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in1-nutshell · 3 months

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Can you do one where mtmte bot buddy is perceptor easily scared younger sibling that has a crush on rodimus? Thanks for the help with how to inbox my request.

I've been noticing a trend with request for Rodimus lately. Our Co-Captain is getting some loving hours.

Hope you enjoy!

Perceptor's younger sibling who is scared easily with a crush on Rodimus

SFW, Romantic, Platonic, Familial, Cybertronian reader

MTMTE

Buddy had always been a jumpy bot.

Whether it be in the heat of the moment or in times of peace, something always had Buddy on edge about something.

“YYEEEP!”--Buddy

“What was it this time?”--Perceptor

“I thought I felt something on my pedes.”--Buddy

“Hmm.”--Perceptor

“Don’t ‘hmm’ me! I’m telling you I felt something on my pede and now its not there!”--Buddy

“Careful, you’re starting to sound like Red Alert.”--Perceptor

“Hey leave Red out of this!”—Buddy

“Yeah leave—”—Red Alert

“AHH!”--Buddy

“AHH!”—Red Alert

That being said, Perceptor is protective of his younger sibling.

He loves them, scaredy bot, and all.

He does try and help Buddy in his own ways by trying to rationalize everything, which helps them a bit, but too much.

Is willing to put a bot in their place if they try to make fun of Buddy for their jumpiness.

Primus forbid that someone does scare them with malicious intent.

He wasn’t a Wrecker for nothing.

Buddy had tried going to Ratchet or any other doctor or nurse to see if it was a medical problem.

“I don’t see anything bout of the ordinary here kid.”--Ratchet

“Nothing?”--Buddy

“Perfectly normal frame inside and outside. I think you just get jumpy too often. You can always go see Rung if it gets any worse.”--Ratchet

“Thank—”--Buddy

Whirl barging into the medbay.

“HAS ANYONE SEEN CYCLONUS OR PANIC BUTTON?”--Whirl

“Whirl! Please, you’re—”—Ratchet

THUNK!

Buddy passing out on the med slab with their spark beat going wild.

“Ohhh… Jumpy’s here.”--Whirl

“Yes…”--Ratchet

In the lab.

Perceptor looking up from his work.

“Is your Buddy sense tingling?”--Brianstorm

“Stop calling it that.”--Perceptor

“But it is!”--Brainstorm

“Brainstorm.”--Perceptor

“Perceptor.”--Brainstorm

Brainstorm saw this problem as a challenge and had asked Buddy if they were willing to be tested to see if he could solve the problem.

Buddy had never been raced out of the lab faster than at that moment.

“Brainstorm?”--Buddy

“Yes?”--Brainstorm

“Is this safe?”--Buddy

Buddy sitting on the lab table with several jumper cables clipped into their frame with a series of wires on their helm.

“Oh Buddy! Of course, it is relatively safe, in theory.”--Brainstorm

“In theory?”--Buddy

“Yes. Everything comes from a theory. Now whether this is a good theory is what we are about to answer now!”--Brainstorm

“Does Percy know?”--Buddy

“What he don’t, know wont hurt Buddy. Now let’s flip this—”--Brainstorm

“BRAINSTORM!”--Perceptor

“He sounds mad! What did you do!?”--Buddy

“Nothing!”--Brainstorm

“Brainstorm.”--Buddy

“Buddy.”--Brainstorm

“…”--Buddy

“… I may have locked him in the closet before I grabbed you from Swerve’s…”--Brainstorm

“…You know, for one of the smartest bots on the ship, you sure can make a dumb decision.”--Buddy

“What--”--Brainstorm

BANG!

Perceptor kicking down the lab doors with his snipper rifle in his servos.

“AAHHHHH!”—Brainstorm and Buddy

No mercy from Percy.

Their friend group had gotten used to Buddy’s jump scares after the first few times.

Sometimes they were the cause of it.

Buddy would always laugh it up in the end.

They would never take it too far so it was all fun and games.

But there was one thing on board that made their spark run faster than the scares.

Rodimus Prime.

The captain was going to be the death of them, they were sure of it.

The two got along great, which wasn’t the problem.

The problem was that Buddy liked the reckless captain.

“Has anyone seen Rodimus? He should have been here by now.”--Buddy

“Nope.”--Chromedome

“No.”--Rewind

“Haven’t seen you’re Conjux since this morning.”--Brainstorm

“Conjux?! Brainstorm!”--Buddy

“Don’t lie to me Buddy I’ve seen how you two look at each other. Everyone on the ship practically knows about it.”--Brainstorm

“Oh don’t tease them Brainstorm.”--Chromedome

“thank you—”--Buddy

“Its not their fault that they are both oblivious to each others feelings.”--Rewind

“You too Rewind?”--Buddy

“I’m getting sick and tired of watch you two pine over each other.”--Rewind

“Who’s pining?”--Rodimus

“GAH! Roddy, don’t do that!”--Buddy

“Hahaha! You know you can’t be mad at me.”--Rodimus

“…One of these days I’m going to get a spark attack because of you.”--Buddy

With their friendship the amount of reckless stunts had gone down.

Something Ultra Magnus was grateful for.

Buddy the ever worry wart always tried to talk their captain from doing many reckless activities.

Most times they would work, but that would usually mean that he would try to do another activity that was less of a threat without Buddy looking.

Rodimus trying to get off the ship to go meteor surfing.

“Rodimus!”--Buddy

“Shh! Megs will hear you!”--Rodimus

“And? You are in no condition to go meteor surfing! You just got out of the medbay from last expedition.”--Buddy

“And I’m fine!”--Rodimus

“Please…”--Buddy

“…Fine. But you have to help me with some of the reports.”--Rodimus

“Deal.”--Buddy

“After I go and flip over the captains chair!”--Rodimus

Rodimus jumping and failing to do a flip landing on his faceplate.

“Roddy!”--Buddy

“Hmmm?”--Rodimus

“Hang on I’m bringing you to Ratchet.”--Buddy

“Nooo… I don’t wanna.”--Rodimus

Buddy throwing him over their shoulder like a sack of potatotes.

“Too bad Captain.”--Buddy

Key word try.

Buddy watched him sometimes like a hawk.

The other times that Buddy wouldn’t be able to talk him out of the activity ended up with Buddy joining.

Those time Rodimus would smile that smile of his that could literally light up a room.

“How did I end up here?”--Buddy

“What do you mean?”--Rodimus

“Here!”--Buddy

Buddy latched on a cord dangling from the ceiling by their chassis.

Rodimus on the ground with his arms wide open.

“I must have my circuits fired to even say yes to this!”--Buddy

“Nope, I just asked, and you said ‘yes’.”--Rodimus

“I know!”--Buddy

“Relax Buddy its just a trust fall!”--Rodimus

“Yeah! But I didn’t think it was going to be from this height!”--Buddy

“It’ll be okay! Just let go!”--Rodimus

“Let go?!”--Buddy

“Trust me Buddy! You’ll be all right! Just trust me!”--Rodimus

Buddy saying one more pray to Primus before detaching from the chord, screaming on the way down.

Rodimus catching them nearly falling on the floor too.

“See! I gotcha—Buddy?”--Rodimus

Buddy passing out.

Perceptor knew about Buddy’s little crush on the Captain.

While he would have wish it be on another crew member, he supposed that Rodimus wasn’t the worst of them all.

After talking it over with Drift, Perceptor decided that it would be a good idea to actually talk to Buddy about it.

“Percy?”--Buddy

“Buddy.”--Perceptor

“What’s going on? We don’t usually have private talks like these. Wait! Did something bad happen to you?”--Buddy

“No, no, I asked you to meet me here to talk.”--Perceptor

“To… talk?”--Buddy

“Yes.”--Perceptor

“Okay, I’ll bite what did you want to talk to me about?”--Buddy

“Its about Rodimus.”--Perceptor

“What about him? Did some—”--Buddy

“Nothing happened to him…yet.”--Perceptor

“What?”--Buddy

“I noticed you and the Captain have been spending more and more time with each other. And if my theory proves me correst, you like him.”--Perceptor

“Umm… where did you—I mean, me and Roddy—I mean—”--Buddy

“Its okay.”--Perceptor

“What?”--Buddy

“I’m fine with you dating Rodimus.”--Perceptor

“Really! But doesn’t he annoy you? Especcially two days ago when he said ‘science is magic’. You nearly grabbed your riffle and made him into Swiss cheese.”--Buddy

“… Yes. I have taken that into account, but you are mainly going to be spending time with him. He wont be my Conjux, he’ll be yours.”--Perceptor

“Conjux!”--Buddy

“That was a joke.”--Perceptor

“It didn’t sound like it!”--Buddy

“How do you intend on telling him?”--Perceptor

“You’re just filled with questions aren’t you?”--Buddy

“I’m a scientist Buddy.”--Perceptor

“Yeah, but its not that simple Percy.”--Buddy

“How so?”--Perceptor

“I can’t just go up to him and say ‘Hey Roddy, I like you a lot. You want to go out with me? We can go to Swerve’s for our first date. We can drink, dance, and watch movies all night long’.”--Buddy

“What?”--Rodimus

“Don’t sound like that Percy—”--Buddy

“That wasn’t me.”--Perceptor

“Then who—”--Buddy

Rodimus standing in front of the door way.

Buddy’s fans kicking in before passing out.

“How long where you there?”--Perceptor

“Long enough to know Buddy already beat me to the chase and already had a date night planned.”--Rodimus

“…If you ever think or try to hurt them in anyway, I know how to shoot in between your seams and make you go through the worse pain imaginable before any medic comes to help you. Do I make myself clear?”--Perceptor

“Clear. And the thought of hurting them is the last thing I would want to do.”--Rodimus

“Good.”--Perceptor

“Yeah.”--Rodimus

“…”--Perceptor

“…”--Rodimus

“We should probably get Buddy to Ratchet.”--Rodimus

“Agreed.”--Perceptor

#transformers #transformers x reader #maccadam #bot buddy #idw mtmte #mtmte x reader #mtmte perceptor #mtmte rodimus #mtmte rodimus x reader #mtmte perceptor x sibling

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roseate-felidae · 7 months

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Depression episodes and new tablet hell

So previously I was on a semi successful medication to manage my clinical depression. It worked mostly fine until my monthly hormone cycle messed it up and caused mental breakdowns.

These episodes happened twice weekly every damn month. So big problem.

During these breakdowns I tend to also try to make myself feel better by going with what usually makes me happy- my Autistic obsession.

This is my animals. Most of the time I am very happy with just my rabbits. But in my more Fragile state I tend to convince myself that there are better and more fulfilling options. My most recent one is the idea that dogs and cats are "superior" to rabbits.

Turns out that cats tend to have the same affectionate capacity as rabbits. That is to say that you get extremely friendly ones and then others that are more independent. So not a slight to either animal, rabbits are just very friendly if we'll socialized. So cats are not really "superior" at all.

Dogs on the other hand were a nightmare. The breeds I liked were very complicated. Cocker spaniels were too high energy and had separation anxiety. Cavalier king Charles spaniel has high rates of syringomyelia and are brachycephalic. Labradors I have experience with (my step mums pets) and are very clumsy, high energy and high shedding. I'm severely allergic to dogs aswell. So were just a bad descision overall.

But my main take away was that there was not even anything wrong with my pets and if I got a cat/dog tomorrow it would not solve anything. It's what I already get with my beloved buns anyway and my brain is just searching for a better solution to a thing that's not the problem to begin with (depression is).

I even tried internet dating, even though I tend to keep to myself and don't like company outside of family and online friends. I wasn't even lonely but was trying to "fix" non existent problems again to sort out depression.

So I get new tablets and think it's going to work.

It's been a month now and these fuckers had undone all my depression help I had previously with my last meds and not solved the damn anxiety I was put on it for it in the first place.

So now I need to talk to the doctor's tomorrow and hopefully be taken seriously this time.

You see I tried talking to them twice already and they first forgot to call me back and then never made time for an appointment the second time.

Boy do I love the chaotic mixture of depression, anxiety and autism. Also when doctors don't give a shit about doing their jobs.

TL: DR: new tablets I got to help with depression and anxiety have not helped me with said depression and anxiety. I am worse than I was before. Anxiety meltdowns trigger autism to "fix" non existent pet problems. Turns out unsurprisingly rabbit pets were fine and it's trying to make a big deal out of nothing.

#depression #anxiety #mental health

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multifandumbmeg · 13 days

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Random update per my fics:

Sorry I haven't updated in the last few days. I usually try to write some every day, but I took a day off to plan Golden Glint and then finished the mini fic (Reckoning of Mike Carrera) I started before it because that's what I wanted to write and I wanted to finish it.

On the topic of all my in-progress fics, my writing just isn't consistent right now. I mentioned a while ago that I'm going through AO3 author's curse and would eventually expand on that, so since I'm extremely frustrated and paralyzed from being productive today I'll do that now.

Starting from winter/late fall of 2022 I got sick and basically never got better. I was having illness after illness that meds weren't solving, and my headaches just got more and more frequent until they were every day for at least three months. By the time I came home from Korea, I was having full-blown debilitating migraines every day and attacks where I would almost pass out and couldn't breathe. It took me a couple months but I got on insurance, started a new job, and managed to convince my parents to let me focus on getting my health together this year.

It's been extremely difficult and frustrating because US healthcare, but I found out I do not in fact have ANY allergies despite doctors telling me I do, literally putting me on allergy shots for a year, and telling me that was the cause of migraines, inability to breathe, and constant illness, none of which were true. I had to prove this to them by fighting to see an actual allergist and getting re-tested which costs me hundreds of dollars out of pocket, but at least the allergist was a good dude who wrote a SCATHING letter to my primary care demanding I be sent to the proper specialists for my symptoms. Several blood tests and medications later, we have whammy number two:

The hypoglycemia I was diagnosed with as a teenager was not in fact random. Instead, I have hyperthyroidism caused by Graves Disease. Except I ALSO have Hashimoto's Disease, because I am just so special like that. Basically, rather than allergies like I was always told, I have been getting every single sickness that rolled by for the past several decades and because I was so used to being sick and so criminally gaslit about it, I didn't even know I was ill and just kept going. Thyroid also has tumors on it. I may also have other autoimmune disorders, or thyroid cancer, but I won't know until I finally see an endocrinologist an hour away later this month.

Though my daily migraines stopped last summer, I still get frequent headaches and now extremely bad ones (or migraines) every time it rains. Generally, there seems to be some kind of inflammation issue where my body over-reacts to literally everything by swelling up and causing more problems.

Possibly tied to that, I was in pain every single day at work. Considering my age, there is no normal reason I should be crippled by joint pain but that is yet to be solved. I now only work two days a week, which has helped significantly, but I am still consistently in a ton of pain two days a week, sometimes three as a rebound.

In January, before I had gotten any diagnoses, my parents gave me an ultimatum that they were kicking me out in May. I had to beg them to go part-time because I simply could not keep up with job applications while I was so constantly tired and pain. After sobbing for two straight days about the inevitability of becoming homeless because I can't afford to or logistically live on my own, my mom convinced my dad to let me go part time on the condition that I continue to pay the same rent Ive been paying to live in one of their empty spare rooms.

In February, I went in for the first appointment toward getting an Autism screening. The therapist suggested I get an ADHD test and recommended me for the official autism screening, saying I have a solid case for suspecting. After a little computer game and another talking appointment, slightly to my own surprise (especially because of how easy it was) I was clinically diagnosed with ADHD. I recently started meds for that and it has made basic tasks and job applications infinitely easier to the extent it's insane, plus my final Autism screening is next week and based on my results every step of the process so far diagnosis seems likely.

All that said, the job search process has been soul-destroyingly frustrating. I have a masters degree in a specialized field, backed up by a Bachelor's in a relevant field, years of study abroad and work abroad (which is relevant to my career path) and a track record of excellent academic achievement. I also speak French and Korean near-fluently and am conversational in Romanian and Russian, as well as knowing a fair few phrases in a number of other languages. Every job I've had has stressed me out to the point of quitting by around a year (hello Autism), but also none were related to what I studied at all, highly customer service oriented, and still every one would tell you I was one of the best employees they ever had and begged me to stay. Even with this track record, after literally HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS of applications (which in my field almost always require a cover letter, often questionnaires and lengthy short answers, or even writing samples in addition) I have had ONE interview in four years. ONE. And I was so heinously underqualified for that hail-Mary I'm 99% certain they only interviewed me to meet a quota. As you can imagine, for someone with highly probable AuDHD, doing the same thing over and over for 4 years with a 100% failure rate is enough to make me want to dive into a lake with a pile of bricks chained to my back.

I'm still months out from seeing a neurologist about my headaches and general constant pain, I don't have a plan of action for my buck-wild medical anomaly thyroid, and I don't know if my parents are kicking me out next month. They haven't brought it up so maybe with my recent headway on the Peace Corps application (was told I stand a very good chance, but that's another contract job overseas, further pushing back my ability to find a stable, long term career job) and slew of diagnoses and medications, my dad is cooling off a bit. I don't know.

All that to say my body is crumbling out from under me, my job is stressful, and despite being extremely qualified and putting in so much effort, I have zero long-term life prospects. Sometimes, that results in me diving whole-hog into writing for fun and as an outlet, other times I'm too tired or need to bury myself in mindless content consumption or days of spending every spare moment staring at my ceiling in silence until I maybe fall asleep. Did I also mention the crippling lifelong insomnia which my ADHD meds (along with rapid weight loss I'm desperately trying to curb because I'm already borderline underweight due to my thyroid) are exacerbating?

Anywyay. Point is I'm very tired and stressed so my writing is going to be much less consistent than in the past. Hope you understand. Also just an update for my online friends. TMI but I needed to rant and put it out there for those wondering to lower expectations.

#Sorry #You can leave now

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trangenderstan · 2 years

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My Stanley headcanons because im like that (featuring some others but they're all Stanley-centric)

He likes metal/hard rock music. Idk something about his whole attitude to hippie music and the "Youth these days" has so much "Ugh modern rock is nothing like old rock" vibes

Going back to the previous one, i totally see him listening to SOAD. Especially Chop Suey, Prison Song and Sugar

Basically canon, but he has severe depression. Definitely suicide attempts. Maybe getting institutionalized if Dipper and Mabel's guide is any indication

It also persists his whole life. Even on the Stan O' War with Ford. He's not very educated on the whole mental health biz so he definitely leaves the meds on land thinking "Oh well i got what i wanted now". When Ford finds out he's turning that boat around in a heartbeat

His bond with Dipper is almost just as strong as with Mabel. Dipper is just very insecure about being coddled and seen as "inferior". So Stanley opts to be cold and harsh with him to try and make Dipper feel independent and grown-up

Also i feel like Stanley sees a bit of himself in Dipper. Ready to sacrifice everything for his dumb sibling, having this inherent feeling of inferiority and has a hard time trusting people

I feel like he was involved in some drug-dealing business

A common one, but he kept in touch with their mother from time to time. That's how he got Ford's number

Continuing with the previous, but Stanley had a very meaningful bond with Caryn. Maybe she was one of the only people who genuinely saw good in him. Assuming she passes away while he's still posing as Ford he definitely attends her funeral. Just to say thank you and apologize. Apologize for making her suffer so much because of his, he thinks, selfish actions

Soos knows much more than he lets on. Stan told him about as much of his life as he could, or Soos found out himself. Soos is just too loyal to tell anyone, even when he sees that Stanley keeping secrets is backfiring horrendously

In turn, Stanley knows way too much about Soos. He rarely shows it, but when he does, it's "accidentally" shoplifting his favorite candy or "i had this old thing lying around" and it's the newest copy of a videogame Soos wanted badly. Soos never comments on it

I don't think he's a father figure to Wendy. More of a friend, really. The mature one in a friend group who loves to cause mischief but knows when to stop before anyone hurts themselves. Wendy can tell him things she'd never tell her real dad or family

If we're talking canon, then i hc him as aroace. But unlike Ford, he's the kind that desperately wants to feel romantic attraction, have a lifelong partner, get married, maybe even kids. He just never could, not even because of the circumstance, but because of his own brain chemistry. He accepts that part of himself when he and Ford set sail though. Who needs romance when you have your favorite person in the world right by your side?

He always had an interest in science/space. It just got suppressed by other people constantly telling him that he shouldn't like this thing, it's for smart people and not him. He also never really understood the hyper-academic wording in textbooks. But rebuilding the portal kind of reignited that spark. And now he gets into arguments with Ford over which solar system planet is superior and why

He also sometimes corrects Ford's mistakes. Think that Adventure Time moment where Finn is able to solve a problem because Bubblegum got too caught up in her genius

He's very touch-starved. And also loves physical intimacy, no matter how much he denies it. That's why he and Ford are often clinging to each other for absolutely no reason. Simple touches like hair ruffles and hands on shoulders and silent comfort that the other is here. I love these guys.

He has memory lapses. They're never going away but they do get easier to handle. But the fear of "What if this is the last time" never fades. That's why he keeps a personal diary addressed to himself. In case he never remembers again

Similarly, he goes through a bit of an identity crisis when he's erased. He's not the type to delve too deep into philosophical and pointless questions and yet something keeps telling him "Is he really Stanley if he can't remember his own name half the time"

I'm very passionate abt my autism headcanons... There's gonna be some Ford in these because you can't say "Autism headcanons in Gravity Falls" and not say "Stanford Pines"

He's autistic and has a special interest in boating. I hc him to definitely know how to build a whole vessel from scratch, remember the names of very specific things and constantly corrects Ford when he calls the galley a kitchen. When Ford complains he just cackles and says "This is how i felt growing up with you, suck it up for once"

Also boxing

Stan and Ford don't even talk to each other half the time on the Stan O' War. They will sit on the dock and stare into the distance like "Did you know that while hotter stars usually have bluish colors, blue flame on earth isn't nessesarily hotter than regular one?" "A ship and a boat's difference lies solely in their weight. A boat is a vessel that weighs under 500 tones and a ship weighs more than that obviously" and neither register what the other have said

Stanley is very invested in social behavior. Ford on the other hand is the complete opposite. This leads to Stanley reading other people better than any neurotypical does and Ford to have no social perception skills whatsoever

Stan never gets a diagnosis. I feel like Ford does. Eventually. Or in his 20s. Ford never talks to Stan about how they're literally two sides of the same coin. He just lets him feel safe and figure everything out on his own terms. Stan knows but never mentions it either

They also find unique ways to deal with their mutual issues. Offering a cup of coffee as a way of saying "I'm sorry", a lighthearted punch to the shoulder as a way of saying "It's ok, i forgive you". Neither are good with communicating, and especially hearing the other out but who cares. They're both old and mentally ill and neurodivergent

#suicide tw #i know my hcs are really mild #but they mean. so much to me #i'm a big canon appreciator so i try to stay within the appropriate setting #i swear if no one reads this i will cry #maybe a pt 2 later if i remember more #stanley pines #stan pines #headcanons

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maerenee930 · 4 months

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random thoughts. (pretty long. just a heads up for anyone who does happen to read this. not that i like actually/ really think anyone is going to read this 😅)

feel like it’s been a minute since i’ve done this. it probably like actually hasn’t been that long or as long as i think it has been or as long as it finds feels like it has, but yeah. 😅

so life update:

- finally have a new gp. my precious doctor just wasn’t working out. idk if i mentioned it (i think i did. i can’t remember for sure) but she basically chalked up any of my issues i’ve been having mentally and emotionally mostly, can be solved by losing weight. when i asked if there was maybe some other kind of medication i could try to help with my depression and anxiety not only in general but especially for when i’m pmsing and both tend to get a lot worse and i start to feel super low (like feels really close to how i’ve felt at my lowest points 😣) and i just felt my meds weren’t doing what i needed them to.

so when i asked if there was maybe something different i could try or even just for something around that time to help with both, she told me “well you’re already in medications and you’re at the highest dosage for each one. i don’t know what else you want. there’s nothing i can do. you need to lose weight. that will help.”

so yeah…. that felt pretty fucking shitty. ngl. so i finally found a new doctor.

i’ve only seen her twice now and already i feel so much better than i have in quite a while! she’s so sweet and genuinely kind! she’s truly willing to hear me out and not dismiss my concerns or make me feel like i’m over reacting or like i’m not actually trying to change things or make them better. like i don’t actually care or want to feel better. doesn’t dismiss my feelings because of my weight and say everything would be better and i would feel better if i just lost weight.

she has explained things to me in a way that i not only will really understand but she explains things in way that’s not rude or condescending. she saw the dosages of my meds and adjusted them. one of them i was like not just at the maximum dosage but i was above it. like 50mg above the max 😳 and the other wasn’t quite high enough 😐 why the previous doctor didn’t just take the time to adjust my meds, is beyond me!

so we adjusted my dosages and while it’s only been a few weeks, i do feel different. i feel less anxious and jittery than i did for the longest time.

she explained things about my iron being so low and my anemia and how they can also play a part in my depression and anxiety and what i can do to help get it up so i wont possibly have to get transfusions done.

and she didn’t mention my weight. it wasn’t even brought up until i mentioned how the previous doctor repeatedly suggested (very rudely) that i’ll feel better and everything would get better if i just lost weight.

she suggested that if it’s something i want to do then there are things we can work out to help me with that and exercising would be helpful to not only lose weight but help boost my mood. help me so i’m not just sitting and stewing in my emotions.

it was so nice to have a doctor talk to me like an actual person with feelings. someone who didn’t just see my weight as the sole cause of any problems i’m having.

- work has been going pretty well for the most part. i mean we’re busy. it’s close to the holidays and it’s a credit union. it makes sense that we’re busy. i feel like i’m not doing good or am good at my job but i have to keep reminding myself that if that were the case, i wouldn’t be there still. but it’s hard to shake that anxiety and not let it get the better of me.

speaking of anxiety and work. prior to seeing my new doctor, i’ve been able to have several conversations with one of my supervisors about my anxiety and depression. her daughter struggles with anxiety as well so it’s kinda nice to have someone to talk to at work who can understand how i feel and my supervisor said it’s been nice for her to talk with someone about it who can really kind of understand how her daughter is feeling. someone who has been through similar things. everyone has been super understanding and supportive not only just in general at work but also when it comes to my anxiety. i’ve had several really bad panic attacks while i’ve been at work and i have had to step away from my desk for a minute to try and calm myself down and everyone has been so kind, understanding, supportive and patient with me. 🥺

having my supervisors, our hr person and my other coworkers being so understanding and kind just means so more to me than they will every know 🥹 i feel so very lucky to work there!

i could do without some of the members being who they are 🙃 still lots of rude comments. lots of political, racist, homophobic, transphobic, sexist and bigoted comments 😑 so that’s fun.

lots of people who love to make all of us feel like we don’t know how to do our job when in reality they’re not understanding how things work and that we have certain procedures and protocols in place that we have to follow and do and when they get so annoyed it just kills me 🤦‍♀️

or like people have been in such a hurry lately and have transactions with larger amounts and depending on the transaction and if they’re getting cash back, they want smaller bills so it’ll take longer to count and verify (because we have to count it certain number of times to verify we’re counting everything correctly. not just so we’ll balance our drawers later but also so that you know our members are getting what they’re asking for. shocking, i know 😐) and then get annoyed with us when it does take a while and they’re like “is this gonna take much longer? i have to go get my grandchild… and blah blah blah” or “i have other stuff i have to do” and it’s like people, seriously?? why come in and get out a lager amount of money when you are in a hurrry? they do this consistently, btw. and it’s just like you gotta figure out a different time to do this stuff because we have things we have to do and sometimes it’s gonna take a while. it’s frustrating but it is what it is. we can do it fast and possibly screw up and have you be even more annoyed in the long run…? or we can take our time, do what we are supposed to do and need to and get your transaction or transactions done correctly. it’s up to you. personally i’d rather do it right the first time. but what do i know? 🤦‍♀️

or we’ve understandably been busy lately cause of the holiday coming up and like on saturday, we were open for only 4 hours and i had 80 transactions. now mind you some people do multiple things but still that still counts and in such a short amount of time i had that many transactions?? like whyyyy? uuugh!! 😓

idk if i mentioned it at all (i think i have to so i apologize for repeating myself) but i keep getting called cindy lauper by one specific member because he’s a stupid dick who thinks he’s soo funny and just like he’s gods gift to the world 🤦‍♀️ and because of my hair color fading from when it was bright red to pink and he started calling me that like legit when i started back in march and still does it (literally did it today) and it’s just so fucking annoying. of all the pop culture references to make with my hair color (or at the time hair color), of all the celebrities to compare me to because of my hair color(s) he chooses cindy lauper?? i look NOTHING like cindy lauper. so it doesn’t make any sense. like other than having colors in my hair (which she was not the first and clearly wasn’t the last celeb to) i have no features similar to her. in any way. so it’s like why? why does this have to be a thing? why is it still a thing? why does this man feel the need to continue to call me it when literally no one comments on it anymore? (him calling me that. i mean some of my supervisors like chuckled or laughed when he started doing it. back in march and april 😑 but no one else has don’t it since then. if anything we all can’t stand it. that or everyone is being kind enough to me to pretend to be annoyed by it to make me feel supported 😅 anyway lol) and when will he finally get that it’s not funny and he could just stop? (he’s one of the assholes who makes racist, homophobic, sexist, transphobic, political and bigoted comments. soo you know this guy is just a fucking gem 😑)

on a nicer note, we had our company christmas party a few weeks ago and it was a lot of fun! we went out to dinner and had sooo much food! and then went to a play and it was seriously so funny! like i was not expecting it to be as good as it was and it just ended up being so much more fun than i imagined it was going to be 😂☺️💙

my mom was my plus one lol. and we got to sit with my aunt (my mom’s oldest sister. i work with her lol. she’s how i found out about the job and the reason i applied there ☺️) and her daughter/my cousin. we sat with one of my friends who is also a teller and her best friend 😊 we sat with one of the tellers (who’s been there just about as long as i’ve been alive lol) and her plus one. and our cfo and her husband ☺️ and our ceo would walk around occasionally to check on everyone and see how we’re doing and it was so nice! everyone i work with is truly so kind and i feel so lucky i get to work with them! but yeah, it was just a really fun night!

i talked a lot with my cousin about our favorite shows or meeting people at comic-con cause she had just went to motor city comic-con back in november and we talked about a lot of other stuff with my mom and my friend i that work with and yeah, it was just a good night ☺️

- on a kind of sadder note, my cat’s has been having trouble with her vision. we noticed it in the beginning of november and on and off it kept happening and getting worse. she keeps bumping into things but it’s not consistent. some days she does great and she’s like how she’s always been. very normal. and then other days she (not super hard to where she hurts herself) just bumps into almost everything and it just has been very odd 😓

we took her to the vet the same day of my christmas party and the vet said he believes her retina’s have detached. when he shined a light in her eyes, her pupils didn’t get smaller. or if he shined it in one eye, the other one wouldn’t instinctively react and get smaller as well. and her pupils have been pretty dilated lately. which i guess happens when cats have issues with their retinas. he also said though he wasn’t 100% sure and we would have to take her to an ophthalmologist and they could run more tests to know for sure.

and then they needed up doing some tests on her and getting some bloodwork done for her and the results of the blood work were not surprising. she has high blood pressure (which with my cat makes complete sense because she has always been a very anxious and tightly wound personality. she is like the actual/literal definition of a scared cat 😅🥹 my poor baby lol. always has been lol. and just with that and having issues with the other two cats, it makes sense. there’s a lot of reasons why she has issues with the other two cats but i won’t get into that right now. so she’s on blood pressure medication now and gets it every day, so hopefully that helps.

but we also found out, cats having high blood pressure can mess with their vision. so that could be playing a part into what’s going on with her sight as well. not a for sure or definite answer but right now we’re taking what we can get.

something to keep in mind is my cat is almost 18 years old so it kinda makes sense that it’s happening. but at the same time, she’s my baby. (literally her name is baby lol 🥹💙) she’s can’t have anything wrong. she’s so perfect and small and feisty and funny and sweet and amazing and she just deserves everything. she’s just a baby 🥹🥰 she’s my princess. she’s my best friend. she’s been through so much with me and is always there for me. she’s such a good girl 🥹😭 and she doesn’t deserve to go through anything like this 😭

and i realize things could be soo much worse and we are very fortunate that it took this long for anything to happen with her vision. but it still doesn’t make it easier to handle or process. you know? plus i worry about her so much as it is. and to think about how scared she is when she can’t see or if she does end up losing her vision completely. how tough that is for her. selfishly it breaks my heart that she possibly won’t be able to see my face at all maybe at some point 😭 how scared i am that i can’t fix this for her and make everything better for her.

like when i say she’s my best friend, i mean it. she is legit always there for me. 🥹 i mean she is also almost always in my room lol. but she just knows when i need cuddles, snuggles, love, attention and affection 😭 she sleeps right next to me every night (or legit next to my head/face. yes she sleeps that close to me. not cause i make her! but because she feels that safe with me/safe enough with me to be that close to me. or she feels i can protect her 😭) she has such a distinct personality and we legit will like bicker and get annoyed with each other and it’s so funny. and she’s also my protecter when she feels i need it 🥹 she does so many other things and in her own little kitty ways tries to take care of me while still being a princess and getting her way and idk she’s just the best 😭 and anything happening to her absolutely guts me and completely breaks and hurts my heart soo much 😭 i just want to make everything better for her. and i want to do whatever i can to have her healthy and around for as long as i possibly can 😭💙💙 my baby 🥺

there was more i wanted to add to this but i’m gonna leave it at that for now. i’ll probably make another post with/about that other stuff soon.

but yeah, thank you to anyone who actually did read all of this rambling emotional nonsense 😅 i know it was a lot but i really appreciate it.

i hope it all made sense for the most part. i’m sorry if it didn’t and i’m sorry for any spelling or grammar errors/typos.

#random thoughts #life update #heads up -#i talk about depression #i talk about anxiety #i talk about weight #i swear a bit #it’s also just kind of an emotional mess #like me lol #anyway 😅

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weabooweedwitch · 1 year

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Hey I gotta agree with the other person plz get away from ur mother. Ur honestly too talented and capable to let someone drag u down like that. I rlly believe you’ll be so much better off away from her. Half of your problems are literally directly caused by her and the other half are propagated by her. I wish you the best bc this world is so already hard to navigate and ur mom is making it way worse than it needs to be.

Aw thank you sweetie that honestly means so much to hear 🥺 and honestly I had childhood trauma so I've always kind of had mental health issues but sometimes I just sit and think of things she said or did to me that arguably directly contributed to specific complexes I have and behavioral issues

Like I used to say "I'm sorry" all the time, and kinda still do, when other people would tell me bad news they were going through and like to this day I feel some sort of personal guilt when I can't help someone, because like, I would be an actual child and I'd be in the car with my mom while she was driving and she'd be venting and I was "the rock" I was "the least difficult child" I was "the mature one" and she would basically use me as friend and therapist a lot and she would be going on and on for significant amounts of time about things I literally didn't understand and wasn't really appropriate to tell me

"--and I'm so tired of my coworkers, they whisper to each other sometimes and I JUST KNOW they're talking about me, I swear some of them are only there to fill quotas, and then this bill ran through early and my check bounced and my account is overdrawn"

"I'm really sorry mom :( I don't know what a check bouncing means though"

"Oh well it means--" bitch ya shoulda stopped right there like she literally told me about adult issues and adult financial problems that were quite literally beyond my understanding and I would feel helpless that I couldn't fix or help all these problems she had and I felt BAD and I felt GUILTY and I would just apologize all the time to the point I had friends kind of get mad I apologized so much

I would repeat conversations I had with her to other people sometimes even professionals like therapists and they'd tell me she was wildin out and I'd get mad and tell her "yeah well my therapist that you like so much and you think is doing such a good job told me it's unrealistic to expect you to change and I should just try and work around your behavior" "yeah well thats only because he heard one side of the story, if he spoke to ME he would be on MY SIDE" and repeat that 'one side' argument infinitely until I still never know if I'm just an overdramatic whiny little baby or if my feelings are valid (and I do legitimately have emotional issues and stuff so, yeah I can sometimes have issues, and those never really got solved either, just mocked I guess)

I'm just like. Afraid to turn my back on her because every other day its a new problem. The other week I hear her on the phone, she's saying she didn't realize it was still around, was it gathering interest, how much is it now, and afterwards I ask her and it's an old car she had some sort of payment or whatever on and she now owes, what I assume to be thousands. And she's had several cars since that one and even our current car is falling apart. It's at the point she makes a small mistake and I'm in instant rage mode because it's like GIRL CAN YOU EVEN DO ONE THING FOR ONE WEEK WITHOUT-- like I'll literally want to actually shake sense into her but like she's 58. She's like this forever.

I'm still mad about that pill thing that happened. She took tons of pain meds without even really counting or leaving space in between doses "oh because i just wanted the pain to stop" to the point where I called poison control and they said she was lucky to not be getting sick and then i get off the phone and she. Doesn't even care. "I knew what I was doing, you're overreacting, you need to be on medications for this" like, it. It makes me want to scream because she's constantly trying to force me to have pity for her, years and years of venting and complaining to the point I WOULD TELL HER TO HER FACE I DIDNT CARE AND SHE WOULD STILL KEEP TALKING, but then when I actually bring up legitimate concerns or issues like her almost POISNING HERSELF she has the fucking NERVE to say that to me???? I have an actual completely valid legitimate concern and you have A LICENSED PHYSICIAN TELLING YOU DIRECTLY "yeah I'm extremely surprised you're not in significant digestive distress and throwing up" and she tells me I'm OVERREACTING???

Like. I sit and I think. So much of my life involves her SILENCING me? I'll try to have an adult conversation to fix our issues because unlike her I've actually had therapy and she'll just "im done talking about this, every day you're nasty, you don't get to speak to me like that (even if I'm being nice and just pointing out her issues), what about all the times YOU did XYZ" like to feel like I could literally hand her a glowing hot pink chemical "this will literally give you cancer" and she would reply "no I had a friend in high-school who says this is a multivitamin" and she'd drink it. You can have EVIDENCE and multiple people telling her she is wrong and she either SHUTS YOU DOWN AND REDUSES TO TALK AT ALL or she just outright tells you you're stupid and wrong and emotional and have issues. Like. No wonder I don't trust myself. No wonder I have anger issues that are getting worse. She will literally NEVER listen to me. She will text me on my phone to fetch her water just because she had a headache but I can literally be so congested I'm struggling to breathe and she LET THE LITTERBOX ACTUALLY MOLD WHILE WAITING FOR ME TO RECOVER SO I COULD DO IT like. I love her but I hate her and I'm embarrassed and ashamed of her. But she also IS competent in the sense she kept me and my sister alive as a single mom but I mean, she also gave both of us huge issues and I kinda wish she had put us up for adoption

And it sucks because she has her old childhood trauma and mental health issues too. But I can't help but wish that my father had never lost custody. He may have had some ups and downs over his life but he was at least able to maintain better than my mom. Like for example he blew through a lot of his savings by getting a hobby racing cars at a racetrack and now doesn't really have anything, but like, at least he had that money to spend to begin with. My mom has to dip into a 401k whenever she actually has one. She will basically have to keep working until she can't sit in a chair anymore. I fear becoming her, or at least, more like her than I already am.

Just. Oof. Trying to take things one step at a time, but also considering other options for the future, and of course I have nice people like yourself offering advice and support and that's helpful in of itself ❤️ hopefully all of us can have some personal peace in this wild hectic world of ours 😩

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flightless-icarus · 2 years

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saturday august 27, 2022

so yesterday i had apartment inspections and my landlord kept complimenting my apartment bc it was so empty LMAO and it made it easier to check outlets and stuff. i have such a headache right now, but im awake because i had a really late dinner and now i have indigestion bc of it. im sitting here feeling sick as HELL since i ate so late- and i know that happens, but i cant skip meals rn, i literally can’t afford to skip my meals right now, weight wise.

ive been popping nausea meds like its candy lately to keep my stomach frrm getting so upset lately. it was even fucking testing me tonight but i just tried to breathe through it. i didnt want to take another one, because they give me headaches lol, which is frustrating bc i have one

im super sleepy, but i cant go to bed until i get a shower, and i dont wanna get in the shower until this indigestion goes away. i need some water, but im procrastinating it.

i just got some water.

things have been tough lately. im all hung up on my ex friends messages to me. i know what she said was bullshit- she called me selfish and a liar. If putting myself first, and taking care of myself and setting boundaries is selfish, then i am absolutely selfish. and i dont recall ever lying to her about anything aside frorm my feelings towards her. (her and i lived together at one point and i was very fake-nice to her while we lived together to keep the peace because when she decided she hated me [typically for ableist reasons], she was really mean and verbally hostile and it made me stop eating and get sick, so i was fake with her for my own safety and health, and then i was convinced to give her another chance and regretted it shortly after because i realised she very much hadn’t changed, and was gaslighting me and telling me I had problems when she was the one causing issues.) but anyway, she kept telling me my “karma was getting me for being such a bad person” which has me… confused.. even after talking to it with some close friends.

i live alone, my bills are paid (things are just financially rough for 1 more month, then after this month, ill be pretty set money wise), my apartment is my own, im in an okay area, i have the best friends ive ever had in my life, i THINK i have a crush on someone who feels mutually- like this is the closest to having a partner ive been in several years, i have a therapist, i have health insurance and im getting answers to my health issues, i get to spend my days doing the things i love (art), and im separated from my parents. fully.

i am literally the best ive ever been (aside from trauma stuff coming up, but that comes with the territory of being alone with ur thoughts all day and night) and im in the most stable living situation ive ever been in, and shes gonna tell me MY karma is getting me rn while shes working at target and trying to solve all her health problems with essential oils???? (she is anti vax)

im just so deeply confused. she said “have fun with your lame ass life and 5 internet friends and being selfish and living in a terrible neighbourhood, karmas a bitch now bye”

i dont place my value in how many friends i have, or how many times i go out. ive tried to tell her SEVERAL times that im very content being a homebody. i enjoy spending time alone and have fun with playing video games or watching youtube, reading, writing, and creating art. i like being inside. ive explained that to her more times than i can count and the fact that she just never once listened to me and is calling my life lame lmao. 4 of my 5 friends live only about an hour away and could visit if I scheduled with them a time to hang out, and my neighbourhood isnt bad. Yes there’s gun violence around here, but its… florida… of course there is. she thinks its some big dangerous neighbourhood bc its a predominantly black neighbourhood and shes racist as hell. this neighbourhood isnt more, or less dangerous than any other neighbourhood in my city. plus…… she tries to use ‘karmas a bitch’ at me as if i haven’t told her many times that i dont believe in karma. i believe in consequences to your actions. good & bad is subjective (in non-extreme cases), this situation specifically- i think shes awful and she thinks im awful. Does that mean we both get bad karma? no. it doesnt make sense. karma would only make sense for r^pists and ped0s and m^rderers and ab*sers. People like that.

I hope she figures out how to treat people who are different than her. she gets in this “i can fix them” mindset and then gets mad when they dont accept her “help”. She would always tell me how she. only wanted to help me, but anytime i came to her with my issues, i got ridiculed, questioned, ignored, and made fun of. I told her about my deep, personal shit and i was met with her asking me the most vile, invasive questions ive ever gotten about that issue in my entire life. i told her about something as silly as my water heater breaking and the maintenance man freaking out about it because it was so aggressively dangerous and unsafe to even keep turned on and i had to get an emergency replacement because of it- i told her about that and she didnt even acknowledge it, she just said “damn, anyway did you listen to my voice memos”

also she wants to claim i dropped off and never checked in with her…. i just moved into a place oN MY OWN *one month ago*. ONE MONTH AGO. I ***JUST*** GOT SETTLED IN THIS PLACE THIS WEEK. Im finally getting used to handling cleaning and cooking for myself every day, and im getting used to being alone and finally getting over my nighttime paranoia and im dealing with a lot of trauma stuff that i clearly cant go to her with- and shes gonna accuse me of just dropping off because i didnt talk to her for a couple of weeks, when i have friends i can, and HAVE dropped off from for YEARS and we picked back up chatting like nothing ever happened.

Biggest example is this guy i was friends with in 2020, one day i just quit replying, and he did the same, and i just reached out to him literally 3 days ago and he still refers to me as his friend and we were chatting and talking shit with each other, and he told me about how he still plays music and hes been putting most of his energy into that. Same with a different guy, we didnt talk for a year and now we’re updating each other on our lives and chatting again, and he told me all about how hes visiting his girlfriend in a week and im really excited for him, especially bc theyre moving in together next year. and yet she couldnt handle 2 fucking weeks while i was adjusting to living alone and unpacking by myself and trying to take care of myself during this really big adjustment?

she also tried to tell me that my ex friends told her about how im such a liar and how im so selfish and i asked her to tell me what i have lied about, because she has a history of just calling me names (ableist, a liar, a manipulator, etc) just because she “Wants to piss me off” and she “doesnt actually believe that”, because ive called her out on calling me names before and i would say ‘show me how im being X’ and then later id call her out and say ‘idk why you said this, you never told me how i was being xyz’ and she’d say “oh well i dont actually think that, i was just mad” so i plan to tell those ex friends shes so close with that she either lied about them, or threw them under the bus :) either way, shes about to meet her “karma” aka: consequences to her own actions. once i get my laptop back from them and pay them back, im telling them about her either lying on their name or throwing them under the bus so they know shes a rat. idk why she would use their names tbh lmao, considering her and i were actively fighting.

call me petty, but id wanna know if my friends were throwing me under the bus.

i dont need her. i dont need anyone like that in my life. i dont want to be friends with people who will spin false narratives about me because im taking care of myself, or lying out of self preservation because you make me feel unsafe. i dont want to be friends with people who dont make me feel good. ive had enough of those. i didnt even let my family treat me poorly, what makes you think im gonna let random people treat me badly.

anyway, its 4am and i want to get in the shower, my stomachs feeling a little better, and maybe now that ive written about this, ill shut the fuck up about it. i keep talking to a friend of mine a bout it and im sure ive annoyed the absolute fuck out of them (though they agree with me and ive told them everything ive written here)

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n7inky-fanfics · 3 years

Text

The Line of Duty pt. 2

Intel said that a small branch of Cerberus was still out here. The Alliance believes that someone else took up the mantel after the Illusive Man, and although the resulting organization is definitely less powerful, it's still a problem to be solved. Everything suggested that this would be an easy run, so Shepard decided to take Private Grange out as a learning opportunity. He landed the shuttle a ways back from the facility, and together the squad moved towards it on foot. Shepard took the lead, with Grange and Wilson following quietly behind her. After they cleared the entrance, Shepard removed her helmet and the others followed suite. She switched on her the small visor she had layered underneath and began to examine a nearby console for data when a gunshot sounded loudly behind her. She turned just in time to see Grange as he hit her squarely with the butt of his gun.

When she came to, she was laying in a small room somewhere in the facility. Grange was there, along with another man in a Cerberus uniform. She laid still and listened.

"I'm sorry, I just couldn't do it. She saved us." Grange sounded conflicted and scared.

"We scouted you because we thought you would be better than this. You are a disappointment. I'll kill her myself." the man said.

Before Shepard could move, the man shot him point blank in the head. She threw him with her biotics, picked up the man's gun, and shot him until she was sure he was dead. She looked around the room and quickly found a crate containing her weapons. She checked each gun over; they were all dead. Someone, probably Grange, had sabotaged them. She holstered them, not wanting to leave them behind, and took the dead man's weapon with her. To make matters worse, her armor had been relieved of all extra ammo, as had Grange's. The man didn't seem to carry much, either. Getting out of there would be difficult.

She tried her comms, but of course they were blocked. She'd have to make it out alone, with a single working gun, little ammo, and her biotics. She pulled on her helmet and followed the hall to a door at the end and ducked to the side of the doorway as it opened. "Huh?" she heard a Cerberus soldier say. As he approached the door, she pulled him through the entrance and slammed him into the ground, letting her biotics add to the force. The soldiers still in the room opened fire at the doorway. She waited until it seemed to slow and leaned around, finding her target and shooting quickly. She downed two soldiers before the gun beeped loudly, signaling it's lack of ammo. The other three reacted by charging at her, so she unleashed a large singularity that caught them all.

An alarm sounded, and she knew that she was in for it, so she grabbed a gun off one of the bodies and ran. She fought her way through several rounds of soldiers like this until she found the door.

She raced towards the shuttle as fast as she could, and she was almost there when she heard Cerberus soldiers shouting behind her. She dove behind the nearest rock and then peaked around it, counting 5 soldiers running towards her. She hopped up and let off several shots at the first man before ducking back again. The soldiers returned fire, and she risked the hit to release a shockwave in their direction, causing three of them to stumble backwards. She let off several shots at them before taking cover again. She counted two men still alive. She gave her biotics a moment to recharge, then stepped sideways from tbe cover and released a singularity. The men were much closer, and the singularity caught both of them with ease.

Unfortunately, one of them had let off a shield breaking shot at the same time. It downed her shields instantly, leaving her vulnerable to the next shot fired by his companion. In the exact moment the singularity hit them, the bullet lodged itself in her thigh. She cried in pain and dropped to the ground, gripping her thigh tightly around the wound. She saw several more soldiers flooding out of the building. "Fuck!" she shouted as she pulled herself to her feet. She limped the short distance to the shuttle and was taking off before the soldiers managed to get close to her.

--- --- --- --- --- --- ---

When Shepard wakes up, the med bay is dark except for the small lamp at Karin's desk. She sits up and sharply inhales at the splitting pain in her head. What the hell happened? She doesn't remember getting back to the Normandy or arriving in the med bay. She gently brings her hand to her head, feeling a thick bandage under her fingers. Fuck, that hurts.

"Commander, how are you feeling?" Dr. Chakwas asks, rising from her chair. Her eyes are tired, either from the weight of worry or a simple lack of sleep, Hazel surmises.

"My head aches, but I'll live. I need to speak to Lieutenant Vega and Admiral Hackett immediately."

"I'll get him for you, of course. But Commander, I advise you to take it easy."

"Noted, but this is important. Can you pass me my leg, please?" Shepard asks, gesturing towards the prosthetic leaning against a nearby wall.

"Of course, Commander." Karin walks across the room and picks up the leg. "Will you at least allow me to accompany you to the communications terminal?"

"As my friend or my doctor?" Shepard smirks at her as she hands over the prosthetic.

"Both." Karin smiles.

Shepard nods as she pulls on her prosthetic. Together, the two women walk to the communications room.

#fanfic #mass effect #commander shepard #female shepard #kaidan alenko #shepard x kaidan #f!shenko #shenko #shepard #fshenko

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sorcererinthestars · 3 years

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Captain of the Stars

A lot of this I had already written and grabbed off of old posts, but the old ones are obviously tainted. I wanted to go back to this au and think about it some more, so here’s an up-to-date, enhanced, edited version of my Firefly AU for you guys to check out: - Captain: Geoff. He’s been in the stars since he was a boy. The normal success story- a kid from some nowhere farming planet applies for the Interplanetary Federation and gets his own ship at the age of 22. Problem is? He’s a bit of a troublemaker… which ends up with him deserting the Federation armed only with a ship and dreams of fame and fortune. Ready to get that fame and fortune however he can - even if it means punching some holes into some nasties. - First Mate/Pilot: Jack. Every ship needs a Pilot, someone who can maneuver and dive like the best of them. And Jack is, without a doubt, that man. He handles their ship like one would handle the prettiest person or the most breakable piece of art and in exchange, she dances for him. Originally a shopkeep in a backwater port down on a nowhere moon, Jack had books that charted the stars and a small light-hopper in his backyard on which he learned to fly better than the best of them. Unfortunately, he’s near-signed. While it doesn’t change his ability to fly, it stopped any dreams of getting a legitimate job with the Federation. His dreams of reaching the stars seem impossible... until a wild-eyed man with tattoos and dreams of glory gets deep in his cups and offers a chance at greatness...

- Systems Maintenance/Negotiator: Gavin. Born of high-ranking Federalist parents on Oasis-6, one of the most fervently loyal Federation planets, no one expected a white-collar boy like Gav to take to the stars. Chafing under their restrictive authority, Gavin was found more often on the streets, getting involved in stupid schemes and getting knocked around. To prevent this, his parents, owners of half the fucking galaxy, would lock him down to save their reputation. He spent this time studying books and gilding his tongue. When he gets the chance to run away to the stars, he doesn’t hesitate. A savant for technology and one of the most silver tongued criminals in this side of the galaxy, he’s a wild card and a gift.

- Gunnery: Michael. Michael is from a mining planet far out on the edges of the galaxy. A nothing planet that’s almost forgotten, Jack and Geoff pit stop there for one thing - a new bounty to collect. This is the bastion of gangs; the shithole on the edge of the government’s boundaries. There, they nearly get tackled by a ragged boy with sharp teeth and an angry voice who is running from some high-ranking gang members. When fists start flying, the two stand up for Michael and kill the opponents. Grateful - and now with nowhere to go - Michael leaps at the chance to go with them. He’s their gunner-man - anything that shoots is his territory. Cannons, laser pistols, regular guns, explosives - they’re his children and he handles them with more care than he would a child.

- Engineer: Jeremy. After a severe firefight, the Achieve [their beloved ship] limps down into a space-station not far from Earth that Was. They’re directed to the best damn shipbuilder on this hunk of iron animated with artificial gravity, but they’re given a warning: the man is drunk more often than not. Not surprisingly, they discover an older man off his rocker with drink, but his buff apprentice is fully sober and extremely talented at fixing ships. Jeremy is all thick accent and bluster, but they find out he’s a kid with a bad past that was working to try to get a jump out of this shithole space-station. They desperately need someone on hand to fix their ship, so Jeremy is offered a job. It’s not long before him, Michael, and Gavin are thick as ... well, thieves.

- Companion: Fiona. Don’t you dare call Fiona a whore, because she’ll both cut you physically and cut you from the list of clients for good. She has a profitable network of high ranking women that she provides companionship for and through this, she comes back with secrets and money that help enhance the Achieves’ deals. With the companion’s knowledge of seduction and manipulation, she also has a vicious penchant for knives and can kill anyone before they even realize they’re in danger. Just don’t try to ask her for services when she’s not on the job.

- Medic: Matt. - It quickly is obvious that Jack’s basic medical knowledge isn’t going to cover what they need. At a pitstop on a city-planet deeper inside the Federation, Geoff comes back with their new doctor... a boy looking like he couldn’t even be out of med school. Everyone is skeptical, but Matt is extremely talented. The best part about him is that he has tangible experience in many different areas but doesn’t ask questions. He can close a bullet hole, keep people alive when they’re bleeding out, heal a burn, or stitch a laceration. Because of this, they forgive his vices (eating, laziness, etc.) He’s not bad with a gun either, when push comes to shove. They’re lucky to have him, honestly.

- Information/Secrets/Navigation: The Twins Trevor and Alfredo. The info-gathering racket the Twins had before they fled to the Achieve was the likes in which the original crew on the Achieve had never hoped to touch. They use the Achieve as a home base for their own profitable business as the ship is a safe place for two runaways from the Feds. When they’re on board, they’re extreme help with the nav systems, with info on big scores, etc. They know they need to continue providing incentive for Geoff to let them stow away, and so their secrets are bigger every time they return from an info-gathering mission. They’re also extremely grateful to the crew of the Achieve for keeping Alfredo alive after almost dying during one of their many escapes. That sort of blood debt isn’t solved easily. Plus, the Twins like it there. The Achieve is their home and the crew is their family, forever and always. Hack-offs and death missions and all.

- Wildcard: Lindsay - The thing with a chaos goddess is that no one can hold her down. Despite the fact that she loves her home on the Achieve, she doesn’t always stay there. She’s welcome a bunk and a home whenever she wants it (and she takes that a lot), but she also has a life outside of the Achieve too. She tends to take her shuttle down on offworld planets, working deals and enterprises that allowed her to stay alive in this crazy universe for so long. She has connections that branch far, far beyond their little crew… people in a mysterious gang called RWBY (no one knows what the letters stand for and frankly, everyone’s too afraid to ask), a quiet assassin named Meg who, like a siren, kills every man she seduces, etc. Lindsay knows how and where to find them and is always around to help or cause mischief when she’s on board. The whole crew loves her, even if they treat her with a sort of wary respect.

Their ship? The Achieve. An older model, but she flies better than anything in the skies. Sleek and upgraded, she’s a general army-grade ship with modifications to make it more of a home. Everyone has a bunk, there’s a common room and a kitchen, and the control room is home to anyone with curiosity. Their mission? To smuggle and fight their way to millions, taking odd jobs and illegal enterprises to make fortunes and to just keep flying. They’re free and they have each other and in the end, that’s all they really need.

#firefly au #updated and ready to go #fahc #achievement hunter #i am SO WILLING to talk about this #please do

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adiwriting · 4 years

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Sunday Mornings 4/?

Notes: While this is the 4th ficlet in this verse, it’s technically the first thing I wrote for this verse. I was working to fill a prompt “watching them sleep” and it got away from me like most things. So I’m excited to finally get to post this part. It’s my personal favorite so far, so I hope you all enjoy! <3

Now on AO3

Week 4:

The feeling of the sun warming his face slowly pulls Alex out of a blissful dream. Not quite ready to move his body yet, he turns his head to the nightstand and opens his eyes. It’s 5:55am. He’s tired, sure, but years in the military have taught him that attempting to go back to sleep now is futile. His body is wired to be up between 0500 and 0600 everyday, no matter how little sleep he got the night before.

He yawns and turns his head to look at the source of his exhaustion. He can’t help but smile at the sight of his boyfriend. Michael spent the night last night, as he has most nights since they got back together a month ago. In fact, the only reason Michael isn’t in his bed every night can really only boil down to a stupid comment Maria had made about them moving in together. Michael still feels enough guilt over their breakup to have insisted that they are most certainly not living together. Alex would be mad at him for the entire thing, but he can’t bring himself to be. One, he too still feels how awkward things are with Maria and he loves her enough to want to be sensitive, even if she hadn’t always been sensitive towards him. And two… Michael can say he’s not living here all he wants, but the evidence speaks for itself.

Michael’s black cowboy hat is hung on the hook on the door, where Alex used to hang his favorite Air Force hoodie. The same hoodie that now permanently rests on the back of the couch because Michael always wears it like a blanket when they watch movies together. There is an ever growing pile of change accumulating on the dresser from where Michael regularly empties his pockets when he comes in to change out of his jeans. Next to Alex’s bottles of lotions and various meds is a bottle of warming gel that Michael uses whenever his hand acts up. Hanging up in the closet are several of Michael’s clothes that Alex put there when he’d pulled his laundry out the other day and realized that half of the clothes were Michael’s rather than his own. Over by the full length mirror is a pile of the only 3 pairs of shoes that Michael owns.

No. Michael doesn't live here. His things have just been slowly taking over Alex’s space… And Alex loves it.

He bought this house last year and fell in love with its character, but it hadn’t really started to feel like home to him until the day there were two toothbrushes by the sink instead of one.

Alex stretches carefully and tries not to groan at the way his shoulders pop. His body is particularly achy today, which he equates to a combination of lack of sleep and the enthusiasm that they’d gone at it last night. He’s going to have to talk Michael into a massage later.

Once his body is decently stretched out — or at least as stretched out as it can be without waking Michael — Alex rolls over onto his side to watch his boyfriend properly.

Michael is always beautiful. It’s a fact. But the truth is, there’s something particularly entrancing about the way the morning sun hits Michael’s tanned skin. Alex allows himself to stare in a way he can’t get away with when Michael is awake. Not without Michael teasing him for it.

He starts with his hair. Frizzy and all over the place. A combination of Alex’s hands constantly threading through and pulling whenever they have sex and the fact that Michael moves when he sleeps. A lot. The sun makes his hair glow like a halo, which is all too fitting. He reaches out and gently pulls a curl away from Michael’s face so that he can focus his attention there next.

Alex watches the quick, constant movement of Michael’s eyes underneath his lids. He’s always thinking. Calculating. Planning. Inventing. When they were kids, Michael told him that his head was constant chaos that only music could quiet. Knowing what he knows about Michael’s past, he can see why Michael had chosen that word. But chaos doesn’t describe Michael’s brain. Not anymore. He’s just brilliant. He’s wicked smart and never stops thinking. Michael processes information at an inhuman rate, which Alex would equate to his alien DNA if he didn’t know that neither Max or Isobel share in his genius level intellect.

It’s not rare for Michael to wake up in the middle of the night having somehow solved some complicated problem in his sleep. It’s why Alex had started to keep a journal on Michael’s side of the bed, so that he won’t have to get up at 3am and tear the house apart looking for paper so he could write down whatever complex equation he’s just solved.

Alex runs his fingers across Michael’s forehead gently. He loves that brain. He firmly believes that Michael could solve the world’s biggest problems if he tried. And though Alex won’t risk the fight by bringing it up, he seriously hopes that Michael gets his degree one day so that the world can benefit from his genius. Roswell is too small for a brain like Michael’s.

Alex traces the line of his nose and bites back a giggle when Michael scrunches it up in response. He’s so adorable at times that Alex truly marvels that anyone can honestly believe his tough guy act. Michael is so soft and tender with Alex. Even when they weren’t together and every other word out of Michael’s mouth was a sarcastic dig meant to goad Alex into a fight, Alex had always been able to see the vulnerability in Michael’s eyes. It was part of what sent Alex running so often. He always had a genuine fear of breaking and in turn, getting broken.

His palm moves to cradle Michael’s cheek and Michael’s head leans into the touch, turning his head to kiss his palm. Even in sleep, Michael is constantly seeking him out. It’s moments like this that make Alex question how he ever felt insecure about Michael’s feelings. Maybe if he had just trusted in their love earlier…

“Stop. Sleep,” Michael grumbles, seemingly cutting off his anxiety spiral before it could even start.

“I’m not tired,” he teases, but Michael is silent, having already fallen back asleep.

Alex’s hand drifts down to Michael’s neck and he cringes when he notices a bruise to the right of his collarbone that wasn’t there yesterday. Alex has always been incredibly careful about hickeys. He’d had to be. And by the time he’d felt safe enough to risk it, he was at an age where it was no longer socially acceptable. Thankfully, this one should be mostly hidden once Michael puts on a shirt, so hopefully he won’t be too annoyed with Alex.

His hand travels down Michael’s chest. He stares at the dark hair, one of the most noticeable changes from when they were seventeen. Alex hasn’t been with a lot of men, but virtually all of the ones he’s been with manscape. Which is fine. It’s understandable. It’s not like anybody wants to worry about hair in their mouth when they are kissing their way down someone’s chest. But damn, there’s something about the dark hair on Michael’s tanned chest that always gets him going.

It’s unfair really, because it means that Alex is pretty much always turned on whenever Michael is shirtless. Which is all of the time. The man has some kind of personal problem with wearing shirts.

He drags his index finger through the darker patch of hair on his stomach and he feels Michael’s muscles tense under his touch. Before Alex’s hand can dip under the sheet currently protecting Michael’s modesty, the man grumbles something incoherent and rolls over onto his stomach, snuggling into Alex’s side.

Alex sinks back into the pillow, his one arm pinned under Michael’s head. He moves his free hand up to play with Michael’s hair. Michael hums in content, but doesn’t say anything more or do anything to signal that he’s truly awake. Alex closes his eyes and tries to relax. While he isn’t likely to fall back asleep, that doesn’t mean he isn’t content to lay here for hours while his boyfriend does. This is the kind of stuff Sunday mornings are made for.

Isn’t this what Maroon 5 was getting at? Cause, yeah. Alex never wants to leave.

He buries his nose in Michael’s hair and breathes in deep, taking in the smell of rain and dollar store shampoo that is uniquely Michael. It smells like love and safety. Like home.

God, twelve years of loving this man and Alex didn’t think it was possible for that love to continue to crow. Each day he’s proven wrong. See, he’s starting to learn that these small moments together… the quiet unassuming moments… They are a thousand times more powerful than the big, dramatic moments that rom coms are made of. Because right here? At this moment? All he can think about is the ending of the stupid Grinch movie when his heart grows three times in size.

That’s how Michael makes him feel. Like his heart is constantly growing, aching with joy but always wonderfully welcome. Waking up next to Michael in the morning is one of those painfully sweet moments that pull at his heart. And maybe it won’t always feel like this. He hopes it does. He doesn’t want to get used to this, because he doesn’t ever want to stop realizing how lucky they are that they managed to come together after twelve years of will they won't they. Alex hopes he appreciates the magic of waking up next to Michael because he never wants to grow complacent in this relationship.

“You’re being creepy again, and it’s too early,” Michael grumbles, not even bothering to open his eyes. Instead he throws his leg over Alex’s hip in an attempt to snuggle even closer.

Alex rolls his eyes at the argument they have most mornings. “Why is it creepy?”

“Because you’re studying me like you’re plotting the best ways to murder me in my sleep.”

Alex laughs at that, shaking Michael who reaches out to pinch him in his side and demands he stop so that he can rest.

“No murder today,” he promises, kissing the top of his head.

Michael’s hand moves up to rest at his heart and Alex reaches out to grab at his wrist to keep his hand in place. “I love you.”

Michael does open his eyes for that. Alex meets his gaze and the only way he can describe the way Michael is staring at him is fond.

“I love you, too,” Michael says, lifting his head just long enough to kiss Alex. “Go back to bed.”

“We’re already in bed,” Alex teases, earning him another groan.

“Go back to sleep. And get better dad jokes before we have a kid, please.”

Michael bringing up a kid is enough to stop any teasing that Alex would have likely continued with. Though his stupid boyfriend clearly doesn’t realize the gravity of what he’s just said, because he’s already fallen back asleep. Alex can tell he’s not just faking it either because he’s lightly snoring in that way that Alex really shouldn’t find adorable but does.

Dad. Him.

It’s an interesting thought. One he honestly hadn’t considered. The thought of bringing another Manes into this world is frankly terrifying. Alex would be satisfied if the family name died out with him and his brothers. But thinking of having a child with Michael? A little Guerin baby?

Yeah, that thought gives him plenty to think about for the next two hours while Michael sleeps.

Tagged: @callieramics

As always if anyone wants to be tagged, let me know!

#roswell nm #roswell new mexico #Malex fic #malex #fic: sunday mornings #alex manes #michael guerin #fluff #domestic bliss

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sablelab · 4 years

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Covert Operations - Chapter 138

SUMMARY: Fergus goes into bat for Bóinne Rivière trying to alter her abeyance profile and after discussion with Operations, Madeline puts forward a plausible reason to support Fergus’ request. The two leaders ponder what they are going to do about the mole, Colum Mackenzie and indeed Jamie and Claire.

Chapter 137 and all other chapters can be found at … https://sablelab.tumblr.com/covertoperations Sorry to say I am not on Ao3, but perhaps when I finish this story I will try and navigate how it works and how to post there.

THANK YOU to everyone following this story. I appreciate knowing that there are people who are enjoying what I have written each post, whether it be a like, comment or a reblog. Thank you so much for supporting Covert Operations.

CHAPTER 138

“Thank you, Fergus, … I think I have a lot to discuss with Operations. You have been most thorough.”

Although Madeline’s reply had been a tacit order of dismissal, Fergus Claudel stood his ground. He only had one chance to put forward his case and swallowing the bullet he cleared his throat then uttered, “Ah … there is one other thing I would like to discuss with you both.”

“Really Mr Claudel … and what is that?” “I inadvertently came across Bóinne Rivière’s reclassification status in my search.” This time Operations replied, remembering that Fergus had casually asked after the fate of the abeyance operatives when he’d went to discuss the Somalia mission. He recalled that Fergus had been talking to Murtagh and the person he’d mentioned earlier in Comm. and this was quite plausible as he had to access the nurse’s file in his search.

“I see. And?” “I would seriously like for you to reconsider her new mission profile given how she was crucial in providing the concrete Intel that linked Frank Wolverton-Randall to Colum. It provided the proof we needed that he was indeed the mole.” Fergus watched his leaders trying to gauge their reaction to what he had just said. However, the raised brow of Operations gave him an uneasy feeling that Section’s leader was aware that he knew exactly what he was trying to do and why. “You can't protect her forever ... or him.” Fergus was thrown off kilter with this observation. “What do you mean?” “You know what I mean. ... We know you tampered with her abeyance records. ... Don't start thinking with your heart. Section is not the place to do that.” Fergus immediately crumbled realising that what he had proposed was obviously in vain. It appeared that Operations and Madeline had already made up their minds about Bóinne and her usefulness to Section. He sighed. “Sorry.” “You're too valuable to us ... but we’ll think about what you have said. You may go.” Madeline’s reply was encouraging … they hadn’t completely closed the door on Bóinne’s re-classification. Fergus only hoped that he had done enough to help her and that his superiors wouldn’t hold it against him.

Perhaps he had also given them cause to rethink their decision to place her in abeyance. The medical nurse had been instrumental in connecting the dots to Frank Wolverton-Randall and just maybe this would be enough for them to reconsider their decision. Alternatively, perhaps he could find something else that would significantly help her cause if he only delved a little deeper into her file. Bóinne Rivière’s cancellation could cause more problems for Operations and Madeline than it would solve. Murtagh Fitzgibbons had been crucial in the retrieval mission; there was every chance that he may be needed again in some way in the future to trap Sun Yee Lok and his cohorts. If his beloved was cancelled, he didn’t know what Murtagh would do in his grief and the two leaders knew this only too well. Like Madeline and Operations, the IT specialist had much to mull over in his mind. Their conversation was now obviously at an end so without even a slight backward glance; Fergus quietly left Madeline’s office. ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Section’s leader paced the floor of her office pondering the skulduggery of Colum’s monitoring in the Rising Dragons’ mission and more so for his insinuations that he was in any way responsible for the disappearance of Section One’s founder Letitia Chisholm. His face echoed his sour demeanour and if looks could kill, his nemesis would have been six feet under before his body was cold. “What are we going to do about Bóinne Rivière?” Madeline asked watching Dougal pace back and forth once Fergus had left her office. Operations however, had little regard for the issue Fergus had raised about Murtagh’s girlfriend. He dismissed Madeline’s inquiry as if he would brush away a fly. To him, it was of little consequence for his mind was on more pressing issues. “Cancel her,” he barked without the slightest thought for what their IT specialist had told them. “I think you should reconsider that,” Madeline cajoled trying to soothe over this small problem before tackling the major one she knew Operations was thinking about. “Reconsider? You must be joking.” Madeline continued her placating of the savage beast. “Fergus raised some valid points Dougal. Nurse Rivière had the opportunity to withhold the device but she didn't and it did give us the proof we were looking for.” Her words appeared to have hit the spot. Operations calmed down a little. He pondered what she’d said for a short while before responding with reluctance, “True.” So his second in command continued with her reasons while giving him time to reassess her status. “Details will eventually leak out into the ranks. Bóinne Rivière’s death would not be received well by Fitzgibbons or her colleagues in Med Lab. I'd rather deal with one underperforming Operative than rebellion by several. You know Murtagh … he can be cantankerous at the best of times. He would take her death hard. Fergus was right … Who knows how he would respond?” Her logical explanation had the desired effect. “Perhaps I might reconsider then … for the time being,” he added reluctantly in addendum. Turning towards Operations Madeline gave another opinion. “Good … I feel that killing Bóinne Rivière will not serve us well. We cancel her and Murtagh wouldn’t care if he died too. You remember his three-year review, don’t you?” “Of course, … So, in your opinion he really would be willing to die?” “Yes, I do.” “Then what? There must be some way to reassess her suitability to Section, but I’m sure you’ll think of something Madeline.” “I'm working on it. She will make a mistake eventually and then any problem with her status will take care of the nurse itself, but in the meantime, we have Murtagh Fitzgibbons where we need him.” Operations rubbed his chin in reflection of her statement, “Hmmm … and Fergus.” He looked at Madeline as if to say it was a win-win for the time being given that the state of the Rising Dragons’ mission was in limbo at the moment. “Murtagh did perform well on the retrieval mission; we might indeed have to use him again.” “Yes, you just never know and if he is antagonistic towards us because of this woman’s death, it could be a huge problem. We can’t have Fitzgibbons being distracted or becoming recalcitrant if anything happened to his fiancée. It could set off a chain reaction mutiny with other operatives.” Operations thought for a moment, looked off into space, then reluctantly accepted Madeline's logic by nodding his head. “Very well … we’ll postpone our decision on her until the Rising Dragon’s mission is finalised.” “Yes … I agree. That is a sensible compromise … and then we can review her status if things change or improve.” ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ Although what they had discussed went a small way in solving one of the problems they faced, nonetheless what Operations really wanted to discuss was the anathema to him … his older brother … Colum. Fergus’ Intel had been explosive.

To think that his brother was keeping tabs on their top operatives and the disappearance of Section One’s founder was inexcusable, but what were the reasons why. Fergus had alluded to the disappearance of Letitia Chisholm as one reason, and it did worry him that he may find incriminating Intel on her vanishing without any trace, but were there others? Did he have a parallel profile on the triad members and had he done this for pure one-upmanship by using a mole to further his advantage at Centre and Mr Lambert? It galled him to think that Colum would try and do something so obvious to win favour at Centre. Why the interest in Jamie and Claire’s success on the mission? So many questions and as yet no concrete answers.

Operations’ hackles were heightened and his shell-shocked disposition was evident. Without doubt, you could have cut the atmosphere with a knife in Madeline’s office it seemed so tangible. His voice was laced with contempt for Oversight’s leader and he couldn’t hide an escalating irate temper.

“This is treason! Colum has taken this too far this time Madeline. Any of our quarrels pale into insignificance with the implications of this treachery.” Dougal’s demeanour at the thought of his brother’s unannounced visits to Section One to hear proceedings about the Rising Dragons’ mission rapidly changed until his face was a glaring red hue of rage. His mind backtracked over the times Oversight’s leader had visited.

Obviously, those times were just a ruse, to see where Section was in bringing the mission to its end game. Although Colum’s last visit was laced with concern for Jamie and Claire’s wellbeing his motives, no doubt, were to gauge if he could at last get the jump on Section in capturing the triad members with his own operatives. This seemed the most plausible reason given their rivalry. He and Madeline needed to get to the bottom of his brother’s skulduggery in order to answer these pressing questions and cover their backs if needs be.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Aware of what Operations’ thoughts might be, Madeline answered his statements with a dose of reality about what they had just heard from Fergus. “Colum wouldn’t have been able to do that without help. Fergus was right Dougal … it does all point to Frank Wolverton-Randall.” Her words brought him back to the present moment as Madeline continued. “I suspect that Colum has been piggy backing off Section One in order to capture Sun Yee Lok before we do. So, any Intel on how the mission was going was in his interests if he was to keep in front of the eight ball. Colum obviously wanted to know what Section One had on the triad leader in order to run a parallel sting on him before Jamie and Claire could bring him in.” “Precisely … I’m sure that’s why he visited so many times unannounced.” “He needed to know what progress we had made and if what Frank Wolverton-Randall had passed on to him was accurate before he was transferred.” “If he could get a jump on our Intel, and if he was to capture Sun Yee Lok, he would certainly claim all the glory for himself and Oversight and in so doing demonstrate incompetence in my leadership at Section One to ultimately undermine me.” “So it would seem.” “I repeat … He has gone too far this time Madeline. The depths to which he would sink to best us are reprehensible.” “Perhaps he is trying to discredit you in front of Mr. Lambert. He knows you have aspirations to be the leader of Oversight one day.” “He wants to hang on to power at all cost and doesn’t care who gets in his way. Colum has always been a self-serving bastard looking for any opportunity to further his interests and profile for the Head of Centre.” Madeline emphasised with her leader’s summation about Colum. “Obviously, but … if he is bragging to Mr Lambert about his monitoring of Jamie and Claire, then why? Does he think we are incapable of trusting our operatives to complete the capture of the triad leader successfully? Does he have plans to usurp us on the Rising Dragon’s mission? And why his data collecting on Letitia?”

“That … is another matter altogether Madeline. It would seem he would stop at nothing to discredit us and implicate us in her disappearance.” “Jamie and Claire’s downtime was the perfect opportunity for Colum to get a head start on Sun Yee Lok’s whereabouts if he wants to bring in the triad leader by his own operatives.” Madeline had hit a major nerve. “No wonder Colum was so adamant that they have two weeks … against my better judgement I might add,” he reiterated with scorn. “Point taken Dougal,” conceded Madeline, “Although I hate to say this, downtime was still necessary for Jamie and Claire’s recovery for them to be at their optimum.” “We don’t know that yet. Two weeks away from the mission could be vital in Colum trumping Section. That would be intolerable,” he replied pacing the floor of her office racking his brain as to how they could proceed with averting all of this. “Let’s hope that he hasn’t jumped the gun on us. I very much doubt he would have, given were the triad stood after the retrieval mission’s success.” Madeline’s logic made sense and Operations cooled his heels somewhat knowing that his second in command would have some plans of her own to beat his brother at his own game. “What are we going to do then?” “First of all, we need damage control with Mr Lambert. Who knows what Colum has been telling him about the Rising Dragon’s mission?” “Yes … I agree.” “I’ll contact Centre with our status. I’m sure Mr Lambert would like a point of view from my perspective,” Madeline proposed with assurance. Section’s leader liked what he was hearing. “Go on.” “We’ll also be able to gauge if Colum has any leads on the Rising Dragons that we don’t have. We’ve come too far on the mission profiles to let him defeat us.” She looked at Operations intently. “We can fix this Dougal.” “How? What else do you have in mind?” “We’ll get Fergus to call in any informants in Hong Kong and see what they can come up with.” “Who?” “John Grey for one. He works freelance and is inconspicuous in his movements. He has an overabundance of contacts he can utilise for us. He’s always come through before.” “Anyone else?” “Phil Jurgen is located in that area.” Operations shook his head. “No, I’m not totally convinced he is reliable … Grey is closer to the situation. Doesn’t he have interests in Hong Kong?” “Yes. You have a point. He moves in a wide range of circles. He’s bound to have heard something.” “That’s settled then.” “And besides … It may be better to rely on just one informant than risking Colum finding out that we are making enquiries about him.” “He’ll think he has had a two week window on us, but I’m sure John Grey may be able to shed more light on the situation in Hong Kong than what Colum knows.” “Tell Fergus to get on to it straight away then.” “Certainly.” ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ “Do you think this will work Madeline?” “I do,” was her confident reply. Section’s head strategist knew that the depth of his brother’s betrayal had cut deep for Dougal but if they acted expediently … they could best him before he turned the tables on them. Operations was still somewhat apprehensive. “It won't take long before Colum finds a way to get through to Mr. Lambert. And god knows what Intel he’ll have on the Rising Dragons. We have to reel him in before he does.” “We’ll trump him first. We'll use every available resource.” Happy with Madeline’s proposition Operations waited for what she had in mind. “I’m all ears.”

“We’re going to make Colum think that he has a heads up on Intel pertaining to the triad because of his mole. However, because he also has suspicions about you Dougal, we’ll have to change that.”

“Brilliant …” His eyes suddenly became intense and he gave Madeline a piercing glare. “… but there is another option.” Knowing where he was heading, she was not at all happy with his proposal. “That's an option I'm not completely comfortable with.” Nevertheless Operations was adamant that his idea would get rid of Colum once and for all. “You know as well as I do. We push the button, make a hit on Colum and blame it elsewhere.” “This is not the time to get personal Dougal.” “It is to me. Colum has overstepped the line this time. He has to pay.” Madeline was uneasy with his plan realising the consequences were not entirely for the right reasons. “Of all the people on the planet to target for assassination, your brother is by far the most dangerous. This would be a last resort. It could backfire on us.” “Then we'll have to go about it very carefully, won't we … if … I repeat … if he persists in undermining Section on the Rising Dragons’ mission. I won’t tolerate it Madeline. I will not!” Operations’ tirade put an end to any more discussion on the matter. To him it was over. However, Madeline had the last word on the subject of Colum Mackenzie after all. “If it ever comes to that, we’ll have to bide our time for the right opportunity … but this is not the right time. It would be far too suspicious if it were to happen because of his interference in the Rising Dragons’ mission. The finger of blame would immediately be pointed at Section One and us. I would not contemplate assassination as the method of paying Colum back Dougal. There are other ways!” Although he heard what Madeline had to say in reply, he chose to ignore her and changed the subject. “And what about Frank Wolverton-Randall?” ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ “I think we can arrange for him to return from the substation back to Section.” “Elaborate.”

“We’ll say that we need his help in profiling, as our new Intel on the Rising Dragons will overload Fergus. Colum will certainly like that, as he’ll have his inside contact back in the thick of things especially if the order comes from Mr. Lambert for his return to Section One. Colum will be under the impression that having your enemies closer will work in his favour, but of course we’ll turn the tables on him and have Wolverton-Randall cancelled in due course.”

A wry smile crossed Operations’ face as Madeline outlined her strategy. “Excellent.”

“But, we can't do anything about Frank … just yet. Colum will be watching. His status can't be tampered with at the moment. The best we can do is to keep them both from knowing we're on to his subterfuge.” “Agreed.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ “And what are we going to do about Colum’s suspicion that I am responsible for Letitia’s disappearance? If he finds out that is true all hell will break out.”

“There could be a way around it Dougal but we will need to play our cards close to our chest.”

“What do you propose?”

“I think we need to show Colum that we have had a major personal falling out.”

“Such as?”

“Sexual intimidation and coercion Dougal. It needs to be something that he will believe and if you are pressuring me for sex against my will then it would not be too farfetched that I would jump at the chance to get my own back at you.”

Dougal took a moment to ponder her suggestion. “Yes, that would work.”

“I’ll indicate that I am fed up with you using me for sex, so I’ll make a deal with Colum to make him think that I will betray you because of this. As payback, I’ll give him information about you and Letitia and he will give me something I want in exchange, say … the company Key File module for encrypting software. That will give me complete data access, control and protection in undermining you.”

“Go on …”

“We’ll initiate a set up to blackmail Colum when he meets with a courier that he thinks he can trust but in fact the result will be that he just exchanged the Key File for money.”

“Do you think that is believable and that he will not be suspicious?”

“Not if we use someone such as a known corrupt associate who thinks he will be exonerated for the exchange.”

“Who do you have in mind?”

“Lionel Brown.”

“Excellent. He has always been a rogue intelligence officer who peddles Intel to terrorists and he is on the Pentagon’s Red List.”

“Indeed, he is. It will look like Colum was paying and cooperating with a known shady extremist and because of this we can blackmail him for anything we want.”

Operations gave his second in command a wry smile. “Madeline … I love the way you think.”

“Thank you, Dougal. However, Colum must not suspect we are pretending to fight and have sex. We will need to be convincing so that he will think that I would betray you because of a toxic and controlling relationship.”

“Oh, I can be very convincing Madeline as too can you,” he said with a wry smirk at the very thought of besting his brother and finally having him out of his hair.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“So … that just leaves Jamie and Claire.” “Hmmm?” Operations pondered before smiling at Madeline and removing his glasses. “They’ll have to return to Section of course in the next couple of days once we have put these measures in place.” The glee in his eyes was palatable. She returned his candour. “Yes ... I couldn’t agree with you more. However due to expediency I think we can forgo their Psyche Assessment in the interim. I will just make keen observations as to their mental acuity and physical attributes to continue the mission. They’ll want to return to the mission profile if they know they have the best chance of capturing Jonathon Randall and Sun Yee Lok’s daughter. Jamie won’t want Colum or any of his operatives to bring in any person who was responsible for Claire’s atrocities … including the triad’s leader himself.” “Madeline you never cease to amaze me.” Satisfied that they had covered all bases, Operations’ dry wit raised its head. “Another day at the office?” His second in command smiled in appreciation of his witticism. Operations turned to go, but then he thought of something else. “You said Jamie and Claire were off the radar and their trackers were down. How do you plan on contacting them?” “I have my ways.” “Good. Do it!” ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~to be continued Friday 14th August

#jamieandclairecrossover #Jamieandclairefanfic #the lallybroch library #outlander fiction #LFNoutlander #covert operations

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kihaku-gato · 3 years

Text

So one of the small victories in this entire year of horrendous losses,

I was able to express to my mom that when this pandemic is over and things are less chaotic that I would like to explore the medicinal route for easing some of the lesser pros of my autism and she said we could. She first asked if the chiropractor wasn’t helping/working- and I said that while it helps a lil that I don’t think it was helping far enough for what I need (it definitely helps take out most of the “pain static” my body tunes out but it does not help with other things). I suppose it crossed my mind more heavily this year from this year being so rough but it’s also cause as I hear a lot about ADHD people having so many similar issues that we autistics have and some of them have been able to ease those issues with proper medication, so I can’t help but wonder if it might help me too.

Now, I don’t expect it to be the be all end all solution to many of my problems, cause it’s not. For that matter we don’t even know if any of them will even work for me as certain brain-meds are hit-and-miss person to person (and while autism is similar to adhd it’s still not the same thing- so what works for ADHD people may not work for Autistic people). But there are some things I know can’t be solved purely with just self-care and healthy habits alone (though by jeeze I gotta work on that harder), and I want to at least see what can work for me and what doesn’t work for me. Worst case scenario we find none work or all of them give me too severe of side affects to be worth the trouble; we are at least left with more information rather than “what ifs“.

At least at my current age (nearly 30) it’d be far easier to explore/document it vs when I was younger; it’s a lot harder to ask a toddler if certain meds are working for them when they are at the stage that they can barely express what is up with their emotions.

It might not be a lot and it may not go anywhere, but I am still glad we can at least try the route down the road when things are less chaotic.

#ramblings #personal #it's a strange positive but it's a positive nonetheless

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study-van · 4 years

Text

Get to know me tag

I was tagged by the lovely @myhoneststudyblr, thank you sophie💕

what is your name?

Yasemin (it’s actually my second name but I’ve been using that since I started high school)

what year are you?

I just graduated from high school and this October I’m starting my first year of med school!!

what are you studying?

This summer, my main goal is mandarin but I’ve also been revising for le pass, the first year of med school which is cut throat

after graduation, what’s next?

After finishing med school (which will honestly take years) I’ll have to pass exams for specialization, currently my main interest is in cardiovascular surgery or plastic surgery

are you a morning or night person?

It really depends on my schedule but I prefer completing things in the morning

front/back/middle of the class?

Fun fact, I’m 176cm so I always sat at the back of the class to not obscure people’s vision but I was that annoying kid who answered everything from back

best feedback from a teacher/professor?

God there are so many but I think it might be last summer, at a summer camp when the course teacher (a lad with an actual PhD in biophysics specifically working on evolutionary biophysics) complimented me on my theories about how the difference between our biological and social evolution is causing health problems in modern world. It was really interesting for me bc I don’t really discuss what has always been on my mind but he sat there with me for a whole afternoon+dinner and listened to me and gave me so many good ideas on how to expand my theories and what I can do to prove them/solve them (all hypothetically though)

best study tips?

Experiment with different styles of studying if something does not work for you. Also for me I like write cheat sheets for studying, on just one page so the essential info always stays.

3 fun facts:

1. I joke about not being able to draw on here and my doodles are generally horrendous but I’ve won several art contests and before high school my middle school art teacher, an american man named Jessi (legit was my favorite teacher) sent me to an art academy in Brooklyn that summer. (Yeah I was going to an american middle school where most of my teachers were native English speakers thus my level of English bc french schools don’t teach you English)

2. On the topic of art before seventh grade, I always thought I’d be an artist and my parents were really excited for it. Then I went to a science festival thing with school (they took the kids with highest grades in science) in Edinburgh and we had this surgery simulation, no other girl except for me partook in it. It was such a fun experience that I fell in love with medical world.

3. So I was one of those “gifted” kids when I was young reading books constantly. My mom apparently once counted all the books I’ve read and the highest amount of books I’ve read in a year is 243. (Now I struggle with reading 60 books a year)

I tag: @collegewithme @jeonchemstudy @summit-studies @pandastudies @venustudy @philology-studies @studylikeara @sweetstudymine

#tagged #tag game #obviously no pne is obligated to do it!!!

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afaithy · 4 years

Note

Prompt 11 for the haunted house headcanon! ;)

Sorry this turned out this long! The whole intention was to make it funny not scary, it turned out kind of silly.

Hope you like it :)

As usual. This is part of my Universe so...keep that in mind dear readers:

SEND MORE PROMPTS! HERE

If I die I am going to haunt your ass

“Maybe all the people who say ghosts don't exist are just afraid to admit that they do.”

― Michael Ende

“We gotta do it! “Mimi shouted excitedly “I mean look at how things are...Sora, Taichi and Yamato are in their first year of college...when exactly are we going to have a chance to do it?” “Eh..but Mimi-san…” Jou said disapprovingly “You and Koushiro-san are in third year. You two should be using summer vacations to prepare for entry exams and…”

“Yayaya…” Mimi said covering her ears “I’ll be studying design abroad, so that’s already taken care of. Koushiro here has pretty much his way into Computer Science on Todai ensured. So now problems, there. Come on Jou.-..this could be our last summer together, you know?”

“Last summer sounds a little ...dramatic don’t you think?” Koushiro said, chuckling “It’s not like we are cutting tights with each other.”

“No, but think about it. Jou is in med school. If it was already hard to get him to join us when he was just a regular high schooler, how hard do you think it’ll get now? Taichi, Yamato and Sora are in college as well, soon they will be so busy that they won’t be able to join either; Then I might be leaving to study abroad and Koushiro, you will be busy with school and that cyber security company you are working on with Tachibana. The group is scattering...and soon all that will be left will be those that pair of love birds over there!” Mimi screeched , pointing at Takeru and Hikari.

“Love birds?” they both replied puzzled. Hikari and Takeru looked at each, and Mimi gave them a mischievous smirk.

“Let her be, Jou.” Taichi laughed “Besides. The test of courage huh...we never did that, and yet it is something so...highschool like. Sounds like a fun thing to do, Right, Yamato?”

“What? Eh...y-y-yes. Of course.”

“I can’t say that Mimi isn’t wrong. We might not get another chance in a while, right?” Sora reasoned “I’m sure we can make an exception for old time’s sake.”

“Yes, yes!” Mimi said, jumping excited “Come on Jou. You can bring Marina-chan along, too.”

“Oh, boy…” Jou said “Ok, I’m going. Someone needs to make sure you kids stay out of problems.”

“Good ol’ Jou.” Taichi laughed.

“But where exactly are we going?” Hikari asked, tilting her head “IT’s not like there are too many haunted places around here.”

“Well...there’s that old shack by the hill…” Takeru said. “Didn’t our class go there last time?”

“Eh?” Hikari said “I wouldn’t know.I didn’t go ...it was you who went with those girls.”

“Ah…” Takeru said “True. I did…”

“ You’re such a ladies man, Takeru…” Yamato chuckled.

“It wasn’t like I wanted to go. Rest assured, bro. THere were other places I would have preferred to be.” Takeru chuckled.

“No, everyone knows that place is a farce.” Mimi said, waving her hand in front of his face “No, no. Don’t worry.I have that solved. Right , Koushiro?”

“Uh. I think I have the right place we can go.” Koushiro nodded.

“Ah...why am I not surprised about you two ganging up together?” Taichi smirked “I’m sure going to miss that. You are sure going to miss it, too, eh Koushiro?”

“Yeah. I admit it will be kind of strange.”

“Don’t think that you can get rid of me so easily…”

“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t even dream of that.” Koushiro chuckled “The place is chosen, so all that is left is going.”

“Hooray!” Mimi said happily “We go in three days then. You guys get psychologically prepared. Ok?”

Three days later, the group was sitting on a bus on their way to the outskirts of Tokyo. The weather was burning hot and the cicadas chanted in full volum, as the bus drove through a landscape that was becoming more and more rural.

“So...this is our itinerary.” Mimi chanted “ We’ll be camping on the near area so...first things, first. Preparing the campsite, then…”

“Wait…” Yamato groaned “Camping? You’re making us camp in a haunted forest?”

“The mansion is supposed to be haunted, not the forest…” Mimi said “It’ll be alright, right Koushiro?”

“According to my research, the hauntings are only restricted to the mansion area.”Koushiro nodded “ I don't think there will be any problem with us staying on in the forest. We can still ask around the inn we are staying to be sure.”

“That won’t be necessary. I am sure we can stay there without issues” Mimi said, winking “Or do you have anything to say, Yamato?”

“Me...w-w-why-would I...I have s-something to say?” he replied “I-i’t not like I am s-scared.”

Nobody believed it. Everyone knew that Yamato couldn’t stand any kind of horror related subject.

“He’s scared to death…” Takeru whispered into Hikari’s ear.

“Poor, Yamato-san. Even now he’s still trying to act tough huh?”

“His pride will haunt him, but this is actually going to be fun.”

“That’s mean,Takeru-kun, you shouldn’t tease your brother…”Hikari chuckled.

“Just a little bit, okay?” Takeru said, winking at her before turning to look at Koushiro. “Where exactly are we going again, Koushiro-san?”

“Ah…” Koushiro replied, turning his tablet to let them see “It’s an old abandoned manor. According to the legend, the family was practitioners of some sort of ritualistic religion and would often make human sacrifices.”

“Ah!” Takeru said “ I think I know. I remember researching it for my story. Isn’t that the shrine where the head of the family went crazy and slaughtered everyone in the middle of the night? Then he took each body and threw them into the pit, one by one before hanging himself in the central hall..”

“Why do you even search for those things?”Yamato mumbled to himself; sinking into his seat.

“Ah...yes, I believe so.” Koushiro replied, browsing in his tablet “Yes, you’re correct, Takeru-san.”

“But...I think I read that some people have seen child spirits roaming the forest.” Takeru said “ people who have gone lost in the woods say they hear children’s voices and the sound of leaves shuffling as if someone was running around.”

“C-children?” Yamato mumbled.

“Oh...really? That’s creepy. Children are creepy even when they’re alive.” Taichi said.

“Taichi!”

“What? It’s true…”

“Ohhh, I think I’ve heard that story before.” Marina said, peeking over her seat.” They said the children spirits try to lure you into the shrine, right?”

“Right, right…” Takeru nodded with a malicious grin “It is said that they call out at people, feigning to be in trouble so that people will try to find them, and then before anyone even realizes…”

Takeru reached under the chair and pulled Yamato’s leg. Yamato, who had been covering his face and shrinking in his seat trying to tune out the conversation, gave a jump and a very uncharacteristic screech that caused several of the other passengers to look back at them.

“WHat the hell, Takeru?!” Yamato said, reddening as the group laughed.

“...the ghosts grab you and pull all the way into the pit…” Takeru said, innocently “Just like that…”

“Yes, yes...That’s what I’ve heard too!” Marina said excitedly “ this place came out in a magazine recently I think. It’s one of the most haunted places in Tokyo.”

“Ehhh?” Jou said “From all the places to choose, Mimi-san.” “Hey, we wanted to feel the real thing, no? Come on it will be fine.”

“Is it really that famous?” Sora asked.

“Uh, I supposed. I think it became quite popular after the local government tried to get it exorcised or something.” Takeru shrugged.

“Yes! It seems it went pretty bad and the priest who came went missing.”

“Oh god…”

“Eh? Missing?” Taichi said “No way!”

“THat’s only gossip.” Hikari chuckled “ An exorcism was indeed performed. It was successful and the place should be safe now.”

“Thanks god…” Yamato sighed.

“I think…”

The last words Hikari muttered only made Yamato let out a groan. After three hours of road trip, they finally reached their destination. The group checked into the inn, dropped their things and, taking only the necessary things for camping, the group made their way to their destination.

Ignoring the fact that they were stepping into a rumored cursed forest to camp in the gardens of a famous haunted location, the whole thing would have seemed to be like any regular trip. The sun shone brightly, the sky was blue and the cicadas were chanting noisily around them. Perhaps it was the light or the distraction by the tasks that camping required , but Yamato seemed to have calmed down considerably. His calmness had been short lived, as the sun began to set soon after they had set camp.

“Alright everyone! Gather here!” Mimi chanted, calling out for everyone's attention “It’s time to make the teams for the kimodameshi!”

“Eh?�� Taichi said “Isn’t that too troublesome? We can just make the team ourselves.”

“No, no!” Mimi replied “Absolutely not!” IF we let that happen everyone will just go for Hikari-chan.”

“Eh? Me…?” Hikari said shocked,

“Of course...so I tada…” Mimi said, showing them a bunch of threads she had in her hand “Everyone pick and end. Your partner will be the one holding the other side…”

“But Mimi...we are an odd number…”

“I know that! The threads have colored tags in the middle. THe one that gets the single thread will make a trio with the pair with the same color. Ain’t I a genius?”

“Mimi-san, wouldn’t it be easier if I just used my tablet to randomize the teams?”

“Koushiro-kun...sometimes you gotta do things the old way.Now pick!”

Everyone took one of the ends and Mimi counted to three before releasing them and allowing everyone to see the teams.

“Ah! Jou, we are together! Lucky” Marina chirped happily.

“Ah...Mimi-san, we are together.” Koushiro said, blinking in surprise.

“Eh...we are the trio, huh?” Taich said, punching Yamato’s shoulder “Don’t worry, buddy. Sora and I will protect you…”

“Sounds more like I’ll be the one protecting you two, instead…”Sora said, rolling her eyes.

“Don’t be like that…” Taichi laughed.

“Shouldn’t be surprised that you two ended up together, huh? Even fate is on your side,”

Tekeru and Hikari were still holding their end of the thread and looking dumbfounded.

“Lucky dog…” Yamato groaned “He’ll be the only one leaving this place alive.”

“Yamato!”

“Like you didn’t think of it, too!” Yamato said “hey Takeru. Be a good brother and switch with me…”

“Sorry, bro. I think fate thinks we make a good team…” Takeru smiled “Right, Hikari-chan?”

The girl smiled.

“Ah…”

“Alright instructions!” Mimi said “Everyone has their flashlights, remember to keep them on. We’ll go in with 15 min of difference between each team. Starting with Koushiro and I…” Mimi winked “Then Marina and Jou-senpai, Sora’s team and finally the love birds.”

“Why do you keep calling them that?” Taichi said, rolling his eyes.

“Here is a layout of the place. The red spot is our goal. Once you get there, you take a photo and you’re done with the challenge.”

“A photo?” Sora asked.

“Yeah, if you get a ghost to photobomb, you get extra points.”

“God, no!” Yamato said, covering his eyes.

“You can stay outside i f you’re too scared, Yamato…” Taichi smirked “Alone…”

“Well… I….”

“Uh? Did you guys hear that ?” Hikari said suddenly.

“Eh? What?” Mimi asked “What? What?”

“Uh...thought I heard a whisper…” Hikari replied very seriously, and the color drained completely from Yamato’s face. Takeru chuckled, he wasn’t sure if Hikari was being serious or if she had joined the “Let’s tease Yamato” train as well.

“Yeah, you can stay out here, aniki…” Takeru said, poking his brother’s neck with a branch and making him jump “alone...in the dark...surrounded by ghostly children and who knows what else...boooo.”

“Takeru-kun...don’t be mean.” HIkari scolded him.

“Forget it, I’m coming…”

“You’re a scared kid, Yamato.”

“Take a paper bag…” Jou sai, giving one to each of his friends.

“In case I need to throw up?” Taichi asked,

“More like , if you start hyperventilating, but maybe you should take some extra. Just in case. Yamato tends to throw up when he’s scared.”

“I don’t!”

“Mmmm…” Hikari said, “Just in case, too. Take one of these…”

“What’s these?”

“Ofuda(**Paper charms). You know, for protection.”

“Ah! Well thought, sis.”

“Thank you, Hikari-chan …” Marina said with a smile.

“Oh, and if you hear someone calling. Don’t listen...keep moving forward. If you don’t pay them attention, they don’t know you saw them.”

“Advice from the expert. Taken.”

“Do you see anything?” Taichi asked casually.

“Mmm, not really. I don’t think there are evil spirits.”

“Thank god. I’m trusting you word…” Yamato said “The building is probably more dangerous, yes…”

“Ok...well, I think we are ready, right?”

“Yeah. We can use the digivice to see each other’s location and to communicate in case of emergency.” Koushiro said “Remember...stick to the map. It would be dangerous if any of us got lost.”

“What do we do if a ghost drags us away?” Taichi asked.

“Eh...well….”

“Taichi...stop scaring, Yamato.”

“I am not scared. Who’s scared?”

“Just saying…”

“That’s not going to happen.” Hikari assured them “Hold each other hands. Don’t let go and you should be fine.”

WIth that said, the test began.

Mimi and Koushiro

The house was, by far, creepier than Mimi had originally thought. The photos online didn’t give it enough credit. It was even scarier than the sceneries in horror movies. The first thing that both tees noticed when they stepped into the old dilapidated house was that it was like stepping into a completely different place.

Outside, the sound of crickets and cicadas filled the forest. The wind blowing through the trees and one or two night birds, but inside the house it felt ominously cold and the silence was unsettling.

Mimi wasn’t scared. SHe had already made a quick run through the building with Hikari earlier and the girl had told her that the place was ok, but still, she had to admit that the house was creepy.

“Uh…ok. This way…” Koushiro said.

She might not be scared, but this was the perfect time to hook Koushiro. Who could resist the sweet innocence of a scared damsel, after all.

“Wait!” she said, hugging his arm “Hikari-chan said that we should stay close, right? Just in case.”

“I thought you said you weren’t scared…”

“I thought I wasn’t…” Mimi replied “but I must admit, this place is creepy. It’s making me hesitate…”

“Oh….” Koushiro said “That’s reasonable. We can step back…”

“What? No!” Mimi replied “What I mean...is that I would feel safer like this.”

Mimi hugged Koushiro's arm tighter. The action made Koushiro stagger in surprise.

“Ah..ah! Of course…” Koushiro replied. The dim light of the flashlight didn’t show his blush.” Sure...you can hold me, if that makes you feel better.”

Victory, Mimi thought. The pair began their way through the dark and eerie corridors, Something was hanging from the roof. Mimi remembered seeing ropes and fabric hanging earlier, but in the darkness, it was difficult to distinguish it.

“Do you think Jou and Marina have entered already?” Mimi asked casually,

“Uh? Probably…” Koushiro said, looking around the corridor. The place seemed to transform when the night fell “Knowing Jou, they’re probably walking through very slowly. I can understand, though...this planks could be dangerously rotten.”

“Oh, yeah...it wouldn’t be nice to fall into one of these...AHHHHH.”

Mimi gave a jump and hugged Koushiro tightly. This time it hadn’t been faked.

“M-Mimi-san?”

“Something touched me…” Mimi said horrified, “Something definitely touched me….”

“It was probably a piece of wood or one of those ropes…”

“No...no...I felt fingers. Cold fingers….”Mimi said looking around “small, cold fingers…”

“Mimi-san...please calm down. It’s probably a self suggestion.”

"I don't…."

Hehehehehehehe

"What was that? You heard it, didn't you?"

Koushiro had stiffened . He had and he couldn't believe his ears. It has to be a trick of their mind. Koushiro's logic mind began to work on any possible explanation when they heard a loud thud. Like if something had fallen down and then, there was a soft rustling.

A shudder ran down their spines and the pair unconsciously began to walk faster.

"Oh god!" Mimi screeched.

They had stopped in their tracks as they had come face to face with two figures, but when they shone their lights at it, they realized that it was nothing but a very old and dirty mirror, and the two phantom images were only their reflection.

"A mirror? Who the hell places a mirror in the middle of the corridor?" Mimi said gasping for air. That had given her a fright.

"Uh… Maybe it is a religious thing? A hikari or Takeru would know."

"Mental note to ask them later." Mimi muttered.

She'd been here earlier but she didn't remember that mirror. She wouldn't have missed it. The thing was the size of a wall.

"Koushiro… Are we on the right way?"

"Yeah," he answered, flashing his map c right on track to the main hall, why?"

This was Koushiro. She could trust his sense of direction, but why did she feel like everything looked different from when she had come during the day?

They turned around a corner and stopped in the tracks. Mimi swallowed hard and felt a knot form in her gut. This was definitely different. The room was filled with several old kimonos hung on stands, giving an eerie sensation of people standing around them.

"This wasn't here before…" Mimi muttered" Koushiro-kun… Are you sure we are in the right place?"

Mimi was holding his arm so hard, that she was beginning to sink her nails through the fabric of his shirt. She wasn't feigning anymore, she was really scared and by her friend's expression she could tell she wasn't alone.

Koushiro had gone pale. He had to admit that he was beginning to feel scared as well, but seeing how Mimi was clearly upset, he didn't dare to say it out loud. He had to stay firm for her sake, but the task was becoming harder as the sound of tiny feet seemed to have grown louder around them.

"Y-yeah. This should be it. I mean...it is the kimono room...so I guess it shouldn’t be strange that there are kimonos here….we are in the right place.”

“This can’t be right!” Mimi shrieked” Those weren’t here before!”

“It's ok. " Koushiro said, trying to sound soothing, " It’s ok. You probably missed them, that’s all…”

“How could I miss this?”

“Calm down. Remember Hikari's words. Don't pay attention and let’s keep going.”

Mimi swallowed and nodded. The temperature had gotten colder . The sound of rustling was louder and as they circled between the kimono, Mimi had the uncomfortable impression that someone was watching them.

They were starting to think that perhaps choosing this place was a bad idea.

"I wonder how Marina-chan and Jou-senpai are doing, hehe…" Mimi mumbled. She felt less nervous when she spoke.

"Yeah, I'm sure they're fine." Koushiro replied as calmly as he could. He could swear he had seen something move ahead "They should be behind us and not too far…. '

Almost as if summoned, a distant echo of screams that they easily recognized as the eldest in the group and his girlfriend, cut through the silent stillness of the ruins. The screams were terrified and Mimi automatically jumped into Koushiro's arms.

"W-what?" Mimi said in horror.

"Uh, Jou-san….” Koushiro said, “Right. He’s easily startled. They probably got scared with the mirror at the end of the hallway, too.”

“Oh right...t-that must be it...hehe. How far are we from the great hall?”

“J-just a couple rooms more…” Koushiro replied. Now he was sure he had seen a shadow run past them “T-this way…”

Niii-san, Oneesan… will you play with us?

“K-k-koushiro?”

“Y-yes…”

“C-can we h-hurry up?”

“Of...of course.”

Neesan, Niisan...why do you ignore us?”

That was too much. Forgetting about everything, Koushiro grabbed Mimi’s hand and sprinted away without looking back. Muffled voices sounded around them, but they ignored it and kept running and didn’t stop until they had reached the main hall.

Marina and Jou

“So we must wait 15 minutes before going in right?” Jou said looking at his watch.

“Yup, that’s how it works.” Takeru replied “ The point is that the team aren’t to close to each other as they go through the test.”

“You sound familiar with this, Takeru-kun.” Marina smiled.

“I’ve gone through a couple of them. “Takeru shrugged “never to a real haunted location though.”

“Takeru-kin is way to popular with the girls…” Hikari said tilting her head” they are always arguing to see who will get to go with him….”

“Well, I can’t blame them. A test of courage is certainly a good opportunity to hug or try to hold hands with the boy you like, right?” Marina said, winking “Isn’t that pretty much the main objective of it?”

“I thought the goal was to prove your courage.” Taichi said, dumbfounded.

“Well, that, too, but I think most of the girls just go in for that priceless chance.”

“Ah…” Hikari said “I see...so how many girls have you hugged, Takeru-kun?”

“Do you really want to know?” Takeru smiled wolfishly.

“I think it should be about time…” Sora said “It’s been 15 minutes. Jou-senpai, Marina-chan….”

“Alright!” Marina said cheerfully, hugging her boyfriend’s arm “you ready, Jou?”

“You’re awfully excited about this….” Jou said with a frown.

“I am excited! Are you not?”

“No...I still think this is reckless…”

“Oh, come Jou. Where’s your sense of adventure?”

“You are brave, Marina-chan.” Sora laughed “ unlike somebody I know…”

Sora nudge her head at Yamato’s direction. He was crouched by her side , with his head between his arms.

“Please be careful.” Hikari whispered “I know you like this whole spirit thing, but don’t let it carry you away.”

“DOn’t worry! If anything happens, I already memorized the Kuji!”

“Hehe...I don’t know if using the kuji, recklessly will help in a bad situation, though.”

“Kuji?” Sora asked.

“The nine hands seals…” Takeru replied “It is often used to ward off evil spirits.”

“You’re getting awfully good with shinto lore. Hikari’s been teaching you, huh?”

“A little” Takeru shrugged “It’s for creative purposes.”

“Either way. I promise not to use the kuji mindlessly.” Marina smiled “Shall we, Jou?”

“Yeah, let’s get done with this.”

Jou and Marina walked through the door and just like Mimi and Koushiro earlier, they disappeared into the house. A shudder ran down Jou and Marina’s back as a gust of icy wind blew past them. “Oh boy, this is worse than I imagined it.” Jou sighed.

“Yeah, it is even scarier in real life.”

“Ok...let's go.” Jou sighed “ Be careful, Marina. These floors could be rotten for all we know.”

“Yes, yes….” Marina siad cheerfully “Ok...according to the map, we should go...that way.”

Jou used his flash light to point at the direction that his girlfriend was indicating him. A large wooden door laid closed in front of the Jou groaned.

“Oh, great...doors. WHy couldn’t they trace a straight , no way to get lost, route?” Jou complained “These old japanese houses are like mazes, you know that?”

“Yes,yes...but we will be ok. If we get lost, all we gotta do is use our phones.”

“Knowing our luck...we won’t have a signal.”

“It will be fine. At least we are not alone and worse case scenario, we just need to wait til morning to get out.”

“This is a bad idea…”

Hehehe

“Huh? DId you hear that?” Marina said, pulling Jou’s hand.

“WHat?”

Kekekekek

“That…” Marina said loudly “I heard kids.”

“You’re auto suggesting, Marina. I didn’t hear anything…”

“I swear, Jou…”

“It was probably the… AHHHHHH!”

“What? What?”

Jou looked at his reflection on the old dirty mirror.

“Who is so crazy to put a mirror here?” Jou said annoyed.

“Ahhhh...creepy.” Marina said, pushing up her glasses.

“Let’s get done with this. I am sure someone is bound to get hurt today.”

“Don’t be so pessimistic.”

“I am not. I call being realistic…” Jou said” just look at this place. If someone panics and runs away...they might stumble with something or fall into a hole…”

“And that’s why we are keeping our cool!”

“Yeah, I am calm….why wouldn't I?Right?”

Kagome kagome...the bird in the cage...when . oh wen will it come out?

“Jou...tell me you’re hearing that.”

“I….” Jou said. THe color had drained from his face. Suddenly, his flashlight began to flicker until it finally turned off leaving them in darkness.

Marina screeched and grabbed Jou’s arm in panic.

“Damn thing...the batteries were new! Ok, calm down. Good thing I brought a second one.Let me get it out…”

Hehehehehe...hehehe….

“Jou...you must have heard that right?”

“Keep calm, keep calm….Ah here it is!””

Jou switched his new flash light on, but to both’s horror. They found themselves face to face with a white, masked face.

Hehehe….I found ...you!

Jou and Marina let out a terrified screech the pierced through the night. The doctor grabbed his girlfriend’s hand and ran off in a burst of fear, not looking back even once.

Sora, Taichi and Yamato

“Are you guys going to be ok out here alone?” Taichi asked, looking at the two youngest of the group.

“Are you sure you three will be okay in there alone?” Takeru asked instead, with an amused look.

“Touché. YEah...I guess you guys are probably the least scared here, huh?” Sora chuckled.

“I’m not scared.” Taichi said “I don’t have the crest of courage for nothing.”

“Courage doesn’t mean fearless.”

“Are you sure, Yamato-san will be alright?” Hikari asked.

“Don’t worry about him. “Takeru smiled “ He’s doing his “Courage “ mantra. He doesit all the time before concerts and...finals.”

“Yamato...you okay? It’s our turn now…” Sora said softly.

“Ok? Yeah...I’m ok…Why wouldn’t I be okay?” Yamato blurted “It’s just and old house. There are no ghosts there, just mold and maybe rats, right?”

“Right, buddy and maybe a few corpses as well.” Taichi smirked.

“Taichi!” Sora said, glaring at the boy.

“Oh, god…”

Hikari crouched by his side and put her hands on his shoulders.

“It is alright. There are no evil spirits in there. I promise you that.” she said in a soft soothing voice, that seemed to calm him a little.

Yamato took a deep breath and stood up.

“Fight hard, aniki!” Takeru grinned patting his brother´s back.

“Shut up…”

Taichi, Sora, and Yamato cautiously entered the house. Taichi was holding his head and Yamato reluctantly followed, looking around nervously.

“Woah...creepy. It does look like a horror movie setting, huh?” Taichi said, running his flashlight all over the place.” “It also looks like it is falling in pieces.” Sora added” Don't do anything stupid, Taichi.”

“What are you talking about?” Taichi said.

The piece of wood that Taichi had been touching fell apart and one of the pieces fell to the ground with a strong thud that made Yamato jump.

“I’m talking about something like that…” Sora said, rolling her eyes” Stop messing around and let’s move…”

“Eheh...sorry.”Taichi chuckled “This way…”

Yamato was taking long deep breaths behind them.

“Yamato, if you are scared you can take my hand.” Sora offered.

“Or mine…” Taichi smirked “Like a kid…”

“Shut up, Taichi. Can we get done with this?” Yamato said, rubbing his face.

“Ehehe…” Taichi laughed “Right. Follow me...don’t worry Yama-chan, Sora-nesan and Taichi-nisan will keep you safe.” “Taichi...I swear that if you don’t shut up, I’m gonna punch you.”

“Not cute….” Taichi said putting, the flashlight under his chin and making a “ghost face” “Not cute at all….”

Niiisan….niiisan…..

“Huh?” Taichi said, looking around “Hey guys...did you hear that?”

“It’s not fun, Taichi…” Sora sighed.

“No, I...I’m not joking. I seriously heard something.” Taichi said, looking around with his flashlight.

“Very funny, Taichi.” Yamato said grumpily, looking around with his flashlight as well.“You just want to scare me…”

“No...I swear...I heard something.”

“It’s an old house. Old houses make noises. You probably heard that…” Sora reasoned “come on let’s move. Haunted or not, this place makes me uncomfortable, so let’s hurry up and finish this.”

“RIght...old houses make noises...yeah.”Yamato repeated “ old houses make noises….old house….AHHHH:”

“What? A ghost?” Taichi said, rushing to where YAmato was.”Oh...come on...you got spooked by your own face?”

“WHat did you want me to do? I wasn’t expecting to find a mirror there?” Yamato replied.

“Wow...well. In Yamato’s defense, that mirror does make you look creepy.” Sora said “This thing is old, it is incredible that it is still intact…”

“Yeah, I don’t really care about old things. Can we get moving?” Yamato said impatiently.

“Why? ARe you scared that someone is gonna try to pull you into the mirror?” Taichi said, tainting him with his hands.

“I warn you, Taichi...if you…”

Yamato paled and both Taichi and Sora looked at him dumbfounded.

“Yamato?”

“Eh….you okay, buddy?”

“Something pulled my sleeve.” “What?” Taichi repeated.

“I said...SOMETHING pulled my sleeve.”

“It was probably an old nail…” Sora suggested.

“How…? There’s nothing here!

“Chill...Yamato. I’m sure you’re scaring yourself….”

Onisan!

“What the hell?” Taichi said, turning to look behind him “Guys...you must have heard that.”

“Maybe...we should move.” Sora said nervously “now?”

“I second the idea…” Yamato agreed “Move…”

The trio hurried through the old corridors and sliding doors. The sound of their footsteps against the worn floorboards echoed in the burying silence of the manor.

It was then that the group noticed that the steps that they were hearing, were not theirs alone. There were at least a fourth set of steps that definitely didn't belong to any of the three. They were smooth and light steps, as if they belonged to very small feet.

“Eh...guys….?” Taichi said looking around “Is it just me or something is following us?”

“Stop joking, Taichi.”

“Yeah, shut up…” Yamato groaned.

“I swear guys...I…”

Hehehehe

Eheheheheheeh

“What the…?Oh god, no…” Yamato said, losing all his color “No,no.no…”

“Yamato, put yoursefeñ together.”

“Are hearing that?” Yamato cried “Those are damn ghost voices. They are going to drag us all the way to that pit and we’ll be dead. It’s like one of those damn horror movies…”

“This could be something that Mimi did to scare us…”SOra reasoned “it’s not a ghost, calm down.”

“I hell...I saw something over there….”Taichi said suddenly “We’re screwed…. We’re gonna get spirited away and Hikari will have to go through the place trying to contact our souls to see if she can brings us back…”

“Taichi, you’re not helping.”

“I knew this was a bad idea. Why did I agree to this?” Yamato said in panic “Taichi...I swear, if I die I am going to haunt your ass…”

“Yamato….”

“Buddy, you might end up haunting my ghostly ass!”

Sora looked at the two panicking boys trying to figure out what she was supposed to do, when suddenly...

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Taichi and Yamato automatically jumped to hug Sora in terror. The screams had come from somewhere deeper in the manor and after thinking about it, there was certain familiarity in the voices.

“Jou-senpai and Marina-chan!” Sora said in realization.

“Oh, no! The ghost caught them!” Taichi said in panic “What do we do? We are next now, aren’t we?”

“Ahhh..! Something touched me again.” Yamato cried.

“OK, STOP IT!” Sora shouted impatiently “Taichi get a hold your reins, your panic is not helping. Yamato, for god’s sake. I promise you, there are no ghosts touching you. Now, we should hurry and try to catch up with Jou-senpai. Something bad could have happened to them and… What, Taichi?”

Taichi’s eyes were wide as plates. He was absently pulling Sora’s blouse as he pointed at Yamato with a trembling hand. Sora turned to the blonde slowly and she opened her mouth to scream, but her voice died away as the light of the flashlights died one, by one.

Takeru and Hikari

Takeru paced in front of the entrance looking at his watch. Meanwhile, Hikari was standing pensively a few steps from him. Her hands were clasped in her lap and her head was slightly tilted.

“Should we give them a couple minutes more?” Takeru asked “I’m sure my brother is delaying them.”

“Sure…” Hikari nodded “knowing my brother, he’s not helping either. He’s probably touching things he shouldn’t all over the place. I just hope he won’t break anything.”

“Sounds like, Taichi,” Takeru chuckled “So what’s the verdict?”

“Uh?” Hikari replied, confused,

“Ghosts or no ghosts?” Takeru asked.

“Oh, about that. Well...there are no evil spirits.”

“Uh...so no ghosts. Too bad I guess. “

“I said no evil spirits. I never said there weren’t spirits.” Hikari chuckled “I just thought that whether they were evil or not, was irrelevant for Yamato-san.”

“Yeah, under this conditions...he’s probably scared of his own shadow.” Takeru laughed “Ok...I think we can go in now.”

Hikari nodded and turned to the door. To her surprise she found Takeru offering her his hand.

“Uh? You do realize I am not like those girls and I won’t be jumping and hugging you because I am scared, right?”

“Yeah, I know that. I think this is more for my own moral support.”

“Oh, so the hugging went both ways around.”

“You wouldn’t be jealous, would you?”

“Should I be jealous?”Hikari asked, taking his hand. “Nope. For the record, I would rather go through this with you. Those girls jump at anything.”

“Getting scared in that situation is the normal thing to do.”

“Yeah, I guess I just got used to my little shrine maiden who’s not afraid of anything.” he chuckled.

“Flirt. Don’t let my brother hear you…” Hikari said, shaking her head.

“Well, Mimi-san isn’t helping. She promised not to say a word, but her teasing is becoming a little too obvious, don’t you think? Lovebirds?”

Hikari shrugged.

“No one seemed to catch the hint. Mimi is like that, I suppose no one takes it too seriously.” Hikari sighed “ what? Are you getting tired of the secrecy? We can say it...but remember that would mean I win the bet.”

“When did you become so greedy, huh?” Takeru snorted.

“Learned from you.” Hikari replied, winking at him “Uh...yeah. Not the most romantic place for a date?”

“Didn’t know you were taking this as a date.”

“Wasn’t that Mimi’s whole idea?” Hikari asked “She did arrange that sorting to leave all couples together, after all.”

“Including my brother a third wheel?”

“I don’t think she foresaw that outcome. Probably a miscalculation.”

Takeru laughed.

“I pity Sora. She’s probably going crazy with those two.” “Mmmm… My brother can handle the pressure, unless he sees something. Then he’ll just snap and panic.”

“Talking from experience?”

“More or less.”

“My brother is a lost case. They will be lucky if they can get him to walk at all…” Takery laughed “He can’t even see a horror movie without finding an excuse to leave the room every five minutes. I am actually surprised he agreed to this trip.” “Social pressure…” Hikari shrugged “but you telling him those stories didn’t help at all.”

“Sorry?” Takeru smiled apologetically “You know having the chance to tease your older brother is a rare opportunity. “

Hikari shook her head.

“Poor Yamato-san. Uh?”

“What?”Takeru asked “Saw something interesting?”

“Yeah...kids. Very mischievous kids.”

“Do you think they will want to play with my brother?”

“For his own sanity, I hope not.”

“So between everyone. Who do you think will go through this smoothly?”

“Mimi-san and Koushiro-san, probably. Mimi is hot headed, but she’s not easily scared and Koushiro is very rational, so I don’t think some random noises and a couples of shadows will make them lose it.”

“Uh...agree.” Takeru replied “So between the other two teams?”

“Hard to tell.” Hikari shrugged “ Jou-senpai gets scared easily, but having my brother and Yamato-san together, puts Sora in a very difficult position.”

“Do you think we’ll end up having to rescue those five?”

“It’s possible…uh? Weird…” Hikaris said looking around “I think we might have taken the wrong turn.”

“What? Why?”

“This doesn't seem like the right place.”

“Night time makes things look different…”

“I wonder…”

Suddenly, the two teens stopped dead in their tracks and looked at each other. There was a soft rustling accompanied by muffled voices that seemed to be in some sort of conversation.

“Did you...hear something?”Takeru asked

“I did...and those are no ghosts.” Hikari said with a frown.

“Huh. Hold on a second.”

Takeru grabbed his flashlight and began looking between the boxes and fallen logs until he finally found the source of the muffled voice.

“Patamon? Tailmon? What are you guys doing here?”

“Takeru!” Patamon chirped happily “Look, Tailmon. We found them!”

“Good...but we still have a problem. AGumon and the others are pretty much still missing.” Tailmon sighed.

“What are you here?”

“We heard you were having an adventure and we wanted to join.” Patamon explained “It was agumon’s idea. We thought we would surprise you.”

“I tried to stop them, but they wouldn’t listen.” Tailmon said shaking her head “then we arrived here and they all said they would search for their partners and went running on their own. Now we don’t know where they are.”

“Wait...so the digimon are running free around this place?” Takeru asked, surprised, “Well, that’s an interesting twist.”

“A twist that will certainly complicate things. What are the odds that everyone mistakes the digimon for ghosts?”

“Extremely high.”

“We must find them before they get in trouble.”

Takeru, Hikari, Patamon and Tailmon spent the rest of the night tracking down their friends and their digimon. As they had guessed, everyone had mistakenly seen the digimon as ghost causing them to run away in panic and passing out. By the time they had managed to gather everyone in the great hall -with the digimon’s help, of course - the first rays of the morning were already getting in through the holes of the ceiling.

“Good morning…” Hikari said when their friends began to wake up.

“”Morning…” Taichi yawned “Wait...where are we?”

“Mmm...where do you think?”

“Ahhhh…” Mimi screamed “ don’t tell me we fell asleep?”

“ How can that be?”

“We actually spent the night in a haunted house?” Yamato said with a shudder.

“Congratulations, aniki. You can now cross out “sleeping with ghosts” from your bucket list. “Takeru said with a sheepish smile and Yamato glared at him.

“What happened?” Sora asked.

“Well...it seems our little test of courage got hacked by digimon.” Hikari chuckled “Right guys!”

“Sora!”

“Biyomon! What are you doing here?”

“We wanted to play too!” Agumon said.

“And we thought we would give you a surprise.” Gabumon nodded.

“Wait...then...the ghosts…” Taichi said with wide eyes “The ghosts were actually our digimon?” “Uhm...yes, probably.” Hikari nodded.

“No, that’s impossible!” Jou said “I saw it clearly. THe ghost I was wearing a noh mask! Right, Marina?”

“That’s right! I saw it, too.”

“You mean...this?” Gomamon said, showing him the old mask. “I found it lying around...I thought it looked funny.”

“Gomamon…!”

“Sorry,,,I didn’t mean to scare you.” Gomamon apologised.

“We tried reaching out to Koushiro-han, but they ran off screaming when we tried.”

“Yes...Mimi you went off running when I pulled your skirt!” Palmon said sadly.

“Well, of course I would! You scared me to death, palmon!”

“The digimon didn’t intend to scare you. It was...a very amusing outcome…” Takeru laughed.

“I fail to see the fun in that!” Yamato said, annoyed.

“Sorry, but if you had seen your face...though…” Taichi laughed.

“Hey, you were scared as hell too.”

“I saw a friggin blue fire floating over your shoulder. Of course I was going to be scared!” Taichi laughed.“Well, at least I am glad it was the digimon and not the actual ghost. That was intense.”

“We are sorry…” the digimon apologised.

“Forget about it. It was fun...wasn’t it?” Sora smiled.

“Horay...it was, but wait...none of us took the picture...right?” Mimi said.

“We did…” Takeru said “While you were sleeping, of course.”

“You mischievous lovebirds.“

“We actually got some additional ...bonus photos.” Hikari smiled innocently “but since everyone is awake, why don’t we take one together before we leave?”

“Sounds like an awesome idea!” Mimi said.

“But...wait…” Jou said out of sudden “When did the digimon learn to sing Kagome, Kagome?”

“What?” Mimi asked.

“Ah, you’re right. We heard someone singing that, didn’t we?” Marina said..

“Oh... The song? Those were kids that helped us find you!” Gomamon said.

“They said it was a game, and they wanted to play with us, too.” Tentomon nodded.

“WHAT?” everyone, except Takeru and Hikari, said.

The two teenagers looked at each other and laughed. Perhaps the trip hadn’t gone as planned, but one way or another, it had become a great summer memory.

Ok....very crappy art because this was already pretty long.

#fanfiction #digimon #digimon 2020 #digimon2020 psi #takari #hikari yagami #takeru takaishi #taichi yagami #sora takenouchi #yamato ishida #tachikawa mimi #koushiro izumi #kuomi #randomness

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peace-coast-island · 3 years

Text

Diary of a Junebug

A lesson in knowing your limits

Gyroid hunting, magic spells, mountain climbing, hanging with friends - all the makings of a fun campsite event! But as with all events, there's also the stress of getting things done in time.

Let's say that what happened earlier today served as a reminder to us that sometimes life gets too stressful and that there will be times where we don't have everything under control. That's not to say that this gyroid adventure hasn't been fun, but on top of all the other stuff that's been going on, it's hard to enjoy yourself when your mind is elsewhere.

Since opening the camp, I have developed a love/hate relationship with the holidays. And with this being a holiday event, we're in a bigger time crunch if we want to get everything set for Toy Day. There's also the fact that Daisy Jane and I are going back home to Rosevine for Emmaline and Minnie's wedding right after the festivities so that puts even more pressure on ourselves to finish things fast.

Joining us for our toy gyroid escapades are Almie, Pippa, and a new friend - Mariposa Silva! Her name means butterfly - isn't that pretty! Almie and Pippa talked about her a lot last time and I'm glad to finally meet her! The three are staying with us until Toy Day, which is in a couple days, so Daisy Jane and I will be leaving with them for home.

I can see why Pippa's all starry eyed over Mariposa and after what happened today, I think the two of them being friends is the best thing to ever happen to her in light of everything she's been through this year. Almie's been a good big brother to her but Pippa really needs someone who can understand her and Mariposa's the kind of friend who fits right in.

So Mariposa is a newcomer who's been living with Rosevine's notorious troublemaker witch Luna as her apprentice. Luna may act all tough but we all know she has a soft spot for us kids like Almie and Emmaline. Pippa's been training with Luna too as witchcraft and wizardry kinda overlap in some areas. I don't know what surprises me more - Luna taking in a teenage girl she randomly bumped into (literally) with no questions and teaching her magic or Luna agreeing to help Pippa (a wizard of all beings - in short, bad association with wizards) with her magic as well as teaching some witchcraft as well. Then again, for the latter, Luna and Almie are partners in crime so it makes sense that she has a soft spot for Pippa as well.

What makes Mariposa unique is that she's able to conjure magic despite not being magical herself, which takes a lot of work. It's not an easy feat for us ordinary people - believe me, I've tried (and tried)! Maybe there's hope for me but at this point I shouldn't get my hopes up too high. Because of life circumstances she has to bear since birth (she really has a way with words), Mariposa has mastered the art of improvisation.

Since she can't summon magic naturally like Luna and Pippa, Mariposa developed her own way of conjuring glyphs and such. So she has to do a little bit of extra work to cast a spell, which can complicate things a bit. There's a lot of things that can slow Mariposa down, however there's two that can't. First is the conjuring of spells - she's resourceful, creative, and super imaginative - when you can't make magic the traditional way, you gotta get crafty. Second is her right arm - or lack of.

In short, Mariposa was born with a bunch of health problems, a nonexistent right arm is one of them. At this point it's all just "blah, blah, blah" to her. She's spent sixteen years with one arm - her entire life - so whatever pitying thing someone wants to say to her, she's heard it all. Sure it might complicate conjuring magic in some situations but she just rolls with it. That's why she's so good at improvising, problem solving, and thinking way outside the box - something she believes is the universe's way of compensating for what she's been given.

For the past few days we've been hiking around the camp looking for gyroids. Mariposa and Pippa showed off some cool spells they learned from Luna while Almie told us about their latest shenanigans. Highlights include Pippa one-upping a frenemy of Luna's with a scalding hot burn, Almie offering to fix up Luna's car with some "embellishments" which may or may not have caused a wingbat uprising, and Mariposa accidentally awakening an ancient spirit while trying to impress Willow and Angie. And of course, we've been talking about the upcoming wedding.

Since I last saw Pippa, she's been getting her strength back. From being diagnosed with leukemia to suffering from complications as well as a near relapse, the past several months have been hard on her. Almie said that outside of family, Mariposa and Angie, and later Willow, were a great deal of help - especially Mariposa. It's so good to see Pippa out and about, almost like how she was before she got sick.

I guess sometimes we're so focused on trying to get things back to normal after getting thrown off that we don't always realize that in many cases, there's no going back. With Pippa keeping up with her studies, practicing her magic, and helping out with the wedding, it seems like everything's back to normal. Aside from having to keep up with meds and appointments and such, Pippa's well on her way to recovery.

Of course, looks can be deceiving. While Pippa is doing well, she still has to be careful not to wear herself out too much. The wedding's been a bit of an incentive for her to stay healthy, especially since she's a bridesmaid - so she's been keeping busy helping Soph with planning the reception and everything. Pippa's a hard worker but she has a bad habit of putting herself last.

The main reason why Almie wanted to come back to the camp was to give Pippa a chance to relax. He's been protective of Pippa since her hospitalization due to other people's carelessness regarding her health. So he wasn't too happy when Pippa admitted to him a couple days ago that she slipped up by missing her meds a couple times over the past few weeks. He said she'd tell him if something was wrong but seeing that she's been trying to keep on schedule for the most part, she should be okay.

While the past couple days were fun, it was clear that the cracks were starting to show. A combined mess of stress from personal life stuff, holidays, the gyroid event, and the upcoming wedding hit us all at once. My mind was elsewhere, worrying about getting stuff done - it can be draining.

Mariposa was the one who helped us refocus by sitting Pippa down and setting some hard truths for her. Almie was right to be concerned about Pippa overworking herself. I get that she's been feeling stuck in a rut so anything to break her out of that monotony is a welcome change. It's good to try to get back on track but you can't force it. From the way she was jumping up and down and climbing all over the place, you'd think we were being timed on finding gyroids.

Exhaustion has a way of wearing you down, physical and mental. If we had health bars hanging over our heads, Pippa's would be almost depleted. And if I'm being honest, mine's probably in the red zone too. Almie and Daisy Jane are likely in red too while Mariposa's probably in yellow. To be honest, I think everyone in the camp's either a red or yellow - it's just one of these days.

So Pippa overestimated herself and eventually reached a point where she couldn't just get back up and act like everything's fine. As in, she fell off a tree, landing hard on her back and was unable to move for a few seconds, scaring the hell out of everyone. Thankfully she doesn't have a concussion or broken bones but she'll be really sore and bruised tomorrow. By then I figured that we collected enough gyroids for the day so we headed back to the camp despite Pippa's protests.

Almie's usually a pretty chill guy so seeing him go off on Pippa was... let's just say I'm glad we all cleared out when they both started raising their voices. When things started getting out of hand, Mariposa decided to step in for a bit. What she said to Pippa had me thinking about accepting your limits.

Basically what Mariposa's saying is that we can't measure our worth by our productivity. If anyone knows how Pippa feels about stagnating due to circumstances out of control, it's Mariposa.

She got it through to Pippa that it's okay to fall short of expectations. I get that it's frustrating when you try to set goals for yourself, only to fail - but you just gotta accept that sometimes things don't work out and it's not your fault. I know that Pippa can be hard on herself, especially since this year has been turned upside down for her.

Mariposa also brought up a good point about the whole don't let your disabilities and illnesses stop you from being accomplished. It's one of those things that's supposed to be encouraging but does more harm than good. Because there will be days when your disabilities will stop you from achieving what you want. There will be times when you're forced to put your life on hold while the world is unsympathetic to your battles. You have to learn how to accept that it's okay to step back and accept that there are things beyond your capability - and that you shouldn't be shamed for that.

In other words, it's important to know your limits. Wise words from the witch in training, something we all need to be reminded of.

Once it seemed like Mariposa's words got through to Pippa, we stepped aside so the siblings can have a moment alone. To keep ourselves busy, I took Mariposa to the Marketplace to craft Toy Day stuff with Reese, Cyrus, and Jingle, which she had a blast doing. After making a bunch of toys we headed to the cabin and put together gift boxes.

It was nice getting to know Mariposa on a one on one basis during that time. Almie and Pippa weren't exaggerating with her wild, creative, and daring imagination. Who knew that there could be so many ways to wrap gift boxes? We got to talking about a lot of stuff, like how she's enjoying staying with Luna, Skully, and Owly, her magic training, Willow and Angie - she's only been in town for a short time and it feels like she's been part of the Rosevine gang since forever!

Also, she has met Emmaline and Minnie so she's definitely on the guest list. Actually she's coming as Luna's plus one since she met the couple after the list was finalized. Though knowing how Emmaline makes friends like bees to honey, Soph made extra sure to accommodate for a growing guest list - which I'm pretty sure has doubled since the invitations went out!

Once we finished with the gift boxes, we headed back to the campsite. Pippa and Almie finally worked things out and were back to their old, playful, bickering ways. They surprised us with desserts - Toy Day themed cookies and mochi! After having a busy couple days hunting gyroids, we decided to take it easy with a cozy bonfire dinner.

Nothing like freshly baked cookies and mulled cider to unwind after a stressful week!

#animal crossing #animal crossing pocket camp #Diary of a Junebug #headcanon ramble

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