If it's okay with you, could you write a drabble about the hypothetical aftermath of Amane getting attacked by Kotoko?
Welp thank you pal for making me absolutely insane with this request 👍 I ran through a few hypotheticals and realized I had to shift some things around since there were so many absolutely tragic outcomes. I worked something out but damn if it didn’t make me emotional to think about how uniquely rough Amane has it. Even making sure she's in a good place at the end, this got pretty serious, so warnings for child abuse and cult references.
(So in canon, Kotoko goes in order and attacks Fuuta, but Kazui steps in. Then she attacks Mahiru while he’s distracted with his injuries. She’s about to attack Amane, but Mikoto gets in the way (my hc that he did it on purpose survives!). By the time they reach a draw, Kazui is back, and the two of them can prevent Kotoko from any further action against Amane. Sticking to this apparent system of three attacks and one rescue, I’m just shuffling around the injuries for this story. Fuuta’s attack went unnoticed, and he’s in the same state as canon Mahiru. Mikoto steps in before Kotoko can fight Mahiru, so Mappi’s the one who get out physically unscathed. While Mikoto checks on Mahiru, recovers himself, or discovers Fuuta, Kotoko is able to attack Amane next. Kazui comes to help, but not before she leaves Amane looking like canon Fuuta.)
Mahiru could practically feel her heart shatter into a million pieces when Amane finally cried in front of her. She hadn’t shed a single tear yesterday – it was the shock, Shidou said. Mahiru was skeptical. After all, she had been shocked, too, and cried plenty.
Amane woke as she came in with breakfast. She took a moment to survey herself, bandages peeking out from beneath her pajamas and an eyepatch securely over her right eye. As calmly as one might say “good morning,” she started to cry. Mahiru might have missed it, if Amane hadn’t wiped at her good eye with her sleeve.
“Oh, sweetheart…!” Mahiru rushed over to her. “It’s okay, I’m here.” She wanted nothing more than to wrap the girl in a secure embrace, but she remembered the mass of bandages that were around her chest. Shidou had mentioned broken ribs and bruises. It took everything in her not to cry along with Amane, at the thought.
“I can get you another ice pack, if you need. Or more medicine.” Her mind spun with ways to help with pain. Many of the first aid supplies had been used to keep Fuuta from the brink of death, but surely there were extras to spare for Amane.
The girl just shook her head.
She muttered, “I can’t… I…I’m going to be punished, I’m going to be punished…”
“No! You’re safe now.” Mahiru placed her hands gently on Amane’s arms. “Kotoko’s not coming back. We’re all watching over you. You’re safe. She’s not going to hurt you anymore.”
“That’s not…” Amane pulled away. Her voice stayed level, despite hiccups interrupting her. A hand reached up to her eyepatch. “It’s this. It’s all of this. It’s sinful. I took it off last night, but he must have…” She started unwrapping it. “They’re going to punish me...”
With a careful motion, Mahiru held it in place and took Amane’s hands into her own. She’d been picking up on the signs ever since they arrived here together, and a final wave of understanding washed over her.
“I can’t let you do that.”
Amane’s expression twisted, though words came out far more frantic than fiery. “Let me go.”
Mahiru didn’t. “I’m sorry. Amane, you need this treatment.”
“That is not your decision to make. That is not any human’s decision to make.”
Mahiru pressed her lips together. “I know. But I can’t watch as you… I can’t sit by again while someone…” She was careful not to apply any pressure, but she could no longer fight the urge to gather Amane up in her arms. “You don’t need to be afraid of those people, anymore.”
“I’m not afraid.” Amane hiccuped. “They love me, and I love them. I need to be good for them.”
“I love you, and I don’t want to see you in pain.”
“You just pity me because I’m young.”
“Why does your age matter? You are a lovely young woman – you are my friend – and I can’t bear to see you in pain.”
The two sat in silence for a moment. Mahiru doubted she would take that as an answer; Amane had refused to call any of the others her friend. At least she didn’t argue. In fact, it seemed she was leaning into the embrace a bit more. She sighed a shaky breath into Mahiru’s uniform.
“Listen, Amane. Can you do me a favor? I’m trying to be a good girl, too. To make up for something awful, I need to make sure you’re alright. Can you help me? Can we be good together?”
A long pause followed. Amane’s voice spoke up, ever so gently.
“I suppose I can consider it.” She added quickly, “for the sake of your redemption. Of course.”
“Of course.”
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i listened to the hamilton soundtrack and ended up with a visceral reaction to "it's quiet uptown" and this is the result. may or may not be turned into a full fic at some point.
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Joel tells Ellie the truth about what happened in Salt Lake City and she pushes him away, angry, unable to process it, so she puts as much distance between them as possible. Joel is at a loss of what to do, unable to think, work, anything, and he just ends up walking around Jackson for hours. Tommy is worried, watching him become tired and losing the glow he had gained since coming back, but there is nothing he can do to help. He can't sit around in a house that is full of Ellie, a stray sweatshirt over the back of his couch, elastics scattered over every surface, her books on the coffee table; his heart crumbles whenever he looks around and sees the evidence of what he has lost.
So he walks, quietly at first, but then he starts talking to himself to fill the silence following him around, a silence Ellie used to fill. It's whatever is on his mind, musing about taking up wood working, playing the guitar again, but eventually he ends up talking to Ellie, to Sarah, trying to process.
Days pass like this, Joel walking around Jackson until his knees ache too much to keep going, whittling away in his bedroom once his legs give out, falling asleep in a quiet, empty house, and without Ellie's light, he feels himself slowly wither away and cannot bring himself to care.
It's an accident the first time it happens, they are going in the same direction at the same time, and moving away would mean acknowledging each other, something Ellie refuses to do, so they walk. They are side by side with several feet of space between them for two very, very awkward minutes before they part, and Joel thinks about those two minutes for the rest of the day; hearing her breathe, live next to him sparks a naive hope in his chest.
A few days later, it happens again, a handful of minutes spent walking in the same direction, both pretending the other isn't there (for her, he does it for her, if she let him he would turn toward her and never look away).
Then it happens again. And again. And again. It stops being an accident, and no matter how hard he tries, Joel can't help but watch the sprout of hope grow and grow.
Ellie joins him for a few minutes each day, just walking with him before turning around a corner to go to whatever he goal is that day, not that Joel would know. After a week of five minute walks each day, she eventually opens her mouth, says something stupid, small talk, commenting on the weather like you would with a neighbour, a stranger.
Joel almost trips and falls flat on his face because Ellie is talking to him and the sound of her voice smooths out some of the lines etched into his skin. So he talks to her about the weather, soaking in her presence, and they keep walking for a little while, five minutes, ten. When they part, Ellie looks at him and Joel keeps his gaze on path, her face blurry in his periphery. She is not fully smiling just yet, and quietly says see you tomorrow.
Small talk turns into her telling him about her day, minutes adding up more and more with each passing day, and Joel carefully tells her about the trinkets and guitars he is carving, simple, easy topics that don't hurt. Joel breathes easier during those conversations, sleeps better, eats more again, and no longer feels like a giant part of him is missing.
After about two weeks, she reaches out a hand to stop him when she is about to leave, fingers brushing against his arm, and Joel immediately freezes, not daring to move or breathe. Ellie hesitates before gently squeezing his shoulder and leaving with a see you tomorrow, Joel and this time she is smiling.
Their walks become longer, and at some point, Ellie gives him an almost worried look, their eyes still avoiding each other in an unspoken agreement, and they sit down. She noticed his knee is hurting despite Joel attempting to push through it, his walking pattern changing enough for her to pick up on it, and they sit with a foot of space between them on a bench and just watch people move by. Joel puts his hand in the space between them, not even on purpose, his body just reaching out to her on reflex, and Ellie's hand inches closer to his.
She doesn't look at him, pinkies brushing when she pushes her hand closer, and they haven't talked today, not really, and Joel swallows the disappointment, longing to hear her voice but refusing to push, scared to break the fragile trust blooming between them. Joel looks at her while she looks at the sky and hears her say I never hated you. I want to try, I think, to forgive you for what you did.
Her hand is resting on his and she squeezes it before standing up, leaving him with tears threatening to spill over, and when she looks back at him she is smiling, a sad smile but a smile, tears running down his cheeks the next time he blinks, almost fearing that she will disappear. Joel watches her leave with the sun shining in his chest and a whispered thank you to the universe for, somehow, granting him a third chance after everything he has done.
The next afternoon, just when Joel is about to leave for his daily walk with Ellie, someone knocks on his door and he almost passes out because she is waiting for him, looking mildly uncomfortable, eyes everywhere but on him, and she mumbles I thought we could go to the stables today. Joel says yes because he would follow her to the end of the world and back, the stables are nothing compared to that,
They take care of Shimmer together, talking. The awkwardness gradually bleeds away, slowly, and by the end, Ellie stands so close her side is almost completely pressed against his, the warmth radiating from her expelling the ice weighing down his bones.
Joel looks at her, and for the first time, she looks back.
I thought, Joel says, and he is scared, so fucking scared, because this is Ellie and he needs her, I thought I could teach you how to play the guitar. I made one for you, he doesn't say, not yet, and Ellie takes his hand, says I would like that, and that night Joel cries because he knows she is finally coming back to him.
They sit on the porch that next afternoon, Ellie next to him, no more space between them, and he teaches her how to hold the guitar, how to place her fingers for the different chords, and just watches her play with it and figure it out for herself. His cheeks hurting with how hard he is smiling, and when he hears her laugh his chest constricts so badly he stops breathing for a while, heart swelling with a please, let me have this, please, let me have her.
Ellie lowers the guitar toward the end, and he made that one for her, too, but he still doesn't say.
You know, she bites her lip, nervous, but she looks at him. I was so angry at you for taking my purpose away. I thought dying in that hospital would have finally made my life mean something. But I think. I understand why you did it. And honestly, this is way better than being dead. Joel wipes away his tears, nodding softly, and he knows there is nothing he could tell her she doesn't already know.
She puts the guitar down and stands up, and Joel does too, and she hugs him for the first time in months, her body still fitting against his exactly the same way, holding her just as tightly as she holds him. His heart stitches itself back together and she leaves him with a see you tomorrow and a silent thank you. The house no longer looks quite as dark when he goes to bed that night.
Joel teaches her how to play the guitar, evening after evening, and they take all the strings and loose ends Ellie cut and knot them back together, weaving the fabrics of their souls back into one, a patchwork blanket that remembers where it was ripped apart but wraps around both of them just fine. After two weeks of light returning to his chest, his house slowly morphing back into a home with new shirts left hanging over kitchen chairs and fresh sheets on her bed, Joel hands Ellie her guitar with a soft I made it for you, finally no longer fearing the confession might drive her away.
Ellie just smiles, leaning against him with her head resting above his heart, his arm settling around her shoulders, and says I know.
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Okay, but I do have an AU version of that AU in my head where Dick Grayson returns to earth and manages to find Annabeth (and Thalia and Luke) living in the streets before they make it all the way to Camp Halfblood.
We can explore the implications of that for Thalia and Luke in a different post, but basically Annabeth still has to go to CHB for large portions of the year, she attracts too many monsters, but when she isn't there, Dick Grayson has unofficial custody for quite awhile while Bruce gets his shit together.
The crack fic version of that AU of an AU has Annabeth trying to manipulate her way into arranging a meeting between Chiron and Roy Harper because her brother's friends have been kind to her and if one of them is going to be an archer, they should be the BEST archer so that they can keep Dick alive longer.
No one is more surprised than Chiron when he actually agreed to give Roy some "pointers", although he trained fully human heroes in the Ancient Days.
And to be fair to Roy his brain is stuck trying to work its way around fact that his friend's little sister staged an emergency to introduce him to a man who's half horse. He's kind of mad, which, fair. That said, once the actual archery lesson starts and he realizes that Chiron really is that much of an expert, he immediately gets into it.
Which is how a panicked Dick Grayson bursts into the scene a few hours later, expecting something terrible has happened to Anna & Roy because Roy isn't responding to comms.
Only to find his best friend arguing with a centaur about some obscure fact of aerodynamics while Annabeth is perched nearby watching, legs swinging, eating way too many popsicles and occasionally calling out questions when her curiosity gets the better of her.
Dick isn't sure whether to be pissed, relieved, or just plain confused, but he for sure isn't letting Anna OR Roy live that one down for years.
And if he also gets distracted and listens in to some of Chiron's archery explanations, well, it's always good to know your teammates' full potential.
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thursday i got passed up for a job that was gonna completely fix everything i hate about my work, there were 3 people up for 2 positions and i was the one who didnt get it
and when i tell you I had it completely in the bag i really mean it
everyone loved me, i have a friend who works there who they love who has been singing my praises, everyone said to her they wanted me to work there really bad
and somehow still didn't get it
i almost hurt myself really bad about it
had to go home from work in the hurricane because i was about to press a clothing iron to my face
yesterday my partner got t boned and their car is completely obliterated
and they're extremely lucky to be able to make a full recovery and are mostly fine but i had to drive them to the hospital
took us 9 hours to get out of there
and today i got charged a couple hundred bucks for an appointment that was supposed to be covered under insurance
all for contacts so you can see my face better and
Not a single person at work has said anything to me about me not wearing glasses for the first time in 2 years other than how I look really tired.
because you can see the bags under my eyes that have always been there
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