#the way i've been thinking about the fact that when he was a kid he was probably so proud to be called that

[homoquartz]

This isn't meant to be antagonistic, I'm genuinely curious. What makes you perceive Edwin (and Charles) as a teenager? I've always thought of him as an adult since he's a 124 year old soul who's been on Earth for 50ish years, and he doesn't really act like a child imo. Just curious why you think it because alternate viewpoint is Interesting

this question is funny to me because i’m incapable of reading edwin and charles as anything other than teenage boys. true their actors look much older though. we all have our own ways of viewing things!

sorry for the long post:

to start, they call themselves boys - not just dead boy detectives, but edwin calls himself a boy directly when talking about monty. textually, they’re children, as identified by the night nurse and lost and found department. she calls them children and they don’t argue. i THINK one of the boys refers to crystal as being “our age” but i could be wrong on that. the cat king also makes a comment about being “older” than edwin.

there’s also their personal arcs. charles is coping with the fact that he will never “grow up.” he is terrified of becoming someone like his dad, so he desperately gloms onto the two dead high school bullies, whom he closely identifies with. he also identifies strongly with the devlin kids. he flirts awkwardly with girls and makes bad jokes.

meanwhile edwin is discovering his sexuality (a classic teenager storyline), having first kisses, and making friends with kids his own age. he watches cartoons with niko and sits on swing sets with monty.

they also just act like teenagers to me, personally. they mouth off, they’re dramatic, they daydream about crushes, they just want a hug, they’re guessing at everything most of the time, they’re goofing around with magical objects. charles can’t talk about kissing or sex without stage whispering and using slang to avoid saying it outright. they date other teenagers, which would be Very Creepy if either of them were older than the day they died, emotionally. they collect toys and children’s mystery book series. edwin wears his school uniform.

to me, there’s an element of play acting when it comes to their detective personas. they take on the identity wholeheartedly as more than just a job or a skillset, but who they are. it reads to me as similar to how kids view professionals like teachers, astronauts, and firefighters as being avatars of their jobs. that’s just my personal reading on that one, though.

on a similar note, i think simon gives us a good vantage point into their emotional stagnation. in simon’s hell, he never progresses past being a schoolboy, afraid of getting in trouble, doodling hearts in his textbooks - but he’s been around just as long as edwin has.

finally, a huge part of their tragedy for me is that they died so young. that loss means little if they can continue to mature after death. that they are trapped as they were, just frightened kids, watching the world move on without them, makes their story all the more poignant.

anyway, that’s my take!

[quesocheeso]

*heyyyy there, I say crawling slowly out of the darkness*

(This hyperfixation is gonna kill me.)

So. How about. And hear me out on this.

We give Xiaoxing an abnormal physical strength.

He still doesn't have any magic, but he makes up for it with physical abilities. It's on par with Wukong's and maybe even stronger. (That's how he survived the fight with possessed Wukong.)

Wukong and Macaque never knew that because they never tried to actually challenge him, they just saw him as a fragile little kid and taught him the basics of fighting and self-defense. He kept training on his own without his parents knowing to avoid their overprotective rules.

But then he goes to school and his parents, in an attempt to protect him, say that he is forbidden from using any magic to keep everyone safe.

A few bullies hear of this rule and try to pick on him. To everyone's surprised, he takes them down with brute force. So all the kids got scared of him, because if that's how strong he is without magic, then they'll be doomed if he gets mad and decides to use it.

Of course his parents got called to school after the accident but they were too happy and proud of him so he didn't get in any trouble.

Now here's the fun part:

Who is the only person who knows how strong Xiaoxing is?

His little brother, Xioalei.

He is a smart kid, he figured things out pretty early. So he gets very confused when he sees his parents treat his big brother like some weakling.

For example:

Some dangerous strong demon attacks Xiaoxing at 10 y.o, Xiaolei 5 y.o.:

Wukong:"Xiaoxing! Xiaolei! Are you okay?! Did he hurt you?!"

Macaque:"Look at me baby! Did he hit you anywhere!?"

Xiaoxing:"Nope, I'm good."

Xiaolei:"No, but I think that demon is dying." Baby Xiaolei points at a very badly injured demon.

Wukong:"HOW DARE HE. I'LL KILL HIM."

Macaque:"Don't yell! You'll scare the kids!"

Xiaolei:"That's what we're concerned about?"

Wukong:"Moon, take the kids home, I don't want them to see this."

Macaque:"Peaches. Make sure that fucker never comes back."

Xiaoxing:"ooooo, mama said a bad word, hehehe."

Xiaolei:"MOTHER. THAT MAN IS DEAD."

That was not the only time, whenever Xiaolei felt scared or in danger he'd run to his big brother for protection.

And now the cherry on top, when Xiaoxing finally got his magical power:

Macaque:"Maybe he isn't as weak as we thought..."

Wukong:"Yeh... maybe we should train him more..."

Xiaolei:"SERIOUSLY!? NOW!?!?!? I'VE BEEN TELLING YOU THIS FOR YEARS!!!!" *storms out the room cursing in spanish*

The kid loves his family but the way they avoid the truth about Xiaoxing's strength like some professional acrobats really gets on his nerves.

He has magic but whenever he fought with his big brother he'd get his ass kicked. Forget magic, that guy is a fucking monster.

Macaque to 7 y.o. Xiaolei :"I know you want to play with your brother but maybe you two shouldn't play so roughly together. If you wanna fight then ask your dad for a match. Just to avoid accidents, ok?"

Xiaolei:"Why are you telling this to me? Mother I had my ass served on a silver platter. You should be saying that to him!"

Macaque:"What did we say about using bad words?"

Xiaolei:"Wha-... sorry."

*I'm just throwing in a suggestion, I just think it would be very funny. Okay! That's it. Imma go back to the darkness.*

Loving all the asks you’re pulling anon and at this point I’m begging you to actually post them cause I just cackle at all of them and everyone should see them lmaooo

On another note, you kinda hit the nail on the head on this one my guy

Xiaoxing doesn’t have any magic abilities until season 3 BUT he does have super strength, which unluckily the monkeys didn’t clock it, although I wouldn’t write the monkeys as overbearing as they are here, they’re a lil less over protective, cautious yes but they don’t bar Xiaoxing from doing things or treat him like glass so there’s not a lot of resentment from the kid from that, not until MK walks in

Going back on the strength, fun fact, Xiaoxing plays on the baseball team on his school, and since the school he goes to pretty much helps students train their abilities, when his teachers realized that Xiaoxing had super strength they started training him via baseball, which circles back to one of my Season 3 posts where he likes to use his laser eyes, he mains them actually because as a fighter Xiaoxing would be a long distance one because his accuracy is top notch, next to none, so he trains this skill by throwing baseballs at high speeds that teachers keep track of, both in velocity and force

The reason why the monkeys don’t know about his strength is because it’s a recent thing, he didn’t always have it, I would say he started getting it around the time MK appeared first

Also fun fact: none of the kids have abilities, they all start getting them during season 3 (hmmmmmmm I wonder why?🤔🤔😁👍) (them being powerless actually helped stop heaven from taking action against them oof)

And yeah Xiaoxing would beat the hfil out of bullies before he gained super strength and that’s cause he’s just smart and uses their own abilities against them, being powerless taught him how to quickly evaluate others and effectively put them out with their own force, he teaches Xiaolei this when he enters school so now you have two “weak” monkeys who are considered the strongest in the school lmaoooo,, they effectively become tacticians per say cause of this

[bluetimeombre]

⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ I've been knowing you ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

You want everything with Pedro, but when faced with it, he laughs off the idea. Based off this request

"I want to see a ring on that finger!"

It had been meant as a joke. You, Pedro, Lux, Javiera and her sons were all around the table in the garden while the sun set orange around you. Nicolas and a few cousins and friends were around too but they were all lost in separate conversations.

You couldn't even remember how you all got to that topic- or if there even was a topic. The words just rang in your head.

So did the laughter.

Pedro's chuckle, head thrown back. You smiled along, giggled with Lux who was at your other side.

Later in the night, while drinks were being drunk and food was being ate, conversations being had when another comment was thrown. This time, by Bruno.

"We need more cousins!"

Maybe it was meant as a joke, a reference to the thirty-four first cousins Pedro and his siblings shared. But when Javiera wiggled her brows and Lux made a noise, you understood there was a serious inquisition under there.

"Oh no, no, no," said Pedro laughing, a dancing finger being waved at them. His other arm was thrown over the back of your chair as he laughed, eyes glittering. "No."

And you'd laughed, because everyone else was laughing and it was funny to think.

Quickly, it became anything but.

No. He'd laughed at the idea. Laughed at the idea of a ring or kids with his curls and your eyes.

You'd never spoken about it really, never referenced a wedding or a boy or a girl. But after three years together was it not even on his mind?

The thoughts came and went quickly and were replaced with more even quicker. The chat around the table went on. There was clinking of cutlery and glasses but there was clicking in your brain like it was all falling into place.

Pedro- who you danced in the kitchen with, walked in parks with Edgar with- didn't see those dances and walks in the future.

You had no idea hearing the words would hurt so much but they had. As if one of the steak knives had been lodged in your heart and twisted.

Pedro's arm was warm around your shoulder as he laughed at a joke his brother made. In instinct, his arm flexed around you, drawing you in as you tried to smile too. Suddenly his hold was too much.

Were you embarrassed? Was that the feeling crawling into your gut.

Here was his family, the people closest to him that you had always thought you counted as- after three years. Were you just another date to the party? A hand for a lonely soul to hold?

What was this?

Lux seemed to notice this, the small things always seeming big to her.

You felt her hand reach over to your knee, squeezing it. It stole your attention as you smiled her way, moving out of Pedro's arms and focusing on her. She accommodated you with a conversation.

But Pedro was still holding you, reaching out to you.

His arm was stretched so his hand could sprawl along your back, his fingers dancing in your skin. Any other time shivers of ecstasy would crawl your skin.

Now, you wanted him off.

Lux again squeezed your knee. "Don't think to much about it," she told you.

"About what?" you feigned ignorance but the pretending was not easy.

While everyone was busy talking, you slipped away from Lux, squeezing her shoulders and assuring her you were fine, totally fine.

Pedro saw you walk away. You hadn't said were you were going, hadn't squeezed his hand or gave him a flirtatious smile to indicate he should follow.

He was confused for a moment.

"Are you not going to ask her to marry you, Tío?" asked his nephew, Bruno.

Pedro looked back at him, a cheeky grin. "Of course I am. I'm not stupid."

He had the box, with the gold band of gems inside. He already had plans. He'd dreamt it all. He'd never shared those dreams with anyone but Lux because she would understand.

She was closer to age with you than he was and sometimes he was so scared about that fact.

He looked to Lux then but she looked at him weary, a crease in her brows.

Pedro looked back. It had been two minutes. You shouldn't be long.

Then, you were long.

Lux looked back to where you'd disappeared but Pedro was already on his feet, padding through the garden and into the house.

"Cariño?" he called out. You weren't in the kitchen. "Mi Cariño? Baby?" he looked around the house but there was not a whisper of you.

A prickle of fear nudged at him that lead him to the bathroom of his big sisters house. There was a shuffle inside-

The pull of tissue-

A sniff.

His knuckles wrapped gently.

"Sorry, just a minute."

"Baby?" he asked, "are you ok in there, huh? Need a hand?" he'd meant it as a joke, a cheeky try at getting into the bathroom with you. When he tried the door, it was locked.

"Just a second!" you called through, almost panicked.

He frowned. Had something happened?

He knew the sound of your voice after you'd cried, or when you were trying not to cry. He'd seen it before after hard days at work but he could coax your troubles out of you.

Had you not been fine down stairs? Had you not been laughing?

Fears flooded him, rendering him from pushing open the door when it swung open and you stood. Beautiful as ever, but changed.

Pedro managed to hold you. "Wo-Woah- hey, hey," he stopped you. "What's going on?"

You looked at him. Your eyes were red and your lips chapped and it was clear you were trying not to cry. "Nothing, nothing." Again you wanted to move but Pedro's hands were gentle as they lured you back into the bathroom.

"Has something happened? Where's your phone?" he wondered if something had been said, or if some news had got to you. But your phone wasn't in hand or around, it was at the table.

You shook out his hold and folded your arms over you. You weren't looking at him.

That little fear turned to stone cold dread at the bottom of his stomach. "Corazón?"

Pedro truly did not know what he had done. "You're worrying me now."

Your back was still to him as you collected yourself. He stood there, still and scared. Abruptly, you turned. It wasn't fair that you looked pretty when you cried as well as all of this. "When you look at me what do you see?"

He didn't think it was a trick question, so he spoke. "Intelligence. Beauty. Wonder. Everything I've ever wanted." He carefully stepped toward you.

"But what about what you want?" you asked, turning to him. "When I look at you I see wrinkles, and wedding anniversaries- silver, gold, all of them."

Pedro took a deep breath. He thought for a moment you'd found out about the box hiding in his coat in your room. Then he realised you hadn't. "Well, so do I.... eventually."

"Do you?"

"Of course I do, is this about my sister said?" he asked.

"It's about what you didn't say."

There was silence as Pedro realised you could walk out the door and not come back.

"Do you not see all that with me? One home instead of sharing each others apartments? I want to marry you but you don't?"

"Of course- of course I do," he walked over to you.

You let his hands warm you, hold you and sit you down on the edge of the bath tub. You felt stupid. You felt weak. You liked to be strong and to have Pedro relay on you, to be the perfect partner that never asked for anything more than love.

But if you were wasting time loving him how could you forgive yourself.

"Honey, you're young," he started with.

You looked up at him. "What?"

Pedro crouched in front of you. He cupped your hands and peppered them with kisses. "You're so young, you have more of a life ahead of you than I do."

You chuckled dryly at that. "You're fifty, not eighty, Pedro."

He smiled to, creases at his eyes. "Sometimes my knees feel it."

"Get up then."

"No, no, I-" he rested his head on where he held your hands. "I need you to listen. I always said I wouldn't go for someone younger, I thought I couldn't. Then you came around and changed my ways of course. I've wanted to marry you since our first date. But I wasn't gonna take that choice from you. I've been waiting. Waiting to ask."

He keeps his head bowed as you raise your gaze. "But I figured you loved me."

Pedro kissed your hands again. He moved and perched next to you on the edge of the tub. "It's quite a scary thing to love. I'm just handing you my heart and hoping it'll be ok," he chuckled. "And I know you would but ... would you believe it, this is the longest relationship I've had."

He'd never told you that. He'd mentioned an ex or two but never to any detail.

"And you're the last person I will ever date. The first and only I want forever. I'm ready to make a life, the whole thing."

You couldn't help but watch him like in a daze as his smile takes over his face.

"Kids. A girl and a boy, like my sister and I- more if it happens. We'd marry once we have kids so they can be at the wedding. We'd have dogs. Probably move out of the city, to the countryside, with a good school," he grinned. His head rested in the crook of your neck, voice low.

"I can't tell you the amount of times I've pictured our wedding, or our house. You and the kids visiting me on set. We'd come back to Chile every summer. They'd be close with their cousins, but their favourite aunt would probably be Lux."

You laughed, a tear sliding down your cheek. "Probably."

He laughed and kissed the space between your neck and shoulder. He pulled away eventually and looked at you. His hand, large and welcoming, held your cheek in hand, brushing back hair. "When I look at you, my love, I see the whole thing. But I was-truthly- always too scared to know if you wanted the same."

You nodded, eagerly. "I want it, Pedro. All you had to do was ask."

His grin split and his chest caved with a sigh of relief. He grabbed your hand and kissed it like you were a princess. "This wasn't exactly the place I imagined this happening."

You looked around the bath room, at the orange lights and little plant Javiera had. "As bathrooms go..." you trail off.

"Anywhere's perfect with you," said Pedro, nudging you with his head of curls.

"Sap."

"You had me worried for a second there, you know." His arm came around your hip, holding you.

You cringed, wiping at your eyes and desperately trying to salvage your makeup. "I'm sorry, ruined you seeing your family."

"Oh no, no, no Cariño," he brushed your hair from your face, leaning closer to you. "You've made me a very happy man."

Pedro kissed you, softly. A whisper of his love and devotion. It lasted until you were tugging at his shirt closer and until his hands were in your hair.

"We should-" you started against his lips. "Mhm, we should probably go before your sisters think they're getting nephews or nieces."

Pedro grinned, dragging his lips down your neck to nip at your earlobe. "Dirty," he helped you up and patted your backside. "You go down, I need to piss."

You made a disgusted noise before lingering at the door. "So everything's ok?" you checked, looking back to him. "I haven't, have I ruined this?"

His look of love was almost enough to tell you no, but you needed to hear it. "You could never. You just better say yes when I ask you to marry me!"

You left him to pee and returned to the table outside where most cousins had sat at.

Lux put a hand on your knee.

"Are you ok?" Javiera asked you when you took your seat.

Apparently Lux wasn't the only one to note his laughter at the questions.

"I'm ok," you shrug, "I'm emotional."

"You're allowed to be," Javiera assured you. "But my hermanito is not dumb."

It explained everything that needed to be.

Quickly, conversation started up again and you were laughing quietly. It had took a lot out of you, the talk and confession but still left you lighter.

You spotted Pedro walking back out, Nicolas under his arm as he patted him on the shoulder and nudged him away. You watched him, expecting a drop of a kiss on your head and for him to take the seat next to you.

Instead, Pedro dropped down in front of you again.

"Your poor knees!" you joked.

Everyone else grew louder.

Lux pulled out her phone. "Dios mío."

Pedro pulled out the box, opened it to a golden band. "Marry me?"

[bluedandylyon]

Rewatch Rambles (tm)

Season 1

Flowers for She-Ra

Ok I do have to admit that this is a really funny moment, but the cool part about most jokes on Spop is that you can actually learn a lot about the characters from them.

Adora legit panics at being in front of an authority figure she has no idea how to please. You can see Angella actually feel really bad for her for a second: she sees that little kid trying desperately trying to stay on the authority figure's good side so she doesn't get punished, but eventually, the hurt she feels over the Horde's actions override this compassion and she dumps it unto Adora, bc she is a product of the Horde.

I always forget the rebellion is so recent. Like we're talking about a one generation war here, and I also forget that Angella and Micah were the founders. It's kind of a nice nod to Micah wanting to fight against the Horde ever since he was training with Light Spinner, but after seeing what the spell of obtainment did, he went another route to do it after becoming disillusioned with magic.

My blorbo absolutely blaming herself for the death of Micah even tho she was like 3 when it happened and blaming herself for not knowing when she arrived to bright moon like a day ago. (quite literally a day ago, we know this is her first night in the castle)

Adora looks absolutely TERRIFIED, and like honestly, Angella is kinda absolutely threatening her here, so I don't blame her. It's just a repeated pattern in Adora's life: authority figures expecting perfection, otherwise she'll get punished for it.

She also internalizes "do not disappoint her as "do not disappoint me "

Which is one of the things I love about this show. There is SO much miscommunication due to trauma in this show, it's actually insane. Like I've said it before, but the entire conflict in Catra and Adora's relationship can actually be boiled down to how they each misinterpret what the other is saying over and over and over again due to their upbringings.

Another thing I love about this show: how they subtly show character's upbringings and social manners.

Glimmer freaks the hell out bc Adora just appears on her bed, but Adora doesn't really see the big deal bc there was no privacy in the Horde. It makes sense for her to just go up there. She was also probably like "well Catra and I were best friends, and Glimmer and Bow seem to like me a lot and also I feel really freaking isolated right now, so Glimmer won't mind if I just sleep on the foot of her bed like Catra used to do for me right?"

This poor girl is just trying so hard to get on Angella's good side and be of service. Knowing about her traumas and how deeply she has internalized that she has no inherent value, these scenes become really hard to watch.

I'm sorry, as a fandom, we truly do not talk about Catra's mrrp here enough. It is the best noise she ever makes in the show and that's counting all the "hey adora"s and purring. THERE I said it.

You know what's fucked up? The fact that Catra is so optimistic that SW will finally recognize her worth now that Adora's gone. She misses Adora like crazy, but she's also felt like she's lived under her shadow for so long, that it's also really nice to have a chance to prove herself, even if it isn't enough, bc it's never enough for SW.

I always wonder what the hell this drawing is??? Is it a drawing Adora made when she was a kid?? Like did she draw this when she was younger as like a dream she had and just glued it to her locker? Or is it a drawing the horde soldiers made mocking Adora and belittling her betrayal? Maybe the latter makes more sense. Either way, lots of questions.

I do like the show, don't tell of "I've told you everything I know about Adora" and then noticing that drawing and crumpling it, bc Catra is still trying to protect Adora by not telling SW about She-Ra.

The way she FLINCHES :c It breaks my heart to think of how many times Catra has been physically abused.

AND THEN SHE IMMEDIATELY GOES TO CHECK ON HER WHEN SW's IN PAIN, GOD.

It's a mix of Catra genuinely having a really big heart, but also wanting your caretaker to care about you so badly that you're willing to try just about anything to get that affection. This all happens so fast that it's very unconscious though, Catra can normally pretend that she doesn't care about SW's affection or recognition.

Loaded ass phrase in the middle of a gay ass buff jock moment, this is peak She-Ra right here.

Ppl don't really understand that when I say "she-ra is the gayest show I have ever watched" I not only mean "the protagonist is a lesbian and she saved the universe by loving her catgirl gf and kissing her" I also mean bc of moments like this. Like this is gay culture. As a certified buff dumb jock, seeing Adora do shit like this and constantly challenge Sea-Hawk to arm-wrestling literally means so much to me bc I be doing that shit unprompted at any given moment.

Again.

Gay culture.

Also I think about that She-Ra close-up constantly, I love how androgynous she looks here. Absolute gender.

Honestly, rewatching S1, they got away with so much shit. Like pretty much every woman who sees she-ra has a crush on her, it is SO funny. You can tell that after princess prom, the execs were like "please,,, you can't keep getting away with this"

The implications of this are really interesting actually. If this isn't a myth and it's instead a legend, I wonder if Mara and squadron Grayskull actually did go to beast island at one point and tried to dismantle it or something. Would make for a cool one-shot.

It’s interesting Glimmer says to concentrate really hard bc it’s the opposite of how she ra gets her healing powers. She gets them by relaxing and moving through her fear, almost entering a meditative state instead of directly focusing on them.

It's so upsetting how she is unable to recognize how unfair it is for people to be placing all of these responsibilities on her when she discovered she was She-Ra like, yesterday. And Bow and Glimmer eventually recognize this and reassure her, but they're still not the best at it. She will probably always ask herself if they would have become her friends if they met her as Adora, not She-Ra.

She has been raised to be perfect at everything she did, on the first try, or get love and recognition taken away from her, so the only thing she can do is get mad at herself, because she has been taught that she deserves it.

Rare Adora acting W.

Completely obsessed at how Bow is mimicking her to appear intimidating LMAO

Glimmer looks so hot in armor, that is all.

I love the intentional dealing-with-a-homophobic-parent language choice here.

This is genuinely so sweet and thoughtful of them honestly. It's really painful to see the juxtaposition between Catra's isolation and loneliness with Adora becoming closer with new friends, though. I know she meets Scorpia (who is a bit too enthusiastic), but it's not like she is in a position to truly accept new friendships outside of Adora anyway.

Oops I thought this was going to be a shorter one bc I was like "it's flowers for she-ra, how trauma packed can it be, really?" I should know better, I've watched this shit 10 times dude.

[eveningspirit]

If Trinity and Frank are indeed the same, why did I connect with Frank so hard, while Trinity is only the character I appreciate? I've been wondering about it from the beginning of the show, because Trinity definitely has some of the characteristics that make me go *.*

And yet..

It's not a gender thing, I analyzed it back and forth, left and right and in all other directions for a long time. I freely admit, that I haven't yet come across a female character that I would feel as strongly as I do about many male characters (the closest comes La'An Noonien-Singh from Star Trek: SNW). However, I chalk it mostly to the fact that well-writtem female characters are a relatively new concept.

BTW, it has to be said that The Pitt has so many fantastic and multidimentional female characters.

About Trinity, though. And Frank

--and why he has my whole heart mind, while she doesn't.

I think it's a matter of masking. They are the same at the core, yes. Both ambitious, both proud and both seeking connection and approval. And both deeply hurt, to the point where they have to hide parts of themselves behind A Mask.

They go about it in very different ways, I think.

Frank tricked everyone (including me) with how competent and strong and yappy--and happy--he is. It's the surface, the projection.

Trinity, meanwhile, is abbrasive, she doesn't try to make people like her, quite on the contrary. Oh, she wants to be liked, just as Frank does. She soaks up Garcia's niceness like a flower in the drought. But she's not going to try extra hard. She doesn't trust people and she doesn't want to trust people, she can saunter through life all on her own, thank you very much (this is a lie).

Whereas Frank... Frank asks Robby, "Are we still friends?" Frank clocks a *sunshine* newcommer and (it's important) a resident, who will most likely stay in this ED. He gets out of his way to befriend her. He tries to impress an MS4, who may potentially end up in this ED, but then, he may not, so he doesn't put in much effort. And he is professional, but nothing beyond that, toward an MS3, who, most likely, he won't meet again after her rotation here is over in three-to-four weeks (or a couple months? I'm not sure how long student rotation is.).

Frank needs to have people around him, people who would give him the sense of belonging (all that praise kink talk is a lil' too much for me, but that's just me. you do you). Having a wife, kids, now also a dog is a part of it too. It's the "white picket fence life" that's supposed to be so... normal. Oh, make no mistake, he loves Abby and he definitely loves his kids. But the goal of the family is normalcy.

He doesn't want to be different than the rest of the world. Bigger, better, more shiny. Except maybe in medicine, but that's probably the only authentic thing in his life. His love for medicine. It's not means to an end. Besides, he likes Robby's approach, that this is a teamwork. Frank is a part of the team--again, belonging.

Trinity wants to shine. She has The Ego, and the means to show it. On the surface she doesn't care about belonging anywhere. She cares, she really, really does, about other people, but, oooh, allowing someone to see that? It's something she will fight to the bitter end. I'd say she was truly exhausted after this shift, when she let that fasade slip for a blink of an eye, and offered Whitaker a place to live. She imediately put it back up with that deflection about Krav Maga.

She's wonderfully complicated, that woman.

So, to sum it up. Yes, they are the same underneath. And they both project something that is not entirely true about themselves on the outside. But their masks are vastly different.

Oh, one more thing. The jokes, the jabs at other people. They both use sarcasm, but Frank aims it at his peers (Collins, Garcia, Princess is maybe not a peer, but she can hold her own) and only "belittles" Garcia, who gives as good as she gets, if not better. Trinity starts with jabs at those who are inferior to her (Victoria, Denis and Mel, who is not inferior--in fact she's superior as an R2--but her social skills are lacking and Trinity sees that), and those jabs hit the sore points of those people.

So, Frank's teasing is used as a bridge toward other people, without showing that he wants to build that bridge. While Trinity's teasing is a shield meant to keep people at a distance, so they don't see her vulnerability.

Yeah. Second attempt at a summary. ;) I want to say that them masking in different ways is most likely the reason I identify with Frank and only appreciate Trinity. Not that it's important, but my overthinking this bias led to the above analysis of their characters, so.. There you go.

Thank you for reading. :)

[satoruxx]

listen i loveeeee eng dub caleb i think his va absolutely ate that shit up and the dialogue is so so good... but CN DUB CALEB????? oh my god... it's so much more ANGSTY bc wdym he literally says "your biggest mistake was thinking i'd always be willing to go along with being your big brother. i'm sick of playing these "being a family" games with you..."

I WANTED MY GEGE TROPE AND I GOT IT UGH </////3

[daily-whistlebreeze]

daily whistlebreeze until ki becomes PoV day 1553

the results of the prompts challenge are in (and have been for a while, but I have been distracted <3) and Stretchkit and Rustlekit are here to assist Whis with the planning.

as you have voted to have a full month of Whisses, I have decided that this will happen in July. I can't really do it earlier because I need to focus on my exams in June. I have already prepared the prompts and I will share them when July approaches (in the meantime I'll try to cobble a pretty image for it together)

[longagoitwastuesday]

.

I'm only two episodes in right now, and thus far I find the show neat, but nothing unforgettable; which is a normal occurrence, I'm after all just two episodes in.

I was told the anime had both a sort of noir film and western air and I think it's interesting how the music reflects that (it so reminds me of Morricone and spaghetti westerns specifically at times). I do love the mix.

Something else I find very interesting, and the is quite common of old scifi, is how the development of futuristic aesthetic has changed through time alongside the evolution of our technology in real life. Futuristic aesthetic used to be way more mechanical and manual than it is now, not in a steampunk kind of way but in a manner that in hindsight does somewhat recall that. It makes me think about how cars' engines, while at their core remaining mechanical, have become more and more electrical with time. You can see in these old futuristic renditions that cars used to be more mechanical. I do prefer that. I like machines because of their machine part. I also find extremely interesting how one can dream up a whole new world or technology, yet it is hard to get rid of what is considered at the core of the functioning of that technology; wasn't there a Jules Verne book in which something like the Internet worked similarly to wired telephones?

Spike is neat. He's very funny and goofy in that actually-he's-sad-and-haunted way. I must say I do love those things. Pretty sure he's going to die. The very beginning of the first episode seems like a flashback, which I think is kinda confirmed by the ending's imagery. And yet it also seems like a flashforward, as if past and future converged in one, and the present were just a necessary thread stitching them together. He was there once, but he'll be there again; it will be for the same reason, and he will die again in a second death that will be but one, since it's the same. You know, that kind of deal. That's the feeling I'm getting out of him, especially given the whole "You'll meet a woman and you'll die / Again? I've already done that" scene in the very first episode.

In that regard, in a way it reminds me a bit of Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel García Márquez, or some other play on repetition of one's life in which you can foresee the ending from the beginning because they're the same (in general GGM has this happen a lot through his writing). Following that same line, the first flashback, despite giving big noir film vibes aesthetically, also reminded me of the western High Plains Drifter. I rather like that film.

I think of the song "Blue", which is part of the reason why I'm watching this. I think of it now with what I've seen. Hard to tell the difference between life and death, dream and reality, once you've already died and are on borrowed time. Like a watch stuck always on the same hour, the same minute, the second hand trembling but never advancing.

[bohemiandeer]

You know what hits me hard? When 5 to 6 year old children, all the way in Southeast Asia, knows about what's happening in Palestine right now. That children their age is getting bombed, that they're starving to death, that they're getting shot at, and sniped in the head. Because, just this past 2 or so months, I heard some of the little ones in the Kindergarten classes I'm TAing in as an Intern talk about it. Hell, one of the little boys downright said he didn't like Israel, because Israel is bad, because they do scary things. Another was questioning whether Palestine was bad too, because, "why else would they shooting at them?". A little girl in one of my classes doesn't want to finish her food at all, because she wants to save at least half her meat and rice for kids in Palestine, because she heard that, they don't have food. And that's just the ones I remember. Namely the inciting cases before their classmates slowly follow suit. The littles are fricking SCARED. We had to sit these kids down, and tell them that the topic is too mature for them at the moment, that they shouldn't even be concerned because they're KINDERGARTNERS, they're not even old enough to properly understand. The one teacher I was TAing for had to make a class announcement saying that. What gets me is, these are 5 to 6 year olds, the youngest I've worked with in this specific age group is 4. 5 years old on average, and they've already been exposed to the worst horrors genocide has to offer through the news and snippets of conversation among adults and hell, considering how many of them say they like to play games on Mama's phone, or their IPad, even from fricking social media. And the fact that, these literal babies, from all the way in Cambodia, has more empathy in their entire body and soul, than full grown fricking adults have in the nail of their pinky finger, gets me. FFS we as adults could LEARN from them I feel sometimes. I honestly don't know what to feel about it anymore. On the one hand, this is the next generation I'm working with. And if the next generation's default response to a tragedy such as Palestine, is what I've seen come up on occasion so far? Perhaps there's some bloody hope for this world after all. At least in this country. Especially since a majority of them already come from families who survived a genocide. These are the 3rd - 4th generation descendants of those who survived the Khmer Rouge. They've got grandparents at home, who no doubt are more than intimately familiar with what Palestine is going through right now. And it shows.

But on the other, it makes my heart sink because these are CHILDREN, these are LITTLE KIDS, they should be playing with their toys and watching cartoons and talking to their friends about everything from Spiderman to Speakerman to Kuromi and her friends, and be worried about whether or not they can go to playground that day, guranteed they're well behaved, or if Mama remembered to pack in their costume for swimming lessons that week. NOT JUST MY KIDS. But the little ones in Palestine too. They deserve better. They all deserve, so much better. Hell, it's come to the point that whenever I look at my kiddos right now, whether they'd be working in class, playing, doing something as mundane as eating lunch or getting ready for their nap. I think of the children their age in Palestine that didn't even get the chance to survive. I think of the ones whose memories from this age, is nothing but absolute horror and pain, rather than what has slowly become my normal, who never got to experience what my littles do on a daily basis right now.

Children shouldn't even be concerned about "War", about a Genocide. The last thing that should be on a 5 year old's mind, is pain, and suffering, and the worst horrors imaginable ever to be inflicted on a human being. ESPECIALLY WHEN IT'S INFLICTED, ON OTHER CHILDREN THEIR AGE. And for that alone, the world has failed them. Especially the kids in Palestine who didn't ask for any of this. They just wanted to carry on with life as kids do, the same way as my littles do on a daily basis no doubt, learning, playing, chatting with friends over their favourite cartoons and characters, worrying about whether they'd get to go to the playground or not that day.

I apologize for talking about this on this blog. I know my blog tends to be lighter in feel, a lot more unhinged and light hearted typically. I mean, I'm just a fricking nerd who likes to draw and write, and lurk about her favourite fandoms to consume and support what is shared among other nerds who also like to draw and write. But I couldn't stop thinking about it. About contemplating it, especially since I'll be back on a roll tomorrow, working with my kiddos again after not seeing them for 5 days straight because of Holidays. And, I just had to talk about it. This is something I felt I couldn't keep to myself this time, I don't think my soul'd be able to carry it. I had to talk about it.

FREE PALESTINE. Our children deserve better.

[fireinmoonshot]

death wish love | tyler owens x fem!reader

Pairing: Tyler Owens x Fem!Reader Summary: As members of rival storm chasing groups, you and Tyler Owens have hated each other since the start – well, you were supposed to. Little do you know, Tyler has been head over heels for you for months, and it's only when he nearly loses you that he realises he's done with pretending to hate you. Warnings: Descriptions of injuries, mentions of blood, tornadoes (of course), Tyler is actually painfully obvious with his crush but thinks he's not at all. Word Count: 6.7k (I don't know how that happened) A/N: I had this idea for a fic a few days ago and when I was listening to the Twisters soundtrack as I wrote, I realised that the song Death Wish Love fits it perfectly. I did not intend for this to be so long, but it somehow just happened. It's probably one of the longest things I've written on this blog, so I hope anyone that reads it really enjoys it. I had so much fun writing it and playing around in the Twisters universe! I will definitely be writing more for Tyler.

One of these days, Tyler Owens was going to get his shit together and ask you out. There were, however, several things in the way. The most pressing being the fact that your storm chasing groups were rivals and had been for years.

The fact that you hated his guts would be the second. 

He was unaware that you didn’t hate him quite as much as you made out to, though. It was just that you had a reputation to uphold. Being the unofficial leader of The Thunder Team, your friends and fellow storm chasers all expected you to dislike the Tornado Wranglers just as much as they did.

And you had – in the start. 

You were just beginning your PhD, fairly fresh in the world of storm chasing and the rivalry between your teams had been there from the very beginning. To your team, the Tornado Wranglers were nothing more than a bunch of stupid kids who didn’t even have the correct knowledge to be chasing these tornadoes.

To you, they had slowly become something of a wonder. You didn’t think it was necessary to have a PhD or education under your belt in order to storm chase. As long as you loved it, that was enough. And you never doubted the love that the Tornado Wranglers had for it. 

But still, the rivalry continued. It was always a competition. Who could get to the tornado first? Who could get closer? Who had better instincts when it came to choosing which one to chase? Who could get more attention on social media with their photos and videos?

The Tornado Wranglers had an advantage on that one.

That never stopped your team trying, though. Which is exactly what they’re doing as you walk towards them from where you’ve just parked your car. They’re all crowded around the van in the motel parking lot. Robbie, one of your closest friends, is filming Ally talking about something, probably regarding the EF1 tornado you’d chased today. 

You stop far enough away that you aren’t going to end up in the background of the video, and that’s when Tyler Owens sidles up beside you, arms crossed over his chest.

“Not interested in going viral?”

You glance up at him and notice he’s already looking at you with a cocky grin on his irritatingly handsome face. “No, figured I’d leave that to you and your team. Shoot any fireworks up a tornado today? I didn’t see you out there.”

“I didn’t realise you were looking.” 

There’s something strange in his tone of voice, but when you look at him again, there’s nothing in his face to give away the reason. 

“I wasn’t,” you huff. “It’s just that I see your giant red truck everywhere when I’m trying to get good photos of the tornadoes and it’s quite obvious when you’re not there.” 

Tyler smiles to himself. “Why don’t you come chasing with us one day, then? My truck won’t end up in your photos if you’re taking photos from inside it.”

You laugh. “That is the last thing I would want to do.” A lie. You’ve thought about it several times in the past.

“Sure, sure. You keep telling yourself that and one day you might actually believe it.”

You narrow your eyes at him but make no move to walk away from him. Your team are still filming and you’d rather stay away until they’re finished, even if it means standing with Tyler Owens until they are. 

“You guys gonna stop by the rodeo tomorrow night?” Tyler breaks the silence. 

You shrug your shoulders. “Depends on how tomorrow goes. You?”

He nods. “Yeah, we probably will, even if tomorrow doesn’t go to plan. You know my team. We love a night out.”

The weather tomorrow was predicted to be a good one for storm chasers – thunderstorms with heavy rain and likely a tornado as well, if the conditions were good enough. You were all hoping that they were. 

“My guys are less likely to go if they know your team is going, you know?” You look at Tyler, noticing the way that he’s watching your team, who are now laughing at something that Ally had said for the video. “We are still rivals.” 

“Did you think I needed a reminder?” He chuckles.

“Why? Am I being too nice to you?”

Tyler grins, one of those ones that makes you feel a little funny in your stomach. Like butterflies – but you don’t get butterflies from people you dislike. 

“Oh, darlin', you’re always a delight.”

You roll your eyes. “Want me to get you a shovel so you can start digging yourself a hole?” 

He holds up his hands in mock surrender and laughs. “Sorry, sorry,” he grins. “You wanna grab one for yourself so you can help me? I’d love the company.”

You open your mouth to reply about how much you’d love to help just as you catch Robbie’s eye. He’s quick to call out your name, beckoning you over, and you have no choice but to listen to him and leave Tyler. You’ve already stood here talking to him long enough and the last thing you want is your team thinking that you’re colluding with the Tornado Wranglers. 

“Gotta go,” you nod your head towards your group. “Good luck tomorrow.”

Tyler bids you good luck as well and watches as you head over towards your group, all of them eyeing him as you reach them. He tips his hat at Robbie, who is watching him with judging eyes, and turns on his heel, heading back to his own team to get a well needed beer.

—

When Tyler gets back to his team, he realises that they were all watching him. They all give him questioning looks as he grabs a beer out of the cooler. 

“What? I got something on my face?”

“Yeah, it sure is written all over your face,” Boone says.

Tyler frowns. “What is?”

“Oh, don’t try and lie to us, Ty,” Dani adds.

He shakes his head and takes a seat on one of the fold up chairs beside his truck. He’s smart enough to see what they’re getting at – the way he’d been there talking with you for so long. His friends are smart too. But hopefully not smart enough to see through the facade Tyler puts up to try and convince them that he still dislikes you. 

“Her, Ty? Really? She’s from the Thunder Team.” Boone stares Tyler down.

Tyler has no choice. “Okay, no,” he sighs and takes a long swig of his beer. “We were just talking, and I was just messing around with her.” He was also trying to get the courage to ask you to the rodeo, just the two of you, but he’d chickened out at the last second. “She definitely still hates us, judging by her reaction.”

Truth is, Tyler Owens has been harbouring a secret crush on you for the better part of a year now. It had snuck up on him. He’d hated you at first, thought you were just another stuck up storm chasing student, especially when he found out you were studying for your PhD. But after spending so much time around you, something had changed and all of a sudden, you had a hold over him that you didn’t even realise you had. 

It drives Tyler insane. 

The way he feels when he looks at you is definitely not the way he should be feeling about anyone, letalone the leader of a rival storm chasing team. But here he is. 

The passion he’d seen in your eyes when you’d been chasing storms. The way you talked about them in your captions on social media when you posted photos you’d taken. Even the way you made time to learn more about them through school while being on the road so often.

He was well aware that he was supposed to hate you. And yet, he couldn’t find it in himself to do it anymore.

“You sure that’s all it was?” 

“A hundred percent, Boone.”

He’s thankful when the conversation moves away from you and the Thunder Team. It lets him sit in his own thoughts for a few minutes until he’ll undoubtedly be brought back into the conversation for one reason or another. 

He’s unable to stop his eyes from drifting over to you and your team. You’ve taken a seat on the back of a truck, watching safely from behind the camera as Robbie films Ally again. He tries hard not to smile at the look on your face as you watch your friends, laughing along with the others. The last thing he needs right now is for one of his team to catch him grinning at you like an idiot, especially after convincing them that there’s nothing going on.  

He realises, then, that he’s already in way too deep.

—

The last thing you expect when you wake up the next morning is to find out that your team made a bet with the Tornado Wranglers when you had gone to bed. 

It’d been raining for most of the night, the ground covered in mud and puddles. The sky was dark and you could just feel that the conditions were perfect for a tornado. You had a good feeling that today would be the day.

Until you learnt about the bet.

“I knew I shouldn’t have left you guys alone.”

Robbie laughs, nearly choking on the piece of bacon he’d been eating. You’ve all come to a nearby diner to fuel up on both food and gas for your cars before what was supposed to be a long day of storm chasing. You have a feeling that it won’t be now that the bet exists.

“Okay, technically it was their fault,” Ally offers.

“Explain.”

“So, we’d had a few drinks, and they had clearly also been drinking, and Harry and I were heading over to the bathrooms to clean up before going to bed – because dental hygiene is important!” Ally begins, forgetting all about her half eaten plate of food. “We were almost there when they called out to us – I forget their names. The blond guy and the one with the mustache, the cute one. Anyway, they suggested a bet. Whoever could hold their liquor the best gets to choose which direction the other team chases in today.”

You stare at Ally. “And you said yes.”

She winces, and then shovels a fork full of eggs into her mouth, nodding so she doesn’t have to give you a proper answer. 

Your team is usually quite well behaved. But even the best of people could get taken advantage of, and you’ve seen it many times first hand with the Tornado Wranglers.  They can hold their liquor very well and wake up the next day with very little consequences from doing so. You’re honestly surprised Ally is even functioning. Harry, on the other hand, you haven’t seen all morning. Unsurprisingly, your team had obviously lost.

“Which direction are we going, then?”

“That’s the catch,” Robbie interjects. “They choose for us before we go. They get to look at the radar first and decide which way is going to be best. And naturally, they’re going to send us in the direction far away from the best chance.” 

You groan and let your head fall into your hands, beginning to ponder your options. You can either deal with the bet and get sent in the entirely wrong direction, or…

Without a second thought, you’re pushing yourself up from the table and heading towards the door of the diner.

“Where are you going!?” Robbie calls after you.

“I’m going to fix this mess!” 

—

Tyler greets you with a smile that is way too cheerful for both the time of the morning that it is and the situation.

“To what do I owe the pleasure on this fine morning, darlin'?” He asks, leaning up against his truck. He’s holding a coffee in one hand. Good to know he’s human. You’re not surprised that he doesn’t look hungover at all. The man practically resembles a God. 

“Wouldn’t call it a pleasure, honey,” you sigh, deciding to use a nickname just like he always uses for you. You cross your arms over your chest as you stop in front of him. “This bet you made with my team last night. I want it called off.”

Tyler’s breath catches in his throat at the sound of the word honey coming out of your mouth, directed at him. He clears his throat, trying to ignore the way it feels to hear you calling him that. “No can do, I’m afraid. We Tornado Wranglers don’t back down on bets.” 

You narrow your eyes at him. “I’m asking nicely.”

“I think you can ask a little nicer. Maybe throw a please in there,” he says. “You know it wouldn’t look good for your team, though, right? Half the other teams know about the bet.”

For a few moments, you simply just stare at him, hoping he’ll budge. He doesn’t. He stands there staring at you, too, leaning against his truck in an effortlessly attractive way, smiling at you in that same way he always does. It’s like he reserves this specific smile just for you. 

You take a step towards him, testing the waters, and notice the way his breath hitches this time at your close proximity. Did he dislike you that much that you getting this close to him set him on edge? Or was it something else?

“Nothing can change your mind?”

Tyler shakes his head. “I already told you. We don’t back down on our bets.”

“Tyler.” It’s a rare occasion where you call him by his first name, but you figure it can’t hurt to try it. You can see his eyes soften a little at the sound of it. “If you do this, you’re going to send us right off the trail and ruin our chase.”

“Who said I’d send you in the wrong direction?” 

“I’m smarter than you give me credit for.”

“I don’t know, darlin'. I give you a fair bit of credit for being a genius,” he took a sip of his coffee. “You’re the one with the PhD. I didn’t study that much.”

Something about hearing those words sets off that feeling inside your stomach again. You push it down. “I don’t have my PhD yet.”

“No,” Tyler shakes his head. “But you’re close, aren’t you? That’s more than most people around here can say regarding their education on these things.” He points a finger towards the sky, which is rapidly darkening. 

You sigh. He’s right about that. You are close to finishing your PhD, and not many of the other storm chasers around you could say the same. 

“Just tell me which direction we’re going in, Owens.”

He looks at you for a moment. “I’ll give you a choice,” he says, and for a moment hope sparks in your chest that you’ll get to choose your direction – until he continues speaking. “I’ll let this bet go if you make another one with me.”

“What sort of bet?” You cross your arms over your chest.

“Not regarding our teams. Just you and me.”

You’re about to respond when you hear the sound of the van, playing music rather loudly – Harry’s choice – pulling into the motel parking lot behind you. You sigh and turn around to look at them, irritated that this is the second time in less than 24 hours that they’ve interrupted you and Tyler. 

“No luck?” Ally calls out from the passenger seat. 

Behind them, Robbie pulls up in his truck. 

You shake your head and turn back around to face Tyler. There’s no time to make another bet with him now that your team is here and they’re all ready to go. 

“East or west, Owens?”

Tyler turns around and looks at the sky around you. You figure he’s already done his research on the conditions in every direction and that he’s just messing with you, pretending to decide on the spot. Any good storm chaser would have been watching the radars all morning – which you had been, before you found out about the bet. 

“East.” He says, turning back around to face you. “There are two possible formations, so let’s see which one develops. Or, you can ditch your team and come join us for the day. My passenger seat practically has your name on it, darlin’.” 

A small part of you finds yourself wanting to say yes to him. To tell him that you’d love nothing more than to get in his truck and see what a day with the Tornado Wranglers is like. But the reasonable part of you wins out. 

“You’re going to regret making this bet with my team, Owens,” you take a step back from him, giving him his space again. 

“I gave you the choice of another option, but you didn’t take it.”

You ignore him and turn around, heading towards the passenger side of Robbie’s truck – your usual spot when storm chasing. Tyler laughs at your reaction and then gets into his own truck before pressing his hand to the horn, making you jump at the sound, obviously using it to call his team from inside. You shoot him a look over your shoulder and in return, he sends a wink your way.

“May the best team win,” Tyler flashes a grin.

“Oh, we will!”

—

As much as Tyler hates to admit it, he had sent you in the wrong direction. There were two possible formations, that was true. But it looked very clear that the one to the east wasn’t actually going to develop into anything, and he was sure you would’ve figured that out once you got on the road and actually checked the conditions yourself.

He hates disappointing you. He saw the look on your face as you tried to convince him to call off the bet, the way you wanted to make sure today was a good one for your team. But it isn’t entirely out of competition that he sent you in the wrong direction.

Subconsciously, he did it to try and keep you safe.

If you’re out of the way of the tornado, then it’s a weight off of Tyler’s chest. He wouldn’t admit that to his team, but it felt good to think about himself. That you’d be safe. Besides, he had tried to get you out of it by making another bet with you, but he knew that you wouldn’t humour him the second he saw your team arrive. 

He presses his foot down on the accelerator, watching the clouds ahead of them. Something is going to form. He knows it. He just hopes it’s a good one, something worth chasing. 

In the passenger seat, Boone is keeping a good eye on the clouds to the east. He’s filming as well, live streaming as usual. 

“You were right, Ty,” Boone says, pointing the camera out the window towards the east. “That one’s gonna give us nothing. It’s already disappearing.”

Tyler lets out a breath of relief. You’re out of harms way and even though he knows you’d be annoyed at him if you ever found out, he can’t seem to find it in himself to feel bad about the fact. He had felt bad about the bet when you’d been talking to him, but now he realises that keeping the bet was a good idea.

“This one’s gonna be a good one, I can feel it,” he says, eyeing the clouds above them. 

Then, it happens – the tornado forms right in front of them. It’s already huge, bigger than any tornado Tyler has seen in the past few months.

Boone whoops in the seat beside him, moving the camera to film the tornado through the windshield. 

“Just look at that beauty!” He exclaims. 

Tyler can’t keep the smile off of his face as they drive closer to it. He stops the car once they get close enough, anchoring it to the ground as usual, watching as it gets closer and closer to the truck. 

“Oh, this is gonna be fun,” Tyler yells, straight to the camera that Boone is holding in his face. “Let’s do this!”

It’s only a split second later that his heart drops to his stomach. He watches as the tornado, once coming right towards them, veers off course. It’s heading east. And it’s growing in size. 

He looks out of the passenger window and in the distance, he can see your truck. It’s white, so bright under the dark sky. You’re going to be right in its path.

He sent you in the wrong direction to try and get you out of harms way, and instead he’s sent you in the exact direction the tornado is heading. There’s no way you can get out of its path in time. 

Tyler suddenly feels like he can barely breathe.

“Turn the camera off, Boone,” he commands, and then he’s removing the anchors from the ground and pressing his foot down onto the accelerator before he can even really think about it, even though there’s no way he can reach you in time with how quickly the tornado is moving towards you.

Boone, thankfully, listens, ending the stream, putting the camera down and picking up the radio to try and reach you. He’s realised what’s happening. Tyler tries to ignore the panic he feels when there’s no answer.

He can’t lose you like this. Not now. Not when he never really even had you. Not when you didn’t even know the way he felt about you. He’d been an asshole, a fool, making that bet. If he hadn’t, none of this would have happened.

“Please be okay, please be okay.” He mutters it under his breath like it’s a mantra. He doesn’t care what Boone thinks. If he says it enough, maybe he can make it come true.

—

You’ve seen tornadoes before. You’ve been close to them before. But you’ve never had one quite this size coming straight at you. You hadn’t expected this. 

When Tyler sent you east, Robbie had checked the radar and noticed that the cells out here were much less likely to form a tornado compared to the ones west. You’d gone anyway, figuring you’d try your chances, leaving Ally, Harry and the rest of your team a little further back, trying to get as close as you could before you realised your tornado was going to amount to nothing at all.

You and Robbie had been watching the tornado forming west of you, wishing you had been able to chase that one rather than do what the Tornado Wranglers told you. 

And then, it changed course.

“Get out of the car! We need to run!” Robbie undoes his seatbelt as he speaks and it doesn’t take you long to follow suit, undoing your own and jumping out of the truck.

He takes off at a run ahead of you just as the rain begins.

Your heart is beating faster in your chest than you think it ever has before. Your legs burn at the pace you’re running, your feet sinking into and skidding through the muddy paddock thanks to the heavy rain last night and the rain growing even heavier now. It slows you down, but your adrenaline pushes you faster. You can’t stop, not now. Not when there’s a possible EF4 on your tail, getting closer to you with every breath you take.

You make a mistake, then, deciding to look back at it. 

The sight of it only makes you run faster, but when you turn back, fear strikes through your system as you realise you can’t see Robbie anymore. 

The wind isn’t strong enough to have pulled him back into it, not when he was running ahead of you, but you can’t help but think of the worst possible scenario as your gaze narrows in on a gully just ahead of you. Maybe he made it there before you and now he’s just waiting.

The wind from the tornado picks up trees and branches and other debris, sending things spinning through the air. You feel something slice across your leg and cry out at the sudden pain, but there’s no time to inspect the damage as you slide down the small hill into the gully, the mud going everywhere as you hit the bottom. 

You don’t even have time to scan for Robbie as you press yourself down onto the ground of the gully, covering your head with your hands and pressing your face into the ground. You try to ignore the feeling of the mud and dirt on your skin, the throbbing pain in your leg, the rain pelting down on your back, soaking you to the bone, and try to keep breathing steadily despite being out of breath from the run and the adrenaline. 

You can’t panic now. If you panic now, you’re dead. 

The tornado gets closer and you can hear it. Hear the wind rushing through the air, hear the sound of trees being ripped out of the ground. Hear the crashing sound of the truck being picked up and thrown by it. 

Everything is okay,  you tell yourself, like a mantra. Everything is going to be okay. Because if you tell yourself enough, maybe it will come true.

—

By the time Tyler gets to the place where your truck had been, the tornado is gone and so is your truck. He barely even has time to put his own truck into park before he’s jumping out of it and calling your name. 

Boone is quick to follow him.

Tyler’s eyes narrow in on something in the distance – the remnants of your truck. It’s sitting upside down, the cab crushed in and all the glass broken. Even some of the wheels are missing. His heart almost stops.

No, you would have been smart enough to get out. You wouldn’t have stayed in the truck. He knows that. He believes that. It was one of the first things any storm chaser learnt – never stay in your car, it’s better to take your chances outside of it.

He stops in the middle of the field and takes a long, deep breath to try and calm himself down when he hears the sound of someone yelling out.

“Hey, I need some help over here!”

It’s a male voice, not belonging to you, which is the first sign that makes Tyler realise something is wrong. He recognises Robbie immediately, even though he’s drenched in rain and covered in mud and blood.

Boone runs off towards him and Tyler follows.

“Where is she?” He cuts in as Boone begins asking Robbie where he’s been hurt. “Were you with her? Where is she?” 

He knows he’s being a little irrational. He should be kinder, especially when he’s the reason Robbie was even in this tornado in the first place, but his mind is narrowed in on you, on making sure you’re okay. He’s never been more terrified that he’s lost you in his life.

“I don’t know,” Robbie shakes his head. “She was behind me, and then I jumped down into this little dam and she never came in after me.” 

Tyler doesn’t let him say anything else before he takes off running. He knows Boone can handle Robbie. His only concern is finding you. He calls out your name again and again and again, willing you to respond to just one of them.

He only hears silence.

—

The second you wake up, you push yourself up, getting your face out of the mud and opening your eyes, trying to adjust them to the sudden brightness now that the tornado has disappeared. 

You’re vaguely aware of the sound of someone calling out your name, but it sounds fuzzy, far away. Your head is spinning and you’re pretty sure you could be imagining it.

You put a hand up to the side of your face, feeling the sticky sensation of blood on your hands. Something must have hit your head and knocked you out during the tornado. You can only remember something hitting your leg as you’d slid down into the gully. How long have you been lying here? Minutes? Hours? Days, even?

Looking around, you can see the devastation caused by the tornado. There are trees and branches everywhere, and with the rain, it’s made it even muddier – and probably impossible to climb out of, especially with your injuries. You finally allow yourself to inspect your leg, noticing a deep cut across your shin, ripping your jeans. Your leg starts to throb as you finally allow yourself to recognise the pain. 

With a deep breath, you try and push yourself to your feet. It’s slippery down here thanks to all the mud and rain, and you manage to stand for just a second before your leg buckles and sends you crashing back down. At least it’s a fairly soft landing.

You curse under your breath just as you hear movement above you. Your eyes flicker towards the direction of the sound, and when you see Tyler Owens appear at the edge of the gully just to the right of you, you nearly feel like you could cry.

“Tyler!” You manage to call out to him, though your voice is weak.

His head spins towards your voice, eyes widening as he sees you. You must look like a mess, covered in all the blood and dirt, but you knows he doesn’t care. Especially with the way he slides down into the gully and stumbles towards you, getting covered in mud himself in the process.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” He falls to his knees in front of you, his hands moving to cup your cheeks and move your head from side to side. He’s quick to check the wound on your head where the blood is coming from. “You’re okay, darlin’, it doesn’t look too deep.”

You can see the panic in his eyes as he scans you, scans your whole body looking for injuries. You can also tell from the look on his face when he looks at your shin that your injury there is worrisome. 

“It’s my fault,” Tyler shakes his head, refusing to move his hands from your cheeks. It’s as if you’ll fade away if he lets go. “I shouldn’t have told you to go east. I was just trying to get you out of the way of the tornado cause I felt that yours wasn’t gonna develop, but then ours changed course and it was heading straight towards you and I couldn’t get here fast enough and god, the idea of losing you, of never seeing you again, of never asking–”

“Tyler!” 

He stops talking, having not even realised that he had let the situation get the better of him and had been rambling on. When he meets your eyes, you’re shocked to see that there are tears in his. 

“You never call me by my first name.”

“I didn’t think I’d be able to get your attention if I didn’t.”

Your reach up and take one of his hands off of your face and weave your fingers between his. You don’t really know what you’re doing, exactly, but all you know is you need to comfort him. That and you’re shaking like a leaf and the feeling of holding his hand is like an anchor to the world. A reminder that you’re alive. 

“I’m still here, Tyler. I’m all right.”

“You’re not,” he shakes his head. “You’re hurt, and it’s because of me–”

You take him by surprise as you reach up and place your own hand on his cheek. It’s only when you touch his face that you remember your hand is covered in blood and mud, but when you try and take it away, Tyler places his hand over the top of it. His eyes flutter closed and he lets out a long breath that feels to you that it’s something like relief.

The two of you stay there like that for what feels like an eternity but is really just a few minutes, soaking in the feeling of each others skin and coming to terms with the realisation that you’re alive. 

“It’s not your fault, Tyler,” you mutter softly. “You couldn’t have known that tornado was going to change course and head straight for us. Just because that bet ended up landing us in the path of a probable EF4 doesn’t mean you’re the one to blame for it. I don’t blame you.”

He blinks his eyes open and stares at yours for a moment. 

“Now, what were you saying about asking me something?” You try to change the subject.

There’s a look of something in Tyler’s eyes that you can’t quite place, but it drops off of his face instantly at your words and he lets out an awkward laugh. “I don’t think now’s the right time, darlin’,” he says. “Some other time, when you’re not bleeding and injured. We need to get you out of here and to a hospital.”

You shake your head, ignoring the fact that the movement makes you a little dizzy. “I could have just died and I would have never known what it is you wanted to ask me. So I want to know what it is right now.” You’re surprised at how strong your voice sounds, even though you don’t feel strong at all right now.

Tyler sighs and you can see by the look on his face that he’s giving in to you. “I was trying to get the courage to ask you out, was trying last night actually but I chickened out. You can be quite intimidating sometimes, you know that?”

For a moment, you just stare at Tyler. 

“I thought I was the one who hit my head. Did you hit yours too?”

He lets out a soft laugh. “Something like that.”

“You need another reminder that we’re supposed to hate each other?”

Tyler shakes his head. “I think I’ve had enough reminders to last me a lifetime. But I’m done with pretending to hate you. With trying to convince my team that I dislike you so much. I know they know the truth. It doesn’t matter, even though you can’t stand me.” 

You meet Tyler’s eyes and in them, you can see that he’s telling the truth. He doesn’t hate you, nor dislike you, nor anything similar. With the way he’s looking at you, the way he was calling your name, the way he panicked so much when he thought you were seriously hurt… he really was trying to ask you out. Just the thought of it makes that feeling rise in your stomach again, and for the first time you recognise the feeling for what it truly is – butterflies. You don’t get butterflies from people you hate.

“I don’t hate you, Tyler.”

You can see the surprise flash across his eyes.

“You don’t hate me?”

“You annoy the hell out of me and you drive me insane sometimes. But no. You fascinate me, and you make me laugh, and even though every member of my team hates you and your stupid red truck, I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to be in the passenger seat with you, driving head first into a tornado, and I nearly said yes when you asked me earlier.”

Tyler chuckles. “My truck is not stupid.”

“Does your passenger seat really have my name on it?”

“Embroidered it myself.”

You laugh, then, a real, full laugh, and Tyler can’t help but laugh as well at the absurdity of the situation. You’ve just survived a devastating tornado, you’re injured in more ways than one, Tyler Owens has just told you he likes you and you’ve come to the realisation that you like the fact that he does. And maybe, you like him a little bit too.

“We’re not gonna make it to that rodeo tonight, are we?” You ask, once the laughs subside.

Tyler shakes his head. “Rain check for the next one?”

“That’s how you’re asking me out?”

He doesn’t get a chance to reply before you both hear your names being called and look up just as Boone and Robbie appear at the top of the gully. Tyler turns around to look at them. They look relieved to have found you both, and you feel just as relieved to see that Robbie is alive and well, only a little battered just like you are. Even if you’re a little disappointed that your moment with Tyler was interrupted. It seems that happens more often than not lately.

“Is she okay?” Boone asks Tyler.

He nods. “Yeah, but she’s injured. We’re gonna need a hand out of here.”

“We got you,” Boone says.

—

“So, when are you asking me out properly, Owens?” You ask.

It’s been a week since the tornado and a week since you found out that Tyler Owens had been wanting to ask you out for months. Boone had stayed true to his word that day, using a rope and Tyler’s truck to pull you both up out of the gully.

Tyler had barely left your side since – even in the truck ride to the hospital. He usually hated letting anyone drive his truck other than himself, but that day he’d thrown the keys to Boone so he didn’t have to take any of his attention off of you. He’d stayed with you in the hospital as well, even when the rest of your team turned up to check on you and Robbie.

You were surprised at how quickly your teams had dropped their rivalry after the tornado. They’d clearly seen the way you and Tyler acted around each other, how things had changed after the tornado, even though both of you refused to give them details on what had happened when Tyler had found you in the gully. 

It was something both of you were glad for.

“You can’t just ask me that,” Tyler says, kicking his legs up on the desk in the small motel room. Luckily, he’d taken off his muddy boots when he’d come inside to check on you. He had insisted you go back home to recover from your leg injury, but you’d refused. 

“I can’t?” You ask from your spot on the bed, resting your leg up on some pillows. It had luckily not been too bad of an injury, just a reasonably deep cut that needed stitching and wrapping. You still had to be careful not to rip the stitches, which meant no storm chasing and only resting for the time being. 

Tyler nods. “You made me admit the truth to you while we were both covered in mud and blood in the bottom of a wet, muddy gully. I’m not going to ask you out while you’re sitting on a motel room bed with an injured leg and stitches in your forehead. I’m classier than that.”

You snort. “You, classy?”

“From time to time,” he shrugs a shoulder.

You jokingly roll your eyes at him. “I’ll believe it when I see it. You know, you never actually explained what the other bet you wanted to make with me that day was. Was that something to do with asking me out as well?”

Tyler’s face broke out into a grin. “Maybe.”

“Of course,” you can’t help but laugh at the silly look on his face. “Are you at least going to ask me before I get swept up in another tornado?”

“Darlin’,” Tyler stands up and crosses the room until he’s standing right beside you. One of his hands reaches down and picks up yours, weaving his fingers in-between yours. “If you get swept up in a tornado, I’m going to be right beside you. I’m gonna be beside you for as long as you let me. For as long as I get. As long as I get, okay?”

He repeats it like a mantra. Because if he says it enough, he’s certain it will come true.

[boowritess]

part 2 lol

so apparently it's really fucking hard to get into the SAS. and ontop of that I've been getting tiktoks of people going around an army base asking why they joined. most responses were to pay off student loans, bills, school, (someone said there's was 6 years of prison or school and *mental note for idea*), the recruiter lied or spoilt them, barracks bunny.

141 (poly?) x notsobaddasssoldier!reader

and now i can't stop thinking of soldier!reader. who really half-assed their way through everything - only doing the job for the money and to pay off student loans + they had nothing better to do.

who somehow ends up being adopted by Price (kinda like Gaz i guess ???) all because reader happened to be in the right place at the right time and saved Price's ass while managing to complete a mission the Task Force were doing.

and it's not that you saved his ass or completed the mission that makes Price go *this is mine* - it's the fact that afterwards all you can say is-

"this shit is so not worth paying off my student loans."

"oh fuck i forgot to cancel my subscription. fuckk- waste of fucking money"

- all the while a building is burning in front of you but yeah just not at all concerned about what had just happened. so price just *grabs you by the back of your neck and holds you up, claiming you as part of his task force now.*

(lol you probably can't do that irl but this is fiction sooo suck my ass.)

and laswell's just like no... they are very much still green john. way too green. no.

but it's too late. he's already introducing you to the task force. singing your praises and you're just like

"man he promised to pay off my student loans and give me food." basically how ur recruiter got ya ass.

enough said. you get the whole off the books speech, saving the world by doing things others wouldn't like. but u couldn't give a rats ass - you should but nah...

and like... you know you're the rookie... you're still green... but some of the shit 141 do you just...

"so you just gonna kidnap the wife AND the child...? right... kid, you wanna watch bluey? here..."

"and you do this often...? crazy."

but you don't exactly protest. how could you with how much you get paid. you kinda just side-eye and look away when it's geta a lil crazy. *bombastic side-eye*

and the other 141 guys - oh my days. become just as enormed as price and want to start really trying to amplify your skills. but every time, they start explaining how to do things - the best way to go about a situation or how to fight a certain way.

you pull this face. like your top lip pulls back, your eyebrows scrunch together, and there's a slight frown on your lips as they speak. like you look confused/disgusted. but you don't even realise cause-

"why're you pulling that face?" 141

"that's... that's just my focusing face..."

"oh..." 141 feels bad

then when they do take you in feild you're shaking your head no. like you haven't been around that long. what the fuck? now you're bout to infiltrate an enemy base!?!?!

"can i just wait in the car?"

"no." price

"i'm gonna vomit."

"aim at the enemy." ghost

people think that because you're suddenly in this badass task force that surely they're just using you for your assets.

they all think you're the 141 barracks bunny. and maybe you should be pissed or annoyed or grossed out. but all you can do is sigh and pause from the burger price got you, and let out a long exhale.

"fuck... maybe i can just do onlyfans or be a pornstar... shit maybe it's not too late..."

"military is bascially sex work - selling my body..."

"not that different from what i'm doing now. body being used, check. body sore in the strangest places, check."

your tone so empty, blank and nonchalant, but there's a serious look in your eyes that when you grab your phone out to maybe do a little research on how you could do that, your phone is snatched from your hand by one of the guys and they walk out the room without a second look back.

with an annoyed huff, you go back to eating your burger. but suddenly, you turn to the person who genuinely thought you were a barracks bunny.

"hey you think if i be a barracks bunny i get out of missions and shit?"

"...that's not how it works..." rando.

"fuck."

and maybe you try...

like you go to price's office and the guys are already in there, chatting about something that you should really pay attention too but you can't be assed. instead you unashamedly start to speak...

"if i suck ya'll dicks can i get out the mission?"

"no. you still have to join." gaz says amused

"even if you-" *que long sigh from price* "even if you suck our dicks."

"that's fucked up. i should've done porn."

and with the most hurt and broken-hearted look on your face, you leave the office, closing the door with a dramatic sigh. the guys just stare at the door in... confusion, amusement, and maybe arousal if ya'll dig that

idk man just gimmie more soldier!reader who just really ain't the fucked, there for money, lowkey hungry and doesn't know what the fuck is happening. kinda a pet or little sibling energy that the 141 love.

bonus*

"wait so they aren't sucking our dicks?" *soap says getting slapped in the back of the head by ghost

a/n: brain is rottinnggg. i should be doing so much other shit but... cod just consumes my brain 24/7

[watermelonshine]

BBF ELLIE PLS W SMUT? 🤗🤗

best friend!ellie x reader nsfw mdni

cw: possessive ellie, reader got out of the relationship so it's not cheating, fingering

Ellie and you are best friends, been so since middle school. She used to scare off the kids that tried to mess with you. She used to scare off the jocks that tried to hit on you. Now, she scares off anyone who tries to get in your pants at the club.

Somehow, regardless of her being so protective and possessive of you, you happened to get a boyfriend. He was...good you'd say, you didn't have any prior experiences to compare your relationship with. But you did assume it would be something more than you had expected. He was the first ever person who confessed to you and you being the hopeless romantic you are, you said yes. He treated you well, never tried to pry into your life, was somewhat respectful; he really shouldn't have called your old cat "almost expired", and never asked you to join his occult group meetings, thank goodness for that. And then there was the sex... He was sloppy, but not in the good way. Most of the time, it's just him rubbing on you with the poor attempt to playing with your clit. Thinking about it sent shivers down your spine, it was terrible. You guys have broken up a few days ago, he initiated, stating that he and his group tried to do some weird ass paranormal activity and that it would have an effect on their relationships or some bullshit and he can't risk your life or whatever. You needed to get out of the relationship anyways, he just gave a reason to do so albeit a dumb one. But jeez you spent too much time in that relationship.

Ellie didn't know that nerd from the other class would be a threat. She noticed him around you, staring at you with... something in his eyes, it's hard to say when he had huge glasses on. But she assumed he wouldn't have the guts to come and confess to you. Besides there were bigger threats surrounding you than him, she can't waste her time on that scrawny dude. But oh boy, was she proven wrong. She was almost about to break that boy's nose but then, she heard you say yes.

"Seriously? That guy? Come on now."

"I just want to give it a try, I've never done this before. Besides if anything goes wrong I have you, no?"

Her heart did a flip but she put that aside.

"He looks like he has tentacle porn on his hard drive!"

She wasn't wrong, you did find questionable stuff on his computer when you were looking for some photos. But you brushed that off, you weren't supposed to see it anyways, bringing it up would mean he'd know you were snooping around in his computer.

Ellie hated when he would put his hands around your waist and boast about how beautiful you are.

He didn't even know how to get you off, the fuck is he boasting about?

Ellie hated when you laid on her lap and told her how you didn't feel any sparks around him anymore, if you ever even had the spark with him. She hated that he was the one who was able to wake up next you and not her. She hated the fact he had the right to call you "girlfriend" and not her. She hated the fact that he had the chance to see you naked before her. She tried to keep those limp dicks away from you almost her entire life and somehow, you ended up with the worst of them all. So when you knocked on her door that day and said that you got dumped, she felt a weight off her shoulder- wait did you say he dumped you?

He?

Dumped you?

Over what?

"I spent months even years over him, thinking maybe I help him grow into his full potential. But all these years and he still wasn't even able to please me! What was I even thinking?"

Ellie wanted to ask you the same thing, what were you thinking dating him and not her? What were you expecting from dating someone she definitely didn't approve of? Why did you allow someone else who was not her to even live with you? To see you all day every day? To eat in the same table as you? To sleep in the bed as you? To have you under them?

Poor you never even had a proper orgasm before.

So when she hovered over you with her face few inches away from you, you whimpered at the proximity.

"Shush just let me make you feel like the goddess you are."

You were a gasping mess when she was thrusting her fingers into you. She peppered kisses all over you, your face, your neck, your tits. Gosh the sound you made when her lips brushed over your hardened nipples. You wrapped your hands around her, with your palms digging into her shoulder.

"E-ellie- t-too much-"

"You can take it, I know you can princess."

Fuck you've not felt this way in a long time, and you don't want it to end. You've been deprived for far too long. And it definitely seemed like Ellie really loved your fucked out face, with the way she kept grunting and speeding at every moan you let out. You weren't stupid to let go of the opportunity of allowing Ellie to fuck you stupid.

While you chased your orgasm, Ellie nuzzled her nose at the crook of your neck and peppered kisses all over it. Her fingers still moving to help you get over your high.

"Took you way too long, didn't it?"

Ellie's eyes went wide open.

note : I should really stop writing stuff at ungodly hours, I wrote this at the asscrack of dawn. also I'm back! ⊂⁠(⁠(⁠・⁠▽⁠・⁠)⁠)⁠⊃

[featherwurm]

Fun Karlach things revealed from party banter/dialogue/cutscenes (these are all 100% canonical to any run, as they are her talking about her past, these all appear in naturally accessable in-game dialogue):

She can touch demons and devils and other infernal creatures without hurting them, but opted not to in those ten years in Avernus as she says she's "not a masochist."*

She has had numerous past relationships, sexual in nature, which she describes as "quick to flare and quick to fade."

She says she was still sorting out "jumping into bed with anything with a pulse" and looking for more long-term relationships when she was sent to Avernus.

There are other infernal creatures running around with infernal engines in them but she thinks she's the only one from Faerun who survived the process (she knows others were tried but didn't make it.)

Loves a good bar fight/brawl (obvious but still cute.)

Likes walking around barefoot in the grass (which she calls "grassing", and she enjoys a good "frolic".)

Isn't keen to travel by boat down the Chionthar (from Moonrise) as her mum said the river was unlucky.

Liked to go swimming as a kid (presumably still does - after she's temperature corrected. Prior to that she mentions fear of boiling fish and her friends alive.)

Worries about being out of date, fashion wise, having been gone from Baulder's Gate for ten years.

Her mother's name is Caerlach (pronounced same as her daughter), and her father's name is Pluck. Their last name, Cliffgate, is the same as one of the lower city entries in Baulder's Gate.

Her dad was a porter and her mom was a laundress. They were poor but loving and fun.

They were poor but NOT destitute - Karlach mentions their household multiple times, and having her friends visit her family in their home. She also went to school (teasing that she'll cheer up Gale by saying she hasn't read "since school").**

When she was a teen her mom passed from illness during a plague when the family couldn't afford a healer quickly enough. Her dad passed a few years after when he was crushed by his own overturned cart on the road.

There's some discrepancy about when she started working for Gortash, in the cemetery she says her parents would have seen him for who he was (implying she did not spend much if any time around him prior to their deaths). In the shadow lands she mentions he 'got his claws into her early' and that she earned enough to help her family move into a better place in the city under his employ (it's entirely possible she's referring to moving their bodies post-mortem though).

She was a young adult (describes herself as 'not-quite-kid') while in Gortash's employ, worked for him for a good span of time, and spent 10 years in Avernus. This means she's likely well into her 30s by the time of game events.

She, to her own admission in her origin, loved Gortash, but also explains that it was not romantic in nature (stating distinctly to the player character "not like that"). She clearly looked up to him as her boss and was deeply betrayed when sold to Zariel.

She lived with her friend Fitz when working for Gortash, who also worked for him at the time. Gortash lied to everyone around her about what happened to her (saying that she moved away suddenly.)

She does note up on meeting Gortash's parents and finding out they sold him to a warlock that he's repeated the same cycle on her.***

Fun fact: "Carlach/Caerlach" in the IRL is a relatively rare Scottish surname likely derived from MacThearlaich ("son of Charles" - typical naming convention dating back to pre- Norman conquest Brittan). Karlach is a very rare spelling of the name and probably was further anglicization on immigration to America (showing up in the 1920s.) As Karlach's mother has the same name as her, spelled differently - one could infer that perhaps her family passed it down in a way that felt more "Bauldrian" to them or was in some way easier to spell.

*Because I've seen this wrong elsewhere - it's not the material plane that's making her untouchable, it's the engine itself. Her engine stops actively hurting her when Raphael teleports you to the House of Hope in Act I - but she's still not touchable without fixing based on this dialogue.

**I've also seen this wrong - Karlach was never an orphaned street urchin and I don't know where people get this impression. Gortash did not "take her in" or mentor her, he was very clearly her boss, albeit one she was friends with and looked up to.

***She does not mean this as a literal one for one, of course, just that someone she trusted sold her to an infernal for his own gain.

[cosmic-dust-poltergeist]

Pt 5 of the Danny is a clone/reincarnation in DC au. Tw: discussions of sa and child sa

[Part 4 here]

Danny is not sure how he got talked into this. Sure, he's been steadily getting better at "normal" interactions over the last 2 and a half years, and he's met or is family with everyone here, but it's still a lot. It's Dick, Wally, Kori, Raven, Jon, Damian, Kon, Bernard, Tim, Jason, Roy, and him all camped out in the second largest family room for a sleepover. Sort of. As overwhelmed as he feels, it's still rather fun.

They have movies playing in the background while they all play different games. At first, different groups split off to play board games or card games, but Dick decided they should play something all together. It was hard to find something that accommodated so many players, so they decided to play never have I ever.

Danny could even play honestly because everyone here knows about his "second set" of memories. So there's no questions if he puts a finger down to something he hasn't technically done from their perspective. But it does mean they hone in when he hesitates.

"Never have I ever lost my virginity." Damian said it because he knew Tim, Jason, and Dick would put their fingers down, but his eyes widen when Danny debates if he should. "Seriously?"

"I'm not sure it counts.." Danny shifts uncomfortably.

"Oh-ho! You lose it to someone Before?" Jason teases, "Who was it? A girlfriend? A boyfriend?"

"Jason.." Dick scolds while staring hard at Danny. He's clearly pieced it together. There's this look on his face that isn't sympathy, but empathy. Danny feels sick knowing his eldest brother knows exactly what he means because he's also been through something similar.

"I've actually never made it past kissing with a romantic interest." Danny can see the exact moment his very specific wording clicks. He starts trembling as a bunch of ugly emotions make themselves known.

"Shit."

"Danny-"

"I don't think it counts." Dick cuts everyone off, his sunshine smile nowhere to be seen. "No more than my assaults should be considered cheating."

The way Kori flinches leads Danny to believe that's exactly what she accused him of at some point. He knows they're exs, but didn't know the details. The guilt written all over her over this topic is reassuring, though.

"Sometimes things happen outside of our control." Dick gives a small sad smile. "Which means we can't blame ourselves. We just figure out how to live in the aftermath."

The fact Dick has been sexually assaulted seems to be news to everyone, but Wally and Kori. The anger on both of their behalves is heartwarming, but Danny just feels the need to scrub his skin raw. The images of the pedophiles pretending to be scientists flashing before his eye and their phantom touches making him feel dirty.

"I'm never going to escape what that lab did to me.."

"You already are." Kon pipes up. "Look around you, kid. Even just a year ago, you wouldn't have agreed to be part of this hangout. Sure, the scars will never go away, you'll have moments where you feel like nothing but an experiment or a tool, instead of the kind and bright person you are, but that's okay-"

"Whenever you forget. The people who care about you will just have to remind you!" Jon's bright grin has sadness mixed in it.

"Danny?" Tim shuffles closer. "Can I hug you?"

Danny doesn't verbally answer, just nods and crawls into Tim's lap. Danny curls up tightly and whispers. "I think I'm done playing for now."

"Alright.." Tim hugs him close, rubbing soothing circles on his back. A glance towards Dick reveals Wally and Kori have him sandwiched between them, giving him comfort.

"How..." Jason starts slowly, clearly still recovering from the information that his eldest and youngest brothers have both been assaulted. "How about we play Uno? We have 3 packs worth, so there should be enough."

Danny knows this won't be the last time the topic of their assaults are brought up, but it's a weird sort of painful healing to even just acknowledge it happened. It'll probably also stop them from trying to push him into relationships like they do with Damian. He can't stomach the thought of dating currently. He's happy just sticking to platonic affection for now.

[shouyuus]

hello rain!!! no pressure but i was wondering if you happen to have any thoughts about caleb being younger than us? <3

FUCK IT. we bAWL -- 18+, mdni, slight age gap, rough-ish sex pls note that in chinese gege/jiejie/didi/meimei are often also used in romantic connotations and do not denote incest!

younger!caleb who gets huffy whenever you call him "kid" or "kiddo", and even after you see him again, even after he's become colonel, the fact that you still see him as little boy from your past irks him. because how is it after all these years, after everything he's done to climb the ranks and prove himself to you, that you still see him as... the same little kid that used to follow you around like a lost puppy?

younger!caleb who's not afraid to get whiney, to call you jie jie... and drag it out, because he knows that you've never been able to deny him. and sure, he's got like a solid foot on you now, but he can't help the tug in his chest or behind his navel whenever you smile up at him, reach up to pat his cheek and tell him that he's doing a good job. he wants to nuzzle into your palm like he used to, fish for more praise, like he used to.

younger!caleb who has zero compunction with cornering you up against the wall, pinning your hands to the sides of your head, bearing down over you, and when you ask "c-caleb -- what're you doing?" whispering "c'mon, jiejie, you're a smart girl.. you tell me what i'm doing... can't you tell? after all this time? how much i've wanted you?"

younger!caleb who still whimpers when he kisses you for the first time, because god, he's dreamt about it for so long, imagined it so many different ways. he's pictured it in a million different scenarios, but the real thing trumps all of that, outdoes it by miles and miles and miles. he thinks he can kiss you forever, wouldn't mind never taking a single breath again if it meant being able to kiss you like this.

younger!caleb who teases you, when you're finally together, pulls you into his lap and asks "jiejie... don't be shy -- tell me, have you thought about this too?"

younger!caleb who coaxes you into his bed, so gentle with you till he's got you pinned, right where he's always wanted you (and he has always wanted you) -- and then, you see the switch flip, the darkness flicker across his eyes as his grip tightens, and suddenly, all your limbs feel just a bit heavier than before, your breath coming in short, abortive gasps. you keen against the pressure of his thigh slotted between yours, and he watches you with hooded eyes.

"gods... you're so beautiful like this... even better than i imagined..."

somewhere in the haze of want and half-caught memories, you try to push back against him. he only grins, a sadistic slash of his lips, an expression you barely recognize.

younger!caleb who is just a bit rougher than he'd like to be, but he can't really control himself, not when he's dreamed about it for so long -- his fingers digging into your hips, your body rocking with every single one of his thrusts. and you're perfect, so fucking wet and tight for him, the way you whine over his cock as he'd bullied it into you the first time, the way you bit your lips, your gaze almost reproachful as he rubs a thumb along your cheek the way you used to with him, wiping away a smudge of dirt, soothing some other unseen hurt.

"fuck -- jiejie -- you feel so good --"

"c-caleb -- mm -- n-not so hard --"

"ah... sorry, am i hurting you? i -- i didn't mean to but..." he groans, burying his face in the crook of your neck, rocking his hips into yours, tugging your thighs to hike them higher around his waist, "c-can't really help myself -- not when you're sucking me in like you want more --"

younger!caleb who wipes you down after with a hot towel, is so attentive, and just a tad bashful, clearing his throat as he helps you tug your panties back on.

"i... i got a little carried away -- i didn't actually hurt you... did i?"

you rub at your wrists, peering up at him before letting out a soft laugh.

"no, you didn't but... then again, you were always misjudging your strength, even when we were kids."

he chuckles, dropping onto the bed next to you, knocking his shoulder against yours.

"yeah... there was that one time we were play-fighting and i shoved you way too hard --"

"-- and that time you were trying to push me on the swings and ended up almost launching me into space --"

caleb groans, dropping his face into his hands.

"i thought granny was gonna murder me -- thank god you only sprained your wrist."

you laugh, nodding, lost to the tide of memories rushing in. you cast him a sidelong glance.

"caleb?"

"hm?"

"have you... i mean -- all these years... are you still..." you trail off, uncertain of how to ask him the thing you really want to know.

younger!caleb who knows implicitly what you want to ask, who smiles, leaning in to cup your cheek and press his forehead to yours.

"am i still the caleb you knew from all those years ago?" he asks, his voice low. you suck in a breath, holding it still in your chest as he sighs.

"no... i'm not. but..." he pulls back ever so slightly, his eyes a star-shattered sea, "if that's what it takes to make you stay with me this time then... i'll be whatever you want me to be."

you hiccup, watching as his expression changes. a flutter of something settles in the base of your stomach -- be it fear or trepidation or just the gnawing feeling of uncertainty.

you shake your head, pushing the feeling aside.

"i just want you to be... you, caleb. that's all i've ever wanted from you."

he's quiet for a long moment. and then --

"only if you promise... you won't love me any less."

the flutter in your stomach builds into something a bit more ominous -- bigger and darker and all-consuming. there's a hollowness in his eyes that you think has always been there, but you've just been too naive to recognize.

greed, or maybe hunger.

you don't know how to answer him.

you just tug him down, and kiss him instead.

[whore-ibly-hot]

Just a quick little thing to tide you all over.

Thinking about...

Bill, he hates fem!reader being a part of the group, but he can't help from bringing it up when he's getting picked on at school. Bringing up he's got a hot piece of ass in the club, so how could they be dorks! There's a chick in HIS club.

"You're not a fucking member, I said that because that jock-douche wouldn't leave me alone. Even if you were, you don't know shit about what we do here." He complains. "I-I mean, honestly, do you even own a single comic, mint condition? Do you sleeve and grade them yourself? Didn't think so. You're a glorified class pet, consider yourself lucky I let you bum around here." He sneers.

His tune quickly changes when he's at the comic book shop, pushing some kids and middle aged men aside to get to a new edition of Spider-man. "Hey, kid, watch it!" One of the neckbeards scoffs, adjusting his glasses and pushing Bill's shoulder. Bill whips around, furious. "You watch it! And KID?! Listen here, you limped dick virgin, I'm younger than you, but at least I've spoken to a girl who isn't my mom in the last ten years. Take this-" He shoves the comic at him. "See if I even care, go beat your meat over the fact you got a comic, ill just go back to MY club, surrounded by MY collection, and sit with MY girl!"

After being removed from the store for yet another freak out, he slowly winds down, face a bit flushed as he considers the implications of 'his girl'.

"Hey, Bill, so... since I'm a member of the group now-"

"You're not-"

"I was hoping I could maybe come over and set up for meetings. You know, over here."

This gives him pause, but the idea of you, just you, in his house, setting up for the meeting, all alone. Not showing up for the other guys, showing up for him. Being... his.

"Fine. But be prepared to do some actual work, gotta earn your place here..." Hes pretty sure he's seen a porno start this way.

Yan!Pete, he doesn't have to prove anything to anyone, he's just gonna relish in the fact that the club isn't a sausage fest anymore. He's suddenly able to tune out Bill's screeching way more, focusing on the way you bend down to pick the figures Bill has knocked on the wall in a rage, the way your pants hug your ass. Digging under a shitty couch for a three dollar Megaman figure has never been sexier.

He'll call you. A lot. Telling you about some freaky new flick he's found, or that he's got tickets to some shitty new band playing downtown. It's best to indulge him, he'll only get clingier if you don't respond, calling the home phone line, which always gets awkward with your folks.

"Hey, how's it going, babe?" He calls over the phone. "Whatcha up to?" You respond saying your just laying on your bed, watching some TV. "Cool, cool. Listen, you want any company in that big ass bed of yours? I got some stuff from Block-Buster." He just lets out a huff as you say you can't, but you're happy to talk for a bit. As you complain about bill, it's best to ignore his his breathing grows heavier, and the unending stream of thoughts from his big mouth seem to get suspiciously quiet. Trust me, you finding out what he's doing on the other end will only turn him on more.

"So, yeah- he's just being a total dick. I mean, I don't want to have to feel like I'm 'earning my place' in a group of friends." You sigh into the phone.

"Yeah- well, that's Bill for you." Pete huffs, speaking up for the first time in several minutes. "He's a dickwad, shit..."

"I don't know. Anyways, what did you wanna talk about?"

"Wanna fuckin' cum..." he mumbles, so lowly you can barely hear, and ask him to repeat.

"What?"

"What?"

Jerry, he's thrilled to have a pretty girl around, makes him feel a little more normal. However, he knows the rest of his group isn't, so while they are wrapped up in wanting you too much or fighting the urge to want you, he's wracked with insecurity you'll leave. He knows that he and the others are a shitty bunch of people, and its only a matter of time till you realize it.

He's as sweet as he can be, learning everything he can about you. What are your hobbies, your interests, what do you do when you aren't bumming around with them? Tell him, he'll get into whatever you're into. Just stay. Please. You make him feel sane when everyone is screeching.

"No, no! I totally like that kinda stuff!" He assures you, ignoring the sounds of Josh trying to explain the significance of his recently acquired magic card. "Yeah, um, I mean, I'm still getting into it, so, if you have any advice or, if you wanna teach me about it, that'd be cool!" He struggles between wanting to learn from you, as thay would be MAJOR for him to spend that much time with you, and wanting to already be perfect at whatever you're doing to impress. Wikihow becomes Jerry's best friend, as he works on trying to master you interest. Into crotchet? He hopes his hand dexterity from drawing will carry over. Baking? Ah, well, he'll try his best; even though he's not much of a cook. DnD? Oh, he's gonna cream his pants and have to rush off to the bathroom.

"So, Jerry, do you want to come over? Maybe I can teach you to get better at it."

"Y-yeah! I'd love to, uh, lemme just get my stuff from my place. Love you, bye!"

"What'd you say?" You ask, turning back from your spot on the sidewalk.

"Uh, Leave you! I'm leaving you, now! To go- to go get my stuff." The blonde stammers, rushing off.

Josh, he's a lot like Jerry in that he's afraid you'll get scared off, but he blames Bill and Pete, never hosnown awkwardness and sexism for why you might leave. He's the normal one, just him and Jerry. It's Pete perversions and Bill freakouts that are upsetting you.

He's far to awkward to try and actually talk to you to keep you around, you're a girl. He doesn't want to come on to strong like Pete, at least that's what he tells himself. In truth, he's both skeptical of your intentions in the group and desperate for those intentions to be good. In lieu of talking to you, he spends money on you under the guise of needing to educate you into what the groups about, or quote 'dorkify the babe' as Pete says.

He gives you figures, memorabilia, tapes of movies you want to see, you name it, he'll find a way to get it to you. It's going to piss off Bill, but Josh will only argue he makes donations to the clubs collective items all the time.

"Its a collectors pack, I picked it up from the store. And the book is a game guide for Jerry's next campaign. I'd recommend reading it so you can be caught up." He coughs, rubbing a free hand over his greasy ponytail.

"Thanks Josh, this is really sweet!" You chirp, happily going through the pack of cards

While he flinches at your haning of the cards, he calms himself at the sound of your sweet words. "Yeah, well- just- if you're gonna be a *real* member of our group, you need to know what we know, and I doubt Bill is gonna help you out. He'd rather gloat about what you don't know, he's always pulls that shit with us." Pausing, he glances at you. "But... you can count on me, for-for anything you don't understand. Pete just wants to get in your pants, and he doesn't know fucking anything anyways. And Jerry... he's fine, but i wouldn't say he's an expert like me in anything but wearing silly fairy costumes." He snarks.

'Please, please, please just talk to me about club stuff, ignore them, they're idiots...'