#split end mender

[deliveryclan]

Ferret Clowder - The Proud

(credits to @/bonefall, @/rippleclan and @/salt-clangen for inspirations)

Let's start with the 'this is the most canon warrior cats clan I can handle before I get bored out of my mind' one.

Also - I don't want to lock them all in a specific climate, so if appearance of some trees or herbs or prey doesn't make sense, then that's why. The only rule I have is no actual tropical fruits/vegetables like bananas or coconuts. For the most part, I put in stuff that grows in my country (Poland) because that's what I'm most familiar with.

Intro

Ferret Clowder is, historically, the last clowder in the area to be established. After a disagreement on how to handle the issues surrounding what will became Oat Clowder's camp, the original group of cats split, and those entranced by stories of ancient 'wild' groups decided to set up a camp in the forest across the main parol. They called themselves 'Ferrets' after their superior, Ferret's Belly, and after each group picked their borders, they became 'Ferret Clowder'.

Nowadays, the modern Ferret cats don't remember that part of the history, and wholeheartedly believe that they were the first around here, originating from the ancient cat groups from the south. As a result, they put themselves higher than other clowder cats, believing that their way of life is 'superior'.

Background

Ferret Clowder is notable in the area, for having most traditional lifestyle. They pride themselves as most self-sufficient of the clowders in the area, and most respectful of their roots. Wholeheartedly believing into being descendants of ancient cat groups from the south.

They are the only clowder that still has 'one mentor one apprentice' system, instead of the younger cats being trained and raised communally. They also have them pick their additional ranks the moment they become apprentices, rather than decide after they trained for a bit, making it hard to swap for something else that they might like more or be better at. This excludes menders and mediators, as in every clowder the young cats has to decide before reaching 6 moons if they would like to train as one.

They also believe into 'tough love'. Treating younger members harshly and keeping them at distance, believing it will help them develop stronger sense of individuality and making them self-sufficient, prepare them for harshness of the world itself. It had unfortunate side effects of many Ferret cats being rather emotionally constipated, believing that showing any 'emotional weakness' is a sign of physical one as well and how it will affect other groups viewing them. Being seen as a force to be reckoned with and respected outside of their borders is more important than solving inside issues with this lifestyle.

This shouldn't come as surprise, that as a result they don't get many newcomers join (due to both their attitude towards outsiders, and the 'tough love' aspect), but also some of their younger members make the difficult decision to leave the clowder, to seek a safer place to stay. Those who end up in other clowders, often face harsh treatment from their old clowdermates when they met them at the border or on the gathering.

Territory and Camp

Their territory includes majority of a dense forest, with sparse meadows and open spots where the trees get thinner. Two rivers cut it, one on the south (going towards the ocean) and one on the north (coming from Sweet territory).

Their camp consist of one big cabin, where majority of the older members live, few smaller ones for other cats, separate cabin that acts as a nursery where younger cats are raised, one for menders and the sick and injured cats, a greenhouse for medical herbs, most common vegetables and fruits, and small huts where they store majority of their tools and resources. It's surrounded by a tall fence as whole.

(Visual of the average cabin. The main one might be decorated to make it look different than the rest.)

Around the camp there are spots for fireplaces, for leisure, warmth and outdoor cooking, as well as tables and wooden posts to hang freshly caught prey and prep them for meals (including sausages), or to reap leather.

(Wooden posts, along with some tools and buckets to gather blood and everything else that fall off (and out) of prepped prey.)

The living cabins have access to basic electricity for light, but besides that they rely on 'alternative' means of cooking and staying warm, rather than 'modern wonders'. They still have access to somewhat running and warm water, except it's only used for cleaning. Bathroom needs are dealt with in outhouses, just outside the camp fences.

(Greenhouse 'tent'. Shown empty, but overall filled with pots and all that stuff, for growing mainly medical herbs.)

Resources and Trade

Ferret Clowder believes they need to be as self-sufficient as possible, and so they usually don't ask for resources and tools they can find and make themselves. That includes majority of herbs, raw prey and tools such as knives.

They do, however, offer wide array of *their* herbs, fruits and meats. This also includes their processed forms.

(I'm not listing everything, as some things are the same across all territories.)

Leather gathered from otters, hares, boars, deer and foxes.

Apples, including wild apples.

Walnuts and chestnuts.

Bilberries, wild strawberries and blackberries (including blackberry leaves).

Sausages.

Various mushrooms (chanterelles, morels, birch bolete)

Horsetail, oak leaves, maple leaves, juniper and nettle.

Raw and dried meat harvested from ducks, geese, otters, boars, deer and foxes.

Honey and honeydew.

Duck and geese eggs and feathers.

Maple sap, birch tar.

Raw fish (like carps, trouts and breams) and frogs.

Antlers and bones.

Pottery and clay.

Accessories

(Vest and trapper's glove inspired by @/thewhalesheart)

Code and Faith

Unlike other three clowders, they pay a lot attention to their code. Breaking any part of it, no matter how small, is an offense and unless a cat has a good explanation or defense to why they did that, they might even face exile.

They take their borders very seriously, and don't go easy on anyone trespassing. Letting someone get across the border without good reason might earn the offending Ferret cat a cuff in the ear or temporary demotion, especially when the trespassing cat stole prey or herbs from their side.

Trading, giving away, but also asking for resources without leader's knowledge, even if done with good intentions, is another thing that might end up putting the cat in hot water with the high ranks.

Despite having access to many tools that could be used as weapons, bringing them on a border patrol/skirmish or into a battle is strictly prohibited, and breaking the rule will result an immediate exile. They obviously expect the same out of their opponents.

The one that gets 'broken' a lot and the leadership is exceptionally harsh on is having outside mates. While they are aware that they need fresh blood to prevent devastating results in the future, they are very harsh on outsiders, and even those from other clowders. The only way to prevent punishment is to get the outside mate to join the Ferret Clowder. Then it's technically not code violation, since they are considered a part of the clowder. Others find a 'work-around' and either give birth outside of the camp to claim they 'found' a stray litter, or ask someone from the clowder to pretend to be their honor sire. However, if the cat is discovered to have lied, both they *and* their kits will face exile (although it also depends on the leadership, one leader might allow the kits to stay, but remain very harsh on them, other might exile them along with their parent). Nowadays the leaders are more lenient on kits born from relations between Ferret cat and an unaligned cat, since they lost many cats to sickness and several younger cats ended up leaving the clowder due to mistreatment, significantly lowering their population.

They are the only Clowder that believes in the being called 'Starbringer'. It's one of few Higher Beings that are known around the world, and Starbringer is believed to be a patron of life and death, birth and rebirth, living among the stars. Legends say that those who prayed to Starbringer had a chance of receiving a blessing from it, allowing their spirits to return to their body after death, with the cause (wounds, illness) healed. Some stories say the blessing lasted for nine deaths, other say it was less than nine. Nowadays it appears so Starbringer went silent after a great tragedy, and since then no one had received the blessing.

Neighbors and Relations

They share border with Sweet Clowder, Oat Clowder and Mallow Clowder.

The Ferret territory is in peculiar spot, separated from other three by a long, gravel road, that connects the Trading Villages with the City. As such, Ferret's side of the road if there their border ends, and the other side of the road is there territories of other clowders begin.

The road is treated by everyone as a neutral stretch, allowing everyone (aligned or unaligned) to move around freely.

They technically share a border with nearest Trading Village (Howler's Respite) and the City. But between them and the edge of Ferret's territory is enough space, that they aren't considered neighbors.

Oat-Ferret relations are tense at best and hostile at worst. And it' mostly one-sided, with majority Oat cats not giving a crap about the border disputes, and Ferret cats in particular being touchy around the subject. They also deem Oat's lifestyle 'soft' and 'must be so hard living in a nice building', despite the obvious.. issues surrounding the place. Oat Clowder is also know for taking in outsiders and exiles, especially those from Ferret Clowder, which they find insulting.

Sweet-Ferret relations are mostly positive. They both share mutual interest in growing their own food and thus they respect one another.

Mallow-Ferret relations are somewhat tense too, but they also share 'borders' (or nearby area) with the City and have to deal with cats coming from there, and such they usually go over their differences to focus on 'common enemy'.

They are known to not be particularly welcome towards outsiders. Other alignments like Trading Villages (including the nearest one to them, Howler's Respite), the Pod and the City of Andromedae are generally on thin ice (especially Andromedae cats) and left alone, however.

Roles

Leader - Is the cat making major decisions for the clowder and its members. In the same vein of them believing in Starbringer, the leader changes their name to include the -star suffix, to further show their devotion to the Higher Being. They still have only one life like everyone else, however, and it's just purely 'cosmetic' change.

Deputy - Leader's second-in-command who will become leader after the previous one dies/retires and who manages most of the inside workings of the group, including patrols, hunts and assessing the apprentices. It's still up to the leader to pick cats for gatherings and pick mentors for kits, but generally the deputy's opinion on the matter is listened to. On the same vein, leaders usually pick their own apprentices for the deputy position, believing they trained them the best and know they will continue their legacy, even better than their own kin. Deputies are also required to act like leader's personal bodyguards in case of an uprising or a fight.

Mender - Is how Ferrets call their medics. Unlike other three clowders, menders are partially spiritual guides too, also praying to the Starbringer for guidance and help. And due to this, Ferret's menders are generally discouraged from having mates and kits, as they believe that it will 'taint' the connection between them and the Higher Being (rather than distract them from the duties, as they are still allowed to have friends and remain in contact with their family members).

Trapper - Are cats responsible for making the tools and making sure they are up-to-date and the top quality. They are also responsible for dealing with the caught prey, like making sure the meat and organs are good quality, strip the fur off the carcass and more.

Ranger - Cats responsible for tracking down prey and predators across their territory (like deer, foxes, badgers), potential trespassers, and overall making sure the territory is in top-notch condition - no trash, rotten corpses potentially spreading disease, no fire-hazards, no waste etc. Rangers are generally ones send to do border patrols, along with a warrior escort.

Seeker - Seekers aren't in use as frequently as they used to, as they are widely considered 'dishonorable'. They were meant to be spies, sent onto other territories to scour and then report to the leader anything they saw happening in other clowders. However, any discovery of a seeker on enemy's territory usually lead to their death, and Ferret Clowder faced a lot of scrutiny for it, regardless of intentions. Nowadays there aren't many, if any, seekers left.

Other roles - This includes mediators (whose job is to negotiate outside relations between clowders and other groups, as well as inside relations between clowdermates, but also investigate accidents and crimes) and warriors (who do most of the border defending and fighting when time calls, but overall they also do camp-work and cooking.. like everyone else). All cats have to go through a warrior training, including mediators (but excluding menders). Other roles are just elders (cats who retire), queens (nursing cats), apprentices (cats under at least 12 moons that are training in their respective ranks) and kits (cubs under 6 moons).

Starting high ranks

Ages are accurate as of Moon 0.

(Foxstar is Primpetal's uncle, from his mother's side)

(Foxstar is also a ranger, and Nightwish is a trapper.)

[aquaticcryptid]

(Rattling my own bones as I yell at the projection of my future self)

Use your damn split end mender!!! You are not in middle and high school, you are allowed to live and make that life good for yourself!! Now make yourself that pretty prince boy you always talk about!

[vaingod]

teaching my girl how to take care of her hair and experimenting with products and its so wack working with hair that is different than yours not just in texture but her hair is 2 feet long and im used to shoulder length curls that can tighten up to a few inches off my scalp when dry so i keep putting like a few drops of product on her and watching her hair drink it up in nanoseconds like some eldritch beast, felt like i was watering a thirsty horse kept pouring split end mender on her hair for 5 solid minutes doubting if itll ever stop needing more

[ircnwrought]

@ironwoven (liam) gets a semi-plotted elide !!

__________☾     A HAND ALONG THE STONE WALL STEADIES HER AS SHE MAKES HER WAY BACK TO THE DORMS. though her limp is more pronounced now at the end of the day, her wince comes when her teeth accidentally brush against her newly split lip. imogen && some of the others have given her the tools to win her challenges. despite the threshing injury that never healed right ( with no mender in sight for a child of the rebellion ), she finds her size && speed work in her advantage most days. today is not one of them. ❛   it looks worse than it is. it'll heal in no time && definitely before the next time i'm called to the mat.   ❜ a small smile at that. she is a fighter through && through despite the quiet demeanor.

[eriisaam]

(Ended up being too long to leave in tags so I'll go into more detail since I'm post-posting)

Both Kyo and Erin have a dead, effectively-zombified doppelganger they both ended up killing for the second time. For their doppel's initial deaths (they're them from a doomed timeline rather), Kyo died to the effects of a self-invoked perish song he used to kill that instance of Hel with him, and Erin originally succumbed to a death curse invoked by Eir's weapon, then was done in by the Heart's Rite of Angrboda.

Both of them later ended up killing their doomed equals by their own hands, with Erin having to kill hers twice over, due to her doppel having been split apart into two entities: the soul and the body.

Ephrel died twice over and is currently on their third life. Their first time was being shot by their own Breidablik and mortally wounded, then a second time in a new life (the effects of Breidablik isekai'd their soul into a -sona role, reversing their typical ability to summon heroes to them), they took their own life when they became overwhelmed by influence trying to turn them into Grima, and opted to kill themself, rather than their now-widow. The latter one, through even more clusterfucks that came up, led to that second isekai'd life to become a reanimated corpse who proceeded to terrorize Ephrel's widow and then some, until they 'died' and mutated further into a completely different life and form of their own. (Their third life is a combination of their original body from their first life, their soul being ripped out from the corpse of their second life, and proverbial duct tape slapping it all together to force Ephrel back into one piece for the third time, now as an alfr).

Ephrel also is the surviving sibling of Dehlia, who (in this AU) passed away earlier on in Ephrel's life from an accident. (Though in other AUs she lives).

Kyo and Teru also have one childhood friend who died due to complications and circumstances related to the traumatic event that left either in the states they were in (with a second one thought to be dead, though turning out alive in another world and found later on).

While Eclair himself isn't dead, his origins were that of an incomplete forma whose looks were modeled based on what scraps of records there were of Kiran, a different summoner who was dead. Kiran, incidentally, is one of the many summoners dubbed the Ancient Summoners, and they among others were either presumed dead due to existing ages ago, or infamously went out in some other (often tragic) blaze of glory cemented in their history. Including, but not limited to:

Kiran - the First Summoner - The records that remain of them are damaged and lost through time, and while the general consensus is that they disappeared at some point from Zenith, nothing much is known otherwise beyond the trademark legacy they left that can be recognized in other summoners (their name being the customary "default" before the summoner's actual name is known, the general robes, the title, and Breidablik itself duplicating across those who are bestowed the role).

Eclat - the Dimensional Traveler - Their ultimate fate is unknown, but the last thing known about them is they opened a gateway into what would later be dubbed the outer realms (worlds not part of the Fire Emblem series, so basically anything crossover-related) and was never seen again since.

Kilana - the Beloved Mender - The sacrifice of her life is what caused the ability for all summoners and realms to break the barrier between life and death, making it feasible for alternative iterations or the outright summoning of previously-canonically-dead heroes to be summonable or encounterable, once again alive and well.

Hiru - the Mirage Melody - in this AU it should be noted that this version of Nidavalier and Jotunhelmr encountered a fracture in the realm that made it possible for dangerous pokemon and digimon to break through and potentially endanger the two countries who were already heavily weakened due to their own warrings as it is. Hiru sacrificed himself and his body was digitized and absorbed into the Digital World in order to lay a curse on these openings, stabilizing them through bridging connection with the godly mons of either world, and allow more neutral and peaceful introduction and coexistence (and later heavy utilization) of either monster types in both Nidavalier and Jotunhelmr (the only Zenithian realm to have already utilized outer world entities and influence, with many other examples usually being inverted examples).

One of Hiru's digimon partners originally survived when he hadn't, but when Eitri attempted to retrieve Hiru's prosthetics and Breidablik, he was mortally wounded and then lent the rest of his power to Lerena, effectively being absorbed into her and dying as well.

Solle & Hilo - The Forgotten Ones/The Light/Dark Wards - During an earlier instance of the invocation of the Heart's Rite of Angrboda, many of Solle and Hilo's pokemon either succumbed to the curse or were forcefully turned dormant otherwise, trying to save as many people as possible in Askr and Embla from being killed by it. As far as Zenith knew proper, both ended up completely abandoning Zenith after what was deemed Askr and Embla's greatest failure and tragedy, not only causing a (for a long time) irreparable relationship split between the two gods, but gave the impression that both summoners abandoned them (which Embla of the two took REALLY badly). In truth, Solle survived long enough for zeir to become the first person in Alola to take part in the Trial of Alola Aina (in this AU it's a trial of the sense of patience, virtue, endurance and intent that allows trainers who undergo it to earn the right for an extension of the respective Tapus to be granted to them), only to succumb after ze completed the trial due to complications with the heart's rite. Hilo lived long enough to pass down the explanation of the trials, accidentally invent Z-crystals (earlier instances were mutated hero crystals), and presumably died of old age, but not before preserving the two's legacy in Alola (which Zenith hadn't known about until the present day).

Jerem - Traveller Among Dreams - a raven zoanthrope who fell in love with Leiptr (the Nifilian royal's very ancient ancestor), died to a mysterious illness and caused a massive feud between Freyja, Gaia and Hel over who gets to lay claim over the fallen summoner, and who inspired Leiptr to attempt to fight against the three to try to retrieve Jerem, only to succumb to her own injuries and die alongside her. Not only was it believed Freyr took enough pity on the two that he was rumored to do all manner of things (depending on the retelling of the tale) from restoring the two proper to reuniting them in a dying dream together, but the two inspired a tragic romance passed down in Nifilian folklore, and Leiptr of the two became the namesake of a great peak said to have been the two's burial site.

Noel - the only summoner not to have a proper title and remains unconfirmed if he's even a real person or not. Said to have immediately blundered with Breidablik to catastrophic degrees that he effectively blew himself up to death, unceremoniously and carelessly. His existence is left dubious, as when Freyja rewrote people of Zenith's memories of Ephrel's existence, all memories of Ephrel were replaced and attributed to Noel instead.

Which OC is dead?

[justmahina]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: *freebie with purchase* MONAT rejuveniqe oil intensive and rejuvabeads samples.

[iheartvintage1]

Check out this listing I just added to my Poshmark closet: NEW - Neutrogena Triple Moisture Split-End Mender, 3 Ounce New , No box.

[daekie-gw2]

thats my secret captain. theyre all trans

commander della fearflight, she/her, trans woman. united with canach in being the sanest person in dragon’s watch by some definitions. (canach is also trans) also a “living” leyline nexus, a lich, and aurene’s mom/champion. and a stress baker. 

svess, it/its. i have vague notions about asura gender but i think its kind of like all those posts abt dwarf gender and asura primarily using he/him or she/her is mostly like. a translation thing from asuran where they don’t really Have 100% inherently explicitly gendered first person terms? like japanese personal pronouns. i think asuran is like that. taimi’s girlfriend. druid member of a vigil strike squad called Laranthir’s Headache: they get the job done but oh, god, the collateral damage is incredible. names all its pets after food (pasta the tiger, soup the wyvern, salad the iboga, etc). LOVES gorrik, that’s its bff, they infodump back and forth at each other infinitely and nobody else in dragon’s watch except taimi gets it

nelvey, ve/vem/vers, neutrois. so the inquest left a baby on sandswept isles and the olmakhan went ‘holy shit that’s a baby. our baby now go away’ and then that baby became a scourge (or ve’s training to be one anyway). cracks all ver joints and sounds like a glowstick all the time. eyes are luminescent in the dark. usually wears a bone headpiece to mimic the horns of the olmakhan :>

meditrix trilli, he/him, trans man. inquest medic. allergic to avocados. has avoided being poisoned in the inquest anyway by virtue of He Is Your Fucking Medic. Do You Want Him To Heal You Or Not. horrible little man who will perform gender affirming surgery on you after kidnapping you and pouring concrete into your bones. obsessed with krait

astriferre, she/her, trans woman. sylvari gender is ??? but she did see a human woman as a sapling and go Yeah I Want That. was a priory scribe before her gf found out she was the commander’s daughter, ended up getting pulled along by proxy to the front lines and joined the crystal bloom. so tall. really does not do combat but she’s a great chronomancer, so...

eithwn, she/her, from beyond elona. not a girl <3 no more questions <3 funny daredevil who does a mean kickflip. a sunspear, but generally calls herself an ally of the sunspears. 

nickel, they/it, gender ???. perma-melded with a fire wyvern due to inquest experiments (same reason they have a prosthetic jaw) so i play them as a soulbeast, but in-universe is a daredevil. crushing horribly on yao. commander’s pet project bc their health is kind of wacky. kind of a defensive misanthrope but not ultimately that dangerous if not provoked. sharing a body with...

nico bathory, they/them, agender. originally owned the body but is doing pretty well post-split, all things considered. does want to know if you can revenant channel your headmate though if it was made from your brain. used to be an engi. working with yao to learn jadetech, flirting very sincerely with detective rama. runs a book club. chronic insomniac, chronic gossip, LOVES people in general.

i have some other neopronoun users in the bank (cee the ex-mordremvari herald is it/she/they, her sibling aes - grove mender - is he/they, spirit shaman dagmar lonecaller is shi/hir, mists-touched virtuoso adelaide is she/they) but these are my Main Folks on the They Are Doing So Gender spectrum

Hey GW2 peeps hit me up with your trans characters o/

Drop a picture, tell me about them, whatever you like!

[jaggedwolf]

air support, we need you (or: tscosi 2x09)

some bomb dropping, ofc, spoilers below duh

same game, top three things i had feelings ‘bout in reverse order

3. time skip time! Everyone could use a bit of a breather, even if it can’t live up to Arkady’s goat farm dreams

I thought all the planet assignments made sense, even if the completionist in me wanted it to differ more from the split that had already happened this season

ok ok the shipper in me was 50-50 but we’ll address that later

2. my man park!! is back!!! 

Showing up with an anti-aircraft missile launcher as a wedding gift. I kept joking that Park would keep up his finale trend of showing up as a surprise being cool (as cool as Park can be anw), and thought it wouldn’t happen till it did!

and him also quietly saying the defector wasn’t Shelly....Park...are you going to talk about this...

narrowly avoided extended crew singing for the third time, will he keep up this success rate?

I would take a mini-episode that just followed Park in the second half of the season (Park: I am an independent man who needs no crew)

1. Arkady attacking Krejjh because she thinks they’re an enemy, AND then McCabe pulling a gun on her to make sure she didn’t run away. Bro. Bro, that shit was a direct hit to the id. Do I even have words for how good that was

Knowing what was about to happen as soon as Arkady said “You” in that tone of voice, ugh

Krejjh saying Arkady instead of First Mate Patel in desperation, and then brushing it off with a :D after

But god, McCabe. They’ve been so compelling this season, and yeah, maybe they’re approaching everything like a nail with the hammer they’ve got that shoots bullets, but the point is, it fuckin works 

Arkady buys the threat (the promise of her crew’s safety?) more than she buys Krejjh’s reassurances 

(though reading the transcript, Krejjh specifically telling Arkady “Science Officer Liu will never forgive you”, not “forgive us”, is excellent too)

“the only authority figures yet to disappoint me” / “I’m not an authority figure” / “you don’t get to decide that” is just like. embedded in my mind. just McCabe going no, you don’t get to run verbally either.

Do you ever think about how Arkady and McCabe had like, different kinds of fucked up childhoods compared to the rest of the crew. Like obviously McCabe ending up an agent so young and the stuff about their family suggests a pretty secure background, but it feels like the IGR and Dwarnian war starting when they were 12 gives them a kind of cynicism that meshes well with Arkady’s, in a way that’s distinct from how Arkady and Violet’s morbidness mesh, or Arkady and Sana’s pragmatism

ok more character feels under the cut

don’t scandalize the grandparents

A married man! 

Impressed he made it through the season with no baddies wrecking his oxygen

Always ready to point out that Arkady is actually as much of a nerd as he is

AKA I didn’t realize it was a Mozart reference till he said so. Arkady defies the jock-nerd chart

okay who of Arkady or Krejjh is gonna tell him about MMA fight outside, or did they do a whole team debrief. For Arkady’s sake I’m hoping not the latter, though I guess everyone else would like an explanation for McCabe’s gun-pointing??

likes solving problems without guns, would prefer solving them by FLYING SPACESHIPS 

Krejjh watches McCabe’s gun strategy work on Arkady and goes “do you folks really live like this?? why???”

I do love that their first thought on what to do next is to run a bunch of supplies around, probably between human populations that are going to be a wary at seeing a dwarnian show up. (Eat it, Eejjhgreb)

Kinda wonder if their feelings about getting choked out by their buddy are in fact more complicated than “it’s chill dude, please don’t do something stupid”

The cutest vow

who needs to calm down your crewmates with annoying words when you can just point a gun at them

Seriously where is the human-dwarnian war AU where it lasts longer or happens later where McCabe is the baby sniper posted to Arkady’s unit and they squabble a bunch (and perhaps kiss? When I wrote my third ever ficlet for this fandom never did I anticipate actually being interested in that)

what % of their Mirzakhani choice was thinking “what if Arkady tries to run from the goat farm and no one’s around to point a gun at her” jk jk

Their exclusion of Park from authority figures that didn’t disappoint them is fascinating. Is it that he left hoping for Shelly when it probably wasn’t her, or that he isn’t an authority figure anymore, a combination there of?

Or worst of all, is it that when he didn’t kill Krejjh back in 1x10, that really was a disappointment, no matter how much it might’ve been mixed with relief, and you can’t undo that moment?

What if they and Park talked. But I don’t think Park is going to goat planet, so that seems unlikely.

Their apology to Sana for heightened Martineau security! And Sana reiterating the profound gratefulness bit, gah

mostly read other people’s words and yet sparked consideration of two different OT3s, her power.

you know what, everyone deciding Sana is the best person to read words makes complete sense

There was one specific moment this episode that sent my mind into a tizzy about V/A/S, and it was Arkady going FINE GO ASK THE CAPTAIN THEN at how firm Violet was that Tripathi would be the one driving her, not Arkady.

I need you to understand that my V/A/S OT3 opinions are such that my shipping feels were more set off by that than Sana and Violet telling Arkady they were proud of her for choosing goat planet or whatever, like I don’t even know what dynamic was so captured by that argument, rip at Arkady having to be systems apart from them again

Though ofc my heart was buoyed by Sana’s earnest “Kady, you do more than that”, I want these two to go do a job together again, I miss that

To shift gears, I cannot believe “Lenny” started out as Sana being absolutely furious at the people threatening her crew and has ended up a teasing in-joke between her and Park, my Sana/Park shipping feels were very content. (When does Sana learn that Park didn’t get to hear the long list of fake crimes the Rumor crew specifically confessed to Lenny? This must be fixed. Tell him about the diamonds!)

Campbell said “Park, let me show you where we’ve been sleeping.” and my brain went. Wait. This is actually a good OT3?? Park is already unnerved by Sana’s earnest captaining, he should get unnerved by Campbell’s default magnanimity, please consider this

this is also where I point out that all these major characters have very convenient names for indicating ships solely via letters. V/A! B/K! S/P/C! This may solve my ot3 tagging problem...

get off that cotton candy boat, vi

Haha I loved that line from Doc Robinson she’s so no-nonsense, love Violet agreeing to work with her

Doc also said menders and I thought about this post again and also the team split and ahhh

But no, I very much liked Violet gently crushing Arkady’s goat farm dreams, and the two of them awkwardly discussing the very awkward stage things are at while still getting a feel for how the other operates

These nerds are trying and I’m still fond of them

at some point I was gonna make fun of Vi for not being able to drive before realising 1. she probably didn’t want to deprive the others of a vehicle 2. that would be incredibly hypocritical of me

wait does the igr have excellent public transport when they aren’t bombing it i take back every bad thing i’ve said abou-

*ahem* same question about the MMA fight debrief I had for Brian, it would be so funny if the situation was so rushed that like, Arkady+McCabe explain to Brian on the farm and Krejjh has to tackle everyone else

tick, tock, walking bomb, when it stops, nobody knows

arkady is so whumpable, and this show knows it

Redundant, but love how terrified of herself she is after hurting Krejjh and how strangely reassured she is by McCabe’s gun antics. And how she doesn’t like thinking of herself as an authority figure on the ship even though she literally is as First Mate

is ready to monologue about all major life events and the crew frickin knows it

is trying to help herself and stuff, still grumbling about it. in worse shape this season than last - probably all the constant discussion of the inevitable war just kept building stuff up and she kept ignoring it because haha who wants to deal with this prickly mess of a person haha

did i mention she’s the best

hope she gets her full goat farm dream one day, even if it’s not on actual goat farm

[kerra-and-company]

For Kerra’s 1st Birthday

So. You know how sometimes we imagine animatics in our heads that we never make? I did that, but I was picturing it in such detail that I wrote it down. I still don’t have the skills to animate or draw it, but I figured it might be a good birthday present for Kerra. :)

I’m a couple weeks or so late (very sorry, Ker!), but I’m counting it as her first birthday present. I’ve been playing this game for over a year now, which isn’t long compared to a lot of you, but I’ve definitely fallen in love with it, and I appreciate the community here on Tumblr, no matter how big it might or might not be. Thanks for a great first year, everyone. Love you guys, seriously <3

(I don’t know if this is going to be something other people are super interested in reading or not, but if you are, go for it--it’s under the cut! :) The song is Dirt Around The Tree by Candi Carpenter, and you can listen to it here or on Spotify if you want. Thanks again, folks. I appreciate you a lot.)

[Introductory music plays over brief intro text. Just before the beginning of the song, the text fades to dense clouds.]

I was born in the fall

 [The clouds clear, revealing Caledon. The camera/POV swoops through quickly in the direction of the Grove, with various recognizable places there visible as it does so.]

The season when everything is dying

 [Camera continues its swoop. If we look closely, we can see that it’s winter, or at least sometime cool, in Caledon. There’s no snow, but there’s frost, and many trees are missing leaves. Farms and gardens are bare.]

We must know what we're in for

 [Camera enters the Grove, skirting past the trunk of the Pale Tree and slowing down by pods of not-yet-awakened sylvari. It settles on one.]

That's why we come into this world crying

 [The pod splits open, and Kerra falls out. Nearby sylvari try to help her up, but she scrambles in an uncoordinated fashion to her feet, calling out Caithe’s name.]

 My mother always told me life's not fair

 [The Pale Tree in the Omphalos Chamber, arms open wide, eyes closed. On the word “life”, the camera cuts to Kerra in “Beneath a Cold Moon”, fighting Tiachren. On “not”, the camera cuts to Kerra standing over bodies, next to Caithe and various Wardens. One of the bodies is Tiachren’s. On “fair”, the camera cuts back to the Omphalos Chamber, but this time to Kerra alone. Caithe and Aife are just barely in the image (their shoulders at most), but the focus is on Kerra’s face—troubled and grieving but not quite crying.]

That's probably why I ran away

 [The camera spins back around so that we see Kerra looking at the Pale Tree. This time, she’s flanked by the three sylvari order reps, and Cai—the rep from the Order of Whispers—is holding her hand out. Kerra looks down at it. On “why”, the camera cuts to just their hands, clasped in a handshake. On “ran,” the camera cuts to Kerra and Tybalt on the mission to rescue Demmi. They’ve just opened the door to the room where Demmi was locked up, and Kerra’s holding her hand out to Demmi.]

I don't think that I felt safe at home

 [Camera zooms in on Kerra’s hand, going to brush her hair-leaves back. When it zooms back out, we see Kerra sitting next to Rel. They’re on the beaches of the Weeping Isle, and her mouth is open, like she’s saying the song lyrics. She’s more in silhouette here than a clear picture, and the focus is on Rel’s face. His forehead is furrowed as if in concern.]

And I don't think that's ever gonna change…

 [Kerra’s face comes into clearer focus, still mouthing the words, but this time she looks straight into the camera for a second. As the camera pans around her head, the landscape behind her changes to an airship. She starts to turn away from the camera on the word “ever”, and by “change”, she’s facing away, and we can see her standing at the front of an airship alongside Destiny’s Edge, flying to confront Zhaitan. Kerra’s wearing a long coat now, brown with just-visible green embroidery, and it flaps in the breeze.]

 Tell me, what's at the root of all my guilt and anger?

 [The image blurs as the camera zooms towards the ground and under it. We see roots, twisting and shifting, twining together.]

What's in the dirt around the tree?

 [The camera pans up, more slowly this time so the image is clear. We exit the ground, passing through the levels of the Grove, ending on the plaza in the center where the Pale Tree’s leaves spiral up towards the Omphalos Chamber.]

Heartbreak runs in the family

 [Three images. The first is the Pale Tree, eyes down and half-closed. She looks pained. On “runs”, the image shifts to Caithe, with shiny eyes and a shadowy Faolain behind her, side by side with Trahearne, who’s holding Caladbolg with a gaze that’s both tired and far away. On “family”, the image shifts to Kerra, still in the same outfit from the airship, but with a dark background. Her eyes are wide and unsure.]

That's why I'm still running from me.

 [The camera zooms out to show two Kerras, now, separated by just enough distance that they’d have to move closer to touch (so maybe a couple meters or so). The first is Kerra as a sapling, in her sylvari armor, and the second is Kerra in her airship outfit. They each look at the camera. On the word “running”, they turn to each other. On “me”, the second Kerra turns away and takes a step away from the first.]

 [On the instrumentals, Kerra steps from the black void into the snow, her bow on her back and Felix beside her. She looks worn and tired, her coat torn. She walks from there into a house with Nisha (with a stack of letters), and she smiles. When she leaves the house, her wardrobe changes from brown to blue, and she walks into Southsun, facing Canach and then meeting with him in his cell after. Other images flow after, briefly—her and Dragon’s Watch facing Scarlet, then the party with the nobles, then facing Aerin. Finally, it settles on them all together before the summit, waiting below the Omphalos Chamber for the dignitaries to arrive.]

 I read that trauma is genetic

 [The camera pans up to the Omphalos Chamber, which is under attack by the Shadow of the Dragon. We focus on the Shadow first as it roars (on the word “trauma”) and bares its teeth, and then we pan to Kerra’s face on “genetic”. She’s terrified—but she’s terrified of what the Shadow means, not that she can’t defeat it.]

Who was the first to hand it down?

 [Brief flashes of scenes again. Kerra briefly trying to help her Mother as menders run towards them on “Who”, Kerra-as-Caithe (and Nisha alongside her) watching Wynne’s confession on “first”, Trahearne giving the order to fire on “hand”, and airships falling over Maguuma on “down”.]

Was it my grandpa or his father?

 [Kerra, wearing her HoT clothes, standing beside Canach and Caithe to face Mordremoth, the camera fully focusing on him as of the word “grandpa” and leaving them as silhouettes with weapons at his feet.]

You can't ask someone who ain't around

 [Kerra running to Trahearne while he’s trapped in Mordremoth’s vines and hanging above the ground, grabbing his hand in hers. On “someone”, the image melts into Kerra holding Caladbolg out in Mordremoth’s mindscape, alone. She’s pointing it at a large seed, and Trahearne’s silhouette is behind her. She’s protecting him. On “ain’t”, Kerra begins to glow purple, and the image fades to brightness and then Mordremoth’s power exploding through the jungle, like the cutscene in canon, implying his death.]

 Tell me, what's at the root of all my guilt and anger?

 [Again, like before in the first iteration of the chorus, the camera blurs as we zoom down to roots, shifting and intertwining, but this time we can see clearly that they’re growing, too.]

What's in the dirt around the tree?

 [Again, we pan through the levels of the Grove to reach the centerpoint with the spiral branches and leaves of the Pale Tree.]

Heartbreak runs in the family

 [And again, we have the three sets of images, but they’re slightly different. The Pale Tree is dimmer, clearly wounded and in pain even if the wounds themselves are not visible. The shadow of Faolain looks like the Mordrem version of her, and Caladbolg is shattered. Kerra’s in her HoT outfit now, with nicks in a few of her leaves. She’s not much different physically, but something in her expression makes her look older.]

That's why I'm still running from me.

 [And last but not least for repeats, we enter the blank void again, but there are three Kerras this time—sapling-Kerra, Zhaitan-Kerra, and HoT-Kerra. They all start off looking at the camera. On “running”, sapling-Kerra and Zhaitan-Kerra look at HoT-Kerra, and she looks back at them. On “me”, she turns and takes a step away from them.]

 [Instrumentals follow, and the steps turn into a full-on run as she crashes into Canach and Nisha’s arms, laughing. Her outfit switches to her LWS3 one as she swings from their arms to Tarir, watching Aurene hatch and pulling her close. Caithe is in that image too, awe and faint affection on her face. As the deeper strings are overrun with lighter notes, a few scenes flicker by—Lazarus awakening, the battle with Caudecus, Balthazar’s reveal. The strings reach a high note as Kerra is shown on the airship to Elona, her clothes changing again to those she wears in PoF. Vlast’s death is shown, a bright light and Balthazar and crystals, followed by Kerra in Kesho and then a flash of her traversing the desert on her raptor. The notes begin to downswing into the bridge as the battle on the mountaintop comes into focus, Kerra fighting Balthazar hand-to-hand with Caladbolg, and on the final few notes, we see him slash down at her where she’s lying, barely breathing, on the ground. There’s darkness, and on the last note, she opens her eyes in the Domain of the Lost. They’re red.]

 I wanna be more than a lost little girl

 [Spirit-Kerra takes a step forward. She picks her bow up off the ground on “be”, meeting Nenah’s eyes as her guide gestures towards a hill. Glowing blue silhouettes of memories are visible in the distance, but only just barely. On “lost”, we see the full image of Kerra looking towards the hill, determined.]

I'm gonna grow up someday

 [The camera shows Kerra climbing the mountain, past various memory images. Some we’ve seen in the video, some we haven’t. In the last image, right on/after the word “someday”, we can see Caladbolg at Kerra’s side.]

Maybe I'll plant another family tree

 [Kerra pauses at a memory of her with her partners. It’s not one we’ve seen before, but they’re all smiling at something or someone the memory doesn’t show. Canach’s arm is around Kerra’s waist, Nisha’s is around her shoulder, and she’s holding them both. On “another”, she reaches out as if to touch it but stops just before she does.]

Somewhere far, far away

 [Kerra continues and reaches the top of the mountain. The memory there is Aurene, still very much a baby, desperately trying to protect Kerra, and then being wrapped in chains. She looks at the image for a few seconds, blue light giving her face an eerie cast, before grasping Caladbolg’s hilt and nearly leaping down the mountain on “away”.]

 [As the music upswings to the final chorus/verse, Kerra bows to the Judge, slashes through the Eater of Souls, and rushes past a very irritated Joko into the portal back to Tyria.]

 Far from the root of all my guilt and anger

 [The light from the portal fades into a cloudless sky and a vast desert. On “guilt”, the camera pans over to the mountain where Kerra fought Balthazar. Wisps of smoke still come from it, but they’re faint. We can see figures on the mountain, but not well enough to determine features (though if you’ve played PoF you could guess who most of them are).]

Blood in the dirt and on the leaves

 [The words describe what we’re seeing. Kerra’s blood is on the sandy dirt of the mountaintop, and it’s splattered in specks on her hair-leaves and face.]

Tell me, what's at the root of all my guilt and anger?

 [On “Tell”, Kerra opens her eyes wide. They’re faint purple, as they should be. On “me” she sits up straight, gasping. As the rest of the phrase plays out, we see what she is seeing as her gaze tracks across her friends. Kasmeer, Rytlock…Canach and Nisha. Kasmeer has a tentative but disbelieving smile on her face. Rytlock looks very much like “what the fuck”.]

Am I who I'm supposed to be?

 [There’s a beat while Kerra stares at Canach and Nisha and they stare back at her, but on “supposed”, her partners reach their hands out to her. She looks back at them, wide-eyed, like she’s about to cry.]

Heartbreak runs in the family

 [On the musical downswing, the image fades into current Kerra in the blank void. Just her, no one else. She’s sitting on the ground, in clothing that’s damaged and burned, with too-bright eyes.]

That's why I'm still running from me.

 [There’s six Kerras in total now, in a line as they’ve been in the previous choruses, but all but the first and the last fade into the background on “me”, leaving just sapling-Kerra and PoF-Kerra to stare at each other across the distance of the blank void. Both sitting, both very different. The distance is much larger than a meter.]

Heartbreak runs in the family

 [The three picture sets flash, but this time they’re interspersed with Canach and Nisha moving towards Kerra, and they’re different now. On “Heart-”, the image of the Pale Tree is of her with the Menders, giving them a faint smile. On “break”, we see Canach and Nisha taking a step forward. On “runs”, we see Caithe holding a tiny Aurene in her arms, and they both look overjoyed. Trahearne no longer has Caladbolg and his face is scarred to look half-Mordrem, but he’s standing next to Rel, who’s laughing as he kisses the back of Trahearne’s hand. On “the”, we fully fade back to the mountaintop, and Canach and Nisha take another step forward before throwing Kerra into their arms. At the end of this line, we see Kerra crying and holding them tight, with Kas wiping her own tears away and Rytlock starting to laugh with unexpected relief.]

Why am I still running from me?

 [Slowly, the image fades back into sapling-Kerra and PoF-Kerra in the void, staring at each other. PoF-Kerra is still crying, but on “me”, she smiles, too.]

 [As the final instrumentals play out, both of them stand up. They run toward each other, and they meet in the middle with a tight hug, burying their faces in each other’s shoulder.]

 [THE END]

[siennachristine-monat]

Fixing Split Ends

Rejuvabeads Split End Mender on ends and broken pieces after every shower.

Unknot Detangler that treats and conditions as well as detangles.

Use a wet brush.

Braid hair, then comb Restore Leave-In Conditioner through the end of the braid.

Ditch the cotton towel for microfiber. (Cotton can cause brittle, dry hair and breakage on the micro hooks of the fabric.)

x

[tribus-mantodea]

[ Lingering attachments. ]

Right! I’m sure there’s an AU about this somewhere already that I haven’t found but you know what, I’ll have my take on it regardless.

This post is just some considerations on the AU where the Traitor Lord lives once more through lifeblood shenanigans. (Awkwardly dubbed as “Lastlifeborn AU” because... it’s the Lastborn’s last life. Yeah, I know.)

I also have no idea how to interpret lifeblood so I’ll put that matter aside.

It would be a bit fun to entertain the idea of the dream-ghosts of Cloth and Traitor “speaking” after their due battle just before she finished savoring the moment. While he does hold some implacable resentment (embrace the infection to become stronger and yet for what? being unable to better protect his kin like he had intended? what was it that put these silly-meaningless thoughts in his head, his heart?), he does hold respect for Cloth and the Ghost first and foremost for beating him in an impromptu duel.

“I’m glad to have fought a mighty warrior like you.” “...” (But he wasn’t one. Unlike the other Lords, he had cheated and lost his way.) “For one outside of my tribe, you battled well.” There’s a lot of awkward pauses and general recollection, the Traitor trying to sort out what had just occurred and what had happened before all this.

Maybe the Ghost comes back in time to not both of them, but at least the Traitor staring at both his victor’s and his own’s bodies. It would seem to remember something—pulling out the Mark of Pride charm and showing it to him. See conflict cross his features, how he nodded as if he then understood something it didn’t.

And the Ghost is quite the mender of a bug itself. It’s compelled to try and resolve something that seems rather unresolvable; it breaks cocoons and cradles all these wiggling lifeseeds in arms and forcibly attempts to get the Traitor’s husk moving again. Said dream-ghost Traitor at first regarding the situation dismissively before growing into a strained panic and worry of “Cease your actions! What compels you to desecrate my corpse—?...” “Just how many did you manage to bring with your small stature...?” (It would’ve been more deserved if his body were to be broken into segments much like the others. His mind feels hazier as if overcome with fatigued the longer it tries, and...)

What. Why is this little bug back in his view and why does he feel so. Tired. Oh. The Traitor... does not deserve this, no, unless this was his punishment to burden the weight of his own sins, but it’s ultimately uncomfortable—he died twice already in removing his title and in true battle. (His body felt wrong before for different reasons, but it felt even worse now that he’s reminded of the air and his other senses.)

And the Ghost does its best to try and point him in a direction it wants him to go. Incessantly tries. But he shook his head, clicked, said aloud that he’d resolved to return to the village and accept the sentence that should have been given when he was deposed. (Imprisonment. Death.) It’s only then does the Ghost no longer tries to point him in a direction (and how strange; was this the same way it pointed its nail?) and accompanies him the... the entire way...

It’s not that long of a trek, no, though his mind is clouded with all sorts of thoughts and regrets. He’d seen his Daughter’s grave for the last time. (The little warrior seemed to insist on giving him a flower, but even when he did finally accept if only to appease it, he’d merely set it back by the grave.) He’d seen his reflection in the pools of acid, the glow of an unnatural cerulean he does not remember seeing unlike the festerous cloud of orange. And... the occasional husks of what had been the split of his tribe.

The village is far quieter than his memories. It is a complicated feeling to see the mantids that watch with both confusion and hissing resentment, those that knew of him formerly and those that did not. Perhaps it must look like a show? To observe how the honored outsider escorts the depose Lord, a beast thought mindless returning in its newly sickening form with not the sweet-sickly orange, but a dim blue glow of what they vaguely remember other bugs considering as taboo (how funny of them to worship and pray to begin with). His thoughts grew louder; he wondered if he could ever make amends. He figures it all in vain. That’s fine, really.

...One thing led to another. The summary is that he does not die, and is “punished” to live with his decisions after it is thoroughly seen he is remorseful (to an extent). It does take a long while for this family to sort out their issues properly though.

Bonus side-note is that the Ghost can be treated as part of said family (but not really, but also hey look its horns are notched twice just like the Traitor’s and—)

Bonus reactions to said return:

The First just wants to know why it happened, so she can reflect and see where the both of them (mostly herself) had went wrong. Her own regrets she’d shouldered still smolder long after all the initial anger and confusion. Considering there’s only so many of them left, she just wants to hear him out (and oh, how strange-wrong it is to hear the difference in his voice now, to see him taller but with the lack of pride from before). In the end, she’s... relieved, almost, to see him the way he is now considering how she longed to revisit old things. Not that they could still return to them. But, well, new interactions to unfold, lots of baggage to pack.

The Second’s the one who’s most expressively upset. Frustrated that she cannot take her pains out on him as when she’d forced his claws to a duel, it was more than clear that his heart wasn’t in it (how disrespectful; how dare he seem so inclined to let the end of her nail-lance sink deep and through). She’d always known him to be a great fighter, so the reasoning behind him embracing the infection was more than just insulting as a betrayal. She despises the more passive behavior (this wasn’t the brother she remembered, what had happened to the hint of deserving arrogance he once bore?) and most of all, resents herself for not having done something more given the more responsibility their eldest took on.

The Third is uncharacteristically quiet, unsure and sorting out her emotions just like before (but managing to unintentionally, somehow, be the coldest towards him). She’s always been aware that while he did seek counsel, most often asking the eldest, he also disliked relying on anyone else and she never minded that, no. She felt as if she knew why he’d left. But in knowing what happened to her niece and the other, closer followers that had looked up to him, it was difficult for her to figure out how to respond to him in knowing the losses sustained. It’s... she eventually decides, though, to accept with resignation. He’s dealt with their other sisters and the disdain of the village and would continue to do so (probably). She’s just happy to have him back even despite the changes. She can at least... try, to not make the transition jarring by having even herself different in behavior. Sort of.

-

Redacted consideration was that he’d lose most if not all of the memories during his time of being infected because while it’d be fun for him to think that nothing more than him waking up in a random location happened and then seeing the husks of his tribe(?) along with “Whose grave is this?” and returning to the village almost as if nothing happened, the sisters would have a Horrendous Time alongside the Traitor if he by chance was then told of what happened.

anyways my AUs are to be self-indulgent, not to combust spontaneously :D I probably amplified the inferiority issue a bit too much here but Welp

alright bonus-bonusnonsense below:

little ghost does crimes. shoves lifeseeds into husk (in which some lifeseeds happily run away into said husk to get away from the chance of dying by tiny bug)

bug tries to slap mark of pride charm onto the former traitor lord

aand this:

It watches as he idles a moment longer, bowing his head towards the marked grave of his late Child. Quietly it comes closer, hesitantly, and reaches out—rests its hand onto his side and gently curls its fingers into his cloak. He does not move. So the vessel tilts its head, sits. Decides to wait for him—and rest. (aka it’d be quite nice, you know, to imagine the trek back where the Ghost doesn’t forcibly try to understand the dude, but is a sort of comfort... or maybe... just... a reaper, escorting him to his death. but then jokes on you big man it’s a friend!!)

[rudemaidenswrite]

Can I Join You?

Part 2

BY: @pusantheamazonian

Fandom: Stranger Things          Jim Hopper X Reader

Part 1

It's been a few days since the carnival ended and your brother has left for the next town. And you have not seen nor heard from Jim either. You knew it was just a fling that would never get off the ground. He has a teenager at home. That alone will cause more chaos than trying to get back into the dating scene. So in a weird angry habit, you decided to bake cookies when you got off work.

El’s curiosity is still high about Y/N. With a plan she hides in the bathroom after school with Max guarding the door. Sitting on the floor, the radius tuned to static, faucets running and a handkerchief over her eyes. Taking deep slow breaths she's able to focus and locate Y/N. 

In the black nothingness Y/N appears, standing alone in a kitchen. Walking closer El is able to tell you're making cookies and singing along to the radio.

"Y/N?" El whispers but your sudden turn towards her threw off the connection. "Damnit!"

"You okay?" Max poke her head in.

"I'm fine." Grumbling El pulls the handkerchief down. 

"Did you find her?" Max asks sitting next to El.

"Yes, she even looked at me like she heard me."

"Weird. So what now?"

"Time to see her."

~

Opening the door you're surprised to see Jane for several reasons. 

1. It's a school night. 

2. You didn't tell Jim where you live. 

3. This was not how you expected to officially meet her.

"Jane what are you doing here?" Confused you are staring at a determined thirteen year old.

"Visiting. May come in?"

"Okay… does your father know you're here?" Absently you move to the side and let her in.

"Do you have any cookies?"

 "Yeah, why don't you sit at the table. I'll get you some. Do you want some milk?" Pointing off to the side at the table.  You instantly know that this child is smarter than she leads people to believe. 

"Yes please." 

You watch her sit at the table and wait for you. Jane stares at everything. Placing the milk and cookies in front of her you should probably know the real reason she's here.

"Jane-"

"El." She quickly interrupts while picking up a cookie.

"What?"

"I go by El."

"Ok El.” Sitting across from her you pick up your own cookie. “Do you want to tell me the real reason you hitchhiked 18 miles after school to my place?"

You watch her nervously curl inwards before responding.

"Dad and history class." 

"Why don't we start with history class." You quickly pick option two.

El nods and pulls out her book and folder. 

"There's a test next week and I don't understand anything." Handing you an outline. "Dad sucks at helping me with homework."

"Growth and Expansion is basically about the major changes in the U.S. during the 1800’s. So the Industrial Revolution, the changing role of government, and development of foreign policy." Moving to a chair closer you keep the outline handy.

As you go over the information with her you lose all complete track of time. You just happen to look at the clock to see the time.

"Shit!"

"What?" Frightened El looks for the danger.

"It's almost seven. We gotta get you home." You are up and out the chair. You need a plan.

"Why?"

"Why? El it's a school night and I bet you didn't tell your dad you were going to be home late." You're trying to process the carelessness of this child. Jim is in over his head. 

"I did not."

"Well do you want me to call him so he can come get you or you want me to take you home?" 

"Can you take me?" El pleads with her best frowny face.

"Yes but you'll have to give me directions."

"Okay." El packs her stuff up while you make her a snack baggie for tomorrow. That's filled with cookies and a separate bag for Jim. 

In the car El stares out the window bobbing along to the music. 

"So what is going on with your dad that you had to see me?" Reaching you turn the music down. Time to bite the bullet. 

"He likes you but thinks that I don't understand the complications of dating a single parent. He is being chicken. Mike explained it to me."

"You've definitely thought about this." Well if that’s not a child being a wingman you don't know what is. She definitely cares about his happiness. 

"It would be nice to see someone regularly at home. He works late and forgets the time."

"Well you'll just have to light a fire under his ass. In my experience single parents are the slowest moving people ever. Stubborn and grumpy." Chuckles you spare a glance.

"Your experience?"

"I was raised by a single dad too. Growing up it was just dad, my two older brothers and me." Reaching into your purse and pulling out your wallet. You open it to the pictures and hand it over.

"Mom?" El slowly flips through them.

"Don't know. She left one day, decided that she didn't want a family anymore." Shrugging it’s an odd thing that has always bugged you. 

"Sorry."

"Don't be dad eventually remarried and I got an awesome new mom and a little brother." You motion for her to keep flipping.

"New mom?"

"Yes."

"Mama… is not well. Dad let's me visit every couple of weeks. She lives with Aunt Becky."  Frowning, she puts your wallet back in your purse.

"It's nice that you visit her. I bet it makes her happy even if she can't show it."

"I hope so." She gives you a small hopeful smile.

El has you driving to the outskirts of Hawkins. Alongside a gravel road, turning onto a hidden dirt driveway. Pulling up you see the cabin setting on the hill.  You also see Jim walking frustratedly to his truck.

"He beat you home."

"Shit." She whispers seeing him too.

Honking your horn, he turns around making eye contact. As you nod to the passenger seat. There's a wave of relief for a split second before he walks closer.

"Next time you need help with homework. Just tell me, it's dangerous to be walking alone." You make sure to say loudly once you both are out of the car. Hoping to dampen the punishment.

"Jane." Jim grumbles, angrily throwing his cigarette. 

"See stubborn and grumpy. Just like I said." Nodding at him you give her a wink.

El laughs. "I like her." Jim sends El a furious look, which causes her to head directly inside. "Bye Y/N."

"Bye." Waving you watch her head up the hill before walking to Jim who has started pacing. "She's a firecracker but a good one." 

"Thanks for bringing her home. Where did you find her?" Huffing he runs a hand through his hair, still trying to calm down. 

"I opened my door and there she was. Don't know how she figured out where I lived."

"God… thanks again."

"No problem and here." Diverting his attention you hand him the bag.

"Cookies?"

"Yeah I was making some before El showed up. It's like the smell drew her in."

"I'm surprised."

"About what?" Confused, why would he be surprised? You're a decent person of course you brought her home. 

"Jane's very standoffish, won't interact unless she likes you and knows you're a good person."

"Oh! Well that's a good thing, not wanting to be involved with bad people." Nodding that's understandable. 

"She likes you, be prepared to see her randomly." Shaking his head in disbelief. 

"That's okay we can talk about our feelings again."

"You talked about feelings?" 

You watch him visibly pause. Apparently it never occurred to him that El would want to talk about feeling to someone else.

"Yeah like how she wants you to be happy because you want her to be happy. Also about how single dads are stubborn and grumpy all the time."

"That's what that comment was about? I'm not grumpy and stubborn all the time."  Scoffing he straightens up.

"I doubt it, I know the grumpy and stubborn attitude pretty well." Teasing you mender back to your car. Leaving him to his own devices.

"How?"

"Like minds think alike. I was raised by a single father." Winking you climb into the driver’s seat.

~

In your comfiest pajamas and ready for bed, you're finishing up with brushing your teeth when there's a banging on the front door. It's almost 10pm, you didn't plan on anyone coming out. Looking out the peephole, you're surprised to see who it is. 

"Jim? What are-" Opening the door you don't know what to say.

Cutoff, Jim's mouth is on yours. Hands hold you close as he backs into the nearest wall. Your hands find their way into his hair. Pressed closely, you can taste the lingering cigarette. 

"You came all this way for a smooch?" Pulling away you can't help but to smile. 

"....Yes?"

"Uh huh. You know I'm not buying that, right?" It's obvious to you that he had no set plan. 

"I figured you would." Shrugging he keeps a flirty smile. "What would you say if I said that I had to see you tonight."

"I would say that you're probably crazy because I look like a goblin." Saying that you realize you should probably let go of him. 

"No you don't. I'm the mess. I have no idea how to raise a teenage girl and I've been a grumpy father for years."

"If you say so.” Chuckling it's becoming clear how much El acts like him. “You know the police showing up late at night to my place is going to start gossip."

"Why don't we give them something to actually talk about?" In boldness he steals another kiss. 

"Well I'm no expert on firearms but I do know that's not a gun in your pocket."

"And the cheesy wisecracks." With a defeated sigh he head falls into the crook of your neck.

"Don't expect anything less. I have my own repriatore of dad jokes." Pulling on his collar to redirect his attention. "If you're looking for a hint my bedroom is the door on the left." Nodding down the short hall.

Next thing you know, you're looking at the floor and his ass. It's a short trip, inside he shuts the bedroom door with his foot as he dumps you on the bed. Scooting upwards you pull him with you. There’s no way in hell you're letting him escape without something happen.

"Fuck. Do you have any idea how crazy you make me?" Mumbling he kisses his way down your throat. Stifling a whine, you're beginning to lose all coherent thought processes. Just his presence makes you feel all tingly. 

"Do you know how hard it was not to kiss you outside the restaurant?" Delighted in this turn of events. You make your own little confession. Now is not the time for soft, slow romance. This is needy, rough lovin that you both so clearly need. 

[siennachristine-monat]

It’s possible for your ends to be as thick as your roots. 

Split end mender and thickening hair products.

@screaminoutfits