#steel mclean

[sad-endings-suck]

Back to report that I have seen the first episode of the Fallout tv show on Amazon Prime and it fucking slaps. Along with this, The Last of Us (HBO), Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, Arcane: League of Legends (obviously), and many more, we can now say for certain that we are in the un-official golden era of video game adaptations (at least if it stays the course *knock on wood*).

[krystalklear21]

Snog, marry, irradiate Fallout Prime edition

[thefandomentals]

In Bo's latest Fallout review, things start to cook as Lucy discovers some terrible secrets, Maximus returns to the fold, and The Ghoul enjoys a succulent wasteland meal.

[fandomnerd9602]

It all started when she was wounded in a firefight with the Brotherhood of Steel. Lucy McLean couldn’t stop the bleeding, no matter how many stimpaks she injected.

You ran to your companions aid with your own loyal canine Dogmeat by your side. "dammit Lucy" you muttered as you shot another brotherhood member before trying to stop the bleeding.

"go" she tried to beg, "I'm just dead weight"

"not an option, vault dweller" you say back as you carry her in your arms to a nearby vertibird. Good old Dogmeat jumps into the copilot's seat as you pilot the aircraft.

“Where are we going?” Lucy asked rather weakly.

“Haven” you answered back.

You met Lucy rather recently. You were kind enough and caring compared to most people in the Wasteland. All she knew was that you were a fellow survivor and that you had recently left your home in search of supplies. You never told her where you were from.

Lucy woke up to a sound she never thought she’d ever hear: the gentle lull of the ocean. This vault dweller found herself in a small oceanside open aired bungalow. The walls were adorned with old posters with a magnificent view of a crystal blue ocean. The bed she found herself in was clean and pristine. Dogmeat was laying next to her bed, wagging his tail at seeing Lucy recovering nicely.

“Glad you’re feeling better“ you give a small smile from a nearby chair. “It was touch and go for awhile but I’m glad you’re doing well”

“I’m dead”

You chuckle, “no you’re not.”

“What is this place? I mean it’s perfect and untouched by-“

“It’s sort of a bubble” you explained. “Completely safe from the fallout”

A little parrot landed on a nearby branch. Lucy was absolutely floored. Life has found a way thrive on this spec of land. The whole island was rich with floral and fauna, an untapped paradise. The island itself was roughly the size of Maui.

“How did you find this place?” Lucy looks around in amazement.

“I grew up here.” You bring her a pic of your own parents. “I head out to gather supplies and my parents…they didn’t make it”

Lucy looked at you, like she was looking in a mirror. Someone who lost a lot and yet was willing to keep going. It wasn’t just about the supplies. She saw you out there, protecting the innocent, stopping the Brotherhood and raiders when lever you could.

“Must get lonely here” she found herself musing.

“You interested in a timeshare?” You asked back with a little smirk.

Lucy couldn’t help but laugh. Maybe she could set down roots here. With you. With Dogmeat. But the world needed the two of you. Because sadly like the old saying goes:

War. War never changes.

[naturalbornluvr]

naturalbornluvr hot people list

kinda not really ranked

1. cal gabriel

1. cal robertson in the year 2001

1. my husband

1. my baby daddy

1. daddy

1. the love of my life

1. light of my life fire of my loins

1. the blonde kid from that school shooter movie

2. lana del rey

3. hayden anhedonia

4. andre kreigman

5. christian bale

6. matt dillon

7. lorenzo zurolo

8. jake gyllenhaal

9. liz gillies

10. robbie shapiro

11. robbie hawkins

12. beck from victorious

13. alexander hamilton (the real 1776 one not lin)

14. andre harris

15. eric harris

16. jodi arias

17. ricky kasso

18. peter steele

19. ghostface

20. timothee chalamet (bones and all specifically)

21. weasley twins

22. hermione granger

23. harry potter

24. tom riddle

25. rachel lurie

26. sera promgoer

27. regina george

28. ron weasley

29. robert pattinson

30. mason freeland

31. sodapop curtis

32. everyone from the breakfast club

33. alice cullen

34. rosalie cullen

35. daddylisle cullen

36. dilfy swan

37. the one guy in the hallway in mean girls when cady says i think he’s going to the projection room above the auditorium

38. carl azuz

39. mickey and mallory

40. maya from pll

41. jfk

42. jfk jr

43. jfk jr jr

44. damon albarn

45. ANAKIN SKYWALKER (he should NOT be this low but i don’t wanna change the numbers. takes too long. everyone that should be higher up is going in all caps now)

46. the guy from i believe his unicorns. spencer? i think

47. JESS MARIANO

48. born to die music video boyfriend

49. shades of cool music video boyfriend

50. health ledger

51. chad michael murray

52. a$ap rocky

53. holly would from cool world

54. brad pitt

55. zion from ginny and georgia (young & old)

56. georgia miller

57. tyler the creator

58. KURT COBAIN

59. adam brody

60. megan fox

61. 2000s christina aguilera

62. RODRICK HEFFLEY

63. jeffrey dean morgan

64. charles shaughnessy

65. grown up zack from school of rock (like when he stole the guitars and amp in like 2019)

66. the one guy from school of rock who’s like yo u guys rocked man how old are u guys after the battle of the bands show

67. ned from school of rock

68. jack black

69 mweheheh. both george coopers

70. meemaw

71. meemaws friend played by reba i think

72. alex arnold

73. sid jenkins

74. kurtis conner

75. danny gonzalez

76. drewisgooden

77. kim possible

78. bill scarscard or whatever his last name is

79. GWEN from tdi

80. julia from tdi

81. heather from tdi

82. like all of the girls from tdi. at least half

83. naked guy from gilmore girls

84. taylor momsen

85. the other mother

86. mrs spink

87. coraline’s dad & other dad but not the pumpkin one

88. artyom

89. the babysitter and bones from monster house

90. lightning mcqueen

91. mater

92. angelina jolie

93. evan peters

94. ryan gosling obviously

95. THE DAD FROM INSIDE OUT. more like riley’s dad turn ME inside out. awooooga

96. the 911 operator from zero day when she’s not yapping

97. karina and ronald now from sis vs bro

98. cameron boyce

99. joseph gordon levitt

100. the mom from inside out. same thing i said for her husband

i will be adding on most definitely but 100 is a nice number to stop at 😇🫶

NEVERMIND

101. DADDY oops i mean flynn ryder oops i mean eugene fitzherbert

102. keanu reaves

103. chris mclean

104. playboi carti

105. JOEY SMACK

106. eric from elephant

107. drew starkey

108. that one biker bf from the ride mv

109. my husband’s dad …………..

110. andre’s dad

111. KRISTOFF !!!

112. shang from mulan

113. naveen from princess and the frog

114. MILO JAMES THATCH

115. steve terreberry

116. verryyy cal gabriel coded theatre kid at my school

117. hallway crush 1

118. hallway crush 2

119. hallway crush 3

120. hallway crush 4

121. maxo_xoxo on twitter and his wife lolaloopzy

122. MILA KUNIS

123. melania trump

124. jane fonda

125. fran FOIIINEEEE

126. that one guy who ranks things and uses the high pitched voice filter on tiktok

[justanothervaultie]

Timeline check:

Do we know when Hank McLean was thawed in the Series and when he became overseer?

It would help with guessing Lucys age.

Also the Ghoul was put inside a coffin for 30 years. If the timeline checks out he should have been put in a coffin about the time Hank McLean was thawed from his cryo coffin.

I love the Thriller / Frankenstein / Dracula parallels here.

Both Lucy and the Ghoul emerged from a hole in the ground - a steel and wooden coffin of their own making.

And Hank was yoinked out by the consequences of his cruelty to put into the light. I keep gushing more and more the more facts I scrape together.

[dysfunctionallygrey]

MORE PJO/HoO x Pokemon rambles

My mind is a restless expanse of thoughts and it is my duty to make sure they are at LEAST coherent. The Heroes of Olympus and their Pokemon? Hell yeah high five me guy. I will probably go more in depth when i make their own individual posts... whenever that may be... Ill try and put up part 2 with the rest later!!

Jason has a full team of 6, he just has no memory of how he got them, or anything about them for the matter. When he battles though, the muscle memory kicks in and for a second his Pokémon think he's got his memories back and none of the whole amnesia thing ever happened. Only for a second though.

Reyna has two very loyal and very powerful Lucario. They follow her obediently around its actually sort of odd not seeing them with her. But that wasn't always the case. Back then, on a mysterious island, there were two sisters, each with their own Riolu. What happened to either sister, the other wouldn't know.

Me to any justice/fairness leader type character when i make a Pokemon au: Woe, Lucario be upon you.

Hazel... boy oh boy where do i even begin... The sheer amount of Pokemon i was able to find and go "hey that would fit for Hazel" But at the start of her story, id definitely give her a rock/ground/ghost type like a Golett and ive always imagined her having a Drillbur because i will bet on my life the real Hazel Levesque would look at the thing and immediately be endeared. Also a carbink. Guys its a little gem pokemon that can learn light screen its perfect for her.

I already have a post for Piper Mclean. But the gist of it is Piper eevee piper Sylveon. and femininity and queerness and self acceptance. go read my post if this seems interesting to you.

i love Annabeth Chase a lot. If you asked me what i wanted to be as a kid i would've said her and since i love her a lot she deserves only the best (my favorite pseudo): Metagross. But only evolving very late. I imagine it also as a gift from her mom. (Metagross = Steel Psychic = big brain = Clear body user = invisibility cap) At first shes SUPER stoked like holy hell a pseudo legendary, at 12 years old!! and then she starts training the Beldum and she realizes oh. wow it is taking too damn long for this thing to evolve into a Metagross. It doesnt stop her from being smart and giving it Eviolite lol. And then it reaches the MoA equivalent to the story. She confronts Arachne (probably pokemon battle) then the Metang evolves into Metagross. Athena is probably smiling down at her. and then she gets sucked into distortion (aka tartarus) :P

Percy Jackson has Mono water team. With a Gyarados and a Palafin. Funny thing is Jason also has a Gyarados. Neither of them are allowed to have it out in a 1km radius of eachother.

part 2 perhaps later

[aorish]

Later that summer, I contacted Iselin again to see if he would be willing to speak more about Fanon. He asked to meet at his farm outside Middleburg, Virginia. The town is only an hour’s drive beyond the glass-and-steel office buildings of the Dulles Corridor, but considering the history the landscape shares with American intelligence, it belongs to a different stratum of empire. After the CIA was formally founded in 1947, its directors wanted the agency’s operatives to live in towns with pastoral backdrops, such as McLean, Virginia. The idea, the historian Andrew Friedman writes, was that “[t]he seemingly natural privacy afforded by the suburbs lent itself to the secrecy beneficial to both the U.S. government and suburban life,” and the pristine residential life around them “became the symbol of a precarious good life that needed defending.”

Thomas Meaney, "Frantz Fanon and the CIA Man"

[lebaronlordking]

Saturday Afternoon Reggae Show DJ LeBaron Lord King August 17, 2024 lebaron@kpoo.com

#SaturdayAfternoonReggaeShow

4:00 PM Yabby U - Jah Over I 4:05 PM Lee Perry - Bird in Hand 4:10 PM Chronixx - Dela Move 4:13 PM Lila Iké - Dinero 4:16 PM Iotosh - Fill My Cup 4:20 PM David Conscious - Mighty Men 4:24 PM Dezarie - Gone Down 4:28 PM Queen Ifrica - A.E.I.O.U (NOTHING) 4:31 PM Lutan Fyah - Bla Bla Bla 4:38 PM Mike Brooks - River Nile 4:42 PM Buju Banton - Steppa 4:45 PM Alton Ellis - Girl I've Got a Date 4:48 PM Phillip Fraser & King Tubby - John Saw Them Coming 4:54 PM The Wailers - 400 Years 4:57 PM Izoardi - Jungle 5:00 PM Kabaka Pyramid - Red Gold and Green 5:03 PM Burna Boy - Last Last 5:06 PM Kabaka Pyramid - Well Done 5:10 PM Yendry - You 5:13 PM Chezidek - It's Time 5:17 PM J Boog - Blaze It for Days 5:21 PM JStar - Babylon Children 5:25 PM Bitty McLean - In and Out of Love 5:31 PM Jah Cure - Marijuana 5:35 PM Bobo Nattywell - Longtime 5:39 PM Mutabaruka - The Monkey - Mento Mix 5:42 PM YG Marley - Praise Jah in The Moonlight 5:47 PM Culture Brown - Strong and Bless 5:47 PM Warrior King - People of This World 5:50 PM The Wailers - Put It On 5:54 PM Watty Congo Burnett - One Hot Night 6:00 PM Steel Pulse - Prodigal Son 6:03 PM Capleton - That Day Will Come 6:07 PM Gappy Ranks - Maad Sick 6:12 PM Earl 16 - Vampires 6:15 PM Eesah - Tell No Lie 6:18 PM Tafari - All of My Love 6:21 PM Don Carlos - From Creation 6:26 PM Culture - Black Man Get Your Culture 6:28 PM Max Romeo - Chase the Devil 6:31 PM Burning Spear - Hail H.I.M. 6:36 PM Damian Marley - My Sweet Lord 6:40 PM Mikey Dread - Roots and Culture 6:41 PM Elton Preto - Roots and Culture 6:45 PM Fe Me Time All Stars - Wicked Have To Feel It 6:48 PM Stoneface Priest - After Pride Comes Fall 6:52 PM Lila Iké - Good & Great 6:53 PM Alborosie - Give It to Them

[genrebender]

Some Canonically Queer Characters:

Asexuals and/or Aromatic:

-Jon Sims - asexual biromantic (The Magnus Archives)

-Jay - aromatic & asexual (Supernatural Academy -in show not sure about books)

-Alastor - aroace (Hazbin Hotel)

-Caduseus Clay - aroace (Critical Role: Campaign two the Mighty Nein)

-Lilith Clawthorne - aroace (The Owl House)

-Artemis/Diana aroace (PJO)

-Hestia aroace (PJO)

-Athena/Minerva alloromantic & asexual (PJO)

-Reyna Ramírez-Arellano alloromatic & asexual (PJO)

Bisexual:

-Luz Noceda (The Owl House)

-Korra (The Legend of Korra)

-Asami Sato (The Legend of Korra)

-Millie (Helluva Boss)

-Moxxie (Helluva Boss)

-Loki (Marvel Comics and MCU)

-Loki (PJO/Magnus Chase books/Riordianverse)

-Tony Stark (Marvel Comics only)

-Logan/Wolverine (Comics non 161 universe)

-Jesper Fahey (Grishaverse/Six of Crows)

-Nina Zenik (Grishaverse/Six of Crows)

-Tommy Shepherd (Marvel Comics)

-David Alleyne (Marvel Comics)

-Hercules (Marvel Comics)

-Marvel Boy (Marvel Comics)

-Yizhi (Iron Widow)

-Shimin (Iron Widow)

-Zetain (Iron Widow)

-Mystique (Marvel Comics)

-Kate “Kitty” Pride (Marvel Comics)

-Harley Quinn (DC)

-Poison Ivy (DC)

-Catwoman (DC)

-Joker (DC)

-Tim Drake (DC)

-Wonder Woman (DC)

-Yuuri Katsuki (Yuri!!! On Ice)

-Bow (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power)

-Glimmer (She-Ra)

-Mermista (She-Ra)

-Sea Hawk (She-Ra)

-Lonnie (She-Ra)

-Rogelio (She-Ra)

-Kyle (She-Ra)

-Entrapta (She-Ra)

-Tim Stoker (TMA)

-Georgie Barker (TMA)

-Vax’ildan (Crit Role: Campaign 1 Vox Machina/TLOVM)

-Vex’ahlia (Vox Machina/TLOVM)

-Allura (Vox Machina)

-Caleb Widowgast (Mighty Nein)

-Mollymauk/Lucien/Kingsley Tealeaf (Mighty Nein)

-Laerryn Coramar-Seelie (EXU Calamity)

-Juno Steel (The Penumbra Podcast)

-Star Lord (Marvel Comics)

-Apollo (PJO)

-Zeus/Jupiter (PJO)

-Poseidon/Neptune (PJO)

Demisexual:

-Keyleth (Vox Machina/TLOVM)

-Essek Theylss - demisexual & demiromantic (The Mighty Nein)

Pansexual:

-Deadpool (Marvel Comics and implied in movies)

-Blitzø (Helluva Boss)

-Rita (The Penumbra Podcast)

Lesbian:

-Adora (She-Ra)

-Catra (She-Ra)

-Perfuma (She-Ra)

-Scorpia (She-Ra)

-Netossa (She-Ra)

-Spinnerella (She-Ra)

-Kima of Vord (Vox Machina/TLOVM)

-Beauregard Lionett (The Mighty Nein)

-Yahsa Nydoorin (The Mighty Nein)

-Kara Brunehilde (Venture Maidens)

-Rem (Venture Maidens)

-Gidget (Venture Maidens)

-Hemithea (Riodianverse)

-Josephine (Riodianverse)

-Lavinia Asimov (Riodianverse)

Gay/Achillean:

-George (She-Ra)

-Lance (She-Ra)

-Double Trouble (She-Ra)

-Taryon Darrington (Vox Machina/TLOVM)

-Shaun Gilmore (Vox Machina/TLOVM)

-Orym (Critical Role: Campaign 3 Hell’s Bells)

-Teddy Altman (Marvel Comics)

-Billy Kaplan (Marvel Comics)

-Bobby Drake (Marvel Comics)

-Angel Dust (Hazbin Hotel)

-Cecil Gershwin Palmer (WTNV)

-Carlos (Welcome to Night Vale)

-Nico di Angelo (PJO)

-Hyacinthus (PJO)

-Ganymede (PJO)

-Wylan Van Eck (Grishaverse)

Trans (M&F):

-Jewelstar (She-Ra)

-Perfuma (She-Ra)

-Khemdal Dust (The Mighty Nein)

-Terra (The Mighty Nein)

-Yussa Errenis (The Mighty Nein)

-Sipriotes (Riodianverse)

Nonbinary:

-Double Trouble (She-Ra)

-Jay (Supernatural Academy)

-Bryce Feelid (The Mighty Nein)

-Juno Steel (The Penumbra Podcast)

-Raine Whispers (TOH)

-Masha (TOH)

-Pottery Barn??? (Riodianverse)

-Mother William non-binary & two-spirit (Riordianverse)

Gender-fluid:

-Loki (Marvel Comics)

-Loki (Magnus Chase books)

-Mollymauk Tealeaf (The Might Nein)

-Bryce Feelid (The Mighty Nein)

-Alex Fierro (Magnus Chase books)

Not specified in cannon but generally queer:

-Amity Blight (TOH)

-Raine Whispers (TOH)

-Ed’s Clawthorne (TOH)

-Mara (She-Ra)

-Martin Blackwood MLM (TMA)

-Melanie King WLW (TMA)

-Victor Nikiforov (Yuri!!! On Ice)

-Scanlan Shorthalt (Vox Machina/TLOVM)

-Zahra Hydris (Vox Machina/TLOVM)

-Stolas (Helluva Boss)

-Eadwulf Grieve (The Mighty Nein)

-Zerxus Ilerez (EXU Calamity)

-Will Solace (PJO)

-Magnus Chase (Riodianverse)

-Piper McLean (PJO)

Polyamorous:

-Yizhi (Iron Widow)

-Li Shimin (Iron Widow)

-Wu Zetain (Iron Widow)

-Star Lord (Marvel Comics)

-Caleb Widowgast (The Mighty Nein)

-Astrid Becke (The Mighty Nein)

-Eadwulf Grieve (The Mighty Nein)

-Lonnie (She-Ra)

-Rogelio (She-Ra)

-Kyle (She-Ra)

[thewidowsghost]

Seeing the Beauty (Piper McLean x Fem!Reader) - Chapter 6

Series Masterlist

Main Masterlist

(Y/n)’s eyes snap open and she sits bolt upright. Her dream had felt so real, and yet, so distant and strange that it couldn’t possibly be true.

“Hey, you okay?” (Y/n) looks over to find Piper sitting by her bedside, her eyebrows furrowed with worry.

“What?” (Y/n) replies, drawing her knees up to her chest. “Yeah.”

Piper frowns, looking more worried.

“I -” (Y/n) bites her lip, trying to hold back her tears. From everything she’d heard about behind a half-blood, her dream was probably really true. Then she turns to study Piper. “Where’s Leo and Jason?”

“Leo’s with his cabinmates, and Jason is with Annabeth,” Piper replies.

(Y/n) nods distractedly before she meets Piper’s kaleidoscope gaze again, “Are you okay?” she asks. “You passed out.”

“Mhm,” Piper replies. “Rachel got possessed by Hera and gave me a death mission - free her from a prison.”

“You won’t have to do it alone,” (Y/n) replies, trying to comfort her friend, but her words seem to make Piper sadder.

Piper looks like she wants to say something, but she is interrupted by the sound of a conch horn.

“Dinner?” (Y/n) asks.

“You slept through it,” Piper replies. “I think it's time for the campfire.”

. . .

The whole campfire idea freaks Piper out. It makes her think of the huge purple bonfire in her dreams, and her father tied to a steak.

What Piper gets instead is almost as terrifying: a sing-along. The amphitheater steps are carved into the side of a hill, facing a stone-lined fire pit. Fifty or sixty kids fill the rows, clustered into groups under various banners.

(Y/n) spots Annabeth up front, next to Jason. Leo is nearby, sitting with a bunch of burly-looking campers under a steel gray banner emblazoned with a hammer. Standing in front of the fire, half a dozen campers with guitars and strange old-fashioned harps - lyres? - are jumping around, leading a song about pieces of armor, something about how their grandmothers got dressed for war. Everything is singing with them and making gestures for the pieces of armor and joking around.

This is quite possibly the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen, Piper thinks. This is totally one of those campfire songs that would’ve been embarrassing in daylight, but in the dark, with everybody participating, it’s kinda corny and fun. As the energy level gets higher, the flames do as well, turning from red to orange to gold.

Finally, the song ends with rowdy applause. A guy on a horse trots up; at least in the flickering light, Piper thinks the guy is on a horse, and then she realizes that he’s a centaur - a white stallion on the bottom half, and the top is a middle-aged buy with curly hair and a trimmed beard. He brandished a spear impaled with toasted marshmallows. “Very nice! And a special welcome to our new arrivals. I am Chiron, camp activities director, and I’m happy you have all arrived here alive and with most of your limbs attached. In a moment, I promise we’|l get to the s’mores, but first -”

“What about capture the flag?” somebody yells; grumbling breaks out among some kids in armor, sitting under a red banner with the emblem of a boar’s head.

“Yes,” the centaur says. “I know the Ares Cabin is anxious to return to the woods for our regular games.”

“And kill people!” one of them shouts.

“That might not be good for anybody’s health,” (Y/n) says, and she blinks with surprise to realize she’d spoken aloud, but then she laughs nervously while the other campers laugh at her joke.

(Y/n) glances over, meeting Piper’s gaze, smiling confusedly, and then she shrugs.

“However,” Chiron says, once everyone stops laughing, “until the dragon is brought under control, that won’t be possible. Cabin Nine, anything to report on that?”

Chiron turns to Leo’s group. Leo winks at Piper and shoots her with a finger gun. The girl next to him stands uncomfortably. She’s wearing an army jacket a lot like Leo’s, with her hair covered in a red bandanna. “We’re working on it.”

More grumbling.

“How, Nyssa?” an Ares kid demands.

“Really hard,” the girl replies. Nyssa sits down to a lot of yelling and complaining, which causes the fire to sputter chaotically. Chiron stamps his hoof against the fire pit stones - bang, bang, bang - and the campers fall silent.

“We will have to be patient,” Chiron says. “In the meantime, we have more pressing matters to discuss.”

“Percy?” someone asks. The fire dims even further, but Piper doesn’t need the mood flames to sense the crowd to sense the crowd’s anxiety.

Chiron gestures to Annabeth. She takes a deep breath and stands.

“I didn’t find Percy,” she announces. Her voice catches a little when she says his name. “He wasn’t at the Grand Canyon like I thought. But we’re not giving up. We’ve got teams everywhere. Grover, Tyson, Nico, the Hunters of Artemis - everyone’s out looking. We will find him. Chiron’s talking about something different. A new quest.”

“It’s the Great Prophecy, isn’t it?” a girl calls out.

Everyone turns. The voice had come from a group in back, sitting under a rose-colored banner with a dove emblem. They’d been chatting among themselves and not paying much attention until their leader stood up: Drew.

Everyone else looks surprised. Apparently Drew didn’t address the crowd very often.

“Drew?” Annabeth replies. “What do you mean?”

“Well, come on.” Drew spreads her hands like the truth was obvious. “Olympus is closed. Both Percy and (Y/n) disappeared. Hera sends you a vision and you come back with three new demigods in one day and (Y/n). I mean, something weird is going on. The Great Prophecy has started, right?”

Piper whispers to Rachel, “What’s she talking about - the Great Prophecy?”

Then Piper realizes that everyone else is looking at Rachel, too.

“Well?” Drew calls down. “You’re the oracle. Has it started or not?”

(Y/n)’s eyes glaze over.

Nico runs in from the street, and his face tells (Y/n) that something is wrong.

“It’s Rachel,” he says. “I just ran into her down on 32nd Street.”

Annabeth frowns. “What’s she done this time?”

"It's where she's gone," Nico replies. "I told her she would die if she tried, but she insisted. She just took Blackjack and -"

“Die?” (Y/n) echoes. “She took Blackjack?”

Nico nods. "She's heading to Half-Blood Hill. She said she had to get to camp."

. . .

“What was she thinking?” Annabeth says as they run for the river. Unfortunately, (Y/n) has a pretty good idea, and it fills her with dread.

The traffic is terrible. Everyone is out on the streets, gawking at the war zone damage. Police sirens wail on every block. There was no possibility of catching a cab, and the pegasi had flown away. (Y/n) would've settled for some Party Ponies, but they had disappeared along with most of the root beer in Midtown. So they run, pushing through mobs of dazed mortals that clog the sidewalks.

“She’ll never get through the defenses,” Annabeth says. “Peleus will eat her.”

(Y/n) hadn’t considered that. The Mist wouldn’t fool her girlfriend like it would most people. She’d be able to find Camp no problem, but (Y/n) had been hoping that the magical barriers would just keep Rachel out - like a forcefield. It hadn’t occurred to her that the dragon might eat her.

“We have to hurry,” Percy says, catching the worried look on his twin sister’s face. “I don’t suppose you could conjure up some skeleton horses.”

The Son of Hades wheezes as he runs. “So tired . . . couldn’t summon a dog bone.”

Finally, the demigods scramble over the embankment to the shore, and (Y/n) lets out a loud whistle, but she hates doing it. Even with the sand dollar she and Percy had given the East River for a magical cleaning, the water here is still polluted. (Y/n) didn’t want to make any sea animals sick, but they came to her call.

Four wake lines appear in the gray water, and a pod of hippocampi break the surface. They whinny unhappily, shaking the river muck from their manes. They are beautiful creatures, with multicolored fish tails, and the heads and forelegs of white stallions. The hippocampus in front is much bigger than the others - a ride fit for a Cyclops.

"Rainbow!" I called. "How's it going, buddy?"

He neighs a complaint.

"Yeah, I'm sorry," (Y/n) replies. "But it's an emergency. We need to get to camp."

He snorts.

"Tyson?" Percy says. "Tyson is fine! I'm sorry he's not here. He's a big general now in the Cyclops

Army."

"NEEEEIGGGGH!"

"Yeah, I'm sure he'll still bring you apples. Now, about that ride . . ."

In no time, Annabeth, Nico, Percy and (Y/n) are zipping up the East River faster than jet skis. They speed under the Throgs Neck Bridge and head for Long Island Sound.

. . .

It seems like forever to (Y/n) until they see the beach at camp. The demigods thank the hippocampi and wade ashore, only to find Argus waiting for them. He is standing in the sand with his arms crossed, his hundred eyes glaring at them.

“Is she here?” (Y/n) asks, worried for her girlfriend’s safety. Argus nods grimly.

“Is everything okay?” Annabeth says; Argus shakes his head.

The four demigods follow Argus up the trail. It’s surreal being back at camp. Nothing’s burning. No wounded fighters, (Y/n) thinks. The cabins are bright in the sunlight, and the fields glitter with dew. But the camp is empty.

Up at the Big House, the demigods notice something is obviously wrong. Green light is shooting out all the windows, just as (Y/n) had seen in her dream about May Castellan. Mist - the magical kind - swirls around the yard. Chiron lies on a horse-sized stretcher by the volleyball pit, a bunch of satyrs standing around him.

Blackjack canters nervously in the grass. Don’t blame me, boss! The pegasus pleads when he sees (Y/n). Your girl made me do it!

Rachel Elizabeth Dare stands at the bottom of the porch stairs. Her arms are raised, like she is waiting for someone inside the house to throw her a ball.

“What’s she doing?” Annabeth demands. “How did she get past the barriers?”

"She flew," one of the satyrs says, looking accusingly at Blackjack. "Right past the dragon, right through the magic boundaries."

"Rachel!” (Y/n) calls, but the satyrs stop her when she tries to go any closer.

"(Y/n), don't," Chiron warns. He winces as he tries to move. His left arm is in a sling, his two back legs are in splints, and his head is wrapped in bandages. "You can't interrupt."

"I thought you explained things to her!"

"I did. And I invited her here."

(Y/n) stares at him in disbelief. "You said you'd never let anyone try again! You said —"

"I know what I said, (Y/n). But I was wrong. Rachel had a vision about the curse of Hades. She believes it may be lifted now. She convinced me she deserves a chance."

"And if the curse isn't lifted? If Hades hasn't gotten to that yet, she'll go crazy!"

The Mist swirls around Rachel. She shivers like she is going into shock.

"Hey!" (Y/n) shouts. "Stop!"

(Y/n) runs towards her, ignoring the satyrs. She gets within ten feet and hits something like an invisible beach ball; bounces back and lands in the grass.

Rachel opens her eyes and turns. She looks like she was sleepwalking — like she could see (Y/n), but only in a dream.

"It's all right." Her voice sounds far away. "This is why I've come."

"You'll be destroyed!"

She shakes her head. "This is where I belong, (Y/n). I finally understand why."

It sounded too much like what May Castellan had said. I have to stop her, but (Y/n) can’t even get to her feet.

The house rumbles. The door flies open and green light pours out. (Y/n) recognizes the warm musty smell of snakes.

Mist curls into a hundred smoky serpents, slithering up the porch columns, curling around the house.

And then the Oracle appears in the doorway.

The withered mummy shuffles forward in her rainbow dress. She looks even worse than usual, her hair was falling out in clumps, and leathery skin was cracking like the seat of a worn-out bus. Her glassy eyes stare blankly into space, but (Y/n) gets the creepiest feeling she was being drawn straight towards Rachel.

Rachel holds out her arms. She doesn’t look scared. "You've waited too long," Rachel says. "But I'm here now."

The sun blazes more brightly. A man appears above the porch, floating in the air — a blond dude in a white toga, with sunglasses and a cocky smile.

"Apollo," (Y/n) murmurs.

He winks at her but holds up his finger to his lips.

"Rachel Elizabeth Dare," he says. "You have the gift of prophecy. But it is also a curse. Are you sure you want this?"

Rachel nods. "It's my destiny."

"Do you accept the risks?"

"I do."

"Then proceed," the god says.

Rachel closes her eyes. "I accept this role. I pledge myself to Apollo, God of Oracles. I open my eyes to the future and embrace the past. I accept the spirit of Delphi, Voice of the Gods, Speaker of Riddles, Seer of Fate."

(Y/n) doesn’t know where she is getting the words, but they flow out of her as the Mist thickens. A green column of smoke, like a huge python, uncoils from the mummy's mouth and slithers down the stairs, curling affectionately around Rachel's feet. The Oracle's mummy crumbles, falling away until it was nothing but a pile of dust in an old tie-dyed dress. Mist envelopes Rachel in a column.

For a moment (Y/n) can’t see her at all. Then the smoke clears.

Rachel collapses and curls into the fetal position. Annabeth, Nico, Percy, and (Y/n) rush forward, but Apollo says, "Stop! This is the most delicate part."

"What's going on?" (Y/n) demands. "What do you mean?"

Apollo studies Rachel with concern. "Either the spirit takes hold, or it doesn't."

"And if it doesn't?" Annabeth asks.

"Five syllables," Apollo replies, counting them on his fingers. "That would be real bad."

Despite Apollo's warning, (Y/n) runs forward and kneels over Rachel. The smell of the attic is gone. The Mist sinks into the ground and the green light fades. But Rachel is still pale. She is barely breathing.

Then her eyes flutter open. She focuses on (Y/n) with difficulty. "(Y/n)."

"Are you okay?"

She tries to sit up. “Ow,” she presses her hands to her temples.

“Rachel,” Nico says, “your life aura almost faded completely. I could see you dying.”

“I’m all right,” she murmurs in reply. “Please help me up. The visions – they’re a little disorienting.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?” (Y/n) asks.

Apollo drifts down from the porch. “Ladies and gentlemen, may I introduce the new Oracle of Delphi.”

“You’re kidding,” Annabeth says.

Rachel manages a weak smile. “It’s a little surprising to me too, but this is my fate. I saw it when I was in New York. I know why I was born with true sight. I was meant to become the Oracle.”

(Y/n) blinks. “You mean, you can tell the future now?”

“Not all the time,” she replies. “But there are visions, words in my mind. When someone asks me a question, I . . . Oh no –”

“It’s starting,” Apollo announces.

Rachel doubles over like someone had punched her. Then she stands straight up and her eyes glow serpent green.

When she speaks, her voice sounds tripled – like three Rachels are talking at once:

(Y/n) snaps back to the present and says: “Seven half-bloods shall answer the call. To storm or fire the world must fall –”

Jason shoots to his feet. His eyes are wild, like he’d just been tasered.

Rachel seems caught off guard – but her friend’s outburst and Jason’s jump to his feet. “J-jason?” she says. “What’s –”

“Ut cum spiritu postrema sacramentum dejuremus, ” he chants. “Et hostes ornamenta addent ad ianuam necem.”

An uneasy silence settles on the group. Piper can see from their faces that several of them are trying to translate the lines. She can tell it’s Latin.

“An oath to keep with a final breath. And foes bear arms to the Doors of Death.” (Y/n) finishes.

“You just . . .” Rachel glances between the two demigods, “finished the known part of the prophecy.”

“Known?” (Y/n) questions, and Rachel nods reluctantly.

“Last night, I had a vision, revealing the final lines of the prophecy. It went like this: Child of the Sea will accompany the Seven. And drop into endless darkness.”

(Y/n) meets her ex-girlfriend’s gaze and can tell from the look in her eyes that Rachel thought that that part of the prophecy was about her.

“We hoped that the prophecy wouldn’t be starting for a few years, but I fear it’s starting now. I can’t give you proof. It’s just a feeling. And like Drew said, some weird stuff is happening. The seven - plus the ‘Child of the Sea’ - whoever they are, have not been fathered yet. I have the feeling some of them are here tonight. Some are not.

The campers begin to stir and mutter, looking at each other nervously, until a drowsy voice in the crowd calls out, “I’m here! Oh . . . were you calling roll?”

“Go back to sleep, Clovis,” someone yells, and a lot of people laugh.

“Anyway,” Rachel continues, “we don’t know what the Great Prophecy means. We don’t know what challenge the demigods will face, but since the first Great Prophecy predicted the Titan War, we can guess the second Great Prophecy will predict something at least that bad.”

“Or worse,” Chiron murmurs. Maybe he didn’t mean for everyone to hear, but they did. The campfire immediately turns dark purple, just like Piper’s dream.

(Y/n), who had turned to murmur a question to Piper, sees the terrified look in the demigod’s eyes, and grabs her friend’s hand, squeezing it gently.

“What we do know,” Rachel says, getting the attention of the campers again, “is that the first phase has begun. A major problem has arisen, and we need a quest to solve it. Hera, the Queen of the Gods, has been taken.”

Shocked silence. Then fifty demigods start talking at once.

Chiron pounds his hoof again, but Rachel still has to wait before she can get their attention.

She tells the other demigods about the incident on the Grand Canyon skywalk – how Gleeson Hedge had sacrificed himself when the storm spirits attacked, and how the spirits had warned that it was only the beginning. They apparently served some great mistress who would destroy all demigods. Then she tells them about Piper passing out in Hera’s cabin. Piper tries to keep a calm expression, even when she notices Drew in the back row, pantomiming a faint, and her friends giggling. Finally, Rachel tells them about Jason’s vision in the Big House. The message Hera had delivered there was so similar that Piper gets a chill. The only difference: Hera had warned Piper not to betray her: Bow to his will, and their king shall rise, dooming us all. Hera knew about the giant’s threat. But if that was true, Piper wonders, why hadn’t she warned Jason, and exposed me as an enemy agent?

“Jason,” Rachel says. “Um . . . do you remember your last name?”

The blonde looks self-conscious, but he shakes his head.

“We’ll just call you Jason, then,” Rachel says. “It’s clear Hera herself has issued you a quest.” She pauses, as if giving Jason a chance to protest his destiny. Everyone’s eyes are on him, yet he looks brave and determined, and (Y/n) admires the way he sets his jaw and nods. “You must save Hera to prevent a great evil,” Rachel continues. “Some sort of king from rising. For reasons we don’t yet understand, it must happen by the winter solstice, only four days from now.

“That’s the council day of the gods,” Annabeth says. “If the gods don’t already know Hera’s gone, they will definitely notice her absence by then. They’ll probably break out fighting, accusing each other of taking her. That’s what they usually do.”

The winter solstice,” Chiron speaks up, “is also the time of greatest darkness. The gods gather that day, as mortals always have, because there is strength in numbers. The solstice is a day when evil magic is strong. Ancient magic, older than the gods. It is a day when things . . . stir.”

The way he sounds it sounds absolutely sinister.

“Okay,” Annabeth says, glaring at the centaur. “Thank you, Captain Sunshine. Whatever’s going on, I agree with Rachel. Jason has been chosen to lead this quest, so –”

“Why hasn’t he been claimed?” somebody from the Ares cabin yells. “If he’s so important –”

“He has been claimed,” Chiron announces. “Long ago. Jason, give them a demonstration.”

Word Count: 3531 words

Taglist:

@camaddison​​

@steinfellds​​

@p-taryn-dactyl​​

@oculusalien​​

@@pink-widows

@unlikelysublimekryptonite

@yellowvxbes

@decadentrebelkitten

@eevil-empress

@anteroz

@mag-mfm

@26randomness

@cair-paravel-narnia

@hayhaythegaygay

[arianatheangel-girl]

Tulsa McLean...Babysitter?

(AN: This was inspired by @plasticfantasticl0ver and one of their anons. I really hope you like this! Warning: mentions of bodily functions. Tagging some of my favorite people: @kiankiwi @mooodyblue @loving-elvis @septembersghost @deke-rivers-1957)

***

Tulsa was beginning to wonder what he was so worried about in the first place.

The soldier had checked on his friend Rick’s baby a few times in the past few hours, and the kid was still sound asleep. Maybe this was easier than he thought.

But Tulsa was getting a bit hungry, so he figured there was no harm in making himself a sandwich; after all, Marla did say that he could help himself if need be.

The black-haired soldier whistled to himself a little as he fixed his sandwich, thinking this whole “babysitting” thing was actually pretty easy.

He was about to find out how wrong he was. Just as he went to take a bite of his sandwich, he heard the sound he’d been dreading; the baby was crying.

Immediately, Tulsa started to panic a bit, not really knowing what to do. He quickly got up, discarding his sandwich on the kid’s high chair for the moment before rushing towards the baby’s room. He just hoped whatever the problem was could be fixed easily; he had no clue how to deal with babies since he didn’t have much family and was an only child.

“Whoa, whoa whoa. Just, just be calm. Calm down; actually, that goes for both of us!” He told the baby, trying to make eye contact with the little guy. “Hey, don’t be scared. Don’t be scared!”

If the baby heard his words, he either didn’t understand him or wasn’t paying attention; the child just continued to wail, not liking that this weird-looking stranger was here instead of his mother or father like usual.

Tulsa kept trying to reassure the baby, though it was clear he had no idea how to talk to small children; it was as if he was speaking to an adult. “Hey, your ma and pa will be right back! They just went away to get married!”

No response from the baby except more wailing.

Okay, he thought to himself, this clearly isn’t working. So, he decided to try and mimic what he’d seen some of the German ladies do with their kids.

“I’m your ol’ Uncle Tulsa! Let’s play, huh? Here, look, look look!” He murmured, bending down and making a funny face to try and distract the baby.

Just as he bent down to get on the kid’s eye level, though, he noticed a horrible smell in the room. Confused, Tulsa sniffed around for a little bit, before realizing (to his horror) that the smell was coming from the baby.

That’s why it was crying: It needed to be changed. Well, that solved one mystery, but it also created another problem; Tulsa had never changed a diaper in his life, and didn’t really know what he was supposed to do.

But, well…women did it all the time, so how hard could it be?

“Oh…okay Tiger. I see what’s wrong. Okay, let’s uh…let’s get you cleaned up, huh?”

Inwardly panicking, Tulsa awkwardly lifted the baby from his crib, trying to find someplace to change the baby (not even noticing the changing table in the room since he was too focused on the baby), before eventually settling on the kitchen table since there was one or two diapers there that Marla hadn’t put away yet. 

Once he’d moved the food out of the way and laid the kid on the table, he carefully undid the kid’s sleeper and removed his clothes, before grimacing a bit and trying to steel himself for what had to be done.

“Okay” Tulsa mumbled to himself, scratching his chin for a minute. “Looks like we just…pull these sticky tabs on the sides apart…this shouldn’t be too hard. All right, I think I just pull this down and slide it off and…GACK!”

Tulsa immediately started coughing and gagging when he saw the big mess the baby had made all over itself, plugging his nose with one hand.

“Ugh! Tiger, what the heck has your mama been feedin’ ya, huh? Did..did you eat sauerkraut before bed or somethin’? How does a lil’ thing like you make such a huge mess?”

The baby just started giggling and kicking his legs, laughing at the disgusted faces Tulsa was making.

“Oh, so you think this is funny, do ya?” He mumbled, looking wildly around for some help; he did not want to touch that huge stinky mess with his bare hands.

Just then, his eyes landed on a pair of kitchen tongs. Perfect!

Grimacing, he used one hand to lift the baby’s ankles and used the tongs with his other hand to pull the dirty diaper out from under the baby and toss it into the open garbage can nearby, accidentally dropping the tongs in the garbage in the process. Oh well. He’d get them out later. Or not; maybe Rick could use a new pair of tongs anyway.

Okay, at least that part was done. Now he needed to clean the kid off. After thinking for a minute, he went to the kitchen sink and turned it on, before picking up the baby under his arms and holding him in the sink’s stream to try and wash off the mess. The baby seemed to find this whole thing amusing, and kept kicking his legs as Tulsa waited for the water to wash the mess away, splashing his uniform with the tap water several times.

“Ugh, come on, hold still you little rascal! I’m tryin’ to help ya here!” Tulsa grumbled, knowing the kid probably didn’t understand a word he was saying.

Once the kid’s lower half was clean, Tulsa grabbed one of the kitchen towels and wrapped it around the baby to dry him off. “Man, you babies have it made; I would kill for this kinda service!” Tulsa complained to himself.

Okay, now came the last part; putting the clean diaper on. Once he’d put the kid back on the table, Tulsa reached for the clean diaper and tried to slide it onto him as the kid kept squirming and rolling around while kicking his legs; it was as if he didn’t want it on.

“Come on Tiger, just hold still will ya!” Tulsa grumbled, trying to tape the garment onto him.

Then one of the tabs ripped off. Crap. Now what? He thought. He tried to tape it on anyway, but when he picked the baby up, the diaper slid right off.

Just then, the baby giggled and started to pee on him.

“ACK!” Tulsa yelped, holding the baby at arm’s length and turning him the other way; he hadn’t been expecting that at all.

Tulsa looked at the large spot on his uniform in despair. At least most of the mess got on the table this time. Problem was, the kid had also peed on the spare diapers, so now Tulsa had nothing to work with.

“Ugh, okay. Now what do I do? Diapers, diapers…I gotta get diapers.” He mumbled to himself, before he had an idea. “I…I gotta get help!”

Thinking quickly, he used the kitchen towel to try and wipe the kid clean; the baby was now crying again from being cold. Picking him up, he ran to the phone and dialed the only number he knew; the club where Lili worked at. Once Lili came to the phone, he did his best to explain the situation.

“What’s all that noise?” She asked.

“Oh, uh…that’s the baby.” Tulsa replied.

“Baby?”

“Look, I uh, I don’t wanna bother you at work Lili, but, uh, see, I’m just babysitting for a buddy that just ran away to get married. And…and I’m in trouble!”

Lili smirked. “Oh, I know. You don’t know how to change a diaper.”

Tulsa just groaned. “Yeah. There’s a huge mess everywhere, an’ I…I don’t have any spare diapers, and the kid’s cryin’ and everything, he’s goin’ nuts, and…look, I’m telling ya Lili, it’s an emergency!”

Lili nodded. “I was just leaving here, Tulsa. Tell me where you are, and I’ll meet you over at your friend’s house. I’ll see if I can pick up some more diapers on the way; I should be there in about twenty or thirty minutes.”

Tulsa sighed in relief as he told her where to go. “Uhh…yeah, that’d be great. Thank you. ACK, no, not again!” He suddenly yelped, as the baby started peeing again and quickly drenched the towel and the front of his uniform as he held onto him.

Lili couldn’t help but smile; she’d taken care of babies before. “Let me guess…he sprung a leak?”

Tulsa just sighed in defeat as he hung up the phone. He could only hope Lili would get there soon.

[gaytotaldrama]

Since you asked about prompts, while I haven’t got to World Tour in my rewatch, the thought comes to mind of a Gwortney piece where Courtney believes Gwen’s claims that was the one who Duncan kissed her rather than blaming her for “stealing” him

thanks for the prompt! hope you enjoy

also on my ao3

"Uh, I saw Duncan and Gwen kiss!"

In just a few words, Tyler Tucker had completely ruined Gwen's life. She knew she couldn't really blame him - the guy was clearly under Alejandro's crafty spell. But if he'd just stuck around for literally two seconds longer the night before, he would know the truth of what had actually gone down.

Gwen should be so lucky.

Duncan was on the ground, out cold from Cody's sucker-punch to his jaw. Gwen couldn't care. Serves him right, she thought. I told him to fess up to Courtney himself, and now the jackass has dug his grave even deeper.

As Cody and Tyler began to take flight, Gwen realized with a horrible clarity that since Duncan was out of commission, Courtney was headed straight for her. 

"I hate you!" she was screaming, flailing like some sort of enraged marionette. The only thing preventing her from tearing Gwen's face off was Sierra's  - surprisingly expert, though definitely slack - chokehold. "How could you?! I thought we were friends!"

"We are!" Gwen exclaimed, instinctually taking a few steps back. "Courtney, you have to believe me, I didn't want - "

"Oh, sure you didn't," Sierra sneered as Courtney continued to wriggle in her grasp. "You've been all over Duncan since season one! It was only a matter of time before you tried any funny business."

Gwen stamped her foot in frustration, gritting her teeth together. "I do not like Duncan! I never have! I was with Trent in season one, remember?"

But her defenses appeared to fall upon utterly deaf ears. "You," Courtney seethed, steam practically pouring out of her nostrils like a raging bull. "Are so eliminated."

"Look, if I could just - " Gwen started in a panic, but by then, Cody had already won the tie-breaker, and the wave of relief that crashed through her nearly knocked her down to her knees.

Back on the plane, things weren't pretty. Duncan was still passed out somewhere in economy - was Cody's punch really that strong, or was Duncan simply prolonging the inevitable? In any case, Gwen felt terrible. She was being looked down upon by her fellow contestants. She hadn't gotten to say (sing?) all she'd wanted Duncan to hear during their boar challenge, hadn't let him know just how pissed she really was. Not to mention that the person who was angriest with her right now was the very person Gwen wanted to - 

Whatever. Like that was gonna happen now.

And yet, she knew she had to try.

Leaving the confessional (the lock was still busted, if this show weren't so fucking cheap, if McLean wasn't such an asshole, none of this would have even - ), Gwen steeled her resolve and made her way back to first class as slowly as possible. Cody tried to catch her eye as she entered the cabin, but she steadfastly ignored him, ignored the daggers Sierra was shooting her way, too. Courtney was curled into one of the seats, sobbing uncontrollably as Heather patted her on the back. If Heather was now appreciated more than Gwen, she didn't know what she would do.

"Courtney, please," Gwen said softly upon approach. "I can explain everything to you."

"I don't want to hear it, boyfriend stealer!" Courtney screamed.

Gwen winced, shook her head. "I'm not asking for forgiveness. I just need you to listen to me. Can we go out to the cargo hold or something?"

"What, so you can go spy and make sure Duncan hasn't been eliminated?!" At this, she fell prey to a fresh bout of tears.

"If you really want to talk to Courtney, then you can say whatever it is in front of us," Heather said, crossing her arms. "And if that juvie punk gets booted, then I say Good riddance."

"Fine!" Gwen threw up her hands, exasperated. "Fine, I'll just say this here." She hated to air more of her dirty laundry on TV, but that had always been par for the course with Total Drama. "Courtney, I didn't kiss him."

"Yes you did you little - "

"Duncan kissed me," Gwen all but yelled. Her cheeks burned shamefully at the memory. "Tyler didn't see the whole thing, but I pushed Duncan off of me almost as soon as it had begun. I didn't expect it to happen. I didn't want it. And when I rejected him, he got all grouchy and left."

"Oh, yeah, like we're gonna believe that!" Sierra shouted. "You stab Courtney in the back and then can't even own up to it?! You are soooo getting voted 'Least Popular Contestant' on my blog!"

But Cody, looking at Gwen with puppy-dog eyes, asked, "You're being serious, Gwen?"

"Yes." Gwen ran her hands through her rough hair, not even caring if she pulled out any strands. "I wouldn't lie about this. Ask Chris to show you the footage." She scowled at the floor. "And if Duncan gets kicked off tonight, I'll sleep as snug as a bug in a rug."

Silence, for a moment. Heather seemed about to say something. But then - 

"Oh my God," Courtney croaked. "She's telling the truth."

If Gwen had felt relieved when they won the Greece challenge, it was nothing compared to this. "Yes," she repeated, voice breaking. "I swear to you, Courtney, I am. I'm telling the truth."

And Courtney nodded, not meeting Gwen's gaze, her eyes rimmed with red. But it was enough for Gwen to know she believed her.

The others, however, weren't so easily convinced.

"Oh, come on, you two have always been close," said Heather. "If you're not into Duncan, then I'll marry Alejandro."

"I'm not," Gwen said emphatically. "So happy trails, Heather, you two will be perfect for one another." She turned defensively to Sierra. "And I guess you're gonna tell me you totally saw this coming and there's no way I'm being genuine, right? Because since you're an expert on this show, you must know me better than I know myself, huh?" When Sierra didn't answer, Gwen knew she had her pegged. "Ugh, you guys, I am not in love with Duncan! And, sorry, Cody, I'm not into you, either." At Cody's heartbroken expression, Sierra growled at her, but Gwen kept going. "Just because you all have complicated love lives doesn't mean I have to!

"You are so obviously into Alejandro," she continued, rounding on Heather. "But you won't admit it because you're too proud to own up to the fact that there's actually a perfect guy for Heather Hamada out there, and he's just as evil as you are!" Before Heather could splutter her way through a half-baked excuse, Gwen spun to level with Sierra. "And you - if you actually took a second to care about what Cody wants, you would know that you are always overstepping his boundaries!" She contemplated raking her nails down her face, so strong was her frustration at the people around her. "I won't deny that Duncan and I have a lot in common, and I won't deny that he has some sort of feelings for me. But I don't feel the same way. I was into Trent, I'm into Courtney, but I am not and never will be into Duncan!"

Finally, she broke off, heaving, throat drier than the stupid path to the Nile had been. She'd said her piece. She was finished, and if they still decided to send her home next time the Amazons lost, then she'd just learn to live with it.

But no one seemed angry anymore. In fact, they all seemed to be experiencing variations of different emotions, none of them hatred. Sierra's eyes were blown wider than usual, her jaw slack and her fingers twitching like she was itching to blog about something. Cody looked crestfallen, and Gwen felt bad for being harsh, but it had been three seasons and the guy still couldn't deal with the fact that she was never going to date him. Heather, meanwhile, was staring at Gwen with her hand pressed over her mouth and...giggling? It felt wrong to attribute such a cutesy word to the Queen of Mean, but there was no other way to describe the sickening sounds she was making. And Courtney...

Courtney was looking at Gwen like she'd just seen a ghost - and a real one at that, not Harold's stupid soccer ball-bedsheet combo.

"You," Courtney started and swallowed hard - Gwen tried not to track the bobbing motion of her throat. "You like me."

At last, Gwen's brain caught up with her stupid mouth, and she realized what she'd just admitted. Oh, shit...

It was at least a small comfort to know that no one would be asking her about Duncan again any time soon.

[brookstonalmanac]

Birthdays 9.22

Beer Birthdays

Lord Chesterfield; English statesman (1694)

Alfred Vinzenz Werthmueller (1835)

George Kennth Hotson Younger (1931)

Carlos Sanchez (1958)

Dave McLean (1969)

Five Favorite Birthdays

Bilbo Baggins; Hobbit character

Frodo Baggins; Lord of the Rings character

Michael Faraday; English scientist (1791)

Joan Jett; rock singer, guitarist (1958)

Tatiana Maslany; Canadian actor (1985)

Famous Birthdays

King Sunny Ade; Nigerian reggae singer (1946)

Scott Baio; actor (1960)

Eric Baker; English activist, co-founded Amnesty Int’l (1920)

Toni Basil; pop singer (1943)

Elizabeth Bear; author and poet (1971)

Shari Belafonte; actor (1954)

Maurice Blanchot; French philosopher (1907)

Andrea Bocelli; Italian singer-songwriter (1958)

Debby Boone; pop singer (1956)

Barthold Heinrich Brockes; German poet (1680)

Harold Carmichael; Philadelphia Eagles WR (1949)

Nick Cave; rock musician (1957)

Neil Cavuto; journalist and author (1958)

Ellen Church; 1st airline stewardess (1904)

Dave Coverdale; rock singer (1951)

Quintin Craufurd; Scottish author (1743)

Babette Deutsch; poet (1895)

Ashley Eckstein; actress (1981)

Will Elder; illustrator (1921)

György Faludy; Hungarian poet & author (1910)

Tom Felton; English actor (1987)

Grigory Frid; Russian pianist & composer (1915)

Philipp Nicodemus Frischlin; German mathematician, astronomer & poet (1547)

Theodore Hook; English composer (1788)

John Houseman; actor (1902)

Bonnie Hunt; actor (1964)

Ruth Jones; Welsh actress (1966)

Anna Karina; actor (1940)

Brian Keene; novelist (1967)

Charles Keeping; English author & illustrator (1924)

Allan "Rocky" Lane; voice of "Mr. Ed" (1909)

Tommy Lasorda; Los Angeles Dodgers coach (1927)

Paul Le Mat; actor (1945)

Katie Lowes; actress (1982)

Matthäus Merian; Swiss-German engraver & cartographer (1593)

Ian Mortimer; English historian & novelist (1967)

Paul Muni; actor (1895)

Catherine Oxenburg; actor (1961)

Peter Simon Pallas; German zoologist & botanist (1741)

Rupert Penry-Jones; English actor (1970)

Sue Perkins; English comedian, actress (1969)

Saul Perlmutter; astrophysicist, astronomer (1959)

Rosamunde Pilcher; English author (1924)

Billie Piper; English singer, actor (1982)

Arthur Pryor; trombonist, composer (1870)

Paolo Ruffini; Italian mathematician & philosopher (1765)

Martha Scott; actor (1914)

Elizabeth Simcoe; English-Canadian painter & author (1762)

Bill Smith; clarinet player & composer (1926)

Theodore Clement Steele; artist (1847)

Michael Torke; composer (1961)

Ken Vandermark; saxophonist & composer (1964)

Charles Waterhouse; painter (1924)

Fay Weldon; English writer (1931)

Billy West; actor (1892)

Ray Wetzel; trumpet player & composer (1924)