#so I guess you can say I relate a lot to Jack in this fic and that informed its writing.
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doggernaut · 2 years ago
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Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Check Please! (Webcomic) Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Eric "Bitty" Bittle/Jack Zimmermann Characters: Jack Zimmermann, Eric "Bitty" Bittle, original child character Additional Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Future Fic, Parenting, retired Jack Zimmermann, Established Relationship, Long-Term Relationship(s), Domestic Fluff, Light Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Kid Fic, Getting Older, Holiday Traditions, Holiday Stress, Christmas with the Bittle-Zimmermanns, Injured Jack Zimmermann, Christmas
Jack wakes up with a sore knee and a toddler sitting on his chest.
“Hi, Papa,” Ellie whispers. Her blonde hair is wild and she smells like maple syrup. Since Jack retired earlier this year, most mornings have begun this way and he can’t say he minds all that much. He knew that her first few years, when he was still playing, would be hard. He’d tried to be as present as possible but even when he wasn’t away on roadies, the early morning practices and evening games meant less time than he’d have liked at home. He relishes these mornings with Ellie; most of the time, he doesn’t even miss those early workouts. He definitely doesn’t miss waking up in a hotel bed in a different city. Jack’s mornings are a lot slower now, but they’re also a lot sweeter.
But most mornings, Jack’s knee doesn’t feel like somebody’s just jammed a screwdriver into it.
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cal-daisies-and-briars · 19 days ago
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🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞🪞
I love this fic just so much! 😍
Ah yay thank you!
105 for 🪞:
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“I-I tried to be extra good,” she cries. “I really like living here.”
“Extra good?” Buck asks. 
She nods. “So you wouldn’t be mad at me.”
“Why would I be mad at you?” He asks. 
“I don’t know,” she sobs. 
Buck thinks. Really thinks about it. How polite she’s always been. Such good manners. Refusing to ask for anything. Lying to cover up little things she was supposed to do but messed up or forgot. Shutting down when he tried to correct the behavior. 
She’s been trying to avoid anger he’s never even shown. This whole time. 
“Oh, Dove,” he whispers. “Look at me. Can you do that?”
She nods, gulping, and looks at him.
“You’re not going to get in trouble for no reason. If I’m ever mad, I promise I’ll explain why. And I promise I won’t send you away.”
“Really?” She sniffs. 
“Really,” Buck says. “And if you make a mistake or are nervous about something, you can tell me. I got in trouble all the time as a kid. It’ll take a lot to upset me.”
“You did?” She asks.
“Oh yeah,” Buck nods. “You can ask Maddie all about it.” 
Dove takes a deep breath. 
“I can stay? Really?”
“Really,” he nods. “I’m going to do everything I can to adopt you.”
“Adopt me?” She asks. 
He nods. “Yep. So that even if we aren't related by blood, you’d be my kid.”
“Your kid,” she echoes.
“Is that okay?” He asks. 
She nods quickly. “Yes, please.”
Buck smiles. “Cool. I’m glad we’re on the same page.”
“We’re on the same bed,” she says. 
Buck chuckles. “It’s a saying. It means, we want the same thing.”
“Oh,” she thinks this over. “We do.”
Buck reaches over to wipe a tear off her cheek with his thumb. 
“Can I get you a cup of water? You must be thirsty now.”
She nods. “Yes, please.”
He goes to get the water and when he comes back, she still looks a little wary. Knees tucked up to her chest, holding Chomp. 
“What’s wrong?” He asks her. 
“Um…” She frowns. “Can I say I love you too?”
Buck’s heart skips.
“If you want to,” he tells her. “You don’t have to. I won’t be mad. But if you love someone, and you want to tell them, it’s a good thing.”
“I love you, Buck,” she says in a very tiny voice. Like she’s not quite confident. 
He grins at her, throat tight. 
“I love you, too,” he says. “And I always will.”
He hadn’t thought about that before. But he knows it’s true. He’s going to love her for the rest of his life. 
iii.
She’s sort of a new kid after that. 
Buck is kind of in awe of it. How resilient kids are. Mara is proof of that too. Going from nonverbal and shut down to a veritable ball of sunshine. So he shouldn’t be surprised that Dove comes right out of her shell, too. But he sort of is? He’s sort of surprised he was able to accomplish it. Without much outside intervention. But he did. And it’s kind of amazing. 
They tell each other they love each other every day. More than once a day. It’s like now that’s been given the permission and security she’s just overflowing with it. All the love she’s never had an outlet for. 
When Eddie comes over to carve pumpkins, it’s clearer than ever. 
“Eddie!” She greets him. “Guess what!”
“Dove! What?” He asks. Probably expecting something to do with jack-o-lanterns.
“I love you!” She proclaims proudly. 
Eddie nearly drops his carving kit. 
“Wow,” he says, bending to give her a little hug. “That’s so sweet, Duckling. I love you, too.”
When she pulls out of the hug, she looks back at Buck and grins so wide he’s convinced she’s been hooked up to a solar panel. 
“Good job,” he tells her, giving her a little thumbs up. “Go put on a tee shirt, okay? We don’t want to get your sleeves covered in pumpkin guts.”
“Okay!” She says, then runs towards the stairs, eager to get the ball rolling on pumpkin carving. 
“That was… Unexpected?” Eddie says when she’s gone. “But adorable?”
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distort-opia · 2 years ago
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Do you have any Joker recovery fic recs or any that explore his past?
Hey! Fics that focus on Joker's past are not very frequent, but I do have a couple of recs that I hold close to my heart:
+ if you can find me, i'm here by princegrantaire (Jack/Jeannie, rated T, one-shot, 3k words)
Summary: The very first time Jack’s on stage, front and centre, lit up by so many lights, he doesn’t say a single word. (A look at Jack Napier's sad little life right before ACE Chemicals intervenes.)
+ Again by Ruin (Lurkylurk) (Batjokes, rated T, one-shot, 1.5k words)
Summary: In his dreams that man keeps falling—and he keeps on failing. It has to be this way.
+ Courting Darkness by GrowingAHead (shelleyk0503) (Batjokes, two-parter, rated E, 13.2k words)
Summary: Set in the New 52 verse, “Zero Year: Secret City” (Issues #21-24). *Contains spoilers for that arc. As well as "Bright New Yesterday" (Issue #0) story in the book “The Graveyard Shift”. Before the Bat, before the fall into A.C.E chemical vat. Bruce tries to infiltrate the Red Hood Gang again undercover. He doesn’t realize that Red Hood One has a different kind of trap set for him. (… And Crane’s prototype fear gas ‘may’ had an effect slightly akin to that of an aphrodisiac in certain doses.)
These explore Joker before the fall into the acid, either in relation to Bruce or outside of it. The last one is basically Bruce and Red Hood One from Zero Year, not truly about exploring Joker's past, but it's got some great characterization and smut.
As to fics focusing on rehabilitation... I haven't read a lot, to be honest, since they aren't really my preference. There's Half Way Across by Dracze, the iconic and quintessential Batjokes rehabilitation fic, and I assume you probably already read it. Outside of that, I can point you towards two fics, although they don't much focus on Joker's past:
+ Atrophy by TimmyJayBird (Batjokes, multi-chapter, rated E, 68.6k words)
Summary: Bruce Wayne is out of options- leaving the Joker in Arkham simply ensures that the man will escape, and hit his city harder with each new visit. Out of desperation, he does the only thing he can think of- chooses to face the clown not as Batman, but simply Bruce, in an attempt to rehabilitate him into society. But the project turns even more dangerous when Bruce finds his obsession with the clown transcends his role as Batman- and when the clown returns the interest.
+ Don’t Mind if I Fall (Head Over Feet) by arrowinthesky (restfulsky5) (Batjokes, WIP, rated M, 25.7k words)
Summary: In the aftermath of great hurt, Bruce takes in a rehabilitated Joker, now known as Jack Napier, expecting the unwarranted generosity to distract him. Heal his own wounds. Ease his guilt. And it does. He just never figured on falling in love, too.
I guess my own fic, Falls the Shadow, is also exactly meant to be... Joker getting better through confronting his own past, but fair warning that it's a WIP and that it's been a while since the last update. It's not abandoned and I'm working on it! It's just that I can't promise anything as of yet, with the way my brain is being.
Anyway! Anyone who has recommendations that fit this description is also more than welcome to add to this post, and if you read these fics-- hope you enjoy, Anon. Don't forget to leave the authors some love <3
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djarins-cyare · 10 months ago
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Get to Know Me (tag game)
Thanks @burntheedges and @sydneyinacoma for the tags! 💖
I guess I don’t post much about myself on here, so behold the mystery of Jyar’ika revealed under the cut (because I waffle and didn't wanna take up y’all’s dashes)…
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Ahh space to include GIFs (*is happy*)...
1. Were you named after anyone? Hmm, that’s a sneaky way to get a name reveal outta me. Alright, I don’t mind… apparently one of the hosts on Blue Peter (the longest-running children’s TV show in the world - you’re not getting an age reveal outta me too!) had a baby just before I was born. Why my parents were watching a children’s TV show I have no idea, but this host evidently wrote/sang some kinda song on air about calling her baby daughter Jemma with a J not Gemma with a G. So I was named after a terribly trite and obscure TV reference that nobody will ever remember. You may call me Jem if you wish, my friends all do, and if you’re bothering to read this then you’re in that category.
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(If you're wondering about the GIF, the show was always broadcast live and they had several pets. The outtakes are numerous.)
2. When was the last time you cried? I think I’m weird… I don’t tend to cry? Or only if I’m really really upset. Maybe I’m Cameron Diaz in The Holiday? So yeah, I can’t actually remember 🤔.
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3. Do you have kids? Nope, although it’s a fairly recent decision to not have them. I spent much of my life assuming I wanted kids until I realised I had been conditioned by society to think I did. Since I started considering what I genuinely want and need in my life, I’ve never been happier! I'd make an exception to adopt a certain little green guy, though.
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4. What sports do you play/have played? Ugh, I hate questions like this. Nope, I’m a lazy asshole and now you all know it 🫣. I mean, I activity-hopped throughout my school years (gymnastics, karate, soccer), but these days I live in front of a computer. My exercise is lugging 24 bottles of water up 4 flights of stairs twice a week.
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5. Do you use sarcasm? I’m British. Sarcasm is my mother tongue.
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6. What’s the first thing you notice about people? I’m the least observant person ever! So voices a lot of the time, I think. Pretty sure that’s why something clicked inside me as soon as Din Djarin spoke his first on-screen words.
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7. What’s your eye color? Depends on the light, but somewhere between dark blue and grey.
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8. Scary movies or happy endings? I’m an absolute wuss when it comes to scary movies, so I don’t put myself through that. Also, the literature student in me desperately wants to point out that these things are not mutually exclusive, as you can have scary movies with happy endings, so a more appropriate ‘either/or’ scenario would be tragedies or happy endings. But either way, I will say no to the former and yes to the latter. I dislike making myself feel scared or sad – I consume fiction (in all formats) to feel good, so I’ll always look for the positive. I’m currently experimenting to see if I can write a massively angsty fic, and it was supposed to be done by the New Year, but I’m struggling. I will also have to include one of those open-ended ‘maybe it could work out after all’ epilogues. I just can’t leave my characters in pain.
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9. Any talents? Not sure what constitutes a talent… I can sing, play guitar, write a longass Din Djarin fanfic that people seem quite keen on, uh… cook, I guess (though I rarely bother), understand quite a few languages (less proficient at speaking them). I’m sort of a jack of all trades, master of none. I would say I have a talent for procrastination – I can complete a whole workday and get barely anything of substance done!
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10. Where were you born? In a village outside a town in Surrey, England. It's only about 30 miles from London. Lots of trees. Very dull. I left as soon as I could.
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11. What are your hobbies? Writing is my main obsession, specifically Din Djarin-related, of course. Also reading (same genre). Throughout my entire life I’ve enjoyed stories in all formats – reading, writing, watching, listening, proofreading the fuck out of them – so if it’s a good yarn, I’ll have a good time.
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12. Do you have any pets? Not currently, my landlord won’t allow it. I used to own 3 rats who were the most adorable boys and so smart – they knew their names, responded to commands, liked to snuggle. When I can finally buy my own place I’ll probably get a dog, as I like pets that listen to you, even if only sporadically. I had a very non-communicative chameleon once. He was called Minion. He was not a good minion.
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13. How tall are you? 5’4. Not tiny, but sometimes I have to go up on my tippytoes to reach stuff.
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14. Favorite subject in school? English literature (see hobbies question above). When I got to university and enrolled on an English lit/lang degree, I tried to take as many literature courses and avoid the language ones. It wasn’t until years after graduating when I started proofing/editing and writing more seriously that I developed a respect for all the mandatory language courses I had to do. I also liked media studies and film studies; you can guess why. Psychology was interesting too, it’s good to understand human nature if you want to write realistic characters.
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15. Dream job? I wish I could write novels for a living. It’s a goal as well as a dream. I know a couple of authors who’ve self-published via Kindle Direct Publishing (I proofread/edited for one of them), and they were successful enough to turn that into their careers. They keep encouraging me to try, although I’m currently in my ‘obsessed with Din Djarin so just writing fanfic to develop my authorial voice’ era. When my obsession wanes, as obsessions inevitably do, I’ll hopefully feel ready to write something original and take my shot. But I’m not pressuring myself, and right now I’m happy attempting to entertain the Mandalorian fan community. I feel safe here 💖
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Now I know I’m supposed to tag people since that’s the point of a tag game… but I’m that autistic kid in the corner who is too shy and worried about tagging people who might not reply. So I’m foregoing tags today. But, if you’ve bothered to read this and you haven't already played: TAG YOU’RE IT! That’s me tagging you, please take it seriously and thank me for your tag in your own post (I will be genuinely thrilled if anybody does this, and I’m sending advance love to anyone who does – you don’t know how much it means to someone autistic to have the decision-making element dealt with for them). So go on, now it’s your turn!
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historia-vitae-magistras · 2 years ago
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Hi, Hello! I just read (probably) most of your current blog (I saw that your previous blog was purged by Tumblr, sorry to hear that.. Glad you're back!) but not yet all the fics, but I think that holy macaroni, it's AWESOME! They sound human yet *not*, and how you tie their headcanons based on actual historical interactions!! If it's okay, I would like to ask about Zee and Jack. How's their relationship with Arthur's other colonies and neighbors in Asia and Oceania (continent)? Like, are they mostly estranged from the other colonies, or do they find some kind of kinship in their situations? (I heard that many Malaysians and Singaporeans, along with other SEA neighbors of theirs. It's funny how it's made in Australia but most consumed in that area).
Okay, I am so sorry, this has been in my box for like a month but better late than never, right? and Thank you! I'm very glad that's satisfying for you! And oh, very good question. I'm not sure what you were referring to that Australia makes that popular in Malaysia and Singapore, I'm going to guess it's Milo or maybe Vegemite. But I'm not sure, so I will try and answer this without that info, and I'm going to be speaking in broad generalizations. I am from the opposite end of the Commonwealth, and I am not all-knowing so this pretty birds-eye-view and not a Kiwi flightless bird sort of bird's eye view.
So it's both. Stiff and friendly, slightly estranged but also close. Geography puts them in the Asia-Pacific. They have a lot in common with their neighbours. In general, it's good, but it's also complicated. In a lot of ways, Jack and Zee float in their little bubble down there, but they have very different outlooks on this. But they are both friendly and on good terms with their neighbours. Jack and Zee both are very casual people; they're friendly overall. Both because they value egalitarianism but also because they embodied unique positions as they grew up. Both have large populations of European origin while being much farther from Europe than North America. So they tend to orbit each other more than other neighbours because they both get a lot more of a say in imperial policy than their neighbours. Their current relations are still affected by the imperial rank they were both given as dominions. New Zealand and Australia were both mini-empires within the British Empire, being delegated roles of power over some of their neighbours. New Zealand governed several islands and still does, Australia has a similar role, and both play a powerful role in projecting what used to be British Imperial power and is now somewhat more multilateral but still very much a continuation of that role.
Jack, on the surface, gets on well with his neighbours; he's friendly, egregious, and hard not to like. He's good at making people feel included; he's good at having fun. Like it's hard not to have a good time around him, but he is also a son of the British Empire and something of a cadet to the American Empire. He's very casual, and there's at least a pretence of equality he prefers to act on, but these power dynamics are still a part of his relationship with his neighbours. He doesn't like thinking about it much; the childhood he had and his relationship with Brighid made an impression on his brain in such a way that he can be pretty unaware of how much power he actually has and how his ability to be casual and show no deference is in itself a privilege. But he'd get on quite well with Singapore and Malaysia. He is a bit blind about his placement and doesn't understand why they can be stiff, much more so earlier in history than now.
Zee is more aware. Her life and existence are more of a duality. Jack had no founding treaty, and the British rolled along because they didn't much care as long they had a place to shove convicts. Whereas Zee was at least theoretically founded as a state of co-sovereignty. Is that how it played out for the Māori most of the time? No. It gave them, at least legally, more rights than indigenous people in other settler colonies. They didn't have it easier than other indigenous people, but they were more successful long-term and fought like hell at every step. So Zee is Polynesian. The Māori are Polynesian. Zee's worldviews are very much a duality, and I think that made her more aware of her position. It didn't always play into her choices, and she is still relatively powerful in her sphere. I think she spends more time with her neighbours and is more aware of their linguistic and ethnic complexities than Jack tends to be. Tonga, Fiji, New Caledonia, Malaysia, and Singapore, they're friendly. She's less perky, sunny or social than Jack but also much more aware and emotionally intelligent than he is.
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icepixie · 7 months ago
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20 questions for fic writers
1. How many works do you have on Ao3?
158 (22 of these are fanvids)
2. What’s your total Ao3 word count?
430,454
3. What fandoms do you write for?
Many. The top 5, per AO3, are Babylon 5, due South, Stargate SG-1, Farscape, and Northern Exposure. The most recent have been Strange New Worlds, China Beach, BBC Ghosts, Enterprise, and DS9. (Though to be fair, DS9 is an old fandom I started writing in again, and China Beach has been a mainstay since ~2014. Farscape...uhhh, oh, wow, I last published something for that in 2003.)
4. What are your top five fics by kudos?
I'm adjusting for the fact that the Agent Carter fics have by far the most kudos simply because it's the one large fandom I've written in. I'll count one of them and then go to the next-most-kudosed.
Necessary (Agent Carter; for once in her life, Peggy needs Jack for something)
Moves in the Field (The Cutting Edge; Yuletide fic where Doug and Kate visit Doug's brother and hometown)
Closing the Circuit (Enterprise; Baby Elizabeth lives and Trip and T'Pol spend their first night as parents)
Imperfect Recall (Strange New Worlds; Una and Chris recall his invitation to spend shore leave together 20 years ago very differently)
My Late Enchantments Still in Brilliant Colors Shine (Babylon 5; Susan Ivanova runs into a technomage)
5. Do you respond to comments?
98% of the time. Occasionally if it's a busy week they get away from me.
6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?
Either The Snow Maiden (Susan Ivanova childhood angst) or If Equal Affection Cannot Be (Marcus Cole, death and poetry) or Amo, Amas, I Love a Lass (more Marcus death and pining). Babylon 5 is the only fandom I've ever really gone angsty in.
7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?
Like...most of them? I'm not much for angst. I guess A Way to Walk on Water and Not Drown ended with the big theatrical happily ever after business...
8. Do you get hate on fics?
I feel like I got some sort of weird LJ comment once, but I barely remember it and it may have been more spam than anything.
9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?
Nope.
10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?
Love me a good crossover. I don't write them often because doing them right requires a lot of thought, but they're very fun to do. I've written the most for due South, and the conceit of "Fraser and Thatcher come to New Burbage for Shakespeare-related reasons" has worked well for me. I also quite like the Wonderfalls/Fringe crossover I did back when Peter was missing...I felt like I had a cool idea I followed through on, and the canons meshed better than one might expect at first.
11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
Not that I know of.
12. Have you ever had a fic translated? 
I vaguely recall someone asking permission to translate something into Russian once.
13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
When I was 13 or so, with a RL friend, we wrote several hamfistedly shippy DS9 and Voyager fics together over the (landline) phone.
14. What’s your all time favorite ship?
AO3 says it's Fraser/Thatcher (due South) with Ivanova/Garibaldi (B5) a very close second, which seems about right. I'm also extremely fond of Maggie/Joel (NX) and McMurphy/Richard (China Beach).
15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?
I'd love to finish the "Ivanova and Garibaldi try to honeymoon on Earth and get swept into defying a political plot against the president" fic I started years ago, but it always seems to require more plot than I want to deal with.
16. What are your writing strengths?
Dialogue. I can't write it unless I can hear it in the character's voice in my head, and it seems to serve well for accurate characterization.
17. What are your writing weaknesses?
Plot. Plot plot plot plot plot. I just want to write characters vibing with each other, not have them do things!
18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?
I've done it a couple times. Most of it was Russian, for the skating RPF, and for that I just googled a lot and apologized for any errors in the notes. I think it adds some flavor, and unless you're doing something really specific you're probably framing it so someone with no knowledge of the language can get the gist, so even if you've gotten it wrong it doesn't matter that much.
19. First fandom you wrote for?
It was either DS9 or Voyager. I would say I deleted all the evidence, but alas, usenet is forever.
20. Favorite fic you’ve written?
The Future an Affirmation (China Beach; the AU where McMurphy and Richard get married and we follow them for the next 25 years. Except backwards, because I very much enjoyed writing it like that. I feel like I effectively packed all my thoughts and feelings about McMurphy into that fic and did justice to what she would have done and been had these circumstances played out.)
I have a lot of honorable mentions, but maybe the most honorable is Out of the Ashes, a Northern Exposure fic where Maggie resorts to staying with Joel after her mother burns her house down. I got a fair number of "this reads just like an episode" comments, which I was quite proud of.
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ladyluscinia · 2 years ago
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man i have been eyebrow deep in your blackhands tag for most of the afternoon and i am co signing izzy with murderbestie anne bonny. let this stressed lil dude have a friend that isn't his codependency partner/boss please. and yes, let ed be jealous and possessive as fuck - it's unhealthy but so fun! which seems like a long way to say: do you have any izzy&anne thoughts??
I have been sitting on this ask for a while (like, months 😅) because I was super excited for murderbesties thoughts and did not feel I had the time to do them justice, but today is the end of my holiday so huzzah!
My Izzy and Anne thoughts are numerous! My Anne thoughts in general are numerous, so let's see if I can wrangle them into some kind of order...
Ok, so my Anne and Izzy murderbestie agenda started in this post, and I've been mentally building it up since then. I've also been mentally entwining it with my Izzy and Jack thoughts (especially since posting my JackHands manifesto) but I don't think I've actually posted any of the Izzy + Anne + Jack (+ Mary + Edward) stuff. If I ever write a fic with side characters I'll probably incorporate some version of it all (possibly even if S2 contradicts it) but that could be a very long wait so no point in keeping close to the chest.
I guess the best place to start would be basic Anne headcanons?
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Anne Bonny
First, more-uniquely me thing... I know a lot of people in the Izzy sphere take their headcanons back to everyone sailing together under Hornigold - no offense intended, those are fun - but I think it adds to Hornigold's terror factor if he really is more just the demon from Edward's childhood (and Jack's), so Izzy and Anne both come into the story post-Hornigold. Izzy shortly after Edward and Jack escape, and then Anne after Jack sets out on his own.
I am a huge fan of disaster woman Anne Bonny. She is not cool. She is not suave. This woman is Calico Jack's First Mate and she matches his energy exactly! #LetWomenBeAwful
I am also a huge fan of lesbian Anne Bonny. This is in part because I love the idea that she genuinely respects Jack and likes him for his personality, and she cannot even blame trashy horniness for it. And Izzy needs a bestie with zero sexual tension to offset the whole everything he has going on with Edward, so win-win.
So Anne is Jack's Izzy - devoted to him, they've been together forever, kinda codependent but handling it better on account of not actually having massive unaddressed romantic and sexual feelings, an excellent pirate team, etc. Jack is actually impressively cunning under his frat bro exterior, and Anne has got some faintly hero-worship "Yes Captain"-ing going on too, just to really drive home the parallel (though she's a lot more boisterous and yet somehow subtle about it than Izzy). I also had thoughts on the prospect of her mutining Jack.
Complex Relationship Stuff
Anne and Izzy got along great from the start. Izzy had developed a fondness for Jack's personality before he struck out on his own, and Anne is enough like him that she easily clicks into the friend group the first time they meet back up. Also Izzy and Anne get paired up by fate for a few sidequests that cement their bond independent of Jack and Edward. They both are very good at killing people. Murderbesties for life! 😘 Anne also calls out Izzy being stupid obvious about his tumultuous love life and she conveys "I get it. Not in an In-Love-with-my-Captain way, but in a Deep-Devotion, I'd-Die-for-Him way so..." and then she becomes Izzy's Edward-Drama drinking buddie.
Important related point - Anne and Edward aren't really friends. Like she is very much Izzy's friend / Jack's platonic wife that Edward is professionally cordial with, and she does make him feel a bit like the odd man out when she visits. This is important for "world doesn't revolve around Edward" reasons, drama reasons, and funny reasons.
The drama reasons are Edward's abandonment issues getting him all worked up and possessive about Izzy having a friend, only soothed by the fact Izzy always comes back and Anne's exclusion from the romantic rival category.
The funny reasons are Anne, completely wasted, grabbing Izzy's shoulder, failing miserably to look him dead in the eye, and slurring "Leave the bastard, you're too good for him. He's a fucking... A loser. Loser bastard!" and Izzy replying, equally drunk and scandalized, "He's Blackbeard!"
Anne's romantic advice to Izzy is usually along the lines of Dump Him, but she also gets pissed at Edward on Izzy's behalf like a true bestie. Her reaction to the whole Stede thing would be a treat. Izzy frequently discounts her romantic advice because he a) is way too deep in this toxic marriage to back down that easy, and b) knows she has her own disaster thing going on with Mary so clearly is in no position to be giving advice. (This is true.)
Edward, meanwhile, is professionally cordial with Anne. He respects her skill, thinks Jack picked a good First Mate, and acknowledges her place in Izzy's life (begrudgingly, and with many private freak outs). He also feels a wave of dread every time Anne rolls up to the ship and considers her a bad influence, which is hilarious to everyone in their social circle (ex: Spanish Jackie). Izzy is a lot more chill and reckless around Anne, and she's not going to be the responsible one so Edward kinda has to... and he's not great at it. Goes from fun to anxiety inducing real fast. He's relieved when she has to get back to Jack, and thinks she's a bit better when Jack is around (mainly because Jack is leading the plans).
(Mary can help with responsibility - being a bit more of an escape plan oriented follower - but she's got those "what happens, happens" vibes and gets caught up in Anne / Jack's wake super easily.)
Cycling back to Jack, when I say Anne is his platonic wife I mean they totally got married for an insane plan once and she knows all his business, so she naturally does have an opinion on her boss's massive torch for Izzy. Mostly that it's kinda sad, but Calico Jack is her guy even more than Izzy, so she's also kinda rooting for him in that way where she doesn't really want to think about them together but hopes he moves on from Izzy happily. Jack does not get the "stop waiting for scraps of affection" talks like Izzy does, despite maybe deserving them more. He's also better at not wallowing in his rejected love when Izzy isn't in front of him, though, so that contributes.
And finally the Jack / Mary / Anne mess. I play with different dynamics for this one, but crucially Mary has (at least in the past) hooked up with Jack, and is hardcore into Anne, but their relationship is plagued by commitment issues.
If I'm feeling SteddyHands mirroring, then usually Mary is going back and forth between Jack and Anne and they have a weird thruple thing going on, only they act more like it's an open relationship / not that serious on all sides (because of the commitment issues all around) and then get pissed at each other for the same act. The ideal final form is "This is my girlfriend, Mary, and this is her [X]friend, [XXXX]." Followed by Jack and Anne calling each other husband / wife for a joke.
If I'm not feeling mirroring, then I do think it's really fun if Anne has to deal with dating her boss's ex that he's still on good enough terms to flirt with even if it's definitely over, and Mary has to deal with her girlfriend being more devoted to her ex than her for the rest of time, even if it's an entirely different kind of devotion. Also Jack and Anne are still platonically married and it is weird as fuck.
Izzy approves of Mary. He thinks she's a respectable pirate, absolutely lethal, and she gets bonus likability points because she's been backup on enough raids that she treats Izzy like a weapon of mass destruction when battle planning and he's very flattered.
Izzy has also been Anne's drunken sympathetic ear through issues with Mary or Jack (or both, when Anne gets that in her head), and he has - entirely obvious to the irony - listened to Anne sob over how she can't live without Mary and responded "Have you told her that?" (Anne had not, and would not when sober again.) He is self aware enough that he's never once advised her to drop Jack and go sail under someone else, though.
Random Other Thoughts
Hmm... Oh! Big one - I think Anne has mad tattoo skills. She's done a few of Edward's and some of her crew members (and a few small but gorgeous ones for Mary), but her real masterpiece is a really complex ship and waves on Izzy's back that she did over multiple sessions and adds details and touchups to pretty regularly. Izzy doesn't let many people tattoo him and Anne is at the top of the list.
Anne and Stede get off on the wrong foot, like, instantly. Stede is still in his "trouble remembering Izzy exists" era and entirely fails to hide his surprise that he has a friend, Anne thinks Stede is boring as fuck and openly boos his suggested activities, Stede gets the Calico Jack First Mate reveal and sours even faster... It's a whole thing. If we're doing SteddyHands she thinks Izzy is actively losing his mind when she realizes he's even considering doing that.
The murderbesties do lots of murder. A typical Anne visit is short and sweet, where she catches Blackbeard's ship because she wants to borrow Izzy to back her up on a precision naval fort strike or something. They get drenched in blood, kill a bunch of people, and usually rush to get back to the ship with their loot before anyone notices. This leads to a very relaxed and bloodstained Izzy, Edward having trouble looking pretty much anywhere else, and Anne placing bets with veteran crew on when the two of them will disappear. Later Izzy and Anne split the most expensive bottle of booze they managed to grab before she heads back to her own stuff.
Anne slept with Spanish Jackie once, out of curiosity more than anything. She recommends it. Izzy still insists she was so deep in celebratory booze that there's no way she fucking remembers enough to recommend shit. Jackie doesn't kiss and tell.
---
I think that's plenty of thoughts for now. I wish I was the kind of fic writer who could have a whole series about these two out by now, but alas. Headcanon / fic concept posts will have to do.
Thank you for the chance to gush on them and get all my thoughts in one place!
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missnight0wl · 2 years ago
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Hey, Marta! I have no hp related to say except that whatever's going on hogwarts legacy seems to be just romancing sad white boys and nothing on plot or whatever, disappointing. (Which is fine on fics and romance centered stories, but so far I heard no one complementing or even commenting on the story.)
I think a lot of these media/game developers think they can simply rely on the brand Harry Potter and just spew any half assed stories with the cover of 'ohh spells and references'. I don't even have nostalgia for anything and it makes me sad to see it watered down to the technicalities of the world and not the story that lies in its core.
But capitalism I guess.
Anyway, I took so long to listen to Eat Your Young and oh my, what a bop! Why does Hozier use such a sexy voice to sing the horrors??? I truly hadn't heard him in interview in a while so when I heard Through Me, I got whiplash. While Scottish still my darling accent, Normal People gave me an appreciation for Irish accent.
Well, those were just some random meanderings. I hope you're doing well 💖 *virtual hug*
Hello, Bee! It’s really good to hear from you! ☺
I’m gonna be honest, I’m actively not following information on Hogwarts Legacy, so I can’t really comment on that. I have a vague idea about the plot thanks to my friend who’s more interested in it, but she also said that the story is rather bleak overall. So... there’s that, I guess. But as I said, I don’t know enough to give my opinion.
That being said, I do want to comment on your thought about “abusing” the HP brand because… yeah, that’s true. Well, sort of. Because, for example, I still believe that HPHM wasn’t just about that at the very beginning. I do think that Matt London and his team created this story with some level of passion. Were they also hoping for easy money? Yeah, probably. But it seems that they cared about something more, too. Sadly, at this point, HPHM became what you’re describing: a half assed story with the cover of 'ohh spells and references'. And I hate to say it, but I also think that the fans are partially responsible for that.
I mean, I remember seeing people being like: “Oh I can’t wait when HPMA/HL comes out, so I can leave this shitty game (HPHM)”. And I was always like… You don’t HAVE TO play this game if you don’t enjoy it. I feel like this mentality was actually quite common at some point, especially on Reddit, at least when I was still checking it. But personally, I just don’t get it. You might still like HP without interacting with every single title in the franchise.
But that also brings me to your second thought: capitalism. Because honestly, it’s not just the problem of the HP brand. Let’s take The Sims, for example. People are complaining for years that TS4 is lacking even now when we have dozens of DLCs. There are many new bugs with each pack and many old bugs that needs to be fixed. But it doesn’t matter for EA because they know that people will still buy the next new pack. Why? Because of the brand. And because The Sims has no real competition, at least yet.
Another example: Apple. Personally, I don’t use Apple products so I won’t comment on their quality. But I remember when people talked about the new iPhone without a headphone jack. Again, I don’t know if it actually influenced the quality of a phone in a meaningful way, but it’s rather hard to not see it as a mechanism forcing people to buy wireless headphones. And again, Apple knows they can do that because people will still want to have the iPhone.
So, yeah. Capitalism.
And what a lovely segue to Eat Your Young it is!
Seriously, I love this song! I can’t help it but sway to it every time I hear it. Though I totally feel you – it is absolutely morbid! But it’s that clash that makes it so strong. By the way, my favourite part has to be:
Get some
Pull up the ladder when the flood comes
Throw enough rope until the legs have swung
Seven new ways that you can eat your young
Back in 2019, Hozier was performing on his tour one of his unreleased songs, But The Wages (which many suspects will be on the new full album). And in one video of this song, he said: “If you’re not making the right people uncomfortable you might be wasting your time as a musician”. I feel it’s basically gonna be a subtitle of Unreal Unearth.
And finally: YES, HIS ACCENT! 😄 I’d say I’m quite familiar with it as I listened to some interviews fairly recently (there was Blood Upon Snow not so long ago and now the new EP), but yes! The Irish accent is very lovely! :3
And I write Normal People down as another title to look into because I did hear about it, but I never paid more attention to it.
Anyway, I hope you’re doing well, too! 💖
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kinky-candyland · 3 years ago
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Peter Parker (TH) - NSFW Alphabet
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I had the biggest crush on this guy when I was a kid. Btw, he’s a legal adult in this. Smut with minors is wrong. Also, small spoilers for Spider-Man: No Way Home.
A- Aftercare (How are they after sex?)
Even though you were in charge most of the time, he’s a saint at aftercare. He knows you get tired quicker than he does and he wants you to be taken care of before you rest.
B- Body Part (Their favorite body part of yours and theirs.)
Peter Parker is a tit man, respectfully. Doesn’t matter the size, he loves ‘em. There are times he has fallen asleep on you. (Will possibly be it’s own fic later.)
I am indecisive on this one, meaning Peter is indecisive.
C- Cum (Anything cum related. I’m a very dirty person.)
One difference that sets him apart from his older variants, he’ll release on you if you allow him to.
D- Dirty Secret (We all have one.)
This man lives for you pegging him. He loves the power dynamic that holds.
E- Experience (Are they a virgin or do they know what they’re doing?)
He and MJ were teenagers when they were together, so I’m guessing nothing really happened between them. You’re really his first everything, well besides first kiss considering he and MJ kissed at the end of both Far From Home and No Way Home.
F- Favorite Position (Title says all.)
Any position that involves you thrusting a strap on in his ass, ngl.
G- Goofy (Do they crack jokes/laugh?)
He lives for puns whenever. Fucking or not. If there’s a pun, he’ll say it. Is is conventional? No. Does he care? No.
H- Hair (Do the carpets match the drapes?)
He hasn’t grown hair down there. Lucky you.
I- Intamacy (How romantic are they?)
This man lives for affirmations, giving and receiving.
J- Jack Off/Masturbation (Do they and how frequently?)
He has done it several times before and during your relationship. Life gets lonely.
K- Kinky (BDSM? What surprising kinks are they hiding?)
Peter is a very subby bottom. He knows it, MJ knows it, I know it, and you know it. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Men can let their women take control in the bed, and he agrees with me on that.
L- Location (Where do they prefer to do it? Public or private?)
He prefers the privacy of a bedroom, but he’ll do it anywhere else if you want to.
M- Motivation (What turns them on?)
Circling back to B-Body Part, he loves when you wear shirts that show off your cleavage. Just to soft skin of your breasts popping out of that shirt is enough masturbation material for weeks.
N- No (Turn offs?)
Just like his older variants, he doesn’t want to do anything that causes you harm. It’s just a Peter Parker thing.
O- Oral (Giving or receiving?)
This man loves eating you out and that’s all I’m at liberty to say.
P- Pace (Fast and hard? Slow and Sweet?)
Unless he’s riding you, he doesn’t really set the pace. Even when he’s riding you, you prompt his speed.
Q- Quicky (When you don’t have time to fully get into it.)
Quickies don’t really happen.
R- Risk (What risks are they willing to take?)
No risks. Circling back to N- No, he doesn’t risk anything with you because he doesn’t want you to get hurt. Unlike the others, he doesn’t know his own strength and he doesn’t want to take any chances with you.
S- Stamina (How long can they last?)
He’s in his sexual prime and a superhuman. He can go a good few rounds but will stop when you’re out of it.
T- Toys (Do they have any? Do they use them on you?)
Circling back to D- Dirty Secret and F- Favorite Position, the two of you have a strap that he loves you using on him.
U- Unfair (Do they like to tease?)
He teases you a lot, only because it sometimes leads to you taking him then and there, which we all know he loves.
V- Volume (How loud can they get?)
Peter is very vocal when you’re taking him. He can’t help how good you make him feel.
W- Wildcard (Any dirty story I could come up with.)
We all know that the venom symbiot is on it’s way, so we gotta talk about what happens when it finds Peter.
The symbiot travels between the two of you a lot, but it’s mostly with you when you and Peter are fucking, taking over your body and making you stronger. It’s all more pleasurable for Peter and you both enjoy it.
X- X-Ray (What are they hiding in their pants?)
Peter doesn’t have that impressive of a size (6 inches), but he certainly knows how to use it whenever he’s the one fucking you.
Y- Yearning (How high is their sex drive?)
Being a young adult in his sexual prime, he has an impressively high sex drive.
Z- Zzz (How quickly do they fall asleep after everything?)
Being a super powered individual, he doesn’t really get tired. It takes more for him. He holds onto you as you sleep while listening to your light breathing. Your breathing calms him down enough to get some sleep.
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shemarmooresfedora · 4 years ago
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Rebuilding Family
Summary: Y/N and Spencer were college sweethearts at Cal-Tech but once Spencer got accepted to the FBI Academy, he ended things deciding it was not fair to make Y/N wait for him. When they meet again years later, he discovers something unexpected.
Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader
A/N: no fic-related news but i did get my first dose of the covid vaccine today so that’s exciting! GET VAXXED, PEOPLE! SPENCER WOULD WANT YOU TO!!
Masterlist
Chapter 20
“Hey Hotch,” Spencer knocked on his boss’s door.
Spencer got in extra early today to have his meeting with Hotch and hopefully tie up all the loose ends in his paperwork.
“Reid, come in,” Hotch gestured to one of the chairs in front of his desk.
“I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and talking with Y/N and I think my time at the BAU is coming to an end,” Spencer said.
“I see,” Hotch leaned back in his chair, “Well, I think it goes without saying that you would certainly be missed. But, I’m not going to try to convince you to stay because I feel like this is a good decision for you...one I probably should have made myself if we’re being completely honest.”
“You made it work though, Jack loves his superhero dad,” Spencer reassured him, “I just can’t keep missing stuff after already missing six years. It’s too much and I certainly can’t focus on cases when I’m desperately wishing I was somewhere else.”
“How about this? We put you on temporary unpaid leave for a year. Then, you can either choose to come back or quit for good. This will give you plenty of family time and then you’ll see if you’re ever ready to return or not. It’s up to you. Also, if I just put you on leave, it can start as early as tomorrow. Instead of you just quitting and then having to put your two weeks in and be called away on more cases.”
“That sounds great, Hotch. Thank you so much for your understanding. If I don’t come back, it was a pleasure working with you. But I’m sure I will see you around at Rossi’s dinner parties,” Spencer grinned.
Hotch and Spencer hugged before pulling away to see the rest of the team filing into the bullpen.
“I guess I have to tell them,” Spencer sighed, knowing they would be a little disappointed at the sudden news.
“Hey guys, I have an announcement,” Spencer walked out of Hotch’s office.
“You have another secret daughter?” Derek joked.
“Y/N is pregnant?” Penelope guessed.
“You’re engaged?” Emily asked.
“Um no to all, I know this is a bit sudden and I apologize for that but effective tomorrow, I will be taking a year long leave from the BAU which may turn permanent,” Spencer spoke softly.
Silence filled the room.
“It’s not that I don’t love this job or you guys. You all know you are my best friends but I just really need to be home with my family right now,” Spencer explained.
Derek was the first to walk up to Spencer, “We’re gonna miss you around here, kid.”
He pulled Spencer in for a hug, ruffling up his hair.
Penelope was next in line to hug Spencer with a tissue already dabbing at her eyes.
“I hate to see you go, Boy Wonder, but I know it’s what’s best for you,” she said.
“I think Jo may be an even stricter boss than Hotch,” Rossi teased.
“She does have a tendency to get grumpy when she isn’t allowed to have ice cream for dinner,” Spencer laughed lightly, wiping the tears that were forming from his eyes.
“Please don’t ever stop talking. I know we tease you but I truly am going to miss your rambles,” Emily whispered.
“I’m just a phone call away,” he promised.
“You deserve this. Do not feel bad,” JJ reminded him.
He nodded in acknowledgement, his voice getting caught in the lump in his throat.
“We need a cake!” Penelope exclaimed, “I will not have the Good Doctor’s last day be cakeless especially with that sweet tooth of his.”
“On it,” Derek said, grabbing his keys.
“Decorations too! See if Party City has a Happy Retirement section!” she shouted after him.
“You’ve got it, baby girl,” Derek replied.
-
Spencer returned home in the evening with a cardboard box full of his belongings that once resided on his desk. 7 years of his career packed into one box. It seemed sad to him that such a big chapter of his life was closing.
But then, he walked inside. You and Jo had karaoke up on the TV screen. You both were currently in the middle of Wannabe by the Spice Girls. Jo even had her baseball cap on backwards to complete the look.
“If you wanna be my lover, you gotta get with my friends. Make it last forever, friendship never ends. If you wanna be my lover, you have got to give. Taking is too easy, but that's the way it is,” Jo sang.
Then you jumped in, “So, here's a story from A to Z. You wanna get with me, you gotta listen carefully. We got Em in the place who likes it in your face. You got G like MC who likes it on a
Easy V doesn't come for free, she's a real lady. And as for me, ha you'll see.”
“Slam your bodies down and wind it all around,” you both sang.
You turned around to see Spencer standing there and you let out a yelp.
“Oh no, please continue. Don’t stop on my account,” he grinned.
“Daddy!” Jo jumped up into his arms.
He moved Jo to his hip as you approached.
“Hi, love,” you greeted him with a kiss.
He was no longer sad. This was the right choice. This is where he belonged.
-
“Shhh” is the first thing you heard as you awoke followed by the quiet rattling of dishes.
“Jo, no!” you heard Spencer whisper-shout, “I said not until Mommy wakes up.”
“I’m up,” you muttered into your pillow.
You turned to the side of your bed to see Jo standing there with a tray of food and Spencer behind her with a bouquet of flowers.
You smiled softly.
“Happy Mother’s Day!” they both cheered.
“Thank you, my loves,” you gave them both kisses, accepting the tray from Jo as Spencer set the flower vase down on your bedside table.
The food on the tray consisted of a mug of coffee, a cup of orange juice, bacon, a bowl of blueberries, and a big chocolate chip pancake with sliced strawberries for the eyes and nose and a whipped cream smile.
“Very artistic,” you grinned.
Spencer returned next to you in bed, getting under the covers. He was wearing a plain gray fitted t-shirt, flannel PJ pants, and his glasses.
“Jo, you can go get your present for Mommy while she eats,” he suggested.
Once Jo left the room to go retrieve her gift, you planted a much messier kiss on Spencer’s lips.
“Not that I’m complaining but what was that for?” he smirked.
“You know how sexy I told you those glasses make you look,” you stated, taking a bite of a strip of bacon.
“I’ll keep them on all day then as part of your gift,” he smiled.
Jo crawled on to the bed with a wrapped box and an envelope taped to it. The card was clearly homemade by Jo and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
“Look at this beautiful artwork!” you exclaimed, opening the card.
Inside was a gift card for a spa downtown surrounded by Jo’s doodles.
“JJ said that place was really nice. There’s enough on there for you and a friend to get a full day of pampering,” Spencer said.
“Well, that’s good that she likes it because I will probably bring her along as my fellow mom. Thank you both,” you smiled.
Jo pushed the wrapped box towards you. You opened it to find a multi-colored beaded necklace.
“I made it for you, Mommy,” Jo beamed as you put it on over your head.
“That is so very thoughtful of you,” you kissed her forehead, “It fits me perfectly and you even included my favorite color.”
“I planned a picnic for today but if you would rather stay home and relax all day, I totally get it. Jo and I can go to the park and you can have some peace and quiet,” Spencer offered.
“Are you kidding me? It’s called Mother’s Day, I want to spend some time with the little girl who made me the luckiest one in the entire world,” you smiled.
“Picnic, it is then. I’ll get Jo all dressed and the bag packed. Here, let me take that,” Spencer left the room, balancing Jo on one hip and your tray of dirty dishes on the other.
You were really going to have to bring your all for Father’s Day next month.
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doctorstethoscope · 3 years ago
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The Right Chapter Nine || Aaron Hotchner x Fem Reader
Hello and happy Tuesday besties! ICYMI, I posted a bit of smutty goodness for all of you 18+ folks here. If you’d like to be added to my general Hotch fic taglist please let me know! 
Read previous chapters of this fic here! 
contains: canon-typical discussion of violence, food mention, therapy, cuddling. 
wc: 2k
When you woke up the next morning, there were flowers in a vase on your bedside table. You’re smiling before you’ve even wiped the sleep away from your eyes, grabbing the sticky note that was stuck to the vase. 
“Would’ve sent these to your desk, but figured that wouldn’t go unnoticed by a team of behavior experts. Hope they made you smile anyways. -AH
An expert on behavior and he was only hoping that he could make you smile, you laughed to yourself, rolling out of bed and finding Aaron in the kitchen with a mug of coffee, packing Jack’s lunch. 
“When did you find the time to do that, Hotchner? Don’t you ever sleep?” You asked, and he looked up at you, breaking out in a smile. 
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” He shrugs, looking back down to his carrot slices as you cross the kitchen in pursuit of a cup of coffee. He places the knife down and tugs you closer to him by the palm of your hand so he can drop a kiss to the top of your head. It makes you feel warm all over. You hear the insistent smacking of small feet on hardwood and step away from Aaron in an instant, not wanting to be caught by Jack. 
“Morning bud,” Aaron calls across the kitchen. Jack responds with a yawn, which makes you giggle. He smiles at you. 
“Are you gonna have to go catch bad guys again?” He asks. “I missed you and dad.” 
“Oh little man, we missed you too! We probably won’t get called away today but I can’t say for sure. If dad and I come home tonight, do you want to have a special movie night so we can all spend some time together?” 
Jack nods ferociously, and practically starts buzzing with excitement. “Can we watch monsters inc?” 
“Oh, that’s one of my favorites!” 
“Dad?” Jack looked to his father for confirmation. 
“Of course, bud. But you’d better eat all of these carrots I’m packing in your lunch if you want a treat.” Aaron smiled at Jack, who agreed easily. “Come on, we don’t want to miss the bus.” He said, ushering Jack out the door with a Danimals and an orange while you finished getting ready. You were struck for a moment by how easily you had slid into the Hotchner boys’ morning routines, and you realized that you would miss it once you found your own place. But it was for the best-- you hoped that you and Aaron would be serious enough to consider living together, but you didn’t want to force it too early in the relationship and cause problems. 
When Aaron comes back, you’re dressed and ready to head off to work. He grabs his briefcase and suit jacket off of one of the chairs at the kitchen table. 
“D’you eat?” He asked as he pulled his jacket over his arms.
“I had coffee. I’m not a big breakfast person.” You tell him, surprised that he hasn’t already noticed this about you.
“Grab a fruit.” He tells you. 
“Did you eat?’ You ask him, and the tips of his ears turn pink. “Yeah, that’s what I thought, Hotchner. Why don’t you grab a fruit.” You teased, tossing him an orange from the bowl and tucking a banana into your purse as you stepped out the door, with Aaron locking up behind you. He wrapped his free arm around your waist as the two of you walked to the car.
“I have something to tell you, and you’re going to be mad at me.” Aaron confesses about halfway through your drive to work. 
“Ah, so that’s what the flowers were about.” You said facetiously. 
“No, the flowers were from your boyfriend, this news is from your boss.” He clarifies. 
“Oh?” You asked, needing him to explain more. 
“You’ve got a psych eval this morning.” He confesses and you groan. 
“Ugh, Hotch, really?” 
“Even if we could ignore what happened with Josh-- which, for the record, you shouldn’t-- you were held hostage by an unsub.”
“For like, twenty minutes!” You interrupted him. 
“It’s bureau policy, dear. There’s nothing I can do about it.” 
“And you can’t just say that you gave me the psych eval and I passed?” 
“No,” he tells you, sighing. “For us to be together, we need to keep everything above board. Hopefully no one starts on a warpath when we decide we’re ready to share this, but if they do, I don’t want to give them any reason to undermine your professional credibility by arguing I gave you special treatment.” 
You’re a little bit stunned by Aaron’s use of “when” rather than “if.” It’s not in a bad way, of course-- it’s actually, really, really good, to hear that he’s just as in it as you are, even if you hadn’t expressed it very well yet. The idea that he’s already thinking about the future-- even if it is your professional future, not exactly a white-picket-fence kind of future-- gives you butterflies. You realize you’ve waited too long to respond when Aaron speaks up again. 
“I understand if that’s a lot for you to take on, or if that makes you rethink things. I wouldn’t hold it against you if you decided this wasn’t worth the potential professional issues.” He adds nervously, clearing his throat. You reach over and put a hand on his thigh. 
“I think you’re worth the risk,” you smile at him, and watch him release a breath he didn’t know he was holding. 
 “Thanks for coming in,” Laura, one of the FBI’s resident psychologists said as you settled into the couch in her office. You err on the side of politeness and decide not to point out that you didn’t really have a choice. 
“Not a problem,” you smiled at her. 
“So how are you feeling?” She asked. 
“I’m good. I’m happy to be back at work, and to get my field clearance back. I’ve missed it.” You tell her.
“That’s right, you’d been removed from the field for a head injury.” She said, peering over your file. “Service related?” 
“No, I fell down a flight of stairs,” you lied, hoping she couldn’t read you as easily as Aaron could. 
“Hmm, so you travelled with the team even though you weren’t cleared for field work?” She asks, and you’re pretty sure you’re not imagining the judgement in her tone. 
“I didn’t go into the field. I stayed at the police station, in compliance to orders from my doctor and from Chief Hotchner. Unfortunately, the field came to me,” you attempted to make a joke. She didn’t laugh. 
“Was it not possible for your duties to be completed from Quantico?” 
“No, it wasn’t. The behavioral analysis unit works as a team-- we’re able to determine profiles as successfully as we do because we collaborate. My efforts, and the work of my team, would have been severely hindered if I had stayed behind.” You answer mechanically, trying, and most likely failing, to not sound defensive. “I fail to see how that’s relevant to my experience with Alec Gordon.” 
“I’m just trying to determine if you’re engaging in a pattern of self-endangering or careless behavior.” Laura answers honestly.
“I can assure you that my attitude regarding my work and the work of my team is anything but careless.” You bite back.
“You came back to work very quickly after your concussion.” She says, and it’s not a question, so you don’t take the bait. “Any particular reason for that?” 
“I felt ready to return, and Chief Hotchner was willing to accommodate my need to work partial days until I was fully recovered, so on the advice of my physician I returned to work on a modified schedule.” 
“Agent, I don’t need to tell you that withholding information in our session or on the forms you filled out prior to our appointment today, will only hurt you.” 
“With all due respect, I haven’t withheld anything and I resent the implication.” 
“Very well, agent. I will have a complete evaluation sent to your supervisor by the end of the business day.” 
“Thank you for your time,” you smiled, trying to make it look real. 
“The door is always open, agent.” 
“So, you kind of beat me to the punch this morning,” Aaron tells you as you’re walking out of the office together. 
“What are you talking about?” You asked.
“Well, the flowers were a part of my master plan to get you to agree to come to dinner with me tonight, but it seems you’ve made other arrangements with my son.” He smirks at you as you both climb into his SUV. 
“I guess now you know where you stand in the ranking of Hotchner boys.” You tease him. 
“It won’t get me ahead of Jack, I know, but will you let me take you out to dinner tomorrow night?” 
“Aaron,” you laughed. “You don’t need to take me out to dinner.” 
“Yes, I do.” He tells you.
“We already live together. You’re going to have dinner with me regardless of whether or not we eat it at a restaurant.” You tell him, gesturing to his place as he parked the car.
“Maybe so, but you’ve already decided that we won’t be living together much longer. I care about you, and I want to spend time with you, and I’d like to take you out to dinner.” He said, shifting to face you now that the car was stopped.
You rolled your eyes fondly, feeling yourself blush. “I’ll allow it.” 
“God, it’s like pulling teeth,” Aaron muttered sarcastically, breaking out into a grin as you laughed.
You both got out of the car and headed inside, where Jess and Jack were working on a puzzle at the kitchen table. 
“Dad!” Jack says, looking up to see his father and abandoning the puzzle, launching himself into his father’s arms. 
“Hey, buddy. Did you have a good day?”
“Yes, and I ate all my carrots so that I could have a special treat while we watch Monsters Inc.” 
“He’s been waiting to tell you that all afternoon,” Jess laughed, standing up from the table and crossing to you to give you a hug. When Haley died, you and Jess got a lot closer, through Jack. “It’s good to see you,” she says as she squeezes you. 
“You too.” You smile. “I’ve got to go change into my special movie night clothes,” you smirked, leaving Jess, Jack and Aaron in the kitchen.
“Jack, why don’t you go put on your pajamas, and we’ll start the movie in a little bit?” Aaron suggested, and Jack scampered off towards his room. 
“Do you plan on ever telling that girl how you feel about her, or are you just going to look at her like she hung the stars in the sky for the rest of your life?” Jess asks Aaron bluntly. 
“I can’t possibly be that obvious.” 
“Aren’t you literally a behavior expert?” 
“It’s being handled, Jess.” He assures her with a quick grin as you emerge from your room in soft flannel pants and a tank top. 
“Do you want to stay, Jess? We’re just gonna order a pizza and veg out.” 
“I wish I could. But you kids have fun.” She said, looking between you and Aaron. Jack comes running out of his room to give his aunt a kiss goodbye and you all settle on the couch. 
Jack inserts himself in the middle of you and Aaron on the couch, a slice of pizza on a paper plate in front of him with the promise of ice cream later on. Aaron’s arm rests across the back of the sofa and his hand plays gently with the hair at the nape of your neck. You tilt your head in his direction, pulling Jack into your lap so you can scoot closer as the movie plays on. Jack falls asleep before you can even get him his ice cream, and you take the opportunity to rest your head on Aaron’s shoulder, his arm wrapping around your shoulder and tracing comforting patterns into the skin of your upper arms until the credits roll.
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vexture · 2 years ago
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Yoinked from friend Carmen (@good-wine-and-cheese) - 5 songs we actually listen to, but I'm adding as many as I want to, because I can :> (there's probably some misspellings, I'm tired lol)
First off, if it's not obvious, some of these songs will have very iffy lyrics if you listen to them yourself, I just like making playlists for fics and some of this shit is what my headmates like, for legal reasons (tm) I don't condone any of the shit in these songs (I hope no one I know actually thinks that)
1. Stockholm Syndrome, Nostalghia
Man when we found this song it was like a punch to the gut, given the situation with my old partner at the time, plus one of my headmates really relates to this one (which, ouch) but just like, the instruments and the messy way she sings is really really cool :00
2. Carousel Waltz, Jack Conte
Headmate Jules listens to lots of stuff, and outside of his trigger song, this one in particular makes him tune into the fronting area. I vibe with the flowey composition so much man, the way this guy sings has such an uncanny feel, and raw
3. Ich tu dir weh, Rammstein
Woop woop Steiner listens to this one a shit ton, not surprised but like, damn lol. I love the guitar specifically in this one and whatever shit they did at the start (it sounds like pitched down piano keys), and when I have the volume up all the way the way Til growls vibrates my ears and man, that shit's awesome :0 gotta love bdsm tracks (also fun fact this song was taken off the original release because of the subject matter)
4. Hang, 8 Graves
I found this one for my jthm jimmy playlist and I really like the way everything is phrased. The way it sets up feels like one of those like, party anthems for asshole frats but like the lyrics give to something more open about these types of people and their friend groups, I really dig the instrumental too :>
5. Sacrilegium I, Zeal and Ardor
Another one of Jules' shit, man this one reminds me of like, Tron, anyone remember that movie? I played the game based on the movie :> not much for this type of electronic stuff but it's just got this type of pull to me personally, and it makes it a blessing when Jules stops playing Barracuda for the millionth time lol
6. Cocaine Jesus, Rainbow Kitten Surprise
Oh ouch, one from Wolfgang's playlist. I cannot unpack the absolute projection he does to this song here but what I will say, for myself, the line "..high as hell, feeling fine, nothing bad but nothing kind - not, not a word from me, at least nothing you would mind.." is what drew me in immediately, and is the line he focuses on the most except for the bit at the end of the song
7. Came as a Glow, Pile
The fucking guitar, and the borderline yelling this guy does is great. I was like "oh fuck I don't think I'm gonna like this one" but then the vocalist smacked me in the face with the whole screamish thing. Ever since then I've just had it in my master playlist and I listen to it more than I think probably
8. Reich mir die hand, Blutengel
Milosz's positive trigger song, and the only one of Blutengel's songs I remember liking back in 6th grade :> Milosz has listened to their entire discography and will fucking die by this shit lol. I wish the lady's back up vocals were more pronounced though, that is legit my only complaint about this song
9. Doing My Time, Pale
I found this when my YouTube recommendation was good (f in chat since it sucks now) and like, you have to listen to this like, at 10 pm- 3am full blast with headphones and just lay in your bed. The atmosphere is like, the fucking best for those late nights where you feel certain ways it's great
10. Doom Woods, Whitechapel
Headmate Josh makes everyone listen to this shit when he drives, and I'm not saying it sucks, but long term exposure to Josh(tm) can either make you hate shit like this or have brain rot, he showed Magnus and he's now a Whitechapel stan I guess. I can say the vocalist should sing more, in one of the other songs he sings and man it's awesome. 10/10 would learn screaming just to make a cover of this song
Anyone can do this too, btw this was really fun!
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five-rivers · 4 years ago
Note
Fic prompt for Valerie getting ghost-adopted. She has no idea what's going on.
This was beginning to become disturbing.  And Valerie had a pretty high bar for what she considered ‘disturbing.’
Ghosts were not supposed to act this... friendly... with hunters.  Even Phantom didn’t act like this, no matter how much he insisted he and the hunters were on the same side.  
This ghost also didn’t extend the behavior it displayed with Valerie to anyone else, ghost or human.  Which was.  Creepy.  
Getting gear from a human benefactor like Mr. Masters was one thing.  Getting... stuff from a ghost was something else entirely.  Having a ghost swoop in to ‘save’ her, one that wasn’t a pathological liar like Phantom was...  At least Phantom had a motive.  
She didn’t like it.  At all.  She especially didn’t like how the ghost kept complimenting her.  Kept showing up no matter how many times she beat it up.  
Claimed that it had made her new suit.  The one bonded to her body.  The one that whispered static to her mind.  
She didn’t have a lot of places to turn to, when it came to ghost-related issues.  Her Dad knew about the hunting, now, but he didn’t know about ghosts.  Her first choice for info and aid would be Mr. Masters, but he was out of town, and she didn’t exactly have his phone number.  
That left the Fentons.  
.
“Perhaps it’s trying to possess you,” said Mrs. Fenton, taping electrodes to Valerie’s arm.  “Can you try summoning your suit again?”
Valerie sighed, fixing her gaze on the Fenton’s stained kitchen wallpaper, but complied.  She knew that telling the resident mad scientists about the weird ghost tech integrated into her body would result in some poking and prodding, but that didn’t mean she had to like it.
“Wow, Mads!” exclaimed Jack.  “Get a look at these readings!”
“Oh, my,” said Maddie, leaning around Jack’s bulk to get a look at the readout screen.  “That is interesting.”
Valerie’s phone buzzed, her alarm going off.  “I have to go,” she said.  “If you figure out what the ghost wants, you have my number, right?”
“Er, yes,” said Maddie.  “Although, I still stand by my first thought.  Ghosts like to make you doubt yourself, to make you afraid, or uneasy.  That’s what they feed on, and I doubt this one is intelligent enough to diverge from seeking that, even if it is going about it in a relatively novel way.”
“Right,” said Valerie, dubiously.  She agreed that ghosts were evil, but mindless?  Not a chance.  
She didn’t know what she’d expected to accomplish, here.  
“Thanks for your help,” she said.  
As soon as she got out the front door, she let herself sigh again.  Hopefully, Mr. Masters would be back soon, and she’d be able to get some real help.  
“Hey.”
Valerie jumped, just barely keeping herself from summoning her suit in the middle of the street. 
“God, Danny, you can’t just sneak up on me like that.”
“Sorry,” said Danny, completely unrepentant.  “Ghost stalker, huh?  You know, my parents are not the people you want to go to for that.”
“I thought they were the experts,” said Valerie, rolling her eyes and starting to walk home.  
“They are,” said Danny, keeping up with her easily.  
(He was cute when he was earnest.)
“They are,” he repeated, “but they’re experts in ghost technology.  And ghost physics.  And ghost biology.  Stuff like that.  Which is good for your suit and all,” he paused to jump up on the side of a planter and use it as a balance beam, “but not so much for the problem you asked about, which is more of a ghost culture thing.”
“Which you know about.”
“I do!” protested Danny.  “Just because Mom and Dad don’t bother to actually talk to ghosts, that doesn’t mean that Jazz and I are like that.”
Valerie stopped.  “Are you telling me you know why this ghost is following me?”
“If the ghost in question is Technus,” said Danny, “then, yes.  Yes I do.”
“And are you going to share that with me any time soon?”
“Yeah,” said Danny.  “Just, keep an open mind, okay?”
“Danny, I swear, if you go on one of Sam’s ‘poor misunderstood creatures’ rants, I’m going to yeet you all the way back to your house.  I’m stressed.  I don’t want to deal with this.”
“Technus is trying to adopt you.”
Slowly, Valerie inserted her pinky into her ear and rotated it, trying to clear out the wax that had clearly built up without her knowing.  
“No, really,” said Danny, his tone that of barely suppressed glee.  “It’s a thing adult ghosts do with ghosts that are kids, because usually there aren’t too many kid ghosts.  I guess with your suit you’re ghostly enough to count.”
Valerie suppressed a shiver at being called ghostly at all.  “How do you even know that?”
“I talk to ghosts about things.”
“About adoption practices.”
Danny shrugged.  “It came up.”
“Great.  How do I make ‘Technus’ stop?”
“No idea.  Nothing I’ve done seems to work.  But who knows?  Maybe Technus is different.”
“Different from-?  Danny, what are you saying?”
“Well,” said Danny tucking his hands behind his back and looking up at the sky.  “You’ve seen our house and our lab.  If you’re ghostly because of a suit you’ve had for a few months, what do you think I’m like?”
“Do your parents know?”
“Nope.  I’d like to keep it that way, if it’s all the same to you.  And I can help you navigate Technus.  If you want.”
Valerie scowled.  “You think this is funny.”
“Of course I do!  I think it’s great that someone else has to deal with this.  It’s not dangerous, though.  You can literally just humor him.  Might get him to stop attacking so often, even.”
“You’re joking.”
“Nope,” said Danny.  
Valerie pinched the bridge of her nose.  “Ghosts have done this to you, too?” she asked, because she needed to know for sure.
“Yep.  So, do you want help or no?”
Valerie hesitated.  “This doesn’t mean we’re dating again.”
Danny frowned.  “Why would it?”
“No reason.  Tell me what you know.”
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rainbowcrowley · 2 years ago
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ofmd tag meme ✨🏴‍☠️
i was tagged by @montygreen​ and @blakbonnet​ to this very cool ofmd tag meme! thanks! i really love this 👀
i'm not gonna tag anyone bc i have a feeling everyone and their mother already did this, but feel free to do it if you see it :)
lets go!!
your name: addi
how many sugars: zero... mostly. sometimes i'll take one, if I'm feeling like it
characters you relate to most: stede, 100%. much to unpack there.
otp? — stede/ed and jim/olu
notp? — any ships involving calico jack and those fancy people from ep 5 are a big nope for me
if you were a pirate captain, what would you call your ship? — something really silly i guess? like i named my sloop in sea of thieves Boaty McBoatface... yeah...
what position would you have on a pirate ship (bosun, captain, powder monkey, master gunner, surgeon etc.) — cook i guess??
favourite ofmd fics or arts? — god this fandom is BLESSED with so many talented people. there are so many artists and writers. i love them all and i'd list some of them here but i don't have the energy rn fdsfshj but my 2 all-time fave fics are Aftercare by @perkynurples and this tired world could change by @sassygwaine. :)
biggest wish for season 2? — thinking about it... i don't really know. like, i want to see ed and stede talk it through and be happy together, lucius to be alive and reunited with pete and i need jim and olu to be reunited too.. just. gimme my fave ships happy and together. the rest? i trust the writers and david with my LIFE. surprise me!!
favourite quote — well there are A Lot, but i think my fave one is "i'd love to be stabbed by jim." and (boring, i know) "you wear fine things well."
favourite minor character — jackie. i'd let her ruin me.
favourite episode — 07 this is happening
has ofmd caused you to re-evaluate your gender — nah not really, I'm as confused as always
favourite cast/creator quote or interview — every iteration of taika saying "they are two guys falling in love who happened to be on a boat" (masterpost here, thanks toni <3)
do cats have knives in their feet? — oh yeah absolutely but i love them with every fiber of my being
song that makes you think of stede bonnet — (i'm bad at song questions bc i can never come up with them, so I'm skip these BUT I'll still leave them here)
song that makes you think of ed teach —
song that makes you think of izzy hands: —
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today-only-happens-once · 4 years ago
Text
(un)claimed
Title: unclaimed
Summary: Virgil is a demigod. The good news is that he is not alone. A Percy-Jackson!AU fic. Platonic/found-family DRLAMP dynamics.
Word Count: 4217
Warnings: some violence and weapons, Greek mythology, passing mention of curses, feelings of anxiety, some self-doubt and self-deprecation, parent issues (of course, it’s a pjo!AU), no Side is a bad guy but there’s some tension between Remus and Roman, I play a little loose with PJO timeline stuff woops, Janus has done some light antagonizing of the gods.
A/N: Honestly, it should surprise nobody that I wrote this. Heh. Just for fun to release the happy chemical in my brain. Not that deep or involved. Just a light little diddy. <3 Hope you enjoy! Edited by yours truly so all mistakes are mine. No tags because it’s a fandom-specific AU, not because I don’t love y’all. <3 
///
“See that tree on the hill?”
Virgil quirks an eyebrow at the boy beside him, taking in his bright orange t-shirt and the three beads on his leather necklace. He has what Virgil would swear was snake scales across the left side of his face. Janus, he had said his name was. (Like the god? Virgil had asked. No relation. Not unless Athena has some explaining to do, the boy had told him with a wry smile as if that was somehow supposed to make sense.)
He’d met Janus four hours ago in New York in Central Park after a very weird encounter with a cyclops. Though if he’s being honest, the cyclops had only been the most recent run-in with vicious creatures out of his mother’s old Greek myth anthology. He’d been ducking and dodging and outrunning them for nearly a year at this point. Janus had appeared seemingly out of nowhere, sliced the cyclops with a dagger and it vanished in a puff of gold dust.
Then Janus told him he knew a safe place to go. Perhaps he was an idiot, but Virgil had followed without much objection. The idea of a place that was safe was nearly too good to be true, but Janus had just dusted a cyclops. And Virgil figured there was at least some power in numbers, if nothing else.
Virgil follows where the other boy is pointing and sees a tall pine tree at the top of the steep hill. He nods.
“Go there. You’ll see a camp in the valley. Chiron will explain.”
“Chiron?”
“Yes. Activities director. You can trust him.”
“You’re not coming too?” Virgil looks at the boy beside him again. Janus is looking in the opposite direction of the tree back the way they’d come and he yanks the dagger out of his belt.
Janus’s mouth twitches. “We’ve got company. I will hold them off. The border is protected. You’ll be safe once you cross the tree line.”  
Alarmed, Virgil looks over his shoulder and sees a winged creature in the distance. It looks almost a like a bat, if a bat could be the size of a human person. “What is that?!”
Janus gives a slight shove to Virgil’s shoulder. “Run, Virgil!”
“I can’t leave you behind—”
Janus mutters something that sounds foreign, and yet Virgil understands it. A curse word in… was that ancient Greek? Virgil isn’t given time to process it before Janus grabs Virgil’s arm and takes off at a sprint up the hill. Virgil stumbles but he manages to keep his feet under him as he takes off at a run for the looming pine. As they get closer, Virgil chances a glance over his shoulder. The winged creature is maybe twenty yards away. It’ll be on them any second.
Janus whistles sharply. “Hey! We got incoming!”
Seemingly out of nowhere, three other kids appear from near the tree. One of them notches an arrow in an honest-to-gods bow. He aims, then releases. Virgil watches, stunned, as the blow strikes true and the winged creature vanishes in a puff of gold dust that gets caught in the breeze.
Virgil rests his hands on his knees as he catches his breath. Janus, beside him, is breathing hard as well but he nods to the kid with the bow and arrow.
“Nice shot,” Virgil tells him.
The kid looks to be maybe a year older than Virgil, and is wearing a t-shirt that matches Janus’s. He’s also got a necklace of beads, though his has five of them. Virgil realizes that some of them match Janus’s, plus a few more. He slings the bow across his back and flashes Virgil a bright grin.
“Thanks! I’m Sloane.” He extends his hand.
“Virgil.” He shakes the kid’s hand.
Sloane nods to the other two kids that had materializes near him. One of them is a girl that looks a little younger than Virgil, maybe 14, with dark hair pulled back into a ponytail. The other is a guy in a backwards baseball cap and a plaid shirt over the orange tee that looks about Sloane’s age. His necklace only has one bead on it.
“This is Valerie,” Sloane introduces. “She’s from Cabin 10. And this is Kai. He’s from Cabin 9.”
“Sloane,” Janus interrupts. “Where’s Chiron?”
Sloane jerks his head down the hill. “In the Big House with the lead counselors.”
Virgil watches Janus’s brow furrow. “Seems unusual. Did something happen?”
Valerie sighs. “Kind of. Dionysus gave one of his kids a quest. Counselors are meeting about the prophecy to see who is going.”
Janus’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. “Which one?”
“Jack. The prophecy mentions a death. That never bodes well, and kids aren’t exactly lining up to work for Mr. D.”
Janus hums thoughtfully, his eyes trailing over the crest of the hill. Virgil watches as he shoves the knife into his belt. Kai cocks his head slightly, studying Virgil closely. Then, he looks at Janus. “Has he been claimed?”
Virgil frowns. “Claimed?”
“No,” Janus tells Kai, then looks to Virgil. “Follow me. I’ll explain as we walk.”
Janus nods to the other three and Virgil follows him down to the valley below. From this vantage point, Virgil sees the cabins Janus has been talking about, forming something like a horseshoe shape. In front of it is a large building that Virgil assumes is the ‘Big House’ that Sloane had mentioned. He sees other buildings and structures, but decides to wait to ask about them.
People mill around, most of them wearing the orange t-shirt that has a winged horse and the words Camp Half-Blood printed on them. When they notice Virgil, most of them throw a curious glance to Janus. Janus doesn’t even seem to notice.
“Welcome to Camp Half-Blood,” Janus says as they walk. “It’s one of the few safe spaces left for demigods like us.”
“Wait,” Virgil says, certain that he heard Janus incorrectly. “Demigod?”
Janus glances at him. “Hm. I gather you really don’t know very much. Yes, demigod. Half-god, half-mortal.”
“And you think I’m one of these, uh, half-bloods?” Virgil shakes his head. “Listen, I think you’ve got the wrong guy.”
Janus looks almost amused now, an eyebrow arching almost like a challenge. “You couldn’t have gotten across the border into camp if you weren’t. Let me guess… you have ADHD and dyslexia.”
“Wh—I mean, yes, but—”
“You were raised by either a single parent or no parent at all,” Janus continues.
“My mom, until—”
“You see things others either don’t see or don’t remember.”
“I—”
“Please. Do stop me if I’m wrong.”
Virgil falls silent, his chest a bit tight. He crosses his arms over his chest as they walk.
Janus waits for a beat before he elaborates, sounding like it’s a spiel he’s given a dozen times already. “The ADHD is the battle reflexes. Dyslexia is because your brain is wired for ancient Greek, not modern English.”
Virgil’s mind is reeling. “But—”
“The things you see are because you’re a demigod. You are able to see things as they are.  Mortals—most mortals—get deceived by this thing called the Mist. Someday, with training, you’ll be able to manipulate it as well. It’s a useful skill.”
Virgil feels suddenly way too hot, and yet still has the sudden desire to pull the hood of his hoodie up over his hair. “Demigod,” he repeats, though saying it aloud doesn’t help it make sense. “Are… Are you telling me that my dad is a god? Like a Greek god? Zeus? Apollo? Those guys?”
Janus glances at him and looks, for a split second, almost apologetic. “I understand that it’s a lot to take in at once. This is why Chiron usually takes the initiation. He usually has a more, ah, sensitive means of broaching the subject. But since he’s meeting with the lead counselors, I’m afraid the responsibility falls to me.”
Virgil blinks. He can feel the pressure in his chest building and he forces himself to take a breath. It doesn’t help as much as he’d been hoping it would. “Which one?”
“Hm?”
“Which god is my dad?”
They’re passing in front of the Big House now. There’s two people standing on the front porch—a blonde girl holding a Yankees cap and a boy with a goatee leaning against the railing—seeming deep in conversation. The blonde girl offers Janus a small wave. Janus nods back.
“To your question, the answer is that we don’t know,” he says. “Since you haven’t been claimed yet, your guess is as good as ours. But you might be claimed any minute now, or never claimed at all. I was claimed three days after arriving at camp by Athena. But we have several campers who haven’t been claimed at all. Remy Short is one such example.”
“Athena. Goddess of wisdom and strategy,” Virgil remembers. He’d read that name in his mother’s library when he was younger. And he has a vague memory from sixth grade social studies.
“Indeed,” Janus replies. They circle around the house and Virgil realizes that Janus is leading him towards the semi-circle of cabins. “Since you haven’t been claimed yet, you’re designated to Cabin 11. Hermes’ cabin.”
“Janus!” A bright, cheerful voice calls from behind them. Janus stops and turns, and Virgil follows his gaze. A boy that looks about Virgil’s age, maybe a year older, is running towards them from the Big House. He’s got a flop of curly hair and big round glasses.
“Patton,” Janus greets as the boy slows to a stop near them. “Virgil, this is Patton. He’s the head of the Hermes cabin.”
Patton grins and holds out his hand. “Hi, Virgil. Welcome to Cabin 11. I’ll talk to Chiron about getting you some supplies—”
“I’ll talk to Chiron,” Janus interrupts as Virgil shakes Patton’s hand. “I need to ask him about some things anyway. Patton, could you—”
“For sure,” Patton agrees readily. “I’ll show Virgil around!”
Janus excuses himself and starts towards the Big House. Virgil rubs the back of his neck and offers Patton an awkward smile.  Now that he’s closer, Virgil realizes that Patton is maybe an inch or so shorter than him. He’s got four beads on his necklace.  
“How ya doing?” Patton asks him, startling him out of his thoughts. Virgil meets his eyes. Patton’s are a warm brown, and his smile is sympathetic. “I remember my first day at camp. It’s always overwhelming.”
Virgil huffs. “Yeah, you could say that.”
“You’ll love it here,” Patton says with a surprising amount of confidence.
Virgil arcs a skeptical eyebrow. “I’ve heard that before. I don’t seem to, ah, stay in one place very long.”
“Kicked out of school?” Patton guesses. He starts walking around the cabins and Virgil follows, slipping his hands into the pocket of his hoodie.
“Yeah. Several times.”
“We all have,” Patton says, not unkindly. “That’s the best thing about camp. In the mortal world, we’re all labeled as weird or outcasts. But at camp? We’ve all been through it. Oh! This is Cabin 10. Aphrodite’s cabin.”
Patton walks Virgil around the semi-circle, explaining each cabin’s assigned deity. He adds that Cabins 1 through 3 are empty, though apparently there was a girl that used to be in Cabin 1—Zeus’s cabin—who joined the Hunters of Artemis and left camp. Cabin 2 was Hera’s, and since she didn’t have children, the cabin was mostly honorary. Cabin 3 usually had a kid in it, but he apparently was on some kind of recon mission and wouldn’t return for another day or two. Cabin 8—Aretmis’s cabin—is also, usually, empty except when the Hunters visit.
“Since you don’t know who your dad is, you get to bunk with us at the Hermes Cabin,” Patton explains. “We take all unclaimed kids, since Hermes is the god of travelers.”
“I thought he was the god of thieves,” Virgil says before he can think about it.
Patton smiles sheepishly. “Yeah, that too. If you’ve got anything important, maybe keep it with ya. Just in case. I try to dissuade stealing, but old habits die hard for some of these kiddos.”  
Patton leads him around the camp, pointing out the strawberry fields, the armory, and the forge that mostly gets used by the Hephaestus kids. A few of them wave at Patton, who eagerly waves back and calls a few of them by name. He shows Virgil the arena, where two kids are sparring. Patton takes a seat and Virgil sits beside him, watching the two boys circle each other.
Both of them are wearing matching orange t-shirts—Patton had told him that he’d be getting one too—and some armor. One of them has dark hair and square glasses. He’s got two knives, one in each hand, and even from a bit of distance Virgil can sees the slight sheen of sweat to his forehead. The other one’s hair is a couple of shades lighter. His sleeves are rolled up and he wields a sword and a shield.
“The one with the glasses is Logan,” Patton explains. “He’s a child of Athena. The other one is Roman. He’s a child of Apollo. I met both of them in Seattle before we made our way to camp together thanks to some help from a satyr.”
“All three of you have been claimed?” Virgil asks, watching as Roman charges at Logan who rolls out of the way and then nimbly jumps back up to his feet. He slashes at Roman’s back but Roman parries the blow with a well-timed flick of the sword.
“Not immediately,” Patton says. “Logan was claimed as soon as we got to camp, but it was a month or so for me. And Roman was nearly a year before Apollo claimed him during a campfire song. It certainly surprised a lot of people.”
“Why?”
“His brother was claimed by Ares three months before him, so most people thought Roman was Ares’ kid too.”
Virgil glances at Patton. “Roman has a brother?”
Patton’s mouth presses into a thin line for a moment, and Virgil gets the sense that it’s a touchy subject. “Yeah. Remus. It’s unusual for two kids of the same family to both be demigods, and the fact that their father are two different gods led to some… tension. Roman and Remus don’t exactly get along.”
Virgil nods his understanding and turns his attention back to the sparring pair. Roman blocks a quick slash from Logan with his shield and swipes at him with the sword, but Logan parries the blow with the other knife in his hands. Then in a series of quick movements—Virgil isn’t sure how it happens, exactly—Roman is flat on his back and Logan is on his chest with the knife to his throat.
Roman says something that Virgil can’t make out, and Logan says something in kind before he climbs off Roman and helps him up. Roman flashes a grin and shoves Logan’s shoulder before he glances past his sparring match and sees Patton and Virgil sitting on one of the benches.
Roman waves. “Heya, Padre!”
Logan glances over his shoulder and quirks an eyebrow at Virgil but stores his daggers as Roman jogs over. Patton stands and Virgil follows him down to meet Roman halfway.
“Hey, Roman,” Patton replies. “I didn’t know you started using a sword!”
Roman grabs a towel off a nearby bench and mops the sweat off his forehead. “It’s new. I’m still trying to get used to it. I think the balance is off.”
“The balance is fine,” Logan quips, stepping up beside him. “You just need more practice.”
Roman rolls his eyes but doesn’t argue. “Either way, Specs. I’ll take archery any day over waving a sharp stick around.”
“You are definitely a son of Apollo,” Logan rejoins back without malice. “And it would be unwise to only be versed in ranged attack.”
“And you are definitely a son of Athena.”
“Correct.”
Virgil snorts, and then a part of him regrets it as Roman and Logan both look over at him. Virgil flushes slightly, uncomfortable with the sudden attention, but Patton seems to only perk up more.
“Oh! Sorry, this is Virgil. He’s a new camper. Janus ran into him on his way back and brought him along.”
“Which cabin?” Logan asks.
Virgil shrugs. “For now, Cabin 11, I guess.”
“Unclaimed, then.” Virgil listens for the judgement in Logan’s voice, but he doesn’t hear it. It sounds more like a flat statement of fact, as if reporting the weather. Logan nods once. “Very well.”
“I was just showing him around,” Patton supplies. “You guys wanna join?”
Logan starts shrugging out of the armor he’s wearing. “Regrettably, I said that I would assist Harley with some blueprints when I had finished sparring with Roman.”
Roman slides the sword into the scabbard at his side. “And I’m overdue for a Pegasus lesson. I can’t miss it again. The last thing I need is Mr. D giving me another earful.” Roman gives a quick two-finger salute and rushes out of the arena.
Virgil blinks at Patton. “Pegasus?”
Patton grins brightly. “Come on. I’ll show ya.”
Patton spends the rest of the afternoon showing Virgil around the camp. They go to the stables (where Roman offers to take Virgil for a ride but Virgil immediately declines because he’s never been a fan of flying). They swing by the beach on their way to the climbing wall. Virgil watches, amazed, as two kids climb with impressive speed and narrowly avoid the magma that starts to pour down it.
One of the kids has a Morningstar gripped between his teeth, a green bandana around his upper bicep and a matching one around his head. He’s fast, scaling the wall with a well-practiced ease. Virgil hears him laugh delightedly when his hand slips and he almost gets burned by the lava. It’s somehow both impressive and disconcerting.
“That would be Remus.”
“That’s Remus?” Virgil repeats, though when he looks a bit closer he sees the similarity in hair color and skin complexion. “I guess I see the resemblance.”
“Don’t tell Roman that,” Patton says lightly. “C’mon.”
They pass the amphitheater where, apparently, there would be a bonfire tonight. Patton shows him the volleyball court where four kids are playing one another. They wave at Patton as they pass.
“You seem popular,” Virgil supplies. He’s lost track of how many kids have waved at them as they walk around.
Patton lifts a shoulder modestly. “I dunno. Since Hermes is the catch-all cabin, a lot of camp knows me since they come to our cabin if they haven’t been claimed yet. Sometimes we get kids that get claimed right away, or kids that already have been claimed, but otherwise? I get to be their lead counselor for at least a little bit.”
“Sounds like a lot of responsibility.”
“I kind of like it,” Patton admits with a smile. “It’s like I’m everyone’s honorary camp dad.”
The conversation cuts out as dinner is called and they head to the mess hall. Patton explains the offering to the gods prior to the meal, and Virgil scrapes part of his plate into the fire. He doesn’t know what to ask for.
It’d be nice to have a family again, dad, he thinks, unsure of who he should even direct the comment to. Patton waves him over, offering a seat beside him.
Virgil chances a glance around the mess hall as they eat. The Hermes table is certainly the most crowded, though Virgil can’t say he finds that surprising. Athena’s table has several kids reading while eating. Two kids at the Ares table are in the middle of an arm-wrestling competition. One kid at the Hephaestus table is pouring over a blueprint, and Virgil wonders if that was the Harley kid that Logan had mentioned.
Towards the end of the meal, a few kids at the Apollo table starts singing “Bohemian Rhapsody” and it’s not long before most of their table is doing the entire song with harmony. Someone from the Demeter table tells them to ‘save it for the campfire’, but it does nothing to deter the Apollo kids. Virgil catches Roman laughing as he sings, one of his sibling’s arms slung around his shoulders.
Virgil glances over and sees Logan at the Athena table sitting next to Janus, watching the chaos unfold and the faintest quirk of his lips betray his amusement.
Virgil feels some of the tension in his chest relax just a little.
The bonfire starts around dusk. Virgil is making his way to the amphitheater from dropping supplies off at the cabin when Roman comes up from behind him and loops his arm through Virgil’s, chattering excitedly about how much he loved this part of camp. Virgil sees an ukulele case slung around his shoulder.
Logan appears a second later on the other side of Virgil, commenting dryly that the Apollo kids had done their vocal warm-ups during the dinner. This only served to lead Roman to do actual vocal warm-ups—trills and scales, specifically—as they walked. Patton and Janus were already sitting down, three rows back. Patton waves when he sees them file in. Remus is sitting beside Janus, seemingly trying to goad him into some kind of competition that he was having no interest in. The firelight glints of Janus’s scales.
“Hey,” Virgil says to Roman and Logan. “Can… I ask what happened to Janus?” He immediately regrets the question, cursing his lack of a filter, but neither of the other boys seem perturbed by the question.
“A curse from Aphrodite,” Logan answers. “Janus had gone on a quest for our mother, and it led to some… unsavory tension between himself and Aphrodite. From what he’s told me, he accused Ares of being a snake in the grass while in the presence of Aphrodite, and… well. The love goddess didn’t take kindly to that. But it’s purely cosmetic.”
Virgil arcs an eyebrow. “Remus seems chill with him.”
“I’m not sure that Remus is aware of the accusation Janus leveled at his father,” Logan muses. “And Janus is not one to hold the children accountable for the actions of their godly parent.”
“It doesn’t benefit him,” Roman adds in, using his free hand for air quotes. “Or something like that. Janus is all about himself and how he can improve his own standing.”
“Sounds like someone else I know,” Logan quips dryly.
Roman scoffs, but when Virgil looks at him, there’s a teasing glint to his eyes. “Well, I wasn’t going to say it, but you guys are half-brothers for a reason.”
Logan looks at Roman over the top of his glasses, but Roman just shoots him a cheeky smile as they approach the other three. Virgil slides into the seat beside Patton, followed by Logan and then Roman. There’s a few kids—Virgil isn’t sure what cabin they’re from—trying to lead a call-and-response chant as campers file in. Down the row, Remus enthusiastically calls out the responses at the top of his lungs.
“Roman!” A new voice calls out from the end of their row. A tall guy, a couple of years older than them, is holding a ukulele and jerking his head down towards the bonfire. “You ready to help me kick this thing off?”
Roman grins and jumps up. “Would be an honor, Thomas.” He rushes off and he and Thomas start playing a song together with practiced ease. He and the other Apollo kids start singing, and before long the vast majority of campers are joining in. A few of them, including Patton, sway a little. Virgil doesn’t sing, but he listens and tries to remember the words.
The sky grows dark. The Apollo kids eventually cede the floor to some Ares kids who start up another chant. More songs are sung, some snacks get passed around, and Virgil is starting to think that maybe, with time, he could get used to this.
“Oh! I almost forgot!” Patton says beside him, as the next song starts. He drops something into Virgil’s lap. “I got this for ya.”
Virgil looks down. It’s two camp t-shirts. The black winged horse and the Camp Half-Blood print stares up at him. He looks over at Patton.
Patton just smiles. “Claimed or not, you’re one of us. We claim you.”
Virgil feels like maybe that’s good enough for him.
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luthienebonyx · 3 years ago
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AO3 tag game
Tagged by @mugenmine
1. How many works do you have on ao3?
150*
2. What’s your current AO3 wordcount?
919,916, though that’s not all the fic I’ve ever written. The true total would be somewhere north of 1m words.
3. How many fandoms have you written for and what are they?
Game of Thrones (TV) (40)
Stargate Atlantis (29)
Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling (28)
Once Upon a Time (TV) (15)
Pet Shop of Horrors (5)
Lewis (TV) (4)
HEYER Georgette - Works (4)
A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin (3)
Friday's Child - Georgette Heyer (3)
Doctor Who (3)
Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (3)
A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms (3)
Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (2)
Hawaii Five-0 (2010) (2)
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies) (2)
Angel: the Series (2)
James Bond (Craig Movies) (2)
Battlestar Galactica (1978) (1)
First Monday (TV 2002) (1)
The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner (1)
The Good Wife (TV) (1)
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) (1)
Rivers of London - Ben Aaronovitch (1)
The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien (1)
Hornblower (TV) (1)
Frederica - Georgette Heyer (1)
A Countess Below Stairs - Eva Ibbotson (1)
The Devil Wears Prada (2006) (1)
Xena: Warrior Princess (1)
Which comes to 29 all up, but getting rid of a couple of the umbrella ones, I make it 26 actual fandoms.
4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?
The Personal Touch (Game of Thrones, Jaime/Brienne) A Fine Romance (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, Newt/Tina) A Night to Remember (Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Phryne/Jack) In Whisky Veritas (Harry Potter, Snape/Hermione) More Than a Memory (Game of Thrones, Jaime/Brienne)
5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not.
Nearly always. I view fic as part of the fannish conversation, and comments are a response to the conversation about the characters that I’ve started by writing and posting the fic, so of course I want to continue that exchange by responding. Occasionally comments get away from me because of stuff going on in my life, or I just don’t know how to reply to them so they go unreplied-to, but only very occasionally.
6. What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?
Of those that are still online, I’d say The Rain Keeps Falling, which is a HP story about a lot of strong emotions, including grief, and features a major character death. The angstiest ending I’ve written recently would be We seek him here, we seek him there..., which is a JB Scarlet Pimpernel AU that I should probably write a follow-up to at some point.
7. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve ever written?
I was going to say that I don’t - and then I remembered that actually I have. (What can I say? I’ve been writing for a long time, and things slip my mind. 😂) Probably the most unexpected was a pair of drabbles featuring Willy Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Count D from Pet Shop of Horrors. 
8. Have you ever received hate on a fic?
Once or twice, but very rarely in 22 years of writing and posting fic. The most memorable was the vague death threat I got - probably from a fourteen-year-old who didn’t realise that phrasing their displeasure that way wasn’t the best idea - for a very silly HP fic that was written for the blame someone else challenge, and, well, they blamed me. 😂
9. Do you write smut?
I’ve been writing smut since my first fanfic in 1999. At first, I didn’t realise that writing non-smut was an option, and by the time I learned otherwise, it was too late. 
But yeah, I do like using smut to dig down into the characters and find out what makes them tick, in all sorts of ways. You never know what a character might reveal without meaning to in the course of a sex scene.
10. Have you ever had a fic stolen?
A couple of times. I’ve had multiple fics reposted without permission by an automated fic harvesting site that was trying to monetise fic and took a whole lot of fic by many people. I had to send them a C & D letter. 
I’ve also had a story stolen by another fan and reposted as their own work. I think in that case they thought the story was old and obscure and so no one would notice, but it was actually old and well-known and people noticed immediately. Very luckily for me, other people went after that one and yelled at the ‘author’ as soon as they saw it, and it was taken down before I had to do anything.
11. Have you ever co-written a fic before?
No, I haven’t, actually! Maybe, one day, with the right person.
12. What’s your all time favorite ship?
Weeeell, the problem I have in answering this question is that I don’t really have favourite ships. I have favourite characters, and then I have the ship that works best for me with whichever character is my favourite. I guess Jaime/Brienne is my favourite in the sense that, unusually for me, my love for both characters is almost equal.
13. What was the first fandom you wrote for?
Xena: Warrior Princess. I stumbled into fandom completely by accident, spent a few months reading and lurking, and then decided “I could do that.” So I did.
14. What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?
If I’d been asked that question a year ago, I would have had a hard time answering. But now I actually do have a favourite fic of my own. It’s That Greek Thing, the fandom is Friday’s Child - Georgette Heyer, and I wrote it for Yuletide last year.
I’d been talking about writing a fic for those characters for about twenty years, but I never quite reached the point of actually writing it. I first read Heyer when I was thirteen and she was very formative for me in certain important ways. I didn’t want to try to write in her world if I didn’t think I could do it justice. So this fic was a VERY long time coming, and when I finally wrote it, it turned out to be sort of the ultimate fanfic for me. It was VERY hard to let go after it was done. It’s exactly the story that I so wished someone would write for those characters - which is really why I write fanfic at all, when it comes right down to it.
* The font is huge without the asterisk. I don’t understand this hell site.
Tagging: @samirant @robotsdance @firesign23 @albatrossisland @schweetheart @blatheringbluejay @woodelf68 and anyone else who wants to do it
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