#s8 fix-it

[fir3-and-bl00d]

You'll Never Be Alone - Chapter 4

“You call Daenerys our Queen … do you intend to abdicate? To set aside your own claim to the Iron Throne?” Lord Royce wondered. 

“I already have. I have no wish to sit the throne, nor do I wish to be King. My aunt -” 

“Your aunt destroyed an entire city! Do you mean for us to simply forget that?! While the two of you have been in hiding it is my men who have been wading through the ashes of thousands! Not even the Mad King was so -” 

“ENOUGH OF THE MAD KING!” Jon suddenly shouted, and he was livid as Rhaegal roared and shrieked in his nest. 

“The Mad King is dead, just as we all would be if not for Her Grace! Had she not come North and fought alongside us, the Night King would still be marching and we would all be mindless soldiers in his army! Instead, Daenerys did what a true queen would do: she rode into battle at her people's side, never stopping until the war was won!” 

He snarled and then he was gripping Longclaw tightly as he stated, “Continue to defile and slander her name and the consequences will be most severe, my lord.” 

The guards stationed around the throne room tensed as well, ready to defend not only Dany, but himself as their prince. 

“What happened in King’s Landing was a tragedy, but do not stand there and tell me Cersei did not contribute to the destruction. You saw the wildfire amongst Drogon’s flames, as did I. It was horrible, but we were at war, my lords, and that war is now over. Neither Her Grace nor myself wish to brush aside the loss of life, and our Queen cares greatly for her people, which is why King’s Landing is to be rebuilt using the coin that was taken from the Golden Company, as well as procuring fresh food and water for the citizens of the city. These things have already begun, have they not?” he demanded. 

“They have, my prince.” Lord Wyman answered. 

Lord Royce only gave a curt nod. 

“Good. Lord Royce, you speak of Her Grace hiding away, but the idea to come to Dragonstone was mine alone. It is out of my love for her that I urge her to remain here, for I know that King’s Landing is not safe for her, nor will it be for quite some time, and there is also the matter of healing from her injuries. I will not risk her life simply to sate you or the people. She is the Queen and she must be protected, and as her Hand and her beloved, I will continue to guide her as best I can.”

[adobedragon]

Pidge skated a tongue over Lance’s lower lip and muttered, “Is that coconut?

His breath hot against her mouth, he laughed softly. “Coconut lip balm. Like it?”

Her fingers wound around the hair at the nape of his neck and she pulled his mouth to hers. “Uh-huh.” They were on the little couch in the Atlas’ junior officers’ lounge, taking a small break from a long day of running through survey logs for this sector of the universe, searching for any trace of Honerva and her robeasts.

But two Paladins, in the throes of new love, left alone in a quiet corner of the Earth’s most advanced battleship, were like powerful magnets, unable to resist each other’s pull. She’d gone from sitting primly at his side, sipping coffee, to sitting on his lap and exploring the different ways that one could kiss someone. They were both wearing their Voltron Garrison uniforms, and she was finding that sitting on someone’s lap while wearing boots was light years from comfortable. This, however, was a small sacrifice in the service of science. Pidge, always the consummate researcher, was taking the study of Lance’s mouth very seriously.

“Oh, no,” said a voice behind them. “Get a room, you two. Or go make out in a Lion.”

Pidge squeaked in surprise and her teeth banged against Lance’s. Turning, she found Hunk standing in the lounge’s doorway, a coffee mug in hand and a surprisingly sour expression on the usually cheerful Paladin’s broad face.

“If I’m not stumbling over you two going at it, I’m tripping over Keith and Shiro.” His boots thumped on the floor as he went to the coffee machine and poured himself a hot cup of java. “It’s like Paladin mating season around here.”

“Somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed,” said Lance. “Go call Shay. That’ll make you less salty.”

Hunk’s face was structured for cheer and the gloom that lengthened his genial visage startled Pidge. Realizing she was still on Lance’s lap, not the best position to address a friend’s distress, she reseated herself on the couch beside him.

A little smile twitched her lips as Lance tugged at the bottom of his uniform’s shirt, covering his obvious arousal. A reminder that she needed to visit the Atlas’ infirmary for birth control. So far, they’d managed to restrain themselves from going that far, both hoping for a more romantic locale for their first time together, something other than a cramped bunk on the Atlas or a Lion’s cockpit.

Lance, ever the consummate romantic, had a plan. “My brother told me about a B&B in Matanzas, back home. The perfect romantic getaway.”

At the rate this war was going, she’d be eighty years old before it ended, though, so better to prepare in the event they lost control.

Lance’s arm looped around her shoulders and she snuggled against him, eyes on Hunk.

“What’s up, buddy?” asked Lance. “Trouble in paradise?”

“I just got off a vid-call with Shay,” Hunk said. “She says her grandmother is planning her…” Hunk reached to his head and fiddled with the ends of his yellowy-orange headband. “I can’t remember the word, but it’s a Balmeran coming-of-age ceremony. At the conclusion of this ceremony, she will be considered an official adult and able to be courted by eligible Balmeran males.”

“Well, there you go, pal,” said Lance. “That’s your opening. You can finally tell her how you feel and do some courting.”

Hunk’s face somehow lengthened even more. “Balmerans, guys. I’m not Balmeran.”

“That does present a problem,” agreed Pidge.

“No,” said Lance. “Love is love and you two are definitely into each other.”

Mouth set in a sad curve, Hunk stared at them with worry in his dark eyes. “But—”

“Nope,” Lance cut him off. “No ‘buts.’ Look at me. If I hadn’t made my move, it might have been James Griffin sitting here next to the prettiest girl genius in the universe.”

“What?” said Pidge. “James Griffin?”

“Yeah, him.” Lance shrugged. “He was always asking me, ‘Is Pidge seeing anyone?’”

“Get out!” Pidge smacked him on the leg. “How come you never told me?”

“Right. Like I’m going to tell you the competition is into you.” He pointed at her face. “And you don’t have to seem so thrilled to know this.”

Feeling mischievous, she smirked. “Well, he is cute and an MFE pilot.”

“I’m a Paladin of Voltron!” Lance’s voice squeaked at a frequency that probably made dogs howl. “That’s better than an MFE pilot. Tell her, Hunk. Tell her that’s better.”

Hunk held out his hands, palms out. “I, uh, this is getting messy. I need to bake something. Cooking therapy.” With that he sidled quickly out of the lounge.

Aside from the clomp of Hunk’s boot-heels on the floor, no sounds of nearby interrupting people could be heard, so Pidge turned and climbed back into Lance’s lap, only to find him staring sullenly at anything but her.

“What?” she said, setting her hands on his shoulders and giving him a firm shake.

“You were into James Griffin?”

She swept her gaze up and down the contours of his angular face, taking in every familiar detail, every line that made up his face, calculating, and coming to a strange conclusion, though she might be wrong. Her calculations regarding the human equation often were.

“You’re jealous of James Griffin.”

“‘Well, he is cute and an MFE pilot.’” Lance quoted, his voice pitched to match hers.

Her view of him shrank in her narrowed eyes. “Years,” she said, giving him a shove with both her hands. “For years I’ve watched you flirt with every girl who entered your radius.”

His mouth quirked in a nervous combination of frown and smile. “That was different. They were nobody. I didn’t know or respect them.”

He shrank to a thin band of brown skin and blue eyes as her gaze narrowed with more irritation. “You flirted with Allura. Endlessly. You went on a date with Allura.”

“I, erm.” He rubbed the back of his head. “I did. That date, Allura shooting down any romance between her and me, was one of the best things that ever happened to me.”

“Oh?” Really? Now? After months of showing real interest in her, calling her beautiful, now he was going to admit she was just a rebound, a second choice? Her heart lurched with disappointment.

“If I hadn’t gone on that date, I might not have acknowledged how I felt about you. If I hadn’t gone on that date, Allura wouldn’t have told me you loved me and I wouldn’t have had the courage to take a chance with a girl so out of my league.”

“She said what?”

Lance’s extremely mobile face moved from sweetly melancholic to entirely too smug. “She said you love me. That’s why you bought Allura a dress. Bartered a rare video game for it.”

“That was an awesome game.” Pidge sighed.

He reached to her face and gave her nose a little tweak. “When this is over, when we’re back on Earth, I’m going to find you a copy and we’re going to play it. Maybe at the B&B that Luis suggested.”

“I think,” said Pidge, running her fingers along his jawline from pointy chin to his ears, “we’ll be doing a lot more than playing video games.” And she got back to her comprehensive study of his lips.

~~~~~~~~

A quicky sequel to "Turn Over a New Leaf."

[clarasoswinsoswald]

lost the game of chance, what are the chances?

[k1ance-a-lot]

Aquarium date

[setmeatopthepyre]

Okay so I finally watched The Episode and honestly... I'm cautiously optimistic? I know (I know!) the interviews, etc. and i'm not saying they're definitely getting back together. I just think doors were left open on purpose and maybe decisions haven't been fully made yet.

[bludhavensbirdboy]

okay what if buddie happens and we don’t get a big realisation of feelings or sexuality crisis from Eddie. I mean Eddie ‘never dealt with a single feeling in his life’ Diaz perhaps might just be like okay this is how it is now, i kiss men or i kiss buck and that’s okay. I don’t know i think it would be very in character to just not question it if buck and him kiss before they discuss their feelings.

[bakedbakermom]

okay tonight the thing about s8 that's pissing me off is that mulder's disappearance (and, y'know, his fucking DEATH) is that goddamn if anyone deserves to be a happy giggling pregnant woman it's scully, and we were all robbed of that. can you imagine how ridiculously cute they would be shopping for baby clothes.

like i just can't fathom why they made some these decisions. shit was so dark you guys.

[empty-blog-for-lurking]

My toxic red flag is that everytime I make a post s8 au, Allura always ends up being a woobified poor little meow meow

[girlevanbuckley]

helena diaz when i catch you.

[holysheithyall]

i dont wanna watch v*ltron againnn i dont wannaa its gona be my 6th fucking time watching it s1 to s8 im gonna lose it but i wanna compile every sheith moment for personal use hngnfnnfnsd

[ethereance]

Screw it. *Genderfluids your Lance* Post s8. Fix it.

Lance thought his Altean markings were cosmetic. Nothing more. Nothing less. A gift from Allura, leaving a piece of her with him, to look back and remember with fondness her company. As if he could ever forget a girl as incredible as her.

It’s not until much later he realises it’s something more. That maybe Allura gave a portion more than he expected. He stares, face to face with his mirror. Something off. Something strange. Something that grabs his attention before he really knows what he’s looking at.

His ears slowly shift back to human. But they were there long enough. He saw the Altean ears.

“Incredible,” Coran says when Lance broaches this to him, and after multiple attempts at trying at failing at repeating what happened in the mirror. At last he succeeds. “You’re shifting just like an Altean.”

“I’m not turning Altean, am I?” he panics. He’s pretty attached to being a human and all.

“Haha! Don’t be ridiculous number three, you can’t just ‘turn Altean.’ Good one! Turn Altean, he says. That’s one to remember for an open mike.” Then Coran takes one look at his genuine distress and sobers. “Rest assured, my boy, you’re one hundred percent earthling, ears and all. Allura wouldn’t change you so completely when she loved you the way you are. It just seems she passed our chameleon-like abilities over to you. I can’t say I’ve ever heard anything like this ever documented before, but Allura…”

“Has a way of accomplishing the possible,” Lance offers when Coran’s eyes grow distant, bittersweet.

“Yes,” agrees Coran. Something proud, something sombre, “That she did.”

***

Lance practices often, following Coran’s guidance. Even Romelle drops by at Coran’s request, eager to show someone the ropes.

“In the colony, we had little need to shift as our ancestors had. Our only home had been there, tucked away in a corner of the universe. We understood little of the outside world except what Lotor brought us. Even so, it was an ability we never lost. When you have mastered it, it’s like walking. It becomes natural. To some more than others,” she says, a surprisingly patient teacher. He wonders where this side of her was when she was trying to get him to teach her to pilot. “You may be the ‘others’! But that okay. My… my brother Bandor was the same.”

For such a bright supernova of a person, it is easy to forget that, like Coran, Romelle has been touched by grief. And grief again.

“You strike me as an adaptable person, pointy chin. Like rivers and oceans, it has made you you. I have full confidence in your abilities. And if Allura were here.” She smiles, and it is pain, but beauty. A flower unfurling in the wake of a storm. “I know she would say the same.”

***

He finds himself slipping into other forms like a glove. It becomes easier, a swifter motion just as Romelle had said.

It’s freeing, in a way. To walk as something so slightly adjacent to him. A Lance of another life. Altean, balmeran, olkari, puigian, anything he can think of.

He loves being Plaxum’s species the most. A mer. Beneath the waves, it feels like coming home. He’s a missile underwater, swimming loops around coral.

Dreams really do come true.

***

There’s something about transforming that pulls him that much closer to Allura. Her quintessence sings to him, and his skin dances. He feels alive as he hasn’t in a long time.

Happier maybe. Or that much closer to it.

He wishes he could take a photo of Keith the second he catches sight of Lance, a good extra foot on him, and purple as a plum.

“So this is a… thing,” says Keith eventually. And what an observation that is. Lance explains.

“Don’t let Hunk catch you like this,” is Keith’s response, a hint of tired amusement, “He’ll call you Galra Lance and never stop.”

***

It starts with him shifting into an unilu. He needs the extra hands. Lance doesn’t realise the gender he’d chosen until Coran points it out offhandedly. Now, Lance knows that not every species is going to be quite so clear cut as biologically male or female. Some have more some have less. Some won’t even know what the word gender means. He has experienced a taste of the universe. He knows how vast and diverse it is. When shapeshifting into a species like that, it makes sense his gender isn’t something he’d retain.

Female. He’d made himself into a female unilu. It was a matter of size and facial shape. Nothing too strange, no stranger than his body shifting into a skin it wasn’t born into, but noticeable enough.

And isn’t that something.

***

It’s out of curiosity he tries the same as a human. Curiosity and nothing more. Just because he can. Really. Honest.

Lance half expects his girl!sona would just be a carbon copy of Rachel with the added blue scales residing beneath his eyes. But that isn’t who he sees in the mirror.

He sees. Well, he sees himself.

Herself.

She looks, feels, kind of pretty. Which makes sense. She’s Lance. Of course she looks great. Goes without saying.

Lance’s lip twitches.

***

So. So maybe he throws on the form again. And again. And again. Maybe a little more than he does with any alien species. But can you blame him? He’s just found out he has a free trial at being a girl so quiznack if he isn’t going to try it out.

Her hair is long. Her hair is short. She pulls off both looks well, she thinks. Being a girl is kind of awesome, actually.

It’s not always the case. Sometimes it just isn’t right. But others? Sometimes he finds himself slipping into her without realising it. It’s just what feels right to her in the moment.

There’s something nice about strangers using ‘she’ and ‘her’ and they don’t know. They don’t know. Something in her bubbles, giddy, they don’t know.

But Lance’s family do. Pidge does.

They look at Lance—now once again a boy—and hum, thoughtful, considering.

“Are you are girl?” they ask. Pidge does not beat around the bush. It throws Lance through enough loops to put him in a spiral.

“No”, says Lance. But for some reason that doesn’t sound quite right. “I mean. I’m not always. But—”

“You are sometimes?”

“I guess. But it’s just shapeshifting. I’m not actually—” Lance trails off, lost. “Am I?”

“Do you want to be?” Pidge asks, and huh. Does he want to be? Is it really that simple? He’s always seen himself as a guy, and had no problems with that. But.

Well.

“… Maybe. Maybe sometimes.”

Pidge grins, wild and victorious. “Welcome to the club.”

(Something in his chest feels lighter. There’s a cavern, because it has made its mark and stayed. That has not changed. But this is this.

How wonderful it is to find the answers to secrets within oneself. He could have lived his whole life without knowing, a part locked away without him ever knowing there was a lock. But now, how could he?

It’s like he’s no longer holding in a breath.)

***

Pidge later tells him it’s criminally unfair he can change his body on a whim. They are fine with she, they are, but they are them. Sometimes she is just too much she to match their they.

Lance wonders how much Allura managed to see him. He remembers how close they became, how she became someone he’d call a best friend, then a lover. How she perceived him better than most throughout it all. Looked to him and saw greatness where he, despite wanting to be so much more, only saw failure. He wishes he knew what she saw when she looked at him. The person he was. Is. Lance.

If she knew what these markings have done for him. Did she know?

She can’t have done. Lance didn’t even know.

(But if she had—

It’s not like Lance can ask.)

***

Allura comes back.

She descends like a shooting star, the blinding light of an angel’s fall. She falls home and it is at home she stays. Days are bliss. A dream Lance dare not wake from.

“You’re not dreaming,” she tells him, soft, and kind, but aching, “I’m here. I won’t leave again. My duty to revive the universe is fulfilled. I’m here to live. And I chose to live with you.”

He kisses the words from her lips, blissfully sweet. She more than happily complies.

“I never meant to hurt you this much.”

“You’re here now,” Lance says, and it sounds so beautiful spoken out loud like this. How long he’s dreamed for such a moment. “That’s all that matters. We can move forwards together.”

This is their start.

***

It takes a while. But she tells Allura.

Allura kisses her senselessly. Lance loves it.

“Though I can’t take credit for this being my intention, I’m glad you learned more of yourself.” Allura’s fondness is an ocean she could drown in. “I love the person you are.”

“Yeah?”

Allura’s hand trails Lance’s ear. “Yes. Very much so. It’s an added bonus that I managed fix your ears. You have tried an Altean form, right?”

Lance jolts. “Allura!” she protests, a little put out. “What’s wrong with my ears?”

“Nothing,“ she says, warm and amused. “Nothing at all. I find that they have grown on me greatly. They’re cute. Just like the rest of my girlfriend.”

Oh. Girlfriend.

Her heart is full.

[noemitenshi]

Lark

or

And silently loom the shadows of my past

Summary: Tracy loves to cause mischief - but this time she may have just gone too far

“Tracy!?”

Troy shouted his daughters name in the way all parents did when they suspected – more than that, were most certainly convinced, at least Troy was, that their kid had done something stupid. And as all kids that most certainly had done something stupid, Tracy did not answer her father's call. "God damn it," Troy muttered. Normally, he'd be charmed by Tracy's antics − but not when it put others in danger. And she most certainly had – put someone in danger.

She knew better than that. He had taught her better than that, god damn it. What the fuck had she been thinking?! Ok, no, that wasn’t any use, getting angry at her, he thought, as he ran restless fingers through his hair. First he needed to know exactly what had happened – though he could guess. Could guess that Tracy had dared Tom (Deborah’s son. Deborah, who was still standing right next to him, equal parts annoyed and worried) to do something dangerous. Because Tom hadn’t been seen for hours. By anyone, if Deborah was to be believed.

It wasn’t the first time those two had done stupid things – to everyone’s sorrow they seemed to have deemed this the most interesting game among themselves; daring one another to do dangerous, forbidden things. Troy had a feeling that Tracy had started it. Their whole dynamic reminded him uncomfortably of himself and Mike—

“Russell?!”

Russell, unlike Tracy, was quick to follow Troy’s call. Good man. He still wasn’t sure how he’d been lucky enough to find someone like him, but he was glad to. Russell was Troy’s second in command, his most trusted fighter. And he’d earned that title over and over again. Their friendship ran deep – as it tended to do when you’d saved their life and they’d saved yours, over and over again.

Russell came over, his expression telling Troy he was expecting to receive orders. There was a certain tone Troy used when he went into leader mode.

“Any chance you seen Tom?” Troy asked without much hope and Russell shook slowly his head, his eyes sweeping the area. “No,” he said slowly and then, as Troy expected of him, his mind went where Troy’s was, “Tracy…?”

The question didn’t even need asking in its entirety. Troy nodded swiftly.

“We think so. She’s also nowhere to be found.”

Russell didn’t hesitate, radio-ing the rest of their men, urgently.

“We’ll find him,” Troy assured Deborah. She nodded, though didn’t go without a muttered,

“When that boy gets home…”

Troy took this as a good sign. If she could threaten her son, she wasn’t as worried as he’d feared. He, himself, on the other hand, had a very bad feeling about this. Tracy making herself scarce like this meant she knew this one was bad. Or – she was with Tom. On whatever ill-advised adventure they’d cooked up.

And he didn’t know which one to hope for.

They did end up finding Tracy pretty quickly. And it turned out all his instincts had been right and she had done something very stupid. Troy breathed through the urge to grab and shake her, shout at her until she understood what it was their childish games had ended up.

But by the way she looked at him, head tilted towards the ground, her eyes flicking up just for moments at time, looking pointedly away when he caught her gaze, he knew she knew she’d fucked up.

“Where could he have gone?” he pressed out instead, focused on finding Tom, who she’d dared to go outside the fence.

Alone.

He’d made sure all kids were well-trained – but even so, they were not used to being out on their own. No way to tell they wouldn’t panic or freeze in the face of danger. And though for Troy it was second nature to be outside, he knew it wasn’t for the kids. Even if they’d seen walkers up close, he’d also made sure they knew them, knew how they moved, how to incapacitate them, it was still different when they weren’t chained up. When there weren’t adults around.

“Fucking hell, Trace,” he growled – the only way he allowed himself to show his anger – and she shrank back. “Where do I find him?!”

“I… I don’t know…” she finally whispered her response.

God damn it.

God fucking damn it.

These childish fucking games. He’d known where they led to, he’d fucking known. Why hadn’t he put a stop to it sooner?!

He grimaced, wishing he could hit something. Tracy still looked at him with wide, guilty eyes. If they wouldn’t find Tom in time, it’d be on her conscience. He couldn’t let it.

“Let’s go!” he ground out, turning on his heels and stalking away, expecting both Russell and Tracy to follow.

He went for the dirt bikes. Tom probably didn’t get far, but they still had a lot of area to cover, and most of it wasn’t easily accessible by car – that had been by design. So their camp was well-hid.

“Is… Tom going to die?” his daughter asked, voice timid and almost inaudible. He grit his teeth.

“Not if I’ve got anything to say about it.”

And that was that.

Minutes later they were past the front gates, and they wouldn’t be the only ones, Russell had stayed back to organize a larger search party. But he couldn’t wait around for it, not with such a thing hanging over the conscience of his daughter. They needed to find Tom before something else did.

“Any idea where he could’ve gone?” he shouted over the engine noise over his shoulder. He felt her shake her head against his back. “Think, Trace! Anything you two talked about? Anything he said he was curious about?” He tried to jog her memory – if there even was one – while the world flew past them, his sharp eye sweeping the area, again and again – he wouldn’t want to miss anything.

Then, Tracy’s arms around his middle tightened, and he turned his focus back to her, just before she whispered a hesitant,

“Dad… the stream. I think he went to the stream…”

Troy had already turned the bike around, not waiting for her to finish the question, then relayed the information to Russell. Tracy’s grip on him was still tight, tight.

He started at the closest point to their camp, driving upstream. Tracy was leaning to the side, probably so she could watch their surroundings, too. Could catch sight of Tom, if there was any. Hopefully Tracy was right with her guess. Hopefully Tom hadn’t strayed too far.

“There!” Tracy’s trembling voice rang out – firmer now. Troy had already seen it, too, a little dam made out of stray branches in the stream. Something a kid would do. And a bit further away he could see a fresh path trampled into the undergrowth. He tucked his lips under his teeth, a subconscious gesture of concentration, and sped along that path—only to come to an abrupt stop when he saw two figures – fighting. The smaller one had to be Tom, or at least some other kid, not big enough to be an adult. The other was, though, the one pulling and dragging at Tom, while he tried to kick and bite this unknown figure.

So it wasn’t a walker then. A walker would’ve chomped down already. The unknown figure turned their head, just a quick look backwards, before trying to hurry Tom along even more insistently. And for a second Troy thought he knew that figure. Maybe it was the hair, or the build, or maybe the semblance of her profile…whatever it was, for a second he thought he’d seen a vision of his past. Or a nightmare.

For a second he’d thought this was Madison.

He used to see her in every flash of blonde hair, in every slender figure, in every blue-eyed woman… back then, when he’d barely survived her at the dam. He used to see her everywhere for years. But not for a while now. Not in the last few. Not since… Tracy?

But that couldn’t be. It couldn’t be because she was dead, his mind playing tricks on him again. He must’ve been more apprehensive than he’d thought about Tom vanishing like he had, why else would his mind show him a ghost of his past.

All of that only lasted for a second, a slight hesitation, then the gun was in his hand and a shot rang out.

The figure keeled over and Tom ran. Good boy. Tracy started to run, too, no doubt trying to get to Tom, but Troy caught up with her in long strides, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Stay,” he hissed, and she nodded with wide eyes, chastised. That was why he didn’t want kids out alone, they weren’t yet able to adhere to all the rules, all those things that would keep them alive. Too easily distracted. He pressed a gun into her hand – no way to know if this woman had been alone and he’d be damned if he left his daughter unprotected. Then he ran towards Tom, towards this woman. Whatever she had planned with Tom, he had to know. Had to know if she’d acted alone. If they were in danger.

Tom ran towards him, too, and seconds later was wrapped around Troy’s legs.

“Go to Tracy,” Troy whispered, tone tense. He had no time to soothe him, though Tom looked like he needed it.

Later. There was time for this, later.

The woman was half-crawling, half-dragging herself away from Troy, leaving a bloody trail behind. He was able to block her path only moments later. That stopped her pitiful attempts to get away and she raised her head. His breath caught in his throat and the blood in his veins turned to ice.

“…Madison?” he whispered in a voice that didn’t sound like his.

“You?!” Her voice very much sounded like her. Angry and ready to fight. Though there was a slight tremor in it, too. And when she’d spoken he’d seen her bloody teeth, the blood welling in her mouth. He’d at least damaged the lungs. It wasn’t likely that she’d make it.

He knelt down, to her eye level.

“What the fuck are you doing, stealing kids?” he asked. She glared at him.

“As if… you haven’t done worse.” Her breathing was labored, and she ended up coughing after that sentence. It wracked her body and it looked like she’d lose her balance, fall. He caught her.

“In fact, I haven’t,” he informed her while his arms steadied her. Kids were off limits. Especially when they weren’t doing anything threatening. He couldn’t imagine that Tom had threatened her.

God, this felt unreal. Of course it did. He’d thought her dead. The nightmare of his past. But here she was, alive.

Dying.

He almost felt like moving to stop the bleeding. It wouldn’t help, though. Not for long.

What was she doing, stealing kids?! Was this the same Madison that had whacked him for… for what, actually? Being a perceived danger to her kids? Out of morality?

“… I thought I killed you.”

Of course she didn’t answer his question. Still playing her games, still trying to have the upper hand. Not this time, though. This time she’d lose. Her shirt was already soaked through.

She knew it, too. It was in her tone, still angry but now, now there was surrender in it, as well.

“Next time you’d best stay to make sure, huh? My ability to survive is unparalleled.”

“I will,” she whispered. He almost didn’t understand her, with how much she was coughing up blood. It wouldn’t take long now.

“Why did you try to take Tom? What do you do with the kids?” That was a guess, that she’d taken more. She hadn’t contradicted him on it before. And she didn’t now, either. Instead some of her fight returned and she hissed,

“Why do you care?!”

Hissed it like she didn’t believe he did, and blamed him for it. His lack of caring. He had no intention of getting drawn into her bullshit.

“Does it matter?” he asked pointedly. She was dying after all. He cared or he didn’t, it would be irrelevant to her in a few short minutes. He couldn’t help himself though and added, “Tell yourself… I’ll save them.”

She laughed, short and ugly and he smirked in return. It didn’t last for long because then she was coughing again. Longer this time. He waited for it to ease.

“What happens to them, Madison?” he asked again, serious now. Commanding. She felt her life drain from her. What would it matter if she told him, indeed. So she did, all the while telling herself he’d save those kids.

He’d saved this one from her, after all, hadn’t he.

-The end-

Or more like, the beginning. Of course Troy now sets his eyes on P.A.D.R.E., mobilizing his entire force to save the kids and their parents. And he gets a neat little compound out of it, too. The people from his past he'd run into doing that (e.g. Luciana, Daniel, ..?) could still be assholes to him, but this time most would get around to seeing he has changed. And/or they operate on the principle of 'better the devil you know'.

[quietwingsinthesky]

like we are all aware that twissy is not the “healthy” version of thoschei, right? that the doctor keeping missy in a cage and withholding her freedom and any future friendship with him until she becomes acceptable to him, even if “for her own good”, is still. bad. i keep joking about how he put his evil wife in a box, but like. he put his evil wife in a box. just because the toxic behavior here is gentler doesn’t make it better.

[devouringyourson]

just finishing out S7 of 911 and im not sure i like eddie much anymore

[alitgblog]

i forgot what volume we're on but THOUGHTS

first off what do you meeeaan we're getting the finale next week 😭

heart rate challenge is fun because of the costumes and dances and flirting in front of someone's partner you get to do, but god the results sucked. I don't care for the drama of Jin having the highest heart rate with Sienna and I don't care about Sienna rubbing it in MC's face. Can we move on???

Especially because literally on the other side of it, I just picked that MC would have her heart rate raised the most by Logan for fun, and that resulted in NOTHING. Maybe like one comment that flew under the radar during Logan's date, but nothing fun. I just had to hear about Sienna sticking her tongue in Jin's ear or whatever.

Speaking of Logan, he's just another victim of not enough screen time. Like Tyler, Hari, and Logan all seem great but you barely get any chance to talk to them outside of their intro episodes and then by then you're expected to have already made a decision on who to pick. At least Hari is around for a while, but I simply have not really talked to him since Casa aside from hearing how he's fumbling Hazel. And between Tyler and Logan, who in my mind are basically the same personality going only for MC, I kind of prefer Tyler because at this stage in the game, Logan needed to have put more pressure. Or have been an angel sent like Oliver idk he has some substance. Once again, just a waste of a good looking sprite.

I also miss LIs that had their own personalities. Like I think that's why the OG boys are fun at first: each of them being distinct enough but all having reasons to go for MC. But the bombshells this season all seem to kind of just be "yeah I like MC because she's confident and knows what she wants" and that's it. It feels gameplayer-y which is maybe why I'm less intrigued for their routes. Even small things like Lucas liking a girl that puts in effort vs Henrik liking a girl that tells it like it is, so then you kind of have to "compete" with the other characters even though it doesn't make a difference later on with who you pick feels like it gives the characters more dimension.

I also think this is why Bea and Claudia have such compelling routes this season compared to the male bombshells (and vs. some of the other wlw routes in other seasons). They have potential partners that could give them what they want, although we know ultimately probably not. Also why I think if Hari's storyline was more fleshed out and you got time with him, that when he comes back with Hazel, his story could be more interesting.

Also I liked Logan better with the hat on, he needed a different haircut lol.

Stop it please with the texts interrupting conversations there has GOT to be a better way

also fusebox trying to squeeze out as many gems as they can out of us with more of those "i heard gossip do you want to know?" choices 🙄

the pancake challenge is lame. it just made me miss s2 cake decorating challenge 😭

also at this stage in the game, i feel like we should've gotten Mr. and Mrs. (I can't remember if we already did that). But a fun food challenge is fine too, it's just that this one wasn't fun. Also the options all being either "do it correctly" or "fail on purpose?" was very lame and probably contributed to it being boring. Once again, make it more like the s2 cake decorating challenge or paint challenge in difficulty if you're gonna do this.

Also no one else flirting with MC at this point? the other LI's don't have a CHANCE. That's why it's called tempting fate, because it's all temptation and yet while they all claim to want MC, no one is really talking to her what a shame

How does Sienna have the energy to be this much of a hater?? I kinda wanted her to have a small redemption at the end of her time but we never got it. And plus with her being so mean, it's so hard to imagine that at one point she charmed Jin into even considering her, so I feel like for logic's sake, we should've seen some of what Jin saw in her.

And once again we fall into the same problem this season has had which is way too many things at once because what do you mean they had three SEPARATE firepit meetings to dump islanders?? Give them some room to breathe!!

But yeah for some reason a couple is getting dumped right before the recoupling. We say goodbye to my frenemy couple Emel and Oakley. I hated them at times, but I miss them so dearly. They do not deserve to leave. I think that should've gone to Sienna/Max or Liam/Bea. If anything, since it's a public vote they should've had those three couples be at the bottom and then everyone else vote on who they'd like to dump and then however the math works out it ends up being Emel/Oakley, just for realism if the game really wanted to dump them. I understand that it had to be them because there are LI's in every other couple, but that's why I think they shouldn't have this dumping here in the first place.

Then the final recoupling. I touched on this briefly already, but oh my god no one got a chance. This may be the first time since season 2 that I'm sticking with the original person I chose to couple up with the first time I played through (ok technically S5 I did end the game with Suresh but that season is special and in a bad way). And maybe it's just the way I've been playing, but it does seem like in the last few volumes, you really only get to talk to the OG boy you chose or the Casa boy you chose. But I haven't really talked to Claudia since Casa and I'm so sad about that. Haven't talked Max much either, so I thought maybe he was sticking with Sienna? Haven't talked to Hari. Haven't talked to Bea. For some reason before the final recoupling, MC had a chance to talk to THEO? I was under the impression that if you're on a Claudia route then you're not on a Theo route but I guess he was an option the whole time, which was becoming clear in the last few volumes, but I'm still in awe every time he shows up trying to talk to MC. (Side note: a well written Theo friends to lovers route is brewing in my head and I think it would've rivaled a Jake S1 route so that's a shame it doesn't play out that way). Logan also had that chance, but both of those were gem choices, so they don't count in my head.

So no Claudia and Bea? I literally wanted to scream when Claudia said she was choosing a boy 😭😭

Logan is with Bea just because she needs to escape Liam, so I understand why, but they just seem so odd to me. Especially when Oakley and Emel were right there! Should've let them stay, at least they pretend to like to each other!!

Oh but I will miss Liam actually. Unfortunately he has much more personality than Logan so that's a shame but unsurprising that the more boring person stays the longest in love island lol.

Shouldn't have to pay gems to get people to not watch Jin's girlfriend announcement

also fusebox you already got your dig at us for thinking it was gonna be a zodiac themed season, are you really doing this again?? 🤣🤣

And then Max and Sienna go home in ANOTHER dumping. I'm exhausted. They couldn't have written one more volume to spread these out?

yeah yeah and hideaway again

anyway to prevent this post from being too too long I'm going to make a second post (yet again) with my ideas for how to fix these episodes because I've been okay with most of the recent volumes but idk this one in particular, although having the same problems as before, annoyed more than the others lol

still one of the top seasons of the game imo and definitely an improvement from s7 which I still haven't finished

[oceanatydes]

was anybody else never able to get the final scene at the end of tempting fate with Jin? it just skipped right past it for me and to the very last scene where everyone is gathered