#Giving all my followers psychic damage sorry

[aloeverawyvren]

There's Mpreg, in a FNAF book... You're not kidding, are you?

Im so fucking sorry you had to find out about this but yeah

Book 5, story 2 is about a game programer that's a huge dick to everyone, he play tests a game about Springtrap and it doesn't work, and a few days later he gets cravings and shit.

Blah blah blah, anyways, he has to go home from a date because of the pressure in his stomach and cuts himself open and a small Springtrap falls out and calls him daddy before he succumbs to bloodloss

It's. So. Fucking. Wierd.

#Shitty retellings #pregnancy cw #Scott cawthon my dude wtf #lol #Giving all my followers psychic damage sorry

[wistfulrat]

・❥・lesbian wangxian reccs ・❥・

ao3topships poll gate made me realize there are hundreds nay thousands of u who dont know abt lesbian wangxian ?? that’s so sad can i proselytize u real quick

mimilamp cinematic universe (the ppl’s mcu) sorry for starting this list with a whole author catalog. as if it's my fault!! these gave me covid. no listen mimilamp fics have feverish lesbian angst levels of hot horny despair that could paralyze a large forest animal. and on a sentence level it's just stunning. messy dykes fumbling toward love confessions while making emotionally insane choices and the sex scenes fuckn bang ??? god is real

good, good - 13.5k E Wei Ying has two broken wrists and now she needs Lan Zhan to help her do stuff (jerk off)

here’s a story - 46k E Wei Ying reluctantly joins her recently-dumped best friend, Lan Zhan, on a couples' holiday retreat. Snow! Drinks! Truth or dare! There's a s-s-s-single bed! You'll never guess what happens next.

out of your system - 20k E “Maybe you should get me out of your system,” Wei Ying blurts. “Maybe that’ll help.” // Wei Ying finds out her best friend Lan Zhan is in love with her and offers a really super solution.

exposure therapy - 14k E Wei Ying clambered up from the floor, put the joint on the corner of the night stand, announced, “Exposure therapy,” and got into Lan Zhan’s bed. // Lan Zhan doesn't like to be touched, Wei Ying likes to touch.

know no one else - 20k E Lan Zhan moves out, Wei Ying's boyfriend moves in. Six months later, Lan Zhan visits, they go to a party, and Wei Ying has something to tell her.

74243 this author should be studied in a lab bc these 2 fics ruined my life. a pulitzer prize short fic with immaculate tone followed by the fuck nastiest shit you will ever read. "wei ying swipes right" still a top 3 bar of all time re: fic summaries. like people died.

chef’s kiss - 6.5k E Wei Ying said, “You know, in some ways I’m kind of depressed. I took your biggest dick on my first try. Now I don’t have anything to build up to.” “There are bigger ones available,” Lan Zhan said lazily. “I can pay for express shipping.” // (Lan Zhan works the late shift.)

pull out game weak - 22.7k E Wei Ying swipes right.

plonk this is the only fic in many ways. dyke nmj's mustache academy award winning breakout role. possessive hot dyke lwj. the sentence "don't knot her you freak." have u ever seen a group chat get rabies in real time. the slut rot breached containment. it was a public health crisis. it brought back horny cinema. cultural reset.

good friends - 11.5k E “I could invite her over for when the game’s done,” Nie Mingjue offers. Lan Zhan hums, considering it. They do that sometimes. Take omegas down together.

occultings will i ever get tired of -wwx thinks she's straight and wants to practice being gay with sadsack lwj who is like sure im in love with u and this will cause me psychic damage but mayhaps that's the cost of being homiesexual--? no i dont get tired of the classics it's called taste

give me one good honest kiss - 25k E The text keeps flashing over and over in Lan Zhan's head like the bulb lights on a marquee. They’d been talking about homework directly before that, swapping notes on music theory in the baroque period. Then, like a fork of lightning out of a clear blue sky: wanna practice kissing? 😚 // Wei Ying suggests an arrangement. Lan Zhan, in love, deals.

saltyfeathers ok so like sure it's ill advised to get your cartilage pierced at claire's but if you wanted the experience of participating in deranged hysteric behavior that kinda bangs in a badgood way? well then.

the mall that has it all - 8k E She introduced herself in the food court, breathless after sprinting across it in Lan Zhan’s direction and vaulting over a table only to crash into the seat across from her, ask, “Can I have a sip?”, spring forward with both elbows on the table to wrap her burgundy lips around Lan Zhan’s smoothie straw, wrinkle her nose, and say, “What is that, kale? Not really my thing, as like, a mall goth. Oh!” A pleased, chaotic exhale. “My name’s Wei Ying.” Lan Zhan said, after taking a moment to fully process the last forty-five seconds, “What?” or; mall goth au

#just thought abt mimilamp “baby are you happy” and almost walked into traffic #wangxian fic rec #lesbian wangxian #mdzs #the untamed #cql #femslash #wlw wangxian #mimilamp #74243 #plonk #occultings #saltyfeathers

[cyber-phobia]

I wish to tell you that you have clowned yourself by informing and entire swath of your followers that you have transformers art. You might not like or enjoy that art anymore but but a few people have dug through the dusty filing cabinets of the internet and gone, "this thing, I like this thing. Maybe this person has more!" Or maybe they've gone oh peice of candy all throughout your blog and found things they liked and loved along the way.

Just wanted to give you a little wholesome boost.

In the words of the monkey named iroh in the back of my head, "you can and should remember the past. After all what would the future be without what came before it."

What does that mean I don't know I've been up for ~30 hours bed I go. Good night. Sorry for run on and rambling.

AXHSHFHSJ thats part of the reason i keep it up despite its,,,,, age,,,,

I STILL GET PSYCHIC DAMAGE EVERYTIME IM FORCED TO LOOK AT IT THOUGH

#cybers log #nice things #the people clowning me in my notes rn.... ur days are NUMBERED.

[weirdlet]

Due to changing schedules, we're going to be wrapping up this campaign in a condensed fashion over the next few weeks. Our mage's player is out for work, so his character is off leading other teams against other giants, while we take on the Fire Giant king, intending to take down the dragon's worshippers before setting ourselves against a near-godlike Ancient Red.

So we're teleported to the basalt doors of the volcanic palace of the fire giant king. Trinidad kicks them open, and then we slink in to what seems like an initially deserted hall. There's fire-resistant tapestries all about, and Glory and Alain sneak in ahead to try and scout it out.

Turns out there's a guards room behind one of the curtains, and Glory slips in behind the curtain and asks 'hey- whatcha looking for?' in classic Bugs Bunny fashion, only to drive the fire giant guardsman out into the hallway, where he is ganked before he can make much noise. Up the halls, we start encountering ettins, and take out one before seeing at the far end of the hall that there's the king upon his obsidian throne.

Glory slips behind another curtain, finds himself suddenly underfoot of a fire giant servant holding a massive serving platter, followed by a guard, and lies his ass off. "I'm so sorry I'm late, I'm tonight's entertainment, I'll just be over here behind the curtain, waiting for my cue-"

Panache is a wonderful thing. The servant sweeps on, the guard walks past- and Glory hamstrings him on his way to attach the rest of the party.

Things are getting wild- as more guards converge, the king disappears, the alarm goes up, and there's not just fire giants, but gnolls and hellhounds being led by a chain devil start showing up. Glory flies up in the air after slaying one guard- only to almost get smashed down again by the sword of another, before he can fly away from being swatted like a fly. After that he uses his one application of Burning Hands to plow through a line of the only thing not flat-out immune to fire damage around here- the gnoll pack. They want to break and run, but they're more afraid of the giants than they are of us-

The hellhounds get off their leashes and rampage amongst us, burning off the last of the gnolls around Maeve the Paladin and Trinidad the barbarian. Alain keeps picking at things from the shadows with his psychic daggers, while Glory keeps smashing into giants' faces and flying away before they can hit him again. I was mistaken about the master of the hellhounds being a chain devil, he was just a regular fire giant, but he got up into the scrum too, howling about us having killed his favorite dogs.

The hall of this volcanic palace is lined with pillars, that are actual, literal lava tubes- the keeper swings his sword through one of them, covering his blade in magma, and throws himself and it at us. Glory keeps diving at him, still stabbing at him every chance he gets, but he's furious-

I've been rolling 18s all night. Alain had a brief stint of decent luck, and then went back to his usual 2's and 1's- until I say that's bullshit and give him my last inspiration point, whereupon he pins the Houndkeeper through the eye with a lance of psychic energy.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

The servants have mostly fled after having thrown their trays at us. But way over yonder in the hall- there is a fire giant wielding two enormous iron tower shields like the wings of some ungodly bat, and he's coming at us like a very determined glacier.

Trinidad winds up and aims with a javelin all the way down the hall. It flies like a thunderbolt-!

-and plinks off the sheltering shields. The dreadnought then looks at us, slams the shields against the ground, and fires off a salvo of iron spikes at us. Obviously, this is Not On. Two rounds of that, and he finally shouts that the throne room of King Snurre is sacred, and we should flee for our lives, oh ye unfaithful.

Runs at us.

Through the patch of ballbearings that Glory had laid in the path for someone else.

KA-BANG!!!!!

Sliiiides to a stop in a shower of creaking bolts and shrieking armor in the middle of a circle-gank led by Paladin Maeve with a third-level SMITE. And another SMITE. And a Barbarian RAGE, and finally Alain the revenant brought back for justice gets at him with his psychic knives and there is just so much cronching and creaking and screaming metal and it is so, so unpretty, folks, I shudder to think-

Haha, no, this is great!

The hall is quiet for the moment, with noises in the distance telling us there's more fight to be had, but we take a moment to breathe and look around ourselves and figure out that the most likely path of the king is the secret passage from behind the throne.

The passage deadends, but we find three levers- one for a northern door, a southern door, and the one we just came from. If pulled in the wrong order, they'll set off some kind of gas-trap. Trinidad punches through the northern door. Behind that is a cavern with a lumpen Fomorian, ready to thwack us with a club. Despite being bolstered by our holy companion, the magical giant gives Trinidad the evil-eye and curses him. Not being one of the fullplate-wearing giants, though, he's pretty squishy- and behind him is a flight of stairs leading to a massive treasure room, clearly the rewards intended for a triumphant band.

Were we younger and more callow, there would be time for rolling around in money like Scrooge McDuck, but the southern door beckons. There's the distant sounds of belling hellhounds, but as Trinidad knocks down the doors we get blasted full in the face with six different gouts of hellfire.

Glory feels like he's standing in a warm breeze, and then wrinkles his nose and yells about them mussing up his hair. Everyone else has evasion, good saves, and our friendly neighborhood paladin by their side, so we're mostly good. Through the door, the pack of hellhounds is guarding a giants' royally fancy bedroom, and a giant and giantess flee from it out the other way and slam the door behind them in the escape tunnel.

Trinidad and Maeve are in the thick of it with the hounds. Glory zips in over their heads and casually slices one of the hounds out of existence (nat 20 and 8d6 of sneak attack damage, doubled). Alain teleports ahead of us, and between the two of them Trinidad and Maeve have little trouble with the hounds- especially with Trinidad's crackling electrical aura!

On down the hall. The royal couple have still more fire giant bodyguards, set to bar our path. They're big and scary- but they're also big enough to get in each others' way, and that gives us the advantage.

Right up until Glory fumbles an attack- he drops his rapier between the two, and on his next move dives to retrieve it- only somehow Acrobatics is like one of my least-pumped skills that I don't have a negative in, so he has to duck an attack of opportunity and just barely misses getting a wing nicked, grabbing his sword and rolling back along the ground to get clear of the melee. Thankfully the rest of his companions have cleared out the hellhounds, and he gets the chance to get back in the air and keep being literally the most irritating gadfly that ever stabbed a giant's face.

Then a lucky backswing by the one remaining guard just about cleaves our paladin in half- Glory dives and feeds her his best healing potion, then turns around to distract the giant while her bones knit back together, hissing like a cat.

Maeve gets back on her feet, and absolutely destroys the last guard with her frosty longsword.

What's left now, is to find the king and his queen. Alain sweet-talks the lock with knowledge from a past life, and gets us past the door into the final saferoom- or at least, the passageway to the final saferoom. Alain shouts 'cowards!!' at the hiding royals, but it doesn't make much of an impression on them. They keep running- and it turns out the final saferoom is actually a passageway back out to the great hall where we first came in. But we're catching up- the king's in fullplate, the queen in enchanted robes, and we didn't come this far to leave without ending the threat.

The king throws a fireball, but Trinidad bowls right past it, undeterred. Glory divebombs the king, slashing and running, while Mave heals herself further and runs to catch up with the pack.

The queen summons.... weasels. The weasels cannot quite manage to get past the heavy stone door, and we choose to ignore this nonsense.

It's hard. It's terrible. It's bloody work. But we prevail, and at last, Trinidad gets the killing blow on Snurre, and we proclaim victory to the giants. It's been a long session- like 25 rounds of combat- and I have class in the morning, so we wrap that up double-quick and next week it's on to level 16, our final leveling in this campaign that had been meant to go to 20. But it's been so damn much fun on the ride.

Catch you on the flip side, when we probably all ride down the gullet of an Ancient Red.

#Glory's Travails #D&D shenanigans #long post

[grigori77]

Critical Role, Campaign 3 Episode 58

Matt Mercer, destroyed before he can begin ...

Oh gods ... not more terrible French Sam ... look at Marisha, she's already losing it completely ... and now there's a ghost? WTF? Wow ... so good and SOOOOOO BAD both at the same time ...

Yes. Give them ALL a raise!

New game! New system! CANDELA OBSCURA!!! Ooooooooooooh ... yes, gimme gimme gimme! Especially with added Robbie!

Yes. Everything that follows will be CHETNEY'S fault ...

Aaaaaaaaaaah! Roll initiative! Already! Aaargh!

Battlemap's already nightmare fuel, not good ...

Travis: "if everybody rolls zbove a ten we'll win!" Sam (to Ashley): "So what'd you roll?" Ashley: "Six." Oof ...

This thing screams and INSTANT psychic damage? Ooooooh fuck ...

Go off FRIDA!!! Badass round!

"Eyeless teeth and mouths swirling in space"? Dear gods, Matthew ...

Blood Curse of Bloated Agony! Sweeeeeeeeet ... and TURMOIL!!! Yes! And WOW nice damage ...

Legendary Action? Shit ... CHEW?!!! Oh fuck ... OUCH!!! DOUBLE FUCK!!!

No Sympathetic Bond for Fearne? Ashley (angfily amused): "What the fuck?!"

Angry butts ... hmmm ... and "moist", "glistening" ... gods, please SOMEBODY STOP THEM BOTH!!!

Matt: "Big risks, Big rewards, big ... fuckery if you fail!"

"PUSH THROUGH THE SLAW!!!" Oh my fucking gods ...

Roll a 22 or tank ... Laura: "Well I got ONE of the numbers!" Yeah ... she rolled a TWO ... "No! I don't do yhat!" I DO NOT blame her for wanting to retcon THAT mess ...

Lightning damage! YES!!! Tumble down the stairs! NOOOOOO!!!

Another Chew? 21 points of piercing damage on FCG? Ouch!

No! Not Fearne too! Aaaaaaah! And now she's GRAPPLED too!

Shit. The place is now ON FIRE!!!

Aabria: "How many of its BUTTS fell off?" Matt: "It is now minus 4 butts."

CONSUME?!!! I'm sorry, CONSUME?!!! Fuck that's a lot if rolling ... NOOOOOOO!!! Fearne is DOWN!!! And she has just been fucking EATEN!!!

A DEATH SAVE?!!! Already? 9? FUCK!!! 1 fail already?

Save her! Yes! Do it! YEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!

Spare the Dying! Yes! Do it! Thank fuck ...

FRIDA!!! Badass protector!

Chetney renders Fearne invisible with his "sexy claws". XD

Travis: "You son of a birch, you BAITED ME!!!"

FCG's new and improved bolt thrower ... is INEFFECTUAL. Balls ...

Spiritual Weapon towel whip attack ... NAT1?!!! Fuck me ...

The Thing is POOPING ITSELF down the stairs towards Imogen. Dear fucking gods ...

Laura: "WHAT AM I GONNA DO?!!! WHERE AM I GONNA GO!!!" Matt: "That's a good question." Ooh, you evil bugger ...

Giant Pacman maw ... no teeth? Just a gummy rend ... BLACK BILE?!!! What?

Oh fuck, roll good, Ashley! Oh no, what is that face, Ashley? 9? No ... and Fearne's gone again! FUCK!!! One failed death save AGAIN!!!

Channel Divinity? Ooooh ... YES!!! Half her HP back! Fearne's back up! Thank fuck ... Nice one, Deanna!

Spiritual Weapon ... Deanna conjures a mystical DivaCup! Which doesn't do ANYTHING!!!

Fearne (now awake): "I can't see my hands ... I CAN'T SEE MY HANDS!!!" Chetney werewolf: "You're invisible." Fearne: "Oh."

Rot! ROT AWAY, YOU FUCKER!!! Nice one, Fearne.

Aabria: "I don't like short-form improv. Get the fuck out of here."

Chewing on FRIDA!!! NOOOO!!! AAAAAAHHH!!!

Shit! The fire is now becoming A PROBLEM!!!

Flaming crossbow bolt! Yesssssss, FRIDA! A miss? Balls ... second hits, though! Phew ... plus Sharpshooter! Cool ... 21 points altogether thanks to the fire! And it DOESN'T LIKE the fire! Good! Use that!

Matt: "You might take some fire damage if you stay there." Christian: "I always take fire damage when I'm next to Faithful Care Giver!" Cue appreciative yelps! XD

Travis (singing): "REEEEEEEEEAAAD the meat!" Oh dear gods ... and then "treetrunk of skin" ... this is getting so nasty ...

Another Chew on FCG ... aaargh ... 25 points of piercing damage! Sam: "I'm okay!"

Aabria: "BAD butthole!" Laura: "It's horrible in here!" Snort ... Evolution for the WIN!!! XD

Telekinetic Pull ... she's gonna try to PULL IT DOWN into the room WITH HER?!!! Seriously, Imogen?

Fuck, and now it is COMING FOR HER!!! Bite and Constrict! Shit! 29 fucking points of damage! Jeebus!

A SECOND Death Ward on Chetney! Man, Deanna is REALLY upset right now!

The Divine DivaCup finally comes good ... and it's SO BAD ... LOL ...

Aabria: "GOD WHAT A BIT!!! I'm so punished for this fucking bit!"

Fuck ... now IMOGEN's being eaten? FUCK!!! And NOBODY'S SEEN IT either! NOOOOOOO!!!

Fearne goes running, as she should ... Burning Hands! Oh fuck yes! She has a level of Rogue! Bonus action Dash! DO IT ASHLEY!!! YEEEEEEESSSSSS!!! Wait ... it's SECOND LEVEL?!!! FUCK!!!

Still, Burning Hands works ... Ashley gets the HDYWTDT!!! YES!!! She cuts this bitch RIGHT OPEN to carve Imogen out and now it's just a ruined peel ... Nice.

FRIDA's Guiding Bolt lights up the thingy ... but doesn't manage to activate it. FCG follows through ... IT'S OPEN!!! YES!!!

Ooooh, loot! An old satchel ...

Panic makes for poor investigation ... stop getting burned while you insist on continuing to dig!

Oh, this place is FUCKED. Best get out NOW.

Travis: "I stand and take the flames in the name of love!" Matt: "Do you?" Travis: "No." XD

FRIDA's staying? Seriously? And Chetney too ... the ceiling is now cracking? No, it's ... fuck, NEW CREATURE coming out of the old? Fuck ... RUUUUUUUUUNNNNN!!!

Wow ... some kind of twisted monster dryad thing ... yuck! Sick shit ... FUCK THAT THING IS HUGE!!!

Oh nice, Imogen's telekinesis FTW!!! YEEEEESSS!!!

Getting out of the tower now ... nighttime ... hmmmm ...

Yeet that sucker, Imogen! With a Bless from Deanna ... 31! Oh yes! Proper CHUCKED!!! Right into the fire! Nice ...

Everybody's out now ... and the burning tower is providing light for them. Where's the Wolfking?

Pass Without A Trace at THIRD level now ... just in time, looks like.

Stoneshape to BLOCK THE DOOR!!! Sweet save, FCG!

Mass Cure Wounds! Nice, Deanna!

Group Stealth Check! Nobody better fudge ...

Shit ... bad roll = big tumble for FRIDA ... and now they've been detected again! Here comes the Wolfking!

Just RUN, guys!

Like foglamps in mist ... lovely! Not a mistake at all ...

Over the wall ... wow, that was a MESS. Shit ... oh fuck, here it comes!

So did they make it, or ...

Into the THICK TANGLE of the Savalirwood. Hmmmmmm ...

Imogen's guiding them ... Nat20! Yes! Thank fuck ...

Everybody takes SIX POINTS OF PIERCING DAMAGE just from pushing through the foliage! Fucking hell ...

They've lost the Wolfking ... thank fuck ... Matt: "And that's where we're gonna take a break!"

Holy fuck, that unused Wolfking mini is INSANE!!!

Back to the game ... and an adrenaline DUMP now ... everybody's crashing.

Apparently, 26 is "pretty solid".

Hiding place ... yes. That's what they need right now.

Oh yeah, the satchel ...

Chetney: "We produce heat, y'know." Deanna: "Oh, I don't wanna be horny right now, I'm so tired!"

The satchel IS A BOOBY-TRAP!!! Fuck, that's a lot of damage to FCG ... Travis: "Say it ..." Sam: "I'm okay!"

EMPTY?!!! SERIOUSLY?!!!

Laura: "Ask for Ludinus' notes." Wait ... FUCK!!! It's a Bag of Holding!

Turn it upside down and SHAKE IT!!! Yes ... empty that bitch out!

Lots if papers ... and they're blank. Chetney: "Of course they are ... we need lemons!"

Turn the paper into a human? Is that REALLY a plan you're considering? Matt: "What am I? Kill me! I shouldn't exist!" XD

Smooth wooden rod ... ensuing giggles ... Matt: "It's NOT A DILDO!!!"

Armour ... hmmm ... Matt trying SO HARD to not accidentally describe a strap-on ... and he's failing. Matt: "Laura Bailey, fuck you!" LOL

Deanna can indeed read this ... yes. Here we go ... AND MATT HAS NOTES FOR HER!!! Nice ...

Staff of Dark Odyssey? Hmmmmmm ... wait ... they now have TELEPORT?!!! Oh snap!

Major note-based infodump ... the harness has a purpose here! Hmmmm ... magical infusion ... Fey entities throughout Wildemount ... "Feeding the Route"?

So Ludinus has basically been turning powerful entities into energy to make himself stronger. Fuck. Evil bastard gets even more evil.

History check ... 12 ... Aabria: "I've never read a book. I'm actually OLDER than books." XD

Next batch of notes ... Ruidus stuff! Laura: "Oh shit!"

Sam's flask ... "Where's Vax'ildo?" Oh dear gods ... Sam, WHY?!!!

Oh yeah, Ludinus got up to some SCARY summoning shenanigans ...

Any way to make notes ... ensuing printer humour ... oh, I know this horror all too well ...

Third batch ... a "crystal well"? Hmmmmmm ...

Imogen: "He didn't even know what he was waking up, he just had a hunch." Yup ... pure narcissism ...

Yes. Take the notes back to Uthodurn. Use the staff?

Chetney suggesting either Rexxentrum or Vasselheim ... hmmm ... might work.

Beau and Caleb mentions ... Imogen: "She had abs for days!" XD

Bayestra? What? Hmmmmmmm ...

FCG's right, they KNOW Uthodurn. Might be best ...

Oh, Fearne meant Ivaadel ... I'm blanking ...

Timeshares ... Chetney: "Oh yeah, Menagerie Coast's full of 'em." XD

The Arch Heart ... Emerald Cross? Hmmm ...

Imogen has a good point, they need to GET THE OTHERS BACK FIRST before they do anything else. Go back to Uthodurn and then to Jrusar!

Archmage of Domestic Protection? Ashley's notes are a wild ride ...

FRIDA makes a good point, they're currently A MESS. Best rest first before going ANYWHERE.

Oh, here we go, jumping into a dream odyssey again. Hmmmm ...

Christian had something MADE?!!! Aaawwwwwwww ... what? So cuuuuuuuuuute ... Sam snd Christian, matching hoodies! :3

The lighting change! THE LIGHTING CHANGE!!! AAAAAAHHH!!!

Sweet, soothing memory lane ... FRIDA's past is warm and friendly ... Laerryn? Oh, here we go ...

Still nothing concrete ... glimpses of war ... going deeper ... Nat20! Nice, Laura!

Oh ... oh, this doesn't look good ... what are they DOING?!!! This is some hairy shit ...

10 ... Laura: "That's a scary roll!"

Ah, so this is a defensive action? Hmmmm ... pushing back to see what they're defending ... a contraption of great immensity ... hmmmm ... "Protect the Factorum!"

Oh shit ...

The Factorum Malleus ... ah yes ... of course ...

Fuck ... so D REPAIRED FRIDA as well as resuscitating them ...

FRIDA: "I don't feel better, I feel ... ominous. It feels OMINOUS."

Chetney made FRIDA a little wooden ACTION FIGURE!!! :3

FRIDA starts crying oily tears ... and Fearne just HAS TO try and TASTE that stuff! XD

Need to find more friends ... and need to find THEIR FRIENDS ... yeah ...

Chetney cheering distraught Deanna up in the cutest way ... :3 And he made HER a sweet little shell carving too. Awwwwwwwww ... and YAY!!! HUGS!!!

Oh shit ... is Deanna REALLY considering trying out crazy werewolf sex?

Oh lawd it's actually happening ... and it's filthy kinky ... and Fearne gives her blessing! LOL Wait ... Fearne is actually TAKING PART?!!! Dear gods ...

Lots of crazy noises in the night ... hmmm ... (snort) XD

Oh, the morning after discussion is something else ... XD I agree, this episode suddenly got so horny ...

So ... off to Jrusar? Okay ... or Whitestone ... hmmm ... decisions decisions ... wait, ZEPHRAH?!!! Really?

Ask the Changebringer? Okay ... oh yes, best to be PRECISE about this shit ...

Ooooh ... oh, this is different ... oh, a much more PROPER contact this time ... he's actually getting a genuine COMMUNION with her this time ... Holy shit, a voice on the wind? Awesome ...

FUCK!!! Orym, Laudna and Ashton ARE STILL ALIVE!!! WOW!!!

FCG trying to find out about his future with FRIDA, if it will be long ... WHOA, this just got intense ...

A proper plea for aid from a god ... wow ...

Wait ... what's happening to Deanna? Aaaaaah ... oh ... wait ... OH!!! It's the Dawnfather! Sweet! Okay ... He's pretty intense with it, but ... yeah, she's into it. XD Whoa ... The Red End? Hmmmm ..

Oooh ... the Changebringer coin's all shiny now . Holy shit! MATT GAVE HIM A FUCKING CARD FOR THE COIN!!! AWESOME!!!

Deanna gives Chetney her Ring of Temporal Protection. Sweet!

Imogen accepts Fearne's offer of the fancy staff. And the other one's a Plane Shifter? Intriguing ... oh, and Chetney gets the Bag of Holding.

Wait a fucking minute ... did CHETNEY make that MURDER FURNITURE from the first episode?

THAT'S what RTA stands for? Seriously?

Okay, so ... Imogen tries the teleportation staff ... oh boy ...

Go find Zhudanna? Yes. Good choice. Or Spire By Fire? Hmmmmm ...

Wait, it does her PSYCHIC DAMAGE when she uses it? Fuck ... and here ... we ... GO!!!

Matt: "And we'll pick up there next week!" Shit ...

Sam is rolling a D100 with Matt and we CAN'T KNOW what the result is? You bastards ...

#critical role #crit role spoilers #crit role campaign 3 #campaign 3 spoilers #campaign 3 episode 58 #matt mercer #marisha ray #laudna #travis willingham #chetney pock o'pea #laura bailey #imogen temult #liam o'brien #orym of the air ashari #ashley johnson #fearne calloway #taliesin jaffe #ashton greymoore #sam riegel #fresh cut grass #aabria iyengar #deanna #deanna critical role #christian navarro #f.r.i.d.a.

[words-after-midnight]

Find the Word

I've been tagged in Find the Word again, yay! Was tagged by both @nanashi23 and @catchingbigfish, so I'll combine both. :)

Tagging: @arijensineink, @angelsofprey (if you have anything to share!), @pertinax--loculos, @frostedlemonwriter, @authoralexharvey, @sarahlizziewrites, and whoever else wants to join in as usual.

My words were: Smash, grab, run, glimpse, dare, rule, crisis, surround, star.

Your words are: damage/damaged, darling, ball, even, annoy/annoying. Bonus: kiss, because it's #ockiss week.

Snippets from both the previous version of Life in Black and White and The Dotted Line.

CWs: institutional (carceral) violence (grab), mention of a psychiatric crisis (crisis), implied substance use (surround)

Smash

N/A

Grab

From The Dotted Line, I – “Camp”:

They swarmed the halls before any sorry man still out of his cell had time to consider retreating. Before I knew it, I was grabbed roughly from behind, two sets of arms stronger than mine pulling me back toward my cell. One of them tore my bag from me, probably to inspect it for weapons. You know, I think it’s real funny how they always think we have weapons, when the real weapons are on their belts and in their hands… but, I digress. 

Run

From The Dotted Line, X – “Would I Lie?”:

What a sobering remark. Really makes you think. Probably à propos. Maybe he’s a psychic, huh? Never did figure out who that guy was. You think maybe it’s that dude who tried to make a run for it back in August and got snapped by Google Street View? I feel like that’s something that dude would have said. Anyway, whatever.

Glimpse

From Life in Black and White, Act II:

I close the cabinet, and catch a glimpse of my own reflection.       

All at once, I snap out of it, horrified. I mumble to myself, “Oh my God, what are you doing?” What the fuck are you doing?

No. 

No. I can’t do this. I can’t do this. If I fall back into this now, it’s over for me. He’ll be the death of me.   

Dare

From The Dotted Line, I – “Camp”:

Then, as though in a split-second - as though time had finally thawed out from its previously frozen shell - the tight, rough grips on my arms before I could hope to reach my cell of my own accord. The hands pushing me into the dark chamber. The dull clanking of the bedpost as my hip slammed into it, which, as you can imagine, left a real fine bruise. Their frantic eyes telling me they knew I’d seen it long before the words ever dared leave their lips.  

Rule

From The Dotted Line, IV – “Blondie”:

Inside this lovely five-star establishment, rules are simultaneously unspoken and shouted from the bird's nests. It's dog eat dog here, it's kill or be killed here, it's fight or get punked here, it's reputation or nothing here. And there are two roles here: either you're a predator, or you're their prey. 

Your play.

Crisis

From Life in Black and White, Act I:

I spent the next week filling out depression and anxiety scales, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, diagnostic questionnaires... basically, a whole bunch of time-consuming shit that reminded me way too much of being a confused, terrified twelve-year-old kid in the psychiatric crisis centre at the General at three in the afternoon, distraught, unable to sit still.

Star

From The Dotted Line, IV – “Blondie”:

I don't remember if I told you this, but back at the county jail (I'll give that place about three and a half stars, just because I'm a generous person, and that's why you love me), they used to call me Blondie. Yeah. And you thought Scarface was bad. That nickname followed me to Camp Hill, too. Almost surprised it didn't follow me here. Luck of the draw, I suppose. But then again, maybe not.

Surround

From Life in Black and White, Act I:

He came to sit on the other end of my couch, the one directly facing the mammoth of a TV, snapped said TV on with a small remote that apparently was about to be swallowed by the crease between the couch arm and the cushion, and cracked the Ziploc bag open with purpose. TV starts playing major league football at a surround-sound volume that somehow drowns out the sound of The Safety Dance from somewhere up on the second floor.

“Meds you’re on, bud? This shit’ll fuck you up hard.”

I chuckled. “Can’t be worse than Seroquel.”

“You wanna bet?”

#libaw #tdl #snippet #writing #writeblr #tag game

[elendiliel]

'Til All Are One

Sorry this one took so long. Life has been even more chaotic than usual. Hopefully I'll get round to the next one much sooner.

(Possible inspiration credits to @justawannabearchaeologist's "TFP Wheeljack in TFA" series here on Tumblr, and definite ones to @blueskyscribeupdates' fic With a Side of Rust; both are highly recommended.)

---

“You doing OK, kid?” Wheeljack replied to his own question before Glitch could. “Actually, don’t answer that. Something tells me you’re not.”

“What would that be?” The field-tech opened her optics (she had been trying, and failing, to meditate) and glanced down at her servos. And the magnets that had extended themselves from her wrists, and were still imitating an Earth crustacean’s claws until she consciously stopped and retracted them. “Oh. That.” Awk-ward. She was normally in full control of her mods, outside combat, at least.

“It’s all right. We’re all worried about Doc and Optimus.” Ratchet, Team Prime’s senior medic, had been captured by the Decepticons; Optimus Prime, the Autobots’ leader, was at that moment following an improvised drone to – they hoped – the ‘Cons’ mobile base and his Amica. “And I know you and Ratchet are pretty close.”

“Medic solidarity can be inconvenient,” Glitch agreed. Actually, she was close to two Ratchets – her mentor back in her home universe, and her senior colleague and friend in that one, both of whom had taught her to be more open about her thoughts and feelings. “As can some of the ways my processor’s wired differently. I’m scared more often than I should be, and it’s always hard to stop. Mindfulness and meditation are supposed to help, but either they’re not cutting the mustard this time or I’m not good enough. Probably both.” She’d been trying to calm down almost since Prime left, but her processor was still full of worst-case scenarios and it and her upper backstrut still felt as though they’d been electrified. And if she’d lost control of her mods, she was even more agitated than she’d realised.

“You need to look for a different solution, then.” That was Wheeljack the engineer talking – and possibly Wheeljack the Wrecker. The demolitions expert could be both at once, though Glitch had seen more and more of his inner scientist as they got to know each other. “D’you feel calm enough to try finishing those projects we’ve been working on? Maybe a distraction will help.”

“It’s worth a shot.” Glitch unfolded herself from her meditation pose and followed Wheeljack to their shared worktable. He was right; throwing herself into work did often help, and their projects might give the ‘bots another advantage in the near future. And we need as many of those as we can get.

***

“Do I look like hired help to you, Autobot?” No, Knock Out looked like a petulant newbuild as he objected to being asked to fetch a quantum cybermeasure by Ratchet. Someone hadn’t worked with another medic or scientist for quite some time. Ratchet almost sighed as Shockwave (another loner, but one who at least remembered lab etiquette) weighed in. He missed working with Rafael, Glitch and even Wheeljack, and it had been less than a day since his capture. (Or so he thought. Between unconsciousness, the cortical psychic patch and sheer boredom as – most likely – Shockwave was repaired after a battle, with Ultra Magnus and Glitch by the looks of things, it was hard to be sure.) Rafael would have scampered off to get the piece of equipment before Ratchet had finished the sentence, Glitch would have summoned it without looking up from her own work – or damaging anything – and Wheeljack would have handed it over with a sharp-sounding but clearly friendly comment. Despite himself, Ratchet had come to respect and even care about the reckless Wrecker, and thought the sentiment might be returned. But instead of any of his usual colleagues, he was stuck with an arrogant Aston Martin and an apparently emotionless tank. Oh well. He’d dealt with worse.

At least Shockwave knew what he was talking about. Discussing cybermatter and its relationship to Synth-En, Ratchet might as well have been back in Iacon before the war, or even in Hangar E on a calm day (or one of Glitch’s Bad Days, when she stayed behind to help him rather than risk becoming a liability in the field). Up until Knock Out let something very significant slip.

“And to think that had we not let you destroy the beasts, none of this would be possible.” Let you? Ratchet already knew that the Decepticons had learned that Synth-En and CNA could combine to form cybermatter from Wheeljack’s destruction of Shockwave’s cloning laboratory. But that had been part of a “regular” operation – or so it had seemed at the time. Glitch was right. It was a setup. She said it was all too convenient. They used us to do their dirty work, and Wheeljack and Ultra Magnus could have died as a result. But why destroy an asset they spent so much time and effort, and so many lives, creating? It doesn’t make sense – unless…

Knock Out clearly realised his mistake immediately, and tried to reverse, inexpertly aided by Shockwave steering Ratchet back to the matter in hand. But the damage was done. Walls don’t fix themselves when you back off after hitting them, Ratchet caught himself thinking. It sounded like something Glitch would say. I’d much rather have her here than those two. They might be far better scientists, but she’s a better colleague.

Knock Out was still in a foul mood when, some time later, Shockwave asked him for another CNA sample, and the sports car complied with poor grace, complaining about how “it wasn’t all that long ago I used to run this lab.” And doesn’t it show, Ratchet thought. Knock Out had run that lab all right – with one under-trained assistant, and a tendency to sneak off and enter illegal human races. (And that was after he and Breakdown had been recalled from their apparent extended leave of absence.) No wonder he was being so stroppy over sharing it with Ratchet and Shockwave. And his bad temper, combined with the CNA sample he had just knocked over such that the storage compartment hatch was wedged open, had given Ratchet a germ of a plan.

No time like the present. While the other medic’s backplate was turned, he made his way over to the cabinet and started trying to pull the sample free. He hadn’t got far when Knock Out turned towards him, but managed to distract him by asking for an isoprope, which kept the mech occupied for the circuit-shorting seconds it took to retrieve the canister. Ratchet was so relieved to have got away with his subterfuge that he actually thanked Knock Out for the unnecessary tool. The look of pleased surprise on the sports car’s face as he acknowledged the commonplace courtesy, and the few seconds it took him to register it, was unsettling to say the least. Medics often dispensed with such formalities, but did no one thank Knock Out for his work?

“I’m sorry about Breakdown.” The words slipped out before Ratchet could stop them, and he hastened to clarify his statement. “I can’t say I cared for the mech, but I know he meant a lot to you, and what it’s like to lose someone like that.”

Knock Out’s face was a picture, or rather a rapid succession of pictures, as he parsed Ratchet’s words. He eventually settled on something resigned and accepting, hiding the pain Ratchet knew he felt. “That little two-wheeler told you, didn’t she.”

“Glitch did, yes. You may have noticed she doesn’t have much in the way of filters, and you weren’t really her patient, so patient confidentiality didn’t apply. She told us everything, rather than keep it locked up in her spark, or let anyone’s imagination fill in the gaps. And she isn’t holding a grudge. I don’t think she can.” Ratchet would have said his junior colleague didn’t have a vengeful strut in her frame, but he’d heard her talk about her Shockwave and knew that wasn’t true. She couldn’t hate Knock Out, though. She understood him too well. And if she didn’t hate him for invading her mind and trying to kill her, nor could Ratchet. However much he might dislike the idea of anyone harming the gentle young femme.

Knock Out was spared having to respond by Shockwave reminding them both to stay on task. His complaints were probably cosmetic by that point – as was Ratchet’s apparent total focus on his work. While the Synth-En project was fascinating, he was also planning his best way out of there.

***

“Autobot base, do you read? Can anyone hear me?” Half a dozen of Glitch’s tools clattered to the floor as she jumped to her peds. She had thrown herself even more deeply into her work since Prime had reported Chip’s destruction. But Ratchet’s voice over the comm was all the distraction she needed.

“Loud and clear, old friend!” Prime’s joy as he replied to his Amica was shared by everyone back at base – until Ratchet reported that Megatron had reconstructed the Omega Lock, the device that could cyberform any planet. It could restore that universe’s devastated Cybertron, or extinguish all life on Earth. No prizes for guessing which King ‘Con would do first, even before Ratchet confirmed it.

There was blaster fire in the background of the transmission; Ratchet had to keep moving, but Glitch managed to tap his internal comms long enough to say a few words. “We’re coming for you, Doc-‘Bot. Don’t do anything I would do in the meantime.”

“I think that ship has already taken off.” Even Glitch could hear the amusement in his voice.

“How so?”

“Blew up a centrifuge by dropping an isoprope into it, escaped in vehicular mode, talked Predaking into going after Megatron rather than finishing me off. Maybe I’ve been around you too long.”

“Or you’ve always been like that. Either way, I intend for you to be around me a bit longer. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to tool up. See you on the other side.”

“’Til we meet again.” How did Ratchet know that one? Hamilton hadn’t even come out yet in that timeframe. Perhaps he’d raided her music collection.

The line went dead, and Glitch turned her attention to preparing for the battle ahead. Packing her tools, scrupulously maintained as always, back into her repair kit. Fitting her EMP generator, modified with Ratchet’s and Wheeljack’s help to act as a stun-gun for ‘bots of that reality and finished just in time, to her right arm. (Another modification; previously, it had only been worn on her left arm, hooked into the same circuits her shield used, a design flaw she’d finally corrected.) Adding one or two new gadgets to her arsenal. That stasisless night and day hadn’t been wasted.

Around her, the other ‘bots readied their own weapons and tools. Glitch took particular note of an energy bow Smokescreen had chosen, which reminded her of the one her universe’s Rodimus Prime had designed for himself. Smokescreen had always reminded her a bit of a young Rodimus. She just hoped he survived to grow up and become as good a leader. And that, to that end, he actually knew how to use that bow.

At last, everyone was prepared. Glitch hardly heard Prime’s motivational speech (some things never changed) as she stepped into the groundbridge alongside Bumblebee, the team’s only other shield user. They all knew the stakes. If they failed, Earth would fall. So they would not fail. They could not.

But success wasn’t going to be easy; that much was obvious the moment they arrived on top of the warship and almost immediately met with determined, if depleted, resistance. Bumblebee beeped a familiar statement as he and Glitch took their logical places at the front of the formation.

“’Til all are one,” she agreed.

#transformers prime #transformers animated #fanfic #autobot oc #tfp ratchet #tfp wheeljack #tfp knockout #misplaced medic au

[trilies]

Hi, other enjoyer of Bog content here. I'm just...disappointed at this point. I know no one's perfect but like I just want a content creator that I enjoy to not have a glaring aspect that saps enjoyment of their content whenever I know/remember it.

While I don't have a "defined" opinion on the Discourse (I mean, from what I've read of both points I guess I'd fall under proshipper? Like some ships I simply Do Not Enjoy Knowing About for various reasons but also I don't think we should give anyone widescale content moderation power for any reason), his behavior is frankly becoming a genuine turnaway. It's clear he has his stance, you have yours, and I'd rather him make peace with that and refrain from haunting blogs like yours.

Sorry for the rant, just wanted to get this off my chest because these last couple days have dealt psychic damage to me as a follower.

Hey anon, no worries. I understand the frustration. I try to keep parasocial shit to a minimum, but there's still that desire for, like.... "can we have just ONE case that's not a raging trashfire?" lmao

If you're into horror LPs, I can at least rec you a LPer that I've had good luck with, but I understand that's a hugely different area of entertainment

Anyway, I'm honestly in the same boat as you - hell, I used to be way more distant from it all and thought it was niche fandom bullshit. And it probably still is! But it keep getting everywhere and it has the kind of people who say "you disagreed with me, so you're lying about being a CSA survivor" (things that have happened to me MULTIPLE timese now, one time because I said an anime woman's mid boobs didn't mean she was minor-coded), so now I guess it's just my problem!

But the solution to that is always going to be better education (both on a proper level, like sex ed classes, and then in fandom to teach stuff like proper tagging/blocking etc).

Thinking getting rid of all the icky fiction would have a noticeable affect against abusers is.... naive at best.

#ask james #bogleech

[askthepsychic]

The first thing she notices is that true to Aaron’s word, she is conscious this time. She’s aware of her surroundings and can move about. She sees Aaron looking at her with a satisfied smile on his face, clearly happy that whatever strings were pulled and whatever arrangements were made, it all worked as planned. Looking behind her, she sees Ambrosia approaching while Hades casts his eyes around the arena, seemingly on lookout for something. She turns back to look at Aaron and blinks. Nyx is approaching him. But… was that glance at her? She knows Nyx can perceive spirit minds as some of them emit similar wavelengths to dreaming minds, but a glance?

Aaron notes that Rey appears to have become thoughtful of something before turning to look at Nyx “let’s get the obvious stuff out of the way. You’re angry, you’re confused, you need to hit me as hard as you can or you won’t be able to calm down enough to think.”

Nyx nods, then drives her forehoof into Aaron’s gut. Though he barely reacts as she expected, it does feel good to hit him like that after what he just did. After taking a deep breath and exhaling, she looks at him with somewhat calmer eyes.

Aaron nods “I was planning to inform you of this. But I wanted to tell you in private, like I did Twilight and Rey’s parents. Ambrosia. The elements of harmony bearers. But you out of everyone turned out to spend the least amount of time alone. You thoroughly vexed me and now, we have no time. I have to set this project in motion as quickly as possible or we may run out of time before it’s complete. Here’s the deal. I’m taking Rey to see him. You know who I’m talking about. Vitalia is on her way. You folks have to work together to get her to only repair the damage I did to Rey’s body, not restore her life. It’s going to be difficult to convince her. After the part Rey played in restoring her freedom, she feels that she owes a boon to her. She’ll want to restore Rey to full vitality as a show of gratitude.”

Nyx scoffs. “If I know Rey, she never for a second felt that repayment was necessary.”

Aaron nods “right. But her belief doesn’t override Vitalia’s gratitude. Believe me, I know. I’ve seen similar situations from Rey’s point of view many times. Some folks just want to thank you, feel like they need to thank you, even when you believe that thanks aren’t required.”

Nyx nods, then looks at Ambrosia, circling an invisible point and talking. “What’s the verdict? Did Aaron’s manipulations work?”

Ambrosia nods “so far so good. Just asking Rey to do a few more basic movements to make absolutely sure.”

Twilight smiles, coming to stand beside Nyx “good. I’m glad to hear it. Aaron, please look after her while she’s in your care.”

Aaron nods. “You got it. There’s one more thing I should tell you though. In order for this to work out the best it can, the fastest it can, she won’t be allowed to use the tower to manifest a perceivable form. That would mean that she would have a body of some kind. She must spend this time in full spirit form as much as possible.”

Twilight nods. “I understand. As do we all.”

Sounds of confirmation, followed by Ambrosia declaring the testing complete, with a perfect success as the verdict.

Aaron nods, then looks at where Rey is standing. “Alright then. We’re off. Nyx? Anything you’d like me to tell him?”

Nyx once more takes a deep breath before sighing. “Give him my regards. And tell him… I’m sorry I let him down.”

Aaron nods, then fades from sight, after which he indicates that Rey should follow him “you’ll find that flight in this state is very similar to using your psychic powers to fly.”

Rey nods “thanks for the notice.” She says, starting to fly. A moment later, she’s following Aaron through the sky. Thinking back on the conversation from before, she asks “What did Nyx mean? I’ve never known her to fail anyone before.”

Aaron nods. “Well, it all started when she was off in a different kingdom. Let’s just say that she went through the same thing you’re about to go through, but it wasn’t planned out with her as it is with you. Following that experience, she was employed by an otherworldly agency along with her duties as a knight of Equestria. But eventually, she came to realize she wasn’t able to reconcile her at that time conflicting responsibilities. She decided that her employment with that otherworldly agency I mentioned was what she had to lose.”

Rey blinks “but… that sounds like her so called “failure” is all in her… heh. Whoever you two were talking about, they don’t believe for a second that Nyx failed them, do they?”

Aaron chuckles. “The very idea is utterly ridiculous to them. If anything, Nyx was one of the best agents they ever had. She earned her early retirement.”

Rey smiles then blinks, noticing a golden vortex forming in front of them. “Is that where we’re going?”

Aaron nods. “An entry point that’s been set up for us. It’ll take us out of this world to another called Spirit World. Feel free to ask any questions you may have about the scenery.”

Rey nods “I’ll keep that in mind.” A moment later, they’re flying through a new world. As they go, Rey glances around from time to time. Pink sky above. Golden clouds below, with only a glowing river to break the monotony. “How far must we travel?”

Aaron sighs. “Further than expected already. Fortunately the river is our guide. We follow it, we reach our destination. The terminus of our entrance was supposed to be closer. I’ll have to look into that later. For now, more important things take priority.”

Rey nods, then looks down at the river, then back at Aaron “does it have a name? The river I mean.”

Aaron nods “it’s The River Styx.”

Rey blinks twice “The River Styx? Then this really is the path between life and death?”

Aaron chuckles “after everything you’ve experienced today, that’s what surprises you?”

Rey chuckles “well, it just actually hit me that I’m really dead right now. And yet, I’m not thinking like I’m dead. I’m looking forward to getting back into my body, learning what I’ll gain from this experience. So… yeah. I’m still not fully grasping the concept that I really am dead.”

Aaron nods “completely understandable. Most who experience death don’t normally have another chance to look forward to. You’re a special case, Rey. And if all goes well, your case is likely to remain open for a long time after this.”

Rey blinks “why’s that?”

Aaron smiles “if our efforts to get you back into your body are successful, you’ll have to earn your keep. This isn’t a free opportunity, no matter how many strings are pulled. Nor do any amount of called in favors change that. You will have to repay the good will of the people allowing this to even be possible.”

Rey nods “I see. Yeah, that’s fair. No doubt it’s a bureaucratic headache to work this out.”

Aaron nods “to say the least. Look. Up ahead. Our destination has come into view.”

Rey looks to see a floating island with bridges leading to grand gates in every direction. The island itself is dominated by a massive palace similar in style to the recently built tower of souls in Ponyville. “Wow. Talk about symbols of rank. But all those gates. I always thought there would only be two.”

Aaron nods “you aren’t alone in thinking that. Most people who believe in an afterlife would say there will be two doors in a grand hall of judgment between life and what comes after. If they don’t believe that all souls are treated the same. But in some space times, it’s a lot more complicated than that. This particular space time is an example of the complex version of the afterlife. Here, judgement is meted out based on a multitude of factors concerning your life. And with so many factors and variables being considered, there must be multiple ends, both good and bad. That’s why you’ll commonly hear divine beings in this universe refer to the lands of the dead when talking about the afterlife. They speak with terms suggesting multitudes because there are many different fates your soul may be sentenced to after death.”

Rey nods “I see. Wow. Am I going to remember this stuff?”

Aaron nods “yes. Going forward, you are one of the very few privileged living mortals who know all this. Though whether you’ll always think it a privilege is a matter for the future to decide.”

Rey nods “understood.”

A moment later, they’re standing in front of the palace gates. Rey can sense Aaron reaching out with his mind, and can’t help but feel shocked when his efforts lead to his mind brushing against hers. She knew he had to be a truly ancient being from how wise he often shows himself to be, but… she never imagined he was as ancient as that touch revealed. Countless trillions of years of existence weigh heavy on that ancient mind. No… more. Rey suddenly realizes that there is no known number capable of being applied to him in terms of his age. (Unbelievable. If what I felt is true… just what is he? Truly?) she thinks to herself, but further speculation is denied as the gate opens to allow them entry into the palace.

Rey finds herself immediately bombarded by how crazy busy the room just inside the palace is, with what she guesses are workers running all over the place, some shouting details of events that she assumes concern the newly deceased. Stacks of paper and books are carried around at breakneck speed, and Rey is frankly amazed that no one crashes into each other or her and Aaron as the two of them are now moving through that insanity towards a hall on the other side of the room. Aaron strides forth confidently, but she’s keeping her eyes open so she can evade anyone who gets close to crashing into them. “Is it always this crazy here?” She asks at one point, her jaw dropping when Aaron replies that it’s usually worse, and that it looks like they’re having a slow day today. She looks past Aaron towards the hall, which seems to be terribly far away in this madness. “Couldn’t we just fly over to the hall?”

Aaron laughs, looking back at her “we’re here to meet with royalty. That would be a rude gesture, don’t you think? Don’t worry, this place has existed almost since the beginning of this universe. They’ve had eons to get their groove, and a small disturbance like us won’t change a thing.”

Rey blinks, but nods understandingly. A few moments later, she sighs in relief as they make it into the hall. “That was terrifying. Amazing, but terrifying. I could barely make sense of how none of them ran into each other. And you said it looked like a slow day?”

Aaron nods “yes. And I wasn’t kidding. I’ve seen it ten times as crazy in there.” After a few more moments, he turns to look at a door they’ve arrived at. He looks at Rey “you’re about to be presented with an important choice. Consider your options carefully.”

Rey nods. “I will.”

#askthepsychicofponyville #ask me anything #ask blog #original character #mlp #rey #aaron #ambrosia #hades

[and-stir-the-stars]

So it's kinda like school? How your expected to always follow orders, to not speak out to much but still listen to the teacher, and how you can get sent to the office for any little thing? (Your clothes, your hair, your attitude, etc) anyways, sorry to hear that :(

also sorry for the psychic damage... I wasn't intending to call you old

-still in school anon

well, i don't have a lot of work experience; my current job is only the second job I've ever worked at, and my experience is limited to fast food and convenience stores.

In my experience, the experience you'll have with your managers at work is going to vary.

The places that I've worked have had different kind of managers; there's a General Manager (GM) who sorta owns the store, and there are several lower level managers who help close shop and perform managerial tasks when the GM can't.

Because there are so many managers, my experience at work tends to vary day by day, depending on which manager(s) is scheduled to work that day. Some managers are super strict; they insist you do things a certain way and get angry when you don't. Some managers aren't super strict; they trust you to get your job done without heavy supervision and leave you to it; so long as there aren't customers or coworkers complaining about you not doing your job well enough or even at all, they trust you to not need heavy supervision.

No matter what type of manager you're working with, you are expected to follow orders (do anything that ur manager says + comply with basic rules and procedures that don't necessarily need said, such as "don't be rude to customers") and you are NOT to say anything bad to or about your managers, especially after they tell you to do something. Worst case scenario, refusing to do what your manager says or giving them attitude when they request something of you or reprimand you can get you fired. They can write you up (make a formal complaint) as well. One day, a coworker of mine told the boss to "do it yourself" after our manager requested something, and the manager yelled at the coworker and sent him home immediately.

Even if you don't get such an obvious punishment as being fired or written up, managers are people, and people tend to get petty when you disobey them. Managers control pretty much everything about your work experience, so it's best not to do something to make them have a grudge against you if you can help it. That's not to say that you shouldn't do anything if your manager does something Wrong, but it's enough of a reason to not want to be snarky with your managers, if that makes sense.

I don't think there's quite a "get sent to the office" equivalent for jobs, at least not in my experience. Your manager(s) may pull you aside to talk about any issues (ranging from disobedience to bad performance) they encounter with how you've been working (or if the manger is having a bad day and decides to take it out on you, then it might be less "talking" and more "yelling"). Managers can write you up as well, putting a permanent complaint on your record with the company; if you get written up for multiple issues, or if you continue worsening the same issue after being written up for it various times (example: this is your third time getting written up for being late and you continue to be late to work), then you can get fired.

In the US, you're legally required to be in school, so punishments tend to be stuff like getting sent to the office or getting detention, but obviously you always get put back in class sooner or later. But the company you work at isn't quite legally required to keep you there; if they don't like your attitude or the way you perform your job, then they'll just fire and replace you if they feel they can get away with it.

It's okay; all psychic damage is forgiven! I wasn't offended so much as, like... shooketh, because I'm really still a kid myself XD

[ironwoodprotectionsquad]

So the discussion over how literally no one even tried to talk James down in V8 or even try to find a way to work together. That got me thinking, and I know you of all people would want to do him justice and treat him better. If you got the ultimate writer privileges for V8 and could handle the storylines there as you pleased, how would you have liked them to happen?

Hey don't give me this kind of power I might go power hungry and abuse it.

Eh-hem sorry I sometimes think I'm funny lolz. Anyways sorry this took so long I wanted to be as thorough as I could take and even tried rewatching some parts of V8 but uh took psychic damage when I did lol. 

But back to the ask, Some of my biggest issues with Volume 8 are: the lack of anyone reaching out to James as you discussed, the lack of an actual plan on the part of the girls, and in general the volume mostly ignoring Salem and what she's doing. I also decided to try and keep close to the major events that happened within the volume that I believe that are important. 

I know this isn’t perfect or flawless and there are some things I am not crazy about but I was trying to follow only changing volume 8. Personally I would rather start changes back at the end of volume 7 if I could. There is just….a lot of stuff in volume 7 that kind of screwed me over big time when trying to do this rewrite. As I will say later on, I had to rewrite large sections multiple times because I found myself stuck in a corner over and over again. It was a reminder of how important having a larger game plan ahead of time before writing stuff because you can find yourself in this situation where you’re running into roadblock after roadblock and it’s….frustrating. It made this ask as I said very difficult to work in. But having to work within the confines of what Volume 7 gave us, here is what I would do.

So to start off Qrow and Robyn would be taken into custody still because they don't know what the fuck happened. But James also doesn't talk to them because he just does not have time to deal with that with Salem on his doorstep. He's trying to figure out a way to get the staff to move Atlas and once it's safe he will talk to them and figure that out but for now they're way in the back of his mind because he has way more important shit to deal with.

One important aspect I would make clear very early on is James’s semblance and how it works. One idea I’ve played with is Ozpin letting Oscar know that James’s semblance is Mettle and that what it does is when it kicks in is it very strongly affects James and causes him to focus in on certain goals and it can be difficult to talk him out of things when Mettle is active. He mentions how normally James can control it and normally has Winter being someone in a position allowed to break his aura if she thinks his semblance is going too far and he’s gone out of control with it. In this case the chess piece caused a PTSD reaction and was extremely triggering which caused Mettle to take over completely. Oscar would ask what could be done to help James and Ozpin mentions that as a passive semblance the only way at this point to stop it is to somehow break James’s aura.

When RWBYJNR is in the happy Huntress's hideout, they are trying to come up with a plan to evacuate everyone. Salem immediately started attacking the shields protecting Atlas but they do not last long under the force of Salem’s magic. The mains quickly realize that with Salem attacking they can’t be trying to evacuate people because their priority needs to be protecting people. They agree that they need to do what they can to help Mantle since the military is focusing on Atlas in anticipation of a much stronger attack aimed towards them over Mantle which the mains believe won’t be true. They ask Dr. Polendina about Amity Tower and if it can be launched and he informs them he isn’t sure and needs some time to think about it. They pause when they realize how big Salem’s forces are and realize they do seem to be mainly focused on Atlas but there are also Grimm coming into Mantle through the hole in the wall so they split off into groups to deal with the grimm. 

In Atlas the group is caught on security footage in Mantle and the soldiers ask James if they should arrest them. James is watching the footage with a frown on his face and says no, they have more important things to worry about. He still calls Penny because he is worried about her because he does care, and Ruby still isn't sure what to think or do and still takes the scroll and asks about Mantle. The conversation can still go mostly the same with James pointing out that if Atlas falls the two relics will be taken by Salem and Remnant will be doomed (I do not understand why the show makes this statement seem cold and heartless like he's kind of sort of got a point there?)

James and Winter talk as in the show but the conversation with the council goes very differently. James, barely able to control his anger, demands to know if the council somehow missed the giant Grimm army invading the city. The council kind of stammer and don't have a good response and James tells them to get out of his way and let him do his job and try and save everyone from dying. The council has no clue what to say and is just hauled out by security while James goes back to work.

In Mantle Oscar (who they did not run into earlier) is wandering the streets trying to find his friends when he is ambushed and taken by the hound. Yang Jaune and Ren sees this happening but can’t get to the hound fast enough before it transforms and flies off with an unconscious Oscar. 

When this happened they make the decision to try and go after and save Oscar despite knowing the dangers because he is their friend and they refuse to abandon him. They contact the others to let them know what is happening. Everyone wants to go after Oscar but they realize that Mantle also still needs protection so they reluctantly split up. RNJ and Penny stay behind while the others head towards the whale. On their way to the Whale they run into FNKI and assist them in taking down a massive Grimm. They ask what happened and why they’re wanted for arrest and Yang begs them to not arrest them because a friend is in trouble. FNKI lets them go and they make their way to the Whale. 

As they are all heading to the Whale, Salem sends Cinder to break out Watts and find and kill Penny. Cinder promises she will kill the maiden and leaves, Emerald chasing after her, begging Cinder to take her with her to kill Penny, but Cinder blows her off, insisting Emerald will merely get in her way. Emerald is stunned, after all she had done for Cinder, Cinder was still brushing her off? Neo follows after Cinder, silently demanding to know when they would go after Ruby and Cinder similarly blows her off, insisting they will get to her eventually, and Neo is not pleased. 

I do not like how Hazels “redemption” was handled. It was sloppy and rushed and especially looks bad next to James and the shows refusal to offer him any sympathy. So in this version of events he does start off torturing Oscar but Mercury see’s and is severely triggered by seeing a child being tortured because it reminds him of what his father did to him. When Oscar mentions Salem’s plan and how she only wants to destroy the world. Initially Mercury wants to doubt this but he can’t help but question everything after what he saw being done to a kid. 

He then goes to Emerald to talk to her and tell her what Oscar said and Emerald starts to have doubts herself but neither are sure if he is telling the truth. Even if he isn’t being honest about Salem, Mercury cannot stand seeing a kid being tortured, it reminding him too much of what happened to him and he still wants to help him escape. Emerald points out if they’re caught Salem will kill them so Mercury says they won’t get caught then.  

Hazel is sent to go with Tyrian to go to Vacuo, leaving Oscar alone long enough for Mercury and Emerald to go and find him. Oscar is confused as to what they’re doing there, and Mercury starts asking if what he said to Hazel was true. Oscar says that he can show them. Ozpin asks what he’s doing and Oscar says he can see that they’re conflicted and he thinks he can sway them. Ozpin reluctantly agrees to trust him and they take Oscar to the lamp. When they find it, Oscar calls Jinn and asks her to tell them what Salem’s plan is. Jinn then reveals how Salem wants to destroy the world and kill everyone and everything. Emerald and Mercury are horrified so they take the lamp and Emerald disguises them so they can escape. 

In Atlas, Qrow and Robyn are still sitting in their cells, Qrow battling with his conflicting feelings about Clover’s death, deep down he knows really he and Robyn are to blame for what happened, but he also is looking for someone to blame because he isn’t ready to accept his part in it. Qrow’s semblance causes his cell to open for him and, emotions raging, Qrow leaves, ignoring the others calls to let them out. He sneaks through the academy and finds Harbinger before going to James’s office, hoping to find him there and confront him with the arrest and everything that has happened. 

Just as expected, James is in his office, coordinating everyone to deal with the overwhelming numbers of Grimm, Mettle pushing down any emotions about the sheer number of his people dying that would have long since incapacitated him with grief. Mettle kept pushing him, it was the only thing at this point keeping him moving. Qrow, upon entering James’s office, quickly realizes how deeply Mettle has taken ahold of him, but he is so lost in his anger and grief he doesn’t think much of it, immediately attacking James who fights back. (In this au James’s eyes turn lighter and lighter as Mettle has a stronger grip on him). Qrow is screaming at him, demanding to know why? Why? Why? James responds that he is doing what must be done for his people. 

They’re both evenly matched, and it is a brutal fight, both of them witling down each others aura’s until both breaking nearly simultaneously. The second his aura breaks, James collapses to his knee’s, the weight of everything Mettle had been holding at bay flooding him, overwhelming him, leaving him crumpled on the floor, drowning in agony over everything that had happened, the girls arrests, Oscar, his students and Clover’s death. Qrow let’s Harbinger fall to the floor and collapses in front of James asking what happened. 

James explains about the chess piece, and how he lost control of everything once he saw it. Qrow asks why Winter didn’t break his aura and James admits he doesn’t know. Probably she was just as scared about Salem’s impending arrival as he was. James admits what he did to Oscar and say’s he deserves whatever Qrow thinks should happen to him. Qrow however, says he’s hardly one to talk, look at what he did to Clover? James asks if Qrow really killed Clover and Qrow says he might as well have. He attacked Clover, he broke his aura and left him vulnerable to Tyrian. 

James says neither of them can change the past and what happened, all they can do is keep going and push through. They had millions of lives in danger and they had to figure out something. Qrow asks if James has a plan to get everyone out and James doesn’t think it’s possible. He lost a massive chunk of the fleet in the chaos of the fight and is barely able to protect the sky’s from Grimm, he has nothing left to continue evacuations. Qrow says they’ll figure out something but first they need to get in contact with the kids. 

As Emerald and Mercury lead Oscar out of the whale, they run into RWBY, Oscar quickly assuring them that Emerald and Mercury are trying to help them. Everyone is on edge, but Oscar convinces everyone they’re all on the same side and that they need to focus on getting out before Salem finds them and that she will likely notice the lamp is gone so they need to move. Reluctantly everyone agrees and they move quickly to leave. However before they can get out Salem finds them, searching for the lamp. In her fear Emerald hides herself and Mercury so she does not see them and the pair flee, leaving the girls and Oscar behind. Salem see’s that Oscar has the lamp and immediately zeroes in on him to get it back. 

A fight breaks out as everyone desperately tries to beat back Salem to at least somewhat keep her at bay. It fails and Salem absolutely wrecks them until Ruby in a moment of terror unleashed her silver eyes, partially immobilizing Salem. Salem however is quickly breaking free and Oscar orders them all to run, Ruby doesn’t want to leave Oscar but he tells them he’ll be okay and to run as he charges up his staff. Ruby doesn’t like it but does as he says, running out of the whale with everyone else as Salem breaks free, Oscar attacking her with his staff, destroying her temporarily. Oscar grabs the lamp and then returns to Atlas.

In Atlas, James and Qrow see the explosion and James comments that it looks like Winter was successful. Qrow asks what he meant and James says he sent Winter and the Ace Ops in with a bomb to try and take out the Whale, see if they can do something to slow down what felt like an endless army of Grimm. James hopes that maybe they’ll get a moment's relief so they can try and plan to get as far away as possible. James wants to reach out to the kids, to see if they would be willing to try and work with him again but he fears that bridge has been forever burned and they would never even give him the time of day. Qrow however believes that with him supporting James they’ll listen. James is shocked by the fact that Qrow would stand by him after everything, Qrow says he knows James wasn’t exactly in a great position and there weren't exactly any great options available with Salem coming. 

Ruby and everyone else make their way back to Atlas, but pause momentarily as they reach the battle lines and see just how many soldiers died in the fight against the grimm. They see so many bodies and as they travel through Atlas, they see so many civilians who could not make it to the subways and Ruby is hit with an overwhelming grief at the realization that she and her refusal to budge caused this. So many people died who could have been safe because of her decision. Everyone tries to assure her this isn’t her fault, but Ruby is overwhelmed with self hatred. 

Back in Atlas, Winter and the Ace Ops return with the bomb, saying that they didn’t get a chance to set it off but something else destroyed the whale and temporarily even Salem and every grimm on Atlas. Qrow and James are certain Ozpin had something to do with this and Qrow firmly believes this means Oscar was not killed like James thinks. 

Everyone’s Scrolls get an alert from the Emergency broadcast system and see James and Qrow standing side by side. James says that with the army temporarily destroyed they have just a little bit of time, and that he hopes to speak to them to try and figure out a plan and begs them to come back to the academy, publicly voiding their arrests and assuring no harm will come. Qrow assures them James is telling the truth and says they don’t have much time and they need to move quickly. The message ends and everyone is arguing about what to do. Nora, Jaune and Blake think that James is holding Qrow hostage and forcing him to say these things to lure them into a trap to try and force Penny to open the vault. Yang, Weiss, and Ren believe that Qrow and James are telling the truth and want to give him a chance. 

Oscar looks to Ruby and asks what she thinks. Ruby however is paralyzed with doubt, questioning everything she had ever done. Drowning in guilt about all of the death she saw as they returned to Atlas. Certain she is responsible and doesn’t feel worthy of making such a difficult decision anymore. A part of her thinking James had maybe even been right to order her arrest. Ruby runs off, overwhelmed with guilt and Yang chases after her to talk. Ruby admits she doesn’t know what she’s doing and thinks that forcing themselves into this war was a mistake. Yang assures her it wasn’t wrong and that they were just trying to do what they thought was best. Ruby argues that maybe that’s all General Ironwood was trying to do as well and Yang says that leaving people behind isn’t what was best, Ruby points out though that he was right, staying behind already has caused so much death and destruction to which Yang doesn’t have an answer. Oscar reluctantly joins them and also tells Ruby that even if she made a mistake, she was following her heart and trying to do good and sometimes, that’s all you can do. 

Ruby realizes that though both she and General Ironwood have very different ideas of what is best and what should be done, they both are after the same thing. Stopping Salem. Even if it is a trap, she decides that they have to try and work together because Salem wants them divided and fighting. That if they work together they stand a chance. She tells everyone they have to talk to Ironwood but she agrees they have to be cautious and start planning. 

At the Academy James and Qrow are nervously waiting, James starting to fear that the girls won’t come and he’ll have to plan alone when RWBY and Oscar arrive in the airship and land in front of them. James is both worried and relieved. He’s so happy Oscar is alive, but he wonder’s what Oscar told them. James starts to speak to Oscar, but Oscar says they’ll talk later. 

RWBY is worried and tense, wondering what James wants. Qrow runs over and hugs them, so relieved they’re okay with what he heard about how many people died in the fighting. Yang and Ruby hug him back and realize Qrow isn’t in any danger and that maybe James really did want to talk. James starts to tell them he has no idea how the Whale was destroyed and Oscar admits he used all of the magic stored in the cane to destroy it and temporarily Salem. James asks if he has any idea how long it will take Salem to reform but Oscar says Ozpin isn’t sure. That’s when it comes out that Ozpin is back and he finally comes out and talks. 

He tells them that the reason he didn’t use the cane at Beacon was because he thought they could get things back under control, but when he realized it was too late and he was killed. He wishes he could go back and change it but he can’t. James, guilt stricken by everything, says that of all of them Ozpin is the least guilty, but Ozpin tells James he was right to question him, that maybe if he had taken action sooner Beacon might not have fallen. He also apologizes to James for not coming out and talking to him sooner. He was floundering trying to put Remnant back together and he didn’t help. 

James asks what they can do now but Ruby herself breaks and apologizes, blaming herself for all of the death that happened. James places a reassuring hand on her shoulder and tells her that as a leader, sometimes we have to make difficult decisions when we don’t have all of the information. A choice has to be made even without knowing what will happen when you do. James then assures her they all made mistakes, but they cannot let themselves drown in what ifs and self doubt. They have to keep moving forward. James also apologizes and admits he lost control, he was scared and the thought of another Beacon happening…he couldn’t think of doing anything but run. He knew they couldn’t fight Salem with what forces they had and thought it was best to leave before they lost anyone else. 

Ruby admits she didn’t even try and come up with something better and she got angry and reacted without really thinking either. She didn’t want to be responsible for anyone else’s death but she still was despite her best efforts. Qrow assures her that the death that happened isn’t either of their faults, it's Salems. Oscar and Ozpin both agree that regardless of what path they took, anyone who died was killed by Salem and she’s the one who has blood on her hands, not them. 

James asks Ruby if Penny is okay, he has been truly worried about her because he knows Salem wants the maiden powers and knows Penny is in danger. That is when Penny flies into the dismay of the others who had been hiding. James is relieved to see she is okay and James apologizes to her for everything that happened and Penny hugs him. She admits she’s scared and that she didn’t know why she took the powers she just acted. James assures her she did the right thing, Cinder might have gotten the powers instead and Penny bought Atlas time. Penny also reveals that they have the lamp again and James is relieved they’ve stripped Salem of the relic she had. 

Penny asks what they plan on doing now and James admits that he doesn’t know what to do, most of the ships were destroyed in the attack and they couldn’t finish evacuations before Salem reformed. Qrow mentions that they have the bomb still and that maybe that could reset the clock and buy them more time. Ozpin agrees this could work but that still might not be enough time with the limited air support left on Atlas. 

Now….this is the point I struggled for days to figure out what to do. I typed and retyped and edited and changed and deleted so. Many. Times. It hurts. Through this I learned and remembered why I changed volume 7 as well in my planned rewrites. I know some people will use this to argue “See writing is hard CRWBY was in a corner they had to do this be nicer” but this just proves how bad it is that they don’t have a plan and are making this up on the fly. If they made a plan before volume 7 for how both 7 and 8 would have gone they wouldn’t have written themselves into this massive corner and it wouldn’t be so damn hard to fix JUST volume 8. 

Eh hem anyways uh back to the rewrite. So James realizes that first thing first, they need is to get Amity launched and a message to the world sent out to warn everyone about what is happening on Atlas. Penny asks if it is a good idea to tell everyone about Salem if they don’t have any way to help protect the people from Grimm attacks. James admits he’s not sure, but he also knows they can’t keep Salem a secret when she is escalating and the people need to know what happened to Atlas so they can prepare. Ruby asks if he thinks Atlas won’t survive and he says the people will but the kingdom itself likely will fall. Weiss is saddened by this but James assures her that the kingdom is not the land but the people who make up a kingdom. 

James calls Pietro and asks about Amity but initially he ignores James’s calls so Penny calls him and assures him they are working with James again and he and they all want to fix things and make it better. She then asks him about Amity and he admits he’d been working on getting Amity into a launchable state since Salem arrived. James asks if it can be launched and Pietro says it’s almost ready. 

While Pietro works to get Amity launched, James prepares the message to send out to everyone, he questions for a moment if doing this makes sense but ultimately decides it is important. On Amity, Pietro and Maria are working on getting Amity launched and with the work Pietro did, they get it in the air without a hitch and start up James’s message to all of Remnant. First he informs everyone that Atlas is under attack and will likely fall and tells them that Salem is behind it and tells everyone about her. He admits he wishes this was happening under better circumstances, but he wanted to ensure the news got out in case they also lost Amity. 

Ruby says they could use the staff somehow to evacuate everyone but Ozpin points out that the staff is holding Atlas up and nothing else. That is when James corrects Ozpin and says he started building a backup system to take over should the staff stop holding Atlas up and that it can hold Atlas up for a time but will slowly sink down as the gravity dust runs out. James says they could move Atlas to the tundra so when it eventually hits the ground it doesn’t crush Mantle in the process. The way the system is set up, Atlas will slowly sink as it runs out of Gravity dust so when its out it will be on the ground and not crash down because if it crashes down it could set off a dust explosion that could have untold effects on the world and they don’t want to risk that. 

Meanwhile Cinder has broken Watts out and have run into Neo again, Watts says if they can help him get to a terminal, he can get them whatever information they need. With that Cinder, Neo, and Watts return to the academy and as in the show kill everyone in one of the control rooms and Watts gets to work. 

In breaking out Watts, both Robyn’s and Jacques cells break and they are able to escape. Robyn goes to try and find the Happy Huntresses and Jacques tries to get back to the mansion so he can protect himself. He can be eaten by a Grimm or something whatever that’s not all that important what happens to him lolz. 

RWBY James, Qrow, Oscar and Penny struggle to try and figure out how to best do the evacuations, throwing around all kinds of different ideas and getting more and more frustrated as they realize they don’t have plans to make anything that would quickly get everyone out and they’re wasting precious time until Salem reforms. Yang tosses out the idea of using a bunch of doorways leading out to Vacuo and James says that it wouldn't be fair to dump everyone into Vacuo as they already have most of Vale there already. The girls argue that they need to get to Vacuo and James points out that Salem would be heading there next so sending the innocent civilians back into her warpath would be wrong and mentions ideally he would send them to Argus. It is a large town with a relatively intact military. James also starts to explain that with Ambrosius you have to be very specific on what you want and that he takes things very literally, as he’s speaking James trailed off noticing a security camera has been watching them and not moving like it should, catching James’s attention. Everyone starts to ask what’s wrong as James pulls out Due Process and shoots it down. Watts in retaliation decides to use the counter measures James built in against them to start splitting them up. 

He starts by sending false reports of attacks all over the school, James splits everyone up to try and deal with all of the attacks. Ruby, Weiss and Penny make their way to one of the alerts, Qrow and James start towards another, Blake, Yang, and Oscar head to another. The Ace Ops and JNR both head off to check on other alerts. However before they get far, Robotic soldiers ambush them and shields start going up to trap everyone. 

James momentarily freezes, painfully flashing back to Beacon and everything that happened. Qrow is frantically having to defend James who is paralyzed with fear, Qrow frantically crying out to him, worried about being able to keep him safe while frozen in the middle of the fight. 

James snaps back to reality and starts fighting, sending a message to the Ace Ops while Ruby calls JNR to ask where they are. JNR are similarly blocked in and fighting off hacked soldiers and the Ace Ops are all separated and similarly keeping back hacked soldiers. Everyone is asking what’s happening and how, everyones shouting and demanding to know what they should do. In all the chaos, James gets a message that Watts had broken out. 

Realizing Watts is trying to kill time until Salem reforms, James orders Ruby, Penny, and Weiss to get to the vault and use the staff. Ruby hesitates, worried she’ll mess things up even more and is frozen in fear, that's when James assures her that he trusts her, he knows she can do this and orders her to go. Ruby tries to argue she can use her semblance to get to James and Qrow but James says to not waste her time and to go now. Reluctantly, Ruby uses her semblance and flies them into the vents to get to the entrance to the vault room that Penny opens for them, the doors shutting behind them quickly as they descend into the vault chamber. 

Weiss looks over to Ruby and asks what they’re going to do and Ruby admits she’s not sure. Penny brings up the idea of portals again and Ruby wonders if there was a way to make it work. Weiss thinks it’s the only plan they had that remotely came close to being workable. Ruby realizes that they are running out of time and that they have to do something. If Salem reformed with everyone still on Atlas, everyone would be doomed. The three of them make their way to the vault door, the girls looking around in wonder at the chamber. However they realize they can’t keep wasting time and rush to the vault door, Penny opening it for them and Ruby using her semblance to rush them all inside and grabbing the staff, instantly halting time as Ambrosius appeared before them. 

Ambrosius appears and acts exactly as he does in the show because he is pretty hilarious and I love that. Ambrosius mentions his last project was so boring and Ruby says that they need to use the staff but before they can ask him anything Ambrosius firmly lays down that he cannot do anything because doing something would cause Atlas to fall and crush Mantle and kill thousands. They then tell him that they know this and ask him to instead move Atlas over the tundra so no one would get hurt. Ambrosius groans and asks why everything he’s been asked to do is so boring but does as they asked. 

Instantly everyone feels Atlas moving, the people in Mantle see Atlas suddenly moving away and start panicking in mass. Cinder demands to know from Watts what was happening and Watts muses that they must have gotten the staff and are using it, but he isn’t sure what they’re doing. James and Qrow meanwhile also realize they must have reached the staff, and Qrow wonders what Ruby will do with it. James says he knows whatever she comes up with will be the best they’ll be able to do given the circumstances. 

Back in the vault, Ruby resummons Abrosius who is disappointed to see the girls again and asks what they want now. Weiss asks if he can make a bunch of portals scattered across Atlas and Mantle and have it open into Argus. Ambrosius replies that he needs information on how to make that happen given that there would be people coming in from multiple portals landing in the exact same spot and Weiss groans that’s what they expected. Penny then chimes in that what if they had a central location to funnel everyone through before they reach the portal leading to Argus. Ambrosius asks where this central location would be and Ruby says in the same place as the vaults are as they seem to exist somewhere outside of Remnant and would be safe for refugees to use as a way to escape. 

Ambrosius asks for plans on how this central location would work and Penny happily chims in saying it could work like the subway system, carrying lots of people from one place to another and shows Ambrosius the plans and Weiss adds the exit portal would be like a one way ticket to Argus. Ambrosius asks for references to where the portals will appear in Atlas and Penny pulls up a map of Atlas and Mantle and indicates locations all over where she knows James would have evacuated citizens along with the crater where the Happy Huntress’s evacuated citizens still in Mantle along with some key locations within Atlas Academy. She also pulls up the map of Argus and indicates a spot just outside of the city to have the citizens be evacuated to. Penny thinks this would work as Argus can take citizens as well as potentially move any overflow to Haven if absolutely necessary. Satisfied he has all he needs, Ambrosius creates the portals with the openings in the various places Penny indicated. As the girls head to the portal Ambrosius created for them, he warns them not to fall before disappearing. 

Before the girls enter the portal in the vault, they pause, wondering if they should take the staff with them or leave it behind. Instinctively Ruby wants to lock it up again as it would ensure Salem cannot get to it. However Ruby also realizes that leaving the portals open even after everyone is evacuated could be extremely dangerous so reluctantly the girls decide that they need to take it with them. 

As Qrow and James finish off the last rogue robotic soldiers, a portal opens up behind them, Qrow wonders if this is Ruby’s evacuation plan and James says there's only one way to find out and carefully steps through, finding himself looking at dozens of portals similar to the one he just stepped through. Qrow follows shortly after and they all find themselves on the same platform as Ruby, Weiss, and Penny and explain what they did. James comments that it's not perfect but it will have to do. He questions why they took the staff with them instead of locking it back up again and Ruby explains that they feared keeping the portals open would be too dangerous and though James doesn’t like it, he agrees with their concerns and asks to take the staff himself. When they ask why James says Salems people will likely come after the staff and he hopes that if he has it they will focus on going after him instead of the people trying to evacuate. 

Qrow argues that it is extremely dangerous for just him to have the staff but James brushes his worries off saying Winter will be with him. The girls also argue that even the two of them likely won’t be enough to hold off Cinder and Penny offers to go with him. James argues that’s extremely dangerous as she’s the maiden and Penny argues that's why she should go as it would further keep Cinder away from the portals. Reluctantly James agrees.

Ruby says the rest of them will remain in the portals to protect everyone coming through and Oscar suggests Ruby holds onto the lamp and hands it over to her so that they don’t have both relics in the same place in case what remains of Salem’s people attack one place. Qrow says he’ll go find the Ace Ops and take the bomb to where the Whale previously was to have it ready to drop on her before she reforms so they can buy more time to have everyone escape. 

James and the others were worried about Qrow’s plan, but they agreed it was important so everyone splits off going through various portals. James called Winter to let her know what was happening and to ask her to use the Emergency broadcasting system to let everyone know what was happening and to go through the portals. Winter agrees and uses the emergency broadcasting system to tell everyone in Atlas and Mantle what is happening and to immediately begin evacuations. James also tells Winter to leave immediately once the message is out and assists Argus. Winter argues and says she needs to be in Atlas, but James says he will be staying until all civilians have left. Winter argues and says he can’t stay alone, but James says Penny will be with him. Winter wants to argue but James tells her to go and get her family when Winter says that James is her family. James is touched by the sentiment but pushes, saying that Whitley needs someone and reluctantly Winter agrees. Immediately after sending the message out Winter gets Whitley and her mother, kneeling down in front of Whitley, she apologizes for everything and says she wishes she was a better sister to him and that if she could go back, she would have fought harder to keep him away from their father. Whitley hugs Winter as their mother watches them with a sad smile, saying that it wasn’t her responsibility to keep Whitley safe but her own. Winter shouldn’t have had to help Weiss like she did and that she failed as a mother to all three of them. Winter says they can continue this conversation with Weiss later and that for now they need to leave quickly. On their way out they run into Klein and the four of them go through the portals to Argus. 

Before James leaves the portals he kneels down in front of Oscar, unable to look him in the eyes as he apologizes for what he did to him. There is no excuse, and no forgiveness for what he did and he understands that. Oscar, though, stuns him by hugging him, Ozpin’s voice saying that he is so sorry he wasn’t there when James needed him most. That he failed James not only in Beacon but now in Atlas. James is barely able to keep tears at bay as he hugs Oscar back, asking how either of them could forgive him. Oscar says that he knows about James’s semblance and what it does to him. He knows that though James still shot him, he knew James never would have done so without his semblance active and that he never should have gotten to that point, that they all should have been there supporting him more. Oscar says James is better than his worst mistake and that’s not who he is. He’s someone who fights for his people to the death. That he cares and is a good man. That despite everything that happened, James only was trying to save everyone despite how scared he was and how much his trauma from Beacon affected him. Despite it all he pushed forward and that is who James really was. Oscar also tells James to forgive himself for what happened to Atlas, that he and Ruby are not to blame, Salem is. She’s the one who killed and killed. They only tried to stop her. James promises he will not let either of them down and goes through the portal with Penny. The pair make their way to a control room and James sends out a message to Cordovin to warn her of the incoming evacuations. 

Watts realizes through his hack what Amity tower was for, and finds the message James is sending to Argus and immediately gets to work sending out a virus to force Amity tower to crash, knowing how important global communications are and knows it needs to be destroyed. Cinder asks what destroying Amity will do, they need to focus on drawing out Penny. Watts firmly believes James would never allow his precious Amity project to be destroyed and that certainly he would send Penny to save it. Cinder though thinks James would simply hide her away like the previous maiden and it would take something more drastic to bring her out. Watts insists she should go to the tower but Cinder brushes him off and Neo follows along with a shrug. 

As evacuations start, Penny and James are remaining in the control room, carefully monitoring security feeds to make sure evacuations are going smoothly when alerts start going off, something is wrong with Amity and a virus is causing everything to shut down and the tower to start falling from the sky. Penny frantically tries to call Pietro to tell him to get out of the tower as James tries to call for someone to help get the tower back online but everyone is locked out and can’t get in. Penny, terrified for her father’s safety, flies off, James frantically calling her to come back, fearing that it is a trap for her.Penny however doesn’t listen, too worried about her father, flying as fast as she can towards the rapidly crashing tower, Penny praying she can get their in time before it crashes. 

Meanwhile, Cinder and Neo have disguised themselves and have hidden themselves in a crowd of civilians desperately trying to evacuate. Everyone is too distracted by Amity crashing to notice her in the crowd. The girls are all on high alert, searching for any sign of danger. They sent Ren and Jaune ahead to try and use Ren’s aura to mask everyone's fear and keep a Grimm attack from happening in Argus. Cordovin, who heard James’s message, had already sent out soldiers to help get everyone into the city safely. 

Cinder when she sees Ruby carefully makes her way to her, reining in every urge to charge at her and viciously kill her. She knows Ruby could use her silver eyes to bear Cinder instantly and she cannot risk alerting her to Cinders presence. Cinder then grabs the lamp from her and then uses her maiden powers against Ruby to throw her into the abyss, breaking her aura in the process. Civilians start screaming and running away, Yang screaming out in horror and rage at seeing her little sister seemingly fall to her death and charges at Cinder to kill her but Neo intercepts her. Nora calls James to let him know what’s happening, hoping Penny can come and help them. James however tells her Penny went to Amity after it crashed. James then starts to frantically call Penny who is arriving at Amity as he crashes to the ground, the dust mines below exploding as the dust beneath is hit. Penny screams out in agony, certain Pietro is dead but starting to fly towards the wreckage to try and find him when her scroll starts beeping, James calling out for Penny to answer, the fear in his voice making her pause and grab her scroll, James telling her that Cinder has ambushed everyone in the tunnels and they can’t hold off a maiden alone. Penny looks at the wreckage of Amity and then back towards Atlas, torn on what to do. Penny starts to scan the tower, trying to find any signs of life but finding none. She wants to try and find her father, unable to believe that he’s dead, but James calls out to her asking if she’s still there, telling her that everyone evacuating is being killed by Cinder. 

As the Ace Ops and Qrow circle the decaying remains of the whale, watching for Salem’s return, they all hear the screech of a loud Grimm and look over to see a Wyvern flying towards Atlas. With the soldiers assisting with evacuations, the group has no idea how to stop the massive Grimm heading towards Atlas. Reluctantly, Qrow says they need to focus their efforts on the Wyvern and to try and take it down. Harriet argues their job is to watch for Salem and drop the bomb on her when she starts to reform. Qrow argues that will be pointless if that Wyvern stops people from evacuating. He points out that that thing will scare people, and the more afraid people are, the more Grimm will appear. The more grimm there are, the less people will likely be able to get out. Reluctantly the other Ace Ops agree and they go after the Wyvern. However as they fight, they quickly realize that they don’t have the manpower to take it down. That’s when Vine suggests dropping the bomb on it and Harriet says they can’t waste the bomb on a Grimm. Qrow however agrees with Vine saying that dropping the bomb on Salem won’t help anyone if the Grimm kill them all. Reluctantly Harriet asks how they plan to drop the bomb on it. Qrow asks Marrow if he thinks his semblance can hold the Wyvern still and Marrow says it can but not for long so they get to work, flying as close as they dare to the Grimm, Marrow using his semblance to stop the Grimm and then dropping the bomb on it, Marrows aura breaking just as the bomb hits it and explodes, killing the Grimm. The celebration is short lived however as they hear an enraged scream that shakes Atlas, the Ace Ops and Qrow realizing that Salem is back. 

WBY and Nora are fighting carelessly and recklessly, torn up and guilt ridden by Ruby’s death, they’re fighting is sloppier than usual, Cinder egging them on, mocking them for failing to save their leader. Cinder is about to land a killing blow against Weiss, when Penny arrives, screaming at Cinder to leave her friends alone. Cinder sees red when she sees Penny and gets tunnel vision, thinking only that she wants the maiden powers and the staff, screaming at Penny, demanding to know where the staff is. Penny however uses this to her advantage, letting her know that Cinder will never find it. Cinder is enraged and starts wildly attacking Penny who fights back, determined to avenge Ruby. Cinder then starts mocking Penny for Ruby’s death, saying if she wasn’t a coward then maybe her friend would be alive. Penny tries to keep her anger and guilt in check, but Cinder’s goading words and she blasts Cinder with a powerful blow that sends her crashing down onto the platforms. Realizing she can use this to really throw Penny off balance, Cinder sends Yang flying into the abyss while she’s distracted with Neo. Horrified, Penny frantically flies after Yang, Cinder turning her attention to Blake who is crying out, throwing her weapon to try and catch Yang, Neo keeping Weiss too busy for her to be able to try and do anything to help. Penny is unable to reach Yang before she vanishes and while she is trying to figure out what to do, Blake is thrown into the abyss as well. Nora charges as Cinder but she is easily knocked in along with Weiss when she tries to save her. 

Back in the control room, James is torn on what to do. Should he go and risk the staff but try to save everyone? James stares at the staff in his hands, thinking of Nora’s terrified words and Penny's lack of response. People would die if he didn’t help, but if he goes there, Salem could get the staff. James thinks about Ruby’s words and her determination to save everyone. His people were in danger. No matter what he did the staff would be in danger as long as it remained outside of the vault. Mind made up, James starts to head towards one of the portals, freezing as black smoke fills the room, surrounding him and blocking out all of the light as Salem appears before him. James fires Due Process at her, but the bullet holes close up easily as Grimm hands emerge from the ground and pin James to the ground, Salem tisking as she walks over and picks up the staff. She then mocks him saying all of this death would not have happened if James had just complied and done what she had asked. James is paralyzed with fear, thinking back to Beacon and Ozpin and all of his failures, and a part of him wonders if maybe she’s telling the truth. That this is his fault. But then he remembers Oscar's words, he looks up at Salem and tells her that no one is to blame but her. He could not, would not stand by and let her destroy Remnant. Salem is merely amused by his determination and tells him that it all was in vain. 

Before Penny and Cinder can attack again, they both notice that the pathways are disappearing and glaring at each other, they both leave, Penny making it through the door to Argus and Cinder flying through the closest portal. Neo runs after Cinder who can’t be bothered to try and help Neo and the paths disappear before Neo can get through a portal. As soon as Penny reaches Argues, Jaune and Ren frantically ask what happened to everyone, and Penny whispers I’m sorry, guilt overwhelming her. 

Cinder finds Salem easily with the staff and James pinned to the ground still, glaring up at Salem. Cinder drops down to her knees and apologizes, saying that she could not get the maiden powers and that Neo was killed by RWBY but she did manage to kill them before escaping. She then presents Salem with the lamp and tells her RWBY stole it but she doesn't know if they used the final question or not. Salem brushes it off, turning to James with a smirk saying they’ll find out, one way or another, James looking up at her in fear. 

I can imagine an after credits cutscene being something like the Ace Ops and Qrow trying to find James only to find Due Process and no signs of James and wondering what happened to James or we could keep it as seeing Crescent Rose on the Island. 

I had originally typed out some ideas for how to kill off James and Penny if someone insisted they had to die like canon but….the ideas just really were not working too well and I wasn’t really interested in them anyways so I decided to dump them. If someone wanted to kill James and Penny off….well all I can say is please don’t tie James’s disabilities to his death if that makes sense? He deserves to go down fighting and protecting Atlas and Mantle, same as Penny. She should not have been turned into a human, we know Pietro couldn’t rebuild her again so the stakes were already set for her. 

Anyways I hope you guys enjoyed my ideas, if anyone has their own ideas for what they would have done for Volume 8 I would love to hear them! I know there are probably plot holes still and some issues, but I was struggling to find a good balance between keeping the story moving and not making it feel like the hand of the author is the only thing keeping it going. It was extremely frustrating realizing all of my problems were because of the setup volume 7 of RWBY set up that I was stuck with having to contend with. In all of my rewrite ideas, they all involve even changes in volume 7 because so much leaks and influences volume 8 and makes volume 8 a problem.

#RWDE #James Ironwood #Pro James Ironwood #Pro Ironwood #Ironwood Protection Squad #Mercury Black #Rwby critique #Rwby critical #General Dadmiral #Dadmiral Ironwood #General Ironwood

[mochiusagifanficchaos]

Gabriel x Reader lemon/smut •Let me heal you•

Warning: adult content

It was one of those nights after a long hunt at the bar again.

Tired you sipped at the cocktail in front of you.

Hunts had been much easier with the Winchester brothers but you had to go your way, didn't want to play the little girl who needs to be protected anymore, so you left.

Sometimes you still wished you haven't but this was your life now, alone on the road.

You were so deep in thoughts that you didn't notice that a man sat beside you and watched you with an amused smile.

"Well if this isn't (y/n).", he said and you jumped in surprise.

The man with the golden brown hair and whiskey-colored eyes grinned at you. He was wearing a white collared shirt and the first buttons of it had been left open.

You knew him from the time with the Winchesters and even so, they didn't quite like him, you had come along with him pretty well.

"Gabriel!", you shout happily, placing the cocktail glass in your hand back on the counter.

"Long time not seen, cupcake.", he said and gave you a peck on the cheek. "So, I heard you finally left the brothers?"

"I wanted to go my own way.", you admitted. "Why are you here?"

"I was bored and wanted to pick some girls up.", Gabriel wiggled his eyebrows and you rolled your eyes as a response.

"You haven't changed at all.", chuckling you pushed a strand of hair behind your ear.

"And you're still as beautiful as always."

You blushed slightly: "Oh shut it! You're too cheesy."

Gabriel just smirked at you, but his smile faded as he noticed a big red cut on your neck which disappeared under your black t-shirt that your hair had been hiding.

"What happened with your neck?", he asked with a worried tone in his voice and pushed some more of your hair back to get a better look at the wound.

"Just some stupid werewolves.", you lied. "But I got rid of them, don't worry."

It had been an Angel who had tortured you with his angel blade. He wanted to know where Gabriel is but you couldn't tell him and even if you had known where he was your mouth would have stayed shut.

After over a week he finally let you go but you had cuts all over your body now, not to speak about the psychical damage he had done.

"You are lying.", Gabriel stated with an angry voice and you felt caught.

"I-I am not.", you tried to sound as convincing as you could but the look in his eyes showed you that he already knew what had happened.

Suddenly you felt dizzy and the next moment you blinked you were in a different room, sitting on a soft sofa.

Gabriel was kneeling in front of you:

"You can't lie to me. I can read your thoughts if I want to."

Awkwardly you looked down at your feed: "...Right. I'm sorry."

"I can't believe my brothers did this. I'm sorry, (y/n).", he said with a guilty voice. "How bad is it? Let me see, I'll heal you."

You hesitated for a moment but then pulled your shirt up and undressed in front of him.

He had healed you often back then and saw you in your underwear multiple times already so it wasn't such a big deal to you anymore but it still embarrassed you.

With red cheeks, you tried to cover yourself up.

Gabriel admired you and your body, he always had, and sometimes he even had found it hard to keep his hands by himself when he healed you but today he just felt pain as he looked at you.

You've gotten skinnier and all those red cuts over your body made him feel guilty. After all, this just happened because of him.

"I'm so sorry...", he apologized again and pulled you into a tight hug, laying his chin on your head.

"It's not your fault, Gabriel. Stop apologizing and heal me already.", you said with a soft chuckle on your lips, trying to overact the embarrassing and sad situation.

With one quick movement, he lifted you and sat you down on a big wooden table next to the sofa.

Carefully he caressed over the wound on your neck with his fingers and followed it to your shoulder, letting it fade away.

You first flinched at his touch and the stinging sensation but quickly got used to it and started to enjoy the feeling of his fingers stroking over your body.

You had to admit that you had missed this.

His hand slide over a cut on your stomach and you watched his face, his eyes shining blue for a short moment whenever he touched a new wound, making it fade away.

Melting into his touch you closed your eyes.

Suddenly his hand wandered over a scar that went from your hips to the inner side of your thigh and you sharply sucked some air in, gasping at the sensation.

Puzzled he looked up at you and locked his eyes with yours.

You blushed furiously and wanted to look away but his whiskey-colored eyes hypnotized you in a way you couldn't explain.

It seemed like he was searching for something in your eyes and your thoughts went crazy about the intense gaze he gave you.

It seemed like he had found what he had searched for because his mouth formed a little grin before he leaned forward and pressed his lips onto yours, kissing you softly.

Surprised about his action it took you a moment to return the kiss.

But the moment you did he grabbed your thighs and pulled you closer, deepening it.

A small moan escaped your mouth. Gabriel chuckled: "I wanted to do this for such a long time, cupcake."

A shy smile crept on your lips and Gabriel started to travel his kisses down your neck, his hand wandering behind you, softly pulling at your hair.

Your hands clenched into his shirt as he sucked at your neck, having found your weak spot.

Slowly he grazed more kisses down your shoulder, healing cuts on his way until his lips met the hem of your bra.

Before he could take it off you took his face between your small hands and kissed him harshly, swinging your legs around his waist and pulling him closer. You could feel his hard member and rubbed yourself against him. A low groan came from his throat and the next moment, he pushed you backward.

You expected to fall on the hard desk but instead fell on a soft mattress.

That little jackass had shifted you both again.

His lips crashed onto yours and his hand wandered down your stomach to your panties, rubbing you through the thin fabric while his other hand pinned you down by your wrist above your head.

"I'm not a little jackass.", he growled against your lips before he attacked your neck again and trailed down to your breasts. With one finger snap your underwear was gone.

You hissed as you felt his hot breath over your breast and your eyes fluttered shut as he licked over them, before sucking at your nipple.

His free hand caressed your inner thigh, slowly moving closer to your faults before he slipped between them, massaging your clit.

Moaning you arched your back, overwhelmed by his touch.

Gabriel loved the view of you being a moaning mess underneath him.

He had pictured you in his lonely nights like this so often and finally, you were his. 

Without a warning, he pushed a finger inside of you and scratched your walls.

He added a second finger and your hips bucked against his hand as he found your spot, asking for more, moaning and wriggling under his touch.

His lips left your breast and found your mouth again, kissing you roughly, muffling your moans.

Suddenly he pulled away from you and started to slowly unbutton his shirt, never breaking eye contact with you. Once his shirt was open he teasingly slowly unbuckled his belt and let his trousers slide down his legs, smirking as he watched the growing desire in your eyes.

As soon as his boxers followed his jeans you yanked your hands forward and grabbed him by his open shirt, pulling him back on top of you and kissing him while tangling your fingers in his golden brown locks.

A little off-guard about your sudden action he nearly forgot to kiss back.

His member rubbed your faults and a wave of heat rushed through your body.

You felt him position himself at your entrance before he pushed inside of you, carefully and slowly, giving you time to adjust to his size.

You whimpered, his golden eyes stared into yours, wanting to make sure that everything was okay.

Soon the pain was fading into pleasure and his slow thrusts became faster and harder.

His hands found your waist, and he grasped it tight while pounding inside of you, hitting your sweet spot over and over again, making you cry out and arching your back.

Gabriel leaned down to you, his lips only millimeters away from yours, too occupied to actually kiss you.

You felt the knot inside of you tightening with every thrust and you clenched onto Gabriel's shoulders, digging your nails in his skin. Moaning and whimpering you threw your head back as the knot burst and the overwhelming feeling of your orgasm rushed over you.

He groaned, your walls tightening around him bringing him further to his own climax.

His thrusts got sloppy and his breath shorter until he released himself inside of you with one last hard thrust.

Exhausted he let himself fall on top of you, burying you underneath him.

"Looks like I still picked a girl up tonight.", he said proudly and you could feel the vibrating of his chuckle.

Snickering you pushed him down from you and gave him a quick kiss.   "Took you long enough.", you whispered and cuddled to his chest...

I'm not really used to writing smut, I hope it's not too cringe haha

But anyway, I hope you enjoyed this story!

Let me know if you did and much love from a certain archangel to you ❤

#fanfiction #supernatural gabriel #archangel gabriel #gabriel x reader #gabriel #supernatural fanfiction #supernatural #smut rp #x reader #lemon #smut fanfiction #supernatural smut #lemon fanfic

[dying-suffering-french-stalkers]

For the ship game: prime numbers for Lupin x Jigen!

HERE YOU GO GHOST, THIS WAS FIVE PAGES IN A GOOGLE DOC AND TOOK ME SEVERAL HOURS

Under a cut, allegedly, though mobile has been known to just IGNORE THAT. Sorry in advance if this gets goofed for anyone.

2) Who is always horny and will have sex at any time, in any place?

Lupin, obviously (and canonically). Just the horniest man you ever did see. Jigen knows what he wants and when he wants it, but he has difficulty keeping up with Don Juan Triumphant over there. Lupin is also far less picky about locations and times than Jigen is. Jigen still has a FEW standards, thank you, and also a stronger sense of self-preservation. Lupin sometimes tries to start shit in public or during a heist and Jigen is like “I REALLY, REALLY APPRECIATE THE SENTIMENT BUT CAN WE NOT.” The closest to public anything Jigen will put up with is bar bathroom/back-alley hookups, and he doesn’t really tend to do that with Lupin or Goemon since they have secondary locations far more suited to such activity (or at least the damn Fiat, if nothing else). That said, Jigen is a spiteful bastard and gets a huge kick out of riling Lupin up over the walkie-talkie during jobs. He is more than happy to get jumped by his boss after they make it out and secure the loot.

3) Who is more into taking showers/baths together? Who tries to make it relaxing and who tries to make it sexy time?

Honestly, while I can totally see Lupin and Jigen doing this with their other partners, I have a harder time imagining the two of them doing this together and I’m not sure why. I feel like these two on their own both like the privacy bathing gives them, whether it’s to clean wounds or decompress from a job.

On the occasions when they do bathe together, I feel like it’s an unspoken kind of thing, where the other person quietly slips in the tub/shower with them and they just don’t bother protesting. I think Lupin is more likely to join Jigen in his bathing, but if Jigen is sleepy enough or lonely enough he might do the same. There is a lot of mutual appreciation of scars. They’ve definitely smoked in the tub before (Intricate Rituals™). Lupin is probably more likely to get handsy, because Lupin, but two can play that game if Jigen is feeling it, and also Jigen gives Lupin a run for his money in the staring department. No hat to hide behind now.

Lupin has also 100% done the whole “Hey Jigen, do you know if—stop screaming, it’s me—do you know if we have any more instant dashi? Goemon’s gonna slice up the sofa if I ruin soba night again.”

5) Who sleeps on the couch when they get into a fight?

Jigen, but to be fair, he canonically sleeps on the couch most nights (possibly to keep an eye on the door, possibly because he knows that place, at least, is always “acceptable” for him to occupy). It’s an odd night if you don’t see Jigen out there with a glass and a bottle of scotch and an old movie on TV. The main difference is that if he and Lupin have been fighting, he won’t bother with the formality of a glass and the TV will be playing far louder or not at all.

7) [A] Who said “I love you” first? And [B] who ends their arguments in a fight with “Because I love you”?

I hate to take the coward’s way out here, but I think the answers are A) either one - depends on the headcanon/fic/version of the characters I’m feeling that day, and B) both.

For A, they’re both the sort of people to show their love—true love/affection, not just flirtation/infatuation, LUPIN—in action, not words. Lupin is a man of many words to a fault, generous with his verbal and physical affection, so Lupin has to find a way to make sure Jigen knows he means it and how he means it. He may rightly fear that Jigen won’t believe him (or else believe him but take it platonically) if he says “I love you” to his face, so first he’ll show him through every little action he can. Jigen is a man of few words to a fault, so saying personal stuff like that out loud is both a last resort and the point of no return. Getting him to say it at all, unambiguously, and while sober is like pulling teeth. Once one of them finally spits it out, though, I think the other is quick to reciprocate (again, if they manage to say it clearly and under good circumstances and not ambiguously/while drunk or wounded/etc. They’re both idiots and selective cowards so this is a big if). The mutual relief is palpable and immediately followed by sex, because they’re both (horny) idiots and selective cowards who do not want to talk about Emotions and Personal Things any more than strictly necessary.

For B, ohhhh man, if it isn’t that same emotional avoidance coming to bite them in the asses! Looks like talking about deep emotions is strictly necessary after all! You know it’s a Big Important Argument for them if this is what it comes to. This is going to tie in somewhat to the answers for 11, 17, and 23, so stay tuned. “Because I love you” coming from either of them should give the other pause, but if they are angry enough, they’re both quite likely to storm off after that declaration anyway. They’ll come back and have a real discussion later, but the shock or frustration of that arresting declaration dropped in the middle of an argument is something neither of them are great at dealing with. Hearing that from Jigen might be enough to stop Lupin in his tracks, but Lupin might also be so dead-set on something that he’ll steamroll right over it even if he knows he’ll regret it later. Hearing that from Lupin probably only makes Jigen angrier because of his awful self-esteem (see answers 11 and 23), and even if he’s been working on that, his instinct will be to snarl “Yeah, right” and storm out the door. I like to think that one day they are able to get to the heart of the argument sooner (because this is almost always it) and work on the behaviors that worry the other so much, but alas, they are a mess.

11) Who makes fun of the other for having a crush on them, and who has to remind them that they are in a relationship?

Once again, either of them depending on the day.

As you mentioned in your JiGoe post, Jigen says it partly because he thinks it’s funny (“You have a crush on me, Boss? Fuckin’ embarrassing”) but also because he’s fishing for validation. His self-esteem/confidence in anything outside his shooting skills is shit and he still can’t quite believe that Lupin isn’t lying/he hasn’t conned Lupin into something. This is rather overestimating his conning skills and underestimating his many good qualities, but, well, genuine, lasting affection is kinda new for him. Much to Jigen’s annoyance, Lupin figures out exactly what Jigen’s up to after the first few times and answers him seriously (and positively) instead of continuing the “joke”. Lupin loses patience for this particular tactic over time but I like to think that Jigen finally begins believing in the affection, too, so it comes up less and less and one day Jigen might actually play the quip straight without the self-deprecation. Ideally he would just take the damn compliment, but it’s LupJig and banter is one of their love languages.

When Lupin says it, he typically is playing the quip straight and fondly giving Jigen shit for showing an Emotion and motherFUCKER I just realized Jigen could probably be considered a tsundere. I hate this. ANYWAY. Jigen then immediately snarks back that yes, Lupin, considering we’ve been travelling the world together and actively fucking for X years, it’d be damn awkward if I didn’t by now.

13) Who initiates duets? and who is the better singer?

Lupin absolutely initiates duets, or rather, he tries to; whether or not Jigen actually chimes in is another matter entirely. Lupin is also the better singer by far (when he’s sober). He loves singing along to pop and rock in the car (“This is the reason God invented America!”).

Much as it would please me personally to give Jigen a smooth operatic baritone, there’s no way in hell he sounds good after smoking a pack a day for twenty-something years. I think Jigen can carry a tune and he’s a decent hummer and whistler, but his singing voice isn’t spectacular.

Lupin occasionally succeeds in getting Jigen to join him in car karaoke, though as in all things, Lupin is much louder and more impassioned. Jigen frequently hums along under his breath, though, and Lupin loves hearing Jigen’s a cappella renditions of classical music (complete with hand motions).

When Queen starts becoming popular, car singalongs become much more involved because it’s MY silly headcanon and You Are Not Immune To Queen. Jigen cried the first time he heard “Bohemian Rhapsody” and he will kill Lupin if he ever tells Goemon or, God forbid, Fujiko. When the four of them are in the car it’s a full-on Wayne’s World headbanging party. (Pops is the drunk guy they pick up along the way. Also, seeing Payless Shoe Source in this clip dealt me psychic damage.)

Lupin and Jigen (and Goemon) are the living embodiment of the drunk friends singing “Sweet Caroline” post, and Jigen is specifically this version of “Sweet Caroline”.

17) Who is more protective?

THAT IS THE QUESTION, HUH, GHOST? Jigen’s job and, to a certain degree, raison d’être is protecting Lupin, but (to cheat slightly and quote your own DM to me), if you think Lupin won’t raze everything to the ground to keep Jigen (and the others) safe, you don’t know him at all. They are this meme to the deepest of faults. They are both so desperately afraid of losing what they have (and in Lupin’s case, this is tinged with a bonus, even more concerning “what is his”) that they will go full self-sacrificing, scorched-earth policy. This is, in fact, my favorite reason for Lupin to do the worst thing he does: fake his own death to protect his partners. Lupin never stops to think that maybe, JUST MAYBE, he should trust his partners to fake grief and keep the secret long enough for whoever’s on their tail to give up or let their guard slip. Lupin is willing to hurt them in an effort to protect them, so in that way, I suppose Lupin is the “most” “protective”. Jigen’s self-abasement to the point of unhesitating and perhaps even hasty sacrifice is painful, too, but Jigen would never dare go to the same level of deception (except in Goodbye, Partner, apparently? But 1) I haven’t watched it yet and 2) while awful, I still feel like fake betrayal pales in comparison to very convincingly (AND MAYBE REPEATEDLY) faked death).

19) Who drives and who has the window seat?

They split driving duties, but Lupin genuinely loves driving and Jigen is more than happy to prop his feet on the Fiat’s dashboard and smoke or sleep the hours away.

23) Who thinks they are not good enough for the other’s love? and who’s more afraid of losing the other? Who thinks they keep messing up, only for the other to tell them they don’t need to worry?

HERE WE GO AGAIN!!! I think the answer to all of these is ultimately Jigen, but that’s not to say Lupin doesn’t share the exact same worries.

Jigen has a very difficult time believing that his partners’ love is genuine, and since Lupin is the one he knew first, that’s where it first manifests. Jigen has had very, very few good romantic connections in his life (if any). He doesn’t know what Lupin could possibly see in an older, prickly hired killer with a drinking problem and a head full of demons. He’s willing to believe that Lupin keeps him around for his skills, for protection, and for sex, sure, but anything past that? Doubtful. This ties into the other two parts of the question: Jigen is afraid that if he fails in his sharpshooting or his protection, he will be cut out of the gang, or worse, Lupin will end up dead because Jigen slipped up. As mentioned in question 17, Jigen cannot bear to lose Lupin and he would never forgive himself if he believed it was somehow his fault. Accordingly, Jigen takes “failure” that exceeds his usual margin of error very seriously in the early days. Later, he is better about this, but the worst-case scenario still stands.

Lupin, on the other hand, has had plenty of romantic connections, some good, some bad, though it is perhaps telling that Fujiko is his longest romantic relationship other than Jigen. He is afraid that if he doesn’t put on the world’s greatest show at all times, no one will give a rat’s ass about some scrawny grandson of an old French thief (or the perhaps unwanted/disliked son of a ruthless crime lord, because I love that fanon for Lupin the Second). He must live up to and indeed surpass the previous Lupins, he must shower his partners in money and adventure, he must always, always come out on top no matter how south the plan goes, or else what is the point of him? It takes time for him to turn his persona off for more than a few seconds, to let the quieter, sometimes contemplative side that slips through the cracks come to rest out in the open. Years down the road, Jigen finally gets up the courage and the words to tell Lupin that he would love him no matter what he did or where he went, even if that was nothing and nowhere. And again, see question 17 re: losing Jigen.

29) Who does some crazy stunt to try and impress the other and who ends up driving them to the emergency room after it backfires?

Lupin is by far the most guilty of this. He’s constantly pulling dumb shit, whether that be for World-Renowned Gentleman Thief reasons or just He May Be Stupid reasons. Case in point: the tunnel scene in The First, after which Jigen was duly impressed. Fortunately for Lupin, Lady Luck must be head over heels for him because the bastard keeps surviving, but sometimes even she can’t save him from medical consequences. Jigen bulk-ordered “Stupid Hurts” band-aids specifically for Lupin. Jigen’s bad choices are more likely to literally backfire on him, but Goemon more than makes up for Jigen’s slack in the Crazy Stunt department.

#I CARE THEY #hope this is comprehensible bc i honestly cannot tell #i have many thoughts on these two human disasters #lupin iii #jigen #asks #the-golden-ghost #long post #meta #I GUESS #can you believe i wrote five pages of meta about 1970s comedy anime characters? fucking hell. i love this fandom. #ship meme

[marathoning-barbie]

Watching and ranking all (for now) 39 Barbie movies: an introduction

Oh God. How do I even start?

I was absolutely obsessed with the 3D-animated Barbie movies as a child. I religiously watched all of the ones up until Barbie and the Three Musketeers before I sadly dived right into my tween Not Like Other Girls™ phase and decided they were too immature and girly for me. Internalized misogyny is a bitch.

During lockdown, I eventually had the idea to marathon every single one of these movies. I started in early 2020, back when the movie franchise was still in a hiatus, then took a break and restarted the entire thing in late 2021, and now, 39 movies later, here we are.

I don’t really expect anyone to truly care about my opinions on any of these movies. I don’t even think anyone will ever see this, apart from the random seemingly-not-bot person who started following me before I even posted anything (shoutout to you, I guess). With some of the movies I kinda hope people won’t care, because the alternative is anger. But if anyone does see this, I hope my fevered rantings are mildly amusing to you.

I mostly did this to catch up with  all the movies that came “after my time”; not just because of curiosity. If you look at any discussion of these movies online, especially Youtube, there is a pretty clear pattern among people giving their opinion that whichever movie they saw last as a child was “obviously” the last good Barbie movie, and all the others since had been irredeemable trash. That can be as early as Swan Lake or as late as Rock ‘N Royals (and I definitely receive 10 points of psychic damage whenever that one is counted as old). It’s such an obvious pattern that I’m about 90% sure I could tell you which movie a person considers to be the last good one if you told me their age. That’s hyperbole, don’t actually test me.

I always thought this was an unfair assessment. I mean, I can’t deny nostalgia isn’t important to me either; I won’t even pretend my dumb little reviews or my ranking are in any way objective. But I still didn’t want to bash on the new movies just because they were new. I’m sure I’d have counted many of them among my favorites if they came out early enough for me to have watched them. Some of them are among my favorites now even without nostalgia. Not to spoil the rankings, but my avatar is a pretty obvious sign.

I have now watched every single one of these movies at least once, and I have a bit of a preliminary ranking, though I won’t publish that one yet. I will go through each movie in release order, give a super short description of the plot and then remark on everything that stood out to me — whether good or bad. I might even bring up the movie-tie-in doll if I feel like it.

After I’ve finished my reviews for at least two movies, I’ll create a ranking post, which I’ll edit whenever the next review is posted. I might rewatch a movie again before writing the review, but I won’t make that a rule, because some of these I really don’t want to see again. It should also be noted that I’m looking at these from the eyes of a young adult woman, and I’ll not only be downright mean to the movies I didn’t particularly like, I also swear way too much for my own good. Sorry for any actual kids reading this I guess.

I’m not sure if I’ll make it to the end, and if I notice that I’m not gonna continue this I’m just going to post the full final ranking and be done, but let’s hope it won’t come to that. Also, if a new movie is released while I’m working on this blog, I’ll watch and review it as well.

Now that all this is over, I guess we can go on to the reviews. I’ll post the first one in a few hours, and the rest every few days afterwards. Don’t expect me to have a proper schedule. If anyone actually reads this, feel free to ask whatever or just tell me how wrong my opinion on a movie is.

Note: I am aware of the existence of the 80s movies, but since they’re separated from the 3D-animated movies, I won’t count them for this marathon.

#barbie #barbie movies #barbie movie reviews #introduction #i don't know how to tumblr sorry #my tags are going to be a mess

[teshamerkel]

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Seekers of Soul

[Chapter 9] (16 Pages)

<< First | < Previous | Next >

Nia and Tobias have their combat capabilities tested and meet their assigned trainers. Meanwhile, Nia’s new friends have some doubts about the riolu’s hot-tempered partner.

-

Nia trails nervously behind Tobias as they climb the tree’s staircase, desperately trying to think of the moves she’d read about in her books. There were lots of punches, she thinks. Does she even know how to punch? What if she can’t bring herself to actually hit someone? Her thoughts cut off when they finally enter what is presumably the training floor, and she stops in her tracks.

The open space is busy despite the early hour, Pokémon sparring and practicing moves either against each other or on cloth dummies. Nia watches with wide eyes as a giant bee with drills for hands (What on God’s green Earth?) dances gracefully around their fighting partner before lunging and managing to slam the other Pokémon in the chest with the blunt of their drill.

Yikes.

“Tobias!” A feminine, oddly delighted voice calls.

Nia turns to see a humanoid, flower-like Pokemon walking—no, strutting—over to them. Long green petals flow behind her like hair, and what looks like thigh-high pink boots stretch up her long legs. The Pokemon is beautiful and carries an air of confidence, and Nia tries not to feel too intimidated.

“You really sent Archer into a tizzy the other day, destroying another dummy,” she says, and Nia can hear the grin in her voice despite not being able to see a mouth past the Pokemon’s petal collar.

Tobias snorts. “He should just be glad I didn’t use him as my training dummy. He fits the bill.”

The flower Pokemon laughs loudly, then seems to finally notice Nia. “Oh! Well, hey there! You must be Nia, right? Maggie’s little charge?”

Nia offers a shaky smile. “Y-Yeah, that’s me.”

“Nice to finally meet you, honey! I’m Azami. A tsareena, if that helps at all. I’m one of the trainers here at the guild. Speaking of—” She looks to Tobias again. “What’re you here for today? It’s not one of your usual days to train.”

“We’re here for assessment,” Tobias says, straightening up. “We’re a Seeker team now.”

Azami lights up. “Finally! Virizion knows you’ve been itching for battle for years now.” The tsareena turns an appraising look on Nia next. “So you’re Spitfire’s partner?”

Nia stiffens, glancing at Tobias, but the charmander doesn’t even react to the nickname. Nia hesitantly nods.

“Have to say, I’m curious to see what a human brings to the battlefield!”

Nia tries not to look too terrified at the mention of actually fighting. Even worse, of being graded on her fighting.

Azami giggles and turns, beckoning them along. “C’mon! I’ll get Val to help us out.”

They follow her to the back of the open gym, where a large, wooden mat area is marked off by a white rectangle of paint. A Pokemon is on their hands and knees knocking at one corner of the mat, checking for breaks if Nia had to guess.

“Val!” Azami presents Nia and Tobias with an overdramatic flourish. “New Seekers needing assessment.”

The Pokémon, Val, looks up, standing to her full height and towering over Nia and Tobias. She certainly looks like she belongs in the training area. She has gray skin, but what almost looks like rounded yoga pants and head adornments in a dark shade of pink that perfectly matches her lips. Yellow marks accent her “pants” and bead her forehead. Nia’s surprised by how humanoid she looks.

“New recruits?” The new Pokemon asks, voice dusky. Dark, serious eyes peer down at the two of them. “Names and team title.”

“You know my name,” Tobias grumbles with a roll of his eyes. “Team Scarlet.”

Val narrows her eyes at him, but doesn’t push, looking to Nia instead.

Nia jumps. “U-Uh, Nia! Team Scarlet.”

Val nods, motioning for them both to follow her to the middle of the training area. They do, Nia casting Azami a nervous glance over her shoulder. The tsareena gives her a wink and settles on the sidelines to watch.

“Charmander first,” Val says.

Huh. Is there a reason she’s calling him by his species and not his actual name? Tobias steps forward without comment, so Nia retreats, scurrying back to Azami’s side.

“Attack me as if I were an outlaw,” Val instructs. “Do not hold back.”

Tobias frowns, looking insulted. “I’m not weak.”

“I did not say you were. Attack.” She settles into a loose stance, arms up and at the ready, feet placed wide. 

Tobias growls. “Fine.”

The charmander launches at her, claws gleaming with a metallic shine. Val ducks under his attack and rolls the charmander over her back to land on the ground with a heavy thud. She returns to her stance, looking unbothered.

Tobias snarls and goes straight at her again, swiping and snapping his jaws in a frenzy, occasionally trying to spin and slam Val with his tail. She moves around him like water in a stream, dodging and stepping aside with inhuman grace to avoid every move. She doesn’t even have to touch the charmander to trip him up. It doesn’t help that she’s so much taller than him, with longer limbs, but Nia has a feeling that Tobias would be losing regardless.

“She’s amazing,” Nia breathes.

“Isn’t she?” Azami says, a gleam in her eyes. “Val’s one of the best fighters in the guild!”

Tobias steps back for a moment to recover. Val simply waits, staring emotionlessly at the charmander’s heavy breathing.

Tobias snarls and darts forward again, feinting right before rolling left, popping back up and spewing a huge plume of embers at Val. Nia tenses up, but the pink Pokémon simply seems to shift through space, to glitch, easily moving through the fiery attack without getting hit by it. When she steps around behind Tobias again, Nia notices her eyes glowing orange.

Azami must notice her confusion. “Val’s a medicham—half fighting type, half psychic. That move was detect. It basically lets her dodge moves easier.”

Nia nods, leaning forward eagerly. She’d read about that move, actually! It’s so much cooler seeing it in person. Tobias takes a few more swipes at Val, attacks slowing as he tires out. Then, almost too fast for Nia to follow, Val slides behind the charmander. She grabs his arms, yanks them behind his back, and uses a foot to sweep his legs out from under him. In one smooth movement, Tobias is pinned on his belly, teeth bared as his face is smashed into the ground.

Wow.

Val nods to herself, as if making some sort of decision, then releases the charmander to stand up. “Riolu.”

Tobias snarls and pushes himself up, spinning to swipe at the medicham again. Val simply smacks his hand to the side. 

“You are done. Sit down.”

Tobias stops, huffing, before stalking over to Nia and Azami.

“Uh, good job!” Nia says, giving the charmander a shaky smile.

Tobias glares at her, face red from the workout. Or embarrassment. “Shut up.”

He plops down beside her, pointedly looking ahead of him. Nia cringes but doesn’t push, nervously following Val’s beckoning and moving forward into the training area. The wood feels almost springy underfoot.

“I-I haven’t really fought before,” Nia says, voice high with nerves.

Val‘s lips purse, face unreadable. “You are the former human, yes?”

“Yes.”

“Did you fight as a human?”

“I-I don’t think so?”

Val makes a quiet, unreadable noise, and then falls into the same stance. “If you want to be a Seeker, you must fight. Try.”

Nia swallows, heart pounding. Frantically, she tries to remember the bit of reading she’d done yesterday on fighting types. Punches and kicks, right? Just start with a punch! Apparently it’s supposed to come naturally, but that’s if you grow up as a riolu, not become one suddenly as an adult. There was a move called bone rush too, she thinks? Or aura sphere? She—

“C’mon, Nia! Kick her butt!” Azami whoops.

Val is still waiting for Nia to make the first move. Holding her breath, Nia balls up a fist and throws it forward, stumbling. Val immediately catches her fist.

“If you punch like this, you will injure yourself,” Val says. She uncurls Nia’s fist, moving her thumb out from inside her other fingers. She helps Nia close her fist again, thumb lined up on the outside now.

“Hit with these two knuckles,” she continues, tapping the top knuckles of Nia’s pointer and middle finger. “Not the flat of your fingers.”

Nia tries to pay close attention to Val’s words, nodding.

“Keep your fist lined up with your arm. Tilting leads to broken wrists.” Val lines up Nia’s arm, stepping behind her to turn her shoulders, twisting her torso. “Stance wider.”

Nia follows her instructions, feeling incredibly awkward and unnatural. But she definitely trusts the medicham’s knowledge over her own.

“Try a punch. Use your legs and torso, not just your arm.”

Nia focuses and tries it, punching at the air. Oh. It’s kind of like how she used her momentum and the twist of her torso when she was swinging her branch. Like batting. She casts Val a nervous glance.

Val says nothing, expression unchanged, but nods. “It will become more natural with practice and repetition. Now kick.”

Nia nods and tries not to look too stupid as she kicks at the air, just managing to not fall over. She hears Tobias snort, and when she looks at him he’s not even bothering to hide his grin. Jerk.

Val moves to correct her form once again, and then has her repeat a few punches and kicks in the air. Then, she teaches her a basic block with her arms, showing her how to properly use the mounds of bone on her forearms as a defense without damaging them and having them crack.

After a minute or so of crash-course training, Val steps back and nods. “That will do for now. Do you know how to use your aura powers?”

Nia’s ears flatten. “N-No. Sorry.”

“Do not apologize. We must all learn.”

Nia offers her a thankful smile. Val doesn’t smile back, but oddly enough Nia doesn’t feel unnerved by the Pokemon’s stoic expression. Maybe it’s because she doesn’t sound angry, just…calm. Patient. The medicham turns to Azami and Tobias. The charmander stops looking bored, straightening up.

“Azami. I will train these two myself, if you would be willing to assist with Charmander.”

Azami laughs, throwing an arm around Tobias’ shoulders. Nia is still shocked that he doesn’t look upset by her casual, friendly attitude. “Sounds great! I’d love to show Spitfire the ropes. You’re sure you won’t be too overworked, Val?”

The medicham shakes her head, resolute. “I will handle their primary fighting technique, and Riolu’s aura training.”

Nia blinks up at the medicham, a bit awed by the Pokémon. “Y-You can help me with my aura?”

“My psychic abilities are similar. I can teach you the basics.”

Azami drags Tobias over to the two of them, and the charmander steps into line beside Nia while the two older Pokémon face them.

“Have you taken the knowledge assessment?” Val asks.

“Not yet,” Tobias says.

“As long as you pass that test, you should be cleared to go on E-rank missions!” Azami says, hands on her hips.

Nia’s surprised. After she clearly showed she doesn’t know a single move?

Val must be able to see what she’s thinking, because she explains, “You are inexperienced, but expectedly so. You are strong, and you listen. You will learn fast. As long as you have your partner to cover your back—“ She gives Tobias a pointed look. “You will be fine. Learning in the field is the best method.”

“But you two will need to stop in for training at least two times a week, for Val to check your progress and correct any faulty form or techniques. And for Nia to practice her aura abilities, too! Sound good?” Azami asks.

Nia nods, grateful to hear that she’s not being completely thrown to the wolves to learn on her own. Tobias grunts.

“You should probably go take the knowledge assessment next,” Azami says thoughtfully. “As long as you pass, you’re free to spend the rest of the day however you like before your first mission tomorrow!”

“I recommend coming back here to train,” Val says. “Riolu, you are far behind a regular Pokémon in knowing your own body and abilities. Charmander, you are strong and have good instincts, but your temper and your reliance on straightforward tactics will only hold you back.”

Nia nods, glancing at Tobias when he huffs and crosses his arms. Oh boy. Why does she already get the feeling that Tobias isn’t fond of the medicham?

In the end, they leave the training area and return to the floor they met Riley on earlier that morning. An adorable ladybug Pokémon gives them each a separate test (Nia’s verbally, due to her sloppy handwriting) regarding their knowledge of crucial Pokémon info. Typings, abilities, identification of different kinds of Pokémon and items...Nia’s surprised by how much she remembers from her many hours of reading over the last week. She’s still a nervous wreck, though, and she winces every time she knows she gets one wrong.

And yet, at the end of the test the cheery ladybug Pokémon happily announces that they both passed. Nia just scraped by, she’s sure, but it was enough. She gives Tobias a relieved smile, and even he looks like he’s holding back excitement at the news.

They’ve officially made it. They’re a Seeker team. Team Scarlet.

Tobias immediately heads towards the training hall to return to practicing, but Nia suggests they get something to eat instead. Her stomach has been growling for an hour now.

Tobias looks tempted by the thought, but then shakes his head. “I’m gonna train. I’ve gotta get a hit on that stupid medicham or it’ll drive me crazy.”

Nia can’t help feeling a little hurt by the rejection, but tries to smile as he turns to go. “O-Okay. Catch you later, then?”

The charmander doesn’t answer, turning a bend in the hall, and Nia’s smile drops. She didn’t expect him to soften up to her overnight, but they are a team now, right? She thought that would mean something!

Sighing, the riolu turns and hopes she can find her way to the cafeteria. It’s nearing noon, so by time she does track it down, the place is packed. Nia squeezes through all of the Pokémon, glad for her species’ smaller size, and finally steps into a random line. The next problem is where to sit. She has her tray of food, but the tables are all more or less full of Pokémon she doesn’t know. She’s considering taking her food down to one of the tunnels on the base floor, but then she hears someone calling her name.

“Nia! Nia, over here! Hey!”

It’s the green deer Pokémon she’d met here the other day! Andyn, she thinks? Andyn is hopping up and down on one of the table’s benches to catch Nia’s attention, so she hurries over to the deer Pokemon’s side. There are two other Pokémon clustered around her with their own trays, chatting as the riolu approaches.

“Hey! Good to see you! You should sit with us if you don’t have a place to eat,” Andyn says. Nia’s eyes flick nervously to the other Pokémon, but they’re both looking at her with open curiosity.

“Oh! Is this the human you told us about?” A black weasel (or cat?) Pokémon asks. He has one black ear and one ear a striking, feathery red, a golden charm on his forehead, and when he points excitedly at Nia, she sees that his hands are basically just long, curved claws. “She looks just like a regular riolu!”

“I told you that, dummy,” Andyn says, rolling her eyes.

The weasel-cat sticks his tongue out at the deer before turning back to Nia. “I’m Ezra. A sneasel! Ice and dark type. Incredibly fast, and incredibly cool. Literally!”

Andyn groans as Nia laughs, charmed by the cheeky sneasel’s attitude.

“I’m Jaz,” the pink Pokémon across from Andyn offers. She’s smaller than her teammates, and Nia doesn’t know how else to describe her other than saying she looks like an adorable stuffed animal version of a red panda, with soft fur and blunt paws. Something about her demeanor feels calmer than Andyn and Ezra. “I’m a stufful. Fighting and normal type.”

“Oh, right! And I’m a deerling. Grass type.” Andyn adds.

“Take a seat,” Jaz says, patting the spot beside her. “We don’t bite. Well, most of us don’t.”

“That was one time!” Ezra protests.

Nia smiles and sits down by Jaz, picking up a berry and watching the friendly banter unfold between the group.

“I had no choice!” The sneasel adds, in a tone that says they’ve argued about this before. “You were confused, Jaz! I had to snap you out of it somehow!”

The stufful shoots Ezra a dry look, pointing a paw at her ear where a sizable piece of it is missing. “By taking a chunk of my fur?”

“Cannibal!” Andyn jeers, giggling madly when Ezra starts yelling at her about how he didn’t even eat Jaz so it didn’t count.

“You guys seem close,” Nia says quietly to Jaz.

Jaz huffs a laugh as Andyn nearly knocks her tray of food off the table mid-argument. “Team Evergreen, at our best. These two are always like this.”

Nia nibbles at her food—a pecha berry, she thinks?—and basks in the friendly ribbing. Even if she feels slightly out of place, it’s nice to be included in such a friendly group.

“So what have you been up to since coming to the guild?” Andyn eventually chirps, finished with teasing Ezra. “Still helping Maggie out?”

“O-Oh! Um. I’m actually part of a Seeker team, now. We just registered today.”

Andyn and Ezra perk up at that.

“That’s so cool!” Andyn says, beaming. “I never would’ve pegged you as the Seeker type! Who’s your partner?”

“Tobias.”

Immediately, the jubilant mood of the group takes a nosedive. Jaz and Ezra exchange a confused, concerned look, and Andyn looks outright upset.

“What? Why in Celebi’s name are you partnering up with him?”

Nia just blinks at her, unsure how to answer.

“He’s so rude and mean, a-and—he’s just a jerk! For no reason! He’s always been like that.”

“I actually agree with Andyn,” Jaz adds, tone careful. “Tobias is...aggressive, at best. And you seem sweet. A little shy, even. I have to say I’m wondering how you two even get along.”

Nia winces. They kind of just…don’t. “W-Well, we sort of ended up deciding to try this out together?” No one at the table looks reassured, and Nia adds, “P-Partnering up was actually, uh, my idea. He just accepted.”

Jaz’s expression smooths out at that, and she goes back to her meal. Ezra is still staring at Nia with a frown. It looks out of place on the mischievous Pokémon’s face.

“So you aren’t worried he’ll like...ditch you in the middle of a dungeon or something? Or that he won’t have your back? It’s super important that you trust your partners in the Seeker business. It can be a matter of life or death.”

At that, Nia hunches down a bit more over her tray, trying not to let her doubts surface. She certainly doesn’t trust Tobias with her life, but he’d never just…leave her behind, right? He didn’t the first time they met, but…

“I certainly wouldn’t trust him,” Andyn huffs, poking at a berry on her tray and nearly mashing it with her hoof. “There’s a reason he has no friends our age. He’s not a good Pokémon. Some of the older Pokemon are nice to him, but they have to be.”

Nia feels like she should defend her partner. He isn’t that bad! He seems to really care about Maggie, at least. Still, when Nia opens her mouth to protest, nothing comes out. She knows she should defend the charmander, but...she doesn’t want to make her potential new friends upset, either. And he is still pretty mean to her. Nia finally settles on shrugging, looking down at her food to push it around. She’s not so hungry, all of a sudden.

There’s a beat of awkward silence. Then, Ezra says, “Well, maybe he doesn’t suck as much as we all think he does?”

Jaz sighs. “Just be careful, Nia. What’s your team name?”

From there, the conversation slowly rises back to normal spirits, and Andyn and Ezra even get into another lighthearted squabble. Soon enough they’re all finished eating and returning their trays, Nia hesitating at one of the food lines.

“What is it?” Andyn asks, holding still while Jaz ties the bow around her neck for her. It’s a dark reddish-pink tone, kind of like Ezra’s ear.

“I was thinking maybe I should grab something for Tobias. I don’t think he ate yet.”

Andyn groans. “I can already tell that you’re gonna be way too nice to him. Don’t let him step all over you, okay?“

Nia smiles at Andyn’s concern. “I won’t. Thanks.”

The team heads out on a mission, waving goodbye and telling Nia that she needs to join them for lunch again. By time she gets a sack lunch of food to take back to Tobias, her chest feels happy and filled to burst. She’s making friends! She had Maggie before, of course, and maybe Xander, and everyone else has been really nice to her, but...something about talking and eating with a group of Pokémon her age makes her happy.

She practically skips back to the training hall. When she finds Tobias, training with Val and still stubbornly trying the same charge-and-slash tactic as before, she sits down on the sidelines to watch. He really just needs to mix up his approach and he’d probably do much better.

It’s another few minutes before Tobias finally slows down, falling to a knee and literally steaming with exertion.

“Enough. Take a break,” Val commands, stepping back. There’s not a scratch on her. In fact, she doesn’t even look winded. Her gaze flicks over to Nia. “Come here.”

The riolu jumps, scrabbling to her feet.

“I can still fight!” Tobias huffs between breaths. He’s shaking.

“Go rest,” Val repeats, voice hard.

Tobias growls under his breath, looking like he wants to argue, but then he staggers over to Nia’s side, collapsing onto his back. Nia debates on bothering him, but then gingerly picks up the sack lunch and sets it near the charmander’s head. “I-I brought you some lunch. If you want it.”

She hurries off before he can respond, squaring up with Val. The medicham tells her they’ll wait a couple of days before beginning Nia’s aura training, so she is more settled in and her emotions are in order. Instead, they return to practicing her physical movements. In addition to simple kicks, punches and blocks, Val teaches her how to roll, sidestep, and dodge.

After a particularly sloppy roll ends up with Nia sprawled on the ground, she looks over to see Tobias watching them train as he munches on a berry. Nia smiles as she moves to try the maneuver again. At least the charmander is eating!

Soon enough Tobias wants to join back in, so Val switches to discussing a few basic forms of tactics to use when fighting. In addition to full frontal assault, there are sneak attacks, defensive maneuvers, bottlenecking using tight areas, distraction techniques...Nia never dreamed there would be so much to learn about fighting!

In no time at all, the sun is setting, and Nia is more tired than she has been in her entire life. Probably. Definitely more tired than she has been since becoming a riolu. She falls back onto the training mat, breathing hard. Her muscles are screaming, she’s hot as heck, and her brain is tripping over itself trying to remember and repeat all of the new basic techniques she’d learned today. It’s no surprise to Nia that as soon as her and Tobias trudge their way upstairs to Maggie’s quarters without even a bite to eat for supper, they both immediately head to bed.

“Hard day?” Maggie asks, laughter in her voice.

Tobias grunts, flopping face-down into his nest. He grew to accept Val’s expertise and superior strength throughout the day, but Nia would bet anything he was still grumpy that he couldn’t land a single hit on the medicham.

Nia leans against the wall and tries to keep her eyes open to talk to the meganium. “I could fall asleep right here.”

Maggie chuckles, reaching out a vine to smooth back the fur on Nia’s head. Oh, that feels nice. “You do look wiped, my dear. One more question, and then I’ll leave you be so you can rest. What did you two name your team?”

Tobias snores from his nest, and Nia gives the meganium a tired smile. “Team Scarlet.”

“Lovely choice,” Maggie says, expression warm. Nia wonders if she has an idea of where the name came from. “Why don’t you get some sleep? You have your first mission tomorrow, from what I hear.”

Nia nods, yawning, and carefully steps around Tobias to lie down in her own soft nest. She’ll be sore tomorrow for sure. Still, she feels...good. Accomplished.

Excited.

#pmd #pokemon mystery dungeon #pokemon #riolu #sneasel #stufful #deerling #pmd seekers of soul #tesha writes #tesha draws

[lloydskywalkers]

heLLO i’m so sorry this took so long!! tumblr did not, in fact, eat your ask this time, i just took five years with the response T-T i did very much want to write something about Jay and Cliff (because that’s a criminally underused relationship), but unfortunately season 12 has come out since i wrote All I’m Asking For and kind of...made things...a lot angstier :’( so this leans much more on the angst side than the fluff, but!! there is some in there, i promise

It happens mid-battle, which is never a good time for anything to happen, really, other than a spontaneous victory. If it had happened at any other time, Jay would’ve gone with him. Any other time, he tells himself, he would’ve found the time to talk.

But it’s mid-battle right after Sensei Wu’s gone missing in time, and ironically enough, time is the last thing Jay has on his hands.

It’s not even the worst of battles — just some jerks who actually happen to have too much time and advanced high-grade weaponry on their hands — but it’s enough to send the city’s civilians screaming for cover as another chunk of building comes raining down toward them. Normally Cole would take this kind of thing, since Jay’s more about the agile, dynamic stuff (not because his arms are a whole lot like half-cooked spaghetti noodles next to Cole’s, not at all). But Cole’s on the other side of the city running collateral damage watch with Zane, so Jay’s the only one around to snatch the poor man out of harm’s way before a chunk of concrete squashes him.

“Whoo, that was close,” he breathes out, as dust mushrooms out from the impact nearby. Jay carefully sets the man down, coughing briefly and tugging his mask into place. “You alright?”

The man doesn’t reply, staring at Jay with wide, eerily familiar eyes. “You,” he breathes, as if Jay is some miraculous apparition — which, sure, Jay just saved his life, but like, he’s Jay. He’s a whole two or three inches shorter than this guy, he’s not super impressive.

“You’re the lightning ninja,” the man continues. “You’re — Jay?”

Caught between being pleased he’s recognized and being slightly creeped out, Jay opens his mouth to reply. Then he looks at the guy, actually looks at the guy, and immediately shuts it. And a good thing, too, because Jay’s mouth suddenly goes so dry it kinda feels like a dust vacuum.

“Y-you’re Cliff Gordon,” he manages, on a wheezing kind of whisper. “H-hi. Hi, hello, it’s—”

An honor? Jay’s half-hysterical mind throws at him. What is he supposed to say? Hello, long-lost father who gave me up as a baby, I figured that out, by the way? Does Cliff even know Jay’s his son? Does he even know his name’s Jay? Oh, why oh why has Jay put off acknowledging anything that happened with Nadakhan for this long, just because the entire thing’s a minefield worth of trauma and it makes him wildly nauseous to think about it at all, it doesn’t mean—

“Jay,” Cliff Gordon repeats, his eyes wide and shiny, and Jay’s stomach drops like he’s on a roller coaster. Because the way he says his name — it’s like he knows, it’s like he cares—

“You, uh,” Jay swallows, utterly oblivious to the exploding building two blocks back. “I think…you knew my mom?”

Alright, points for Jay for the lamest segue into this possible, but the beaming, almost-painful smile that splits Cliff’s face at least drowns part of the shame out.

“You could say that,” he murmurs, looking part-overjoyed, part-terrified. “If you know that, then — you must know I’m your — I never meant to lose—”

Cliff cuts off painfully, dragging a hand through his graying hair. Jay vaguely notes the puffs of dust that go drifting off from it, before the awkward silence gets too heavy and his mouth kicks back into action.

“Yeah, kinda…figured that out,” Jay laughs, nervously. “I don’t, um, I’m not mad…? If that’s what you’re worried about, but it’d be uh, nice to…”

“Of course,” Cliff nods fervently, as if he’s somehow psychic and can mind-read the ten thousand words’ worth of questions barraging across Jay’s brain. “Of course, we should talk, there’s so much I need to explain, I—”

Jay’s radio interrupts him in a bursting screech of static, leaving them both wincing.

“Jay, any day you wanna get back in the game, we could use a little help here!”

Kai’s voice is strained, and Jay glances from the battle to his — Cliff — with wild eyes. Cliff shakes his head, waving toward his teammates.

“Go on, go on,” he says, something like pride in his voice. “You’ve got a much more important job to do.” He pauses, his eyes bright and painfully hopeful. “But you’ll — you’ll come and visit me sometime, will you?”

“Yeah,” Jay nods, feeling oddly shaky. “Of course, I’d — I’d really like that.”

Cliff Gordon’s face splits into full smile, and Jay takes that as his cue to leave before he does something hideously embarrassing, like run his mouth or try to — to hug the guy. His eyes catch the bright flash of the Destiny’s Shadow, and he jumps up as Lloyd tilts the plane, Zane reaching a hand out to snag Jay and haul him in.

“Nice timing,” Jay gasps in thanks as he finds his seat, fumbling once with the tight squeeze. “Sorry about the wait.”

Zane simply squeezes his shoulder briefly. “I am merely glad to see you in one piece,” he says, wincing briefly as another explosion goes off. Jay cringes as his eyes rake over the smoking flames. Man, they’re gonna be stuck doing repairs here forever—

“Who was that?”

Jay startles back to himself at Lloyd’s voice, blinking rapidly. He opens his mouth, prepared to unleash a floodgate’s worth of “you’ll never believe this”—

Then stops dead as Zane and Lloyd stare curiously at him, awaiting answer. Jay shuts his mouth, and swallows.

How is he supposed to announce he’s met his father — his second, whole father, in addition to the super great one he already has — to them? To Zane, who barely got any time with his only parent before he died? To Lloyd, who's still actively grieving having lost his only dad for like, the third time? How’s that gonna go over, huh, motormouth?

So Jay shakes his head, forcing an easy laugh instead. “Just some random fan.”

************

He means to follow up right after. He does, really, but everything goes to hell in a handbasket so quickly Jay barely even has time to breath. First it’s the months of searching for Sensei, then it’s guarding the royal family, then they’re on the run, then they’re watching Garmadon brutalize their baby brother on live television and he’s dying on a table and the city’s being destroyed by a giant and the Bounty’s being crushed with them on it and they’re running for their lives in the First Realm and Sensei Wu’s a teenager and—

They’re kind of busy, that’s the point he’s trying to make.

Eventually, there’s a brief spot of time he could go, maybe. It’s right after they’ve returned from the First Realm, though, and that’s...not a great time.

The city’s still stumbling back to its feet, for one, and the loss of the emperor and empress doesn’t exactly help. Their little family’s left stumbling back to its feet even slower, as beaten down and utterly exhausted as they are. The four of them had their own run of it in the First Realm, but Lloyd and Nya didn’t have it any better back in Ninjago, and the whole thing’s just — just a big mess. And sure, maybe reuniting with his long-lost biological father now could like, actually benefit Jay’s half-shredded mental state, since the guy seemed pretty happy to see him, but…

But fathers.

Lloyd still wanders their apartment like a ghost at night, his eyes dull and haunted from whatever night terror he’s been graced with now. He wanders a little bit like that in the day, too, eyes glazing over and hands trembling at times. Jay knows why, of course — they all know, it’s not a secret. Not with the high-definition TV footage that keeps circulating. And they — they try to help, of course, they do their very best, but there are some things only time can fix.

Jay watches Lloyd’s eyes shutter at the mention of his father, and wonders if his entire life is enough to fix whatever’s been broken with his own.

In other words, Jay decides to be a coward.

Ironically enough, however, it ends up being Lloyd that encourages him to go. Not that he realizes that.

“Don’t bother making extra for dinner tonight, Zane,” Lloyd announces wearily, as he trudges through the kitchen. “My mom’s on the road again.”

Zane blinks at that, then frowns. “Where is she off to now?”

“Don’t know,” Lloyd says shortly, before promptly stalking off toward the rooftop exit. Jay and Zane stand there in silence for a moment, Zane still methodically stirring the rice. Then he turns to Jay, and fixes him with a look.

“Grumpy-about-parents Lloyd is normally Nya’s job, you know,” Jay huffs, but he relents, following Lloyd’s quiet footsteps to the roof. Lloyd’s curled up in his usual spot, close enough to the edge that it frightened the life out of Kai the first time they found him. Jay doesn’t exactly get why, because Lloyd’s sad, yeah, but he’s not—

Well, maybe Kai’s just scared Lloyd’ll trip and fall off the roof. That’s what Jay’s choosing to believe, for his own sake.

Either way, Lloyd looks pretty sad now, so Jay plops himself right down next to him with a huff, neatly startling Lloyd so badly he almost does trip right off the roof.

“Woah, hey, it’s just me,” Jay says quickly, throwing his hands up. Lloyd glares at him, and Jay makes a face. “Don’t give me that, you’re the one that’s supposed to have ninja reflexes.”

“Hmph,” Lloyd grumbles, wrapping his arms back around his knees, but he looks slightly less likely to zap Jay’s nervous system full of energy, so he takes that as a go-ahead.

“So, your mom, huh,” Jay starts, with all the intent of comforting Lloyd and comforting Lloyd alone. “Hey, random question, but how did, um, why’d you decide to let her back into your life, in the first place?”

“What?” Lloyd stares at him. Jay cringes. Oops, that wasn’t supposed to come out. Classic Walker, he’s brought his own issues right into the middle of it, like an absolute selfish—

Great, now he wants to throw himself off the roof.

“Sorry, sorry, forget I said that,” Jay babbles, desperately trying to re-route the conversation. “Just — forget I opened my mouth, okay? Please?”

Lloyd shakes his head, looking more concerned than sad now. He’s even unfolded from his tight little Lloyd-angst-ball, which Jay would count as a victory if it weren’t for all the wrong reasons. “Jay, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course!” Jay blusters. Lloyd stares at him. Jay gives him a bright smile back. Lloyd continues to stare.

“Okay, fine, not really, but — that’s not why I came up here,” Jay admits, cheeks flushing.

Lloyd’s eyebrows furrow in concern. “Is everything…okay with your parents?” His voice is tentative, as if he’s almost scared of Jay’s response, and Jay can’t have that.

“My parents are fine,” he replies, firmly. “But, uh, thanks for asking. I’m just…” Jay trails off, abruptly realizing that explaining this is going to require mentioning Cliff Gordon, which is going to require mentioning that he’s adopted, which is going to require explaining why he hasn’t told the rest of his team this. None of which are options Jay wants to explore at the moment, so he desperately tries to backtrack.

Lloyd, faithfully caring brother that he is to the bitter end, beats him to it. “Well, even if they are fine, um. To answer your question, I guess I…I needed to know.” He blows his breath out, glancing out over the skyline, half-broken buildings forming dark silhouettes against the setting sun. “I needed to know why she - she left me. If it was me, or if it was her, or…whatever, you know?” Lloyd bites his lip, and Jay suddenly feels like a horrible person for putting him through the mother thing right after the father thing’s been blown to smithereens.

And yet.

“Yeah, I get that,” Jay says quietly, letting it sink in. And he does, really. More than he thought he would, and this is probably a big glaring sign from the heavens, huh.

“But I don’t know,” Lloyd continues, sounding small as his hands tug on a frayed thread from a torn spot in his gi. “Maybe sometimes it’s better to cut people out entirely, too.”

He looks terribly worn when he says that, too young and too old for his age all at once, and Jay decides he hates the expression on his youngest brother.

“I’ll remember that, next time you steal the last of my coffee stash,” he says.

Lloyd gives a startled huff of laughter, before jabbing him in the side with his elbow. “That’s not what I meant,” he rolls his eyes, but there’s a smile edging his mouth now — not quite the Lloyd smile he’s used to, but it’s not as frail as it’s been, either. Lloyd doesn’t look so much like porcelain that’s been stepped on anymore, and the proud spark of joy Jay feels from that is enough to convince him that it’s a good idea.

He did promise Cliff Gordon he would, after all, and besides — knowing can’t be that bad, and Jay’s a firm believer in the wisdom of knowledge, and all that.

He’s also a firm believer of closure, but he’s stopped claiming to be one, since it probably comes off pretty hypocritical lately.

************

Jay doesn’t tell anyone where he’s going. He doesn’t even tell them he’s going at all, he just…waits for a convenient opportunity to slip out when no one will notice.

He wishes he had. He wishes he’d told Cole, told Nya or - or anyone he was going, and at the same time he’s glad he told no one at all. He’s not quite sure he could bear anyone else seeing whatever look’s on his face right now, on top of everything else.

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry,” the woman at the estate tells him, her eyes teary. “Cliff Gordon passed away a month ago.”

That…doesn't make sense, at first. It takes a minute, to sink through the odd roaring noise in Jay’s ears, and finally reach his brain.

“Passed…away,” he repeats, blankly.

The lady nods, looking at him with so much pity Jay kind of wants to kick her shins. “It was his heart, poor man. He hasn’t been so well the last few years, you know.”

“Right.” Jay feels a little like he does when he’d used to jump off his dragon, except this time he’s been tossed from it and he’s free-falling to a short and sudden stop.

“Did you know him?” she asks, curiously.

Jay tries to make some form of response, like “I was his son”, except all that comes out is a whole bunch of nothing. Nothing, just like what’s left in Jay’s head. He blinks rapidly, trying to banish the image seared into his brain.

Cliff Gordon’s eyes, bright and painfully hopeful.

You’ll come visit me sometime, will you?

Jay swallows thickly. “Sorry, if you’ll, uh — excuse me, I think lunch was bad.” Then he ducks for the nearby bushes, and proceeds to be horribly sick.

He tells himself, through heaving gasps, that the hot tears are only reflexive.

************

And that’s that. Jay, stupid, selfish Jay, waited too long and now he’s lost his chance forever. Because he was — what, scared? Nervous?

He’s not scared now. He kind of just hates himself, which isn’t the newest thing in the world, but this time it burns like the worst of scrapes and crawls up on him in the middle of the night, screaming what-if’s into his brain until Jay’s biting down on his pillow before he starts screaming himself.

It hurts, but he’s got no one to blame but himself. Jay messed this up all his own and he sure as heck doesn’t deserve any sympathy from his team for it. So he’s not going to even give them the chance, because they’ll never know. Jay will take this secret to the grave, because imagining the looks on everyone else’s face when he tells them he ruined this makes him want to put himself in the grave.

How long did he wait for Jay, how long did he—

Jay’s just going to drive himself insane with his own stupid brain and that’s that.

Well, that’s supposed to be that. It would’ve been that, except Cole is perceptive and Cole knows him too well, and Cole spots the look on his face when he’s telling him everything he’s found out about his mother, since Jay can’t even hide that from him.

And maybe Jay’s just weak, or so desperate for some form of reassurance or - or attention that he cracks, and spills the whole sorry thing to Cole. To his undying credit, Cole doesn’t even look like he despises Jay once. Instead, he looks at him with all this sympathy and kindness and oh, if Jay was a crier—

Well, actually, Jay is a crier, and ends up bawling into Cole’s gi at two in the morning, but what else is new.

The important thing is that Cole is Jay’s very best friend and possibly favorite person in the whole entire world, and Jay is going to murder him in cold blood for dragging him to Cliff Gordon’s estate and forcing their way in.

“If he cared enough to want to meet you, he’ll have cared enough to leave you in his will,” Cole reminds him, staunchly. “He knows how busy your life was, so I’ll bet you anything he understood.”

“Stop trying to make me feel better,” Jay hisses, as Cole manhandles him down the mansion’s — the mansion’s! — hallways. “I don’t deserve it.”

“For the love of—” Cole cuts off with an exasperated huff. “It is not your fault this happened. This is not on you. How many times are we going to have to do this, Jay.”

“Until the time you let me wallow in miserable peace,” Jay mutters. What does Cole know, it’s not like he totally bailed on his parent and then let them die. Not that Jay could do anything about that last part, sure, but the rest of it.

Cole stops them in one of the massive living rooms, finally fixing Jay with one of those stares. Uh oh.

“At least read the letter,” Cole says, suddenly pleading. “You don’t have to look at anything else if you don’t want to, but please read the letter. For me?”

Oh, Jay hates him. He tells him so, even as his glare falters in the face of Cole’s stupid puppy eyes.

“Is that a yes?” Cole replies hopefully, offering the letter they were handed with the estate key. Jay gives him a last, withering glare before snatching the letter from him.

“You’re the worst,” he mutters, as he tears open the envelope with shaky fingers. He hesitates for a beat, before mustering whatever pathetic courage he has and tugging the paper out, unfolding it as his eyes find the carefully scrawled words.

My dear Jay—

He promptly bursts into tears.

“Jay wha — Jay what’s wrong, is it that bad?” Cole is frantic as he hovers over him, his hands half-caught between reaching for Jay and reaching for the letter in his hands. Jay shakes his head, trying to stifle the sudden waterfall’s worth of tears that decided to make an appearance, and clutches the paper tighter.

Cole makes an anxious sound. “Jay, you know he’s — if he’s said something bad, it’s — he doesn’t know anything, right?”

Oh no, now Jay wants to cry harder. Cole sounds desperately concerned, kind and caring and genuine like Cole always is, and Jay feels like the worst person in the world.

Stupid, Jay, he scolds himself hotly, swiping angrily at his eyes. Stupid, selfish Jay. He’s got nothing to be crying about. Zane only had one dad, and he doesn’t go around whining about it. Lloyd’s got one dad who’s died three times, and may as well be dead now ‘cause he’s such a jerk. Kai and Nya didn’t even have any parents until last year. And Cole lost his mom who he loved, he loved so much, and he’s still here supporting Jay — stupid, selfish Jay, who’s got two entire stable parents who he’s never once doubted love him, and yet here he is, crying over the one he never really knew.

“Jay,” Cole tries again, quieter this time. “Jay, you’re allowed to be sad about your dad. It’s not a contest.”

Stupid, perceptive Cole.

“He said he loves me,” Jay finally croaks, swiping at the tears all over his face. “He didn’t even know me, Cole, how was he supposed to know that?”

Cole’s eyes soften, all melty and gross. “You’re his son, Jay, he knew you.” His lips quirk up in a smile. “Besides, he talked to you once, right? You make some pretty impactful first impressions, motormouth.”

Jay can’t decide whether to be insulted or more flattered than he’s been in the last six months. He decides to punch Cole weakly in the shoulder, before crying harder. Cole doesn’t even flinch at the hit, built like a rock as he is, and simply snatches Jay’s arm and tugs him close, wrapping his arms around him tightly. And oh, Jay wants to pull away, he doesn’t want to break down in his dead father’s mansion like this, Jay doesn’t have a lot of dignity but he’s at least got his shreds, but—

Cole gives the best stupid hugs in the world, and what’s Jay gonna do, deny such instant love and comfort? The risk of hurting Cole’s feelings far outweighs Jay’s tattered dignity, he tells himself. That’s why he clings to Cole like an overgrown barnacle and wails into his shoulder like a broken faucet. That’s the only reason, obviously.

“It’s okay to cry, you big moron,” Cole says after he’s calmed down, briefly squeezing tighter. “I get it. But you really should read more than the first lines of that thing. I think…I think it’ll help.”

“This is all I’ve got, though,” Jay sniffles. “I don’t — I lost any other connection I’ve got to him.”

“Sometimes you just gotta work with what you have,” Cole says gently, a little bitter, a little sweet. “And somehow, you have to make it enough.”

Jay pauses at that, thinking back to the statue miles and miles beneath a mountain, the delicate locket Cole had turned over in his fingers. He looks back to the letter in his hands, the lines and lines of all the words his father left for him, and remembers Lloyd’s words about knowing.

His fingers tighten on the edges of his letter. Jay, he decides, is done being scared. He’s got Cole at his side — what’s he got to be afraid of, anyways?

“Okay,” he says, swiping once more at his eyes, and giving Cole a watery smile. “Okay. Help me read through the whole thing?”

“I wore my old sweatshirt for a reason,” Cole replies, making a show of wringing his sleeve out. Jay whacks him with the envelope, but the laugh he shudders out feels real, this time. He gently spreads the letter out atop his lap, focusing on the words again.

It’ll be enough. It’ll sting, but…it’ll be enough.

Like Lloyd’s tattered photograph, like Cole’s mother’s last words — it has to be.

#lego ninjago #ninjago #jay walker #cole brookstone #lloyd garmadon #since they're both...fairly present at points gdnkfgj #i just have many feelings about jay apparently T-T #my fic #answered