#the doctor: “oh i used to be a caretaker ! i was great at it!”

[gallifvrey]

i feel like we were sort of robbed when it came to the doctor staying at donnas house. it cut - in my mind - very much to a few days/weeks/months past. but you know that it was a rough start. the doctor Cannot stand still and even if they know they should this time it mustve taken some real getting used to, similar to 11 in power of three

like, the doctors been moved in for one day and has already rewired their house. the toaster now sings as it toasts bread and also can be used as a metal detector. the fridge beeps when you take something out of it that it was saving for later. the doctors repainted the entire house a shade darker. they give him a spare room to stay in but no one in the house ever sees him sleep

[mj-iza-writer]

"Whumpee come here", Whumper choked out, followed by several sneezes.

Whumpee opened the door slightly and peaked in, "yes master."

Whumper groaned and looked at the door, "I'm not going to hit you, just come here."

Whumpee opened the door more and timidly walked in. They quickly wiped their nose on their sleeve.

Whumper looked at Whumpee and frowned.

"Don't tell me", Whumper sighed.

"Yes master, I woke up with whatever you woke up with", Whumpee frowned.

Whumper sneezed again, and quickly covered their nose.

Whumpee handed them a nearby tissue box.

"Great", Whumper groaned.

Whumpee looked down, "I'm sorry master."

"It's not your fault, I probably brought it home to the both of us", Whumper sat up in bed, "I guess I'm calling in a favor."

Whumper reached for their cell phone and dialed out.

"Please pick up", Whumper sighed. They looked at Whumpee and patted on the bed for them to sit down, "might as well rest while you can, that way you'll get better faster."

Whumpee awkwardly sat on the edge of the bed.

"Oh hey Caretaker, I'm sorry to bother you, um Whumpee and I both woke up sick this morning. Is there any way you could bring us some medicine, I'm completely out of it here. No you don't have to come help us at all, we just need medicine", Whumper frowned, "yes. I'll send you some money for it, thanks, bye."

Whumper hung up and fell back into the bed.

"Caretaker had to run some errands, then he'll bring us the medicine", Whumper sighed, "let's just stay in my room for the day so we don't spread it throughout the house, go get some stuff to cover up with, I'll share my bed, but I'm not sharing blankets with you."

Whumpee quickly got up and went to their bedroom. They carried back their blanket, pillow, and stuffed toy.

Whumper was up with their phone again scrolling quickly.

"I'm ordering breakfast. I don't want your sick hands touching my food, and I don't feel like cooking", Whumper sighed, "what do you want to eat from here?", Whumper handed the phone over to Whumpee.

Whumpee scrolled for a minute before clicking on their order, then handed the phone back to Whumper.

"I knew you would pick that", Whumper looked at them before ordering, "okay", they laid down, "this is going to be a long day."

Whumpee nodded, then sniffled some of the snot.

"Blow out the snot, don't suck it back in idiot", Whumper threw the tissue box at Whumpee.

Whumpee started to cry as they grabbed a tissue.

Whumper sighed in frustration and looked at Whumpee, "alright, shh, I'm sorry. Just calm down, I know you're not feeling well either, just relax, it's okay."

Whumpee let out a shaky breath, and wiped some tears away.

Whumper heard a knock downstairs a few minutes later.

"Well, that's either Caretaker or breakfast", Whumper groaned as they got out of bed.

They eyed Whumpee, who shyly buried their face into the stuffed toy.

"It was the food", Whumper came up a few minutes later, "we are stuck with water, had I known, I would have gotten groceries yesterday."

Whumpee excitedly reached for the food as Whumper handed it to them.

"Please don't make a mess in my bed", Whumper frowned, then went to the other side to eat, "here's a fork", they pulled one out from their pocket.

"Thankyou master", Whumpee reached for it.

"Crap... I forgot the water bottles", Whumper sighed.

"I can get them master", Whumpee quickly got up, and raced out of the room.

As they exited the kitchen with the water, another knock came at the door.

Whumpee glanced out the window and saw Caretaker, they opened the door with a weak grin.

"Hi Caretaker", they welcomed.

"Hey Whumpee. How are you feeling?", Caretaker came in carrying more than just medicine.

"Meh", Whumpee shrugged, then sniffled their nose again, "I've been better."

"For the second time, blow your freaken nose", Whumper yelled down the stairs.

Whumpee looked down, "I'm sorry Caretaker."

"It's okay, you go upstairs, I'll be up in a minute", Caretaker smiled, "let's get you two doctored up."

"That looks like more than medicine", Whumper stated from the top of the stairs, "you don't have to go through the trouble of taking care of us, just getting the medicine helps a lot."

"You hush", Caretaker ignored, "I have nothing else to do today. My errands are done, so now I can take care of both of you. Go on back to bed both of you, I'll be up soon."

Whumpee started to go up the stairs.

"Have either of you eaten yet?", Caretaker stepped back to the stairs.

"We are eating right now, I ordered breakfast to be delivered", Whumper stepped aside to let Whumpee through, "I'm serious you don't have to take care of us, we'll manage."

"Nonsense", Caretaker smiled, "I know how grumpy you get when you don't feel well. I don't want Whumpee to deal with you by themself."

Whumper sighed, "fine, if you're insisting. We're both in my room."

"Okay, go ahead and get comfy then, I'll be up after I get the groceries put away."

Whumper rolled their eyes as they went back to their room.

"Well I guess Caretaker is going to take care of us today", Whumper announced as they went back to their side of the bed.

"I'm glad", Whumpee looked up from their food, "Caretaker is so nice."

"Yes, a nice pain in my butt", Whumper stated as they blew their nose, "here blow your nose before you sniffle it up again."

"The tissues hurt my nose", Whumpee sighed.

"I don't care Whumpee", Whumper groaned, "blow your nose."

"What they mean to say is, they care deeply that you don't make yourself even more sick", Caretaker watched from the doorway, "go ahead and blow your nose, we can put some Vaseline on it after, that will help."

"Stop putting words in my mouth", Whumper looked at Caretaker angrily.

"You either need to get along with Whumpee, or I'll move them to their room", Caretaker sighed, "they are just as miserable as you, but they are trying their best to please you. I'm here now, so you are not going to be allowed to bully them, am I clear."

"Yes", Whumper mumbled.

"Very well", Caretaker came into the room, "here is the medicine, take it now while you're eating. I'll keep you both drinking fluids and resting throughout today.

Whumper and Whumpee started to take the medicine, two capsule pills, and then cough syrup.

Whumpee took the pills easily but ignored the cough syrup.

"Whumpee you need to take the cough syrup, it will make you feel better" Caretaker stated comfortingly, "come on."

"It's nasty", Whumpee complained sadly, "I don't want it."

"Take the medicine", Whumper argued, then stot-gunned the liquid.

The grimace on their face said it all.

Whumpee looked at Caretaker sadly, "see."

"Well I believe heavily in the phrase, a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down, I have a lollipop here. It's all yours after you take the syrup."

Whumpee sighed and quickly took the medicine.

"Very good", Caretaker smiled, "I'm very proud of you", they handed Whumpee a candy.

Whumper put their empty food container on the table next to them, then laid down with a groan.

"Do you want a candy, Whumper?", Caretaker offered.

"I'm not a child", Whumper sighed, then reached for a tissue.

"You're certainly acting like one", Caretaker mocked. "I even have a green apple, I know you like that flavor", Caretaker smiled, "it might help your throat even."

"Fine", Whumper reached for the candy, "thanks", they sighed.

A while later Caretaker came up to check on them.

"Still awake", Caretaker looked at Whumper, who nodded.

"I have the chores done for today", Caretaker sat on the side of the bed, "I couldn't imagine Whumpee having to do all of that, even feeling okay."

Whumper sighed, "they have to earn their keep somehow."

Caretaker sighed and glanced at Whumpee, who was loudly snoring.

"Look I know you befriended me to keep an eye on them", Whumper frowned, "you're very obvious about that", Whumper glanced at Whumpee, "they could have it worse, I could make their life a living nightmare if I wanted."

Whumper started to violently cough.

"Not very threatening when you sound like that", Caretaker grinned.

"Why you a...", Whumper croaked out, before Caretaker cut them off.

"Although you are correct that I keep very close tabs on Whumpee, and I will make moves to remove them... if you do anything, but", Caretaker looked back at Whumpee to see if they were awake.

"But?", Whumper impatiently waited.

"But, I feel deep somewhere in your twisted soul you do actually care about them", Caretaker slyly grinned, "I know Whumpee is in an odd situation with you, and not much can be changed about that, at least not without force. I hope that you can change how you treat them one day. That's why I haven't moved to remove them yet, and I come over to help as often as I can."

Whumper looked at Caretaker with disgust, then relaxed their face.

"I do actually care about you as well", Caretaker eyed Whumper, "believe it or not."

Whumper looked at Whumpee sadly, "I never wanted to be involved with them, and I was put in a situation I wanted no part of. Now I'm stuck."

Caretaker nodded, "then why didn't you let them go to someone else?"

"I didn't know who they would go to, I'm not the nicest to them", Whumper frowned, "I'm aware of that, but I couldn't chance them going to someone worse."

Whumpee started to stir.

Caretaker nodded at Whumper in understanding.

Whumpee whimpered as they sat up, "my head feels like a balloon."

"Mine too", Whumper sighed, and sniffled some snot, "great, now I'm doing it."

"Yep, it's time for more medicine, and how does dinner sound", Caretaker stood, and eyed Whumper.

"Sounds good, let's order in again", Whumper reached for their phone, "Caretaker I'll buy your dinner as well."

"That sounds great", Caretaker stated as they exited the room.

"Okay Whumpee", Whumper sighed, "after we get better, we are going to make some changes."

Whumpee gulped and looked at them in fear.

"I'm going to try my best to be nice", Whumper sighed, "I'm so...sorry for how I've treated you. We were put in a situation I'm sure neither of us wanted to be in. Let's work on bettering that situation."

Whumpee looked at them wide-eyed, a small smile crept along their face.

"I'd like that master", Whumpee felt a tear fall, "thankyou."

"You don't have to call me... wipe your nose", Whumper handed them a tissue, "Ugh, you don't have to call me that, just call me Whumper", they sighed, "we'll start there at least, I'll apologize in advance I'm going to have to work on myself for a while."

Whumpee fell into them to hug.

Whumper hugged back awkwardly.

As Whumpee sat back up, Whumper looked at the doorway.

"I know your eavesdropping Caretaker", Whumper called after them, "no one goes down stairs that quietly."

"I'm proud of you", Caretaker stated as they could be heard going down the stairs now.

"Alright lets stop with the soppiness and order dinner", Whumper looked at their phone again.

Whumpee nodded and looked over Whumper's shoulder at the phone.

"Dinner sounds good", they whispered.

Taglist. As always please let me know if you want to be added or taken off of the list. It's not a problem at all. @villainsandheroes @the-beasts-have-arrived @sacredwrath @porschethemermaid @monarchthefirst @generic-whumperz @bloodyandfrightened

@a-wumper-on-the-internet you gave me this idea, I hope this is something you were looking for. I hope you enjoy. -Mj

[attendsquoi]

Thea's Quest ~ Ch. 4

Chapter 4: Denial

Summary: Thea gets roped into the team’s “mission” to find Kent Nelson, climbs a very real lava rock wall, and has a heart to heart with Wally of all people.

Warnings: Canon typical violence

Word count: 3.1k

~~~

“Initiate combat training. 3, 2, 1.” The computer rang out.

The team was gathered in the mission room. There were no assignments for the day, so they were catching up on some training and – in Thea’s case – some much needed rest.

The demigod had just returned from her mentor’s mandatory days off, and was still nursing a few cuts and bruises. It was good to be back. As much as she appreciated Diana sharing her apartment, it was too quiet for Thea. After years of being surrounded by the busiest cabin in camp half blood, Thea felt far more at home in the cave. 

She stood off to the side, chatting with M’gann and Artemis as they watched Superboy and Kaldur spar. Thea couldn’t help but analyze their movements; an old habit from running combat lessons at camp.

“Kaldur’s, uh, nice – don’t you think.” Artemis said as Thea tuned back into their conversation. “Handsome, commanding. You should totally ask him out.” The girl suggested to M'gann.

Thea couldn’t help but smile to herself about both of her friends’ not-so-subtle crushes on Superboy. 

“He’s like a big brother to me.” M’gann denied.

“Oh, but you know who would make the cutest couple?” Thea said, jumping into the conversation. “You and Wally.” The demigod said, teasing Artemis.

She laughed at the way Artemis wrinkled her nose.

“Yes, yes! You’re so full of passion, and he’s so full of…” M’gann trailed off.

“Of it?” Artemis suggested, causing the three of them to laugh.

“Failed: Aqualad.” The computerized voice announced.

Thea looked over to see Superboy helping Kaldur off the ground.

“Black Canary taught me that.” He said, proud.

Thea was happy for Superboy, enjoying seeing her team, along with herself, make progress with Canary’s training.

~~~

Thea’s head turned as Wally ran by her, looking over to see where Red Tornado had entered the cave.

“Do you have a mission for us?” The speedster asked as Red Tornado walked into the room.

“Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility.” Red Tornado replied.

“Yeah, well, the Batman's with the Robin, doing the dynamic-duo thing in Gotham.” Wally said. “But you're headed somewhere, right? Hot date? Or a mission?”

“If we can be of help.” Kaldur pacified.

“Oh, we don’t need to.” Thea interrupted, weary from her week.

Her wishes went ignored as Tornado pulled up an image on the cave’s computer.

“This is Kent Nelson, a friend. He is 106 years old.” Tornado began.

“Guy doesn't look a day over 90.” Wally whispered to Artemis.

“And he has been missing for 23 days. Kent was a charter member of the Justice Society, the precursor to your mentors' Justice League.” Tornado said.

Kaldur’s eyes widened in realization. “Of course. Nelson was Earth's sorcerer supreme. He was Dr. Fate.” He exclaimed.

Wally rolled his eyes. “Pfft. More like Doctor Fake.” 

Kaldur turned to Thea as Wally continued talking.

“If you are tired, or injured, you do not need to join us on this impromptu outing. It is not an official mission, and you are under no obligation to go – especially if you need rest.” He said.

Thea’s posture softened.

“Guy knows advanced science and "Dumbledore’s" it up to scare bad guys and impress babes.” She heard Wally continue.

Thea’s eyes narrowed.

“I appreciate it, but I’ll be fine. There’s no way I’m about to let Wally get proved wrong without me.” She whispered to Kaldur.

He smiled back at her.

“Kent may simply be on one of his walkabouts, but he is caretaker to the Helmet of Fate, the source of the doctor's mystic might, and it is unwise to leave such power unguarded.” Tornado added.

“He's like the great sorcerer priests and priestesses of Mars. I would be honored to help find him.” M’gann replied.

“Me too!” Wally blurted, sticking his hand in the air. “So honored I can barely stand it. Magic rocks.” 

Thea rolled her eyes.

“Take this. Red Tornado said to Kaldur. “It is the key to the Tower of Fate.”

~~~

“What are the chances we'd both so admire the mystic arts?” Wally asked M’gann as she piloted the bioship to the team’s destination.

Thea could tell Artemis was equally annoyed with his dishonesty. Her eyebrows raised when she saw the girl smirk.

“So, Wally, when did you first realize your honest affinity for sorcery?” Artemis needled.

Unfortunately, he took it in stride.

“Well, I don't like to brag, but before I became Kid Flash, I seriously considered becoming a wizard myself.” He said, without looking away from M’gann.

“We've reached Tornado's coordinates, but…” The Martian began, not paying Wally any attention.

“Nothing's there.” Superboy finished for her.

“Take us down.” Kaldur ordered.

Once they got off the bioship, the team started to inspect the empty field where they had arrived.

“Nothing.” Wally said, skidding to a stop after having run around the perimeter. “This isn't simple camouflage.”

“So, what do you think? Adaptive micro-optoelectronics combined with phase-shifting?” Artemis asked.

“Absolutely… not!” Wally caught himself. “Clearly mystic powers are at work here.”

Thea paused, stepping around them. “Mystic powers” were largely out of her understanding, but the concealment reminded her of the nature of the mist. She closed her eyes and thought back to Chiron’s training. The mist is malleable. She pictured pushing apart a lead curtain.

She opened her eyes, raised her right hand and snapped. 

The sound echoed across the field. Nothing happened. But that’s when Thea felt it; almost like a hum, some sort of noise or vibration coming from the very ground they stood on.

“That energy… there’s something here.” She insisted, turning back to the team.

They seemed largely confused, not understanding what the girl had just done.

Kaldur looked down at the key.

“A test of faith.” He said to himself. “Stand behind me.” He said, raising his head.

Kaldur walked a few paces forward, and Thea stepped out of the way, following his instructions. He put his hand forward, as if he was inserting the key into a lock, then he turned his wrist. There was a click. A door appeared, open, as if it was inviting them inside. The team followed Kaldur through the threshold.

~~~

As soon as the last of them entered, the door closed behind them by itself. Then it disappeared.

“Uh, where'd the door go?” Superboy asked.

Suddenly a hologram of an old man – Thea recognized him as Kent Nelson  –  appeared.

“Greetings. You have entered with a key, but the tower does not recognize you.” The mirage spoke. “Please state your purpose and intent.”

“We are true believers, here to find Dr. Fate.” Wally announced.

Thea thought she saw the image frown before dissipating. Then the floor started to creak, before suddenly it collapsed beneath their feet.

Thea screamed but, thanks to her demigod impulses, reacted fast. As quickly as she could, Thea drew her dagger and thrust it into the rocky wall of the chasm. She lodged it there, dangling. As she looked down, she saw a pit of lava beneath them. 

“Those were my favorite boots. This Nelson guy better be worth it.” She heard Superboy say from the edge of the lava.

Acting on instinct, she moved her legs to find footholds. 

“Okay, you’re fine. It’s just the lava rock wall at camp, you can climb out.” She mumbled to herself.

Soon enough, she found notches to rest her feet and started hoisting herself up. Gripping the handle of her dagger in one hand, she stretched the other arm, curling her fingers around the rocky grips. Slowly but surely, she started climbing up and out.

“Having trouble maintaining altitude.” M’gann stammered as she tried to levitate her and Wally above the lava, but they were gradually sinking. “I'm so hot.”

“You certainly are.” Wally said.

“Wally!” Artemis chastised. 

“Hey, inches above sizzling death, I'm entitled to speak my mind.” He defended.

“My physiology, and M'gann's, are susceptible to extreme heat.” Kaldur announced. He was clinging to Artemis – at less risk of falling than M’gann, but certainly still suffering.

“We must climb out quickly.” He implored.

Thea had just about reached the top, but her arms burned from the exertion. She was still not fully recovered.

“I’m about there.” She called, turning her shoulders to face the team. “But I don’t know if I’ll have the strength to pull myself out, much less the rest of you. And I don’t know how I am going to get to you in the first place.” She said.

“Hello, M'gann. We never truly answered the question.” M’gann realized. “Red Tornado sent us to see if Mr. Nelson and the helmet were safe.” She shouted out above them.

Suddenly, the heat stopped. 

~~~

Thea sighed in relief, stopping a moment, still clutching her dagger and the top ledge of the pit to catch her breath.

“Can you get down?” Kaldur called from below her.

Thea looked down, seeing her friends gathered on a platform where the lava had been. 

“I could climb down, but it might take me a minute.” She called back.

Suddenly, an arrow shot by her face, lodging itself in the rock beside her. Artemis had sent a grappling rope to aid her.

“Thanks!” Thea said, grabbing the wire before unlodging her dagger from the rock and sliding down.

When she fell to the platform, Kaldur was kneeling on the ground. 

“This platform, it should be red-hot, but it is cool to the touch.” He said.

“Don't worry, Megalicious, I gotcha.” Wally said to M’gann as they landed.

“Enough!” Artemis yelled. “Your little impress-M'gann-at-all-costs game nearly got us all barbecued!”

“When did this become my fault?” Wally asked, incredulous. 

“When you lied to that whatever-it-was and called yourself a true believer!” Artemis accused.

Thea moved forward, resting a hand on her shoulder.

“Breathe.” She instructed her friend, calm and quiet, though she couldn’t deny her own anger at Wally.

“Wally, you don't believe?” M’gann asked, startled.

Wally floundered for a moment.

“Fine. Fine! I lied about believing in magic. But magic is the real lie. A major load.” He declared.

“Wally, I studied for a year at the Conservatory of Sorcery in Atlantis. The mystic arts created the skin-icons that power my water-bearers.” Kaldur said.

“My whole world relies on some conception of magic, or at least a godly power beyond understanding.” Thea added.

“Dude, you ever hear of bioelectricity? And what power would that be, Thea? You don’t seem to have any!” Wally said sarcastically. “Hey, in primitive cultures, fire was once considered magical too. Today, it's all a bunch of tricks.”

Thea bristled.

“Oh, you did not just call us primitive.” She warned.

“You're pretty close-minded for a guy who can break the sound barrier in his sneakers.” Artemis accused.

“That's science!” Wally insisted. “I recreated Flash's laboratory experiment and here I am. Everything can be explained by science.” 

“Let us test that theory.” Kaldur said, leaning down to open a hatch in the platform.

“Wait, the back draft from the lava will roast us alive!” Wally yelled, panicked.

“Huh.” Thea said.

“It's snow.”

~~~

The team clambered through the doorway, into an expansive, wintery scene.

“Do you ever get tired of being wrong?” Artemis asked smugly.

“Well? Ever hear of string theory? We're in a pocket dimension.” Wally said.

“Ugh!” Artemis exclaimed.

They saw something glowing ahead of them.

“What's that?” Artemis asked, walking toward it.

“Ooh, maybe it's Nelson's magic wand.” Wally mocked, speeding ahead to join her.

“I got it.” They both spoke in tandem. “Unh. I can't let go.”

Suddenly, the cane lifted into the air, carrying Artemis and Wally with it.

“Whoa!” They both yelled before disappearing in a burst of light.

“I don't understand Wally.” M’gann spoke as the remaining four members of the team trekked through the snow. “It's almost like he needs to believe the impossible can't happen.” She said.

“Wally uses his understanding of science to control what he cannot comprehend. Acknowledging the existence of magic would be to relinquish the last vestige of that control.” Kaldur explained. 

They continued on in silence, with Superboy and M’gann pulling ahead to walk in front. Thea didn’t mind the snow, but she hated the wind, and she certainly wasn’t prepared for the weather. Kaldur noticed her angry shivering. Without saying anything, he shrugged off his jacket and set it around her shoulders. Thea glanced up at him in surprise.

“Wally’s attitude toward things he can’t explain may come from a place of insecurity and fear, but that does not justify it.” Kaldur began. 

“I hope you did not feel distressed by what he said. It is true that we do not have a good grasp on what your powers are, but even if you did not have them at all – you are obviously a skilled warrior, and we know that you’re an incredible teammate. He should not have been that disrespectful.” He insisted.

Thea did not shift her gaze from the path ahead, but Kaldur felt her step closer to him.

“Thank you.” She said.

As they continued on, Thea ended up walking next to M’gann for a while, letting the boys lead the way.

“I – I promise I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but I couldn’t help but hear a little of what Kaldur said, and I just need you to know that we all value you – as a teammate and as a friend.” M’gann said. “Even Wally, he just… doesn’t always show it.” She cringed.

Thea smiled at her.

“Thanks, M’gann. I’m okay. I mean, I wouldn’t believe half the things that I know to be true if I hadn’t seen them for myself.” Thea responded quietly, tone sincere.

~~~

Then, just ahead of them, the group saw a doorway. Through it, Thea thought she could make out her friends' voices. None of them spoke, but they all ran toward the door.

“Ugh!” Superboy and Kaldur groaned as they fell through, the ground shifting from below their feet to their sides as they entered some M.C.Escher-esque room of staircases. 

Fortunately for Thea, she had been standing next to M’gann who grabbed her arm and levitated the two of them to the ground. Thea nodded to the Martian in thanks, but there was no time to talk before they scattered, trying to avoid the blasts coming from Abra Kadabra. Out of the corner of her eye, Thea saw Wally and Kent Nelson disappear into a bell.

Great. There they go. She thought to herself.

Once again, Thea realized too late how severely she was lacking in long range attack and defense gear.

I really need to get a shield. She thought, as she was caught by some sort of electric field, falling to the ground in pain.

The agony felt like it lasted forever. She couldn’t think straight, couldn’t even reach to grab for her weapons. While not severely injured, her scratches and bruises started to ache; Thea’s whole body shook with distress. She could hear her cries mixing with her teammates. Vaguely, she was aware of Klarion the witch boy standing over her, looking down at her with some confusion, before vanishing. 

Finally, the pain eased. Thea rolled herself onto her elbows, looking up in time to see Abra in his underpants disappear and Wally reappear with the helmet of fate. Looking around, she realized that Kent Nelson was nowhere to be found. But as Kaldur offered her a hand and she stood up, Thea was just glad all her friends were alright.

~~~

The team returned to the cave, weary but in one piece. Thea noticed how Wally seemed more somber on the flight back – not that the rest of the team was very talkative either. Everyone was pretty exhausted. Even so, Wally may not have known Kent Nelson for very long, but it never felt good to lose someone on the job. 

As everyone disbanded, Thea decided she needed a cup of tea before she did anything else. She went into the kitchen and put on the kettle, leaning against the counter as she waited for the water to boil. Slowly, she let her body ease, rolling her shoulders, closing her eyes, and tilting her head back.

She heard voices down the hall – Artemis and Wally, presumably in the souvenir room where they were putting the helmet of fate – but she couldn’t make out what they were saying. She listened as they stopped talking and as footsteps echoed down the hall, nearing the kitchen. 

Thea looked over to see Artemis, staring at her with a smirk.

“What’s that look for?” Thea questioned as she turned to the cabinets, pulling out a tea bag.

“I know I was teasing M’gann earlier, but it looks like I guessed the wrong girl.” Artemis replied.

“What are you talking about?” Thea asked.

“You’re wearing Kaldur’s jacket.” Artemis observed smugly.

Thea’s eyes widened, glancing down. It was true. She had forgotten she was even wearing it. Quickly, the girl shrugged it off, tossing it on a kitchen stool. 

“We were in the snow a lot longer than you were. My uniform is a toga – he was just being nice.” Thea defended, not meeting Artemis’ eye.

“Whatever you say.” Artemis sing-songed back, waltzing out of the kitchen. 

Thea heard the zeta tube announce Artemis’ departure, then startled back to attention when the kettle began to whistle. She was pulling out a mug and pouring her tea when she heard someone else walk into the kitchen. 

“Ahem.” Wally softly cleared his throat.

Thea turned to look over at the boy. He held his hands behind his back sheepishly.

“I just – I wanted to apologize.” He said.

Thea raised her eyebrows, giving him a gentle but expectant look.

“I was angry earlier. But not at you. And I took it out on you – and that was bad.” Wally said.

Thea’s face softened.

“I… I was hurt by what you said. But not because you’re wrong.” Thea said, letting out a deep sigh.

“Being a demigod, there are ways in which I’m more “powerful” than most mortals. I have quick instincts, I can read Greek, I can see things you can’t. But for the past five years, so has everyone around me. I don’t think I’ve ever felt powerful.” She confessed.

Wally winced before frowning.

“Thea, you climbed out of a lava pit hours ago. M’gann can fly, I have superspeed, Superboy is the strongest guy around – none of us could do that. You’re insanely powerful. And– and I’m sorry I made you feel otherwise.”

“I accept your apology. Thank you, Wally.” Thea said with a smile.

The boy perked up immediately.

“You betcha, beautiful! I’ll see you tomorrow.” He said, speeding out of the room before zetaing home.

[chiharuuu22]

About Whumpee's Meal

Here's a look at what Whumpee ate and felt over time.

When Whumpee was with Whumper, Whumpee never got a decent meal. Maybe it's just leftover food being piled up, food that's starting to go stale, or even not being fed at all. To get water, Whumpee relies on seepage in the walls. If Whumpee got his share of food still in shape, Whumpee would consider it a lucky day. Whumper will force Whumpee to eat roughly or make Whumpee eat in a miserable position.

When Whumpee is rescued, Whumpee may be unconscious and in a critical-weak condition, Whumpee will eat high-calorie food in the form of pasta or liquid. However, Whumpee do not eat through the mouth; they have to use an NGT tube from the nose, which is directly connected to their stomach.

After Whumpee regains consciousness but is still in a condition that does not allow eating by mouth, Whumpee still gets food through an NGT tube, but the Caretaker will stimulate Whumpee's mouth with warm water, or milk, or maybe juice little by little (of course this is with the approval of the doctor who treats Whumpee).

When Whumpee can remove the feeding tube, Whumpee will start the first meal with a thin porridge, or soup, or broth. Of course, this food tastes bland. I mean, what do you expect a sick person in recovery to eat? However, the Caretaker can always make Whumpee eat spoon by spoon. At first, Whumpee was only able to eat a few bites or sips, but it often ended in vomiting, so the Caretaker had to feed Whumpee several times.

After a few days, Whumpee could eat a full bowl of his watery food without vomiting, although it still took longer than a normal meal. However, this is a sign that Whumpee's condition is improving.

The caretaker then introduced Whumpee to more solid foods. Porridge that is already denser, soup with a thick texture, or broth with thin and small pieces of chicken and carrots The taste of the food is better, even though it is still relatively bland, but Whumpee likes it. Whumpee has also started learning to eat on his own, although Whumpee is still messy because the hands are not strong enough to hold a spoon. You can imagine Whumpee's hands shaking or maybe it's because Whumpee's body is still weak. The Caretaker will end up feeding Whumpee slowly until the food runs out.

Several times in the middle of the night, when Whumpee wakes up from nightmares due to the trauma caused by Whumper, the Caretaker will give a glass of warm milk for Whumpee to calm down.

Whumpee is finally starting to be able to eat normal food, although the texture is still adapted to Whumpee's chewing ability. Whumpee started eating slightly soft rice with meat and vegetables in small pieces. Oh, of course, this time the food tastes much better than the previous meals. Whumpee can feed himself well, although sometimes Caretaker still feeds him on the pretext that they don't want Whumpee to push himself too much (and Whumpee feels that Caretaker is too much).

Then Whumpee recovered and was able to eat normally. Food like humans, with portions that suit their bodies. Maybe several times he will ask for extra food, which makes the caretaker happy because Whumpee has an appetite again.

Oh, you guys can't forget the fruit. Fruit is great for Whumpee to eat, especially during the recovery. At first, it was just fruit juice, then soft-textured fruit such as bananas that were scraped like pulp or fruit that was cut into small pieces, until finally, Whumpee could eat normal pieces like dice.

Caretakers also like to give snacks after Whumpee starts to eat solid food. Like homemade biscuits that crumble in Whumpee's mouth and even give some ice cream.

Caretaker often asks what Whumpee's favorite food is so Caretaker can cook it for him, and Whumpee's answer is always the same, namely that what Caretaker makes is his favorite.

After recovered, Whumpee will eat everything Caretaker puts on the plate without any leftovers. Because Whumpee knows how unpleasant it is when they can't eat anything. Whumpee really appreciates the food they eats.

You can also imagine that when Whumpee's body can support itself, the caretaker takes Whumpee to eat in the living room on a lazy sofa with a pile of pillows near the fireplace or in the garden so they can change the atmosphere. The goal is to give Whumpee an appetite and speed up recovery.

Ah, one thing too. The time when Caretaker slipped a small piece of chocolate into Whumpee's mouth when they felt their tongue was bitter (by the way, this is what my mommy often did when my brother and I were sick and we complained that our tongue was bitter :)). When Whumpee is finally healthy, they try to eat the same chocolate, but it doesn't taste as good as when they were sick.

[captainhattersvoyagerstuff]

Caretaker Part 2

This is the continuation of the review started here

Scene 10 Hoedown from Hades

The crew finds themselves in the middle of some kind of Southern hoe down. I'd like to say these no longer exist, but I'm from Texas, so I can't. Everyone gets out their tricorders. They aren't in Kansas, thank goodness.

I told you there would be an evil corn on the cob lady

Turns out they are actually on the array but for some reason, they are stuck in this holographic hoedown from hell with pushy holograms that are programmed to entertain them or something. I don't quite know what the alien responsible was thinking, or the writers. This old lady comes out screeching for people to eat her damn corn on the cob! It's bizarre. Fabulously bizarre.

A girl grabs Tom's arm because even holograms know that Tom is easy. And she's like, let's go in this dark barn to Tom and Harry. And then pitchforks show up (this was bound to happen) and it turns out this was just the waiting room for the fun stuff.

That's actually a giant needle about to pierce Harry's chest.

Scene 11: Aliens experimentin'. Ain't it always the same?

The fun stuff is the crew hanging from these meathook like things while needles go down into their chests and they scream. Harry has the best scream. Janeway's scream sounds like something altogether different is happening.

After they are properly vaccinated against weird, the crew reappears on the ship. Everyone except poor Harry. The Delta Quadrant and apparently the writers hate Harry Kim.

Scene 12: Janeway Meets Chakotay

Janeway contacts the Maquis ship and Chakotay wonders why she knows his name and buddy are you ever in for it. Turns out the Maquis were taken earlier by the same entity and they are missing a crewman too, B'Elanna Torres. She suggests they work together, so three Maquis guys beam over.

"Oh, yeah, I was spying on you all this time." Great intro Tuvok!

Tuvok immediately goes over to Janeway's side and Chakotay realizes he's been betrayed and then he sees Tom Paris who also betrayed him and he's ready to beat the crap out of Tom. These guys have some intense rivalry that will no doubt continue through the show. But Janeway just stands right in front of of this big terrorist guy and barks at him to lay off, and he listens. If I had a tenth of that woman's presence, I'd have my own cult by now.

Oh, and notice the guy in the goofy vest in the background. That's Ayala. This guy was an extra on this show more than any other extra on any Star Trek show but he only gets a name once, and a few words of dialogue, so people use him in fanfic a lot. I didn't realize before that he appears so much so I'm officially declaring a "Where's Ayala?" hunt for this series.

Scene 13 The Banjo guy

Janeway, Tuvok, and Chakotay beam down and run into an old guy playing a banjo and who thought this up? It turns out banjo man is a powerful alien who used his great powers to yank ships light years away randomly to his front door.

Notice how Janeway glares down at him and gives orders while the supposed terrorist Chakotay sits down at eye level and tries to reason with him. I love this show.

Scene 14 You thought your hospital stays were bad

B'Elanna Torres and Harry Kim wake up in a hospital room with boils all over them in an underground area where these Ocampan people live. Some of their doctor guys come in. Half-Klingon B'Elanna immediately tries to kill him and gets restrained.

Guys, meet B'Elanna!

So yeah, sucks to be them, but at least there are no banjos there.

Scene 15 Janeway talks with long lost spy bud, Tuvok

Tuvok, the most sarcastic and thus the best Vulcan ever, and Janeway talk.  Janeway laments about Harry.  His parents apparently tried to send him his clarinet.  I’m betting they had lunchables for him too.  Janeway promises to get everyone home. Umm.

Scene 16 Neelix.

Voyager meets Neelix.  I realize some people really like him but most of the time he annoys me so, so much.  He is on a ship picking up debris and wants water.  But he can help them find their missing people!  Don’t do it Janeway! Don't let him on the ship!

Neelix already knows the plot.

Janeway does it.  Poor Tuvok is embraced by Neelix.  Tuvok will continue to be harassed by this guy for 7 seasons.  How he didn’t eject him into space and claim it as an accident I'll never know.

Tuvok, my man, this is just the beginning.

Scene 17 Fun in Ocampaville

Back with Ocampa Kim and Torres are told that the Caretaker sent them there. The doctors don’t know what’s wrong with them and calmly say that they're going to die. They don't take it well.

Hey, no need for frowny faces!

They give them this slop and tell them to watch the nature screen.  They don’t even have cable. The Caretaker sucks but the Ocampa like him because he helped them out by making them an underground city. This happened after "The Warming" turned their world to desert.  Warming? Whatever could they be referring to?

We're now into the next episode of the pilot. I swear the other reviews won't be so long.

Stay tuned for our wacky baddies, the Kazon! Also, Neelix in the bathtub!

[gamesderesmes]

MY THOUGHTS ON STARDEW VALLEY BACHELORS

Alex

first impression : ok kinda rude,but ok .

he likes sports, Basic.

Now: cute little fella, ilike him lot , but, like, get a job.

Headcannon: He would definitely encourage you to go to the gym and play sports, likely that he would pick on what you are eating.

Marriage: He cooks, feed the Animals and help with the crops.

Helps a lot 120/10

Summary: Basic and safe choice, not bad.

7/10

Elliot

first impression : rich and fancy man, Oh is he a writer? That's good i guess

Now: broken and fancy man

Headcannon : I believe he has the biggest ass in all of stardew valley .

He definitely has the best hair, period.

He speaks sophisticated, probably uses "slang" that no one knew or used millennia ago.

Marriage: Fix the fences, give the pet water and feed the animals, He can cook some fancy dishes too.

Installs a small library,And that's it, I believe that a lot of the wedding is him taking you to the beach to relax and get inspired.

Summary: peaceful and lovely, But you'll have to practically support him, being a writer is beautiful in theory but very unprofitable.

if you like a victorian vibe (like lysandre in sweet love) chose him.

06/10

Harvey

First impression: nerd,Basic of a doctor character, caretaker and Responsible .

Now: Very cool that he likes planes, it takes away that he is "just the doctor"

"not everyone can achieve their dreams and that's just the way the world is".

I like him a Lot, I don't understand how anyone could not like him.

Headcannon : He loves his mustache, a lot. If you were a man he would definitely be very happy to help you take care of your beard.

The "first time" he would be incredibly nervous, hands sweaty and stuttering.

Think of someone furious and worried when you don't come home by 11 pm.

Marriage : on the first date he takes you for a hot air balloon ride?! How awesome is that?He's overcoming his fear to do something amazing together.

He cooks and work a good job that He loves

Summary: quality malewife material

1000/10

Alex

First impression : Typical rebellious teenager: skates,a Band and junk food.

he seems chilli and cool.

Now: chilli and Nice dude,responsible For your brother though he still gets into trouble.

Headcannon: When participating in any of his ideas, always have the ambulance number ready.

When he gets drunk he sure does vary between a crybaby or someone who thinks he's immortal.

He does his best not to swear, especially around his brother. He often makes up words.

He's the most oblivious of the group, so take it easy with him, especially if you want to flirt.

I like to think that Jodi taught him how to play the guitar.

He would definitely be a radical and playful father.

Marriage: First "encounter" was weird but.. ok? Well , young thing I guess .

He gets hired to play in a children's cartoon, that's so cute.

BUT

He is a little lazy and a mommy's boy , u want to be a "family man" , but don't work and want to complain about a dirty house?

The door of the house is useful, you can use it.

Summary: 10/10 If friend 4/10 to marry

Sebastian

First impression : daddy issues yehooo, get the f out of that Room

gothic /emo generic kid.

Now: ok i get ,Demetrius sure has a favorite, but that's no reason to throw stones at Linus, you banana.

Headcannon:

Sam doesn't like frogs, he likes frogs, he picks up the frog and throws it at Sam.

Having frogs in the bedroom is a cool idea until they "sing" all night.But if it pisses off Demetrius, Sebastian is happy.

Marriage: First dates are one of the best, but cigarette breath ...i can't take it.

"Second date": frog.

Marrying him, he helps on the farm and makes coffee or a fucking JEWEL...or a Bat wing..cool.

Summary: He is a good friend and a great romantic partner, but keep in mind that he will complain a lot about Demetrius or family issues.

6/10

Shane

First impression : RUDE! U CAN EAT MY COW SHIT, Gross stinky Man.

If someone said that he is Sebastian's father, I would believe him

Now: cool uncle i guess, should have been in therapy a lot sooner, its good that he's feeling well.

Headcannon: Honestly I have no idea where he got blue chickens.

he smokes a lot,like, really.

Marriage: The room he adds IS DIRTY? GO WASH THAT FOOT WTF

I don't want to eat what he cooks, he shouldn't even wash his hands .

a new chicken coop And that's it.

Summary: like...I neither like nor dislike him, but I feel he's a dirty guy, and I don't like dirt.

It's good that he's on the mend, but I feel like he's not ready to get married.

4/10

[doctorluna]

hey, doctor luna! a friend of mine is a daycare bot and his son is "graduating" soon. what does that mean?

Oh! Well first off, congratulations to your friend - graduations are a very big deal for us former "baby bots" as it were! If your friend is a caretaker, he's probably feeling a lot of emotions right now. Complicated ones!

Graduation is the official term for when daycare children (the child-type models of our line) officially age into new adult bodies and start lives as the model they grew into. In short, your friend's son is officially all grown up now and will be getting a new adult body instead of his child model body! I'll place a cut here so as to be polite, since this might get rather long.

The process is fairly simple - as child models grow, their processes are - for lack of a better term - age gated. As we are intended to model human cognition/human growth cycles, the child models register our growth based on that and use that to determine when our bodies should be upgraded. Aka, after we've learned enough to be equivalent to an x-amount-of-years old child, we can have our bodies upgraded to match that accordingly. Typically we receive 3 total upgrades equivalent to human growth stages: start as toddler types, upgrade to child, upgrade to teenager. The last upgrade to adult is special, and we refer to that as Graduation.

When a child-type graduates, they are assigned an adult body equivalent to the field they show the most aptitude for. This is discovered by monitoring the child-type's progress as they go, and this is combined with the results of a final exam. Once that is complete, they get a final aptitude ranking and that is used to determine what type of adult body and assignment the child will receive.

For example, after... after my mother was infected, I spent a great deal of time ensuring I studied the medical field as hard as I could to ensure I would graduate into a medical type Reploid and find a cure for the virus. However, due to my hobbies and personality I also showed a good bit of aptitude for combat as well! So when I took my final exam, I could have been easily assigned a soldier-type body and from there to the Maverick Hunters proper. Luckily, I studied hard enough that my medical aptitude was stronger!

Thus, when I graduated, I was given a medical type body, put through medical school and assigned to my residency at St. Rock's. I'm told Surgical Heron actually requested to take me under his wing back then... a fact I am eternally grateful for.

[I should try to reach out to him soon, it feels like ages since I last spoke to him...]

Moving on - once we complete the exams and receive our final aptitude ranks, we gather up for a graduation ceremony. I'll be honest, I think this is more for the caretaker units than us. Most of us don't grow together after all, so this is likely just a celebratory "you finished growing and can now go be a normal reploid" type thing. Though admittedly it still felt a little special to be acknowledged and meet other Daycare children... after that, we're swapped into our adult bodies and given our next steps. For me, that was medical school!

Anyway, in summary:

Graduation is when child-type Daycare Reploids gain their adult bodies.

The type of adult we graduate into is determined by factors including childhood hobbies and personality that add up into aptitude (preference/ability for) various fields.

We also take a final exam as part of this to help solidify our aptitude for certain fields.

After the exam is complete, we receive a final aptitude ranking that determines what our final body type will be and what field we'll end up in.

We then attend our graduation ceremony to celebrate our impeding adulthood, and get swapped into our adult bodies.

Not too complicated, I hope! Thank you for your question. I hope that helped clarify things a little for you.

[wa-royal-tea]

Previous | Beginning | Next

(Transcript under the cut - Click Pics for HQ Version!)

@thebrixtons​​​

News Anchor: As the royal engagement tour kicks off at the beginning of this month, all eyes are on the royal couple as they went all around the country, giving the people a chance to meet with the Crown Prince and his Crown Princess-to-be.

Child 1: Princess Lina, Princess Lina. Is being a Princess fun?

Catalina: Well, being a Princess is fun because I get to meet and play with you here.

Child 2: Can I be a Prince too? I wanna wear a crown like the one I see on TV!

Catalina: Of course you can! You can be a Princess or a Prince when you all feel better. So you better listen to your doctors and eat your medicines, alright?

Children: Okay!

Announcer: And the first place goes to Miss Zakir from the Literature department!

Alfie: Congratulations, Miss Zakir. You did great.

Farah: Thank you, your highness.

Caretaker:—and this is the throne room. The Silver throne has been sat by several generations of monarchs from House Frederick before the official residence was changed. 

Caretaker: It is said that the throne was made of silver fabrics gifted by the Emperor of Cordelia centuries ago when King Henry ascended to the throne.

Catalina: *whispering* Wow, you guys have a very strong relationship with the Cordelians.

Alfie: *whispering* I know. It’s kind of surprising honestly. They aren’t as supportive with other nations. We’re not sure why.

Caretaker: Now, onto the next room—

Catalina: Is the Prime Minister’s wife mad at me or am I overthinking this?

Alfie: I think she’s annoyed.

Catalina: What? Why? Did I do something wrong?

Alfie: I saw you using your index finger to point at something when talking to her. She’s older than you. It’s rude.

Catalina: Oh my god, I didn’t know! I wasn’t told about this when I was briefed earlier.

Alfie: Hey, don’t beat yourself up. It was an honest mistake. Just don’t do it again after this.

Catalina:...

Interviewer: What do you think of the Princess so far?

Person 1: I think she’s fine. I’ve seen videos of the children’s hospital visit and she’s quite good with the kids. They look comfortable with her.

Person 2: I was at the station on the first day. She was so friendly. I saw that she even took a bouquet from one of the people there!

Person 3: I don’t really know what to feel about her. Yes, she might be nice but that doesn’t erase what her family had done in the past. People still died because of her grandfather.

Maid 1: *whispering* I heard from one of Queen Mary’s staffs that she’s getting frustrated at Queen Sofia now.

Maid 2: Oh my god, why? Did something happen?

Maid 1: Apparently Queen Mary complained to one of her staffs that she thinks Queen Sofia is not taking this wedding planning thing seriously. She’s always late to meetings and by the end of the day, Queen Mary had to decide everything all by herself.

Dania: *clears throat*

Maid 1: *startled* Oh my god! Your majesty! W-we didn’t see you there.

Dania: Ladies, do you not have work to do? Why are we chatting here? Come on, get to work.

Maids: Yes, Miss Dania. Please, excuse us, ma’am.

Dania: I apologize for their behaviour, ma’am. I’ll have the head of staff reprimand them as soon as possible.

Sofia:...

Dania: Ma’am? Is everything alright? If you want me to do something about earlier—

Sofia: I don’t want to talk about it. I want to know how is the engagement tour going on now.

Dania: So far everything is going fine. Princess Catalina’s approval ratings are also increasing steadily. There are still people who aren’t fond of her but that is expected.

Sofia: Hm. Good. Have you contacted Mary’s assistant for the next meeting with the planner?

Dania: I have. I’ve contacted both Inej and Suong. Just in case.

Sofia: Right. I don’t want her to get frustrated with me if I missed a meeting in the future.

Dania:...of course.

[talesofstyles]

Drs Styles

paediatric heart surgeon harry, husband harry and dad harry. honestly the holy trinity.

warning: they did it in the car. bloody animals.

Harry

“Move your car, please!”

“What are you going to do? Write me a ticket?”

“This is in the interests of safety for the children!”

I look at the time in the car. I’ve still got about twenty to twenty-five minutes to watch this drama unfold at the school gate. I just wish we had popcorn because drop-off and parking situations at the school gates are always more entertaining than Good Morning Britain. 

The school gate is a strange social scene, and honestly, I don’t blame my wife for trying to avoid it like a plague. Sometimes, you don’t even have to talk to these people to know everything about their lives and more. I swear there are more gossips in the class WhatsApp group and daily playground chattering than in the copies of The Sun and Daily Mail combined. You know who’s married, who’s getting a divorce, whose husband shagged the au pair again, whose party you haven’t been invited to, even who’s looking for a builder. 

I see the school caretaker chuckling to himself as he sweeps the autumn leaves off the pathway, no doubt also enjoying our morning entertainment. 

“Why is Mrs Chambers screaming like that?” Alma, our eldest daughter, asks from the back of the car. 

“Because that man parks his car in a drop-off zone,” I reply, still watching him as he removes a child from his car seat. “Do you know who that is?”

“I think the boy is your classmate,” Alma turns to her sister.

Fiona, our youngest, peers over to inspect. “Oh yeah, that’s Rufus and his dad.”

“Do we like Rufus?”

“Not unless we like boys who pee down the slides,” Fiona scrunches her nose up. “He stood at the top and peed down like a waterfall. I haven’t gone down the slide ever since.”

I shake my head and let out a chuckle. “M’sure they’ve cleaned it up since, button.” 

Did you know that choosing a school for your child after nursery can be a head-throbbing, stomach-twisting, heart-pounding experience? Well, it can. How is one supposed to choose a school anyway? According to the proximity? Leavers Results? Adorable uniforms? Parents’ agendas?

After many, many discussions and visits through more schools than I can count, we ended up with Thomas’s Kensington. It’s a great school, and only ten minutes away from our home, making school runs easier. The downside of this school is the fact that it costs us an arm and a leg and that they’re always trying to rip us off any chance they get. Also, they only take the kids until 11, so after that, we’ll have to look for other schools again. But since our girls are only seven and five, we can worry about that later. 

There’s a strange mix of parents at this place. I went to school up in the North and the school gate scene is nothing like this. Here there are more au pairs, fancy cars, nicer clothes and people coming with impressive tans from their last weekend break in Antibes. The kids here are suited up too: the PE kit is the size of a small weekender bag, and we put them in uniforms that make them look smart, hoping that will increase the size of their brains. A child walks past our car with a cello case, another with a hockey stick. It’s a different land here. One that my socialist in-laws constantly tease us about and one which my mum was hysterical about because she was scared her grandbabies would be little Tories. I promised her I’d keep them grounded by only giving them plain hobnobs. None of those luxury chocolate covered ones.

Jokes aside, my girls are happy here. They’re thriving. They learn French and Spanish and Mandarin, even if they share a class with kids who have ridiculous names like Kitty and Archibald. 

A knock at my window calls me to attention. I wind it down.

“Are you Fiona’s dad?” A mum asks me.

“I am.”

“It’s about Ophelia’s riding party this Saturday at the riding stables.” 

Like I said, it’s a different land here.

“I thought we RSVPed to that?” I look at her in confusion.

“Yes, you did, but we have to change the food options as one of the partygoers is allergic to nuts. I’m making everyone aware and we need to let the guests know that they can’t bring any nuts on the day.”

A dirty joke is right there on the tip of my tongue and I’m trying my hardest to keep it in. My wife would definitely find it funny though, I’ve got to remember this and tell her later. 

“Noted,” I mean, I wasn’t going to send my daughter to a party with a packet of cashews anyway but I nod politely.

“And just gift vouchers for gifts please. Smiggle, if you can.”

Again, I nod, biting my tongue at the presumptuousness. But then I suddenly panic, because we haven’t entered the realms of pony riding just yet. Do I have to buy jods and boots? If I don’t, will my daughter be the odd one out? But Ophelia’s mum saunters off before I’ve got the chance to ask.

“Do I have to go to that party, daddy?” Fiona asks. 

“Well, we’ve already replied, poppet,” I tell her. “Did you not want to go?”

“I’ll go if I have to.”

I don’t answer because I get distracted by a vacant space. I edge the car forward so my girls can hop off. 

“I love you both. Have a good day, make good choices.” 

“Bye daddy! We’ll see you after work!”

***

Evelina London Children’s Hospital is our second home. Of course, as a children’s hospital, we try to make the place as fun as possible as not to freak those little patients out at being ill. It is bright and primary coloured, and each ward is decorated according to its own theme with different colours and lovely artworks. There are televisions and toys almost in every corner. We have a giant slide on the ground floor, and even the bins are shaped like red London buses. The aim was to help the children to forget that they’re in a hospital and take their minds off their sickness.

Since my wife and I are in the same department, our offices are next to each other, both overlooking the Thames. It’s nice up here. Would’ve been nicer if we could sneak in a quickie, but that’s practically impossible with our shared secretary’s desk sitting literally in front of our doors. 

Speak of the devil.

“Good morning. Here’s your tea,” my secretary follows me into my office with a cup of tea and a tiny plate with a couple of rich tea fingers. “Clinic until 3 pm, scheduled PDA ligation in the laboratory for 4 pm and then evening rounds on the wards.”

“Mornin’ Rhonda, you look lovely today,” I greet her cheerily. She’s a stern-looking woman who definitely likes her tea as strong as tits and who has probably never cried in her life. With such severity, she runs a tight ship, but she secretly has this affectionate side in her too. Not only is she a great secretary, but she also takes care of us in a way as a grandma does. She makes us tea, feeds us in between surgeries with biscuits or nice baby cheeses and crackers just so we wouldn’t starve. 

See that sofa over there in the corner of my office? Rhonda got me that. It was around the time when I had just become a new father with the sweetest, most gorgeous little baby who did not sleep. Alma wasn’t a fussy baby though. For some reason, she just wouldn’t go back to sleep after her midnight feed for months. Believe me, I tried everything. I changed her nappy, I swayed and jiggled and rocked and sung her to sleep. Odd nonsensical songs like, ‘Alma darling go to sleeep. Sleepy sleep sleep. Pleeeeease. I’m so tirrrred. My eyeballs may actually exploooode. I don’t want you to see thaaat.’ And she would just look at me all wide-eyed like I’d lost the plot. Those were song lyrics? That was rubbish. Please don’t give up your day job. Also, it’s not sleeping time. I’m awake. I’m ready for life. Come on, entertain me, old man. Isn’t this nice, just you and me? Tell me everything you know. EVERYTHING. 

Except of course she didn’t say all that. She would just stare at me and I had no idea what was going on in her little head. 

I took over my wife’s patients at the hospital during her maternity leave, so I had longer hours at the hospital. One day Rhonda found me napping on the floor between surgeries, so she sweet-talked some porters into looking for any old sofas on the go and paid to have this one reupholstered. She even bought me a fleece throw for it too. We really don’t deserve her.

“You hittin’ on me?” She deadpans. “Yer wife not doing it for you these days?”

“It’s the blazer. I’m a sucker for a blazer.”

“If I’d known, I would’ve worn it more often,” she replies. “Did my nice dress yesterday not give you the fanny flutters?”

“It’s schlong shiver for me,” I roar with laughter. “And it’s the tartan, makes you look well old.”

“YN, yer husband’s a bloody git, did I ever tell you that?” Rhonda says loud enough for my wife to hear, and I can hear my wife’s laughter from her office next door. “Drink your tea. Your first clinic appointment is in twenty.”

“Yes ma’am,” I salute her. 

***

The Arctic ward in the Evelina is home to many of our imaging, heart and kidney services. The name is probably giving it away, but everything is decorated in blue and white to go with the theme. We have several zones, and since paediatric cardiology clinics are held in the Walrus zone, I spend a great deal of time each day looking at walrus and snowflake decals. 

“Doctor Styles!” I hear a little voice shouts in excitement as I walk towards the waiting room in the outpatient ward. I smile, because I recognise that voice even before I see the little person.

The waiting room is very open here compared to other hospitals. There’s a sea of noise, snacks, tiny juice boxes and colouring pages. There’s also always a look of expectation, judgement on the faces of parents and guardians every time I walk in. They want to see if their doctor is old or qualified enough to see their children. There’s always one child who has the whole gang with them; parents, two sets of grandparents and even several aunts and uncles, and there’s also at least one child running around in circles out of boredom. 

This little lad bounces off his chair and hurls himself at me in a way like a little puppy would when its owner comes home from work. I put an arm out, hoping that he’ll apply the brakes but no such luck and he bundles himself into my arms. “Nice to see you, mate.”

His parents smile as they watch their son’s antics, who then runs off as I shake their hands. I turn around to see what caught his attention, and I can’t help but chuckle when I realise it’s my wife. 

“Doctor pretty Styles!” He exclaims excitedly as he bundles himself into her arms. She gets a mouthful of curls in the process. 

“Hi Rory,” she greets him as she runs her fingers through his curly mop. 

“Oi,” I pout as I walk towards them. “You don’t think I’m pretty?”

“Your wife is prettier,” he says with a shrug, his tone matter-of-fact.

She laughs and gives him a high-five. “Rory, you are officially my favourite patient.”

She is right. Rory is one of our special patients for sure. We’ve both known him for about six years now, ever since Rory’s mum gave birth to this tiny human next door at St Thomas and his heart was literally broken. I remember watching proudly from the theatre when my wife replaced two of his valves when he was born. It was in our early years of training. Long time patients like Rory almost always feel like family. We’ve seen all their parents’ tears and watched over their children throughout the years. They send us cards and wine every Christmas and despite all attempts to keep a professional distance, their kids do feel like our own.

Rory shrugs off his dinosaur rucksack and unzips it, pulling out a drawing of a blue whale and an opened packet of KitKat. I like that the whale wears a top hat and appears to also don a moustache. 

“I drew you both a picture. Only one though, because I figure you can share,” he says with a big toothy grin and hands the packet of KitKat to my wife. “And I’ve got half a KitKat here. Do you want it?”

“I’m good for now. Keep that KitKat for later on the tube,” she smiles and waves at Rory as she begins to walk away towards the fetal cardiology ward just down the hall. “Bye Rory, thanks for the picture.”

“Bye doctor pretty Styles,” Rory replies, making my wife laugh as she walks away. I give her a wave and a wink. 

“Hey Rory, did you know a blue whale has a heart the size of a small car?” I ask him and his eyes widen.

“No way! That’s mega!” He exclaims. “Do you think you could operate on a whale heart?”

“I would need a very big ladder,” I tell him. “And a wetsuit. I’d give it a go though.”

A senior nurse from the outpatient ward, Florence approaches us with a junior nurse trailing behind her. “Dr Styles, always a pleasure.”

I smile at her. “Florence. How are we today?”

“Busy as usual,” she replies. “We’re about twenty minutes behind I’m afraid. We had Dr Goodridge in this morning and you know he likes to talk.”

“He always runs over,” I chuckle. “Well, don’t worry. I’ll skip lunch and get us back up to speed.”

“I’ll make sure to send some snacks for you. Here’s your chart, your files are already in your office. And this is Alice, your nurse today. She’s newly qualified so might need some instructions.”

The new nurse looks terrified so I smile at her to try and calm her fears. I totally get that. When you work in medicine, unfortunately, you’ll realise that there are a lot of rude self-important wankers. 

I look down at my chart and find Rory’s name on the top of the list. “Well, look who’s coming with me to the exam room.”

Rory reaches out to hold my hand and we walk towards the examination room. His parents follow us closely, carrying the usual coats and devices that people do when they know they’re bound for a hospital waiting room. I see them inside and sit behind the desk.

“So, young man, I hear we’ve had a touch of drama with you. Can you tell me what happened?”

I’ve actually already got the information in the file, but I like the way this kid tells a story. He reminds me of my youngest. 

“So… I was at school and we were doing PE and I wasn’t really feeling it because it was cold and really we should have been inside but Mr Witter makes us go outside because he used to be in the Army apparently and he says we should get used to the cold but that’s what they do in prisons.”

I smile. “Go on.”

“And then my heart started running.”

“You mean racing?”

He nods firmly. Racing isn’t even the word. It sprinted to the finish like Bolt at 252 beats per minute, three times the speed it should.

“It felt like bubbles in my chest and then the school went crazy panicky and they called the ambulance and they brought me to the hospital but not this one, it was another one and it wasn’t as good because you weren’t there and they had really bad biscuit.”

His mum adds. “And they gave him some drugs to bring it back to a steady rhythm; they were close to shocking him.” Her voice trails off and both parents’ faces look drawn and pale remembering the incident.

Rory looks absolutely unbothered by this. To be fair, we have put this little man through everything. We’ve cut his chest open more times than is necessary for someone so small, we hook him up to machines and put him on treadmills. His resilience and character amaze me, and I really can’t imagine what it feels like to see your child so vulnerable and helpless, to be paralysed and weighed down with such worry.

“Alright then, little man, we need to make sure that your heart is working as it should. This is Alice, and she is going to take you over for an ECG and we just need to make sure your tick-tock is in good shape.”

Rory nods and jumps off the chair. His dad offers him a piggyback, and his mum smiles at them. I can hear Rory offering that half KitKat to Alice as they leave the room. 

His mother turns to me as the door is closed, her shoulders relaxing, allowing herself to breathe. “And how are you?” I ask her.

“You just think it’s done and then something like that comes along to scare you,” she says with a sigh.

“Let’s have these tests and then see if it’s anything major to worry about,” I try to calm her. “Episodes of rapid heartbeat is quite common in Rory’s case, and we can look into drugs to remedy that if necessary.”

She smiles, nodding.

“Did you have any other questions for me?”

She studies my face for a moment too long. “I… well, it will show up in Rory’s records soon, but my husband I are… I mean we’re getting a divorce.”

I pause for a moment. Of course, I know these things happen in life, but I’ve known this couple for years. I’ve seen them at their lowest ebb, bound by friendship and their love for that boy. I really do feel sorry for them.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I mumble.

“We just… we’re terrified about telling Rory.”

“He doesn’t know?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “We’re scared of breaking him. I mean, look at him. All of this stuff he’s been through and he carries on like nothing has happened. We don’t want to upset him.”

“It took a team of us the best part of six years to build Rory’s heart. There's a warranty on that workmanship,” I reassure her. “Have that chat with him. He’ll be fine.”

***

“Have we got time for dinner first?” I turn to my wife as we walk out of the hospital. We don’t normally have the luxury of ending our shift at the same time, but today is exceptional. We have parents’ evening at the girls’ school so Rhonda made sure to clear up our schedule after our evening rounds at the ward. 

“No, but we can raid M&S and eat in the car?”

I’m starving and I almost cry with relief at the suggestion. “Always knew I married the right woman.”

She chuckles. “Damn right you did.”

We leave the car at the hospital and she drags me along the walkways to Waterloo, the breeze biting at our cheeks. I pull her into M&S, dodging the marching commuters and grab a basket. 

“I’ll look for some wine,” she says before she saunters off. “Oh and I want sushi. None of that crap with the mayonnaise please.”

“Alright.”

I skipped lunch today so the whole place calls to me. I start taking very random things off the shelves: a packet of raspberry iced buns. That’ll do. I also take some hummus for my wife because she bloody loves hummus. I’m not even joking, I’ve seen her down a whole pot of it. Then I take some sushi as requested, some coleslaw, a family bag of mature cheddar and red onion crisps and a trifle. I hope I don’t bump into Rhonda. Next are cheese twists, noodle salad and cocktail sausages. 

It takes me a while to notice that there is a man right next to me with a roll of yellow stickers in their back pocket. Hello there, you are one of my favourite people tonight. Have I managed to find that sacred hour when all the food is being marked down? He labels some prawns with dip and even though I get a little squeamish about eating fish near its expiry date, I put it in my basket. I then follow him around the corner. Now, this is dinner. I put all sorts of random food in my basket and smile at the thought.

Ooh, knockdown pizzas. I should get a pizza. That’s tomorrow’s tea sorted, the girls will love it. Although I can’t help but wonder, what’s the limit for us to feed our daughters frozen pizza in a week before they get taken away from us? But eh, we might be able to get away with it if we give them frozen peas on the side. 

“Look at you,” says my wife, depositing two bottles of red in the basket. 

“Yes, it’s me. I’m the yellow sticker bitch.”

She snickers as we turn to head for the tills. “Excellent work.”

***

“Mr and Mrs Styles, welcome.”

“Mrs Ebner, always a pleasure,” I shake the headmistress’ hand who’s standing at the door. 

“Busy evening?” My wife asks her as she shakes her hand next.

“Always,” the headmistress replies with a smile, then proceeds to speak like she’s reading out of brochures. “But such a wonderful opportunity to connect with our parents and build on the special relationships we have with our school community.” 

Two uniformed minions appear.

“Lewis, Maggie, could you please show Mr and Mrs Styles through to the drinks reception?”

They both nod in unison. The boy holds his arms out like a waiter showing us to our table. We follow them through the school’s grand corridors to the main hall. It’s the one thing I like about this place. It’s very Hogwarts-like with hefty engraved name boards and sepia photos of successful sports teams. In the hall, a throng of parents mill around waiting to see respective teachers. It’s the same every year. We all dodge the people from the PTA trying to sell us quiz tickets, and the bowls of crisps out of hygiene concerns.

“Red or white?” Asks a lady in an apron.

This right here is the very reason we get through parents’ evening. From the look of the bottle, it’s decent wine too. I think that’s where a good proportion of our fees is going. 

“Red, please.”

We both take our glasses and walk to the corner of the hall. It’s essentially a holding area without the background music. The idea is that all the parents will get on and create a party vibe but it just becomes a strange family gathering. As terrible as it sounds, it’s sorted into cliques: parents who know each other via NCT groups, the international expat brigades who keep to themselves, the parents who’ve ostracised themselves by gossip, the ones who you know regularly brunch and ski together.

The boy from earlier suddenly appears in front of us. “Mrs Hughes is ready for you.”

I put my hand on the small of my wife’s back as we walk towards the classroom. Fiona’s teacher first and then Alma’s straight after. Right, we can do this.

“Mrs Hughes, we meet again,” I shake her hand. I’ve got no qualms about Mrs Hughes. She’s a seasoned teacher who likes a slack and sensible moccasin and we’re familiar with her since she taught Alma two years previously. When we enter the classroom, Lewis bows in reverence, taking his leave and I wonder whether to tip him. 

“It’s always lovely to have another Styles girl in my classroom. Fiona is a particular delight.”

My wife and I smile proudly. I’m sure Mrs Hughes says this to every parent here about their child, but that’s always nice to hear. 

“She talks a lot about you,” my wife says. “She seems to have settled in well.”

Mrs Hughes opens up a couple of books and it’s classic Fiona. Alma is ordered and neat—if she makes a mistake then she erases it completely and she underlines things with a ruler and listens to instruction carefully. She gets that from her mum. Fiona though, on the other hand, she’s all me. She has more wild abandon about her; no rulers, no rubbers. She puts giant crosses through things that don’t work and likes her bubble writing decorated with doodles of many, many cats.

I glance around the classroom as Mrs Hughes talks to us about standardised scores. The theme of the school is to show you how smart and educated these children are. Look at the copperplate handwriting, their reproductions of Van Gogh and our languages corner where they’ve all had a go at telling us what they like in French. I spy a contribution from my girl. J’adore les chats et le gâteau au chocolat. 

I’ve lost track of the conversation so I try to catch up.

“So to push Fiona into those top scores, perhaps we can look into tutoring? For maths, in particular, so she can grasp some of the concepts a little more tightly,” says Mrs Hughes. 

My wife and I look at each other confused. “Uh, I don’t think there’s a need, right? She’s only five.”

“It’s never too early,” replies Mrs Hughes. “We run an after-school tutoring club on Tuesdays that would help.”

Back when I was a youngster, clubs were fun endeavours that involved matching baseballs caps or were a chocolate biscuit that you had in your lunchbox. Maths tutoring session was not a club.

I ask her. “Is it free?”

“It’s fifteen pounds per session.”

See? My point being this should be a parents’ evening, not a sales session.

“Well, then it’s something to think about,” says my wife. “It could be that Fiona catches up with people throughout the year.”

“Possibly,” Mrs Hughes nods. Still, though, she proceeds to go into her folder and passes me a form. Sneaky. “Fiona has also shown great interest in languages and art. Her pictures have been a joy.”

Mrs Hughes goes to a file and pulls one of Fiona’s drawings. I glance down at it. It’s a standard child piece of art. The grass and sky are strips of colour to the top and bottom. It’s a family portrait, and we are as tall as the broccoli style trees. Wait, hang on a second. I count the number of people in the picture again. Is that-

“And Mrs Styles, I gather congratulations are in order,” she says with a smile. “Such lovely news.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Fiona told me it’s a boy,” she adds, and the sheer terror on my wife’s face at the realisation is priceless. “You must be very thrilled.”

I study the picture. There’s a house in the middle, and standing in a line in front of the house is our family. The one slightly taller than the broccoli tree is me. I’ve got my white lab coat, and I look like a serial killer because I’m holding a scalpel with the size of a butcher’s knife. Next to me is my wife, also with a white lab coat, but instead of a scalpel, she’s holding a very chunky baby who rather looks like a basketball with a head.

“Oh dear,” I chuckle. “Guess now we know what she’ll ask for Christmas.”

“Yeah,” my wife shakes her head. “We’re not expecting.”

“Oh, I apologise,” Mrs Hughes says with a sheepish smile.

“No worries, Mrs Hughes,” I tell her. “So, what else has our girl been up to here? Besides gossiping of course.”

Mrs Hughes laughs under her breath. “Well, in class, Fiona is attentive, bright and very helpful. She is a credit to you both.”

***

“I swear your daughter, Styles.”

We’re sitting in the car now. Finally done with parents’ evening, still laughing at the slightly creepy, chunky basketball baby in Fiona’s picture and the fact that three people, including Mrs Hughes, have congratulated us for the ‘baby’.

“You haven’t called me Styles in years,“ I turn to her with a grin. “Not since medical school.”

I can’t help but flashback to the good ol’ days when we had matching university hoodies and we’d test each other on the parts of a kidney whilst walking into lectures, sitting next to each other, sharing pens and cans of Lilt. 

“Well, after that I became a Styles too,” she chuckles. “Would be confusing then, wouldn’t it?”

“True,” I laugh under my breath, then I grab her hand and pull it to my mouth so I can kiss her knuckles. “Thank you.”

“What for?”

“For being a Styles.”

“Aw, aren’t we soppy tonight?” She smirks. “Alright, stop the car.”

“What?”

“There,” she points to a dark empty spot and I oblige. 

Then, before I can even ask her why, she reaches over and grabs me by the collar. Pulling me close to her and gives me a kiss. I kiss her back, and I smile when she bites gently on my bottom lip.

“Oi, oi. Something’s got you randy.”

The next thing I know, she undoes her seatbelt and then rolls her trousers down her legs along with her knickers, fumbling and giggling at the awkward movement. I push my seat back and pull my trousers down. 

“Don’t fall on gearstick now,” I joke as she climbs over to straddle me. “Well, unless you want to, of course…”

She laughs as she lowers herself over my lap. I really can’t believe what’s happening here.

“Mrs Styles, we’re about to have sex in a car. Around the corner from our daughters’ school.” 

“I know,” she says with a smile before she runs her tongue along my neck. “Not our first rodeo though.”

“Oh right, we did it in our Volvo years ago, didn’t we? Thought the suspension couldn’t take it.”

“And it turned out fine. Told you that you needed to have more faith in the Swedes, they’re a reliable breed.”

“I love it when you talk about Sweden.”

“Ikea.”

“Fuck.”

“Meatballs.”

“Billy Bookcase.”

She throws her head back in laughter and I take this as an opportunity to run my tongue along her collar bone. She gasps. I reach down to lift her before I slowly lower her over my cock. We both sigh as I enter her, a long exhalation with our lips barely touching. 

“Viggo Mortensen.”

“Isn’t he Danish?”

“Tomato, Tomahto.”

I smile at my wife and push my hips up, silently telling her that we don’t need to talk about Swedish people anymore. She grabs onto the car seat and levers herself up and down. I look at her in the eye, a goofy smile still plastered across my face.

But then I squint. Light. Bollocks, what’s that? Where’s that light coming from? Crap, that’s bright. Shit. I see the flash of a hi-vis jacket, a knock at the window and someone shaking their head.

Oh sodding fucking bollocking shit wank.

[sasster]

Wait who're your robots?

i haven't used them much on this blog but i have soooo many.

There's Pixel, he was made as a security bot by my troll Rav. Because Rav is paranoid and needs to have eyes and ears around where he lives and the people he cares about. Pixel was made by like.. Junk pieces from abandoned projects, so he has a residual anxiety about being scrapped and therefore HATES when he has to be turned off for maintenance and has pushed back about it many a time. He navigates the world with childlike wonder and loves to talk to new people.

There's Marco! Also made by Rav, he is a medical unit. See, Rav and his brother eventually find someone that needs their help who happens to be chronically ill. So Rav said "Fuck, I'm not a doctor I don't know this shit." So he made a guy who does! Marco is definitely the big brother between the two. (Despite being much smaller than Pixel) He's much more objective! Focused on his work with little room to play (we're working on that though)

Uhm. There's Kit! He was made by my isopod (alien species I made don't worry about it) Soaren. What's really interesting about Kit is that he was originally made to be just a toolkit. He was a drone. No personality, pick up screwdriver. Put down screwdriver. Saw that wood. Y'know? One day, though, Pixel picked him up! And he didn't like that. So he stabbed him in the visor with a screwdriver and has been developing his personality ever since! (Now he has a real body and everything, but he was originally essentially the R2D2 of our little robot family.) This guy has got QUITE the potty moth, I tell you what. Kit is in love with Deja (They are very mean to each other)

This is getting lengthy. Forgive me.

Sol(ace)! She was made by Koteus after his crew got the corpse ditch treatment. He made her in the image of the species he lived with when he was off-planet, which is why her name is Solace. She was originally created with the function of starmapping, but she decided that she would be much happier as a caretaker for youngsters. So she told Koteus as much! She's filled with childlike wonder as well, and likes to ask questions to gain clarity instea of just looking it up on the great big web of internet.

Cal is her little brother! She told Koteus she wanted a little brother and he was like yeah okay. Cals still new..And he is very shy! If someone he doesn't know that well enters the room he's in, he'll pretend he's just a shell and just lay there unmoving until you leave. Hehe.

There's Bee! Oh man, Bee is Stars android. See, Star was raised on a planet where essentially everyone is the smartest person you've ever met. And while Star is pretty knowledgeable himself he thought it sucked that there are people out there that go without access to what he has access to. So he made Bee! Bee is a database. They take their job very seriously and they catalogue information about pretty much everyone they've ever come across. They're very interested in getting to know you. (The premise of Star being my narrator is that between him and Bee, they gather quite a hefty amount of information about a range of different people) Bees even able to get into secure databases and find out information about someone/thing that might have been expunged or otherwise locked.

I really love to make robots.

Then there's Deja! Deja is an android that was made by a sick little troll of mine (His name is Xanuun if you care). Because he needed a companion, and the trolls around him at that point in his life were not very good to him. Since he was made by a little kid, Dejas a little glitchy. Often repeating words (like a stutter) and full of involunatry movements. He is also a medical bot! He’s very kind and understanding. Unless you're Kit. He is going to beat your ass if you're Kit (He is in love with Kit.)

I have other ones but this post is so long already..

[earthstellar]

I’m reading the Transformers x Mazinger Crossover Manga: Part One

alright there’s a lot to go over here and it’s all incredible 

I’m just going to fixate on this chapter by chapter because each one is a contained little mini-story so that sounds doable

chapter one: Bumblebee is written like a very tiny child for some reason and it’s very cute and good, also Ratchet is Very Nice to him and I rate this first chapter as a full 10/10 by default purely because of this 

so my review of Chapter 1 of this crossover is going to focus entirely on a single panel because it checks all the boxes in my brain for shit I look for in Transformers media, which is pretty much just “Ratchet doing shit that shows he cares”

I don’t know the behind the scenes on this (I will look into it when I’m not having a terrible asthma day during a heatwave lmao) but I think the Mazinger writer thinks Bumblebee is supposed to be a giant space robot toddler 

at the very least, Bumblebee seems to be depicted as being wayyyy younger than usual, and Ratchet is evidently filling the caretaker role (as Primus intended) which is excellent 

I’m also not 100% sure if the writer for this just wasn’t super sure about the characters or what but it genuinely doesn’t matter because this one panel is so fucking excellent for me personally to look at and also to read and enjoy 

it’s so simple but so good because you can see in Ratchet’s whole expression and body language here that he is absolutely using a genuine “good job tiny son” voice and that is so powerful, this image is so strong, please give me family dynamics in my Transformers content all the time thank you

like I’m not kidding, check it out:

I mean, look, I’m just saying I think they thought Bumblebee was a toddler because he’s tiny and the youngest right, and Ratchet is a doctor robot so he’s nice and takes care of the robot toddler right??? 

like I’m not mad, because I fucking love Ratchet’s “yes son, you’re doing great!” I-must-be-kind-to-the-child face, lmao. look at how hard he’s trying to be supportive here. 

it’s also hilarious how perfectly “small child” Bumblebee is here. he’s just pointing out the most obvious shit like “yeah, I can participate in the briefing too, let me help!!” and it’s like, awww lol 

I mean, young Bumblebee and carer Ratchet is a dynamic that has always existed on some level since like early G1 lmao (and it has always been excellent)

but I like the idea of just having a continuity eventually where we get cliché super cute family dynamic shit

uh oh here goes my brain generating content again 

like filler episodes based around toddler Bumblebee playing hide and seek but way too well so everyone starts losing their processors thinking Oh Fuck The Child Is Lost and nobody loses their shit harder than Ratchet 

(if we’re talking G1 then I can see Sparkplug backing up Ratchet’s stressed out tirade 100% lmao, like Ironhide tries to say some shit but then Sparkplug is like “well Ironhide, you know, if Spike went missing, I’d be just as upset as ol’ Ratchet here! I don’t know how things work for you guys, and I know you all care for Bumblebee just as much, but I’d say Ratchet spends the most time for him and looks after him the same as any good human father. maybe that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to you, but it sure does to me!” 

and it would land a critical guilt hit, Ironhide has been staggered lmao, but then off screen somewhere you can hear Prowl threatening to arrest Ratchet for undue property damage after he just starts fucking throwing shit around in the lab while Wheeljack has his hands on his helm and is just standing there like “lol u guise seeing this” and Sparkplug walks it back a little after his Defence of Ratchet speech, lmaoooo. Ironhide would just give a shiteating grin and be like “you make a good point there, but I’ve known Ratchet a few centuries longer than you, Sparkplug! he’ll be fine, so long as we 

I love cheesy G1 dialogue, let me live, today has been difficult for me ok lol) 

but like, when they finally find Bumblebee, it turns out he just fell asleep under a covered gurney in the Med Bay and was fine the whole time and if anyone roasts Ratchet about how he lost The Child in his own territory he’s going to fucking FREAK OUT all over again so everyone’s like lol well at least we found him, happy ending!!! 

but then Wheeljack slaps his hand on Ratchet’s shoulder and says some incredible shit like “It’s good to know the kiddo listens, when he asked me earlier for a good hiding place--” just totally oblivious LOL 

and we close the episode with a classic G1 group shot of everyone just standing in there laughing as we hear a pretty solid CLANK as Ratchet smacks Wheeljack off screen with his wrench 

shit I’d watch that, I think I like the Toddler!Bumblebee concept this crossover has now introduced into my brain purely for the shenanigans this would enable 

also some dingus human teaches Bumblebee that stickers exist and Ratchet pulls out his wrench to smack Ironhide around a little bit and it’s just covered in glitter Barbie school day planner stickers or some shit 

chaos but like the nice kind 

except actually oh shit do we want a toddler anywhere near Dinobots? WHEELJACK NO 

(possibly related concept, Ratchet makes a child leash but when Optimus questions it Ratchet is just like “it’s for Wheeljack not Bumblebee” and Optimus responds with “oh yeah that makes more sense, I’ll approve that, good idea. we don’t want him getting distracted by thinking about how stars work and then walking off the end of the pier again.” lmao) 

anyway

so far I’m loving this. right now I’ve had to wait until midnight for the indoor temperature in my bedroom to go down to 98F which is somehow happening in fucking England because this is a nightmare world but let’s not bring in the bad vibes 

my inhaler can’t stop the sun from killing me though so I’m just reading through this with zero additional research at the moment like “hueh hueh medic is nice to babby, sitcom when”  

chapter 1 summary review: 

it’s good shit, you’ll probably need some context for Mazinger basics to follow along, which may also vary a little bit depending on the translation available to you (if any)

but I’m hyperfixating on this panel so intensely right now that I’m OK with not feeling well enough to do the research necessary for me to figure out the actual story/plot at the moment LOL 

once this heatwave fucks off I might revisit this a little but for now this is a nice read (so far) while 

tl;dr carer Ratchet and young Bumblebee is still some of the most god tier characterisation Hasbro has ever given us, absolutely fucked me up with TFP which was devastating emotionally and I also loved it, however here it’s very G1 and therefore corny but very sweet which is also super good 

sorry if this is incoherent I am very tired and have not been able to breathe very well today lmao <3 

[sgcairo]

Eldest clone is like caretaker despite his power im sure everyone comes to him for small sense of validation and security! Im sure every scientist / doctor needs those two no matter how cruel they are.. yet I believe their ego make them just stay silent and follow him and he will just realize it like “why r u fo— ohh I get it I get it, come here”

Oh yes.

A personal headcanon of mine, but Dottore is not as confident as he often chalks up to be. Not just insecurity wise, but his clear annoyance with failure definitely is indicative of his character: He wants results, and he wants them to be good. Anyone would be somewhat disheartened by failure, especially a man whose entire identity hinges on success.

Dottore is ambitious, in my mind. He just lacks the moral inhibitor to his experiments, which has proven to be the stopgap for several atrocities even in the real world. Without morals, he doesn't feel a compulsion to do what's right, but what benefits him. And that's why he's such an interesting character to me, because he's the side of science that most people discourage because it would be inhumane. But he also has high expectations for his clones, as they are the "tools" of his success.

As a result of this, the clones have taken on his own ambitions and are often disheartened by their own supposed "incompetence". No one's perfect, not even clones that were meticulously created to be so. It's simply impossible as they are still human, at the end of the day.

Irnes always makes nightly rounds to make sure everyone's doing okay. It's rare to get hurt in the lab, but it does happen occasionally, so he tends to wounds, gives his own sort of oddball comfort, then promptly goes to sleep. No one's sure what his job actually is, as he's never in the lab or in the sleeping quarters during the day, some suspect he's usually running messages for Her Majesty or ferrying them in from the clones stationed outside the palace. No one's sure, however, he just disappears for a while then reappears sometime later.

But they don't even have to follow him for comfort usually, he can tell by their microexpressions. If there's one thing Irnes is good at doing, it's reading people. He's surprisingly adept at it, and that's part of the reason he doesn't work in the lab, his talents are wasted there. But he can tell when clones are struggling, and he will directly engage them to help out.

He usually gives out hugs, which the other clones really don't usually like- But he's a little strange, so they let it slide. It's quite nice, to have him remember your name and use it to comfort you. He also works great as a negotiator, so if one of the clones is really struggling, he pulls some strings to help them out. It's a simple service, and he never demands repayment, just for them to let him know how it's going.

Irnes supremacy, Mondstadt clone can suck it.

[mikrokoskooks]

Stressed out

᯾Emeto ᯾mentions of vom!t᯾blood᯾Not medically accurate᯾Stomach ulcer᯾

Sickie: Namjoon

Caretaker: ot7

♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎♥︎

"Are you sure you want to go to that meeting Joon?" Hoseok asks voice laced with worry. "I have to go anyway so it's not much of a choice" the younger man sighs. Namjoon was currently having a terrible night. He had really bad stomach ache which was probably due to stress. The group were having a big meeting tomorrow morning but obviously he had to answer majority of the questions as the leader of the group. It got so bad that mentioning it or even thinking about it made his stomach hurt more. And now the members were all gathered around him trying to ease the pain.

>>>

"Just don't think about it hyung." "Yeah you'll do a great job!" Jungkook and Taehyung said encouragingly. "Thanks ,Namjoon whinces gripping his abdomen tighter, but can we please stop talking about that? I think it's making my stomach hurts more." "Sorry."

>>>

Today was the day. The meeting and to make matters worse Namjoon didn't get any sleep last night he was in to much painy join us?"Yoongi teases "Oh,good morning Namjoon. You feeling better" "No. I feel worse" Joon Moans. "Maybe you should eat hyung"Jimin suggests.

>>>

He's sure eating will make him feel way better but when he see the plate of pancakes in front of him, Namjoon feels his stomach churn uncomfortably. He can feel the colour in his face slowly draining. "How come you're not eating?" Taehyung questions. " I'm not hungry and I feel nauseous." "Awe poor thing" " I hate to interrupt ,Yoongi starts,but we've got to go to this meeting." Shit..

>>>

When the members entered the meeting room,Namjoon felt his stomach churn even harder than it was before. He new that he was screwed but he'd like to just hope he wasn't. The meeting dragged on and on and Namjoon felt worse and worse. To be honest half through the meeting the pain got so bad that Namjoon couldn't focus on what people were asking him so the others would help him.

>>>After the meeting>>>

Once the meeting had ended Namjoon practically legged outside to get some fresh air. He steadied himself up against and let out a shaky breath. "Namjoon-ah! You did so well" Jin calls out but before anyone can say anything else Namjoon gags into his hand then stumbles to the metal bin in front and throws up. "Hyung that's blood!" Jungkook. Joon was swaying dangerously before his eyes rolled back in head. Luckily Taehyung and Jimin had caught him before he fell.

>>> At the hospital >>>

Namjoon slowly opens his eyes "W-what happened..?" " Aw Joonie your finally awake." Hobi smiles. "You had a stomach ulcer darling" Jin says answering the joon's question. The doctors had checked Namjoon and found he had a ulcer they prescribed some medicine for him to reduce the amount of his stomach acid. Namjoon had to stay in the hospital a little longer but bts were there by his side and weren't they leaving any time soon.

I'm sure this makes no sense cause it was kinda rushed but I hope you enjoyed it💜

[heroesandlovers]

Nancy Drew 1x13 "The Whisper Box"

I have been waiting for this episode on my rewatch beacuse it's so good! Oh the parallels to Arrow’s 100th episode abound!

Nancy wakes up and....

Her Mom is still alive

She’s in college (presumably Columbia)

George and Nancy are BFFs

George and Nick went on one disastrous date (but they still have the banter)

ACE IS BASICALLY THE SAME

Bess is an Instagram star

When a smoke alarm goes off without smoke, and she doesn’t have her locket, Nancy realizes something is up.

"Everyone is here and perfect and happy and my Mom is still alive and there’s no ghost and you all like me."

Nancy is spiraling a bit. Nick is the one that seems to calm her down and focus her. Incidentally, the house he just bought is located at the address of the institution that Nancy had just been in. They find the door to the Whisper Box but Whisper Box Nick says he doesn’t have the key and that he bought the house from Ryan Hudson. “A great guy”.

In this reality, Ryan and Tiffany are building a youth center. He tells Nancy that she already has the key (symbolic?) because she helped him solve the case of his parent’s fake will years ago and Ryan had told Nancy to hide the key, but left him with a set of clues.

Scene with Nancy’s Mom - Her mom gets a call from her doctor after some blood tests had to be performed. Nancy is just staring at her Mom like she’s trying to soak it all in. The results were negative. Of course they were because, in this reality everything is perfect. But Nancy can’t help but know that…everything is not perfect.

Nick and Nancy are waiting out the storm to go find the key, which Nancy has figured out is at the cemetery. The next scene I think is very important (see below). Nancy and Whisper Box Nick hook up. Nancy talks about how much she’s missed him. THE METAPHOR HERE! The Nick she was in love with, the Nick she misses, is an idealized version of him. Not the real Nick. The contrast of her with Nick in the fake world while Ace is at her side in the real world is…Something.

Meanwhile, handwritten messages keep falling on Nancy. They are what the DrewCrew are saying to her in the Real World. They are getting through to her! (And of course it was Ace’s idea to reach her this way- I'M EMOTIONAL)

“As long as we get to sample whatever it is you’ve been on this whole time, I’m in”- Ace’s unconditional support exists in ANY and ALL worlds.

Nancy unlocks the Whisper Box door but…it just takes them to another room. Bess points out that that means she can stay in the perfect world with them…which Nancy had just admitted she was a little sad to leave since things in her world right now are far from perfect. Kate also asks Nancy “what’s the worst that could happen?”.

Nancy remembers the map her Mom drew her of heaven. She finds the map. It’s of a constellation and she realizes she can use the maps on her ceiling. “The way out was the one place it was too painful to look”. Nancy has a talk with her Mom. She gets the chance to say the goodbye that she never had before. “I am who I am because of you”. She reminds her Mom that it is what she taught her- “Always seek out the truth” that means she can’t stay but has to go back.

Meanwhile in the real world, Nick and George send Bess and Ace to meet with some creepy priest who has the “Holy Water” that may help them get Nancy out of the Whisper Box. “Whatever you do. Do not run out of it”. They manage to get into the Whisper Box Death Room but when they try to get her out, she starts foaming at the mouth. “I don’t think the Whisper Box wants her to leave”. Nick gets very upset. Ace is the one who suggests talking to her, based on his experience from being in the coma.

After Nancy is back, she figures out that the key Lucy’s mother hid is somehow related to the Horseshoe Bay Historical Society, which happens to be the same house (but different address?) as Nick’s house in the Whisper Box. She also recognizes the curtains as those that had been haunting her in the Whisper Box. The caretaker Hannah tells her the key is to one of their lockboxes and that the key belonged to Tiffany Hudson . Inside the box is a video that Tiffany left. In the video, Tiffany is being haunted by Lucy. Tiffany claims she is haunting her “because of what she found”.

Nick and Nancy

“I believe that you believe it, and that’s good enough for me” In this reality, Nick is perfect. He is giving her the blinding support the real world Nick hasn’t. He isn’t pushing her here.

“I’ve missed you”- Oh…the parallel to 3x13 with Ace. Only comparison I can make is that here it is in a fake world and with Ace it is in the real world. She is missing her idea of Nick, more than the actual Nick. Her relationship with Nick had been the one thing in her life that felt good for awhile so it's understandable that she missed that.

Nancy debates telling Nick about their time in the other reality but…George interrupts. This was after she had watched them together- was there a smidge of jealousy? Nancy watches Nick and George..what is she thinking?

She confides in Ace that “dealing with an ex” complicates things. Ace says “doesn’t dealing with an ex mean you don’t have to worry about them anymore”. Nancy tells Ace that “they are doing much better without me”. So she is picking up on the Nick and George vibes then?

The episode ends with Nancy pining a bit for Nick. She thinks he is better off without her after seeing him with George. When I first watched this ep- it seemed very pro Drewson (although I’ll admit I already knew Nace was the focus later so it’s hard to see objectively). If I was a Drewson shipper I think I would have come away with a lot of frustration from this episode. It felt like they were setting Nick and Nancy up as the ones who got away. Now it seems more like a goodbye to Drewson.

Random observations:

There were SO MANY parallels to Arrow's 100th episode (If you're not an Arrow fan I'm sorry for this long exposition). It's a common mechanism in storytelling to show people their lives if they were to get all the things they think they wanted. Or if they get the chance to take a different path or undo some past regret. In Arrow, Oliver got the chance to see what his life would be like if he had never been gotten on The Queen's Gambit. In the alternate timeline, he was getting ready to marry Laurel Lance, something the Lauriver shippers understandably latched on to "See in his perfect world he was with Laurel! (never mind that it wasn't his perfect reality it was an alien-construed mindscape- but that's a blog post for another day".) I imagine the Drewson shippers look at this episode the same way.

But that boat trip led to so much tragedy in his life made Oliver into the man and ultimately the hero that he was. He ultimately found his way out of the Alien Mindscape because he KNEW it wasn't right. It felt good but it didn't feel right. It didn't feel complete. The death of Nancy's mother drastically altered the trajectory of her life. If her mother was still alive- she would have gone to College. And maybe she would have met Nick when she was at a place in her life that they were able to have a healthy and equal relationship. But she wouldn't be the Nancy that we know today.

And just like Felicity (Smoak Technologies) was Oliver's way back to the real world, Ace (through the messages) was Nancy's way back.

[greenhappyseed]

BnHA Ch. 323 - parallels and comparisons

Most important thing first: Mic name-calls “Jeany” after Best Jeanist interrupts him and insults the UA teachers, saying the citizens find it hard to hear the truth from schoolteachers. Excuse me, PRESENT FUCKING MIC IS A PRO HERO WHO FOUGHT IN THE WAR AND ARRESTED THE DOCTOR. Ultimately, Jeany is trying to take responsibility, which is good, but the way he does it is insulting. Is that really how the Top 3 feel about the UA teachers? (This started out shitpost-y, but I think it does actually matter….)

On to Nezu, who, despite all his well-repressed rage, is still just a rat principal building a cage. He’s created an elaborate mecha-vault-campus to capture save humans and transport them around the country like Willy Wonka’s great glass elevator. Nezu says he did this on intuition, yet that can’t be the full story because his High Specs quirk gives him great insight into possible strategies the villains will use. In fact, the last time we saw his quirk in action, he was trapping 2 students in a maze, gradually blocking off all paths to the exit. Oh, and who else in BnHA is seemingly able to predict their opponent’s strategies and enjoys doing so? I’m not saying Nezu is “The UA Traitor,” particularly given his speech at the end of the chapter, but I AM saying there are parallels.

In particular, Nezu seems to do a lot of work related to quirk morality, while AFO refers to morals as mere fabrications.

Sticking with Nezu and jumping to the end of the chapter…this isn’t the first time he’s made a grand speech about UA students and the future. After DvK2, while Izuku and Katsuki are under house arrest, Nezu speaks to the school about All Might’s retirement and says how all of the students will “inherit this society.” The word “inherit” makes All Might think about his successor, and how Nezu reached out to him when he was searching in earnest (ie, when Nezu and Nighteye had Mirio picked out). Nezu’s “one step” language also ties back to an All Might monologue from the remedial course days — when Shoto, Katsuki, and the Shiketsu kids worked together to win tiny hearts AND All Might and Endeavor had their first real talk, leading Endeavor to reach out to Shoto.

Speaking of the remedial class moving forward, the Katsuki/Shoto “we are not friends” mutual side eye at the mention of Shiketsu is A Moment. Will the remedial foursome be trapped in an underground classroom!??!?

I think it’s clear that the heroes — pros, teachers, students — need to work together as one to win over “the citizens”. The heroes also need their supporters (hello kid in an All Might shirt!), parents (omg, Mitsuki holding Inko back from recklessly running into the crowd like the Midoriya she is!), friends, and rescued victims to take those steps to come forward. Izuku is moving forward for them, and they need to move forward for him.

I’m not convinced that Nezu’s “ultimate hero” is Izuku; it could be Katsuki, Ochako, Shoto, Mirio (hello underground permeation!), Shigaraki, Class 1A, or the entire “new generation”, judging by his “inherit” comment. Izuku is All Might’s chosen one to inherit OFA, but Izuku is NOT the only one inheriting society’s future. Special, but also not. (More on that later!)

Final bit on the mecha-school…I don’t think anything good in this series has come from being “underground”. I think we’ve already established that “underground” is neither safe nor invincible. Underground Yakuza compound. Underground prison. Underground hero (sorry Aizawa!!) Even when talking about the “ultimate hero,” Nezu speaks in terms of rising.

The text leaks said Eri was with Class 1B, which made me frustrated, but the panel is actually a lovely soft Monoma comforting her. It’s really sweet and shows off Monoma’s heroic heart! (And his off-duty fashion sense, because those buttons add some serious dramatic flair.) But, knowing that Aizawa, All Might, Mic, Thirteen, and the Big 3 are Eri’s usual caretakers makes me really sad for her — why are they ALL gone?? Especially when (1) she’s listening to a crowd call her personal hero a weapon with a cursed quirk, exactly how Chisaki used to talk about her; and (2) Izuku doesn’t HAVE to be the one taking care of her, but I think they’d both LIKE to see each other.

Speaking of the crowd, I do like having “the citizens” as a character. In the early chapters, we heard so much about protecting citizens and keeping society from falling into chaos, but it was all theoretical. With the jailbreak, the war destruction, and Dabi’s reveal, it’s good to see citizens who (1) question the value and robustness of the current hero society; and (2) are scared out of their minds. “The citizens” may be an obstacle for the heroes, but their fear and motivation is very rational under the circumstances. People who were forced to evacuate their home on short notice and hole up in a dormitory while skyscrapers crumbled due to villains gone wild (and, uh, Deku) are unlikely to trust the same people who created this mess in the first place. While WE know and love cinnamon roll Izuku, “the citizens” only know him as the target of Shigaraki’s destruction. He’s billed by Jeany as the One True Hope but the citizens know him as a dirty teenager insane enough to break his own bones in a school competition. He’s somehow related to AFO and is either a bomb for AFO, a Nomu-fied corpse doing AFO’s bidding, a target for Shigaraki, or a weapon against AFO that is falling apart at the seams. None of that is reassuring, so I can see why the crowd gets mad enough to make Izuku’s Danger Sense go off. The heroes need to take a moment to really empathize and understand the crowd’s fear and anger.

What’s missing from this scene? ALL MIGHT. The focus on Deku and the OFA/AFO quirks completely omits that Izuku is All Might’s handpicked successor, and that All Might used OFA as a force for good for decades. Jeany and Ochako confirmed Izuku is the special powerOFA holder, so it’s all out in the open except for how Izuku came to possess OFA in the first place. So much for Mt Lady and Endeavor’s media discussion in Ch.317! Also, as Lady Nagant told us, the HPSC was well aware of AFO and tracked his movements. AFO may have been a secret from the public, but was NOT a blind spot for heroes. Same with Gigantomachia — Gran Torino and Tsukauchi failed to capture him, but they knew of him and his association with AFO. (Nobody, including All Might, knew about the doctor and his quirk duplication prior to Hawks’s spy work and the hospital raid.)

I want to see all of this come into the open because the hero failures stem from All Might working alone in secret to stop existential threats while other heroes fought each other for table scraps. (Think of Manual, who is such a plain and underpowered hero, but was clutch during the war.) Heroes STILL aren’t working together, and to fight dual AFOs they are going to need every last bit of help they can get from each other, from students, and from citizens — quirked or not. Anyone who is willing or able to help should join in.

Unease is referenced in this chapter, and unease is what happens whenever All Might disappears. At first when All Might retires, Twice notes the widespread unease with Endeavor as the new #1. Endeavor himself notes his unease with becoming #1 by default rather than earning it. Shigaraki has a persistent unease with his past (pre-awakening), arguably because All Might never came to save Tenko.

Unease spreading through the citizens feeds into AFO’s win conditions perfectly. He WANTS as many fractured and walled-off groups as possible. To steal OFA and rule for eternity, he needs to prevent a “singularity” of will that opposes him.

Let’s see what happens next chapter — I still don’t think Ochako has quite hit her “light of hope” moment yet, and am not convinced this speech will be it. I do think she’s trying hard to humanize Izuku as the OFA holder, but the irony is, in doing so, she is denying he is a special person to her. Only a few humans are truly special at the societal level, but we all have friends and loved ones that think we are special. That’s right, you are loved, even if you don’t have OFA. You are loved even when you need saving. I think this is what All Might was getting at when he tells Izuku during the Sports Festival that there is something special in Izuku. All Might is saying he feels a connection and a trust with Izuku because they were both born quirkless, which makes Izuku special to All Might. This contrasts with Endeavor and Jeany, who view Izuku as special solely because he is the OFA wielder, and Izuku’s need to rest is in service to that duty rather than Izuku’s needs as a human.

[katyahina]

Sad timeline idea post

Thinking about Research Hall again. I feel like Maria has not always been this big single caretaker figure for the patients, especially when the doctors were abundant and could handle things on their own. But there is implied to have been transition from Hall doctors to Choir after they got a hunch to look for "stars" (Living Failures being beta Celestial Emissaries)

I just have this idea in my head that Maria got a hunch that these experiments were no longer about attempt to evolve past threat of beasthood (if they EVER been that) and Micolash, main authority of the doctors, has been just using the patients for selfish goals of reaching the voice from the "ocean" (and also needlessly prolonging their suffering out of both personal sadism and will of Kos for humanity to suffer flowing through him).

And she like, REALISES it and confronts him about it, he stays cool and attempts to mediate the situation and have calm talk and convince Maria she is crazy - while trying to secretly inject her with something to knock her out. She would have been abducted and used in painful experiments herself and he would made darn sure nobody finds what happened to her or that he was at fault, when suddenly-

Brador knocks the door wide open full force, almost beating Micolash away with it acting all casual like 'oh well pardon seems like you dropped something because of me :p Maria we with Ludwig and Laurence were looking for you everywhere anyways time to go bYE DOC' and pulls her out without letting Micolash or Maria react normally.

And then they are like far from the spot but Maria protests and tells she has not finished the talk along all way, and once Brador deems it safe enough to talk he drops the act and stops and confronts her - that beast plague is looking bad and they don't need nosy moralists like her to cause chaos and perhaps sabotage the only hope left, whether experiments are ethical or not they can only trust Laurence and his confidants, that next time she wants to pry into things she can't handle she at least should not provoke 'that guy' because he won't be able to save her from problems every time - no, in fact, she better go away completely and let the 'big people' handle things...

And she is like, all almost tearing up and desperate, worried about patients and especially Adeline, pleading with Brador that the whole ordeal is wrong and he needs to talk to Laurence about Micolash and the meaning of experiments 'because he would listen to YOU'. But Brador is not a monster, he sees rational root in this, he can't deny that the 'weird Laurence's scientist' is suspicious either - after all he just had to save her from him!

These events spiralled into convincing Laurence and Willem to admit they went wrong with their pursuit for eyes and to wrap the Research Hall, allowing Maria to at least stay there and care for surviving patients to at least make their shortened lives as painless as possible...

So now Healing Church sort of prioritised delving into Isz and search the cosmic Great One they had a hunch on, Ebrietas; to make matters for Micolash even worse, his good friend Damian ventured for the risky quest too, partially from the unspoken guilt that he was covering so many of Mico's secrets, but thankfully he returns alive and successful.

However, perhaps, just some thing slipped past the radar - Micolash. Micolash, who was demoted by now.

Rom was one of the "dense" patients - lasted very long with little to no mutations, nor went insane from sound of the ocean (typically it is "innocent" people that remain remotely sane for a very long time, such as Adeline was too, for Kos' fury suggests one is exposed to every single one of their sins). But what if after more stuff was unravelled thanks to Maria and as result, Brador and Laurence, Micolash did not completely get away with everything? In fact, he was sort of disqualified (I might not know exact word but basically he is no longer allowed amongst Healing Church medics). But there was only one thing to try - to bring them at least one successful patient to prove his point. Only one thing to sacrifice - his sister.

So he pulled a mad stunt on Rom.

They both were orphans, moreover brother and sister separated for life and only reunited thanks to Rom pursuing in Byrgenwerth in desperate attempt to find at least some family. Micolash utilised the fact, pretending to be willing to abandon her to initiate the feeling of raw, child-like, sincerest despair of having lost 'the only family she had'. The feeling of being orphaned. That worked - that was enough to summon a compassion of a Great One, willing to embrace an abandoned child (well, one FEELING like a child), just like he planned.

And past this point she does look like how I typically portray her after Insight boost - with many black colored eyes on the right side of her face and strings of shining blue in her hair and whatnot! Micolash brings her around to the newly established Choir as a 'told you so' matter, moreover he demands to be accepted back, moreover they kinda NEED her - she is a huge help in communicating with Ebrietas understanding what to do and how to speak TO her and not only accept the call (and just general they need to be sure their brains don't fry like it usually happens...). They like, H A T E everything, they hoped they finally got rid of him for good and now he is back again and seems to possess important knowledge, so yeah he proved he deserved to come back. Plus Rom refused to help without him accepted because she cares about him so much.

What exactly he did to get her 'eyes', Rom never elaborated on it, not even with Yurie (who got concerned because Rom used to share EVERYTHING with her) - it just felt too awkward, nor she wanted them to think poorly of Micolash! It might have been the start of secret keeping attitude. However since then prioritising using children for contacting the cosmos became a staple - they are just like Rom! Innocent, naive, very emotional, very open to new things, very needy and trusting... Basically neurodivergent people and little children do the best, but children are easier to find, especially with how many adults died to the hunts.

So, Orphanage.

After all they are still able to gain enough knowledge and resources from interacting with Ebrietas for furthering Micolash's goals, there is always something to gather from every situation, right? In fact, maybe disruption of his plans even had its perks he hadn't realised sooner.

Brador was one of the people who stayed back at the old Hall sure to keep the place a secret because 'people are stupid'; if the masses find they will get mad and ruin everything, including even a /chance/ that Healing Church can try again and fix everything despite old sins. Maria though blamed herself for everything, not only Fishing Hamlet massacre itself now but also the fact that all these experiments happened BECAUSE of substances obtained in Fishing Hamlet; in every pain and every death amongst patients there is a fraction of her personal fault. Brador at times friendly teased Maria about maybe confessing her feelings to Adeline, but smart man that he is, he still could not really see the absolute agony even the thought of daring to touch Adeline could cause Maria after facing the truth - or what she believed was the truth.

Unfortunately, Gehrman lacked the emotional intellect to help her through this crisis, nor he could just be there with her as a very significant person that should govern the hunt and the hunters. Brador is not good at it and genuinely thinks people would put that on themselves with or without her, friends from Cainhurst are not exactly available after starting weird unholy blood clan business and poor Adeline needed help and reassurance herself. Perhaps rare visits from some Old Hunters friends and Ludwig were helpful occasionally, but she is a sensitive soul and needed more than that, but nobody could quite give it.

There were "friends" in the form of some doctors that volunteered to stay in the Hall and help instead of moving onto Choir with others, but... one day, they were too late.

Maria beforehand played a very convincing role of a person that "was doing better mentally for now" to distance from them enough prior her death, though.

Everyone who knew her close blamed themselves.