttered in her chest when she saw those dark locks of hair.

Could it really be...?

Sienna moved aside, now letting him come into full view.

It was him. It was Ethan. He was there.

How?

She couldn’t hear them talking, but she saw Ethan push his hands into his pockets and ask Sienna something. Sienna immediately replied, smiling brightly as always. She pointed into the direction of the balcony, and Ellie felt weak at her knees. She took a step back, catching the railing of the balcony to balance herself.

Ethan thanked Sienna, and headed towards the balcony, Ellie’s heart thumped in her chest like a drum.

He entered the balcony, closing the door behind him, but stood at the entrance. His ocean blue eyes searching intently for hers, but looking hesitant when finally meeting.

“Hi.” Ellie smiled at him. She wasn’t sure what he was doing here, or why was she so nervous, but at least she managed to say something.

“Hey.” He smiled back, nodding, looking her over up and down. “You look-” He catches himself, taking a breathe. “You look great, by the way.”

Suddenly he’s looking anywhere but her. Somewhere in the distance or simply avoiding her eye-contact, and gulps.

Ellie bites at her lower lip.

She doesn’t know what was she expecting, or why was she disappointed. 

It’s not like she was waiting for a grand declaration of love, that is...

But just... More than a ‘Hi’ before turning around... Probably.

“Uh... Thanks.” She hopes her tone doesn’t sell out her disappointment. 

“So... You’re back in Seattle?” She asks, trying to act casual, even though nothing about it casual at the moment...

It was like there was something between them and there wasn’t, at the same time. Confusing and frustrating but also comforting and promising.

“I guess so.” He answers dryly, at first... And Ellie’s about to scoff and go inside but he manages to speak up again before she can do it.

“I wasn’t planning to come back just yet... But then I had to.” He finally looks back and meets her gaze. He crosses the balcony and stands beside her, leaning on the railings as well.

“You had to come back?” This time, she definitely sounded disappointed. 

He wasn’t there to see her - of course he wasn’t...

“There was someone I had to see-” He looked into her eyes and she swore she could drown in them.

“Someone...?” She couldn’t help but sound hopeful, even if she firmly tried to.

“God, Ellie...” And before she knew it, he was kissing her.

Desperately, but so tenderly at the same time.

It felt like coming home. Like it was setting everything right where it should’ve been.

He caressed her face with both hands and she let herself be pulled against him.

God. She wanted that moment to last forever.

But like all things, it needed to end. But what followed... Didn’t seem so bad at all.

They pulled apart, still standing incredibly close to each other, not bringing themselves to break apart completely.

“I needed to see you, if that wasn’t clear enough,” Ethan cleared his throat, just the hint of a pinkish color rising to his cheeks.

“I kinda got that, after that, uhm, kiss.” Ellie was definitely blushing, but she didn’t mind. She felt so happy at the moment she couldn’t care if her face was as red as a tomato.

Ethan chuckled, and Ellie joined in, giggling and leaning her head over Ethan’s chest.

“But how did you know there was a party?” She suddenly remembered, the question flying out of her mouth before she could process it. She raised her head and looked at him.

“I... Didn’t.” Ethan shrugged, throwing a look back inside.

The party was still in full-motion, and people were having such a great time no one noticed they were missing.

“I was texting you the whole night, but once you didn’t answer... Thought I’d stop by. I guessed your shift would be over, but when I heard the music playing so loudly... I almost didn’t knock.” Ethan confessed, and Ellie’s eyes widened.

Her phone! Right!

She pulled it out of her pocket, turning the screen on to see five new text-messages from Ethan.

“Jackie made me put it on silent mode. Guess I forgot to check it. Sorry,” She furrowed her eyebrows at him apologetically.

“It’s alright,” he assured her.

“So... Why did you knock, anyway?” Ellie asked, wrapping her hands around Ethan.

It was such a small gesture... But it felt incredibly giddy to be able to do it without him pulling away or telling her they can’t.

Ethan wrapped one of his hands around her in response, pulling her even closer against him, as if saying he felt the same way.

“Well, I figured if you were having a party, you must be home. And I couldn’t wait another moment to see you, knowing you were somewhere behind that door.” Ethan admitted, and Ellie raised to her tip-toes to give him a peck on his lips.

“Kind of reminds me of Miami. When another door was keeping us apart.” Ellie said, in a matter-of-fact voice.

Ethan huffed, a snarky sound leaving his lips. “You have no idea how much I wanted to tear that door down and go to sleep with you, instead of that lonely couch I had.” he let her know, suddenly no walls standing between them, keeping them apart.

She wanted to ask ‘Then why didn’t you?’ - But they both knew the answer to that.

They were still mentor and student back then, but now... They weren’t. Not at the moment at least.

“Hey... Ethan?” An idea sprung to her head, and she bit down on her lower lip in anticipation.

“Yeah?” She recognized his intrigued tone as a smile played over his lips.

“There’s nothing stopping us right now from going to my bedroom...” She raised a suggestive eyebrow at him, as his hands glided down her body - settling over her waist as she wrapped her hands around his neck.

“There are a lot of interns inside.” Ethan motioned towards the crowd, although he didn’t say ‘no’ and didn’t really sound against the idea.

“They’re so caught up in their own conversations they probably wouldn’t really notice, and even if they did - They’re so drunk I doubt they’ll remember.” Ellie noted.

Admittedly it wasn’t the best plan, or even the best excuse, but...

“Hell, You’ve convinced me.” Ethan winked at her, not wasting another moment before throwing the door back inside open and pulling her in with him.

[readandlisten]

Military Hospital AU Part 5

Author’s Note: I couldn’t find a GIF for the life of me so imagine this as Fenrys’ smirk, it works. Not much else to say other than it’s Tuesday, and I’m tired. Being an adult sucks. Oh ya, join the tag list by commenting you want to be tagged. But yeah. Read my other stuff on my Masterlist and read the previous part Here.

Read Chaper 6

Aelin was flipping through the channels of her television the next morning when Rowan appeared at her door.

“How was the rest of the night? Was the broth okay?”

“Yup. And I had jello this morning, think I can eat real food anytime soon?”

“Sure we will start you off slow, but I bet you that tonight I’ll let you have chicken noodle soup.”

“Yay... more liquid food,” she cheered unenthusiasticly.

“Unless, you want more jello... I’ll go get you some right now,” Rowan turned like he was personally going to get her some.

“Yay! Soup!” She said with more enthusiasm, although it was forced.

Rowan chuckled and said, “I brought someone with me today,” he gestured around the door and a man with curly blonde hair walked in. “This is Fenrys. He will be your physical therapist. You’ll start today and he will be working with you every morning at 10:00.”

Aelin raised her eyebrows, “I don’t know if you realize this, but I can’t sit up in bed without help.”

“And you likely won’t be able too anytime soon unless you start physical therapy,” Rowan countered.

Aelin sighed and looked to Fenrys, who still hadn’t said anything yet. He smirked when her eyes landed on him. She smirked back but asked, “Alright, how are we starting?”

“Let’s get you sitting up,” he said.

“Wait, why are you still here?” She looked to Rowan.

“It’s a team approach. I won’t always be here, but today I need to asses and create a broader treatment plan. Remember, I’m the one in charge of you here.”

“Let’s get this straight, I’m the one in charge of me here, you, you are my doctor. I get a say in the things pertaining to me, got it?”

“Alright,” Rowan consented. Fenrys was just holding back a laugh as he walked over to her bedside.

“Okay, Sergeant-“

“Aelin,” she interrupted. “I will call you Fenrys and you will call me Aelin.”

“Okay, Aelin. Or should I say ‘Corporal Bossy’. Let’s see about getting you to be able to sit up.” Fenrys put his hand on her leg and said, “I want you to use your quad to lift this leg and swing it to the side at the same time you do the same with this leg,” he gestured to the other leg. “Your going to brace you good arm here, on the rail of the bed to pull yourself up, did you get all that?”

She nodded and he added, “If you are lightheaded or dizzy once you are up, just take a few deep breaths till you’re steady. Whenever you’re ready.”

She took a deep breath and lifted her leg, her knee hurt but Fenrys was protecting her injury while she moved. She pulled herself up and took a deep breathe and sighed in relief when she realized she was up. Fenrys had put a chair under her leg with an injured knee, just as Rowan had done the day before when he changed the dressing on her back.

“There we go! Look at that, almost like a human,” Fenrys cheered.

“Hooray,” she said dryly, panting slightly. “I did something every infant learns how to do.”

“Progress is progress. Now I’m going to take your arm out of that sling and Rowan’s going to assess if we should start PT on that today, or later on.”

Rowan stepped around the bed and began examining her arm. It was sore but the pain medicine limited the intense pain she knew she would be in when it stopped, probably in a few days.

Rowan finished his exam and said, “I think you should be okay to start some mobilizing therapy. No weights or strength training for a few weeks, just start with extensions. Same with her knee and ankle.”

“Got it,” he nodded to Rowan. “We are going to stay in here today and maybe tomorrow or later this week we will go to the rehab center to do some exercises,” Fenrys said to Aelin.

“Anything to get out of this room,” Aelin said.

“It hasn’t been that long, you were asleep for three days. You’ve only been awake and in this room for two day.”

“So that’s a total of five days, Major. Do the math,”

“We agreed on Rowan, Sergeant.”

“I think I decided on Buzzard. And the point is, I am bored of rooms. I spent two weeks in one room and have spent the last five in another.”

“I’ll make you a deal, do your exercises, rest and have an afternoon meal, by that I do mean broth and jello, all without arguing or complaining and we’ll do a roll around the courtyard this afternoon.” Rowan raised his eyebrows, seeing if she would accept his challenge.

“Alright but I veto the complaining stipulation. I will not argue and I will be compliant but I want to be able to bitch about it.” She stuck out her hand to seal the deal.

“Deal,” he replied completing her handshake.

Tag List: @chaoticskyy @poisonous00 @moodboreddd @togswiftie

[hirazuki]

Hey y’all, here are a couple of life updates (that I never thought I’d be making lol)! Hooray! Basically, I’m in a weird transitory phase in my life right now, and in order to continue doing the things I love, I need some extra cash on the side; all of my real income currently has been going to moving expenses, bills and rent, and other boring nonsense XD 

   1. Ko-fi

https://ko-fi.com/hirazuki

I decided to jump on the bandwagon and make a thing ^^

If you enjoy my content -- art, metas/analysis, villain/antagonist defense, fics, cosplay, vld salt, random Lotor love in the tags, etc. -- please consider dropping by. I’m not a huge fan of accepting donations and stuff for free, so anyone who buys me a coffee will get a small sketch of something I know they like in return (or something based off of your blog, if I don’t know you that well -- just make sure to tell me who’s leaving it so I know who to return a sketch to!). So, essentially a $3 art request lmao.

2. Redbubble

https://www.redbubble.com/people/hirazuki

I’ve also opened up a Redbubble store! It has both fanart and original works. I’m debating about maybe putting some of my nicer quality cosplay photos up for sale as prints (gotta check with the photographers first!)... thoughts? Yay/nay? 

3. Art commissions

I’m thinking about opening up art commissions and I wanted to gauge interest >.> Examples of my art are up there, and I am also considering branching out and offering character cards, concept sheets, and other D&D related goodies (because, yes, I am finally allowing myself to get into D&D!). Would anyone be interested if I did?