#none of her work is complete yet so i haven't pushed

[aizawas-upper-left-wisdom-tooth]

And for my sister who writes her fanfiction and only shows me without putting it out there for everyone else to view... Then says it's garbage.... That's like making cake at home and then saying "it's not as good as the fancy bakery down the road so therefore it's worthless."

Then me saying "I love both home made cake and fancy cake, as do many others"

and then you saying "ITS GARBAGE!" and then refusing to let me share the cake with others....

[asidian]

One thing I haven't seen talked about is Crystal's character arc, and specifically the way the timing of it interacts with Charles' arc. They stumble over each other in the worst possible way en route to their respective character growth, and from a narrative perspective, it's absolutely genius.

I'm going to preface all this by saying: none of this is a criticism of Crystal. Part of what makes her such a dynamic, refreshing character is that you don't get to see women in fiction written the way she's been written. You don't get to see women with her flaws that aren't throw-away mean girls or villains. You especially don't get to see women with her traits who learn and grow and become better people. So yeah, I'm going to talk about Crystal's character flaws. No, this isn't Crystal hate. We love our girl in this house. Okay? Okay. Let's start.

Crystal's character arc, at its heart, is all about her learning to be a better person because she has good influences that love and support her for the first time.

When the show starts, Crystal is not a nice person. She's abrasive in a way that's specifically designed to push people away. She's used to getting her own way, and it shows. She's used to having no meaningful connections with anyone, and it shows. She's breathtakingly selfish, in the very literal sense of the definition. She is focused on her self. Her problems are front and center to her; everything is about what she needs, and what she wants, and how she's struggling.

Jenny calls her out very early on. In episode one, Crystal is complaining about the boys, and Jenny, for all her cynicism, strikes right at the heart of the problem. She tells Crystal, "Everybody is always thinking about themselves, all the time." People only care about their own problems. And she says, correctly, that that's what Crystal is doing, too.

This moment is a revelation for Crystal. For the first time, she considers what her behavior looks like from another person's perspective. As she says, she gets mad at herself over it, and that awareness allows her to do something selfless for the first time in the series. She takes a step back and insists that instead of focusing on her problems, they go to help a little girl. It's a big moment for her.

But importantly, she's not done growing as a character here. She's only just getting started.

On my first watch through, I didn't realize how often, over the next few episodes, Crystal redirects things to her problems during conversation, but it's quite a lot. She's still focused on herself – selfish, in that most literal definition of the word. The issues most important to her are her issues. She's starting to learn to think about other people, but she's not there yet. The process is still underway.

Which brings us to Charles.

Charles' arc is a different sort of self-reflection. He's terrified that he's a bad person the way his father was and the way the boys that killed him were.

During the course of the show, he gets systematically stripped of his confidence and made to feel helpless, and just like Crystal needs outside influences to help her reach a more stable place, Charles does, too. He desperately needs reassurance that he isn't everything he's afraid he is.

But my goodness, the timing in their arcs is such a trainwreck when you put them together, and it is brilliant.

Let's start with the Devlin House.

Crystal has some amazing character growth here. She displays genuine concern about Charles, makes an attempt at comforting him, and learns to work with Edwin even though she still doesn't particularly like him at this point.

Charles, meanwhile, is beginning to fall apart. He's just had the worst night of his afterlife. He's been viscerally reminded of how helpless he is. He couldn't stop the Devlins from being killed over and over, just like he couldn't stop his own father's abuse. He messed up his attempted rescue so badly that he was completely out of commission until the case was finished. He managed to help not one single thing. He made no impact at all. He couldn't help those girls any more than he was able to help himself, while he was still alive.

So they get back to the butcher shop, and what do we see? Monty immediately coopts Edwin. Niko doesn't know what's happened because she wasn't there and Charles has been all fake smiles with her. And Crystal goes off with Niko, leaving Charles to flounder on his own in the wake of everything. She's still learning how to support other people. She isn't there yet, and it's extremely on display in this moment.

Then we get the lighthouse episode, and they both get put through the wringer here. Crystal gets her hopes and expectations jerked around by the Night Nurse in the very worst way, and Charles gets hit with a whole pile full of trauma. All that helplessness wells to the forefront again. Combined with being forced to relive some of his worst memories and the desperation to keep Edwin safe from hell, Charles lets himself act on his anger for once.

And what does he get in the aftermath? Horror.

Everyone who cares about him is horrified by what he's done. Edwin goes so far as to call it extreme. They don't know the half of it, of course; they haven't seen what the Night Nurse just put him through. But in this moment Charles is at his absolute lowest, and all he sees is confirmation that he's exactly as terrible as he thinks he is.

That's why Charles shrugs off Edwin's attempt at comfort, here. When he needed to be able to do something to protect Edwin and also himself – when he needed to believe that he could be better than what his father always was – all he sees is the confirmation from the people he cares about most that when push came to shove, he really is a bad guy.

Then comes the aftermath. And this moment is such a brilliant, awful clash of both of their character arcs. It is so delightfully messy.

Because Charles starts to open up to Crystal here. He starts to lay himself bare, the way he ends up doing with Edwin in episode 5. He's on the verge of admitting something that he's been worried about for literal decades. He tells her, "I've been angry for such a long time."

And what does Crystal do? She's still in the midst of her own character growth. She's still struggling to support other people. She's still learning how to. In a lot of ways, though she's made progress already, she's still that selfish girl that Jenny called out in the very first episode.

And she shows it here it with the absolute worst possible timing. No sooner has Charles started to talk about what's bothering him than she cuts in with her own problems. She's tired of riddles and spirits and demons and not knowing who she is. And the look on Charles' face. The moment when he visibly sets aside his own problems, because Crystal doesn't need any more disasters on her plate? It's heartbreaking. You can actually track the subtle change in his expression there. The actor does a phenomenal job.

And then comes the kiss. And what spurs it? Crystal saying she needs something real.

This moment isn't about light-hearted attraction, the way the earlier flirting is. It's Charles setting aside what he needs – comfort and reassurance and a moment to talk through the things that have been tearing him apart – to give her what she says she wants. He can't even feel it. And Crystal isn't far enough along in her character growth here to realize how selfish she's being. Like Jenny said way back in episode one, she's only thinking about herself.

And then comes the absolute unmitigated disaster of episode 5.

Straight out the gate, Charles leans in for a kiss. From his perspective, they have something together; there's affection there. Charles "I think I'd miss kissing" Rowland, who has been starved for meaningful physical contact for thirty years, is not in a hurry to give this up.

But Crystal is fresh out of a nightmare where she conflates Charles with her abusive ex. She withdraws; she calls what they had a distraction. She cuts it off almost as soon as it's started, so focused on her own worries here that she misses how damn fake Charles' smile is, to cover up that he's coming to pieces.

To be clear, she's absolutely not in the wrong here. It is 1000% her prerogative not to jump into a relationship again while she's still struggling to work through what happened with David. But the arc of her narrative is still early enough that she does it all without so much as the awareness that her focus on her own issues has hurt Charles terribly.

And then the episode really kicks off, and both of them are in shambles in very different ways.

Crystal is projecting her issues with David onto Charles. She has a lot of history, and David seems as though he's exactly the right sort of toxic to leave lasting a lasting impact. But Charles hasn't done anything to deserve her assumptions, and he takes the brunt of her temper here and throughout the episode.

Charles is desperately projecting onto the dead jocks. He very badly wants them to be good guys, because he sees himself in them and he needs himself to be a good guy. He snipes back at Crystal for the very first time in this episode, and he does it in the worst way possible, accidentally prodding her where it will do the most damage.

They're both hurting. They both say some truly painful things to one another.

She does not need to hear that she has unsorted hangups about David still plaguing her while she's unable to move past them. He desperately does not need anyone to tell him that he has rage issues while he's still struggling to think of himself as a decent person.

They apologize, in the end. They start to move past it.

But it's telling that Charles doesn't try to open up to Crystal again. He goes to Edwin instead, even though Edwin is the one who called his actions regarding the Night Nurse extreme. He gets the reassurance he needs so badly; he gets the connection he was looking for with Crystal from Edwin, instead. (I have a lot of thoughts on why Charles initially tries to open up to Crystal so quickly, but it is very much an aside, and this is already extremely long, so it will have to wait for another write-up.)

But the important thing here is, Edwin is the one to offer Charles what he needs to overcome the self-doubt eating him alive. Edwin provides the physical affection Charles was seeking in the form of that long-overdue hug. Edwin is the one who's able to reaffirm for him that he's not just a good guy, he's the best person Edwin knows.

And for all intents and purposes, Charles' major character arc ends here.

Charles has a few last little moments to go on the path to rebuilding his own self-image, after this, but for the most part his concerns have been resolved. He saves Crystal in episode 6 and Edwin in episode 7, proving to himself that he's able to make a difference in the face of overwhelming odds. He's not helpless, no matter what the Night Nurse told him; he can be a force for good in the world. By the end of the series, his crisis of self-doubt seems to have been largely overcome.

But it's the conversation with Edwin at the end of episode 5 that really allows him to work through his most pressing issues. Edwin is there to help support him when he stumbles. Edwin provides him the comfort he was looking for while Crystal was too worried about her own problems to notice how badly he needed the help.

Crystal, meanwhile, still has a ways to go after episode 5. The last three episodes are where she does her most important character growth.

In episode 6, she learns some hard lessons about keeping secrets and letting people help and appreciate you even when you can't offer them anything in return. And Charles, importantly, is there for her every step of the way. He consistently offers her physical and emotional support. He models for her, in a very real way, what it looks like to have someone prop you up when you need the help.

And in turn, Crystal steps in to save the boys. She's the big damn hero at the end of this episode.

The breakthrough continues into episode 7. She's so intent on helping to get Edwin out of hell that she literally goes to face her own demons, not for herself for once – not for her own purposes or needs or wants – but because she wants to help someone else.

And episode 8, at long last, brings her to the culmination of her character arc.

Crystal is at her absolute lowest here. Her family, the people who were supposed to love her unconditionally, didn't even realize she was gone. Her precious memories, that she's spent the entire series trying to regain, have showed her that she's not the person she hoped she would be. She's overwhelmed enough that she means to flee, to cut herself off from her new friends entirely.

Then the boys get kidnapped. And just like that, she makes up her mind.

For the first time since the start of the series, she sets aside her most important issues in order to let what other people need take precedence. She disregards all of her own personal concerns and focuses instead on others. She's finally stepped out of those selfish impulses that Jenny calls her out on, all the way back in the first episode. She's finally learned how to support other people when they need it.

Crystal has finally figured out how to be there for others, despite having troubles of her own.

It's a lovely arc, and it's beautifully done.

Charles' is just as touching.

And god damn, but it was a brilliant narrative choice to have their character arcs line up in exactly the wrong way.

[skyfallscotland]

Ok so Rebecca did a one hour panel today in Sydney with Lynette Noni hosting, where she asked questions and then they opened it to fans. I've kind of summarised the things I haven't seen mentioned over and over, but I don't frequent the subreddit anymore or use TikTok, so there might be overlap. In any case, it's long. Settle in. I've sectioned it into plot/character relevant first, then themes and interesting facts about her and her writing. Basically, you all came with me. 💗

• In book three (and every book thereafter) we'll be going to more and more new places. She specifically worded it as "watching the map expand" whether that's significant or not, I don't know. (I was thinking Isle Kingdoms for OS, but maybe that's just my wishful thinking).

• She implied Jack will have a reason (explained) for uh...being a power-hungry prick? lol

• She's hella defensive of Dain, which I love. #DainApologistsClub 😌 Some highlights include:

"You guys give Dain so much shit for the same thing Xaden does. You really do and you're so fast to forgive Xaden and not Dain. Why? Is it because he's hot?"

And, "when push comes to shove, all Dain did—yes he violated her boundaries, as does Xaden—but all he did was trust his dad when his best friend no longer spoke to him. That's it."

"When Dain looks at her (in the interrogation chamber) and says 'if you had just told me, none of this would have happened', he's not just talking about the interrogation, he's talking about Liam, he's talking about if she had just trusted him (in Fourth Wing) it never would have happened." 😢

• She was asked about Liam's appearance in the interrogation chamber and definitively put to rest any signet theories involving that. "She's so alone in that moment and...I don't read fan theories but sometimes they reach my ears; she's completely disconnected from her magic in that moment, she can't even reach out for Tairn or Andarna, which are the bonds that are actually most important to her. She can't reach out for Xaden. And that's the one person who would have prevented that from happening the last year, so it's natural that's who her mind would summon."

• She's thought about a spin-off series, but she's just trying to survive this series.

• Someone asked her if there'd be any redemption and romance for Jack Barlowe and honestly, thanks guys, I don't think she's ever coming back to this country 💀 ("Are you getting enough sleep? Uh...I mean, from his prison cell maybe? No.")

• Someone asked "what is Garrick's signet and why hasn't it been shown yet?" (shoutout to this girl, she's the real MVP) to which Rebecca said "it's very much in book three, I love it."

• Someone asked about the orange dragons and unpredictability re: Amber, Jack, Varrish and then Imogen and Brennan. Rebecca said some dragons might look for traits like their own and some look for balance because it's a partnership; and that Brennan as a strategist needed that little bit of unpredictability in his life (lol, I think he got it).

• She didn't always plan for Violet to have two dragons. Originally it was going to be one (Tairn) and the editor had hoped that she would sway towards a weaker, smaller dragon and she thought that was a little too close to Abraxos in ToG, and so they compromised and gave her both. She also went on to say she doesn't like overpowered heroines and since Tairn is extremely powerful, Andarna balanced that out. (I'm not...I'm not sure how that works out? But that's what was said.)

• We are definitely going to find out more about the original six (and Lynette asked if that was a spin-off possibility and was shushed, so she's thought about it at least, but I get the idea she's thought about a lot of possibilities 😂)

• There's no timeframe for the release of the final two books.

• Someone asked if Violet's dad was Malek to which she was kind of shocked. He's not a god, guys. And low-key I JUST WANT TO KNOW HIS NAME. 😤

• On Sgaeyl: "You do (get more of her) but holy crap is she pissed. So—I'll tell you that about Onyx Storm—she is really, really mad at Xaden and she's not exactly speaking to him at the moment. So it's hard for her to speak into that bond when she's not speaking to him." 💔

• She was asked about the Violet dated Halden theory (which was fucking hilarious because the poor girl misspoke and asked if Xaden dated the prince and we were all really confused about which TikToks the poor thing had seen (note to self: consider cam/xaden), anyway after we got to the bottom of that, Rebecca replied, "I think you should read the third book." Which I'm taking to mean, the man is making a damn appearance and we're gonna find out for ourselves 👀 Hey, if I'm lucky maybe we'll even find out his surname

• Finally she said she has EP on the Amazon series, they've all been exceptionally protective of it and that she's happy with how it's going (they're not near casting yet and she doesn't want to really comment on that ever, to leave each role open to as diverse a cast as possible). She said the production team has come to the signings in LA to meet readers and see what they love and are passionate about when it comes to the series to make sure that's honoured.

"Like I mean, I've seen certain...like what can I say without getting tackled to the ground? Let's just say they've already taken steps to make sure that what you guys love about the story is envisioned and that it's not run amok. And I'm very happy with it, they're super protective of it." Which could just be me reading into it, but the first place my brain went was the dragons 👀🐉 and the CGI or whatever.

• She was asked about where the inspiration for the universe came from and she said that when her Entangled decided they were going to do romantasy they asked her for five pitches and Fourth Wing was one of them (she won't say what the others were because she might still write them someday). She said she likes the fated mates trope but she wondered what that would look like if the dragons were the ones mated, not the humans and the humans who couldn't stand each other were forced to be around each other because of this. 

• Her first ever book was romantasy but it didn't sell

• She's never really written enemies to lovers before.

• She likes found family themes because she was raised in a military family and moved around a lot, so that makes it hard to keep in touch with your extended family, and after she married her husband and became a military wife, it was their found family that was there for her—it was her found family who helped her move her house, who sat with her when her husband was injured in Iraq, etc, so she thinks it's very important to show that your family is also the people you choose and that can be just as strong as any blood tie.

• She was asked (by Lynette) why she wanted to show death and the reality of war and she said, "I've been surrounded by it. My husband's been at war since 2003, he spent 22 years in the army, first as a 19 Delta cavalry scout and then ten years as an apache pilot and we buried our friends. And I saw what it did to him, and I saw what it did to our friends, I saw what it did to our children, to us, and I love being able to examine it from a fantasy perspective just because I think fantasy gives us a unique environment from which to critique our own world by viewing it through the lens of another. And I've always delved into those themes as to why we do this to each other and where is there hope to stop it?"

• As an author her favourite scenes in Fourth Wing were the dagger stealing scene (very important to their chemistry and romantic development—"she's the only person he's taught ever, how to actually kill him") and the first kiss scene.

In Iron Flame it was the interrogation scene and how that ends with Dain and Xaden and everything coming together.

When asked about a similar scene from Onyx Storm that elicited the same strong emotion from her she said "you're not gonna like it" and that's it 💀

• She would consider writing fantasy again after she's done with the Empyrean world, maybe one of her other pitches, but she won't truly think about it until she's survived this one.

• She spoke about the "kill your darlings" writing advice and how if you love a scene but it doesn't move the plot, you've gotta cut it, and how she did that with the final scene in Fourth Wing, which was originally 7k words of Violet POV pulling information out of Xaden.

• When asked about fan theories she actually said something I found a little sad. "I don't listen to fan theories. One, I'm not on TikTok—it's a little bit more important for me to be alive than to listen to what other people think they know about me, and two, I don't ever want fan theories to bleed into my writing."

〰️ And that's it! If anyone's going tomorrow, please voice record the whole thing and report back lmao 🙏 🫶🏼

ETA: part two is here, x

[ihopeiexplode]

📱 “Desperate lover boy” [←Previous]

—

it's been a week. and your back to acting dryly with him and constantly avoiding him,

every time he tries approaching you you're always running away from him, seriously why are you even ignoring him? he didn't do anything wrong this time, right?

the deadline for your project is fast approaching and yet you still refuse to go see him despite that, you still wrote, and so did he

—

Eventually, the deadline came along, meaning you get to submit all your daily documentaries and after that, both of you would read what you two had to say about each other for the past month

You'd walk into your professor's office taking a seat right next to Sukuna while you avoided eye contact, he did the same with him clenching the armrest

"ahem, I finished reading both of your works and I must be quite surprised about what you two have written down"

"Especially with how you two are acting when your papers say the complete opposite, but either way you both passed, you can read each other's papers now"

With that you both looked at each other before grabbing the folders with both of your names, you grabbed the folder under Sukunas name while he grabbed the folder under your name

If anything you were curious on what he wrote, after all what does your professors even mean by 'when your papers say the complete opposite'?

as you read through Sukunas paper, each paper you read through your eyes widen in disbelief there's no way he really feels this way right?

However once you read through the last one your jaw immediately dropped...

“Day 30”

y/n's still ignoring me. I hate it not to mention every time she's finally alone I just have to get approached I don't want her getting the wrong idea but with how girls keep throwing themselves at me for the past week? I doubt it.

fuck this. After this whole project bullshit if she won't talk to me I'll make her, one way or another

Maybe I'll even—

Right when you were about to read the last line suddenly sukuna snatched the paper out of your hand as he stormed out of the office

"right when you were about to get to the good part too,"

Your professor would suddenly say as he let out a chuckle causing you to turn your head back to look at him in confusion

"the last part said he's planning on asking you out today but is scared you'll reject him, but after he finished reading your paper I'm pretty sure he has nothing to worry about"

"I'm just surprised how oblivious you two are... Anywho, you should go talk things out with your soon-to-be boyfriend Hm?"

—

That's what you did, afterall you wanted to confront him about it all, you practically asked everyone he knew! Yet none of them seen him,

Well, there's one person you haven't asked yet...

—

You grabbed your phone and dialed yujis number waiting for him to pick up

"yuji have you seen Sukuna...? I asked everyone..."

"hiii y/n!! Anyways, that kinda depends, whats the situation?"

"the project were—"

"the park, the one with the lake"

"are you sure?..."

"duhhh, that's where he always goes to when he can't get you out of his head, last time I asked he said: 'Because y/n and I would always hang out here back when we were friends....' I'm surprised he even told me that"

"I see, thx Yuji,"

—

Eventually, once you reached it you found Sukuna sitting down on a Bench while reading through your paper, even from afar you could see how red his face was as he read through word by word,

You'd slowly approach him tapping on his shoulder, If you were anyone else he would've pushed you into the lake, but it's you so...

"were you really serious about asking me out?"

"..."

"yes..."

"well? Aren't you gonna do it now?"

"wait what....?"

"don't tell me you think im still gonna reject you after reading my paper..."

"I mean.... Well... I planned on doing it somewhere else.."

"I see, so just a kiss then? I don't think I did it right at the first time"

He'd just stare at you dumbfounded, he knew you were forward with your words but not that much...

"so? Yes or no?"

Without any hesitation, he immediately cupped your face before pulling you forward and crushing his lips into yours, this time you returned the kiss, unlike last time...

After that he'd pull away with his face still red,

"taking that as a yes then?"

"So.. what are we?"

"what do you think??"

"fuck you."

"love you too"

"you're annoying...love you too..."

—

[⛩️] @: Likes & Reblogs R appreciated! ^^

A/N: woohoo the end guys wowoeowowow what do ygs think!!!

Taglist: @catobsessedlady @hellomeow12 @0-candlecove-0 @shivzypuff @swirlingcurses @1-800-choke-that-ho @attackonnat @chilichopsticks @getoxmahito @memenojutsu @uhnanix @ichorstainedskin @needtoloveoutloud @love-me-satoru @s-j320 @allthestarsarecloserrrrrrr @goj0ssunglasses @svtvrnal @haitanibros0007 @punkhazardlaw @mslydiaa @jayathelostdragon @caileysdead @rixyaaaa @minzxec @rzcnlb @cadibearrr @sukunaspillow @dervngedgf @rayrayline

[hard-core-super-star]

bleeding me dry like a goddamn vampire [K.Bishop]

pairing: vampire!kate bishop x reader

summary: a failed mugging leads to you discovering kate's biggest secret...and her finding out yours.

warnings: yes, i still suck at summaries, shhh SMUT -> minors, you know the drill, walk away now [porn with almost too much plot; blood and fangs and all the stereotypically hot vampire things; so many neck kisses it should be illegal; fingering {R receiving}; kate being a tease and owning it; praise + degradation + two seconds of humiliation]

wordcount: 3.3k

a/n: do i have like ten requests sitting in my inbox rn? yes. was this idea going to leave me alone if i didn't write it? no. i've been trying to finish this fic since JULY, GUYS, AND I NEED IT OUT OF MY DRAFTS AND INTO THE WORLD! it wasn't supposed to be smut, but i couldn't help it. i don't think i'll have time to do any real kinktober-type fics so enjoy this little treat instead. ALSO, a lot of the vampire dynamics/lore in this fic was inspired by first kill so go check it out if you haven't seen it.

part two | part three | part four

* * * * * * *

You were working yet another late night at Bishop Security. A normal occurrence considering your boss’s distaste for coming into the office when the sun is high in the sky. She almost never comes in before 3 PM and almost always stays in until way past midnight.

Pretty much everyone who works for her hates her unusual schedule, claiming she’s way too new to her position to be slacking off so much. Everyone seems to share that view…everyone except you since being her secretary means you get to share her schedule.

Which conveniently means you get to sleep in most days.

She’s never offered an explanation, not that you’ve ever tried asking her about it, but the rumor swirling around is that she’s too busy partying and sleeping around to bother showing up at the office at a regular time.

You don’t doubt the validity of that rumor but you’re also sure it’s not the whole story. There have been times when Kate has forced you to leave at 2 AM while she’s stayed behind to write up a report or prepare for her next meeting.

She’s young and reckless and way too rich for her own good but she’s not completely irresponsible or arrogant. Unfortunately, the media loves making up stories about the ‘Tony Stark of Bishop Security’ almost as much as your co-workers love gossiping.

Maybe if those rumors held more truth to them you wouldn’t be where you are right now: speed-walking out of the building and trying to make it to your car before something bad happens. You’re aware of the irony of working at a security company yet being terrified of walking through the parking lot. But hey! It’s New York City, your fears are more than valid.

You’re too busy arguing with yourself about said irony to notice the person sneaking up behind you until they forcefully grab your shoulder and slam you into the nearest concrete wall. The force of the push forces all the air out of your lungs, leaving you unprepared for the right hook your attacker throws your way.

The ringing in your ears is the only thing you can focus on for a few seconds. You see their mouth moving and you’re barely able to make out the name ‘Kate Bishop’ before they raise their fist again. You squeeze your eyes shut and wait for the punch to land.

Except it never does.

Your eyes snap open right as your shoulders are grabbed again but this time, the person standing in front of you is none other than Kate Bishop herself. “Hey, hey, it’s alright. Just focus on me. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I think so.” You’re pretty sure the pounding in your chest has more to do with the proximity between the two of you than your leftover fear after being attacked. “I just got pushed around a little.”

“More like punched around,” she says with a small chuckle.

“That’s not funny.” Despite your words, a noticeable smile spreads along your face.

Kate’s eyes trail down your face and hone in on your lips. The sudden attention makes you subconsciously lick your lips and a slightly metallic taste fills your mouth. You assume the look on her face is due to her concern over you until you notice the way her pupils dilate as blood gathers on your bottom lip.

“Um…Kate? Are you okay?”

Your voice seems to bring her back to the present moment. She leans back a little before she speaks again. “Yeah, we should probably get out of here.”

You hear her words but your gaze is glued right to her mouth and the two protruding teeth you’re pretty sure you’ve never seen before. For a second, you think you’re imagining things but it’s practically impossible to deny what you’re seeing with the way the light bounces off of her teeth.

You had always thought Kate was hiding something. Something that ran deeper than her long list of ex-lovers or weird schedules. But the place your mind is going to right now seems far too illogical. Superheroes, aliens, even the damn multiverse, everything else seemed much more plausible than vampires.

And yet, the proof is staring right at you with caring blue eyes and a nervous smile that tells you you’re both thinking about the same thing.

“I can explain,” she assures you before extending her hand out for you to take. “But you’re gonna have to come with me.”

“You’re insane.”

She shrugs, not at all phased by your comment. “Maybe a little…I promise I won’t bite.”

You don’t know whether to laugh at her joke or slap that look off her face for having the audacity to make it in the first place. Ultimately, your trust in her wins out and you reach for her hand. It’s just one small choice but you have a feeling it’s going to change everything between the two of you.

She starts to lead you toward her car, ignoring your protests like a real gentleman. You weren’t going to act like you had never imagined Kate taking you back to her apartment but you had imagined it under different, significantly sexier, circumstances.

You get into her car and ignore the way your heart is pounding in your chest. You tell yourself it’s only due to the leftover adrenaline from being attacked but you know it has more to do with the overwhelming smell of the archer than anything else.

A few minutes of silence pass before you work up the courage to start a conversation…even though you know you’re not going to like any of the answers you’re searching for. “What do you think that guy wanted?”

“What guy?” Kate’s eyes remain glued to the road ahead, not giving you a chance to decipher the look on her face. “The one who tried to mug you?”

“He wasn’t trying to mug me, he was looking for you.”

You notice the way her jaw clenches even with the darkness that envelops the car. “Looking for me? What are you talking about?”

“Kate, don’t play stupid with me. You can’t possibly think he broke into a highly secured parking lot just to mug the first random secretary he saw.” Her silence is enough of an answer. “So, who is he and what does he want with you?”

“I can’t tell you that. It’ll only put you in more danger.”

“More danger than that?”

“Yes.” You’re sure you’ve never heard her sound so serious before. “Believe it or not, you finding out about this wasn’t in my plans.”

You’re going to regret asking but your mind has been whirling with thoughts and ideas since you first caught sight of those fangs. “What exactly is…’this’?”

“Exactly what you think it is.”

Her tone leaves no room for questions or arguments. Despite that, the only thing that fills your mind is questions. And answers you don’t want to think about.

“Stop looking at me like that,” she says, effectively cutting off your flurry of thoughts.

“Why?”

The hunger on her face when she turns to look at you tells you all you need to know. You should probably be scared considering the power she holds over you right now. Not only is she the one driving, she could probably crush you with her bare hands…or sink her sharp fangs into your neck and drain you dry.

Fear is certainly not what you feel at that thought though.

The corners of her mouth quirk up into the cockiest smirk you’ve ever seen. “You’re into some weird stuff, aren’t you, sweetheart?”

“What else are you?” The way you shift in your seat doesn’t go unnoticed by the brunette. “Some kind of mind reader?”

“No need,” she replies. “Your scent gave you away.”

Your face heats up at her words but you’re not sure if it’s from embarrassment or something else. Thankfully, she pulls up to her apartment complex before you can dig yourself into a deeper hole.

A weirdly comfortable silence surrounds you as you make your way out of the car and into her apartment. You’ve known Kate for a while and you’ve always felt safe around her, something that not even those sharp fangs can take away. Especially when she places a strong hand on the small of your back while she leads the way.

For someone who’s richer than most people will ever be in their whole life, her apartment isn’t extremely lavish or full of ridiculous decorations. It could even be considered minimalistic if it weren’t for the numerous bows scattered all over the living room, the chewed-up boots near Lucky’s dog bed, and the overwhelming amount of clothes piled up on the couch.

“Sorry, I don’t usually have people over,” she says almost as if reading your mind. “I’m not usually so messy.”

“You and I both know that’s a lie, Katherine.”

She makes a disgusted face at the sound of her full name, her expression somewhere between adorable and amusing. “You didn’t have to say it like that.”

You’re about to make another stupid comment when your brain short circuits at the sight of Kate unbuttoning her shirt, the black tank top she always wears underneath straining against her torso and all the muscles you know are hiding out of sight.

The corners of her mouth quirk up just enough to give away the fact that she knows exactly what she’s doing and she’s one-hundred percent doing it on purpose. You’re just grateful she doesn’t verbalize how obvious your breathlessness is.

You attempt to look away from her but she moves her arm just enough for you to notice the dark stain on her shirt. It takes you a second to figure out what it’s from and you mentally curse the brunette for not telling you she had gotten hurt.

“Kate,” you call out once you find your voice again. “You’re bleeding.”

“What?” She looks down at her arm, clearly pretending she hadn’t noticed the wound yet, before shrugging her shoulders. “Oh, yeah, it’s fine.”

“Fine? Why didn’t you tell me you got stabbed?”

“It’s just a scratch.”

She tries to wave you off but it’s too late. You’re already gripping her shoulder and pushing her down onto her overpriced leather couch. “You’re an idiot. Sit down.”

She grumbles something about being able to take care of herself but you don’t listen to a word she says. Instead, your hands reach out for the first-aid kit she keeps on her coffee table.

“Take your shirt off.”

“y/n, if you wanted to see me naked, all you had to do was ask, baby.” Her voice carries that cocky tone that makes you want to punch her and kiss her at the same time.

“Shut up,” you mutter while attempting to look unaffected.

There are too many thoughts swirling around your brain and most of them have to do with Kate doing some very inappropriate things to you, with or without her fangs. The truth is, you can act like you’re only attracted to the danger that could potentially come your way now that you know her secret but she’s always been far too good at scrambling your brain with a few well-placed words.

She finally does what you ask, pushing her shirt off her shoulders and revealing inches of skin you’ve never seen from such close proximity before. You’re able to pass off your clear ogling as concern as you step closer to examine the small knife wound.

It’s only a few inches long but deep enough to have caused her to bleed the entire way here. You wordlessly open up the first-aid kit and start disinfecting the area, doing your best to ignore the soft groans that leave the brunette’s lips.

“Is all of that stuff true?” You ask a few minutes later, the smallest hint of a joke in your tone.

The corners of Kate’s mouth quirk up into a small smirk that tells you she knows exactly what you’re talking about. “What stuff?”

“You know, the stuff about silver and garlic and burning in the sun?”

“Yes to the silver, no to the garlic, and kind of to the sun. I sunburn really easily but I don’t think that’s due to the vampire thing.”

You laugh at her response, the sound nervous yet warm. It’s still too much to wrap your head around but at least she’s not beating around the bush anymore. “How long have you…?”

“All my life,” she replies with an almost inaudible wince as you start to bandage her up. “It’s a long, complicated story but my family and I are descendants of the first vampires to ever exist. We’re legacies.”

“Sounds fancy.”

She chuckles while she shakes her head. “It’s a pain in the ass.”

“I’m sure there are worse things to be.” 

You finish securing the bandage in place right as the words leave your lips. Now that there’s nothing to distract you, you realize how close together the two of you actually are. You’re standing right between Kate’s open legs, the heat of her body warming you up in ways that leave your legs shaky. 

“y/n, I…I’ve done a lot of things that-”

“You don’t have to tell me. I don’t need to know any of that to know I trust you.”

She looks up at you, her usually bright eyes looking soft and vulnerable for the first time in a long time. It’s almost startling how quickly she changes from the cocky and overconfident Kate Bishop everyone knows to this gentle and hesitant version of herself.

A version of her you can't help but love.

Your feelings must be more than obvious by this point but she doesn't push. You've never known her to be slow or patient or particularly sensitive to what other people want and yet she waits.

The seconds feel like hours until her eyes finally drift down to your lips…and the small amount of blood that still coats them.

You shouldn’t be doing this.

The few brain cells that aren’t completely focused on the brunette in front of you tell you to move away from her before you cross a line you won’t be able to come back from. A line that is unprofessional and stupid and full of problems and rumors that will probably ruin your life. 

Unfortunately, crossing that line is the only thing that’s been on your mind since the day you started working for her. And the urge to find out what her lips taste like and what her hands feel like on your skin has only gotten stronger since.

“Tell me to stop and I will,” she whispers, her voice thick with emotions you don’t want to think about.

You lean in closer, your breath fanning across her lips while you grab her hands and place them on your waist. “Please don’t stop.”

“y/n…” Her voice comes out somewhere between a whine and a groan. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

It’s unclear whether she’s talking about her vampire side or her serial heartbreaker side but you ignore her warning all the same. You’ve wanted her far too long to let something that seems so irrelevant right now stop you.

“I’ll be fine,” you assure her, letting her pull you close until you're finally sitting on her lap. “I only need you right now.”

The weight and warmth of your body on her lap causes her to take in a sharp breath, one that leaves no doubts about what it is she wants to do with you. “Fuck…”

She leans forward, completely ignoring your lips and instead moving her face toward your neck, her nose brushing against your skin and making your heart skip multiple beats. Her grip on your hips tightens and you swear you can feel the smirk that adorns her features right before she attaches herself to your neck.

Your head tilts back to allow her free access while you do your best not to grind against her. You fail miserably the second her fangs start to nip your skin. She doesn’t bite down hard enough to puncture your neck but the feeling has you desperately bucking your hips in search of relief anyway.

 “Kate-” You gasp out, your hands holding onto her arms for support.

She chuckles while one of her hands starts its journey down inside your jeans. “I know, sweetheart. I can smell how much you need me…how desperate you are to feel me inside you. I bet you can’t think about anything else right now.”

You’re not sure when it happened but her hesitation has clearly gone out the window by now. All that remains is the current of need that flows eagerly between your two bodies.

You let out a soft moan as her fingers dip inside your soaked underwear and find the mess she’s turned you into with a few teasing words and restrained kisses. “Please.”

“Such a good girl,” she murmurs. “How can I deny someone as sweet as you?”

Despite her words, she still doesn’t give you what you truly want. Instead, she presses two fingers against your throbbing clit and starts drawing small circles, her movements slow and calculated. Your hips move in response and you suddenly realize what it is she wants from you. 

There’s no time for whines or embarrassment, no time for anything except desire and desperation. 

You grind down on her fingers and let out a string of incoherent noises that leave Kate groaning into your neck. “Just like that, baby. Show me how much you want me.”

You do just as she asks, rolling your hips and relishing the non-stop kisses she lands on your overheated skin. Her teeth keep teasing you and it’s all you can do not to beg her to bite you hard enough to make you dizzy.

She told you earlier she wasn’t a mind reader but you’re about to call bullshit on that considering the way she picks up on all your dirty thoughts without a single word from you.

“I could drain you so easily right now. You’re so desperate you’d just let me, wouldn’t you? You’d let me sink my teeth into you so long as I kept fucking you, wouldn’t you?”

Your sounds of ecstasy should be more than an answer but they’re not enough for the brunette. She picks up the pace of her fingers and turns your brain to mush long enough for you to let out the truth.

“Yes! God, yes. Please- Don’t stop.”

“Good girl.”

She plants a few more kisses against your neck before she finally bites you. Hard. Hard enough to make your eyes squeeze shut and your legs tense up. The pain borders on unbearable until she starts sucking.

Your mind spins endlessly as all the different sensations overwhelm you. You’re not sure what to focus on but your body makes the decision for you. 

You gasp, although the sound comes out more like a whine than anything else, and Kate takes the hint. She plunges her fingers inside of you right as you fall over the edge, the tips curled just enough to hit that one spot that has you seeing stars that weirdly resemble the color of her eyes.

You’re shaking and panting and dizzier than ever but it all feels far too good. The pleasure and the pain roll together to give you the most intense orgasm you’ve ever had and you suddenly wonder how you lived so long without knowing such ecstasy existed.

Kate detaches herself from your neck right as the ringing in your ears fades. You open your eyes to the sight of her, pupils blown wide and her lips stained red. You subconsciously clench around her fingers and she smiles.

“I was right,” she says, her voice low and far too controlled for your liking. “You taste as delicious as you smell.”

You don’t waste another second attaching your lips to hers and drowning out all her cocky statements.

You end up spending the rest of the night getting to know Kate in ways you’d only ever dreamed about before, completely oblivious to the way word already starts spreading about your intimate encounter outside the walls of her apartment.

[sportspuckball]

2024 Writing Wrap Up

I joined HRPF in mid-summer and haven't really looked back. I tentatively put a toe in the water with my first fic in July and then launched an entire universe (accidentally) a few weeks later. I have a lot of plans for more works and universes and making these ding dongs use their words for 2025, so thanks again for liking my words so far. Here's to a calendar turn and symbolic fresh starts.

(List of Fics written this year below the jump)

ONE SHOTS

Secret Keepers (M, 13k) Matthew and Leon are completely convinced that none of their friends know about them. Nearly all of their friends know about them. This gives them the bravery and structure to come out and change hockey in the process.

german wolverine and the st. louis kid (M, 10k) Matthew gets drafted by the Oilers, Leon has a thing for curly hair he can grab onto, Connor is the long suffering one stuck in the middle of their pining, but they finally figure their shit out via Christmas gifts.

We Need a Little Christmas (M, 2k) Matthew had a rough week at home, so Leon decorated their house for his favorite holiday, even though it's July

Commitment to the Bit (T, 2k) Leon cannot believe Matthew sent a text to a reporter to roast him, and yet he totally can, because his husband is a menace.

Light the Lamp, Not the Rat (M, 3k) They get engaged, Matthew introduces Leon to Muppet Christmas Carol, and Leon learns a bit more about the man he's in love with.

Four Christmases (M, 7k) Slices of their lives through four key Christmases

SERIES

chase all the ghosts from your head (M, 50k+) (still posting, will finish early January) Mattia Tkachuk is the best athletic trainer in the NHL, Leon hates her for unrecognized horny reasons, they eventually get their shit together. also, there's a lot of hot chocolate.

Addison Tkachuk Fanfiction Universe

All of these stories are about Single Dad Matthew (referred to as Dadthew) who missed the NHL draft because his very sick daughter needed him, and her birth mother peaced the fuck out. She grew up to be a generational talent of a hockey player, and through Plot Reasons, Leon and Connor realize it. As of this day, it's about 350k worth of words and I think it'll be close to 750k when it's done.

Cedar Park All Stars (M, 102k) Leon lost a bet and has ended up spending the first bit of his summer in Central Texas coaching a girls hockey camp. He's specifically there to coach a generational talent on her passing skills and it takes him about ten minutes to decide that he wants to be a part of making her career happen.

Matthew's daughter is said generational talent.

They'll obviously both be normal about each other.

Edmonton Athletics (U11) (M, 75k) Addie gets tastes of Canadian hockey, Matthew and Leon get tastes of what it means like to be in an actual adult relationship.

Edmonton Athletics (U15 Year One) (M, 150k) Addie’s with the big girls now, and is absolutely getting her ass kicked, and is obviously loving every minute of it…ish. Leon’s looking at the standings, and looking at the calendar, and looking at his family, and wondering when he comes out. Matthew’s chewing on an idea about his future, and chewing on how hard to push on Leon’s independence, and chewing on…well…everything.

(INTERLUDE) Dadthew Bonus Content: Birthday Videos (NR, 2k)

Four birthdays, four videos, four peeks into their lives.

[theflyindutchwoman]

Hey! How are you holding up? Just finished the episode and I haven't really recovered. I am sad, I am frustrated, I don't really know what's happening? I thought they were mature and Tim is so dumb right now, I can't even.

And Lucy? I can't even start to imagine what she's going through. She has been so badass for the 5 seasons and this season she just gets fail after fail and loss after loss and doesn't even get a good job storyline.

So sorry I didn't reply sooner but I first wanted to take a little step back in order to fully digest the episode. As much as the waiting is killing me, I actually appreciate the hiatus for that. I imagine your feelings may have changed a bit as well since then… or that was the impression I got from our different conversations here and there. How are you feeling now? A bit better or still frustrated?

I'm going to start with Lucy. I was rewatching the beginning of season 5 and this is hitting even harder now. Not because of the pining era. But because the narrative was already showing her isolation back then. I couldn't quite put my finger on why her storyline in season 6 felt so familiar but now I get it. This is merely the continuation.

As we all noticed, the scene of Tim breaking up with her had a very similar vibe to the one at the end of 5.02. But think back of when she went to Nyla for advice about going to UC school, when she was trying to confide to Aaron who was too caught up in his own drama to hear her… or when she spent hours locked in a freezer because no one realised she was missing - besides Tim, that is. And then, there was the whole Rosalind thing where Lucy had to push through her own trauma to help Chris deal with his and help Bailey stay calm. But no one ever took the time to ask her how she was doing with all of this (on screen). They all had good reasons, by the way, this isn't me trying to paint them as the bad guys. But this still has an eerie similarity to what is happening right now. Only there has been no payoff for any of this. Yet. It didn't seem to go anywhere. Until now. Same with her career : she nailed UC Academy, something that was supposed to help her standout come promotion time… She helped the FBI on a raid, she was asked to be the acting Watch Commander, she was told that the whole station had her back… And yet, none of this paid off either. Yet. So this is a great opportunity to finally connect all the dots that have been dropped for the past two seasons and give Lucy the amazing arc she deserves. I sincerely hope this will be the case.

As for Tim… Look, the reason why I didn't want a breakup (besides the fact that I dislike this trope so much), is that I was afraid that it would cheapen the whole "worth the effort / worth the risk" speech. You can't say that and leave at the first difficulty without downplaying the whole story. So I'm glad that the writers were able to find a way to circumvent that issue by showing Tim completely unravelling. Because this isn't about him thinking Lucy is not worth the effort or the risk… This is about him thinking HE is not worthy of her. And that changes everything. For me, at least. I still get the frustration. I still wish this storyline would have been done with them sticking together and trying to work through it. But I can understand his perspective, why he thought this would be better for her. And I can see how that could make them stronger in the end. So, just like with Lucy, I hope Tim's arc will be treated properly and carefully. I need to see the payoff, the progress… I need to see them heal. Separately and then, together. It's always hard to see where a story is going when it is still unfolding… But for now, I choose to remain optimistic and hopeful. Does that help you even a tiny bit?

[ninnosaurus]

|| A Gift from the Cosmos ||

So, this is completely inspired by @sha-biest and her lil baby Ammie found on this link > Here. Short inspo to this one shot can be found there > There.

Inspired by Sha's Golden Future AU This is a... Ninno-Got-This-Scene-In-Her-Head-And-Just-Had-To-Get-It-Out-Or-Else-It-Would-Stick-Like-Glue kind of deal.

Please be kind. I haven't written anything serious in YEARS so I'm a bit rusty but yes. Enjoy, and do check out the links. I take NO credit except for the writing itself.

❤️ ---------------------------------------------------------------

Nudging the door with his heel he closed it and gently took his sandals off and placed them next to it. He barely made any noise at all walking around his meditation room gathering the materials he needed. 

A brush and his special paint. 

Michaelangelo made quick, yet thorough work of preparing his meditation circle. Every rune had to be perfectly symmetrical. Not a dot or line could be out of place or else, everything could be ruined. And he could come out of this injured. Lately he'd decided to try and broaden his mystical powers. He could physically feel his powers itching under his skin. 

No, not even under his skin. In his soul. It was an itch he just couldn't scratch, almost like his mystical powers wanted out. To stretch its legs. To walk and talk and live with them. It was hard to explain. 

He had to push his boundaries, even further than he’d done this far. 

So, Mikey decided to take matters into his own hands and started experimenting with new chants. New runes. New incantations and enchantments. Deeper meditation. Everything rune and chant being made by hand from scratch.

Some of them worked, some didn't. The ones that did work were saved in a journal.

He even had a smaller journal where he kept his more… darker, gruesome runes. Runes made to hurt, and even kill. He needed it. Needed to know he at least could. 

This time, he’d found an opening into not only space, but into cosmos itself. A possibility to enter the concept of existence and aether. Not like before, before he was simply at the sidelines. Watching. This time, he’d touched on the possibility of changing the aether. To create a new reality inside of space and time. Maybe even to create life from nothing. To commune with the very cosmos he lived in. 

The problem was how precise he had to be. He had asked his brothers and Gen to not interrupt him no matter what. If they needed him he would feel it in spirit. 

Standing up, Mikey inspected every rune and every line on the meditation circle together with the ones covering his hands and feet to make sure everything is symmetrical before walking into the center of it. 

He took a deep breath and crossed his legs before lifting off from the floor, levitating, and closing his eyes. As his heart slowed down his head began to hang and a soft, golden glow emerged from under him.

The light crawled up his hair. His golden streaks lighting up, illuminating their way. The glow made him feel warm. It felt like a hug, like coming home after a long trip, familiar. Like he belonged and the turtle let out a contented sigh, feeling his entire body relax into the soft embrace. 

Not before long, all the runes, sigils and chants written in a language unknown to outsiders also began to glow. From the circle on the floor anchors emerged. Golden chains meant to keep his physical form grounded, a safety chain of sorts, connected with his wrists and ankles. With four metallic clicks the safety protocol was finished.

Even if the only thing that was going to travel was his soul, his body still needed to be protected. Traveling into the cosmos was dangerous. He knew he would need plenty of recovery after this. He was going to be exhausted.

Soon enough, he found himself outside his body. Simply stepping out of his physical form. His ninpo worked as a sort of conductor for his mystical powers. Without his ninpo, none of this would probably not even be possible. Yet, here he was, simply a whisper and a breeze. Looking back to his physical form. 

He looked around. Looking for his brothers’... and Gen. Smiling, they were all just where he’d left them. After making sure everything looked just fine he turned his back towards his body, and walked towards the door. 

This is it. He thought to himself. This is the moment I find out if I made it or not. 

There were so many things he wanted to ask cosmos. To ask the stars, to figure out how and why everything was made to be. Why were he and his brothers chosen? Why not anyone else? Can he possess people? Can he bring people back from the dead? Can he give Donatello and Leonardo their arms back…? He had to know. 

With a shaky hand, he reached for the handle. 

Behind it, he was flashed with a blinding light making him hiss in annoyance and slight pain in his eyes as they adjusted to it. What he saw was beyond anything he’d ever seen before when traveling to the aether. 

Now, he could touch the realities with his own hands, so to speak. To test it, he himself killed one butterfly only to watch as a completely new reality and timeline was created right in front of his eyes. 

Everything and nothing was planned to happen. 

Mikey knew it all, but he also knew nothing. 

Walking through the plane, he looked to his right and saw his reflection. Only that it wasn’t this current him. It was an older beaten up one. This Michelangelo was a sad one, war stricken and tired old man who wanted nothing more than to finally rest. To know his death meant something. 

To his left was a younger him. A Mikey who had yet to grow up, yet to live through the war coming his way, but it was a younger him he had visited once in a dream to help with the upcoming Kraang invasion.

They all walked until suddenly, the older Michelangelo disintegrated in an explosion of light. Mikey and his younger self shared a look in silence before continuing to walk towards the second door.

That’s when his younger self stopped him.

“Are you sure?”, the youngest one asked. Eyes filled with worry, like he wasn’t sure about any of this.

“I- I’m sure.”, the older one replied. “This is what I- what we’ve been searching for. I need so many answers.”

The youngest one let out a breathy laugh. “Sometimes, what we need isn’t answers, but questions.” 

The long haired one looked at him quizzically. “I don’t understand.” 

“You will.”

With those words, the door was suddenly blasted open and Mikey thrown through it. In the fall he saw a drop of his ninpo expelled from his chest. It hovered above him, a pair of bright blue eyes looking back at him before everything went dark.

He did a sharp intake for air. His lungs burned like he’d been drowning. Heart racing, head hurting. The last thing he remembered was being flung through a doorway, a bright sun flashing and those bright blue eyes looking back at him, then waking up on his meditation room floor. 

Sitting up, he groaned as he rubbed the back of his head, a small bump forming from where he landed on it after falling to the floor when his soul crashed into his body again. 

What struck him first after the initial shock of suddenly being back in his room was a very soft, low humming sound coming from in front of him. 

Mikey choked on air when he lifted his head and came face to face with a ball of light hovering in front of him. 

But it was what was inside of the ball. 

A baby. 

The ball started moving towards him, which resulted in him scooting backwards until his shell bumped the wall behind him. When the ball stopped moving, Michelangelo’s hands lifted almost by themselves to cup the small thing. 

He was speechless. Did he…? How…? He… 

He found himself just staring out into the room. He didn’t move. He didn’t speak. He probably barely breathed. Suddenly, the small life in his hand started to move. He looked down and it was when they made eye contact again he realized what it was. 

The cosmos itself had seen his struggles, his fights and his utmost reverence for life on the planet and therefore. The cosmos itself had gifted him a drop of sunlight in the form of a daughter.

[catkin-morgs-kookaburralover]

2023, it cannot be overstated, was a terrible year for me. We started out strong with an episode of True Love that turned out in fact to be entirely false and not reciprocated. (I've got over that, finally, but it was awkward... I posted about it a bit at the time, along with a lot of what I'm about to tell you.) Anyway, I also basically didn't eat for two weeks in January: only partially related to that. February was even more terrible, but with one bright spot: the terribleness pushed me to finally seek professional help for my longstanding anorexia. I was finally going to choose to recover and it would never bother me again.

Haha anyway I was also severely depressed and anxious so that happened. I had a good solid try at recovery and it seemed like it was going pretty well for a while, yay. Went back to uni after a year out, in the middle of the year. Ended up living with my brother 'just for the semester and after that you've got to find your own accommodation' (I'm still at his place). Anyway things got real bad and I honestly can't remember most of that patch, but I can still see the scars.

Anyway. You're probably wondering why I'm saying this stuff. In November, December, I can't remember precisely when, the Inklings Christmas challenge got posted.

Severely depressed, barely doing anything, only surviving and waiting for things to get better while doctors assessed me to figure out what was going on behind the major depressive disorder (spoiler: undiagnosed ASD), I said, well, why not. I still had remnants of my previous overachieving nature, so why not write something for all twelve days of Christmas, not just a single short story or scene? And I dug back in my memory for the fragments of a plot I worked out when I was twelve years old, remembered the characters, remembered that the main character was one I'd internally laughed about accidentally making autistic in the past.

So I went, what if I just pretend that the story I'd imagined was five years earlier, pretend that the novel I had never written was actually written, and write a slice-of-life sequel to it, featuring the same characters? I remember going to a session with my psych at the time and telling her about this story, but vaguely and quickly, because we were going to run out of time. I talked like I intended to and expected to finish it, but internally, I was going: I will not finish it. I've already proven that I cannot stick to things. (I have a lot of fragments of writing from that year which I will likely never finish, and which had no deeper structure than whatever occurred to my medication addled brain.)

And I went, what should I name this story? It's got to have the word Patience in there, because her name is Patience and it amuses me and amusement is running real freaking thin at the moment. I tried out several titles, none of which I can remember, and none of them suited. At last, because the word hope had been rotating within my brain for so long, I picked The Patience of Hope, and I drew graphics and titled all the chapters and did research to title them and I can't remember any of it anymore so I don't know why I gave them the titles I did.

I think I scheduled about chapter three before chapter one dropped on Christmas Day. I remember there being author's notes that at least hinted that I'd entirely pre-written it, because I'd intended to do so, when I wrote the author's note for the very first chapter. But most of them I wrote on the day they were supposed to drop.

I don't think anyone read it at the time; I certainly don't remember such a thing happening, though after it was completed people did read it, and do still. (It's still on my website, and also on my ao3 under the title mentioned above.) But I wrote it, this silly little thing that spawned a whole character and series of novellas I haven't finished yet. More than one character, actually; one of the main characters is Nathan, who didn't exist in my original concept at all. And another character mentioned is Hannah, her aunt, whose storyline is deeply personal to me.

I can't remember how long it is. The writing is at times very bad and the storyline vague and choppy. I had no true plans when I started writing that story: not even to finish it. It does qualify as a novella for length, but I forget where in that wide range it comes in. But I finished it.

That... meant the world to me, actually, in the state I was in. I finished it in January, and two weeks later I was being very seriously told by my doctor that if anything got any worse, in any way, I was to immediately present to emergency and request/demand admission. They didn't; I was prescribed medication that, this time, actually helped to manage the whole crisis thing going on, and I haven't been that close to an admission since (nor needed to be, not really).

So The Patience of Hope is very special to me, as you can see, because I completed it at a time I felt so strongly that I couldn't complete anything except - well, I don't suppose I have to elaborate. It's a fun, fluffy little story with underlying angst and stress and grief but above it all, it's cheerful. A romance begins, which surprised me, because I was literally just writing whatever came into my head, and apparently what came into my head was a character who hadn't been previously mentioned or thought of, asking Patience out on a date.

And the way Nathan accepts and understands and loves Patience for herself and not for what he hopes that she will be (if my phrasing seems odd, it's a Carpenters reference - "Love Me For What I Am") was healing to write. The entire story was written between when I started being assessed for ASD and when I was officially diagnosed, and I can really really see in Patience's words what I felt and still do sometimes feel - the hesitation and uncertainty and distrust of oneself. She was the first character I ever wrote who was stated to be autistic, though I'd written ones before deliberately making them autistic in my head, but they never said they were autistic on the page.

I don't remember the timeframe of the next bit, but there was a writing challenge to write a novel from start to finish in - six months, I think? It was a while. - and I saw it and went, oh, I could go back and write the novel about Patience that I first conceptualised.

Which I did, over the next few months. From start to finish, that draft is eighty-four thousand words in its current, unedited form, and I expect it to end up somewhere between eighty and ninety thousand - I always edit down on a sentence level, and up on a scene and chapter level, so it tends to balance out somewhat. Especially the earlier sections, it's pretty sparse before I hit my stride, and I also struggled to finish it in a way that felt satisfying to me, and I need to build up the community aspect more - and introduce her aunt Hannah more throughout.

What's the novel about, you may ask? And don't ask for the title, because I made a working title, and I haven't figured out a proper replacement yet. The novel is about Patience at a younger age, I forget what; early teens, I think, self-isolating and shy and scared and very very rigid. (It's a lot of fun comparing the Patience of this novel to the much more relaxed, but still characteristic Patience of The Patience of Hope five or seven years later. She's the same person, only grown up rather, and in a very positive way.)

In a mechanism I haven't yet worked out properly and will definitely be rewriting, she unexpectedly gains an adoptive sister, Rhona - named after a tea cosy in a pattern book I used when I was eleven or twelve to knit an atrocious and very wonky stuffed dog. Anyway, Rhona is a bit younger, a bit more extroverted, a bit prettier and a bit more new and exciting. And a bit disruptive to Patience's neatly ordered life.

Cue emotional explosions I'd compare to Holly and Lucy in Lockwood and Co., and say it was based on that, if I'd read that before I planned this book out. Rhona is doing her best to fit in to the family, but she's also showing up Patience's inability to fit in, so there's insecurity tying in to it.

Patience spends most of the book hating her with a passion of greater or lesser intensity despite everything Rhona tries to do to bridge the gap. And then, in a move unrepentantly stolen from Jean Webster's Dear Enemy, the house burns down. Oh, the horror! Oh, the shock! Oh, the fact that Patience was the only one within range of Rhona and had to drag her out! Oh, the hospital whump afterwards! *coughs* Forget I said that last one. Anyway Rhona gets off pretty lightly, while Patience... does not get off so lightly. She spends a while in hospital, but luckily, the combination of everything brings her and Rhona together finally, and they all live happily ever after.

Well, that's what the original plan said, anyway. Back when I was twelve and didn't know interpersonal dynamics.

While it's true that the house burning down and everything associated with that does help Patience and Rhona to get along better, that's not the end of the book. The house burns down at the turn between parts two and three, fifty-three thousand words in. Any mathematicians reading this will observe there are still thirty thousand words to go. There are nine chapters in each part.

The last three chapters total fifteen thousand words between them. My original plan calls for three thousand word chapters. Again, the mathematicians are going to observe that this doesn't add up. These chapters average out five thousand words each.

That's because I really wanted to mention one specific character earlier in the novel, who gets a passing and no longer timeline compliant mention in The Patience of Hope. Patience's aunt Hannah, who, yes, I named after myself, and who also struggles with anorexia nervosa.

Chapter twenty-five is titled, "A Will to Live". Originally intended to be about Patience's depression following her discharge from hospital after the house burned down, and then regaining her mental equilibrium, it became a bitter sarcasm that hurt every time I re-read the title while I was drafting it.

(I did cry quite a bit about this, including while actively writing. Sobbing and still writing the next sentence. I hope it comes across in the final work.)

Because Hannah does not win her battle. She is not a success story, or a happy ending, or a triumph. She dies alone in an apartment that hasn't been cleaned for weeks, fridge almost empty: two days before she's agreed to go into treatment. There are three big killers in anorexia: suicide, heart failure and malnutrition. And Hannah Shepherd dies of heart failure, leaving, as I heard in a video I strongly do not recommend, recently, "a bleeding, girl-shaped hole in her family".

It's traumatic and horrible and full of grief, but they manage somehow to go on. Patience is kept in the dark as to what's going on, at Hannah's request; she just knows that she died of some sickness. After all, she's at THE prime age to develop an eating disorder of her own, and even though you'd think someone dying would make you reconsider, unfortunately, eating disorders are mental illnesses and don't discriminate. (Besides, I wrote this story, and Karen Carpenter is a special interest of mine. Doesn't stop me relapsing.)

And then three chapters later (though, realistically, I'm going to rearrange the chapter balance to add at least one more here, since I struggled to fill a few of the chapters in terms of word count), the story's over, and everything is okay - just okay, not good, but with hope that it will be.

The first draft has been finished for - I don't know how long. Looking back to former posts makes it seem like I finished it on the last day of April last year, which would make it eight months and 21 days since I completed the draft. I think that's long enough to go back and redraft, don't you? I was working on continuing to draft Vaniah's story, but given that it's not singing to me right now, maybe I should jump in to editing this and see where I get to - I can always go back to Vaniah and Anneka instead, even though I've left them at a profoundly difficult spot. (While we're on the topic of dying from anorexia? Yeah. Except that is a story of recovery and hope.)

All that to say, you might hear more about Patience, and Rhona, and Jude, and Marcia, and Hannah, and Nathan, and everyone else that makes that story what it is, soon. I've been thinking a lot about it lately, and I really do think Patience's story needs to be refined, so that eventually I can show the world. If anyone wants, I can pull out excerpts too, if I'm brave enough. Please tell me your favourite aspect of this story, whether the novel or The Patience of Hope or whatever it may be. Ask me questions. I can ramble. Please.

[coveey-s]

spark part 4

summary: Cleo Sharpe, a young FBI agent joins the BAU in the wake of the teams fight with infamous serial killer Mr. Scratch finally coming to and end. She's determined to prove herself and help the BAU be as successful as possible. Cleo thinks she knows almost everything there is to know about the BAU but things aren't exactly as they seemed. Especially when it comes to the highly acclaimed Dr. Spencer Reid, who is a little more reserved and quiet then she would've thought. However something tells Cleo that something brighter is hidden underneath the surface, a spark. And she's determined to find it.

part 4 in this series

paring: spencer reid x oc

genre: slow burn (?)

content: k!dnapping, guns, de@th, v!olence

word count: 1.7k

note: this is based on season 13 buttt I haven't finished that season yet LMAO so it may go off the narrative of the show a bit. this is definitely not factual at all (what do i know about the inner workings of the fbi or criminal proceedings help) so please suspend your belief and go with it.

sometimes i wish I could go back and edit what y'all read bcs i swearrr i could make it better 💔

Two weeks later

"This, I found in this little stationairy shop right here in D.C, it's one of my favorites," Penelope explained, holding up a fluffy pink pen with a unicorn on the end.

"You need to hook me up with one of these," Cleo smiled, examining Penelope's trinkets carefully.

Penelope gasped, "Oh my gosh, and this one is from none other than the Derek Morgan-"

There was an knock at the door. "Yes, you may enter the fortress of knowledge," Penelope called.

It swung open and Reid stepped in, smiling at Penelope.

He spotted Cleo and momentary suprise crossed his features before he gave her a little wave. She waved back.

"What are you two up to?" Reid asked.

"I'm just giving Cleo a tour of my desk and it's many assets," Penelope said, tapping her pen against it.

Reid had opened up more in the past week or two. Cleo just figured that first case had been an off couple days for him.

However she had an endless amount of questions for and about him that she could never quite find the right time to ask. And she still felt a little nervous around him for whatever reason.

"A long awaited tour," Cleo added.

Reid smiled a little but then grimaced, "I think the tour may have to be put on pause. We've got a case,"

Cleo and Penelope looked at eachother before standing up and following Reid out the door.

As they made their way to the conference room a loud bang sounded from their left.

Cleo's head snapped to the source of the sound and she paused. And for just a second it sounded like gunshots. And Kelani's scream.

"Cleo?" Penelope whispered and the scene turned into an intern who was now scurrying to clean up a computer, knocked to the ground.

"Sorry," Cleo said dismissively, and continued onto the conference room but not without noticing Reid glance at her.

It was so odd, the moments when it chose to come back to her. A dropped box. Not a gunshot or gruesome crime scene. Just a box.

She had put it behind her, therapy, psychiatric evaluations, the works. But it never left her, not completely.

Four victims, one found dead with seemingly self-inflicted wounds but the rest no where to be found. No ransom demands or further bodies. The UNSUB seemed to be creating a community with the notion that an apocalypse would soon befall the world.

The BAU found themselves stuck, their only fate seeming to be to wait for another woman to be stolen and perhaps find something more with victimology.

The group sat and paced around the conference room. Discarded cups, to go boxes and a tumultuous amount of papers were evidence of their long night.

Cleo stared at the pictures of the missing women up on the bulletin board. They were happy. Young, her age in fact.

Her age.

Cleo turned around, looking for Emily but she wasn't there.

The group's heads moved in a wave as she pushed the door out into the field office.

There she spotted Prentiss a few feet away talking to an officer.

Cleo approached slowly, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. Emily spotted her and said something quick to the officer before he left.

"Did you find something?" she asked.

"Not exactly," Cleo began, "Can I speak to you for a minute?"

Emily raised her eyebrows, "Sure, what is it?"

"No, absolutely not." Emily shook her head, "I'm sorry Cleo but that's too risky. Besides, there's no guarantee it'll work."

Cleo straightened, "It's worth a shot. We're hitting the wall right now," she tried to reason.

Prentiss sighed, "We'll have to find another way."

Cleo conceded. She couldn't disobey her Unit Chief, even if she really wanted to, so she nodded. "Alright, thanks for hearing me out,"

Emily nodded back. Just as Cleo went to open the door there was a knock, it had to be Reid, she recognized the knock.

"Come in," Emily called.

He looked between the two of them before saying, "Garcia found something: All the missing run aways were pregnant at the time of their abduction,"

"Okay, thanks Reid." said Prentiss.

He hesitated.

"What's with the look?" Prentiss asked skeptically.

"I overheard you and Cleo talking." he answered.

Emily eyed him, "Alright..."

"And the probability of the UNSUB choosing her are low," Reid glanced at Cleo before focusing on Emily once more, "But if he did, with the proper preparations we'd have a high chance of finding his place of operation."

"Not you too," Emily replied, motioning to him.

"Three," Rossi poked his head in.

"How many people were listening?" Prentiss complained, looking around.

"The walls are very thin, probably single studs. The coupled construction makes it-" Reid stopped abruptly, "Sorry,"

Cleo was curious to hear the rest of his sentence but Rossi spoke. "Give the kid's idea a chance,"

He pointed at Cleo, "This kid, not that one," be nodded towards Reid.

Prentiss smiled a little before taking a step towards Cleo and taking on a serious expression. "Are you really sure about this?"

Cleo mustered as much assurance in her voice as she could, "I'm sure."

There was a pause before Prentiss sighed, "Alright. Let's talk to the rest of the team,"

Cleo felt a little spark of hope. She could do this, right? Yes. She would reward Emily's faith in her and they would save those women. Right.

Costumed in scrubs Cleo pretended to go through her bag in the hospital lobby. Only a couple more minutes before she would exit and hopefully lure in the UNSUB.

Cleo was no longer Cleo. She was Christine Keller. 26, pediatric nurse. Top of her class. Happy, sucsessful, useful.

Across the room, "reading a book" was Reid, and by the vending machine fiddling with coins, Tara.

Cleo assumed they were in communication, but she didn't have any coms. She had nothing but a teeny tiny tracker tucked underneath one of her braids. An extra precaution, in case they lost track of the UNSUB's van.

Cleo "absentmindedly" checked her watch, five minutes till midnight. It was time.

As calmly as she could Cleo wandered towards the hospital doors. The night air hit her and she shivered. She made her way slowly towards the car, parked at the back of the parking lot, the darker part.

Her heartbeat spiked in anticipation. She loathed ancicipation. When she was in a situation she could decode details, evaluate next steps. Waiting lended itself to nothing useful.

Cleo was nearly to the car, the grey Sedan only a couple feet away, maybe he wouldn't choose her.

But then a hand, a cloth closed over her mouth. A vice grip around her middle. Instinctively, Cleo squirmed, unable to scream. She could feel herself being pulled back. The world was blurring.

And it all went black.

[horrornvnfan]

Maria Fielding in Visual Novels

A 💘 will indicate who in the game is Maria's love interest.

This is a post for games with a very small cast, or games that I still don't yet know much about!

In alphabetical order: Cannibal Sweetheart, Camp Willowpeak, Honey Hotline, My Dear Hatchet Man, The Groom of Gallagher Mansion, You and Him

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

Cannibal Sweetheart:

Backstory Changes: None, except now she has a terminal heart condition, poor girl.

Relationships:

💘(???) CASANOVA: "A date for a heart? No way that's true--" Maria is bewildered by this prospect, but also won't hesitate if it means getting a new heart. If she falls for him or has to eventually break the act, it can really go either way. She's also not bothered by the cannibalism, as long as he doesn't kill people. ...Does he kill people? Should she run--?

CYANIDE: "A very cute nurse." Maria has a minor crush on the Cyanide, but will happily be friends with her instead. Overall, she just likes chatting with her when she picks up her prescription!

PESTILENCE: "My very good friend!" Pestilence is someone Maria has known a long time and trusts completely! They talk frequently, and Maria goes to them for advice all the time. She honestly doesn't flinch at Pestilience's hobbies, but will point out anything shady and the potential consequences. She'll probably do what they say when she asks what she should do about Casanova.

KETAMINE: "Nice tattoos." He is not someone Maria would like to talk to very much on account of her disliking bugs, but she still holds a polite respect for him. And likes his tattoos. If push comes to shove, she will try to make him an ally over an enemy!

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

Camp Willowpeak:

Backstory Changes: None! She just gets a job as a camp counselor!

(Note: there is no set love interest 💘 for Maria in this universe yet because I want to see how this story progresses and learn more about the characters!)

Relationships:

HARPER: "He's cool, but hmm..." Maria is very friendly with Harper! They bond over a fondness for musicals and swimming. But he is sort of intense with her, and that really throws her off. She would have no idea what to do if he ever asked her out, because they haven't known each other long.

GAVIN: "Dork!" Maria gets along well with Gavin, mostly because of their silly humor, but she teases him for having 0 game.

SOHPIE: "She rules!" Maria is good friends with Sophie, they're both outgoing, and she reminds her to eat when she forgets.

CAMMI: "Cammi is the best!" Maria and Cammi get along very well, they're both responsible and hardworking and have a passion for learning! But she does want Cammi to remember to have fun.

DANTE: "Cool older guy." Maria likes how sociable he is and gets along well with him, but they don't actually interact much. Still, she respects him a lot!

JAZZ: "Don't stare, don't stare, don't--" Jazz is so attractive that Maria will avoid her, but it's very hard to do when they work together! Still, she appreciates Jazz's guidance.

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

Honey Hotline:

Backstory Changes: None, except that Maria is still taking college classes, maybe for a masters or PHD!

Relationships:

💘FONE: "Gosh, he's cute!" Maria doesn't often notice people who don't interact with her, but she knows she's seen Fone around even before they were formally introduced. He always struck her as a cute guy who preferred to be alone, so she never approached. Now that they're in a group together, she'd like to get to know him.

AMSEY: "She's really sweet!" Maria likes Amsey so much, they're such a sweet person and easy to talk to. She'd like to keep hanging out, and wants to invite them to join a rec team!

SEON: "Cool dude!" Maria admired him for a while for being so composed and hardworking in class, but once they started to hang out, they became nerd buddies, gushing over their favorite shows.

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

My Dear Hatchet Man:

Backstory Changes: None, just a specification that Maria moved to Canada for college and is still attending classes.

Relationships:

💘ALAN: "He's interesting!" He's a hot guy from the woods showing interest in her. Maria is swooning. If she finds out about the murder and supernatural stuff, she might try to save him from the whole thing. But when she realizes he's like that and also a stalker(?), well.... 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️

ERIKA: "I want us to be friends!" Maria likes Erika! They're on acquaintance terms, and she'd like them to be real friends!

STU: "YOU!" Maria went to elementary and middle school with Stu, but not high school. They were good friends. She is stunned he's here and would like to be friends again.

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

The Groom of Gallagher Mansion:

Backstory Changes: None!

Relationships:

💘ELIAS: "He's more handsome than I expected." Maria has never considered dating a ghost, but she sure is now. And she's so sympathetic and curious about his life story, and wants to get along with him genuinely.

TAYLOR: "My friend!" They are good friends and share a passion for horror and the supernatural! They were equally enthusiastic by the idea of going to the manor, but Taylor is more than a little concerned by Maria's interest in romancing the ghost.

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

You and Him:

Backstory Changes: None, except now Maria has an aunt and another side job!

Relationships:

ADAM: "FUCK. OFF." Maria is throwing hands at this man every chance she gets. Once she learns about where this plot is going, she'll get into detective mode and force him to work with her until they can figure out the truth. He doesn't get a choice, she can be very demanding. Someone who stabbed her gets no manners.

SAFFRON: "AAAAAHHHH!!" No flight! Just fight! Maria is so sick of people attacking her by this point, she will go sicko mode and bite this guy's fingers off if he tries anything.

[angelosearch]

Word Search Tag Game

Rules: In a new post use the words below (or choose your own) to find where they appear in your WIP/s and share those parts.

Tagged by - @summonerluna who gave me the words rough, yellow and glass

(@irishais tagged me too but I had none of your words in anything! Need to use charisma more in my writing, especially when talking about Laguna haha)

Tagging - @highlordofkrypton @quiettekiyet (in your comic, perhaps???) @siobhann and giving you the words longing, ocean and warm

Starting off with glass. Here's an excerpt of my ongoing timeloop fic Minute Hand. This is I think three "loops" (chapters) from the last one I published (20).

Rinoa pushed her way into Timber’s oldest bar, which was noisy and fragrant with hops. There was an empty table, but Rinoa ignored it and made a beeline for the dark-stained wooden counter and sat on a barstool. Squall took the one beside her and she waved at the man behind the counter to summon him to their end. The bartender, Squall already knew, wasn’t too concerned about their ages. “Ah, if it isn’t the Princess of the Forest Owls,” the mustached man teased. “Haha, very funny Fred,” Rinoa said, rolling her eyes. “Can you get us a round? And keep them coming. I’ve had a long day.” Squall was surprised when the man brought them not only a pint of beer each, but also shots of something clear. Rinoa lifted her shot glass and smiled ruefully. “A toast—thank Hyne this day is over.” He must have made some kind of face when she said it, because she shrugged and threw it back before he could respond. Then she took his shot, too.

And now, yellow. This is the beginning of an unpublished oneshot I will probably never finish, PaintNite 😂 Eh, maybe I will finish it, now that I've gotten some of my headcanons out... Maybe it lessened my impulse to shove lore into something that is supposed to be lighthearted...

“Selphie, I really appreciate this but…” Rinoa said as she pushed her finger under the seal of the envelope. “There’s no such thing as a 7-month dating anniversary. You really didn’t have to get me anything.” Selphie beamed.  “You and Squall are two of my favorite people!” she exclaimed. “I just wanted to celebrate you! And look at the card! Isn’t it cute?”  Rinoa pulled out the white piece of cardstock. In elegant cursive, shiny black debossed letters spelled out, “There’s been buzz about your love!” The text sat beneath two cartoonish and happy bumble bees, along with yellow loopy flight lines and tiny hearts.  “Your bumble was meant to bee,” Rinoa read the inscription inside. “Okay, I have to admit, that is adorable.”

And rough. First off, looking for this word in my writing made me realize... I overuse "through" haha...

BUT! But, but, but!! This excerpt comes from my NEW yet unpublished multichapter project, where Laguna is working with a ghostwriter to write his autobiography. It's about Laguna's upbringing, his time in the army, his relationship with Raine, his work in Esthar... It's part headcanon with elements of the cut content of FFVIII. And it's scenes from Laguna's life interspersed with his first-person narrations - think The Princess Bride. The working title is The Luckiest Man in the World.

This excerpt, according to my (complete!) outline, is from Chapter 7, but I haven't written all the way to here yet. I was just really excited to think through Raine's life, so I wrote this chapter after writing the prologue haha

…And the next thing I remember is waking up in Winhill! “Wait… I thought you said you were stationed at the Centra Excavation Site. Isn’t Winhill on the Galbadian continent?” Oh, yeah, but it’s pretty much the closest place to Centra. Kiros and Ward kinda landed near the rocks, but I might have gotten caught in the surf or somethin’… Oh, is that a map? “Yes… President Loire, how long was your body out to sea?” Who knows! I know I was in pretty rough shape when I was found, I spent a couple of months barely conscious, a couple more recovering… What’s the face for? “I’m just surprised that… you survived.” Oh, yeah, it’s all Raine, really. She was amazing. She basically brought me back from the dead. “Well, okay… so you woke up in—” Wait, wait, wait, I gotta tell you about Raine, she’s really important! I think certain readers would prolly want to learn more about her, ya know? “But this is your autobiography…” Ahh, yeah, I know… Hey, I know we’re fallin’ a bit behind in the project and all, but like I said, she’s really important. I want her story somewhere, too. “Just… try to make it brief.”

[destinyc1020]

“I hate to say it, but another thought that crossed my mind is that maybe deep down, Z also knows that if she does too many "Black films" early on in her career, she will be pigeon-holed into only being in Black films? 🤷🏾‍♀️”

girl i refreshed and saw this and have to speak!!!

this is bullshit i’m sorry. look at halle berry! a biracial woman with a white mom and she did both in the 90s and early 2000s and got that oscar! she has roles from boomerang to a bond girl! b.a.p.s to the flintstones! dorothy dandridge to monster ball! she did slip playing storm but we can’t act like a balance hasn’t been built before. and z definitely has a team that is better than i bet halle had then to still get her scripts from both sides if that’s what she wants to be presented.

part of what works for z is she knows she has fans and a lot of gp support who will fight her battles. she has the power to pick projects she wants and has displayed that. i dont see why we have to go back to thinking she’s being held back 100% there are obstacles but let’s be real

even if ppl say she is biracial and taking a role do it anyway! her fans will fight her battle either way. and there are ways to go about it the same way she made moves to change tashi from full black woman to biracial without too many questions pushed to her on it. she can carry that into other roles.

i think she really just doesn’t care to look at those scripts right now. they don’t serve her current goals. still saying she wants more diversity is a better look than just being honest about it. or blacklisting the questions completely.

I see your comparison with Halle, but we have to keep in mind that Halle and Zendaya are living in two totally different generations, and the Hollywood industry has changed somewhat over the years. I'm not saying that Z couldn't do both, I'm just saying that even other black actors have said that they have gotten pigeon-holed over the years and some haven't been able to quite "cross over" into "mainstream" territory because they've pretty much been typecast in the "Black Films Only" category. It's not just me saying it.... It's other Black actors. Don't you think that if some Black actors had the chance to work with Scorsese, Spielberg, or "others", they would JUMP at the chance??

Will Smith is one who has been fortunate that he's been able to go "back and forth" and be mainstream, yet also do other diverse work w/out any issues.

even if ppl say she is biracial and taking a role do it anyway! her fans will fight her battle either way. and there are ways to go about it the same way she made moves to change tashi from full black woman to biracial without too many questions pushed to her on it. she can carry that into other roles.

And see, I'm actually kind of shocked that Z went for this role, because she's always usually saying that she doesn't do roles meant for "Black women" because she doesn't want to take away from Black actresses and the roles that they could possibly be getting since there are so FEW roles made for monoracial Black women in Hollywood anyway. This was usually the reason why I thought she wasn't doing any "Black films". But, I guess she loved the Challengers script so much, and saw an opportunity to work with THEE Luca G. that she just jumped on it! I mean, can we really say that none of us wouldn't have done the same thing? 🤔

i think she really just doesn’t care to look at those scripts right now. they don’t serve her current goals.

I mean, I think we're basically kindof saying the same thing? 🤷🏾‍♀️

[gamesception]

Sception Reads Cass Cain #18

Batgirl (2000) #5 Story: Peterson & Puckett Art: Scott & Campanella

Back to the main series, and we're following straight on from where we left off. I'm leaving my criticisms of the direction taken with issue 4 behind, what's done is done, all we can do now is look at where the creative team goes with it. As with the issue 4 post, I'm trying not to just straight summarize everything, so if you aren't familiar with this series or haven't read it in a while, do please go read through issue 5 again. It's good, it introduces David Cain, there's a clever bit with Cass figuring out how to let Babs know she can understand her now even though she can't really speak yet, the art's still really good. It's worth your time.

The main thing I want to talk about in this post, of course, is David Cain. The flanderization of David Cain is one of the ways Cassandra's stories started to trail off long before her ongoing Batgirl run came to an end, and the fact that none of the multiple creative teams across multiple books that have tried to 'fix' Cassandra thought to try to 'fix' David as well - only pushing him deeper into his two dimensional generic comic villain box - is a big part of why modern Cass has never managed to hook me like old school Cass once did.

This is our first time meeting him since the introduction in No Man's Land, and after seeing Cass again he's just fallen apart. Drunk, hasn't shaved, hasn't showered. You get the impression that he must have been like this after Cass first left, that it must have taken him years to build himself back up to where he was when we last saw him.

But seeing Cass again, knowing she's alive but that she never forgave him, the shock and hope and despair when she heard her speak - you can tell this guy has this whole twisted self image about being a 'professional' or whatever, but the way hearing her say 'stop' drove all thought of the mission out of his head, and now, months later, he's still like this.

David Cain is a killer, but he's not a killing machine, and Cassandra wasn't just a tool or weapon or product or whatever. Yes, she's a living demonstration and vindication of his 'unconventional' ideas about training, but she's more than that. She's his protege, his legacy, his mark on the world, his daughter. She's everything to him.

He's not angry at Cass for leaving him, he doesn't blame her for failing him or whatever. It's quite the opposite - he failed her, and he's completely undone by it. This man who's murdered probably hundreds of people and never felt a thing failed his daughter, drove her away, and the guilt from that destroyed him.

And he's right that it was his fault, though he doesn't understand why. He doesn't understand that the very body reading skills that he managed to instill in little Cass forced her to experience her victim's death from their own perspective, forced her to empathize fully with them as they died at her hand, and that is why she could never kill again, why she felt forced to run from David and the life he prepared her for. It didn't matter how young she was, it would have been the same if she were 8 or 18 or 28.

The skills that made her the ultimate assassin also made her wholly unable to be an assassin - a perfect ironic twist that I would have loved to see this asshole react to, but before he could he deteriorates into a stock generic heel who wouldn't care either way.

And worse, we get introduced to other kids trained by Cain with the same skills - so the bit about Cass being the only one it ever worked for is retconned away - and they kill without caring so this core aspect of Cass's character is also abandoned, modern Cass isn't good because she was forced to experience the consequences of her cruelty from the victim's perspective, she's just inherently good because she's just a 'good person', just like modern Cain is just a 'bad person'.

And that's the thing, I'm not praising the contradictions and depth of original David Cain's character for the sake of woobifying an evil abusive father figure. Rather, it's that David's depth directly contributes to Cassandra's depth.

Because little Cass - og little Cass - she loved her life with David. The training was bloody and brutal but she excelled, and her father was proud of her excellence, and she thrived on the praise he showered on her for it. She couldn't wait to beat up 'Merc' and the other goons in issue one. She wasn't cowering in a corner, she didn't beat them up reluctantly out of fear of what David would do if she didn't. She was having fun. David raised her to be the perfect little killer, and she absolutely and enthusiastically was, right up until the killing part.

It's important that Cass loved her life with David, that she loved David himself and that he loved her, because that makes her decision to abandon her life and her father a sacrifice. That's her choosing the lives of others over her own happiness.

It means something different if David was just a monster who she hated and feared, if he never actually cared for her, because then abandoning him is her saving herself. It also changes how his murder resonates. OG Cass, this is something she willingly did for David's approval. She only realized after the fact just how terrible it was, but that doesn't change that it was something she willingly and happily did. New Cass, forced to kill out of fear and threat of violence to herself... again, it's not the same.

It also changes what it means for her to be Batgirl, in a way that strips out even more depth.

If David Cain is just a villain who abused her, then there's no longer this direct parallel between training under Bruce and training under David, the lives they're preparing her for, the violence, the way she thrives on it, the way she feels guilty about Being Batgirl - like she's getting away with something - because it's basically getting back the life she lost when she abandoned David, the same life she's trying to repent for by being Batgirl.

How she has to hide what she did from Bruce or else he'll take away her new life that's so much fun, and with it take away her only hope of redemption. New Cass might feel guilty for killing, but she doesn't feel ashamed for having been excited and happy to do it only moments before.

There is so much depth to early Cass that is directly tied to the depth of early David Cain. Her father is basically one of the founding pillars of her character. But this guy?

Or even this guy?

Those guys aren't pillars of anything.

.....

I'm getting sidetracked into negative rants, though, and there's really no call for that, because we don't have to deal with those guys today. At my rate of progress we probably won't have to deal with them ever. For now we have the pleasure of dealing with this asshole...

Bruce is right, by sending the footage of Cass's kill David was absolutely trying to drive a wedge between them, while also trying to assert his claim. "You may be putting Cass's skills to use, but never forget that I trained her first, I gave her those skills, and this is what those skills are for." And Bruce's counter argument, "Denial isn't just a river in Egypt, it's also my house where I live at" is so willfully stupid and so funny that David spends a whole panel confused and shocked before he can even laugh at it, and that's honestly pretty great.

David also gets to bring us back to the core theme-

David's guilt over driving Cass away, Cass's guilt over killing that guy, Bruce's guilt over letting his parents die. I don't think Batgirl (2000) ever got around to directly calling Bruce out on that, but panels like this make it clear what parallels we're supposed to be drawing.

....

that's a lot of rambly words about David Cain, there is other stuff that happens in this issue.

This bit where Cass figures out how to explain to Babs that she can understand her now even though she can't really talk yet, is neat.

And this bit where Cass realizes other people depend on her skills and she needs to get them back even if it means losing what she's gained is sad and sweet even if it doesn't come to anything since the random psychic wizard can't fix her and eventually she gets her body reading ability back without having to give up speech.

This bit where Bruce has Tim do some research on the guy Cass killed but Tim basically immediately figures out what it's about anyway because, it's Tim so of course he does is pretty good.

And this bit where Cass struggles to fend off some suited goons she took down without a thought in issue 4 does a pretty good job of conveying how the words are getting in the way... but also makes me wish we had more time with Cass without the usual narration blocks, because... yeah. They get in the way, and it was cool when the book mostly didn't have them.

[violetlunette]

Hey, me! Since I know you want to do an ask meme on Candace and it’s highly unlikely anyone will ask you to do it, I thought I’d ask you! Have fun, me! :)

Aww, you’re so sweet, me! <3

Ask Meme for Candace Flynn from Phineas and Ferb;

Why I like them; Oh, so many reasons! I am literally writing a post on why Candace is one of my favorite characters—but for this, I’ll pick one; her underdog nature. Candace is constantly pushed down and kicked by the universe, even when she does nothing wrong. Yet she always gets back up. She complains, moans, and gets frustrated but she still gets up and continues to fight for what she believes in. That’s another thing I like about her; she has strong morals. Don't get me wrong, her beliefs often cause her trouble but you can see that she's trying to do what she sees as right. As cool as the things Phineas and Ferb do are, they're still dangerous and breaking the rules. Candace will do what she believes is right, even if the universe is literally against her. 

And Candace will more often do the right thing even when she knows it’ll cost her. She sacrifices her phone to stop Mitch, destroys a CD on Phineas’ birthday instead of getting him in trouble on his birthday and destroys evidence that will prove that she’s not crazy to protect Nosy, and gives up a precious childhood toy so a little girl can be happy, and more. In each of these instances, she is giving up something important to her because it’s the right thing to do, even though it hurt her personally.

Why I don’t; There are times she's a bit entitled and selfish, but she grows out of it over time.

Favorite episode (scene if movie); The Chronicles of Meap and The Wizard of Odd

Favorite season/movie; Seasons 2&3

Favorite line;

“The universe is against me,

And no one here defends me.

Everyone pretends we

Haven't seen it all before.

And it sends me

Into this manic frenzy.

And, yes, it still offends me!

The whole universe is against me!”

Favorite outfit; I really liked the dress she wore to Hawaii and the Princess gowns. (Her swimsuits and PJs are also cute, along with her winter jacket.)

OTP; Sadly, I have none for Candace just yet. (I used to love Canderry when I was younger, but I prefer them as Uncle and niece now.)

Brotp; Oh, tons! I love Candace with her brothers, but also Perry, Stacy, Buford, and Baljeet (I think they worked really well as a group in the Star Wars Special), and Doofenshmirtz (I think they have the potential for an interesting dynamic.)

Head Canon; Candace unknowingly has psychic powers like Max from “Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse.” Because of this, her sense of reality is fragile as she can see into other dimensions and her memory can’t be erased. (Luckily for Perry, she knows how to keep a secret.)

Unpopular opinion; Oh boy. This is what’s going to isolate me from the PnF community despite my love for Candace; I don’t like Canderemy.

This is the canon couple and the one completely beloved by the fandom. And why wouldn’t they? They’re so sweet, and Jeremy is absolutely perfect for Candace and is just what she needs in her life.

And yet—I don’t like it.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s nothing wrong with the couple at all. As I said, they’re sweet, and Jeremy is perfect for Candace.

The problem for me is that Jeremy is too mellow to the point of being boring. Plus, it feels like he only exists to be Candace’s perfect mate. The only thing that makes him interesting is his relationship with Candace. That’s it. I know the series tried to add some character to him, but I felt more for Monty, who we only saw for a few episodes than I did for Jeremy, who I saw for three seasons.

Whatever you feel about Phinbella or Ferbnessa all parties can stand on their own and be interesting. I could watch an episode focused on any one of these characters and be entertained. Not so much with Jeremy.

I dunno, I don’t hate him but he’s my least favorite part of the show (besides Suzy, that is). There is nothing about him that appeals to me outside of the fact he's nice to Candace, so I won’t be writing fanfics about him anytime soon.

A wish; In the new seasons we get to see Candace overcoming her obsession with her brothers and not only stepping into a new life but one that allows her to be just as amazing as her brothers without depending on them.

An oh-god-please-don't-ever-happen; Candace’s development gets undone, and that she actually ends up living the life she has in “Quantum Boogaloo.” (This happens to be one of my least favorite episodes along with Act Your Age.) I hope that all the time traveling going around gives her a different future.

5 words to best describe them; “And [Candace]’s anything but ordinary!”

My nickname for them; Candy, Candy Girl, Candy Girl

[ninjago-forever]

Ninternia: The Ultimate Elemetnal

Chapter 8: The Heat and The Cold

Katara dropped her bags, inspecting the room she shared with Cyrus carefully. As far as she could tell, it was as they had left it. Both their bunk beds were made, silver-grey on top, white and ice blue below. Her worktable, and tools were neat since she hadn't been working on anything here. There was her shelf full of inventions varying from complete to a pile of pieces. A bulletin board and white board took up most of one wall, both covered in notes. The only thing that belonged to Cyrus, other than his bed, was a fish tank to a on his dresser, which was home Prisimfin named Simon. While she would've preferred to have her own room, she didn't mind sharing with the nindroid. He was quiet, cleaned up after himself, and never touched her stuff, so it worked out.

Satisfied that no one had been in the room since they'd left, Katara began to unpack while thinking about their adventure. So much had happened, so much had changed, yet not even a week had past since she'd met them. Not even a week, yet one of them already knew she was an elf, though she knew she'd have to tell the rest at some point. The truth trap in the labyrinth had been a close call, but how much longer could she keep it up?

I should tell them....

As far as she could tell, none of them had any prejudices against elves, which was good. Clay had taken the news really well. They'd hung back from the group on the hike out of the canyon, so she could explain what a winter elf was; while cold didn't bother her, heat drained her energy, and could kill her.

"So is that why you jumped away from the fire?" He'd asked, looking at her curiously.

"Yeah," she'd replied, hesitating before adding, "Does... it bother you?"

"Does what bother me?" He'd looked so confused, like the thought hadn't even crossed his mind and... maybe it hadn't.

How awkward she'd felt: "That I'm not.... human, and.. my weakness. What it could mean for the team. Doesn't that worry you?"

His smile had been so warm, trusting, caring... "Kat, I don't care if you're human, elven, or even an alien, you're a part of this team, and my friend. As for your 'weakness', it's not going to make you weak unless you let it. Why would you think otherwise?"

She remembered staying quiet for a while. He hadn't even pushed her, he'd just let her take her time before answering, "Humans... haven't exactly been kind to elves in the past. There was a war between my kind, and the siltharaa, but... Part of it took place on human land. The whole thing was covered up, yet they couldn't erase memories. The families who lost people in that... The didn't forgive us, or the snakes..."

He'd listened to her every word. "I... I had no clue. I've never heard of anything like that."

"You grew up in the city, right? It's more the mountain villages, especially the rural ones."

"Oh... Well, I still stand by what I said, and anyways, you had nothing to do with any of that."

Katara frowned as she remembered the conversation. If only she was able to believe him about her 'weakness', but she just couldn't bring herself to. A small smile pulled at her lips as she recalled the nick name though. It had been so long since someone had called her that. She sighed not feeling the will to sleep, and decided to work on her technobands, when she heard a loud slam coming from the living room. Dropping her tools, she dashed to join the others

"Who?" Ren was asking a little girl stalking into the Temple. She had pale skin and raven hair braided over her shoulder She wore a black gi as well as a cloak with a dragon on it. Underneath it was a well hidden tanto sheathe the elf could barely make out. What caught Katara's attention was the child's harsh expression. There was a dull, empty look in her eyes, disguised behind anger and determination, yet it was still there.

A clattering sound broke the tense silence. A quick glance around revealed that everyone was here, a few doing odd things; Clay was putting down a coffee table, Churro and R.A.L.I. were under the dinner table, but the source of noise was Atalie, who had dropped the hilt in shock.

"Did... did you say 'Soran'?" she asked, ignoring the curious looks the others were giving her. "How do you know him?"

The girl studied her. "I was his classmate at the boarding school. How do you know him?"

"I-" Atalie started, but Khan cut her off.

"Enough figuring out why who knows who, because we still don't know you," He glared at the child.

She raised a skeptical brow. "Let me guess... You spent the whole time we were talking trying to come up with a line, and you only interrupted now because you thought of that not-half-bad one?"

"Yup." Khan smirked, then paused as he thought over what she'd said. "Wait... No, or... um..." He trailed off in confusion. Katara resisted the urge to facepalm. She also noticed a triumphant gleam in the girl's eyes. 

Clay took a knee in front of the child, and set his hands on her shoulders. "What my friend here was trying to say is; What's your name? I'm Clay, and that's Khan, Ren, Jaya, Atalie, Cyrus, Churro, Rali, and Katara.'

She twisted away. "You can call me Shadow. Where's Ju?"

In a patient tone, he answered, "Sensei isn't here right now. How do you know him?"

Shadow studied him. "Okay, let's get this straight, don't treat me like a kid, and won't prove to you I'm not." Clay blinked looking taken aback.

Jaya stepped forward. "Enough, let's get back to the beginning. You said your classmate was captured. By who? And where?"

"Several days east, if you travel nonstop on foot, there's a pair of doors under a waterfall. They lead into the lost world of Erdan, has to the siltharaa, a race of snake people. Soran and I found a map that lead there about a week ago, and decided to check it out. Now they have him imprisoned," Shadow answered.

They found the doors to Erdan? And released the siltharaa? But how? This isn't good...

"Wait, someone hit rewind, did you say there's a LOST WORLD OF SNAKES RIGHT UNDER OUR FEET, AND YOU JUST SO HAPPENED TO RELEASE THEM!?!" Ren yelled. Recalling humans dismissed other races for legend Katara quickly masked her surprise with confusion.

"No, we just went there. Someone was already down there, a super tall man in all black." Shadow replied, unfazed. Out of the corner of her eye, Katara noticed Atalie had gane pale.

What's up with her?

"Oh, because a creepy stranger releasing them is sooo much better, " Ren moaned.

"But you left him? How did you get away? Was he hurt?" Atalie questioned, a strange look on her face.

"Yes, he distracted them, and no," Shadow responded.

"Do you know where he is?" the older woman pressed.

"I know where they caught him, but it didn't look like their main base. The best way to find him would be to find the snakes, and they now have a map marked with various seacret places in Ninternia, Blade Vaults included." Shadow backed up until she was at the doorway again. She looked at all of them. "I've told you what I know, do whatever you want with it." With that the little girl turned away, about to leave.

"You're not going to stay?" Atalie asked, a worried expression on her face. 

"Yeah if you want us to save your friend, you've at least got to help," Khan added.

Shadow paused, though she didn't turn back. "He wasn't a friend. He was a stuck up, whiny brat, but... he did save me, and I don't like having unpayed debts. If you need another reason to save him, he's one of you, an Elemental Guardian. I watched him unlock. That's how I got away." She shut the door behind her, disappearing into the night.

"That was peculiar," Cyrus commented.

"If that means creepy, I agree," Churro shivered, getting out from under the table. "Was she a spirit or something? No kid I know talks like that."

"I believe she was human," R.A.L.I. assured him as Cyrus helped her up.

"She's been through hard times, " Katara gazed at the place the child had been. "I want to go after her. Maybe I can convince her to stay. If what she said was true, we might need her, plus if she know's Sensei he probably trained her. She carried herself like a ninja, and had a tanto if nothing else."

"You didn't have to make a list," Clay teased. "I was going to talk with her if none of you did. She needs a place to sleep, change of clothes, a decent meal, and more." Katara exchanged a smile with him then left. By the time the elf was outside the gates, Shadow was out of sight.

Setting off down the path, she tried to think of a way to convince Shadow to join the team. Though she had said she'd shared what she knew, Katara got the distinct impression that she had a lot more information then she let on. There was something different about this child, more than her being a ninja, not seeming shaken by everything that happened, and her way of speaking. After a second, Katara realized she'd been moving at a quick pace down the mountain for several minutes and had yet to see or even hear Shadow. The elf came to a stop looking around.

There's no way I could've missed her but she couldn't have gotten this far ahead Did she go off the path? Unless-

As soon as the thought crossed her mind, she felt a knife against her neck, right on her carotid artery.

"Why are you following me?" a low voice hissed in her ear

"I just want to talk," Katara replied.. unnerved by how off guard she'd been caught. Her captor released her, but by the time she turned around to see that it was indeed Shadow, the blade was back in its hiding place.

Swift, silent, skilled, smart, how long did Sensei train her?

"Well?" the girl asked.

"I, uh, just wanted you to come back, at least for the night. Though if you wanted to stay longer..." Katara trailed off. There was something unsettling about the child that was throwing her off. A strange aura telling her to trust the kid, which went against her nature.

"Thanks, but no thanks. I'll be fine."

"So you're just going to abandon your friend? And don't say he isn't. You traveled through the wilderness for several days to tell us what happened, there's no way you don't care about him, even if it's just a little."

Shadow's already distant demeanor became cold. "I don't know why you'd think that, but I walk alone. Always have and I always will."

Katara faltered a bit, shaken by a hidden, empty note in her voice. Taking a different route, she said, "Well, you live in this world too, don't you want to help save it? These siltharaa sound like they're trouble, and they're not the only problem." 

"Evil older brother and the spirit of darkness itself going to take over I'll like of darkness itself? They're not going to destroy the world, just take over it, and if I don't make it... Anyways, how do we know Ju doesn't just want the Blade for himself? Finally, why do you do that?"

"I, um, do what?" Katara was having keeping up.

"You act like you don't know what the siltharaa are. I saw your face when I mentioned them earlier. There was no confusion, just surprise, a bit of fear, and anger." Shadow raised a brow.

"My dad knew a lot of folktales and stories."

"Hm... nicely done. You lead me to assume an answer rather than giving one, but now I know you're hiding something, and that your dad's gone, and I'd say your mom is too." Her eyes flicked to the ever present bandanna. Katara resisted the urge to check it. This girl had learned more about her with a single sentence than most of the others had after living with her for several days. No way she knew about the elf thing though, right?

Shadow grinned, "Gotch 'ya. What I can't figure out is why you came after me. You have secrets. I'm sure you like to keep to yourself. I doubt you would've joined any team if Ju hadn't dangled the 'You're a Guardian, come save the world!!' carrot in front of you so.. why come after someone who can read you like a book?"

"You're not the only one who can read people. Your eyes, your tone, you try hide it, but I can see it, hear it. You've had a hard life, and I don't think I'm alone in losing my parents, " Katara countered.

"Your point is..."

"I'm just saying, no matter how you act, you're still a kid. If you want a friend..."

Shadow scoffed. "Who? You? That's hilarious. You're already annoyed by me, don't deny it, and anyways, friendship is overrated."

"Okay, fine, what about this; You stick with us until we get your friend. After that, you can leave, and none of us will bother you again."

"Give me one reason to-"

Shadow shut up mid sentence as both her Katara turned toward the Temple in unison. Without another word, they took off up the path. Despite the elf's heightened speed, Shadow somehow managed to stay with her, but Katara didn't give it much thought at the moment. She had bigger problems. The closer they got to to the top, the louder the shouts, crashes, and clangs got. As soon as they arrived, they bolted through the open gate. Katara paused to survey the courtyard.

Frostbite

There were at least a dozen siltharaa wrecking havoc, and the others were fighting them. She saw Khan swinging his sword as he ran around, Ren shocking snakes on the roof, Jaya on the porch attacking with her trident, and... a wave of relief hit her when she saw Clay throwing snakes over the wall, yet she didn't see Cyrus, Atalie, R.A.L.l., or Churro. She hoped they were safe inside. 

While she was distracted, a siltharaa broke away from the others and charged her. Not having the time to activate her technobands, she dove out of the way, and the snake kept running... right into Shadow's tanto. As she pulled it out of the body, she gave Katara a nod and disappeared into the fight. 

Okay... So she doesn't hesitate to kill either...

Shaking her head, she activated her blades to join the others in protecting their homebase. After taking down her fourth snake though, she began to feel tired, and she could if she could feel it, she could only imagine now exhausted the others were. They were too scattered, it was too chaotic. In a fight like this, whichever side was bigger would win. 

"You weren't kidding when you said they had several useful functions." a familiar voice said. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Katara replied, standing back to back with the young Earth Guardian. "You?"

"Took some hits, but I'll be okay," he assured her, tapping his knuckles together, then punching a snake through the wall. He'd left his scythe on his back, and was just using his powers, eyes like pools of lava. "Did you convince Shadow to stay?"

"I think so. She's helping us at the least" Katara ducked under a thrust. "Khan! Watch where you swing that thing!"

"Sorry!" he yelled, now backed up against the wall by a team of siltharaa. Apparently, they'd decided he was the easiest target, and, to be honest, they were probably right.

Idiot, he almost cuts my head off then I have to go save him. 

Before Katara could reach him, a black blur took all of them down in succession. Shadow. How she moved that fast Katara didn't know, but right after, an explosion came from inside the Temple, distracting her, and everyone else. Something went flying towards them.

"A... teapot?" Shadow said, catching it.

"They used the gas from the stove to ignite the air in a powerful blast!" Cyrus shouted as he and the others emerged fo the cloud of smoke and flames.

"And they blew up the stove too!" Churro coughed.

"I just informed them of that."

"Is that what that jumble of words meant?"

"Enough!" Clay commanded. "Get the hose. Fill buckets from the stream outside. What ever you can do to put this out!"

They scrambled to follow his orders, hoping they could save the Temple. The siltharaa had left as soon as they'd caused the explosion. The Guardians were too busy, and exhausted, to give the attack much thought, trying to extinguish the fire as they were.

Except for one.

Oh no...

Katara stumbled backwards, trying to get away from the flames. The air was already thick with heat, and it was making her dizzy. She could feel her energy fading, and she hit the ground. There was so much smoke, she was coughing more than breathing. The fire was moving fast despite her teammates efforts to stop it. It so was hot... and she felt so tired... Her eyes closed.

Clay... He's the only one who would know what happened...

When Katara regained consciousness, the first thing she noticed was that it was cold. In fact, it was what humans would call 'freezing', but to a winter elf, it almost felt like home. A quick inspection revealed that she was in some sort of walk in freezer. There were several isles of shelves packed with boxes, all of it covered in frost. She got to her feet, unsteady for a moment before regaining her balance...

I don't remember this place, was it always-

Suddenly, some one tackled her from behind, almost making her fall. She tensed, about to throw them, when her attacker spoke.

"Thank the FE, you're awake," Clay said in relief, turning her to face him then hugging her again. "I was so worried. I figured it was the heat, but I didn't-"

"It's fine. Sorry about this. Did the others ask questions?" Katara squirmed away, but he didn't seem bothered by it. "Oh, and thanks for taking me here, wherever 'here' is."

"Um... I didn't take you, Shadow did. We're inside an underground freezer that's connected to the kitchen from a staircase over there." He replied, pointing. "But... when did you tell her you weren't human?"

"I didn't," Katara said, dashing in the direction he'd pointed. Climbing the stairs he'd mentioned, she caught a glimpse of her reflection. Her ponytail was tangled, and she was covered in soot. Her bandanna had somehow stayed in place, unless Clay had fixed it, but her gi was unkept and torn in some places. Shaking her head, she refocused on what she was doing, until she emerged from the freezer that is.

She was standing in a blast zone/battle field. Most of the kitchen was torched, only some of the counters, dishwasher, and fridge was left intact. The stove was... well, not really recognizable, and there were ashes and rubble everywhere. The walls were almost gone, so she could see the rest of the ruins. The bedrooms, living space, training dojo... they were all gone. Everything.... Centuries of history... The Temple had been the home of the First Elemental millenea ago, it had withstood the test of time, and now.... There was next to nothing left, just smoking ruins.

"We tried to stop it, but..." Clay came up behind her, grief in his eyes. "There wasn't much we could do. We only put it out a few hours ago, once most of the more flammable stuff was already gone. We saved as much as we could, and took it down to the bus."

"I should've been helping you. Maybe..." Katara trailed off as she realized the sun was high in the sky.  She'd been out for hours.

"One more person wouldn't have made that much of a difference, don't beat yourself up about it," He told her. "At the least, we managed to recover most of Sensei's library."

Not to mention I wouldn't have been able to help...

She left the kitchen, hoping that maybe something had escaped the inferno but the rest of the Temple was stripped down to its frame, a skeleton of what it once was. Here and there a piece of wall had survived, black with soot, which just made it all the sadder. Piles of objects burned beyond recognition, parts of the roof, and damaged furniture were scattered every few feet, making it difficult to walk. She found the others sifting through the mess in the dining and living rooms.

"Would you look at that, elfy's finally awake," Shadow drawled from her spot on the charred rafters as she sharpened a katana. "Did you enjoy your beauty sleep? It didn't do you much good."

Her earlier anger returning, Katare glared up at the girl. "How did you know?"

Shadow ignored her, not even bothering to glance down. "I'll take it as you haven't told them. More fun for me then." 

"Told who what?" Ren asked looking up from his pile of rubble "And why did yo call her 'elfy'? Aren't those the things that make shoes?" Shadow almost fell off her crossbeam laughing. Katara glared at her feet.

"Hey are you okay?" Jaya looked at her worriedly.

Clay put a hand on Katara's arm. "You should tell them."

"If you don't, I will!" Shadow chimed, in twirling her sword. "And I'll enjoy every second."

"What are you guys talking about?" Khan demanded.

Katara sighed. This isn't the way I wanted to do this. Then again, I didn't want to do this at all...

Still, she reached behind her neck, untying her bandanna.

"I'm an elf," she said, brushing her hair back to reveal her pointed ears. "A winter elf, to be exact, though I do have fire elf blood..." There was a pause as the other teenagers processed this.Then Ren broke the silence laughing.

"Very funny guys, is this your way of getting back at me for lying?" he said, but when they stayed quiet, he started to sound a little desperate. "That is what's going on right? RIGHT?!"

Katara winced.

"I suppose I should reprogram my database again to include elves as fact rather than fiction." Cyrus said. Khan suddenly reached out, and touched Katara's ear. She was startled, and threw him.

"Ow!" he yelped, rubbing his arm.

"Sorry, but maybe you should've asked." she muttered.

He got up. "I had to check if they were fake. I guess not..."..

'First siltharaa, now elves! What's next!?! An army of indestructable stone warriors? A bunch of crystal dragon zombies!? A-PIRATE-GIENE-CAPTAIN-WHO-WANTS-TO-STEAL-OUR-SOULS-SO-HE-CAN-REBUILD-HIS-REALM-AND- CONTROL-THE-WORLD-WITH-UNLIMITED-WISHES!?!" Ren said all in one breath. They a stared at him.

"That was... oddly specific," Clay blinked.

Shadow looked down at the Lightning Guardian. "You either read too many comic books, or watch an insane amount of cartoons. Or both. Yeah I'd say both. Oh, add video games to that."

Jaya put an arm around Ren to try and calm him. She turned to Katara, eyes flicking to her ears before returning to her face. "You said you were a... 'winter' elf. Is there... an elf for every season?" Before Katara could respond, Shadow cracked up again, and this time, she did fall.

Though it might've been on purpose because she landed on her feet, sheathing sword in the same motion. "Nope! There the two kinds of elves: winter and fire. Winter elves can be in extreme cold, and not even feel it, but heat drains their energy. It can also kill them. The opposite is true for fire elves.

How does she know that? Did she used to know an elf?

Khan looked at Katara awkwardly. "Um.... sorry about all the, uh, fire jokes. I didn't know how dangerous it was to you." She raised her eyebrows in surprise, this wasn't the response she'd expected from him.

"It's fine, not like you knew any better" she looked at the others, they'd returned to digging through the mess. "Does... You're all okay with..."

Jaya glanced at her. "Why wouldn't we be? You've proven yourself. I can't say I'm happy you didn't tell us at first, but I can see why you wouldn't. How about this; No more secrets and we call it even." She looked at everyone else. "And that goes for all of you. We're a team after all." Ren Clay, Cyrus, and Khan nodded. Katara looked uncomfortable. Shadow appeared to be debating which knife she should use to cut out Jaya's tongue.

"Well..." the little girl said. "That was fun. Who doesn't love staying up all night putting out a fire, then spilling secrets that shouldn't be... secret?" she grinned.

"I am now certain they are gone," Cyrus interrupted. Clay, Ren, Khan, and Jaya groaned in unison.

"What's gone?" Katara asked, confused.

"Hm..." Shadow pulled an over dramatic thinking pose. "Let's use our brains for a second. I came here with the sole purpose of warning you that some snake people took a map marked with the locations of four vaults that hold the pieces to a sword that can control the world, and you just so happened to have two of those pieces lying around." She gasped comically. "You don't think they took them do you? And without asking!?"

Khan snorted.

Katara wanted to hit herself for being so stupid. The attack made a lot more sense now.

"Hey guys, ready to go? We've got the bus all set!" Churro called, picking his way through the debries when he saw their expressions. "Why the long faces? Did I miss something?"