#which means i really got 14 out of 18 questions wrong

[yaknowlikenyah]

Controversial opinion time. Outside of the legal problems, teenagers seeing a horny picture or post is not the end of the world. A large part of the puritanical views on sex is that before you turn 18, you're supposed to be "pure" and shielded from the world and all the "dirty" sex out there. That's just not realistic when most teens start really developing their sexuality or being sexually active at like- 15-16.

Personally, while I'm not Comfortable with the idea of people under 18 interacting towards me in a sexual way (or even under 20 really because of personal preferences) I wish it was more socially acceptable for someone coming into themselves sexually to ask questions about things like kink or protective measures during sex.

And honestly? Kids are gonna find that shit! They're going to search it out. Hell, I got interested in bdsm at like, 14 and a LARGE part of my sexual education was self taught from the internet and old sites on bdsm etiquette.

When all your sexual knowledge is hidden behind an 18+ barrier, minors start lying about their age! You get teenagers writing that they're in their 20's in their bios so they don't get blocked and it breeds more danger because now they're interacting with adults under false pretenses which, ignoring any sort of predatory angle, means that things like roleplay can be initiated without full knowledge and consent from both parties.

But I think it's GOOD when kids can learn while still admitting that they're kids. I think it's GOOD that a kid could come to you and you as an adult could enforce your own boundaries and set an example. Circling back to my own experiences, a large part of why I walked out on a high school boyfriend instead of letting him aggressively pressure me into sex and push my boundaries was that I read all those bdsm sites. I learned about consent in a stricter sense than what was taught in public schools, and it let me know that wasn't right and that It wasn't right for him to push more than what I was comfortable with. Having that knowledge of kink Helped!!

That 18+ barrier is part of why it's so easy to be taken advantage of by people who 'finally treat you like an adult' and acknowledge you as more than just a pure thing that needs to be protected. It's why you get kids thinking that any sort of kinky sex or weird kink is Wrong and Bad and Makes you a bad person. That's why you get trans and gay people labled as 'Pedophiles' just for talking to kids about their own experiences with sexual and personal identity.

It's obviously a grey area and not something that people will agree or be comfortable with, but it's something to think about. I would rather a kid be able to come to me as a person for kink knowledge and advice and be able to be honest about it in an informed, appropriate way than I would want a kid to rush into things as soon as they turn 18 without knowing the safety.

[doevademe]

something that's always confused me in pjo fanfics is nico's age- in my fuzzy memory (haven't touched the books in over 10 years) I swear nico is mentioned to be ~4 years younger than percy and annabeth back when he first appears, but in most of the percico fics (even ones set in canon) I've read they're ~2 years apart? do you know where that came from?

I think I vaguely remember some pjo fans talking about rick fucking up nico's age/birthday in hoo (which I'll have to admit I haven't read) but when I tried googling for it I couldn't find anything

ps I swear I am not an anti, this is just something that's been a bit of a headscratcher to me and from the sounds of it you've been involved in the fandom for a lot longer than I have so I'm just curious whether you have more info on this

Oh boy... well, as a certified fandom oldie™ I can actually answer this question... but it will be very unsatisfactory.

Short answer: Math is hard, timelines are too, and Rick Riordan is not the best keeping them consistent. The latest canonical information is that Nico and Percy are ~2.5 years apart, meaning that Percy is 3 years older from his birthday until Nico's birthday. Afterwards they are 2 years apart. (as of the newer books, Nico is canonically 15 and Percy just turned 18)

Long answer: There has been a soft retcon regarding Nico's age, where originally he was 3.5 years younger than Percy, but starting with the side material between PJO and HoO he was aged one extra year, making him 2.5 years younger than Percy.

Riordan is notoriously bad at keeping up Nico's timeline consistent, to the point where he actually has two birthdays and even the year of birth doesn't add up with the text.

Nico, at the start of The Last Olympian was stated to be 12 while Percy was 15 going on 16, but in Heroes of Olympus, which takes place a year after TLO, Nico is suddenly 14, when he should be 13. In a since deleted instagram post Riordan stated that Percy got it wrong. PJO is narrated in first person, and the narration (Percy) states that Nico "looked 10" when they first met, not that he was actually 10. Percy just assumed that was correct and never really asked Nico his age, when he was actually 11 during the Titan's Curse. That is the in-universe explanation for the age discrepancy.

It's not just Percico shippers though. Everyone kind of goes along with the retcon because it's fairly minor, and making Nico older only helps writers when characterizing him as a teenager earlier on in canon, so it kind of stuck.

Nico is explicitly stated to be 2.5 years younger than Percy in all material after PJO, (16 out of 22 books), most of the time by omniscient narrators, so it makes it easier to accept since the change happened relatively early in the series.

[ramspatula]

Zinnias | Lloyd Garmadon x fem!reader

This is how our lives worked. We both had such different roles in this life. But I know we can make it work.

Next part, Masterlist

I crept through the woods. Hiding behind every tree I needed too. I was tracking this rogue beast that was apparently harbouring a dragon egg. An object from a realm that wasn’t this one. Being the master of realms meant I had to keep everything in order and objects being in the wrong realm could mean the whole foundation of the different realms could be broken and ultimate destruction. Finally I had reached its nest. I loaded my bow and arrow and listened, apprehensively. Then I heard its footsteps cause some leaves and twigs to crunch and instantly moved to shoot at the beast only to gasp and immediately point my bow at the floor.

“Hey, peaches.”

The man in front of me grinned and shuffled the dragon egg into one hand to allow me to charge at him and wrap my arms around his neck. He spun me around in a princess twirl with one arm and kissed the side of my head as I squealed in glee. I looked up at him in shock.

“What are you doing here?! I thought you were-“

“Tracking some gang members- I was! But I finished early so I got pixal to send me your mission info and I thought I’d come join you for our anniversary.” He said and I gasped.

“Oh my god- first of all, deep voice -second, it’s been that long?” I asked and he nodded, arm wrapping around my waist as we headed out the woods. Leaving the peacefully sleeping (knocked out) beast at its nest.

“It’s been that long…” he said, deflated.

“I’m guessing no leads on Master Wu then.” I said and he nodded.

“Jay and Cole are going to investigate one but I can place all my bets on it being a lost cause.” He said and I leaned on him.

“Hmm… 5 years though. What an accomplishment!” I said and he smiled.

“I’m proud of us… from 17 to 22, well 18-23 for me. How have you stuck with me for so long?” He asked and I laughed.

“It’s not been easy.” I said and he looked at me offended.

“Oh really?” He asked and I laughed.

“Oh yeah.” I said and I moved in front of him and started walking backwards so I could still face him. “Especially when you told me that I was actually in a relationship with a 14 year old.” I said and his face dropped.

“No! No I was not 14! I’m not 19 either. Everything about me says 23- almost 24! The time- if that’s how we’re arguing it works then that would make the others 16 with how young they were turned.” Lloyd defended and I laughed.

“I know, I know. Although, you do sound like you’ve just gone through puberty.” I said and he smiled.

“Y/n, I’ve gone months at a time without speaking.” He explained and I shrugged. He used to be the only who could say my name without me glitching. Now anyone could say it but Peach has stuck for too long now.

“It’s okay, I dig it.” I said and he shook his head in amusement. “Say my name again.” I said and wrapped my arms around his neck and he shook his head and leaned his head against me. “Say it. C’mon.” I said and pretended to bite his nose which made him laugh.

“Y/n, my Peach, Peaches, the Apple of my Eye, my literal prophesied soulmate- your turn.” He said and I laughed.

“My voice isn’t any different?!” I questioned and he pretended to bite my nose this time.

“Just do it, cmon.” He said and I giggled.

“Lloyd, Pookie, love of my life, my literal prophesied soulmate.” I said and he hummed.

“I’m going to ignore the fact you used Pearl’s nickname for us.” Lloyd said and I groaned.

“Pearl! I miss my Pookie!” I said and he rolled his eyes.

“This is the only mission you’ve had without her in a whole year!” He argued and I pouted.

“Still.” I said and he shook his head before remembering the egg in his hand. He moved it towards me. I smiled in thanks.

“What you going to do with it?” Lloyd asked and I smiled.

“Send it home.” I opened a mini vortex into the realm its energy has came from but when I went to put the egg through it almost was destroyed and the vortex closed itself in rejection.

“What was what?” Lloyd asked and I looked at him, perplexed.

“It’s not supposed to go home. I think it’s meant to stay with me.” I said and he frowned before looking from the egg to me.

“I don’t think we can really have pets right now.” He said and I looked at him with big eyes.

“But imagine a baby dragon-“ I said and he deadpanned.

“I can imagine. I can also imagine when it turns into this.” He said and Pooch burst to life in front of us and immediately started nosing around the egg. He then nuzzled me the best he could with his giant snout and I held the lower side of his jaw and leant my head next to his eye. He was a gorgeous dragon. Big and full of glory and power. 4 legs and a wingspan of 340ft. He was giant and powerful but such a beautiful dragon. His scales were green and the shades of the colour varied on all parts of his body with Gold accents and highlights also on his body. His red eyes matched Lloyd’s when he wasn’t hiding them behind his normal green and I kissed next to the dragon’s eye.

“See he wants to keep it.” I said and Lloyd rolled his eyes and he pulled his mask on.

“Get on.” He said, fed up but with a playful tint in his voice and I smiled at him before putting the egg into the large satchel I had with me and pulling my mask and hood on. Mine and Lloyd’s gi’s were a little different. Pooch bent down to allow me to climb up his neck to the saddle and Lloyd followed soon after. I leaned against his back as he grabbed the reigns. “Seriously, we don’t need a massive dragon that cant just poof out of existence.” He said and I looked up at him.

“Please?” I said and he rolled his eyes.

🪺. *. ⋆

One, two, three…

One, two, three…

Four, five, six…

Seven, eight, nine…

Four, five, six…

One..

Eight, nine…

Four, three, Ten!

“Wow!” I’d managed to shoot a target right in the middle of the head before it could even pounce at me. I smiled in relief at finally completing this stupid training sequence. Unlike Zane I didn’t have built in targeting system so I had to train mine. “I’ll never get how you do it, Peaches.” Pearl said and I laughed. Supporting me in my inability to hear my own name. Pearl had started going by Pearl instead of her name and it stuck. Cole called her Doll more than anything.

“It’s literally your bow, dickhead.” I said and she shrugged.

“You’re better with it. I just know the basics. Only Zane has ever got this far in the simulator with a bow before.” She said and I shrugged.

“One of us has to train.” I said and she gasped in outrage before nodding.

“True.” She said, immediately giving up her fight and I laughed.

“Heard from Cole yet?” I asked and she shook her head.

“Not since he said there was a massive snow storm they had to pass through- it’s like he knows exactly what to say to me to get me to freak out!” She said and I smiled, raising the bow and shooting at a random target that was launched in the air. It hit it. I was so proud of myself.

“Well, you’d get a vision of it if you knew he was about to die.” I said and she deadpanned.

“Thanks. Now I’m going to be questioning whether that’s a reoccurring nightmare or vision now.” She said and picked up a strawberry from the fruit platter that she had made and eating it.

“Please, the biggest threat to him is Jay’s blabber mouth. Those two will be lucky to come home together and not take separate ways home.” I said and put down the quiver of arrows and the bow and went to grab the katanas.

“Fair enough… what are you going to do with that egg?” She asked and I shrugged. The simulation began and I started slicing through different images as she watched.

“I don’t know… wait till it hatches-!” I said and quickly deflected a laser that was supposed to imitate a real laser shot.

“That was close- anyway! We’re not allowed a puppy because it’s too dangerous for it but a dragon can protect itself!” Pearl suggested and I smiled before blocking another shot and slicing through a target.

“Lloyd already said no but I’ve never been that great at following his orders.” I said and dodged another shot.

“True, true.” She said before pausing. “We’re technically not elemental masters and I’m not even technically a ninja. Well I am but I’m more the medic. I’ve perfected basic ninjitsu but I’d become a flump if I even tried that thing.” She said and the simulation ended giving me a score of 14/15. I nodded. Taking the 90% for now. My form on the last stretch slipped and I know that. “90%! You didn’t even get hit or slip!” Pearl said in outrage for me and I laughed. Panting.

“I got a little sloppy at the end…” I said and stole a piece of fruit from her platter. “You heard from Kai? Heard he was back in Ninjago last months whilst I was away?” I said and she nodded.

“Oh yeah. He’s got a new girlfriend. He’s actually had one for a while surprisingly. It was their 2 year anniversary a couple months ago.” Pearl revealed and my eyes widened.

“That long?!” I questioned and she nodded. “God, I must’ve stopped listening to him too early.” I said and Pearl laughed.

“I also spoke to Skylor! Happier than ever. Enjoying the quiet life. Good for her.” Pearl told me and I nodded in agreement.

“Must be nice.” I said and helped myself to more fruit.

“Girl I’m going to make you a sandwich in a minute-! When was the last time you ate?” She asked and I shrugged.

“A few days ago. I got used to going without food for a few days when I was doing all those tracking down wrong real objects missions.” I said and she nodded.

“I’m ordering takeout then because they never make me pay when I answer the temple door in my gi and mask.” She said and I rolled my eyes.

“Go ahead. Although don’t order me much- I don’t know how much my stomach can handle.” I said and she deadpanned before turning to the fridge.

“Zane’s frozen left overs then.” She said and I laughed.

“Sorry I ruined your binge.” I said and she stared at me.

“It’s okay, you’ll make it up to me when you can stomach things everyday again.” She said and I rolled my eyes.

“But those days you won’t want to do it. You’ll decide it’s ‘my body is a temple’ season.” I said and she looked at me like I was crazy.

“No! That’s Cole’s thing at the moment. Plus I’ve managed to keep the physique! No one can beat me at basic ninjitsu simulator all around.” She said and I laughed.

“What even is that?!” I laughed and Pixal cut in.

“That, title, is to commemorate the fact that Pearl is the only one to complete the standard ninjitsu simulations 40 times.” She sounded exasperated and I smiled.

“Wow, proud of you Pearl.” I said and she smiled.

“Thank you!” She said before putting the now plated frozen food in the microwave. “Anyway! Speaking of anniversaries-“

“That was 2 conversations ago-“

“-Speaking of anniversaries!” She cut me off and I just shook my head in amusement. “How was yours and Lloyd’s? 5 years.” She asked and I smiled.

“Well…”

🪺. *. ⋆

“-but that lead to another dead end. I stopped by to see my Dad and Pearl but Pearl, for once in her life, was actually on a mission-“ Lloyd ranted and I laughed.

“Without me?!” I gasped and he nodded.

“That’s what I thought!” He said and I smiled. “So I check the date and I see that our anniversary is in 2 days!… Sorry, I haven’t got you any flowers or anything- I was kinda focused on just getting here.” He said and I smiled before grabbing his hand.

“I don’t mind. Just you is enough.” I told him and he laughed.

“You sure I’m worth it?” He asked and I nodded without hesitation. “I don’t feel like it sometimes.”

“Of course you are. I wouldn’t put up with all this bullshit if my heart wasn’t full of you and only you.” I told him and he smiled.

“I’ve really missed you.” He admitted and I nodded.

“Missed you too.” I said before taking a deep breath. “This isn’t very happy conversation for an anniversary.” I smiled and he did too but it didn’t have any warm behind it. My face dropped. “What? What is it?” I asked and he sighed and leant back onto his elbows. I was laying on my side and resting on my hand as we both were ontop of this cliff that overlooked the whole forest.

“I-I can’t stay for too long.” He admitted and I felt my eyes drift away.

“I guessed that.” I said and he sighed before pulling me up into a hug and I settled into his chest before he gave up and decided to just move me between his legs so he could have a better grip on me too. Lloyd way of showing love limited itself to touch and the way he looks at you. But I always knew when he needed more than other times.

“I just wish we could find Wu and end this search.” He said and I nodded.

“Me too.” I agreed and rubbed his hand that interlinked with his with my thumb and he nuzzled into my neck. He always said that I smiled nice.

“You smell really good.” There it was.

“I’ve been in forest for a month and showering in waterfalls- I can’t smell good at all.” I said and he chuckled before kissing my neck.

“You smell really good.” He repeated and I rolled my eyes before he buried his face again. “Really good.”

“This is addictive for you, you know this.” I said and he just licked my neck. I laughed before he started kissing my neck as well and I could help but laugh, it tickled. There was a scar along my collarbone from where he had accidentally bit me too hard once. We were deep in a moment like this one and he forgot he had little fangs gifted from his father. Said dangers grazed my skin and I shuddered.

“Somehow, I can’t help myself.” He said and continued until I shoved him off and moved my neck to rest on his shoulder so I was looking up at him. It took him two seconds to kiss me. With one hand still interlinked and I lifted the other to hold his lower jaw.

“Wow… we should do this again some time.” I told him and he laughed.

“Agreed… you’re going to keep that egg, aren’t you?”

“You know I am.” I said and I could feel him roll his eyes before he looked up at the night sky. “Do not start spurting your astrology bullshit at me-“

“That’s the bounty.” He said and I groaned to his amusement. He continued pointing at stars. “That’s the green ninja.”

“That’s just stars! I don’t see shit!” I yelled and he chuckled but continued.

“There you-! Oh! And a dragon!” He began laughing through his sentence as I tried kneeling up to cover his mouth yet he escaped all my attempts to before we were both sent tumbling down the cliff into a clearing. He was laughing his guts out as I breathlessly laughed and clung to him. “I think there’s a thorn in my ass!” He laughed and that caused me to burst out.

“I didn’t think we were that close to the edge!” I said and he nodded.

“Neither did I.” Lloyd said before sitting up. “So… you gonna take me back to your place? Show me where you’ve been staying whilst it’s taken you a month to track down this beast.”

“I wasn’t just tracking the beast! And I’ve been gone for longer than a month! Just everything to do with this forest has taken me a month!” I said in offence and he laughed.

“Oh sure.” He said and I made my way back up to the cliff and grabbed the satchel with egg in before carefully sliding down. “This is a great view.” He said as I climbed back up.

“Shut up.” I said and he just smiled, mischievously before grabbing me when I was almost down and pulling me off causing me to yelp. “The egg! Be careful!” I told him and he just smiled before taking my hand as I led him to my camp.

The camp consisted of a small crater in side of the flat cliff that you had to climb down some vine to get to. When Lloyd saw it he made the rocks shift and move to form stairs. I looked at him gratefully as I led him into the crater that I had covered the front of with vines. He immediately lit one of the candles and then looked at me to say something. Multiple various things were in the crater.

“This is where I’ve been for a month.” I said and he nodded before sitting on the make shift bed as I placed the egg in a pot above what normally is my fire. “A little help please.” I said and moved out the way when he sent a little green fireball to the bottom and it lit up. “I usually use it for cooking but it can house this for now.” I said and he nodded.

“When are you heading back to the monastery?” He asked and I shrugged.

“Soon I guess.” I said and he nodded. “I’m going to check in to that village at the bottom of the forest. See if they need anything and then I’ll go home…. Wow. Home.” I said and he chuckled.

“Been awhile, huh?” He said and I nodded.

“Doesn’t really feel like home anymore though.” I said and he just looked down. “I don’t like sleeping in an empty bed, Lloyd.” I told him and he sighed.

“I had a feelings that’s why you keep going on these stake out missions.” He said and it was my turn to look away.

“It’s… at least I know no one else is supposed to be sleeping next to me.” I said and he nodded.

“No I get it…” Lloyd paused before continuing. “I freaked out when I learned you were here.” He said and I frowned. “I came back to the temple for you and you weren’t there… I got scared.” He admitted and I paused before moving to sit on the makeshift bed with him. He let himself rest his head on my shoulder as I held him and rested my own head atop his.

“What did you do?” I asked, softly and he took a deep breath.

“I immediately got Pixal to send me your mission logs and access your last known locations.” He revealed and I smiled and shook my head at his antics. “From your logs I could figure out where the beast was heading and where the nest would be.” He said and I let out a breathless laugh.

“Oh my god.” I said and I felt him hold me tighter.

“I had this moment where I realised I didn’t know where you were and it really freaked me out because if I didn’t know where you were? How could I come find you if you don’t come back?” He asked and I kissed the top of his head.

“We’ll find him.” I said and he scoffed.

“How can you be so sure?” He asked and I smiled. “Not everyone comes back.” He added and I leaned off him to look at him.

“Because Ninja never quit.” I told him and he looked at me for a second before shaking his head in a startled laugh.

“Did you really just use that on me?” He asked and I shrugged. “Oh wow, you did.” He said before grabbing and pushing me down onto the bed as I laughed. He was on top of me as soon as my back was on the floor and I laughed as he held my hands down. “I can’t believe you.” He said and I laughed.

“Hey I like this position! You always manage to get me into it during training.” I said and he shook his head.

“This is a little different than training.” He said and kissed me. “How long again?” He asked and I smiled.

“Since we’ve seen each other? 5 months? Since we’ve done anything? 9.” I told him and he frowned.

“Well that’s just not good enough, is it?” He said and started kissing me. “How the hell have you held up?” Lloyd asked and I giggled and he nipped at my ear.

“I haven’t.” I told him and his face turned into a devilish expression before…

“Damn you, Peaches.”

🪺. *. ⋆

“Yeah I’d say it went pretty well since we haven’t seen each other in forever.” I told Pearl who nodded.

“How was yours and Cole’s? 3 years. Thats the changing point there. That’s when a relationship becomes for life in this world.” I said and she laughed.

“We missed it.” She admitted and I said nothing. “It’s okay though because we promised to do something when he comes back. He got Pixal to schedule an order of flowers and chocolates though.” She said and I smiled.

“Carnations?” I asked and she nodded.

“A singular pink carnation for everyday he’s been with me and loved me.” Pearl said and I deadpanned.

“You were watching friends with him again, weren’t you?” I asked and she nodded.

“Thankfully he’s not actually like Ross.” She said and I hummed.

“Joey, maybe.” I said and she placed the microwaved food in front of me and I smiled in thanks.

“Have you spoken to Garmadon yet?” Pearl asked and I shook my head.

“No I’m going to straight after this I just needed a moment to process that I’m home.” I said and she looked at me with understanding.

“Are you doing okay?” She asked and I shrugged.

“It is what it is.” I said and she smiled. “Is everything completely wrong and not normal? Yes. Can I do anything about it? No. So it’s just dealing with it, step by step.” I said and she nodded.

“I get it. I just wish I had more to do sometimes.” She said and I smiled.

“You will. Garmadon not got you training the monks? Since you’re so good at standard ninjutsu?” I asked and she rolled her eyes.

“Garmadon lets me get up late nowadays.” She said and I chuckled. “He’s actually not doing so well… I can see it in his eyes.” Pearl admitted and I looked up concerned.

“Misako still isn’t telling him anything, is she?” I asked and Pearl shook her head. “Her search for Wu is probably as successful as her search for a way to stop the ultimate battle… it wouldn’t be the first time she’s left her family.” I said and Pearl’s eyes widened.

“He cheered up a bit after Lloyd came and saw him… granted I didn’t know he had visited until after but- he has been better.” Pearl said and I smiled.

“That’s probably my cue to go see him, isn’t it?” I asked and she nodded.

“Yeah…” She said and I stood up and bushed the bowl towards her. “You barely ate anything.”

“Thank you.” I said and moved towards the doors that led to the rest of the monastery.

I walked through the halls steadily, with a heavy heart. Seeing how tall some of the young monks had grown in only a couple of months was tugging the strings on my heart. I successfully disrupted a meditation class by walking past the room and waving. When I finally got to the living quarters of the monastery, I knocked on the door of the ‘office’ area which consisted of two arm chairs and a desk with a few scrolls on and a coffee table with a tray of tea on.

“Come in.” I heard his voice and smiled. I pushed open the door and was greeted with a pleasantly surprised man. “Well if it isn’t my star pupil!”

“Miss me?” I asked and he nodded.

“Yes, come, sit.” He gestured over and I gave him a genuine smile as I got comfy on the arm chair and made a little dramatic out of it.

“This is so much better than the forest floor.” I said and he chuckled.

“Never forget where you began, nature’s child.” He said and I laughed.

“Yes, sensei.” I said and he smiled.

“So, tell me of your adventures.” He told me and I sat up and leant over the arm of the chair to talk to him.

“I spent 5 months sleeping on the ground.” I said and he smiled. “Pearl joined me on some of the things I was doing so I wasn’t alone for the whole time but I would’ve been on my own for the last 2 months if Lloyd hadn’t of visited me and helped me to get this dragon egg.” I said and Garmadon lit up at the mention of his son.

“Lloyd came and saw you?” He asked and I nodded.

“Yeah, we spent a few days together over our anniversary and last I heard he was heading towards Ninjago city.” I told Garmadon who nodded.

“Do go on.” He told me and I smiled.

“The dragon egg doesn’t want to go home so I think I’m going to keep it.” I said and Garmadon chuckled.

“Of course you are.” He said and I smiled at the similar response to his son.

“Have any of the others came back?” I asked and his expression dimmed.

“Kai and Zane were here not too long ago but other than that, no one has really been back. Lloyd was here a while ago but I assume that was before he came to see you.” Garmadon said and I nodded.

“He did say he had been.” I affirmed. “Heard anything from Misako.” I asked and he shook his head.

“No.” He sighed. “I’m afraid Misako won’t contact any of us unless she needs to. Whenever she goes on her own journeys, she does it completely alone.” Garmadon said and I nodded.

“Lloyd’s like that… it’s frustrating to be honest.” I admitted and he nodded.

“I am well aware.” He told me and I we shared an empathetic stare. Me and Garmadon were very similar in some parts of our character. I’d always taken better to him than I had Wu. I had met Lloyd not long after he turned older. We met at Mystake’s tea shop. Pearl had wanted to try all these different teas for her birthday and I bought a selection from Mystake as my present to her. I was nervous and didn’t know what I was even talking about. He had asked me what my favourite tea was and I said green with no hesitation even though I had never had it. He looked smug and said that was his favourite too. Before I knew it, I was on the dark island with him and it was where we had our first everything. Everything. I smiled at the memories.

“You know it’s not your fault.” I said to him, I was referring to Misako leaving and Lloyd being Lloyd.

“After being alone for so long, a man begins to wonder if the reason he is left behind is simply himself. I am not the man who wonders but I am the father who wishes he could’ve done more.” Garmadon told me and I took a deep breath.

“Being trapped in an underworld can prevent such things… like being involved in your child’s life. Or knowing he exists. Lloyd doesn’t blame you and his anger is not pointed towards you.” I reassured and Garmadon looked ahead, the desperation in eyes made me feel sick. “Lloyd’s angry at Misako. He struggles with the fact that she left him,… twice now. He cried after telling me he doesn’t understand how to accept her and how he feels so guilty because of it since almost everyone on the team is practically parentless or can only rarely see them.” I said and Garmadon and nodded.

“We’ve had a similar conversation.” He admitted and my eyes widened. “Lloyd’s emotion are that of a dragon. Unpredictable and fierce. The amount of control he has over them, especially for his age, in itself is impressive. The same could be said for you.” He told me and I frowned.

“My life hasn’t been nearly that complex.” I said and he looked to me.

“Even after the dragon has soared over and conquered the world, it doesn’t forget its time in its shell.” Garmadon told me and I frowned. “You need not explain yourself, nor comfort me.” Garmadon told me and looked at him unsurely. “Your mere presence in my son’s life brings me comfort. He trusts no one like he trusts you, my daughter.” He said and I smiled, genuinely. The nickname from my father in law had been established early on and I loved it.

“There’s nothing that means more to me than him.” I assured and Garmadon nodded.

“Then you are lucky that this sentiment is reciprocated.” I smiled and nodded in thanks.

Because it’s true, I love Lloyd Garmadon like no one else could. Because there is truly no other person I could ever be with. In this realm or any other.

[wardenparker]

Down the Rabbit Hole - ch 13

Jack ‘Whiskey’ Daniels x female reader Co-written with @absurdthirst

When Jack accidentally shoots a civilian on a mission he takes on not only the guilt of the man’s death, but inherits his soulmate as well. To you, it’s a dream job with more perks than you can imagine - but for Jack it’s a nightmarish complication. Even more so when he starts to develop feelings.

Rating: Explicit for references to violence. 18+   Word Count: 7.6k   Warnings: *Blanket warnings - mentions of deceased spouse, a lot of food and alcohol consumption, family recipes, age gap, cursing.* Angst, guilt, possible unwanted pregnancy, lies, nausea/illness, talk of abortion, anxiety, canon typical injuries. Summary: Your return from New York is bumpy to say the least, and things to awry that no one ever could have predicted. Notes: This chapter is short but packed with intensity, which only means one time. I once again cried during the entire edit 🧡

Ch 1 ~ Ch 2 ~ Ch 3 ~ Ch 4 ~ Ch 5 ~ Ch 6 ~ Ch 7 ~ Ch 8 ~ Ch 9 ~ Ch 10 ~ Ch 11 ~ Ch 12 ~ Ch 13 ~ Ch 14 ~ Ch 15 ~ Epilogue

Jack taps on his thigh impatiently as he waits, the jet steadily sinking towards the ground. He had decided to come to the airstrip to collect you, especially since there had been no text from you beyond that simple text last night before you had gone out with the girls. He hadn’t expected you to stay on your phone but he had anticipated a text Goodnight. When it hadn’t come, he stayed awake, only falling asleep when he had checked your location to find you back in the hotel. There’s a feeling he gets when something’s not right, he had it the morning you disappeared. That sinking, curdling feeling in his stomach. The threat of bile in the back of his throat. That same feeling has saved his skin more times than he can count and he wonders why he has it now as the Statesman jet touches down.

The decision to cut the trip short and come back after one day had been easy, thankfully. Sophia was being called in to start a case and you weren’t feeling too jolly anyway, so the three of you had packed it in on the afternoon of the second day and come home. The last thing you expected to find when you stepped out of the plane was Jack waiting on the tarmac in the Bronco, but he’s there in all his glory making the guilt and worry churn inside you with every step you take closer to him.

You don’t look happy to see him, but Jack keeps the easy smile on his face as climbs out of the Bronco and waves to all three of you, his eyes firmly landed on you though.

“Hey.” Swallowing the bile and fear welling up in your throat, you step onto solid ground with a quick farewell to your girls and acknowledge that your plan of heading straight to Ginger’s lab is now sunk.

“Hey.” Jack watches the way that your eyes shift over towards Gabi and Sophia. “I’m not spoilin’ plans am I? The tower called and said the plane was comin’ back tonight so I wanted to make sure you got home.” The unspoken question of why you didn’t tell him you were coming home lingers in the air.

“Of course not. Nothing to spoil.” Lying to him makes you feel like you’re going to choke on each word, but how could you do anything else? How can you tell him what you’re afraid of? It’s impossible - it would ruin everything. So you force a smile and lead the way back to the Bronco on wobbly legs. “I was going to come and surprise you, but you beat me to it.”

“Hopefully it’s a good idea.” Something is wrong. There’s a nervous tremor to your voice and he doesn’t know what would put it there. “Tired from a wild trip?”

“A little.” Mostly you’re tired from your own frayed nerves, but you let him take your suitcase and get into the truck when he holds your door open a moment later. “We were out late and then up early again this morning.”

“So what you really want is a soak in the tub and the bed?” He asks, shooting you a small smirk. It’s been nearly a week since he’s touched you and he wants to desperately.

“Actually? That sounds pretty amazing.” If he thinks you’re tired - which you are, but emotionally - he might not push tonight. And you don’t want to have to deny him because Jack is still Jack and you want that intimacy with him; but you’re terrified of what might be going on with you and you won’t have an answer until you can go see Astrid.

“I’m more than willin’ to throw in a massage.” Jack climbs in beside you and the second his hand hits your thigh, you tense. Making him pause for a moment in shock. You’ve never tensed around him, not even when you were freshly recovering from your injuries.

“I think I’m still a little hungover.” Lying again makes you feel like you could burst out crying on the spot, but you know he felt the way you froze at his touch and you’re about twenty seconds away from just confessing everything. At least you’re honestly queasy - that would come with the hangover but instead it’s fear. Or the baby…who knows.

“Okay.” Jack slowly slides his hand away from your thigh, making it seem as if it’s a part of starting the Bronco and turning around, but he’s perfectly capable of doing that one handed.

The drive home is quiet – silent except for the sound of the engine and the quiet classic rock playing through the radio like usual. They’re the sounds of home, and you should be chattering away at him about your trip or deciding what to have for dinner tonight but you just feel like a lump of anxieties in that front seat with him. It’s not until the house is in view that you open your mouth again. “Sophia got called up. I—I didn’t know if you knew or not.”

“Yeah– uh,” Jack drums his fingers on the steering wheel. “I’m going with her.”

“Wha—” You look over at him in confusion and see the set look of worry on his face. “I didn’t know you’d passed your tests. That’s—that’s great, honey. You’ve been dying to get back in the field.”

“Yeah, I finished them up yesterday.” Jack tells you awkwardly. “Didn’t seem the type of thing to text and we didn’t talk.”

“Right.” That’s your fault, and you swallow the guilt harshly. “Well…congratulations.”

“Figured I’d go out and do a field assessment on Sophia and give her a little back up.” Jack hums, wondering why you are being so stiff. “Promised Tex I’d look after her.”

“She applied for Statesman status.” Talking about friends is good. It doesn’t fuel the fire of fear in your belly the same way. “Champ probably wants your assessment before he signs the final paperwork.”

“Yeah. That’s the plan.” Jack chuckles, “the kid is worryin’ me to death about it.” He tells you. “Talkin’ about how he doesn’t want to be away from his soulmate. ‘Specially since they are talkin’ about trying for a little one. Says he’s eager to father his soulmate’s babies.” If you weren’t acting strange, it could be a segue way in to a conversation about kids for you and him. But he decides to leave it.

“O—oh, I…Soph hasn’t mentioned it.” All the attention during the trip had been on the dresses and on getting you to feel better, which was an impossible task. “Good for them,” you manage to say the words without being sick, which is better than you thought.

“Might be Tex projectin’ a little. Man wants to be a daddy.” He chuckles again and the silence falls between the two of you again as he parks the Bronco in front of the house.

That feeling of dread pulls at your now perpetually upset stomach, tearing you out of your seat and making you run in the front door as fast as humanly possible to make it to the bathroom before you’re sick all over the front walk or living room. You have no doubt that Tex does want to be a father. You had even talked about it with him at different points, from the point of view of an excited friend. Knowing that you might be the one to make it happen instead of Sophia - instead of his soulmate - has you clinging to the toilet bowl as you hear Jack’s boots rumble across the ground floor of the house.

“Sugar?” Jack frowns, hearing the obvious signs of sickness and the dread that threatens to overtake him nearly has him stuck in place. “You alright?”

“Yeah.” The tears in your eyes are easily dismissible with being sick, even as you’re choking back sobs. “Hangover.” Is your weak excuse, hoping he buys it.

Jack is a lot of things but slow ain’t one of them. He distinctly remembers the night your breasts were sore and you’ve been tired and feelin’ poorly. He’s also pretty damn good at math. Stumbling back from the downstairs bathroom, he swallows down the urge to break something or someone. “I– I’ll go run you that bath then.”

“Thanks…” The fact that he didn’t come in is a blessing, but you’re still pretty sure that you heard hurt in his voice. Some piece of shit soulmate you are…

He feels kind of sick himself, turning around and racing upstairs as he tries to rationalize the information he has. It’s hard to, though. You’re pregnant. You’re pregnant and it’s not his. He closes his eyes after he turns on the water to the tub and sighs.

You stay downstairs a while, getting yourself back under control and rinsing out your mouth before you slog up to the master bathroom with the big claw footed bathtub where Jack is sitting looking gray in the face. “Absinthe…” you shrug like it explains everything, even though you didn’t drink at all after the play. “I took the girls to a 30s bar last night…”

“Yeah.” Jack huffs a flat laugh. “I–I gotta go pack. So I’ll leave you to rest.” He pushes off the small little seat that you had told him was for a makeup area and swallows.

“When are you leaving?” Despite not exactly being ready to have a heart-to-heart with him, you so desperately want to just launch yourself into his arms and beg forgiveness. Beg that he not call off the wedding. Promise him that you have a solution. But you’re too frozen.

“I– we were going to leave tomorrow morning, but I’m going to go early.” Jack offers. “Scout the situation.”

“So you’re leaving tonight?” It’s a punch in your already roiling gut, but you nod.

He isn’t. He’s going to go sit in his office and try not to drive himself crazy. But he can’t stay near you and not ask questions. “Yeah.”

“Do you know how long you’ll be gone?” You can’t ask him where he’s going, or why, or anything about the mission, but a general time frame could be helpful. It would let you know how long you have to recover.

“Not sure. Week, maybe more.” Jack shrugs, not looking directly at you. “Sorry, sugar, but I know you won’t even notice I’m gone. You got the restaurant to baby and –” he chokes on his choice of words and coughs to cover it up. “You’ll be so busy you won’t have time to miss me.”

“That’s not true.” As riddled with fear and anxiety and guilt and everything else as you are, you’re all of those things because you love him. And because you really don’t go a single minute of any day without thinking about him. “Of course I’ll miss you.”

“It’s– it’ll be okay.” It’s more towards himself than you but he manages a small smile. “I promise.”

“Do you at least want me to make dinner?” There’s a scrambling in your thoughts that you can’t account for. He’s slipping away, you can feel it, but you have a plan to fix it. You just need to put it in motion.

“Nah, sugar.” Jack shakes his head, knowing he can’t eat right now. “You aren’t feelin’ good. You relax. I’ll be packed up and out of your hair in a jiffy.”

“Okay.” Something about him is off but you can’t put your finger on it. He just seems jittery. Hopefully it’s just you projecting or your imagination. Jack is already out in the hall by the time you murmur, “I love you,” and you sigh heavily before you start to undress.

In the closet, Jack closes his eyes and tries to remind himself to breathe. He had caused this. He had pushed you away and caused you to date. Because of his unwillingness to admit your connection. It was his fault you are pregnant with a child that isn’t his.

Once you’re in the tub you can hear him moving around in the adjoining closet, packing things and presumably going about his business as normal. The jasmine-scented bath he drew for you is as cozy as it could possibly get, and any other time you would have begged him to join you. There would have been candles and music and glasses of something smooth and heady to drink while you lazily rode him right here in this tub. And the fact that you’re not doing that right now has you staring silently at your silver-painted toenails when you finally hear him in the hallway again.

“Sugar, I’m all packed.” For some reason, he can’t go into the bathroom. Not when you’re vulnerable. He calls out through the closed door. “I’m gunna head out.”

“O–okay.” You know that any other time, you would just pop out of the bath and run into the hallway, but you can’t. You’re rooted to porcelain and fresh tears start falling immediately. “I love you,” you manage, this time loud enough for him to hear.

Jack closes his eyes, leaning against the door frame with his arm braced above his head as his forehead is against the jam. “I love you too, sugar.” He murmurs, the affirmation coming through low but clear. It’s almost ominous, a goodbye. “Be good.” He sighs and pushes away from the door, the bag hooked over his shoulder as he turns and walks away.

The fall of boot steps and the closing of the front door make your volatile stomach drop all over again, and you reach for your phone after wiping your hands on a towel. You need this over with. To Astrid, you type out as vague a message as you can just in case she shows it to Gabi or asks her if anything happened on the trip: “Hey honey! I don’t want to interrupt your night, but would you be able to put aside time for me to stop by the lab in the morning? I’d like to ask your opinion on something. Thanks!”

The text comes back only seconds later. "I've always got time for you. Drop by anytime in the morning and we can have some coffee together."

******

You have to force yourself to wait, the next morning. It was impossible to sleep through the worry and without Jack there, and you blew through an entire novel overnight before showering, putting on clean clothes, and getting yourself out the door to the lab. The door swishes open dramatically but you still knock on the frame, holding two cups from the Statesman cafeteria when you cautiously step inside. Yours is chamomile tea for the seemingly endless nausea, but hers is that quad shot almond milk mocha latte that she loves so much. “Morning,” you murmur quietly when she looks up.

"Hi." Gabi had said that you had been acting strangely, and the slightly wane, waxy set to your face shows that you have been dealing with things. "How are you feeling?" She accepts the cup and takes a sip as she watches you closely.

“Not great.” That’s a fucking understatement, but at least it’s honest. “I need to ask you for a favor, Astrid. Two favors, really. But I need to ask you to keep this entirely between us. Not even Gabi or Jack can ever know.”

Frowning, she pushes her glasses up further on her face, taking this as a more 'business than pleasure' visit. "You have my word and discretion." She promises. "Are you hurt? Did you have a flashback from your visit to New York?"

“No.” Sitting down on the other side of her desk, your hands cradle your cup of tea until they get too jittery and you have to set it down in front of you. Astrid is your friend. She’s Jack’s friend. And now you’re asking her to put the longer-running of the two relationships aside. It’s enough to bring fresh tears, which you breathe away steadily. “I think…” Another shaky exhale has you look down at your hands when you can’t look her in the eyes. “I think I might be…pregnant.” You tell her quietly.

"Oh!" At first the sound is happy, until she reads the moment and slumps back in her chair when the wave of melancholy hits. "Ooohhh." She bites her lip, understanding that with the timing of this, you are not happy. How could you be? The probability of knowing you were pregnant with Jack's child are statistically very low. She sets her coffee down and reaches out to touch your hand. "First thing’s first." She murmurs quietly. "If you are, it will be okay." She assures you quietly.

“No. It won’t.” It should be so comforting to have her reach out, but instead you feel like the act of familiarity is a burn. You jerk away awkwardly before slumping forward again. “The last time I had my period was the week before I slept with Tex. That was months ago. There’s…there’s no way it could be Jack’s and I—I—” If you could get through even a sentence without crying it would be a miracle, but even when you practiced it at home it was impossible. “I know there’s a tiny chance. I just…if I am…is there a way to find out whose it is?”

"Yes there is." Astrid nods, her heart breaking for you, with you, over this. "Would you–" she pauses. "It would take only a few hours in the chamber." She tells you quietly. "If you didn't want to–"

“If it’s not Jack’s, I can’t.” Grateful that you’re not the one who had to say it, you still shudder at the reality of the situation. “What are the alternatives, really? Have Tex’s baby? Have your brother’s baby? I—I don’t— I don’t even think I could live with myself, and Jack sure as fuck would not still marry me, soulmate or otherwise.” It all comes tumbling out, the fears and anxieties, and you find yourself scratching viciously at your arms again as your breathing goes shallow – another panic attack bubbling out of your throat at the thought of losing Jack for any reason.

“I don’t think he would go that far.” Astrid tells you quietly. Would Jack be devastated? Oh yes he would. But he’s also a man who accepts mistakes because he’s made plenty of his own. Especially where you are concerned.

“I need to know, Astrid.” As quiet as your voice is, at least it’s determined. “Because I can’t do that to Jack.”

“We can find that out quick enough.” She promises, patting your hand and standing up. “Why don’t you go get undressed and put on a gown.” She offers, motioning towards the table in the corner.

“Thank you.” It feels like walking to your own death sentence as you disappear to change and sit down on the exam table on the far side of the lab. The thing is…you have to know. You have to. And that’s enough to make you sick all over again.

Astrid keeps her emotions in check and moves efficiently as she prepares for the exam. The machine will do most of it. She moves over and touches your shoulder. “Lay back, okay?”

“Okay.” The best you can do is to remind yourself to breathe, but even that is hard right now.

As soon as you lay back, Astrid presses a button on her table and a line of laser light starts scanning over your body. “Hold still.” She urges when you twitch. “It won’t hurt.”

Presumably the laser doesn’t care if you continue to shed a few anxious tears, but you keep the rest of your body still as it travels. Whatever comes next, you just have to promise yourself that you’ll handle it before Jack comes home. That everything will be done by the time Jack comes home.

Ginger’s face doesn’t give anything away as she studies the tablet, punching the screen with her fingers and she looks up. “There’s going to be a needle for a quick blood draw.” She tells you, not wanting you to be upset if you aren’t expecting it.

“Okay.” Whatever she needs to do, that’s what is going to happen. Right now it just matters that you keep breathing.

The needle is small and the amount of blood taken even smaller. Just enough to run the labs and confirm what she can already see. You wince but you don’t say anything and when the machine moves away, she gravitates towards you. “Let’s get you redressed and then we can talk.” She murmurs softly.

“Okay.” The word passes your lips one more time and you lift yourself up from the table to shaky legs. Frankly it’s a miracle you’re as functional as you are, and you step back behind the partition to put your clothes on silently.

She triple checks the test and when you come back around the small partition, there is a small cup of pills waiting for you. “Here.” She offers.

“What are these?” It doesn’t really matter. You’ll take them no matter what. But if she’s giving you pills to end an unwanted pregnancy, you at least want to observe the moment with some seriousness.

“Some vitamins. Your vitamin B and C levels are low. A Valium to help you relax and sleep.”

“H-how long will the blood work take?” Everything at Statesman - and everything in this lab - is state of the art, but that doesn’t mean knowledge is magical or instant. You take the pills that Astrid is holding out to you and brace yourself for however long she might say you have to wait.

“I’ve got the results back.” She assures you softly, smiling at you. “The blood work and the ultrasound tell me that you are not pregnant.”

For a second you just stare at her. You were convinced. You were sure that you had ruined the very best thing in your life. And now that it isn’t true, the relief you feel punches through you like some kind of Eldritch horror. “You’re—” The tears are different this time, still hot and angry when they come down your face in sheets, but now you’re only angry at yourself for ruining the last few days with the people you love. “You’re sure?” You ask, hiccuping between great, bulbous tears.

“Your womb is clear, there’s no evidence of an ectopic pregnancy. Your hCG levels are low, no chance of pregnancy. I ran the test three times to confirm. You are not pregnant.” She promises, turning the screen around so you can see the ultrasound of your stomach and the test results.

“So I was just…sick?” The screen she shows you is like a perversely high tech version of the ultrasound information you remember from going to the doctor with your sister years ago, so you have some vague notion of what you would see if the test was positive. This, though? This is perfectly normal. Like your body has never even heard of the concept of a baby in the first place. The hand that instinctively moves to cover your stomach goes there out of disbelief, and you lay back on the table with a tight sigh.

“You’ve been under a lot of stress and –” Astrid shakes her head and sighs softly, berating herself. “Sometimes with the healing of traumatic injuries, the side effects of the hyperbaric chamber can be….odd.” She explains. “I thought Jack told you.”

“He did.” He had been very careful to warn you, in fact. “But we just thought my side effect was how tired I was that week.”

“Your body is vastly different from Jack's, especially considering his injury was brain trauma.” Ginger rationalizes. “Yours was more physically manifested and it makes sense that your reproductive cycle has been thrown off.”

“Stress and healing.” All you can do is accept it, especially when the alternative is…alarming. After spending 48 hours panicking about the possibilities, are you really…upset that the answer wasn’t a little month-old fetus genetically encoded with Jack’s soft, coffee-colored eyes and adorable single dimple? Honestly? You really might be…

Ginger’s eyes are quizzical, tilting her head at the riot of emotions crossing your face. “Are you– disappointed?”

“I—don’t know,” you admit softly, staring up at the ceiling so that you don’t have to see the concern on her face.

“It has to be confusing.” She pats your shoulder again. “I know that you have been stressed. I don’t want you going in today. Take the day and relax.”

“Doctor’s orders.” Right now you just want to go home and get back in that bath that Jack had drawn for you yesterday. Pretend like last night had never happened and crawl into his arms in bed. But he’s back out in the field and you’re…you’ve never felt more alone than you do right now, which is not how you expected to feel at all. But that isn’t the fault of the woman next to you. “I…thank you, Astrid. I just need to get my head on straight. But…thank you for helping me.”

“Anytime, sweetheart.” She doesn’t hesitate to pull you in for what she thinks is a much needed hug. Knowing that you must have felt so scared and alone. No wonder why you had suddenly withdrawn if you had thought you were pregnant. “Anytime.”

“Hopefully not for this reason.” You sigh out, hugging her back fiercely. “Not until it’s happy anticipation and Jack is back here with me.”

“Did Jack know?” She asks curiously. “Is that why he slept in his office last night?”

“He—?” The panic is back without hesitation, choking you and making you feel dizzy. “He told me he was leaving early to—” Oh god. You’ve ruined it. You’ve ruined it anyway. “No one knew.”

She winces, cursing herself for sticking her nose in where it doesn’t belong. “I’m sure– they left really early.” She supplies hastily. “Maybe he didn’t want to bother you. Since you weren’t feeling good.”

“Maybe.” That isn’t it, and both of you know it. There isn’t a chance in hell that Jack wouldn’t have just slipped silently out of bed early this morning if things had been normal. This is your fault. You must have been acting stranger than you thought, and he’s an especially perceptive man to begin with.

“They should be back in just a day or so.” Ginger reasons quietly, wondering if it wouldn’t be better to talk to Jack herself before he gets back. “It’s a quick op.”

“But—” You catch yourself and nod. Astrid doesn’t need to know that Jack said it would be a week. That your relationship with your soulmate is crumbling before it ever gets off the ground. Instead you stand up from the table and accept another hug. “Thanks,” you murmur quietly. “Again. For everything.”

“Of course.” She tightens her grip on you and pulls back to give you an encouraging smile. “Go get some rest and everything will be normal when you wake up.”

******

It’s after dark when you wake up again, disheveled in one of Jack’s t-shirts and a pair of sweatpants that should probably have been replaced years ago. You’re hungry, which is usually a good sign, so you throw on a cardigan and trudge downstairs in search of food — only to come face-to-face with Diana walking in the front door as quietly as a church mouse. “Di?” Maybe she was coming to check on you? That is perfectly in keeping with her personality, after all. Universal mom friend.

“Hey.” She tries for a smile but it falters, the worry shining through her face is way too obvious to hide. “I need you to sit down, sweetheart.” The slight tremble in her voice makes her words waver.

“What’s wrong?” When your stomach flips this time, you at least know it isn’t from an act of your own stupidity, but it unnerves you all the same. Diana looks pale and you take the last two steps quickly to reach her side. “Di, what happened?”

She guides you over to the couch, aware that you might collapse if you are standing up. Especially since Ginger had indicated you weren’t feeling the best. “Jack is– he’s been hurt.” She tries to break the news gently but there is never a good way to say this. “He’s – they have him stable but it’s serious.”

The first reaction you have, before anything else, is to insist that she’s wrong. Jack is a good agent and he’s with Sophia and there’s no way that could happen. But her face is so serious, lined with anxiety and uncertainty. “Where?” You ask, when you can finally swallow past the fear forming in your gut. “Where is he?”

"He's on a chopper, about an hour out." Diana swallows harshly, trying to tamp down her own fear in order to be here for you.

“How serious is serious?” You’re already up again and walking to the door to slip into a pair of shoes, ready to go wherever you need to be. If the last thing you ever say to Jack was a weak declaration of love through a closed door, you’ll never fucking forgive yourself.

"They've almost lost him twice on the way here." Diana stands and quickly rushes over towards you. "But as soon as Ginger gets him into the chamber, he will be alright."

“What the hell happened?” Your purse is sitting by the door like always, and you grab it without even a second thought. Heart racing, blood pounding, and stomach threatening to revolt is how you went to the lab this morning, and it’s how you’re going again tonight.

"I'm not exactly sure. He was shot. It ruptured his spleen and he had fallen when he was hit so there is internal bleeding." Diana doesn't have much information, but she's willing to tell you what she knows.

“But Ginger can help him.” It’s not a question, as the two of you bolt outside and into Diana’s car. Your mind is racing, but instead of devolving into desperate sadness you feel like you’ve hit some kind of problem-solving mode.

“She’s going to do everything she can.” Diana promises, cranking the engine and throwing the car into reverse. “You know Ginger.”

“He…left early last night, Di.” There’s nothing for you to do while she drives but sit there, and you fidget in your seat. “I was distant when I came home from New York and he slept in his office last night before they shipped out.”

“Did you have a fight?” She could have sworn everything was good between you.

“Not exactly.” It was all just so uncomfortable, and now you’re facing the reality of Jack coming back hurt and you can’t stand it. “Things have been off lately and it’s my fault, but I—I can’t let that be the last time we see each other.”

“Is it because you’re pregnant and the baby isn’t Jack’s?” Diana asks quietly.

“How did—” You stare at her from the passenger seat, jaw almost unhinged, and sigh. Did Jack put your symptoms together just like you did and assume just like you did? “I’m not…just…for the record…I went to Astrid this morning…”

“Jack came by the house last night.” Diana admits quietly, looking over at you. “He wanted to talk to Champ.”

“I haven’t been myself lately, and I was feeling sick,” you begin, feeling like you need to explain yourself. “I added it all up while I was in New York and thought I might be pregnant. He—he must have done the same math. But Astrid said I’m absolutely not, and it must have been the healing from my incident that threw my body out of whack.”

“You don’t need to explain to me, sweetheart.” Diana assures you, giving you a soft smile. “Jack asked Champ – well, he asked him how quickly he accepted Bobby as his own, if it was hard on him.” She bites her lip. “Bobby isn’t Champ’s biological son. He adopted him at birth. I was pregnant when we met.”

“What?” This is definitely new information to you, especially since you had always thought that Bobby looked like the perfect mix of his parents. “I—I mean—I had no idea.”

“It’s not something that many people know.” Diana admits. “Roger admittedly looked similar to Champ. So thankfully there’s never been any questions from strangers. He unfortunately never knew that he was going to be a father before Bobby’s biological dad died. Car accident.”

“I’m so sorry.” It’s a lot of information to take in, but you do your best to wrap your head around it as Diana parks in her designated space outside the main Statesman building and the two of you jump out to go up to the lab. “So…I don’t…Jack wanted to talk to him? About—about accepting Bobby?” It’s such a gut punch on top of all the things you’ve already dealt with over the last few days, to think that Jack was trying to figure out how to support you when you had feared he would call everything off instead.

“Jack admitted that he thought you might be pregnant and that it would be way too soon in your relationship for it to be his child.” Diana had excused herself to make some tea and let the men have their talk, but Jack hadn’t been trying to hide the conversation. “And he didn’t want to lose you over it. Said it was his own damn fault if it was the case and it damn sure wouldn’t be the kid’s fault.”

“I was so sure he’d hate me.” You’ve lost count of how many times you’ve cried today, and it doesn’t matter anymore. Crying over this makes sense. “That Sophia would hate me, or Tex, or even everyone, for making their lives more complicated…”

“It would be complicated.” She won’t deny that. “But if you had been pregnant, that baby would have just had two sets of parents.”

“But now he’s hurt.” That familiar feeling of panic is right under the surface, but you swallow it down as the elevator shuts to bring you both upstairs. “And the last thing that happened between us was awkwardness. I—he—I didn’t even kiss him goodbye, Di.”

“You’ll kiss him hello.” Diana tells you with a certainty she doesn’t exactly feel but she needs you to believe. “And kiss him every time he leaves the room from now on.”

There’s a fear there that’s too great to acknowledge, but you nod and follow her out of the elevator when it reaches the floor that the lab is on. You can’t bring yourself to ask out loud what the machine might do to him this time. He’d come out of it an admittedly different man last time, and when you were healed by it, it had turned your body around on itself. Who knows what effect it might have on Jack tonight, and that is terrifying to think about.

Diana keeps a tight hold on your hand as the lab doors open and Ginger, along with several of her assistants, rush around to get things ready. The screen overhead is on, displaying the camera from the helicopter medic’s helmet. Jack is laying on a gurney, his shirt and jacket cut from his body and his normally golden skin gray, blood covering his torso.

“Oh god…” Instinctively clutching Diana’s hand tighter, you stay out of the way of the bustling medics but keep your eyes glued to the screen. He looks like he’s been ripped open from the side and you have the heaviest instinct of violence you’ve ever felt in your life. Whoever did this to your soulmate had better hope you never find them. You may not be a trained Statesman agent, but you’re certain in this moment that it wouldn’t matter. You’d tear them limb from limb and turn them into dinner.

“BP dropping!” The medic’s staticky voice comes over the speakers. “There’s another fucking bleed somewhere!”

“Diana…” The grip you have on her hand is unforgiving while you watch the monitor, but she squeezes yours back. “Please tell me that they got the guy that did this to him.”

“Sophia got them.” The camera twists as the medic reaches for something from the bag and you get a view of the other agent, sitting along the wall and looking worried, covered in blood. Jack’s blood.

“Fuck…” Sophia looks terrified as she sits on the other side of the stretcher, and you can’t stop yourself from instinctively reaching out even knowing they can’t see you and it won’t make any difference. That’s your friend and your soulmate in that chopper, and the only thing you can do is stand here. “There has to be something I can do,” you murmur, not knowing if anyone even hears. Not knowing if it’s even true.

“Nothing right now.” She knows how helpless you feel. “Just pray right now. Even if you don’t believe, pray.”

The two of you stay sitting in a corner, watching the feed from the camera on board the helicopter. They manage to stabilize Jack again but don’t seem confident about it, and it’s a full half hour before that camera shows the team landing on the Statesman helipad on the roof of the building so they can bring him inside.

When the team bursts through the doors with Jack, Sophia is hot on their heels. Immediately rushing over to you when she sees you spring to your feet. “I’m so sorry!” She cries. “I– I don’t know what the hell happened. He was perfectly fine one moment and then he was–” she gestures towards the gurney.

“You got the guy, right?” Whatever happened, you can’t rewind and undo it now, so when you look Sophia in the eyes that is the one thing you want to know. “The person who hurt Jack is dead?”

“Yes.” Her jaw clenches and she nods seriously. “He’s dead.”

“Good.” The team of medics is swarming Jack right now and you will not get in their way, so you hug Sophia close for just a few comforting seconds. The tears are mighty at this point - seeing him in person feels like your heart is being ripped out of your chest. “Thank you for getting him home.”

“I wasn’t going to do anything less.” Sophia had probably saved his life, if it were told completely. If he had been alone, Jack would have bled to death before the team could have gotten there.

“Thank you.” It’s too much to think about what might have happened if Sophia hadn’t been with him. That’s not something you can swallow right now. You just hug her again instead. “I’m sure you have work to do. I’m going to stay with him.”

She nods reluctantly. “I have to clean up and report to Champ.” She squeezes you tight. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“I’ll be right here.” Under no circumstances would you go anywhere else. Not while Jack was fighting for his life.

Sophia can understand that. If it were Tex, she would be right there in your shoes. “Tex is headed in to sit with you.”

“Thank you.” There isn’t a whole lot else you can say without tumbling into anxiety, and frankly you’re terrified enough as it is. The comfort of friends sounds like a miracle. She squeezes your hand and turns around to quickly walk through the doors to go up to Champ’s office.

It isn't until Jack is fitted into the biometric pod and Ginger has his vitals stabilized that she lets you come closer, putting two chairs beside him for you and Tex. He had come in with water and snacks, warning you that worry is draining and that he was promising to sit up with you as long as it takes.

Diana stays off to the side with Ginger but she walks over to you and touches your shoulder after the first hour. "I am going back to the restaurant. Don't worry about anything. I'll take care of it all."

"Thanks, Di." Honestly you hadn't even looked at a clock since waking up and had no clue what time it was, so it seems a little shocking that the restaurant is even open. All you knew was it was after dark and you had been asleep. It could have been 3 a.m. and you wouldn't have known the difference. "I'm not–I can't leave him."

"Of course you can't." Diana huffs as if the mere idea is offensive. "If anyone has an issue with that, they can deal with me." She knows that none of your staff will argue, they will worry about Jack if they know. However, the civilian staff is normally kept in the dark concerning these matters. "I'll bring some dinner back later." She promises, leaning down and dropping a kiss on your head before leaving.

At a certain point, there isn't a lot you can do besides sit. You're wide awake beside Jack, sitting in silence with Tex as you both watch the monitors around your wounded warrior buzz and beep and flash every few seconds. It's a noisy room for the heavy weight of what's going on, busy despite the fact that no one is scurrying around any longer.

"It's different this time." Tex offers quietly, shuffling in his chair beside you and stretching his long legs in front of him. "He's got somethin' to live for. He fought death the last time and he didn't even have you. He'll pull through."

You huff softly, watching Jack's face as he sleeps in the biometrically-induced coma that is healing his body. "I don't know," you admit, feeling the way your jaw wobbles at the admission. "He's...we...last night was tense before he left."

"Hell, everyone, every relationship has tense days." Tex doesn't know the details, but it can't be that bad. "He knows you love him, he loves you."

"He, um..." The fact is, this concerns the man beside you as much as it concerns anyone else. This is Jack's emotional little brother. Your best friend's soulmate. Your friend. You swallow the guilt and the nerves, and you glance at Tex beside you with trepidation. There was a time barely twelve hours ago that you were resolved for him never to know. Now it feels dishonest to leave anything unsaid. "He thinks I'm pregnant," you murmur, knowing that the only person who could overhear you is Ginger and she's the one who ran the tests. "I'm not. But he thinks I could be..."

"Then he's got everything to live for." Tex lit up for a moment, happy for his friend even if he relaxed slightly when you told him that you're not pregnant. He knows Jack would be disappointed, but he would probably make a joke about being happy to practice some more. He's never seen Jack wanting kids, but it's got to be interesting.

"Not...not really." You glance back at him briefly before refocusing on Jack, deciding that this will be infinitely easier if you're not actually looking at Tex when you say it. "The thing is...because of the timing...he thinks...and even I thought...that it could be...well, yours."

He's silent for a minute. More than a minute, actually. Stunned into silence before he opens his mouth. "But....you're not." He says slowly, clarifying.

"No." The worry in his voice tells you everything it needs to. That if that baby had been real, it would have torn apart the fabric of your friendships just like you thought. "Ginger did the test this morning."

"I'm sorry that you've been going through this." Tex starts and then he hums. "I– did you start thinking you were when you were in New York? Sophia texted me and said she was worried about you."

"Yeah." There's just no way to hide how embarrassed you are, so you just sit there and watch Jack, not letting your eyes waver again. That's your whole life right there on that bed, and you don't know what the hell you'll do if he doesn't wake up. "Yeah, I...I did. Ginger says the pod must have thrown off my system after the kidnapping. It was just a fluke. The symptoms lined up but it was just a coincidence."

He sighs and reaches over to take your hand. It's not meant to be a romantic gesture. Rather, one of comfort. "I want you to know that no matter what, you have people who care about you. We are all a big, dysfunctional family." He jokes quietly. "If you had been, we would have...made it work."

"I wasn't going to keep it," you blurt out, clutching his hand for just the speck of comfort it provides. "I asked Ginger if she could find out. I didn't–" It's so much to hold on to, and you had isolated yourself so much that when it comes out of you it sort of just explodes everywhere. "I couldn't do that to all of you. I couldn't destroy our family and I just kind of panicked and shut down at the dress shop and I could barely even look at Jack when I came home. I couldn't look at him, or kiss him, or barely even talk to him and now he's this and if he doesn't wake up I don't think I could ever forgive myself."

"He's going to wake up." Tex promises you, a slightly desperate undercurrent to his voice. "He has to." His thoughts about you not keeping a baby, he keeps to himself. There's no way he could say what he would do under those circumstances, so he can't judge you.

"He has to." If he doesn't – if you lose the best thing in your life – then anything else around you is just noise. None of it matters.

______ Master Tags: @pixiedurango @chattychell @winter-fox-queen @lady-himbo @artsymaddie @princess76179 @paintballkid711 @missminkylove @pedrosbrat @ew-erin @sarahjkl82-blog @sharkbait77 @justanotherblonde23 @lv7867 @recklesswit @mylittlesenaar @f0rever15elf @gallowsjoker @steeevienicks @athalien @sherala007 @skvatnavle @thatpinkshirt @jaime1110 @girlimjusttryingtoreadfanfics @goodgriefitsawildworld @greeneyedblondie44 @katheriner1999 @littlemousedroid @harriedandharassed @churchill356 @ajathegreats-blog @hardc0rehaylz @beardsanddetectives @kirsteng42 @ladykatakuri @adancedivasmom @madiebear @tanzthompson @emilianamason @bigsdinger @xocalliexo @pedr0swh0r3 @avaleineandafryingpan @charlyrmv @avidreader73 @iceclaw101 @loveslide​ @elegantduckturtle  ​

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My Masterlist!

[serial-serializednovelreader]

Nova’s Notes - Dracula Daily - July 18

We’re out of the Droughtula! And onto the voyage of the Demeter….

“If Mr. Stoker has a problem with this he is cordially invited to rise from his mouldering grave and take it up with me personally.”

Truly, an iconic editor’s note! Matt is not playing around and, selfishly, I would love to actually see this showdown occur.

“Written 18 July, things so strange happening, that I shall keep accurate note henceforth till we land.”

Basically the Captain:

For real though, you know what this reminds me of? Jonathan Harker on his first day he noticed strange things occurring at the castle. Here’s what he said then:

“I began to fear as I wrote in this book that I was getting too diffuse; but now I am glad that I went into detail from the first, for there is something so strange about this place and all in it that I cannot but feel uneasy…”

Thanks to wanting to record his trip for Mina, he had already started taking detailed notes for the trip. These notes served him well in his time at castle Dracula.

Unfortunately, the captain of the Demeter was not taking detailed logs beforehand, but it’s telling that he begins to as soon as he notices something strange! Just a neat parallel I thought I would point out.

“On 6 July we finished taking in cargo, silver sand and boxes of earth. At noon set sail. East wind, fresh. Crew, five hands ... two mates, cook, and myself (captain).”

To note here, it has been twelve days since they set sail and it has taken twelve days to reach the point of someone logging the incidents. I suppose that’s a record above Dracula’s previous time with Jonathan, which was *three* days (really, more like two).

Also, sorry to put the answer to your post in here, @mermaid-above-water, but I figured it would be best! To answer your question of how many crew hands are on the Demeter….I’ll be real with you, I was going to take the captain’s number of “5” at face value, but @dramaticpandabear summed it up best with evidence: it’s 9. I’m going to be using their post as reference for the future when I make my notes You can get this number by adding 5 (hands) + 2 (mates) + 1 (cook) + 1 (captain). I definitely understand the confusion — like I said, I was confused too! No wonder the captain says he needs to take more accurate notes…

“On 11 July at dawn entered Bosphorus. Boarded by Turkish Customs officers. Backsheesh. All correct. Under way at 4 p. m.”

Everything seems fine here! Only thing to note is that I believe when he refers to “backsheesh”, he means the practice of bribing customs officers, sooo that’s fun. /s

“On 12 July through Dardanelles. More Customs officers and flagboat of guarding squadron. Backsheesh again. Work of officers thorough, but quick. Want us off soon. At dark passed into Archipelago.”

So it looks like this time they got less of a warm welcome, with more customs officers investigating their cargo. More backsheesh, and they had to leave the port much more quickly. Notice how they’re not finding anything strange in their cargo, say a “human”….hm….

“On 13 July passed Cape Matapan. Crew dissatisfied about something. Seemed scared, but would not speak out.”

At this point, they’ve just passed Greece. That’s not very far into their journey! Yet already, something strange is afoot — the crew seem scared. But about what? If I had to guess, Dracula is starting to give them strange dreams and because sailors are usually inclined to believe in the supernatural/superstition, they probably see it as a bad omen (especially if more than one of them had a bad dream). They probably don’t want to tell the captain though, either due to him not seeming to believe in the supernatural or not wanting to worry him (or because of one of the mates, who is a skeptic).

“On 14 July was somewhat anxious about crew. Men all steady fellows, who sailed with me before. Mate could not make out what was wrong; they only told him there was something, and crossed themselves. Mate lost temper with one of them that day and struck him. Expected fierce quarrel, but all was quiet.”

Yikes, I already don’t like this mate. He comes across like a massive jerk. The rest of the crew reminds me a lot of the villagers of Transylvania — steady, but scared. Crossing themselves and refusing to speak further on the matter….very much like the innkeeper and his wife when asked about Dracula. Perhaps they’ve seen other signs of his presence at this point as well (a mist appearance, perhaps?). It’s telling that the crew remains uncharacteristically quiet, rather than starting a fight after the mate hits one of them: this tells me they’re trying not to attract attention. But from what?

“On 16 July mate reported in the morning that one of crew, Petrofsky, was missing. Could not account for it. Took larboard watch eight bells last night; was relieved by Abramoff, but did not go to bunk. Men more downcast than ever. All said they expected something of the kind, but would not say more than there was somethingaboard. Mate getting very impatient with them; feared some trouble ahead.”

The first very strange thing has happened: a crew member — Petrofsky — has gone missing. That leaves them with 4 hands now, down to eight on the ship total. This is obviously affecting the captain negatively as he did not rest even after a watch. As for the “larboard watch eight bells” phrase, larboard was an archaic word for port (the left side of a ship), so he must have been assigned to watch that side, and as for eight bells, eight bells is the common signal on board a ship that a watch has ended.

We are also given a new name of one of the crew members: Abramoff. I’m going to imagine he’s one of the four remaining hands (it seems it was common practice to not have the cook stand watch at night, so I don’t think it’s the cook), since the captain keeps referring to his mates as just “mates”, though this could be proven wrong with time.

Again, the crew is much like the Transylvanian villagers: scared, yet resigned. They know already something like this was going to happen. However, one of the mates seems to be getting more and more impatient with them…

“On 17 July, yesterday, one of the men, Olgaren, came to my cabin, and in an awestruck way confided to me that he thought there was a strange man aboard the ship. He said that in his watch he had been sheltering behind the deck-house, as there was a rain-storm, when he saw a tall, thin man, who was not like any of the crew, come up the companion-way, and go along the deck forward, and disappear. He followed cautiously, but when he got to bows found no one, and the hatchways were all closed. He was in a panic of superstitious fear, and I am afraid the panic may spread. To allay it, I shall to-day search entire ship carefully from stem to stern.”

We get the name of another crew member: Olgaren. If he is another hand (and I feel like the captain would’ve specified if he wasn’t) we now know 3/5 names of the crew hands. We also get more information on a new mysterious incident — this time they have actually spotted a strange man aboard the ship, though he turned to mist (what I think happened) before Olgaren could find him). Finally, the captain has decided to take some action to allay the crew’s fears. Good!!

“Later in the day I got together the whole crew, and told them, as they evidently thought there was some one in the ship, we would search from stem to stern. First mate angry; said it was folly, and to yield to such foolish ideas would demoralise the men; said he would engage to keep them out of trouble with a handspike. I let him take the helm, while the rest began thorough search, all keeping abreast, with lanterns: we left no corner unsearched. As there were only the big wooden boxes, there were no odd corners where a man could hide. Men much relieved when search over, and went back to work cheerfully. First mate scowled, but said nothing.”

I like the captain’s delegation with giving the first mate the helm here. No use making the man search when he was obviously going to be complaining and degrading their worries the whole time. We also get it specified that this was the first mate: I choose to believe it was the first mate who’s been complaining this whole time and the captain just wasn’t taking accurate notes about it, though I could be proven wrong.

As for the boxes having nothing to hide….oh boy. That’s funny. Not in a haha way. But it is funny. Because they truly have no idea what lies in one of those boxes, but alas, the creature who resides in there is currently mist (if I’m not mistaken) and they cannot see the truth.

Of course, they don’t find anything and go cheerfully back to work. Good for morale, not good for the long-term.

That’s it for this Demeter’s log. Can’t wait for the next one!

[twilight-at-midnight]

Crazy Girls

Pairing: Jane x (female) reader

Warnings: None

Requested: Yes

Request: @urdeadpoet123

Prompts: 11, 13, 14, 16, and 22, with Jane, also 8, 9, 10, 15, and 18, with Riley.

***

“Don’t talk to me like that!” Jane snarls at you, taken you by surprise.

Jane had never once raised her voice at you, though it may have happened once or twice before, she would normally never do that. Even if the two of you getting into an arguments, you try avoiding these things but Jane presses forward sometimes a little aggressively. Of course, she never means it, all of it has come from the heat of the moment.

“Not cool, (Y/n)!!! It’s not cool at all!!!”

Jane had taken you along with her on tasks and the recent current one had gone wrong.

Right now, Jane was getting after you like a child would when getting caught swiping a cookie from the jar that was out of reach. It was an accident really, you noticed that Jane was having trouble and tried helping her out of it. Which was what nearly got you killed after stepping in front of Jane, the result being you getting hurt. Jane was pissed as on the other hand, you would do anything for her, even if it costs your life. Jane lets out an angry huff, she wasn’t mad at you in particular, just of your actions.

“Hey! I just saved your life!”

Jane only glared at you before saying anything about the situation.

“I can banish you, you know?”

“I’ve seen you do worse, you know?” you shoot back at her.

“You’ll wanna stop right there if you want to see tomorrow.”

That got you extremely quiet.

You couldn’t believe the cruel words Jane, your mate, had just said to you.

“Jane!” you finally mustered out.

“Keep your voice down! You’re going to make a scene!”

“Excuse me, I have to go make a scene!” you mocked.

Which is what really happens, you run off as Jane stood there, not looking back until you were completely out of sight.

Jane wasn’t going to let you get away from this. At this point, both you and Jane started arguing after finding you. The both of you know that the scene wasn’t going to happen, and for your sakes, that was probably one of the best decisions to have made, to allow it not to come around any further than it needs to be. You were looking for something to eat when you hear a voice behind you. Turning around, you come face to face with Alec, he a had a look on his face that said he had something to say or some questions. Still feeling upset from the argument, you did your best to remain calm as you greeted him.

“What can I do for you?”

“Do you want to tell me what that was about?”

You couldn’t help but feel slightly embarrassed knowing he had heard your argument with Jane, but that didn’t last long once you have given a response.

“Listen, I’m sorry you had to hear that. As you know, I’m still just getting used to the idea of being mated to Jane, however, I’m not going to go back and apologize for something that I’m not wrong about.”

“What would you be wrong about?”

“The task took a wrong turn and I stepped in front of her, helping her out and not to mention saving her life. Instead of being appreciative about it, she took it as something I’ve done wrong.”

“You had try telling her otherwise?”

“Yes, of course..”

As you were about to go on to say more, a sudden flash had caught your attention. Knowing it was Jane, you almost feel upset all over again and decided to be a pest against Jane for the moment.

“Did you see that? You saw that, right? Someone here?”

Alec was obviously quite amused by your childish game there, and Jane looked agitated by it.

She stood in front of you as you smirked while continuing the game.

“Oh, it’s you.”

Before you could speak another word, you grimaced as Jane roughly takes hold of your hand and pulls you behind her back to her room.

“I think we need to discuss this, (Y/n).”

“What’s there to be discussed about?”

“A lot.”

You stop yourself from scoffing and rolling your eyes as she continues.

“It’s not that I’m grateful for you saving my life, but you have to understand that I could have lost you.”

Those words struck you like no other, this was really the first time Jane was showing how much you meant to her and not only that, you were given a taste of her point of view all at once.

You can’t recall on the last time you have felt so delighted about something in your life. Jane truly loved you, and with you still being human made it uneasy for her to put her worries to ease. Slowly and carefully did Jane step forward and pull you into her embrace as you allowed it.

“I can’t lose you.”

“Than turn me.”

Your command had taken Jane off guard, so much so that she had to pull away and study you closely. As she does so, the look on your face only told her that you were being dead serious before pulling you back into her.

“Are you sure? I was going to wait until you were ready, (Y/n).” she nearly whispered your name.

If losing your humanity meant spending forever with your mate, you were more than willing to give it all up for her. Lose it all for her, the one you loved most.

“Yes..”

Jane nods and takes you to be placed on the bed before hovering over you.

With her now just inches away from you, Jane leans and whispers in your ear, sending shivers down your spine.

“It’s going to hurt, but I’ll be with you through all of it.” she promises and you nod in response as she plants a few kisses before officially biting you.

You want to scream as the burning sensation of her venom courses through your veins, but you can’t.

You wanted yo reach for her to have something to hold onto, but you can’t. This process has you paralyzed until a few days later when you wake up from it. Jane may be a tough cookie towards you at times, but the love you have for each other is real, and that’s all that mattered to you both.

The bright future ahead of you.

***

Requests: open

@twilight-at-midnight

Characters:

• Edward

• Carlisle

• Jasper

• Emmett

• Benjamin

• Jacob

• Vladimir

• Stefan

• Aro

• Marcus

• Caius

• Alec

• Jane

• Bella

• Alice

• Rosalie

• Victoria

• Riley.

• Bella

[tylejandro]

I found this "TDI survey" from 2008 and filled it out! You can too here.

Penname: Cavewomania

Age (optional; if you want use interval ranges like 1-100, etc): early 20s

Gender: Female

Location/Hometown (simply stating US or Canada is a'right): US

How did you start watching TDI?: I heard it was similar to Danganronpa, so I watched it when it was on Netflix.

If so, how did you become hooked/what episode got you hooked?: This question applied way better back in the day, but I got into TD again after 4 years of not caring about it much because I saw how many fics were coming out for Alenoah in 2023 and I was like “who’s Alejandro?” Now I’m here.

When did you first see it?: 2019

--

Favorite episode: In terms of fanworks, I See London. But I should really rewatch Island, it has some pretty good episodes.

Least Favorite episode: Hard to say? I don’t like a lot of the episodes necessarily but I’ve had a lot of fun rewriting some for my Aletyler WT fic. My Island knowledge is rusty and I’ve never wanted to really watch Action for some reason, I’ve only seen around the first four episodes.

I’ve heard Sundae Muddy Sundae sucks?

Favorite Gopher: Owen

Least favorite Gopher: Justin?

Favorite Bass member: Tyler, though I didn’t care for him until WT – during Island I liked Courtney.

Least Favorite Bass member: Ezekiel

Arrange the characters (including Chef and Chris) in order from most favorite to least:

Oh shit uhhh

1. Alejandro

2. Owen

3. Heather

4. Tyler

5. Noah

6. Gwen

7. Duncan

8. Leshawna

9. Courtney

10. Eva

11. Bridgette

12. Geoff

13. Lindsay

14. Sierra

15. Cody

16. DJ

17. Trent

18. Harold

19. Beth

20. Izzy

21. Justin

22. Ezekiel

23. Sadie

24. Katie

25. Blaineley

26. Chef

27. Chris

-ish, this is not a scientific list.

Which character(s) are you most like?: Beth & Tyler. I see a good amount of my young self in Beth.

Are you truthfully, really really obsessively in love with any of the characters?: Nope

If so, who?: I mean Alejandro is my fave, I just wouldn’t say ‘in love’? I’ve cosplayed as him.

Are you on crack?: Thankfully no.

Have you ever been to a mental hospital?: Hm.

--

Plot Questions..

Who let the dogs out?: Bark!

What came first, the chicken or the egg?: Egg first makes the most sense.

Why is the plane crashing?: It’s just thirsty.

Were you surprised when Owen won?: I don’t recall but I like that he did.

Did you see HxL coming at all?: Nope.

Did you expect Harold had gotten Courtney eliminated before they showed that scene?: I don’t recall.

Did you cry when one of your favorites got voted off?: Nope. Man I should really rewatch this show...

Did you laugh when any of your least favorites got voted off?: Most likely.

--

Character questions..

Your opinion of Chris Maclean: ‘Maclean’, ha!

He’s my least favorite but he’s fine. I think he’ll grow on me eventually but for now he’s just kind of there.

Does Chef creep you out, even the tiniest bit?: I guess?

Does Chef's cooking creep you out, uhm, alot?: I guess? Is something wrong with me, I didn’t really react to it.

Do you feel sorry for Heather?: She had it coming in Island – I really didn’t like her in Island and it was only until WT that I came around to her..

Why or why not?: see above

Has your opinion of any of the characters changed over the course of the show?: Absolutely. Harold used to be my favorite and I think Cody was my second favorite. Coming back to the show (because I changed so much as a person in between 2019 and 2023) was like a clean slate, though I shipped Nowen before because I’ve always liked both Noah and Owen.

Were you mad at Harold for switching the votes?: No, I don’t think so. I thought it was kind of cool.

Ezekiel or Eva: Eva. No contest.

Noah or Justin: Noah

Katie or Tyler: LMAO

Apples or Oranges: Oranges, they’re not huge like apples often are.

Izzy or Cody: Cody. Izzy’s really hard to write.

Beth or Sadie: Beth

Courtney or Harold: Shit – Courtney.

Trent or Bridgette: Bridgette

Lindsey or DJ: Lindsay

Geoff or Lewshana: Leshawna

Duncan or Heather: Heather

Gwen or Owen: Owen

--

Opinion of Trent/Gwen: They have some good chemistry, I like them aesthetically, and I’ve read some one-shots focusing on them, but ultimately I prefer them with other characters.

Opinion of Duncan/Courtney: They’re neat and I like how popular they are. If I was naturally more into F/M ships I’d like these two a lot maybe.

Opinion of Geoff/Bridgette: Aesthetically pleasing, but ultimately more interesting with other people in fanworks.

Opinion of Harold/Leshawna: I don’t like them together TBH, I prefer Leshawna/Heather or Leshawna/Courtney. For Harold, IDK, Harold/Ezekiel?

Opinion of Tyler/Lindsey: Aesthetically pleasing, but ultimately more interesting with other people in fanworks. Also Alejandro/Tyler is my favorite pairing in this series so I’m biased to be annoyed by this one – I ship Lindsay more with Trent than with Tyler.

Opinion of Owen/Izzy: I can see it, but also… IDK? Izzy is hard to ship with people and I really like Nowen.

Since Noah/Cody IS TOTALLY CANON WHETHER YOU LIKE IT OR NOT, your opinion of NxC: They can be cute, and I’ve enjoyed fanworks of them, but I prefer both characters with other people. I simply don’t care about Cody too much.

Opinion of FANON: The shit.

If any, favorite fanon couples: Aletyler, Nowen, Duncowen, Djuncan, Lesheather, Gwourtney, Ezzy (as in Ezekiel/Izzy), Trindsay, DJ x Lindsay, Heatherra, Gweather, etc etc. Doing the ‘ship every character with one another challenge’ helped me expand my range a little. I even ship Gwody a little now – freaky.

--

Misc. Questions..

We're talking 100, 000 dollars. Would you be a contestant on Total Drama Island?: Hell no.

Would you jump off a thousand foot cliff into a lake full of hungry sharks?: Nope.

Would you be offended by Ezekiel's sexist remarks?: I wouldn’t be offended I’d just be annoyed and I would vote him out as soon as I could.

Would you last two days without any sleep?: I’ve tried, but to no success thankfully. A little over 24 hours is my max.

Are you good at dodgeball?: It’s been a while, I think I’d be okay at dodging but shit with aim.

How many times do you suspect you might possible be hit in the face?: ? I can’t punch to save my life.

Any special talents?: Hm, I can sneak up on people?

Would you join Heather's alliance?: No I’d hate Heather.

If you saw Izzy in a bear-suit (ONLY YOU DON'T KNOW IT'S IZZY!) during the camping episode, your first reaction: Oh shit is that a bear.

Your biggest fear: Naked in public? But to keep things in tone with the show I’d say being yelled at/being threatened after I’ve seemingly had a decent conversation with a person. (Can you tell I work in customer service?…)

If you recieved a heart-shaped coin purse given by Geoff, you: Give it back and hope he understands I’m not interested – I think he would.

Do you believe in 'bad luck'?: No but I think I’d avoid people with ‘bad luck’ if I thought I’d be annoyed by them/injured by them.

xD Can YOU take the heat?: I can follow directions but otherwise can’t cook really.

Would you get along with the rest of the campers?: As a 20 something, no. As a 16 year old, I’d be so confused with my own boundaries that I wouldn’t want to upset anyone – overall a worse way to deal with people.

Bootcamp. Your first reaction: Fuck.

Can you handle free-falling 5000 feet in the air?: AHHHHHHHHH

OMG, Harold saw your b***. You: Oops.

Were you able to eat the same way again the first few days after seeing the Brunch-of-Disgustingness ep?: Yeah, it’s cartoon food to me.

Would you be happy to see Eva and Izzy back?: It’s been a while. Wow I’m terrible at answering these.

Trent's elimination, your reaction: See above

Would you vote Bridgette off because she smelled really bad?: Yeah, I’d want the money.

Would you do well during the bike challenge?: That challenge is so confusing, I’d want to do well so I’d aim to get first.

Would you tell off Heather if you were Lindsey? (Simple enough): I wouldn’t have the guts...

Horror movies, yay or nay? No, though to be fair I never watch scary movies so maybe it wouldn’t be too bad.

Robotic racoon armies? Suddenly cute little animals don't seem as friendly: Sounds like a TF2 thing – maybe I could tame the raccoons with sour cream...

Out of the finally six, who would you least want to be chained to?: Duncan.

THE LOSER RESORT, EEEEEEEEE!: Sup losers.

Your opinion on Mr. Coconut: Can I eat it?

Your opinion on sticky buns: I looked in the thread this survey came from and apparently this is just a random question. Eh? I prefer other sweets like cinnamon rolls.

Your opinion on Heather's haircut: Honestly kind of relatable – I shaved my own head a couple of years ago and it was difficult and messy. It was my own choice though so I can’t relate to Heather on that front.

Before you found out who the winner was, Owen or Gwen? I was on Team Gwen.

[therandomfando4]

Right off the bat I'll just say, I wrote this as a here's some facts about this as well as the issues I saw present in Mediexcalibur2012's newest editing for smg4 video, along with a few issues outside of his video.

Also, I'm just going to say. I have seen enough content to know a fair bit about Meggy in the eyes of Luke and Kevin, but I'm not going to go there because that's not the discussion right now.

What Medi got right.

Mario's age - Canonically in the Nintendo lore, Mario is 24-25 years of age.

Meggy's age as of 2024 - She is 22 THIS year

(technically 21 until July 16th but it's neither here nor there due to the topic being discussed)

What Medi got wrong.

The Mario Kart Love Song Music Video - He is technically right about the video containing two adults but he is still using the characters one of which, was a teenager when they met Mario in the canon of the Smg4, while he still supports seeing the two in a relationship outside of the video.

Meggy being an adult, being able to go to college & buying her own house - While yes she has been an adult for a few years now, she was a 15 year old teenager when she first met Mario. (None of which was mentioned in Medi's video, it seems like VERY important information he left out)

Smg4 Fans thinking Meggy is 14 - Now, could there be people who think Meggy is 14? Maybe. But he still hasn't addressed the fact that she WAS 15 in her debut episode. Also, he blames the "You know what else is a number?" video for this "rumour" of her being 14.

The argument of not having a definitive way of aging in the show - This explanation falls flat in the context of Meggy and this excuse only works with certain characters mainly, the Smgs, Mario characters, and characters who weren't given definitive ages or an estimate by the show. The other main girls of the group either have confirmed ages or an estimate of how old they are.

♡ Smg4's Tari was told to fans on reddit to be younger than her meta runner counterpart. The comment has now been deleted it seems. She could be anything from teenager to adult in her debut if we are going by the reddit post/ comment.

☆ Saiko was most definitely highschool age in her debut episode due to her being from a dating sim meaning she could've been any age from 15-18.

○ Melony and Meggy are the same age. This being confirmed in "Smg4: The Watermelon Man"

His argument is that "Even though Meggy is younger than Mario she will one day become older than Mario, wut?" Still wouldn't change the fact she WAS 15 while Mario was an adult in her debut. His "Melony is 21 but served in the Vietnam war" argument doesn't really stand any ground. That would be more of a discussion about the show's continuity vs. the jokes that are made.

For example, why would Smg3 shooting smg4 in "Smg4: You Used To Be Cool.." potentially kill him even though after that episode smg3 then shot smg4 in "Smg4: Trash friends" and smg4 bounced right back?

Making his argument about Melony invalid.

His "Will Jub jub model change when he gets older?" question isn't even related to the issues of Meggy's relationships. That's an entirely different question about models rather than age. As we don't really know Boopkin's age.

Long bit here, but this kinda has to be said; Medi SHOWS the ID of Meggy in his video, so he SHOULD have known about her age history already.

Also, the ID wouldn't have been an "On the spot" move either, as July 16th is the day that Meggy first appeared in a video known as "Smg4: If Mario Was In... Splatoon."

So, one of the team members purposely chose 2002 as her birth year.

I also find it unnerving and upseting at the fact that Medi hadn't brought up ANY of this in his video, EVEN THOUGH he's an editor and has written episodes for the show!!

Overall, it feels like Medi was trying to cover up the fact that the ship had this massive problem within it.

By not stating people's real issue with said ship. Only saying the relationship is between two now grown adults.

As well as claiming the people talking about the ship being unethical towards the teenager now adult Meggy, as people who either haven't researched or are uninformed. This feels like a cheap tactic of trying to excuse the ship's problems as "Unresearched fan's rambling" when it's quite the opposite.

I wouldn't have said anything if it weren't for the fact that Medi is someone that smg4 fans go to source for more information on smg4. He's got quite a big influence on the fandom. So, him saying the people who disagree with an abliet problematic ship haven't researched about this subject. I can see as quite an insulting take and seems negative towards criticism of the ship. Especially when it seems he himself hasn't researched enough or is purposely leaving out details of characters that should have been in the video.

This seems to have already caused problems with mxm shippers going to an smg4 post unrelated to mxm and commenting about the ship, then tagging the people who've told them off for their comment on to their mxm threads when the other party clearly has discomfort for the ship. While the mxm shipper say they are being harassed in the same way. (If there is harassment on both sides then that isn't okay. But you can't say you don't want that treatment while doing it to other people.)

Before you ask, no, I do not like the mxm ship. I think it's ethically wrong and makes me uncomfortable. But this post is more about giving people a better view of the issues involved in the ship itself and the way Medi handled it. It was especially bad towards people who are uncomfortable about the ship.

Sorry for the long post. I kinda kept going and couldn't stop. For anyone who follows me, I apologise if you are uncomfortable with this topic.

(Cute unrelated cat sketch, yay!)

[ryuichirou]

Replies

One serious one and a bunch of kind of silly shorter ones.

Anonymous asked:

Hi!  I hope you don't mind me asking this but I had a question about fandom stuff since this is my first time in an active fandom.  Almost every time there's fanworks, mostly fanart, of the TWST first and seconds years in sexual positions/sexualized, there's a lot of people dramatically freaking out because they're "minors/16/17!" and "you're not allowed to do that/it's illegal so stop that!" (Sometimes in all caps too). Are these people common in fandoms with younger casts?  Sorry for sounding anxious, I just keep running into people like this and anti-shippers and they really bring my mood down...

Hi Anon! Sure, I don’t mind talking about fandom stuff.

I think it’s not a matter of titles having younger casts, but a matter of fandoms having younger people in them. There are some shows that aren’t very popular/have fandoms that mostly consist of people that are older than 25, and you’d see less of this type of attitude there. Like, drastically less. I don’t think there are a lot of people complaining about characters of Prince of Tennis being 14-16 year olds, for example.

But if a show is popular with teens or younger people in general, chances are, there are going to be quite a number of antis. For example, SK8 got a big chunk of its popularity on tiktok and boy is it obvious lol

I want to stress that this doesn’t mean that all the anti-shippers are young: this absolutely isn’t the case, and unfortunately a lot of pretty much adult people participate in harassment, write call-outs and do this type of crap in general. Also obviously, not every teenager is an anti (not that it matters to us of course, all of our blogs are 18+ so the majority of teens shouldn’t even be here).

So yeah. I think of it as a subculture, albeit a very aggressive one. There are people who are legitimately uncomfortable with this type of content, but I’m pretty sure the majority of antis just love using their non-existent high moral ground to harass and try to control people and their art. They either don’t understand the magnitude of their actions or don’t care if they hurt real people over fictional minors.

I am very sorry that you stumble upon this type of people and that they make you feel bad. I always say this, but: block everyone. Even if a person is just mildly uncomfortable to you or you don’t like their vibes, block them just so you see less of this type of stuff.

Your art and any art that you enjoy doesn’t hurt anyone as long as people are being responsible about posting and interacting with it. So absolutely don’t feel like you’re doing something wrong just because someone doesn’t understand how fiction works. I hope this type of crap disappears as soon as fandoms become less popular, like they’ve been before things got out of hand. Some people should’ve never been here in the first place – sorry for gate-keeping, but they don’t get it and don’t care about getting it or at least being respectful to others, so why should we be better people.

Anonymous asked:

Idia: Yay, crotch view!

(related to our Lilidia drawing from yesterday hehe)

Lucky boy! Got to see Heavens right before his demise…

Anonymous asked:

What do you think about Neige x Epel?

Replied! Also talked about them a bit in this reply + some other replies that I can’t find…

Anonymous asked:

thoughts on liliaxepel?

Definitely replied before, but I can’t find that reply, so: they’re cute, gotta love two short feisty cuties together; we really liked that one vignette in which Lilia shows Epel that you don’t have to be tall or big to be scary and strong. It teases a very interesting potential dynamic both in a shippy and in a platonic sense: Epel has a lot to learn from Lilia, and it would be fun if they interacted more often.

It isn’t a ship that we’re massively passionate about, but they’re fun together! Could be very hot.

[discoverywriter]

20 Questions For Writers

Didn’t actually get tagged on this, but it looked like a fun one. 🤣

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

AO3 says I have 24. Huh.

2. What is your total AO3 word count?

288,626 since I started in 2021, which seemed like a lot to me until I realized 179,551 of those belong to the second thing I ever wrote, a massive 4 part series covering from Rio’s resurrection to their inevitable HEA.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Veronica Mars brought me to AO3. The Punisher (Kastle) made me think for the first time about writing prompts, but it was the Good Girls (Brio) fandom that finally got me to put the proverbial pen to paper.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

1. Even If It Hurts (Part 3 of Walk Through The Fire series)

2. Sanctuary (Part 2 of Walk Through The Fire series)

3. Get Your House In Order (Part 1 of Walk Through The Fire series)

4. By My Side (Part 4 of Walk Through The Fire series)

5. What Would Elizabeth Do?

5. Do you respond to comments?

Yes! I try to, at least. Sorry if I’ve missed any, sometimes I lose track of the notification emails.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Ooh, definitely Enemy of My Enemy. Hardest fic for me to finish. Not fluffy. No HEA. Rio is aaaaaangry.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Hmm… there’s a lot to choose from cause I looooove a soft, fluffy Brio. If you can slog through the 4 part series, it covers the most ground, ending years after the show. It’s loosely based on canon to start, but veers off.

8. Do you get hate on your fics?

Hmm… Not really. Luckily just one I can think of. A vague accusation that all my ideas were suspiciously like a lot of other ones on AO3… except those other writers did it way better. 🤷🏻‍♀️ I blocked them and figured if anything, it meant I’d finally “made it”. 😂

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I try to. I aim for the kind I think people will enjoy reading, but I often alternate between worrying it’s either a little too cheesy, or over the top.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I don’t, but I would never say never. There are some I would *love* for other people to write, though. Karen Page (Punisher) and Steve Rogers (Captain America)… Intrepid reporter interviews national hero after the Battle of New York. Neither are looking for anything, but sparks fly. Anyone? Anyone??? 🤣

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

I don’t think so?

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, but wouldn’t it be awesome if AO3 had a button that would do that automatically?

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Again, no. I won’t say it would never happen, but I’m a bit of a lone wolf writer. Strict deadlines, etc are tough for me, so I think I’d find a co-writing situation very stressful.

14. What’s your all time favourite ship?

It has to be Brio. 🥰

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

This is a tough one. I don’t tend to release fics until they’re finished, so I don’t have any orphaned stories out there crying out for a happy ending. I do have a dozen or so ideas that are in various stages of completion. Some are almost done(ish), so I suspect the ones that are less likely to get finished are the ones that are literally a sentence fragment… barely a complete idea. I mean, they’re great random scattered thoughts, but… Yeah.

16. What are your writing strengths?

I’ve been told my Brio characterizations are good.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

Hmmm… Dialogue and smut. My descriptions aren’t bad, but my writing style isn’t as “flowy” as I’d sometimes like.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

I’m not bilingual, so if I include another language in a fic I tend to keep it fairly short and straightforward to lessen the chance of getting it wrong.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Good Girls. First and only.

20. Favourite fic you’ve written?

I don’t mind rereading (most of) my own stuff. I have a special soft spot for ones where Brio interacts with the kids, like Smarter Than Your Average Gang Friend (Rio gets shown up by the Jane), and In Sickness (Jane’s sick and Rio shows Beth an uncharacteristic kindness).

Not tagging anyone in particular. Please, jump in!

[fonulyn]

20 Questions for Fic Authors

thanks for the tag @thebrandywine 💖

answers under the cut.

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

268 works.

2. What is your AO3 wordcount?

1,256,253 words.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

RE. and still have the urge to write Gears but lol if you thought nivannedy was a rare pair...

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

nobody's perfect (TOG, pretty gen)

now drunk on lust I drown in you (forever within I'm lost in you) (RE, Chreon)

and who's to find the way right through you (RE, Chreon)

scattered fragments of time (that's all we are) (RE, Chreon)

how to accidentally get adopted - a guide by Piers Nivans (RE, Piers-centric, also background Chreon)

5. Do you respond to comments?

always! i know i missed a couple, sometimes i take ages, but i do always try to respond bc i love and cherish nice comments.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

the bad endings on three words to last forever. i still like the angstiest one the most :'D

7. What is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

lmao like everything else idk i want them happy. i've written loads of fluff idk how to quantify which is the happiest.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

only ever got a few nasty comments thankfully, so no, not really.

9. Do you write smut? If so, which kind?

yeppp. idk what does 'which kind' mean? anything that feels inspiring lol.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest crossover you’ve ever written?

not really. i did start a few back in the day but i didn't really finish them. i am not really into crossovers tbh i don't even read them 99% of the time.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

yeah. someone was selling it on amazon pffth.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

a few. apparently five on ao3 lol but i think there was one or two back in the lj days too. might be wrong tho :'D

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

lol loads. at one point in life like... fifteen years ago, most things i wrote were co-written with a friend. and i've done it a couple of times after that too. i really like co-op stuff tbh but haven't found people to collab with lately.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

right now i would sell my soul for nivannedy. might already have.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

ehhhh at this moment i doubt i'll ever finish anything. maybe the lifeguard au? i was red-hot for the idea at first but then it kinda... fizzled out. kept changing. got ruined by pushy ppl lol. but maybe i'll get back to it one day bc i would love a nivannedy summer romance tbh.

16. What are your writing strengths?

uhm. characterization. dialogue. emotional shit? idk i think i do best when i have intimate moments with two people. tiny everyday moments and mundane shit. like that. if i get going writing sometimes flows super well and i think i can get consistently readable stuff done in one go. but that'd require getting going lol.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

action. i suck at action. i also suck at it in the way that i can't actually make myself start writing. i got way too co-dependent when i still had people excitedly participating in the process and now i sit here sad doing nothing :'D but anyway. writing action and having some self-discipline lol.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic?

depends very heavily on the context. in general i do think it should be all in one language for readability but there are exceptions. i've done it too lol but it was only like a line or two in finnish :'D

19. First fandom you wrote for?

diru, twenty years ago lmao, it's like a different lifetime. i only learned of the existence of fanfic at the ripe old age of nineteen lol but yeah it's still been so long now.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written?

asdjfngkn i can not choose between all of my children c'mon. uhm. am just gonna say the self-indulgent series bc it truly was so important to me for so long and i'm still devastated it ended. sigh. now i made myself sad again :'D

[the-mighty-mittens]

I did a bunch of Castoff incorrect quotes, you wanna see?

Of course you do

1

Marina: Pick a card, any card.

Rori: Fine.

Marina: Wait, that's my credit card!

Rori: You said any card.

2

Marina: *running towards Arianna with open arms*

Arianna: *moves out of the way*

Marina: Hey, why'd you move?!

Arianna: I thought you were going to attack me.

Marina: I was going to hug you!

Arianna: Why would you hug me?

Marina: WHY WOULD I ATTACK YOU!?

3

*when a child starts crying in public*

Sage: *tries to make the child laugh*

Frankie: *tries to play a game with the child to make them calm down*

Marina: *gives detailed instructions to the parents*

Rori: *cries with the child*

Arianna: *ignores the child*

Vector: *is the reason why the child is crying*

4

Vector: Man, it smells like wrongdog out here.

Arianna:

Arianna: Vector, are you alright?

Vector: *sobs*

5

Vector: A sprite is anything not static.

Sage: A sprite is a variable object, be it 2d or 3d.

Rori: A sprite is a fucking soda.

Rori: You god damn geekass bastards.

6

Vector: Does anyone know how to relax? Asking for a friend.

7

Vector: *walks to cabinet, removes oreo box, takes half a sleeve, throws empty box out* Hi!

Rori: Hey- what are you doing-?

Vector, shoving an oreo into their mouth: I am saving space :D

8

Rori: I’ve been described as a ‘heartless villain’ and a 'little shit’, but I prefer… 'has alternative ways of having fun’.

9

Rori: You’re kind of a pushover, aren’t you, Vector?

Vector: …I’m sorry.

Rori: See!? That’s exactly what I’m talking about!

10

Arianna: Can you PLEASE peer pressure me into doing my project?

Sage: Do it or you're straight.

Arianna: I said peer pressure, NOT THREATEN!

11

Arianna: Oh, so when crows remember people who wronged them and hold grudges, its “intelligent” and “really cool”.

Arianna: But when I do it, I’m “petty” and “need to let it go”.

12

Vector, texting Arianna: Arianna there’s a moth on the outside of the bathroom door can you get rid of it?

Vector: Pls hurry because I’m going to cry

Vector: Arianna

Vector: Arianna

Arianna: Arianna is dead. You’re next. Love, Moth.

13

Rori: Did you just call me a shrimp, you asshole?! I'm still growing, dammit!

14

Arianna: That's it, I'm cutting off the internet!

Frankie: No, please don't! I have a family to feed!

Arianna:

Arianna: What?

Frankie: I need to feed my Neopets!

15

Arianna: You know you've made it when you see your picture everywhere you go.

Marina: Those are wanted posters!

16

Marina: An apple a day keeps the doctor away!

Rori: An apple a day can keep anyone away if you throw it hard enough.

17

Vector: *eating a cinnamon roll*

Arianna: Cannibalism.

Vector: *confused chewing noises*

18

Sage: Where is Vector?

Marina: I'll do you one better, who is Vector??

Rori: Here's a better question, why is Vector?

19

Arianna: BEHOLD, the field in which I grow my fucks! Lay thine eyes upon it, and thou shalt see that it is barren!

20

Vector: Arianna.. I'm gonna cry!

Arianna: Please don't.

Vector, crying: Request denied.

21

Arianna: Respect my trans homies or I’m gonna identify as a fucking problem.

22

Vector: What’s it like being tall?

Rori: Is it nice?

Vector: Can you reach comfortably for the cupboards?

Frankie: We live in constant fear of the short ones who, in my experience, will climb four chairs, two boxes, a small coffee table, and six oddly placed stools to get what they want.

23

*in a group chat*

Marina: First one to reply is gat.

Marina: *gay

Marina: Wait...

24

Marina: What did you get on your shirt?

Rori: Rust.

Marina: From what?

Rori: Weapons.

Arianna: Time for more adult supervision.

Bonus Zebra herd quotes!

25

Zera: "You look tired" well, the torment is relentless and the horrors never cease.

26

Zera: Hi, who's this? Terran changed all of my contacts to mythical creatures.

Liam: What's mine?

Zera: Dwarf.

Liam: THEY'RE SO MEAN, I'M NOT THAT SHORT!

Zera: Oh, hey Liam.

Liam: FUCK!

27

Liam: Oh gosh I wish I got more sleep I only got six hours!

Sonja: Six? I only got three!

Terran: You guys got sleep?

Zera, comes stumbling out of their room and grabs a jug of coffee before saying: What year is it??

28

Terran: Do you guys want to see a butterfly?

Liam: Ooh, yes please!

Zera, with their laptop open: I'm not going to stop working to look at a stupid bug!

Terran: It's not a bug though...

Zera: ...

Liam: ...

Zera: Well I still don't want to see.

Liam, realizing: Please don't throw-

Terran: Whee! *throws a stick of butter*

29

Zera: Self-care is suppressing all your trauma until it comes back and hits you in the face with the force of 7 very large trucks.

[omorinintendoswitchedition]

2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 10, 12, 14, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26 (My question is just say something about them you want to say)

For whichever character/characters your want

woweee this is gonna be a looooong post

2-Favourite thing about this character

Doing this for Dante. The Dr Faust cutscene, or to be more broad I love his silly attitude and his stupid jokes. Made this series iconic and funny and gives him a personality.

3-Least favourite thing about this character

For Dante this would probably be the ‘if you were 18 i would date you’ joke from the first episode of the anime. This really rubbed me the wrong way and its kinda weird to say that to a kid you just met???and ooc for him???

7-Whats something the fandom does when it comes to this character you like?

Actually give the girl characters time to shine instead of just making them sexy eye candy. And the silly family dynamics between the Sparda boys.

8-Whats something the fandom does when it comes to this character that you despise?

the fucking Vergil dodges child support and is a ‘sigma based alpha male’ homophobe. i hate it so muchhh even though the meme is dead it still annoys me so much when i see people still think its funny.

9-Could you be roommates with this character?

I probably could be roomies with people like Dante and Nero and Kyrie. Id probably get a little annoyed at Dante for constantly being in debt and gambling but we could survive. Do not think I could be roommates with Vergil. that man does not know how the oven works.

10-Would you date this character?

fuck yeah I would date Dante.

12-What's a headcanon you have for this character?

Nico is the kind of person who drenches everything in ranch. She buys the ranch ice cream a lot and it makes Nero loose his shit every single time. She drowns her chips in ranch and Nero looks at her from across the table like shes murdered someone

14-Assign a fashion aesthetic to this character.

Hrngh fuck im not a fashion person. Do kinda see Trish getting into gothic fashion tho.

20-Which other character is the ideal best friend for this character, the amount of screentime they share doesn't matter?

Nero and Nico are the perfect best friends duo. Always got each others backs, always making fun of each other lightheartedly. I want more of them sooo badly you have no idea.

21-If you're a fic writer and have written for this character, what's your favorite thing to do when you're writing for this character? What's something you don't like?

its been decades since I have last written anything in general. But I do remember Dante’s dialogue being fun to write for me and I dont like everything else because im constantly worrying if something is ooc

22-If you're a fic reader, what's something you like in fics when it comes to this character? Something you don't like?

Its been decades since ive read any dmc fic either (get caught up in other things) but as mentioned earlier do love those family dynamics and the attempts to fix everything. Dont like when Vergil os portrayed as ice cold after dmc5.

23-Favorite picture of this character?

FUCK THIS IS SO HARD. I do love the capcom cafe art with dante and his tits out. the teppen card art is also pretty cool.

24- What other character from another fandom of yours that reminds you of them?

So considering the only other fandom I am in is about depressed teenagers trying to overcome their trauma its safe to say none. I guess Kel somewhat for Dante? Only cause theyre silly and have older brothers who like blue.

25-What was your first impression of this character? How about now?

When I first saw V back when I knew absolutely nothing about dmc, I thought he was edgy and didnt really like him (the video used the ‘what evil lurks I must destroy’ clip out of context). But now that I have played and beaten the series I must say V my poor guy hes an absolute menace.

26-FREEBIE QUESTION!!

no idea what this means!!!!!so im just gonna make up a question!!!!

26-Would you work for this character?

ABSOLUTELY NOT DANTE HAS NO BREAD!!!! and the job is like. insanely dangerous and im just an internet guy.

[sketchybardlings]

the brainrot continues (ref: this post)

since my dysgraphia is worse when I'm writing by hand I'll try to note down what all of this says (plus some extra stuff i couldn't fit on the page)

the basic premise of the Growing Pains au is that Headspace (and by extension Stranger) keep going on after the events of the good ending. even if you heal a great deal your old coping mechanisms and traumas don't just disappear. if anything they evolve to suit your new environment/life. they change. they Grow. which is where our friend Stranger seems to be right now. he's dealing with one of the worst things that can befall a young person(?) such as himself, Puberty. don't get me wrong its traumagenic ill-informed dream creature puberty but that's what it is regardless. with his specifically he's aging at the same rate as Sunny is himself, although he's 4 years behind his dreamer, making him 14 and Sunny (and the rest of the young faraway crew) 18, or 17 going on 18 if your being pedantic. this is mental and physical, maybe even metaphyical if you count how headspace is reacting to it.

on the physical side he's a clear amalgam of 12 year old and 16 year old traits, both of which taken from the last time sunny saw basil before the gap, and the first time he saw him after (+ notable traits from current day Basil/Sunny, like their scars, real and fake). Sunny doesn't really have to much of a concept of what basil looked like in the in-between (of how he looked for that matter) so headspace definitely has to fill in some gaps to try and give stranger a useable form, sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't. a lot of this trial and error leads to a lot of stretch marks(sorry about how badly drawn they were in the last post, they were a last minute addition), mostly on his arms and legs, straight up and down, making his very much 12-ish year old torso look a bit dwarfed next to his elongated limbs. don't think headspace has really figured out a way to make his torso any bigger, not without severely fucking up his organs in a way that cant be pleasant, so it seems to be waiting until he's big enough for the 16 yo one to make sense, but he's gonna look real weird in the mean time.

as for the mental its... an adjustment. he and Omori always knew a lot, had a lot of power and influence and experience, but they were still always mentally 12 yo, frankly so was Sunny after the incident. so once The Truth was out and Sunny started living his life again all of them kinda got shunted back into growing as people again. Sunny is overwhelmed, Omori is in denial, and Stranger is confused but accepting. what about the outline thing tho? that is headspace's doing. part of the reason Stranger didn't have outlines in the first place was to take away his recognizability, and the reason why everyone else had purple outlines was to tie their identities back to Mari, the fantasy of headspace is for her afterall, and what else to define everyone else but her signature color. this has not remained in future years tho, most everyone in headspace gaining their own signature hues, not excluding Stranger. he's started to gain very faint ones all over his body, getting more opaque in some areas, concentrating most on his eyelashes and flowers (his flower crown that fell off and settled on his shoulders). not sure witch color i want them yet, maybe even in the au that may not even be set yet, its not like he can rely on basil's color anymore, let alone mari's or any other person's. i'll keep tinkering on it and see what i can come up with. so that's what i have for the Growing Pains au, i still have a lot more on my mind and a lot of what ive said here is subject to change, so if you guys have any questions about this i would LOVE to hear them seriously. my askbox is open.

[little-box-of-wonders]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Thanks for the tag @grexigone! n.n

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

33 as of Nov. 15, 2023

2. What's your total A03 word count?

135,824 words

3. What fandoms do you write for?

Only Horizon (Zero Dawn/Forbidden West) for now.

4. What are your top five fics by kudos?

To Know Peace: 103 kudos (Rated T) - First longfic

Live for the Night: 88 kudos (Rated E) - First smut fic

Bonding Moments: 83 kudos (Rated G) - Companion vignettes fic for To Know Peace

Devotion: 79 kudos (Rated E) - Kinktober 2023 drabbles collection

Visual Delights: 77 kudos (Rated E) - Fun, smutty 5+1 oneshot

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! Comments mean that someone took the time to read my fic and something stuck with them enough to tell me about it. It makes me feel appreciated, and I want my readers to feel appreciated in turn. :3

6. What's the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Oof, probably Shadowed Heart, which is my first rare pair fic (Fashav/Ritakka). I promise to give them a happier ending in my series.

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'd say To Know Peace has the happiest ending so far.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

I got a couple of comments on Bonding Moments about some choices I'd made that rubbed me the wrong way, but I haven't gotten hate publicly or privately. I think it helps that Horizon is still relatively small in the fanfic/fanart space and I don't share my ship-specific fics on the subreddit for the games.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do and I have no shame, hehe. It's mostly M/F and very light on kinks. Other than my Kinktober drabbles, the raunchiest fic I've written is Early Exit.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

No crossovers. They're kinda tricky to get right.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

To my knowledge, no, but I haven't checked FF.net or Wattpad to confirm.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope. Spanish is my native language, but I have no plans to translate my fics from English to Spanish.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

@jadefyre and I have a smut fic in the works that we started earlier this year. Also, not co-written but @murmart made a beautiful art of Fashav/Ritakka for my fic Heavy in Your Arms. :3

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Definitely Aloy/Kotallo. Not only did seeing their dynamic and conjuring up ship possibilities get me to write again after a long hiatus, but it's also allowed me to become part of a community of amazing creators both in the Kotaloy Elysium Discord server and beyond. n.n

15. What's the WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will?

I don't necessarily think I'll leave any of my WIPs unfinished, but some are a little more complicated than others in terms of getting them to meet my own standards (yeah, I'm my harshest critic).

With longfics, I've since learned to write until completion and then start posting, only because I don't enjoy the self-imposed pressure to update something that's already out there since life can be really uncertain at times.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue! It takes me such a long time, but I love nailing the voices of the characters correctly and having readers comment on that and their characterization. However, I do find speeches a bit cumbersome to write because every word has so much weight to them, even though I do enjoy the end result.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I struggle with describing environments/settings, because I never know if I'm being descriptive enough to paint a full picture for the reader.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I think if it's a few sentences here and there is fine, but anything else might make it inaccessible to part of the readership unless it's stated in the author's note that the fic will feature two or more different languages.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Horizon, though I wrote a (thankfully never published) fic for Final Fantasy VII when I was around 13 years-old; trust me, it wasn't good and I still cringe thinking about the plot. HOWEVER, I miss that feeling of writing without caring about the end result, of just having a deluge of words on paper with a somewhat coherent narrative thread.

20. Favorite fic you've ever written?

It's hard to pick only one because all of my fics are special in their own way, but I'll go with Hurricane Drunk because I had so much fun describing Kotallo being drunk and struggling with confessing his feelings for Aloy in a humorous way.

Tagging @setavvo, @fogsblue, @hannahmationstudios, @destinysembrace-oblivion and @mwasaw. (No pressure! Only if you want to).

[thedragonagelesbian]

sending you 1, 4, 14, 17 & 18 for cyrus :) sorry for the zillion questions but im so curious 👀

I'm always happy to answer a zillion questions about Cyrus!!

Pathfinder WOTR Knight-Commander Asks

1. Do they think they're going to make it out alive?

Beyond a shadow of a doubt. Cyrus is generally optimistic and confident in his capabilities, and this version in particular has realized that he wants to live more than he wants to sacrifice himself, so whatever Act 6 and the finale throw at him, he's going to fight to make it out the other side.

4. What did they do before they became a crusader? Did they have a job, an occupation?

I adapted DA2!Cyrus' backstory for this, so the Hawke family was living near the Worldwound, sometime after Malcolm's passing they had to flee the town and demons killed Carver in the process, and Cyrus, Bethany, and Leandra became refugees. Somewhere. Cyrus worked odd jobs and mercenary gigs to build up enough wealth for his mother to live comfortably in their new city.

(Absent Kirkwall's acute disastrousness, the Worldwound weighed on Cyrus, even before Areelu got her hands on him, and he eventually decided that he could not sit idly by while demons preyed on the world.)

14. Which companion is their closest friend?

Woljif & Arueshalae! Cyrus is so instantly soft on Woljif-- immediate endearment for his fellow tiefling, does not recognize the bullshitting for what it is, thinks he can do no wrong and only starts worrying after his reappearance in Act 3. But he's so proud of Woljif for rejecting his grandfather in Act 4!

And Aruesahalae............... gosh, Cyrus loves her and the beauty and freedom she's trying to embody, and he never once doubts her ability to overcome her demonic nature. It's such a tender and intimate relationship, to help someone become a new self. It's almost a romantic relationship too, but Cyrus worries it'll be too hard for her and ultimately keeps things platonic, even as there's definitely a part of his heart that belongs to her.

17. Which non-companion NPC do they really like?

He really likes the Hand of the Inheritor. Lol.

Cyrus is also quite fond of Anevia and Irabeth. Anevia always provides good, level-headed council, and Irabeth is a fellow paladin in turmoil. It meant a lot to Cyrus to help her through her crisis & in turn she supported him through his own, understanding the loss of his oath and the emptiness it comes with in a way no one else could... and he is devastated to have lost her in Iz. He squarely blames Galfrey for this, furious with her for leading Irabeth and so many others on this suicide mission. I haven't yet seen the full fall-out for that, but I'm so curious/preemptively heartbroken.............

18. If they survived, what is their life post crusade?

With the caveat that I haven't beaten the game with him yet, I assume he's going to survive, for the reasons laid out in #1. First order of business, of course, is the wedding. I imagine Count Arendae spares absolutely no expense when it comes to planning The social event of the season. Cyrus is impatient--he wants to be a husband so bad--but he secretly likes having an excuse to indulge in the extravagance.

After that? I'm not 100% sure yet. When I first started conceptualizing the ship, I assumed that Daeran would be eager to return to life at court, but knowing that he hated it and outright tells Cyrus take me with you wherever you go afterward, I kind of like the idea of them doing like. The adventuring equivalent of glamping. Lots of traveling, sight seeing, do-gooding, on this plane and maybe beyond, but with. Whatever the Pathfinder equivalent is of Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion. And frequent trips back to cities for spa days & theater trips.

(As for the Hand of the Inheritor, he dutifully stays at Cyrus' side, but the question inevitably comes of what duty means for him--if anything--once the Fifth Crusade is done. Still too far fallen to return to Heaven [and according to the wiki replaced by Galfrey as Iomedae's herald???], it's a slow recovery process with lots of fits and starts and existential despair [and I think lots of support from Arueshalae as an extraplanar entity who has herself spent lots of time as not-quite what she was before]. Cyrus is supportive through it all while also wary of becoming just a direct substitute for the Hand's divine purpose & devotion, wanting him to be able to Be on his own too. It is in that spirit that the two eventually go their separate ways, but the Hand will forever be his guardian angel, ready to come to his side should he ever call. And Cyrus does, regularly and lovingly.)