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cthulhusstepmom · 11 months

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Another dichotomy Soap finds is just how jarring it is to wake up from the best sleep he's ever had in the arms of the man he's been obsessed with since they'd first collided. He doesn't slip out while Ghost is still asleep but it's an embarrassingly near thing, largely stopped by the tight grip his Lt has around his middle. He doesn't register drifting back to sleep but the next time he wakes a heavy hand is jerkily stroking through his hair in absentminded movements. It's the best thing he's ever felt. He doesn't want it to end, especially considering the talk that would follow it, awkward at best and soul crushing at worst. Soap doesn't want to lose this, not when he'd just barely got it.

He can't remember what he'd tried to say, something stupid he's certain, but before the first syllable is even out of his mouth Ghost drops the hand from his hair, he doesn't even have time to be disappointed before the same hand is cupping his jaw and the rough pad of a calloused thumb is passing gently over his lips. Soap feels more than hears the quiet, content sigh from behind him. Normally he would rail against being hushed, he's grown goddamn man for gods sakes, but all he can bring forth is an answering sigh as he feels the tension leave his shoulders. Soap doesn't remember falling asleep again but when he wakes up, the bed next to him is empty and he feels a bolt of cold dread before he hears the quiet sounds of a rain shower from the attached bathroom. At his feet on the bed are two sets of clothes. He doesn't feel much like showering, unless it would be with Ghost and that idea appeals to him all too much, so he simply forces himself up. Both of the offerings are Ghost's clothes though one could be considered slightly smaller and Johnny quickly slips them on before he has to explain himself. He sits quietly as Ghost finishes his own routine and no words pass between them as Ghost slips on his own clothes as well as what Soap has dubbed the "around base" balaclava and they leave side by side to get breakfast from the mess to eat in the rec room. And if they stand closer together than would strictly be appropriate, it's no one's business but their own.

Johnny grabs his bag of arugula from the communal fridge as Ghost gets up to follow him, snagging a couple of strawberries from Gaz's side of the fridge to loud protest. There's somewhat if an awkward pause at his door and he can see doubt start to well in Ghost's eyes. Can't fucking have that, Soap decides.

"I wasnae lying when I said it's a mess."

"S'alright" Ghost replies quietly, angling himself to leave.

"But if you want ta come in you can meet mah wee babes?" He offers. "Course got a couple snakes wouldnae want to make you uncomfortable, Wee Man is a big bastard but I promise yeh he's-"

"Ok."

Blue meets brown and there's a momentary heavy silence before Soap nods and reaches to unlock his door.

It's surreal, seeing Ghost in a space he's dedicated himself to keeping Ghost-free. At the same time it feels so right, like a missing piece he'd just realized was gone. Soap stands by the door as his Lt moves forward into the room, partly for a ready escape and partly because neither of them are small men and it would get very cramped very fast.

"What eats that?"

Soap sits there for a long moment blinking dumbly before he realizes Ghost is pointing to the arugula in his hand.

"Oh uh this is for the lizards, blue tongue up there named Yzma and the Beardie next to her, her name's Freya" shortly after receiving Yzma the skink he'd been able to hook up a home for Bart the leopard gecko and even quicker after that ended up with Freya, an 8 year old leatherback bearded dragon. "They also need some bugs, hope you don't mind roaches."

It's an awkward dance to get past Ghost to his closet and it ends with Ghost sitting cross legged on his bed for which Soap isn't complaining. It's easy, slipping into prepping the salads with easy familiarity. Ripping greens into smaller bites for the baby skink and slicing the strawberries as a treat. As he preps the salads he finds himself talking at Ghost as he usually does, unsure if the man is listening but not necessarily needing him to. He talks about his childhood and his Da's reptiles, Martha and Bowser back home, he talks about his first snake bite from a wild grass snake he'd found when he was 10. He talks about his rescues as he rummages around in the dubia roach bin for the right sized bugs, talks about why he does it and a little about each animal as he dusts the bugs with calcium powder. Soap undoes the lock on each cage, dropping them in and smiling as the lizards jump after them, before relocking the tanks and turning back to face Ghost, startling at the intensity in his eyes.

"You really love them don't you." It's more of a statement than a question but Soap answers anyway.

"Aye."

"And he's the one who bit you?" Ghost looks a little unsure nodding towards the corner of the big tank where Wee Man is barely visible curled up amidst the plants.

"Och it's a stupid story, poor lad just has shite depth perception s'all. He's the friendliest fucking snake though I'll tell you what. "

"Friendly?" Soap's heart hurts at the confusion in Ghost's voice.

"I know you haven't really had a...good experience with snakes but I promise most of them are the sweetness things."

Ghost looks deep into his eyes for a while before turning back towards Wee Man. They sit in silence for a long moment before Ghost nods minutely.

"I'll try." He turns back to Johnny. "For you I'll try." Johnny feels a weight in his throat and can only bring himself to nod.

"Thank you."

#“So it's just him?” “Ah...no theres a cobra in the bathroom.” “THERES A FUCKING WAT”#ahhhhh my heart i love these goofy goobers #look at them go watch them communicate and become their best selves for each other #Ghost is still mad at Wee Man for biting Soap #hes not going to do anythjng about it but that snake is on thin ice #meanwhile Wee Man is just 0v0 #no thoughts head empty #cod mw2 #ghost x soap #ghostsoap #reptile person soap #john soap mactavish #simon ghost riley #fish person gaz

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beanghostprincess · 5 months

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Okay no I want to talk about yasopp being a straight up hater. Like he hated him the minute he saw Sanji. Watching him falling over himself and fumbling like a fool around Robin and nami. In front of him and Usopp, judging from usopp's non reaction It seemed pretty normal which is not okay for him (that's his only legit criticism has has against sanji) . He despises him and now he's just finding other reasons to hate this man.

Smoking inside? Unacceptable. smoking in general? deplorable. Even though his crew smoke inside, it's not okay for him to do it. He doesn't like how he fawns over women he doesn't like how he fawns over usopp either watching him get handsy with usopp, don't grab them like that!. They're not a piece of meat!

Sanji made him one of his famous dishes. Obviously sanji was well aware that this man did not like him and he didn't want him seeing usopp, so he tried his best to impress him with cooking.

The duck breast was dry, the potatoes were undercooked and the arugula was wilting. This is what he feeds his son? No, hell no. No you're not good enough for him. He will never be good enough for his child.

Every time Yasopp comes over It is always in bad faith. He always tries to look for a fight, just wanting to prove that he is not a good partner for usopp. He doesn't even address him directly or refer to him by his name he calls Sanji 'him' and 'your boyfriend'

During one family visit Usopp tried their best to ease the tension between them but it just ends in them fighting with each other. Yasopp may have or may not have pulled a gun on sanji after a slide remark about him leaving his wife and kid. Sanji isn't too bothered, he realized he can never gonna satisfy this man so there's no use. He tries to keep Usopp happy that's all he can do. He just looked on as his partner argued with their father over the dinner table. zeff is there too, he doesn't get involved sanji is a big boy now, he can handle himself. Not the first time he's had a gun to his face, If he's not fazed by yasopp then there's probably no real threat.

Zeff adores Usopp. What a charmer with a very bright and sunny personality. Seeing how they look at him, leans against him and holds him in his arms. He can tell Usopp has a lot of love and they're giving it all sanji. How a sweet person descended from yasopp will always confuse him.

(I couldn't decide if I wanted trans femme usopp or default usopp so they're gender queer they're both and neither)

Linking this again:

Because it's my thoughts on this topic, basically!! Got a similar ask last month about it. But yeah, I agree completely with you. I think Yasopp would hate Sanji's guts. And Zeff loving Usopp??? That's something I didn't know I needed but it makes me so happy, actually. It would make Sanji the happiest man in the world.

(All characters are genderqueer if you try)

#one piece #black leg sanji #usopp #sanuso #yasopp #red leg zeff

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x-carrotcake · 5 months

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Autumn (Fall if you're from US😅) Meal Prep!

Vegan, budget-friendly, for one person. You can double or triple ingredients depending on your needs. Buy more seasonal fruits and vegetables to keep it budget friendly.

Disclaimer. In the morning, I usually eat overnights oats with frozen berries and/or crushed nuts. Here, I prepared food for lunch and dinner.

My menu:

baked pumpkin

baked vegetables: brussels sprouts, carrots and zucchini

marinated mushrooms

eggplant spread

salad: arugula, green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, grain of your choice (mine was buckwheat)

0. Preheat the oven to 200C.

1. Marinated mushrooms prep. It takes time so let's start with mushrooms. Cut 7 white button mushrooms in quarters and slice 1 medium red onion. Add dry rosemary, smoked paprika, and 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar. Mix well and put it aside to get it marinated for 15-20 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cook buckwheat (or grain of your choice) according to the instructions on the package.

3. Buckwheat is being cooked; mushroom are being marinated; time to bake vegetables. Cut the pumpkin and brussles sprouts in halves, 1 eggplant, 1 zucchini, and 1 carrot like on the photo below. Put vegetables in the preheated oven.

4. Marinated mushrooms cooking. Fry mushrooms with onion in the frying pan for 10-15 minutes.

5. Keep an eye on vegetables in the oven. Small pumpkin needs approx. 35-40 min. Remove vegetables from the oven once cooked. Brussels sprouts are shy as they don't look good in photographs like carrots and zucchini🙃 ok I forgot to take a photo of them.

6. Eggplant spread. Put the roasted eggplant, 2 tbsp tomato paste, black pepper, and salt in the blender and mix to get the smooth spread.

7. Salad. Mix grain, arugula, tomatoes, cucumbers, and beans of your choice. I cooked frozen green beans. I mixed mustard, soy sauce, sriracha, and maple syrup for the dressing. Everything is to your taste. I add the dressing to the salad when I am ready to eat it to keep the salad fresh.

Meal prep is done. As I said, my go-to breakfast is overnight oats, and lunch/dinner is different combinations of what I cooked above, e.g., baked pumpkin and the salad, sandwich with the eggplant spread and vegan cheese, baked vegetables with tofu or canned chickpeas, fried mushrooms on toast, etc. Note: it's not everything what I ate during the last week but this meal prep helped a lot when you're hungry and don't have time to cook everything from scratch. I also are different fruits, berries, nuts, vegan yogurt.

I hope it gives you more ideas. I want to make more posts like this, i.e., meal prep, and additionally food haul with prices. Like/repost if it's helpful.

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najia-cooks · 9 months

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[ID: A close-up of a piece of flatbread topped with green olives and onions. End ID]

Arugula flatbread with date-basil tapenade

This thin, chewy, yeasted flatbread is topped with wilted arugula, caremelized onions, golden raisins, and a tapenade made with dates, basil, and green olives. An intermingling of bitter, sweet, salty, and tangy flavors.

Recipe under the cut!

Patreon | Tip jar

Makes two 9 x 6" flatbreads; serves 3-4.

Ingredients:

For the dough:

2 cups (240g) all-purpose flour

1 tsp active dry yeast

1 tsp table salt

1/2 tsp granulated sugar

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

About 3/4 cup (180mL) lukewarm water

For the toppings:

1 large yellow onion

1 Tbsp non-dairy margarine

1 cup arugula, packed

2 Tbsp golden raisins (sultanas), optional

2 Tbsp green olives, halved and pitted

For the tapenade:

6 dried dates (70g), or 3 Tbsp date paste

1/4 cup (tightly packed; or 5g) fresh basil

3 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

3 Tbsp green olives

2 Tbsp pine nuts, walnuts, or peanuts

pinch salt

Instructions:

For the dough:

1. Measure flour into a large bowl by weight, or by gently spooning into a dry measuring cup and levelling off. Add yeast, salt, and sugar and mix well.

2. Add olive oil and stir to combine. Gradually add water until you get a soft, cohesive, slightly tacky dough.

3. Knead by hand on a lightly floured surface, or in a stand mixer on medium-low, for 5-8 minutes until very smooth and elastic (slowly rises back when pressed down with a finger). If the dough sticks to your hands or to the sides of the stand mixer, add additional flour 1 Tbsp at a time.

4. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap or a damp kitchen towel. Allow to rise at room temperature for 45 minutes to an hour, until noticeably puffy. You can also prepare the dough ahead of time and allow it to rise in the refrigerator overnight.

For the toppings:

1. Meanwhile, prepare your toppings. Cut off the stem end of the onion and halve it through the root. Lay it on a cutting board cut-side-down, and make 1/2" (1cm) thick vertical slices (perpendicular to the root) slightly angled toward the center of the onion. Cut off the root end to allow the slices to come apart.

2. Melt margarine (or heat olive oil) in a large skillet on medium or medium low. Add onions and allow to cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes.

3. Add a pinch of salt and lower heat to low. Cook onions, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan every few minutes, until a rich golden brown and very tender, about an hour. Add a couple teaspoons of water any time you notice the onions threatening to dry out or burn.

4. Sauté sultanas in a drizzle of oil or a little margarine (the same pan you used for the onions is fine), stirring often, until they have puffed up and look noticeably rounder.

For the tapenade:

1. While caremelizing the onions, make the tapenade. Pound pitted dates, basil, olives, and nuts one at a time in a mortar and pestle to your desired texture (either a smooth paste, or leave the nuts roughly crushed) and stir to combine. Add the salt and balsamic vinegar and stir. Taste and adjust salt and vinegar; if the tapenade is too thick, add cool water one teaspoon at a time.

Alternatively, pulse nuts in a food processor; then add dates and olives and pulse another several times; then add herbs, salt, and vinegar and process until smooth.

To assemble:

1. Preheat the oven to 475 °F (245 °C). If using a pizza peel, preheat the oven with a baking sheet or pizza stone inside.

2. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough out into two 9” x 6” (22 x 15cm) ovals (they should be about 1/4" (1/2 cm) thick). They don't need to be perfectly shaped. Transfer flatbreads to a large baking sheet covered with parchment paper, or to a pizza peel dusted with cornmeal or semolina flour.

3. Dapple the flatbreads by pressing in lightly with your fingers to create many small divots. Brush each flatbread lightly with olive oil.

4. Once the oven is preheated, transfer the flatbread to the pizza stone or baking sheet, or put the baking sheet with the flatbreads on it into the oven. Parbake for 10-15 minutes, until the edges of the flatbreads are lightly golden brown.

5. Add topping olives, golden raisins, and argula and continue to bake for another 5 minutes, until the arugala is wilted.

6. Top the flatbread with onions and dollops of tapenade and serve warm.

#vegan cooking #vegan recipe #vegetarian recipes #cooking #green olives #basil #arugala #golden raisins

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carlos-in-glasses · 10 months

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Commiseration Monday

Thank you for the tag @cold-blooded-jelly-doughnut (and the idea!), @reyesstrand @theghostofashton @lemonlyman-dotcom @heartstringsduet @catanisspicy @alrightbuckaroo ❤️

The rules: While Ao3 is temporarily down, share a little something from a WIP to keep us going through the downtime! Preferably something we haven’t shared before, but whatever works for you!

Please have some Owen and TK time from a WIP (that in my head is called Flashback Fic), which expands on my fic Chasers.

Owen leads TK into the kitchen and sits him at the breakfast bar. "I'm going to make you a spring smoothie, and then you're going to tell me what's up. Is it about your mom? Or did you and Carlos have a fight?"

"I wish," TK says.

"What does that mean?"

"A fight is simple. This is way more complicated." TK shakes his head. A fight would also mean make up sex later, so there are certain pros. "And what is a spring smoothie?"

"Spinach, apples, almond milk, basil, chicory, arugula, fenugreek, and bananas of course."

"Of course."

"Don't knock it until you try it." Owen smiles. "And talk to me."

TK watches his father practically dance around the kitchen, gathering ingredients – and it rocks him, because no matter what’s going on in his life, Owen is always there to make smoothies and talk. He thinks of himself coming out at fourteen. Gay bashed behind the bleachers at fifteen. An addict at seventeen. At twenty-six, relapsing after a failed marriage proposal. Overdosing on his apartment floor. But within all of it, for his whole life, love knelt by his side in the form of his mom and dad.

"Last night, I was in a bad way."

“After that call?”

“Yeah.”

“I thought you were. Why didn’t you talk to me?”

“I don’t know. But Carlos called Cooper, and Cooper came over, and we talked it out. But when Carlos came home, I told him about, um–” Deep breaths. Deep, steady. “I admitted I almost relapsed the day after mom died.”

Owen stills, hugging two green, shiny apples in his hands like they’re precious. “Did he react badly.”

“No. I kind of freaked out. Kind of cried all over him.”

Owen smiles, sets the apples down and picks up a paring knife. “I’m familiar with your style.”

“Yeah. Well. At the risk of crying all over you and probably Buttercup right now, I keep thinking about you.”

"Me?" Owen asks, flattered but confused.

"And mom. And everything I put you through."

Owen looks at him seriously. Then he opens a drawer to retrieve a second small paring knife that matches one he already holds. He places it onto a thick wooden chopping board next to the two green apples and pushes it across the breakfast bar towards TK. "Wash your hands and help me make this," Owen says.

TK gets up, doing what he's asked without question, smiling to himself because he's a paramedic and doesn't need to be told to wash his hands before food prep, but they've gone back in time to his childhood, when Owen would tell him important things about life while engaging him in something practical. When TK was twelve, Owen came over to TK's new apartment with Gwyn on Canal Street and helped strip orange floral wallpaper from TK's room. While working away at the tired old flowers, which an elderly lady had once loved, Owen gave TK the sex talk. It was hetero in focus, but even then it was like Owen was nudging TK to tell him to stop if he wanted, if it didn't apply to him, or if he needed to discuss it in a different way.

TK shunted his wallpaper scraper up and down to remove a patch with particularly firm adhesive, taking a little plaster away with it.

"Anyway, if there's anything you need to know, or just want to know – if you're ever curious or upset or you have feelings for someone, I'll always want to talk to you about it. You don't need to be worried or shy."

"Okay," TK said, "Can I have some lemonade now?"

When TK cores the first apple, his hands begin to shake. He has to put the knife down. "Dad."

"TK."

"I'm sorry. I'm just so sorry."

Owen looks at his tearful son understandingly. He takes the apple from him, finishes slicing it, and waits for TK to carry on.

I'm late to this so I'm just going to tag @ladytessa74 because I was going to read your new fic tonight :( Otherwise this is an open tag to anyone who wants to do it - please genuinely take it as a tag and tag me back if you post!

#Commiseration Monday #Work in progress #tk x owen #My fic #Flashback Fic

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tsarinatorment · 2 years

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oo now im interested in that apollo is chb'd patron thing would you care to elaborate on that??

@stereden also asked this! There's not so much canon for this as some of the other things I've talked about but there's still a few things to say on the topic, and not only am I going to talk about him being the patron, I'm going to talk about how that works with the things that happen with CHB during the PJO series, and of course because we're talking about Apollo, there's the odd little titbit from TOA that makes its way into this, too.

A lot of this will be extrapolation, but I've done my best to keep more floating headcanons out of it, so this should at least all stem convincingly from canon.

I'm going to address two things under this umbrella, because I think they're related and also because I find them fascinating: Apollo as the patron god of CHB, and Apollo's loss of jurisdiction over CHB by the events of canon.

So, Apollo and the patronage of CHB. While Camp Half-Blood Confidential is pretty goofy and daft in tone, it gives us a few important little nuggets of information regarding the founding of the camp, namely that it was Apollo's idea - or at the very least, Apollo foresaw that it would happen/needed to happen.

As it turned out, giving Apollo a centaur-back ride was the smartest thing I ever did. Unlike others of my kind, I didn’t belong to a specific tribe. I was a loner…and, sometimes, lonely. We bonded during that ride. I found that Apollo could be quite charming one-on-one, when he wasn’t trying to impress his adoring throngs of fans. When we got back to the cave, he said something that changed my life. “Uncle Chiron, I’ve decided to teach you some stuff.” Perhaps he found the idea amusing: a nephew teaching his uncle. Or maybe, being the god of prophecy, he suspected I had an important role to play in the future of Olympus. Whatever the reason, he chose to share his knowledge with me. At first, he showed me simple things, like how to nock an arrow—“Aim the pointy end away from your body”—and how to bandage a gushing battle wound. He taught me to make a lyre, play a number of hits like “Stairway to Olympus” and “Burnt-Offering Smoke on the Water,” and even compose my own lyrics. Once, in an effort to refine my poetry skills, he sent me on a quest to find a rhyme for arugula so that he could finish an ode to a mixed-green salad. The best I could do was pergola. Apollo called my effort an “ode fail”—the ancient precursor to today’s “epic fail”—but he continued to work with me. The lessons went on for a year. Then one day, Apollo showed up at the doorway of my cave with a half-dozen young demigods. “You know all that stuff I taught you?” he asked me. “It’s time to pay it forward! I’d like you to meet Achilles, Aeneas, Jason, Atalanta, Asclepius, and Percy—” “It’s Perseus, sir,” said one of the young men. “Whatever!” Apollo grinned with delight. “Chiron, teach them everything I showed you. Y’all have fun!” Then he vanished.

I have high doubts that this is exactly how it went down - I don't think those six demigods were all direct contemporaries of each other, mythologically, for starters - but they were all trained by Chiron and it makes sense for Apollo to be the one to introduce them, especially as he's the one that trained Chiron in the first place, and paying things forward is not a new or novel idea, especially when it comes to knowledge (after all, that's how teaching works even now - kids learn things, grow up, the next generation of kids start learning from them. That's just how humanity works).

From here, of course CHB continues to expand until it's the camp we know and love today. Chiron details this out for us (again, I don't believe the actual way he tells it, but the basic facts if not the very fictionised retelling seem solid). I won't copy out all of that, but I will make note of Apollo's direct involvement within the expansion, that that's the addition of the satyrs:

The satyrs arrived en masse with this note from Apollo: I predict that in the future, demigods won’t be able to find Camp Half-Blood on their own. The world will simply be too large, too populous, and too dangerous. When that time comes, send satyrs to track down your prospective students. Satyrs can find anything. They recently located a herd of cattle Hermes stole from me that even I couldn’t find. Trust me: you need seekers, and they’re the goats for the job.

Apollo is the one that's actively looking out for future demigods and their safety here. It's understandable that he's the one that knew it would be needed, because of his foresight and prophecy powers, but the fact that he acts on it so early, making sure the Camp is fully equipped to handle it with the satyrs long before they'll be needed, shows that side of him that he tends to not advertise in modern times - the side that wants to look after and protect the demigods.

That's two of the most important parts of CHB - its existence, and the satyr protector-guides - both directly attributed to Apollo himself, tying him more firmly than any other god to the camp. With this in mind, who else could possibly be the patron of the camp, if not for the god of knowledge whose own teachings are being passed down, and who actively worked to ensure the safety of future demigods?

The third thing is not explicitly Apollo, but considering the pattern it seems most likely, and that's the defences around CHB, back pre-Thalia's tree.

You see, I knew that so many demigods living in one place was like an all-you-can-kill buffet for monsters. Yet I had convinced myself that our campers needed no other protection than the skills we taught them. My pride had nearly been our destruction, but I learned my lesson. I immediately sent an Iris-message to Olympus asking for help. The gods heard our plea. The next day, a magical border settled over and around the grounds—a barrier that would both conceal the camp from unfriendly eyes and repel future attacks.

It's just the general "the gods" mentioned here, but considering that Apollo is the most involved god so far in the camp, if he isn't the one that did this himself (unlikely), he's certainly one of the gods that was involved in making sure this protection happened.

Another minor little detail to note is in the symbolism of the battle that occurs which prompts Chiron to request for aid here. To summarise for those who haven't read this story, the campers are nearly defeated, and it's only last-minute reinforcements from past campers that saves the day:

Then, just as rosy-fingered dawn peeked over the horizon, a new battle cry sounded in the distance. Former campers who had learned of our desperate plight now came charging to our aid.

The reinforcements came at dawn. Yes, I know that's a favourite trope in media (see the very memorable Battle for Helm's Deep in The Two Towers), but that doesn't make it any less fitting here - the camp was saved at dawn, which is the time when Apollo takes to the sky (and yes, by this time chronologically, Helios has already faded and Apollo is the god of the sun, according to Chiron's description of their first meeting:

“Ah…yes, Lord Apollo.” I tried to control the twitching in my withers. “Very weird indeed.” I noticed the sky was darkening even though it was only noon. “Not to be critical, O Great One, but shouldn’t you be driving the sun chariot right now?” He shrugged. “Actually, I put it in park for a few minutes because Artemis is up there doing her lunar-eclipse thing.” He scratched his fashionably stubbled chin. “Or is it solar? I can never keep them straight.”

It's likely that this isn't long after Apollo took on the role, although of course he could have just been goofing around with the lunar-solar mix-up, but he is still, in this narrative, the god of the sun by this point).

The implication here is very much that Apollo's the one who called the older demigods to help (presumably the Ancient Laws are in effect at this point - in fact, that may even be why Apollo had to pass on the responsibility of teaching to Chiron in the first place, with the advent of the no interference Laws) which again adds some credence to the idea that he's also one of the gods, if not the god, who supplied the original defensive barrier for CHB.

So, that's Apollo's involvement in the original CHB, way back when, and I don't think it can really be argued any other way than that at this point, at least, he was the patron god of the camp.

But what about modern times?

Modern times gets more confusing. I still believe that Apollo is, on a technicality, the patron of the camp, but in practicality he no longer seems to have any jurisdiction over it.

He still keeps an eye on the camp - no matter how he tries to throw us off the scent in TOA, there are some slip-ups in his narration that give us a glimpse of the god who is not at all distant from camp emotionally, even if he's physically forced to be.

Over the centuries, I’d had many conversations with demigods who wanted to know more about their absentee godly parents. Those talks rarely went well.

From this it's clear that he does spend time with the demigods at camp, historically (although not recently, which I suspect has a lot to do with Dionysus' forced presence, either because Apollo fears being reported to Zeus, or because there's a rule about only one Olympian god near the camp at a time). He cares about them and goes out of his way to reassure them - all of them, not just his own children.

He also remembers names. There are twenty two campers present during THO, including Meg, and during Apollo's narration we are given the names of every single one. The facts he gives us are precise, and the fact that he is able to perfectly recall every name after being introduced once (especially when we contrast this with Dionysus' refusal to get most demigod names right even if he's known them for a decade) implies a strong level of care. And no, this is not just because it's in winter and therefore Rick had a small enough cast number that he could afford to name them all - in TTC there is a similar number of demigods in the camp, yet Percy, who lives with these people for several months of the year, never gives us names. In fact, we learn in BOTL that Percy doesn't bother to learn some of the camper names at all. This is Apollo caring about these children.

“Let me guess,” I said. “Connor and Travis Stoll are the pranksters?” From a nearby basket, Chiron grabbed a flannel blanket and spread it over his fake legs, though the ruby shoes still peeked out at the bottom. “Actually, Travis went off to college last autumn, which has mellowed Connor quite a bit.”

Not only does he know their names, he also knows their habits and personalities. That's not just a basic level of reading names off a roll list, that's Apollo being actively aware of the children at camp as individuals.

It's also shown less implicitly through his conversations with Chiron in THO. Chiron knows that Apollo cares about the campers - he opens their first conversation with this:

My old friend smiled, though his eyes were stormy and distracted. “Apollo, it’s good you are here. We need to talk about the disappearances.”

Literally Chiron's first thing is to bring up missing campers, because he knows Apollo will care about this - and Apollo does! It isn't Chiron who continues this topic of conversation, it's actually Apollo who keeps trying to bring the topic back around while Chiron talks about Python and Delphi and prophecies:

“Chiron,” I said, “this is Meg McCaffrey, my new master and wellspring of aggravation. You were saying something about disappearances?”

“Disappearances,” I prompted. “What has disappeared?”

“The disappearances, yes.” I wiped drops of tea from my pants and tried to ignore Meg’s snickering. “Tell me about those.”

He asks about it three times before Chiron finally gives him the information he's after - it's actually the thing he's most insistent about focusing on in the whole conversation (he keeps trying to dodge the discussion of Python and Delphi) - and even after that it's the one he keeps asking more questions on, trying to get more and more information. Apollo never says so in as many words, but it's clear that he's very worried about the missing campers (a façade he more or less manages to cling to until his own children are added to the number, at which point the façade collapses entirely and we see Apollo in full worry mode over the children).

So the question is, if Apollo is the patron god of Camp Half-Blood (and let's not forget his domain of protector of the young, here!), why did we never see him in this capacity during PJO?

Quite frankly, it's obvious that he can't. It's impossible that, if Apollo had any say over the matter at all, he would have allowed the sacking of Chiron in SOM. He also sends no visible aid during BOTL, but the Daedalus thing is interesting... But let's start from the top.

Apollo has lost jurisdiction over CHB by the time PJO begins. I would argue that this is a relatively recent development - there are conflicting canon statements regarding how long Dionysus has been at CHB (in TON, Apollo says he's been there for half a century but then later we get confirmation that Dionysus' punishment is far from over, yet in PJO his sentence was cut in half down to fifty years - my personal guess is that Dionysus has been there for around 15 years or so as of TLT, long enough that all the current campers have known him, but as his only known children are fifteen or older in TLT (Castor and Pollux are seventeen in BOTL, two years later, Dakota is a similar age to them) the implication is that he hasn't had any children since his punishment began, otherwise why the lack - considering his far from PG domains, Dionysus is a god I'd ordinarily expect to have a lot of children). However, Dionysus' tenure as Director of CHB likely prevents Apollo from getting too close to the camp for any length of time, as I mentioned earlier.

The biggest thing, though, and what I think was the final nail in the waning coffin of his jurisdiction, was Thalia's death. This is when Zeus put a very large, aggressive stamp on CHB - his daughter is the one guarding the camp now, through Zeus' own actions. By doing this, Zeus has completely muscled Apollo out, and we know that Apollo can't (and is too afraid to try to) challenge Zeus.

So, why would Zeus be so determined to claim CHB as his, and kick Apollo out? There's a few reasons. One is his ever-present paranoia. CHB is a major part of modern day demigod society - barring CJ, which is Mars' and the Roman equivalent, it is the most major part. The amount of power and influence it gives Apollo to have it under his control is huge, and we know Zeus fears Apollo overthrowing him (this is also why cabin eleven is the cabin for the unclaimed demigods - while the logic that Hermes is the god of travellers does hold water, as the camp patron and protector of the young, it would actually make far more sense for them to go to cabin seven. The only reason I can see why it wouldn't, in-universe (meta-wise it's clearly to build the Percy-Luke rapport in TLT to give the betrayal the oomph it needed), is if the other gods refused to let that happen. Considering they all seem fine with leaving their kids languishing in Hermes' cabin, they probably don't really care which cabin it is, as long as it's not their own - Zeus is the only one who has reason to protest against it being Apollo, and he has the clout to make sure he's obeyed on this).

Well, I say one reason is his paranoia; really, a lot of this is based on Zeus' paranoia, because all his interactions with Apollo are steeped in this throughout the series. Another aspect of his paranoia is the Great Prophecy - he wants his own child to be the Hero, but when Thalia dies, he's left in the horrid realisation that it might not be his child; Jason is still very young (and also a son of Jupiter and therefore Roman, and the Romans don't even have this prophecy), and if he's broken the Oath, there's a high chance at least one of his brothers has (whether or not he knows about Percy's existence this early is debatable, but from the way the accusations at theft were immediately levelled at Poseidon before Percy even knew he was a demigod, it's likely that the Olympians were aware of Percy's existence at least a little before the events of TLT). A child of Hades would be a problem, but Hades' kids aren't popular so he might see them as less of a concern/easier to get rid of (Hades also doesn't seem to like sending his children to camp - he explicitly refused to send Bianca and Nico to CHB). A child of Poseidon, however?

Remember that Poseidon and Apollo have historically worked together to oppose Zeus. A child of Poseidon central to a great prophecy in a camp that's under Apollo's jurisdiction is, to Zeus, a terrifying combination and one he won't want at all, so he uses Thalia to wrest the control of camp away from Apollo. Now Zeus is the one in control, and we know Zeus doesn't like giving control back. (And remember that in TLT the Apollo cabin back Poseidon... against Zeus; that can't have pleased him in the slightest!)

Of course, there's also the same power basis in his favour - he doesn't want Apollo to have that power, but he does want it for himself. The gods have all been waning compared to their original selves, and their powers are far weaker. During PJO, all of the gods are, if not pathetic, clearly weakened. It's only at the end that we see Poseidon and Hades regain their strength (the same way we see Apollo regain his in TON), while Zeus continues to wane.

So, what does Apollo do about this? He can't fight back against Zeus - TOA is a spectacular example of what happens if Zeus even thinks he's rebelling - but while the functionality has been stripped, he is still the patron of the camp, and also the protector of the young. Apollo doesn't sit back and do nothing.

First of all are the dreams - we know Percy gets a lot of demigod dreams, we know Zoe gets a dream while in CHB, we know Apollo kids get dreams, we can infer that Chiron probably also gets dreams (I'll get to this in a sec), and also that he knows about the dreams (once again, see @fearlessinger's discussion of our theory on Apollo and the Demigod Dreams).

Secondly, there's Octavian.

Now, it took me a while to try and rationalise Apollo's apparent desire to work with Octavian, especially considering the way it ends up with Octavian trying to kill the Greeks (who are under Apollo's patronage - this, at least, must have been a misunderstanding because there's no way Apollo ever approved that), but when I sat back and looked at how powerless Apollo is in PJO, it makes sense.

Firstly, there's his inability to help Artemis directly during TTC. As this is a gods and titans problem, primarily, the Ancient Laws shouldn't actually prevent him from doing this - the only thing that could be clouding Apollo's sight and keeping him out are the Fates themselves - but Apollo is still unable to do more than effectively send children to their deaths (Zoe is admittedly not a child, but Bianca is, and Apollo is the one who got them most of the way to the desert in TTC, although he isn't the one to actually drop them there).

Secondly, there's the mess that is CHB. Chiron is sacked and Tantalus (someone who kills children) is hired in his place (do I like the idea of Tantalus' punishment extending outside of the Fields of Punishment being Apollo's doing as a way to make sure the kids stay protected? Yes, I do - but there's no actual canon for this although Tantalus finally getting his hands on food right at the end, when Thalia is restored and the power in the tree is now purely Zeus', is a very stretchy potential link to the last vestiges of Apollo's influence in any capacity being broken off). This is all around Bad News for CHB and nothing Apollo could possibly have approved of. Then in BOTL the camp is literally attacked and children die (including one of his own).

Daedalus is suspicious as heck the whole time, and Chiron is clearly very suspicious of him - and yet, he does nothing (even though Daedalus was posing as a Roman adult demigod and it highly amuses me to think of the panic Chiron must have been in about one of the smarter kids asking the right/wrong questions). I was discussing this with fsinger the other day and the conclusion we came to is that Apollo may have been the one to assure Chiron that Daedalus had not - yet - joined with Kronos and was therefore safe to have around the kids. After the mess of Tantalus, Apollo would no doubt be keeping a very close eye on who was being allowed near the kids, after all (and as he can't directly interfere, the most likely method of imparting this information would be via dreams).

The fact that Apollo has been dragged off monster hunting by Artemis on Zeus' orders, thereby keeping him away from camp at the time when they need godly protection the most also plays a significant role here (Dionysus, too, was elsewhere on Zeus' orders, which makes one side-eye Zeus very heavily at this point).

Overall, Apollo has lost a lot of power in recent years, and he's desperate to regain at least enough to be able to protect Artemis and CHB again - power which he would get if the Romans started worshiping him higher, because the gods are clearly fuelled by belief (notably, at the end of TON, Apollo has regained his belief in himself, which is even more powerful than belief from others, and makes me wonder if he could now regain his jurisdiction over CHB back from Zeus). This neatly ties in the Octavian side of things in HOO.

So, in conclusion: Apollo is the reason CHB exists, he's been consistently shown to care about the demigods right from its inception to the modern day and protects them as much as he is able to, which makes him the clear choice for patron of the camp. However, Zeus' paranoia has prompted him to muscle Apollo out of any practical patronage (although he is, technically, still the patron even if he can no longer act on it), leaving Apollo desperate to regain the patronage and protect the demigods however he can without directly defying Zeus.

#Anonymous #stereden #pjo apollo #percy jackson and the olympians #pjo #heroes of olympus #hoo #trials of apollo #toa #riordanverse #rrverse #pjo chiron #pjo zeus #pjo octavian #chb #camp half-blood #tsari analyses things

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jegaphone · 4 months

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I've always loved to cook, but since I started working from home in 2020, I've really leaned into it as a joyful hobby. I live with three other adults and I'm the only cook, so I have a lot of opportunity to practice and flex what I've learned!

I've never posted my own words much on here, but honestly, I've been missing the LJ days in the current social media hellscape. So fuck it, I'm gonna start sharing what I've made when the urge strikes me. I want to share home cooking tips that I love, too - I still use recipes a lot of the time, but I love to freestyle and make the dishes my own.

Tonight I made one of my favorite quick dinners that's nice and flexible with the ingredients - pesto pasta. I grew up on basil pesto, but truly anything goes!

1/2 cup nuts or seeds - the classic is pine nuts, but those are expensive. My favorites are pistachios and sunflower seeds.

1/3 cup hard sharp cheese, like parmesan or pecorino romano, cut into chunks.

3-4 cups greens and/or herbs - I've used arugula, chard, mustard and carrot greens, blanched kale and collard greens... I don't think you can go wrong. Herb-wise I've only gone with basil or cilantro, but I bet there are a lot of possibilities.

4-6 cloves of garlic - note that I'm of Italian heritage and have already increased this level beyond what you'd find in a lot of recipes lmao.

A few teaspoons of salt, fresh cracked pepper, and a few dashes of lemon juice - vinegar would also work, just needs a bit of acid.

About 1/3 cup of olive oil, more if needed to get the blender going. You can also loosen it up with some water from cooking the pasta if needed.

Throw it all in a blender and go until it's all emulsified! This makes enough for two pounds of pasta. It's a fantastic meal to have leftovers of, we eat it for lunch throughout the week after I've made a big batch.

While I usually make this for pasta, you can also put a dollop on steak, chicken, eggs, steamed or roasted vegetables... universal condiment as far as I'm concerned! It's a great way to use up greens and herbs that are starting to wilt.

#jega cooks #allowing myself to be perceived #pesto

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hydesjackiespuddinpop · 2 months

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Miss You

Summary: Jay thinks about Leia in the fall of 1995.

Prompt: "please don't"

Inspired by @that90sshowgoldencouple's gwenik drabble. Takes place in that same universe. Since this takes place post canon s1, there will be some J/K mentions.

Edit: On AO3 as well. Once I get home, I’ll figure out how to add the mb into the fic haha.

Jay knocks on the back door, letting out a soft exhale. Even though Leia isn’t coming back till tomorrow, he couldn’t help but come over. Just to feel her presence, as creepy as that sounds.

Kitty opens the door and lets out a faint smile. "Why hello dear. Come on in." Jay nods and walks through the door. He turns back to the elderly woman. "You need any help watering the plants?" Sometimes when coming over, he'd help water the plants, tidy the shelves and all that. It was a nice change from being around his dad and his annoying wife all the time.

Things were fine at first, from what he saw in the photo albums. His dad and mom were together in Chicago, he saw Betsy every day. It was like they were the perfect little family. But then Mom and Dad broke up again, while she was pregnant with Oak. Then Dad got back with stupid Jackie. It wasn’t like things ended badly or anything, since they ended up having a third child. But apparently it wasn’t 'meant to be' or whatever.

All Jackie and Dad did was fight and fight. And he had to deal with the brunt of it. Why they even got back together was beyond him. I’m pretty sure Dad's cheating on Jackie with a secretary from work anyways. Then again, I did catch Jackie making out with some guy named Hyde. I think he's my godfather or something.

"Jay?" Jay snaps out of it when seeing Kitty staring at him. He clears his throat, "Yeah…I-I'll help water the plants." Jay grabs the watering can and heads outside. He starts off by watering the arugula plant near the door.

Jay had always been fond of nature and trees, ever since he was a kid. Dad says he got that from Mom. He continues to water the plants for the next few minutes. Right then, his eyes caught the Vista Cruiser.

“Look. Leia, I just don’t want to be some meaningless hookup. You know? Like, if it’s gonna happen, I want it to just happen. And I want it to be amazing.” Jay gazed into Leia's eyes.

Leia smiled, "Okay that was really nice. Are you sure you don’t want to kiss because my back sweat is really telling me it's time for romance." She exhales.

God she’s so sweet. Jay smiles, "Let’s just see where the summer takes us. Who knows? It might be somewhere really special." He walks away, leaving Leia alone to her thoughts.

And where did that leads us to? Jay thinks bitterly. He's happy for Nate and Leia though, genuinely. Nate's been his best friend since they were toddlers and he'd known Leia his whole life. They just haven’t properly seen each other till last summer.

But it still stung to see Nate and Leia dating. Before Leia, Jay hadn't seen any girl in that light. But that summer would forever be special to him. Leia would always be his true love no matter what.

#that 90s show #that '90s show #otp: i'm not ready to give up on us #jeia #jeiaedit #jeiashippersclub #jay x leia #leia x jay #het ship #febuwhump2024 #my moodboards #my fanfiction #t9s fanfiction #jl fanfiction #i liked writing this

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forest-falcon · 11 months

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Very fluffy/cheesy fic. Hope you enjoy!

Cravings

Gordon shrugged on an unbuttoned shirt. Their most recent rescue, aiding the passengers of a downed airliner at sea, had exceeded both Virgil and his flight hours by a whole extra mission. It was not regulation, but everyone else at Tracy Island had been tied up with their own back-to-back missions, and speed had played a crucial factor for this particular rescue. It had to be a Thunderbird. It had to be them.

Now, back on Tracy Island he'd been able to shower away the mud and grime from earlier call outs, so his next objective lay with his stomach and the kitchen.

Hair still dripping, Gordon made a somewhat blinkered beeline to the refrigerator. Somewhere in his peripheral vision, he was vaguely aware of Virgil, most likely nursing a hot coffee.

His older brother cleared his throat but it failed to register. Gordon's stomach had taken over from his brain, leaving him somewhat preoccupied.

The aquanaut all-too-quickly discovered that the fridge was in desperate need of restocking.

Butter, mustard, marmite...eww, whose was that? No bread.

He sighed. The fatigue was hitting hard.

"Ah!" The second youngest Tracy reappeared and guzzled a mouthful of squirty cheese.

Virgil tried again. "Gordon, you have a visitor."

Gordon slowly turned and, on seeing Penny, visibly gulped too much of his mouthful down. He grinned sheepishly, and for a moment looked to return the canned cheese to the fridge, then paused.

"Ahhh...in for a penny, in for a pound!" he shrugged.

Tipping his head back, he reloaded his mouth with the aerosol cheese.

"Gordon Cooper Tracy! Before you landed me in this condition, you at least practiced a modicum of refinement. I rather fear you've turned into a bit of a slob."

Virgil snorted, almost choking on his coffee.

"Gords? Refined? You should see the lockers in Four - she's a submersible trash can!"

Gordon gave a mock wounded look before a mischievous glint flickered about his eyes.

"Don't knock it until you've tried it, m'lady." he winked, pushing the can towards her.

Penelope visibly shrank away from the offending product.

"It's good food!" he grinned.

"Yes, well I'm afraid our definitions on what food can be classed as good would seem to vary rather wildly." she sighed.

Gordon was undeterred. The notion of Lady Creighton-Ward indulging in aerosol cheese appealed to his sense of comedy.

"In fairness, you don't seem to be enjoying your salad much, and the cheese would be a definite improvement on...what even is this?" He quizzed, holding up something green.

"Wilted Arugula." Penelope offered.

"Looks like old lettuce that somebody sat on." Gordon snickered, letting the limp green drop back onto the plate. Penny rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh.

"Yes, well, it would appear that this child has yet to refine his or her palate." she said, returning the untouched food on her fork to her plate.

"What? Gone off spinach not having the same appeal? Don't blame the kid! There's eating your greens and there's eating...that. If you'd have told me earlier, I could have saved you the money, and scraped some out of Four's rear thrusters! the aquanaut laughed.

"Gordon!" Virgil's baritone boomed from across the room. Kayo entered and looked a little confused at whatever interaction she had just walked in on.

"No, no, it's quite alright Virgil. I know exactly how to handle this." She calmly folded her hands in her lap and turned to Kayo.

"I'm not really sure I care for your brother mocking me. Although I could manage his misdemeanors myself; I was wondering if you would care to remedy the situation?" Penny said, pursing her lips and smiling ever so elegantly, though the mischief flashed in the sapphire of her eyes.

Kayo gave a discreet half nod. A hint of a smile crossing her own lips.

Gordon, seeing Kayo heading towards him, leapt over the sofa and made for the door.

Kayo, being Kayo, was of course faster still, and in a blink of an eye, had his arm pinned behind his back.

"Say you're sorry Fish!" she warned, her tone betraying an edge of enjoyment as she bent his arm yet further up his back.

There was a small scuffle and Gordon broke free. Clearly his self-defence lessons with his sister had been paying off.

"Ho ho ho! Didn't see that coming now, did ya?" Gordon countered, standing more victorious than when he had received his olympic gold medal.

It lasted mere seconds before Gordon fell flat on his face - literally. Kayo had her knee in his back and her brother let out a sharp yelp in pain.

"Okay! Okay! I yield! I'm sorry!" he cried.

Kayo held him there for a moment longer, waiting to see that small flicker of fear cross the squid's eyes. He had been slightly too smug for her liking.

"Try not to break him Kayo." Virgil admonished without turning his head.

His sister released him, giving him a small shove as she did so.

"I was only teasing anyway...yeesh!" Gordon said, dusting himself off. He walked over to Penny and draped his arms around her from behind. Whilst kissing her head, he paused.

"You know I love you?" he said genuinely.

Penny emitted a contented hum and rubbed her fiancé's arm.

"I do." she smiled.

Kayo made some guttural sound at the back of her throat signaling they were now being far too sentimental for her liking, and left the room.

"Though I stand by my original comment. Both you and bumpy here are going to need more than a few leaves and veg to keep you going. The kid's part Tracy after all!" he smiled impishly.

"What can I get you? We have a half consumed jar of mustard. Erm... Kayo's into her veggies. I think the bean sprouts are hers."

Penelope chuckled despite herself.

"I can get Scott to pick something up on his way back but I'm not sure how much longer he'll be." Gordon said, kissing her golden hair again.

"It's quite alright. I wasn't really all that hungry." She inspected her manicure for an invisible imperfection.

As if on cue, her stomach betrayed her, loudly bemoaning its hunger for all to hear and Lady Creighton-Ward allowed herself a wistful glance at the aerosol cheese.

"Could have fooled me!" Gordon said, squeezing her shoulders.

"You can have my sandwich if you like?" Virgil offered, forcing an exhausted smile.

"Don't you dare Virgil Tracy! You need your food and rest. You're all too chivalrous, the lot of you!"

She paused and smoothed a small ruffle in her skirt.

"I'll... I'll try some of... that."

"The cheese?" Gordon's face lit up with glee.

Virgil, who had been hunched over his coffee, sat a little straighter. The brightness returning to his own eyes.

"Yes. Fine. And don't you dare speak a word of this to anyone." She fixed both the bemused brothers with a glare.

Virgil handed Penny a spoon. With an air of exasperated reluctance, the London agent extended the utensil towards her fiancé.

Grinning like the Cheshire Cat, Gordon squirted a small amount of the orange cheese onto the spoon.

His lady pinched her nose and hastily consumed the cheese - if it could at all be called that. An offense against dairy produce would be more apt.

"Well?" Gordon probed.

"Oh, it's utterly ghastly!" She grimaced with a shake of her head.

Virgil chuckled and Gordon rolled his eyes, taking the spoon from Penny.

"Wait!"

Both men paused.

"As it would happen... your child would appear to share your liking for this beastly... cuisine." Her shoulders dropped with the admission. Gordon's face danced with surprise, laughter and just a tinge of pride.

"That's my boy!" he beamed triumphantly, returning the refilled spoon to the disgruntled mum-to-be.

"Quite." Penny agreed. Her musical voice struck a chord somewhere deep inside of him. She polished off her second spoonful and looked up from under her eyelashes with a guilty smile. God he loved her.

#thunderbirds are go #thunderfam #thunderbirds fanfiction #gordon tracy #lady penelope #virgil tracy #tanusha kyrano #thunderfluff

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