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#I can’t keep a server active to save my life nor can I keep a conversation going in general

circethegoblin · 3 years

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STAYING ALIVE MASTERPOST, FROM A BROKE TEEN WITH ADHD

here you go. some down to earth tips on how to not die metally nor physically.

tired of those "drink three liters of water everyday uwu" and "wake up at 5 am" and "buy a bath bomb and a fec mask and some other things you don't have the money for" shit? i'm here for ya.

1. NOT DYING

eat at least three meals a day, one of which m u s t be warm and above 300 kcal (it can be istant ramen with an egg added if you have to)

you technically should shower everyday, but we know how it is. A change of clothes is sometimes enough.

DRY SHAMPOO AND BABY WIPES!!!

keep bottles with water everywhere. On your desk, near that spot on the floor you always end up sitting on, near your bed, basically whenever you know you spend a lot of time. No need to get up and go to the kitchen will help. Obviously change the water in the bottles as often as you can.

Get some form of physical activity. It doesn't have to be much, you can for example replace scrolling on tiktok by walking around your room and scrolling on tiktok! Brilliant, isn't it? Obviously, running or doing those 10 minutes workouts from youtube is better, but you are still getting like an hour of walking.

Buy blankets. Steal blankets. Summon blankets from other dimensions. Just make sure you have a lot of warm, soft blankets in your house. You will thank me when you won't have the anergy to wash your sheets (just take them off and throw some blankets on your bed), or when the power goes out.

If you have pets, ALWAYS keep spare food that'll last for a week for them.

things to always have in the kitchen: milk, eggs, flour, rice, pasta, yeast, cheese, oil, a leafy vegetable, onions, tomatoes, apples, patatoes, some flavourful sauce, sugar, salt, spices and an emergency chocolate bar. You can make a lot of food with those. Just make sure you won't eat the chocolate too fast.

Have a lot of spare batteries. A lot.

Get urself a flashlight, a lighter, and a pocket knife.

Remember the apples? eat one a day. if you don't like apples or you can't eat them for any other reason, you can take a kiwi, banana, orange, basically something that will give you vitamins and non processed sugar.

do the dishes before your sink starts developing it's own ecosystem

drugs from that one guy around the corner = very bad time

2. NOT DYING INSIDE

Open the damn window.

Don't watch so many commentary videos. You are probably not even checking the sources, so you can easily make unjust judgement, and like. did you even hear of half of those people before?

make a discord server just for yourself. get into the habit of writing little things that happened to you there. rant about the fanfics you read. or the movies. vent there if you don't have anyone you can vent to. write your ideas there, write e v e r y t h i n g. make a section for passwords, for quick ideas, for your to do lists. you won't lose it as you do with sticky notes or notebooks. there is no risk anyone will see it. oh, and when you'll have a strong impulse to tell emily that you hate her? write that message in your private server and list all ur arguments. look at tat the next day and decide if you really mean that.

life sucks. come to peace with it.

cuddle ur pets if you have them

1 hour a day without a lot of sensory input. if you have to, reduce to half an hour.

if you find yourself scrolling endlessly through social media, make sure it's pintrest (just don't compare urself to the people here; if you have issues with that, tumblr may be better)

delete. twitter. from. your. phone.

influencers are lying to you; maybe not even intentionally. remember when you were watching that cute-aesthetic-productive morning routine, and you were wondering why your life isn't that pretty? why your room is a mess? why you cannot for the life of god be aesthetic 24/7? its the filter. don't worry about it, their lifes arent that nice either.

realize there's actually nothing stopping you from screaming as loud as you can right now. like there is no physical barrier. think about it. realize there's no actual physical barierr to many other things.

your body is your body. you can decide how it looks like; just remember it's in your greatest interest to keep it healthy.

3. BEING A LITTLE BETTER THAN JUST ALIVE

If you wear make up, take it off before you go to sleep.

moisturize your body; everything is better when your skin doesn't feel dry

have a one brand of cosmetics that you love and buy things mainly from it. they often have sets of products that complete each other. i like ziaja. it's a polish brand, it's surprisingly cheap and has nice quality

cleanser, moisturizer, face mist

of you can, change your sheets once every two weeks

do the dishes before your sink starts developing it's own ecosystem

do a deep house clean once a month (don't beat yourself up when you don't tho)

keep your workspace organized (it doesn't have to look organized to other people, remember)

sunscreen

cook your own food

keep a calendar

no money for scented candles? got ya. make a simmer pot: throw some apple peel, a couple of cinnamon sticks and whatever spices that smell good you have into a pot, add some water and simmer. boom. your house smells good, and you haven't spend 20 dollars.

If you really like candles, buy scented wax melts. it's cheaper.

Buy urself scented mists. they're pretty cheap and will make you feel A LOT better.

keep your clothes clean. if you aren't sure if that shirt thats on your chair is dirty or not, throw it in the washing mashine anyway. better be sure.

if you can, make your bed right when you get up

wear clothes that make you feel good. put some effort into your outfits. really.

4. OTHER PEOPLE

be nice to essential workers.

if you have money, give tips.

remember, you do not owe anyone love; it is not something you can force. even if they saved your life. even when they helped you in your darkest time. if you don't love them, you don't.

you don't have to be in a romantic relationship to be happy.

if you want to, date! date everyone! date girls, date boys, date nonbinary people! date people completly different than you, date people from different countries, date them!!! just make sure they're kind and won't kill you. even if you don't end up in a relationship, you can learn a lot.

don't be afraid to piss off people that deserve it

smile to strangers :)

5. NOT FAILING SCHOOL

heard of dark academia? check it out

romanticize the heck out of studying

do not let your studying be just reading the same partagraph over and over again. it won't work. believe me.

seterra for geography, quizlet for everything else

try to make yourself intrestet in whatever you are studying (watch veritasium, listen to podcasts about weird history facts)

notes are for you and you only; don't worry about them looking pretty. doodle on margins, make weird metaphors, squeeze in as much info as you can.

when you're studying, listen to music without words/in a language you don't understand.

chew gum while you study

get the forest app, get attached to the trees, focus.

don't feel guilty for taking breaks

grades aren't everything, but they are important.

eat something in school

don't just use the cheapest pens. invest a couple dollars in something that will make writing enjoyable and smooth

those study with me videos? they're great

if you like to argue with the teachers, take care of your grades becouse. they may not like you afterwards.

be nice to your classmates and help them with homework. if you don't do your homework they'll help you

executive dysfunction won't let you study? been there. sometimes it's better to wake up ealier tommorow and do that homework then.

don't feel guilty for failing a test

go to the goddamn class

don't pull all nighters oh my god don't especially on weekdays

6. OTHER LIFEHACKS

don't get involved in the crime, and if you do always have a believable explanation why you were doing it

have different alarm sounds for every day of the week

set a daily limit of money that you spend

great hobbies that don't require a lot of money; urban exploration, writing, hiking and learning other languages

thrift stores

don't eat grapefruits while on meds

nail polish removers dissolve most strong glues.

if you have a cut on your skin, desinfect it. do it. please just do it.

always have pads with you. even if you don't get periods, at least one of your friends probably does

#life hacks #life #not dying #staying alive #no one will see this #who cares though

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firemblem-fics · 4 years

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SFW alphabet. | seteth

-> Pairing: Seteth x GN!Reader

-> Warnings: None

-> Genre: Fluff, Headcanons

-> A/N: this was chosen by a poll on my discord server except i gave no context in the poll so this is for y’all :) also uh im sorry if i’m not active in the next week, i rlly just had the absolute worst nervous breakdown ive had in a long while LMAO so uh ya might stay away from the internet for a while

warning, long post.

A -> Affection (How affectionate are they? How do they show affection?)

with seteth, affection STAYS private. it will never ever be displayed out in the open, especially not around the students. he prefers to keep personal relationships out of professional life

when he does show affection, though, it’s super slow and gentle. he always hugs you from behind and just sways side to side, pressing little kisses against your temple and cheek while you lean i to his embrace and close your eyes.

B -> Begin (How did the relationship begin?)

it didn’t really have a solid beginning. you just kind of wormed your way into seteth and flayn’s hearts unknowingly. when he asked to court you, you were super super hesitant because you didn’t want to replace his late wife. he assured you that she’d want him and flayn to be happy and that she’d 100% approve of you.

you still have your doubts, but seteth is always there to reassure you.

C -> Cuddles (Do they like to cuddle? How do they cuddle?)

cuddling is saved for nights or early mornings on a day off. seteth is always itching to get up and get things done, so it’s a little on the tougher side to get him to stay. eventually he caves and lays in.

you cuddle facing each other, your head tucked underneath his chin and his legs entangling yours. his hand that lays underneath you plays with the ends of your hair while the other rests gently on your thigh, which is hiked over his hip.

D -> Domestic (Do they want to settle down? How good are they at cooking and cleaning?)

seteth’s thoughts rarely every go astray, but when they do, he imagines what life would be like, just retiring from the monastery and living a nice life with you. he’d like to settle down eventually, but not any time soon

he’s super good at doing his part in chores and duties! of course he is, but he’s very very reliable and does things when asked. it’s nice

E -> Ending (If they had to break up with their partner, how would they do it?)

he would sit you down and explain his reasonings and such. it hurts him, definitely, but he does well at hiding it. until you leave his office, that is.

F -> Fiancé(e) (How do they feel about commitment? How quickly would they want to get married?)

not any time soon, as said earlier. seteth really will not stop his obligations towards the monastery and to fodlan. he wouldn’t have time nor would he want a very extravagant wedding, either. a simple ceremony would suffice.

G -> Gentle (How gentle are they, both physically and emotionally?)

physically, seteth is the epitome of a soft, romantic man. his touches make you melt and he’s always trying to keep you comfortable and happy. if you’re content, hes content.

emotionally, not as much. seteth has trouble sympathizing with some things. he’s used to pushing his feelings aside for the sake of fulfilling a duty or doing something, so he struggles sometimes to understand why someone else can’t do the same. give him time, though, and he’ll get better at comforting

H -> Hugs (Do they like hugs? How often do they do it? What are their hugs like?)

seteth’s hugs are firm and warm. they’re always like a passionate embrace, as if it would be the last time he’d ever touch you

seteth really enjoys hugs and physical affection with you, but as i said earlier, it’s always behind closed doors. sometimes he calls you to his office just so you can sit in his lap while he holds you.

I -> I Love You (How fast do they say the L-word?)

NOT fast. seteth is kind of in denial that he even had feelings for you at first until flayn pointed it out, so it’s rather hard for him to wrap his head around the fact that he loves you.

he does say it first though, as you’re half asleep, making you wonder if you even heard it correctly. you did.

J -> Jealousy (How jealous do they get? What do they do when they’re jealous?)

seteth doesn’t get jealous, really. there’s really nobody around to even like, make him jealous. he knows that a bunch of weird ass teenagers like sylvain aren’t going to actually come in between his and your relationship. honestly, most people in the monastery probably don’t even know that you’re both in a relationship.

if he is jealous, he stays relatively nonchalant about it, asking you to help him with a task somewhere else to take you away from the person

K -> Kisses (What are their kisses like? Where do they like to kiss you? Where do they like to be kissed?)

seteth’s kisses are very loving and passionate. every single one of them are full of adoration, even the little pecks. they never fail to warm up your entire body as everything melts away around you

he loves to kiss your neck. not just for more intimate reasons, but because he absolutely adores your giggles as his beard tickles your skin

this only happens when your relationship has been going on for a while, but seteth really enjoys it when you kiss his ears. they’re super sensitive and they always tinge as red as his cheeks when you kiss them.

L -> Little Ones (How are they around children?)

seteth is super good around his own child, of course, but he doesn’t so so hot around other children. theyre often too rambunctious for his liking, but he’ll tolerate them enough to entertain them sometimes.

M -> Mornings (How are mornings spent with them?)

three words. soft, soft, and soft

you usually either wake up in the same position that you fell asleep in, or you’re spooning. seteth’s always the big spoon, no acceptions. if you’re spooning, he kisses your shoulders and the back of your head until you wake up enough to turn over and give him an actual kiss.

N -> Nights (How are nights spent with them?)

also soft, but a little less.

seteth is always so busy during the day that when he lays in bed, he falls asleep almost instantaneously. if you want to stay up and talk or cuddle, he’ll try his hardest, but please don’t be upset with him if he accidentally dozes off. he’s a hard worker

O -> Open (When would they start revealing things about themselves? Do they say everything at once or wait to reveal things slowly?)

this depends on who you are. if you’re the professor, you more than likely already know everything by the time you get in a relationship with him

if you’re not, then he trusts you enough to catch you up on most things in the early weeks of your relationship. sometimes there’s a little tidbit that he may have forgotten to mention in the talk that comes up later on, but that’s really it

P -> Patience (How easily angered are they?)

seteth has the patience of a saint

hehe

but no, literally. very rarely does he get irritated or impatient with you. you know how he is and know how he likes things to happen or be done, so you do them. kind of like in the Domestic headcanon, he does his part so you try your hardest to do yours. he doesn’t ever have a reason to be impatient with you and is actually rather understanding now that he knows how you function as well

Q -> Quizzes (How much would they remember about you? Do they remember every little detail you mention in passing, or do they kind of forget everything?)

seteth remembers everything. literally everything. you’d think in his 1000+ years of life, he’d be an old ass man with shit memory, but no. to seteth, you and flayn are his number one priority and he’d never forget a thing about yall.

R -> Remember (What is their favorite moment in your relationship?)

seteth’s favorite memory is when he accidentally walked in on you hanging out flayn. you two weren’t doing much other than reading and talking about your books, but it warmed his heart to see his two favorite people bonding

S -> Security (How protective are they? How would they protect you? How would they like to be protected?)

insanely protective, but like in things that matter. if you’re doing something that could get you hurt, he’s in defense mode trying to get you to safety. if you’re in battle, he’s sure to always know where you are just in case.

he’s not one to appreciate being protected- he feels like he failed to protect his people in the past, so to be the protected instead of the protector makes him a little iffy- but he’ll always admit that he needed the protection and will always show his gratitude

count how many times i said protect in that second paragraph wow

T -> Try (How much effort would they put into dates, anniversaries, gifts, etc?)

seteth is romantic. he’s not much for physical gifts, but the memories and sentiment and feelings are so real and present that you really don’t need material things to know that he loves you

of course he does give you gifts, like a pretty bouquet of flowers that he saw in the greenhouse, or a necklace or something from the market that reminded him of you

U -> Ugly (What would be some bad habits of theirs?)

seteth tends to forget to slow down and take a break every once in a while. he’s constantly finding tasks to do around the monastery and doing things to help rhea that he often neglects his own well being. you always remind him and try your best to help him out, but he never really breaks that habit

V -> Vanity (How concerned are they with their looks? Do your looks bother them?)

seteth is rather concerned about how he’s seen in the public eye. how could he not? he’s a very prim and proper man. this, however, doesnt extend to you as much.

he doesn’t expect you to dress up to the nines every day just to be seen around him or whatever. he may be like “darling, are you sure you want to be walking around the monastery in your pajamas?” but the minute you’re like “hell yeah” he lets you be.

W -> Whole (Would they feel incomplete without you?)

this is a tough one, because i feel like seteth would do just fine on his own and would still feel relatively whole. but there would always be like this tiny little sliver of him that constantly misses you when you’re not around

X -> Xtra (A random headcanon for them.)

seteth has a secret, super playful side that only comes out when you’re alone in your shared bedroom. he likes to play wrestle you and mess around just to hear your laugh and see you smile.

Y -> Yuck (What are some things they wouldn’t like, in general or in a partner?)

in a partner, seteth wouldn’t really like someone who’s obnoxiously loud and blatantly disrespectful. it’s one of his biggest pet peeves and he wouldn’t date someone like that.

this doesn’t pertain to people who like, don’t realize their volume or is disrespectful to someone who deserves the disrespect, though. he doesn’t like just overly rude and jnconfiderate people who are like that for no reason

Z -> Zzz (What’s a sleep habit of theirs? Does it change around a partner?)

seteth is the lightest sleeper in the history of the world. he’s always on guard for something to happen. i dont blame him, but sometimes even the littlest bumps in the night wake him up almost completely. don’t ever try to sneak out of bed because chances are, he woke up from you just opening your eyes.

if anything, this habit becomes even more prominent when you start sharing a bed with him. he’s just afraid of losing you is all 😃

#fire emblem #fire emblem three houses #fire emblem x reader #fire emblem imagines #fire emblem three houses x reader #x reader #fire emblem three houses imagines #headcanons #seteth #seteth x reader #seteth imagines #saint cichol #sfw alphabet #lay writes

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merelliahallewell · 4 years

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Community Organization - A Kul Tiras RP Postmortem

I should probably preface this whole ridiculous thing with the fact that I genuinely don’t want to upset anybody with it, but just do something of a postmortem. I removed all names save for those people I’m explicitly calling out for being great and handling this community well despite what’s happened to it. These are genuine observations from somebody who’s tried to both run events and be as involved in Kul Tiras as I can be for the last yearish.

I wish there was a way to make Kul Tiras roleplay a thing again but I genuinely don’t really have the connections to do so or the time to put together a lot of events personally- I already run two communities on Moon Guard and officer for a small guild.

I’ll keep ranting after the jump I suppose.

The early cross-realm Kul Tiras community started off with a huge bang. I think despite how bad the gameplay of the early expansion came out to be, there was a lot of energy around the setting and a ton of excitement for Boralus as a whole. We had not one, but two in-game communities that had a good deal of crossover in membership between them. Surprisingly, BoralusRP and PortRP proved that in-game communities could still remain strong despite the total absence of a Discord to back it up. It broke the conventional wisdom I’d heard about how in-game RP was dead and there was RP to be found in abundance during the early days. While a discord server was later created for PortRP (now Living Kul Tiras), the in-game communities always remained far more popular and active than it.

Unfortunately, I think the biggest blows to Kul Tiras RP weren’t sharding, but more that those who had created the communities didn’t necessarily have very many intentions past making the space for roleplay to maybe happen. Were it not for the awesome and very regular bar nights being hosted in the early expansion, we’d very quickly realize that there was nothing actually going on in the communities besides them. People made these groups with seemingly no intention of hosting events- unless it was a guild event that had open invitation.

What was more, there wasn’t any support from the leadership of these groups for the kind souls willing to run these awesome events. Nobody in leadership was interested in helping event runners get the word out regarding their stuff or otherwise promote them save for leaving calendar invites open. I know firsthand, after all, having tried to run the Shadows over Duskford arc back in October 2018 and having a hell of a time trying to invite Kul Tiras-based guilds to it.

A number of dramatic things also seemed to undercut the efforts being made in the community- Having a prominent community member wind up to be a neo nazi didn’t help the image of Kul Tiras, nor did one of PortRP’s admins getting in a huge fight on the forums and caught using alt characters to back themselves up.

Kul Tiras limped along on life support after the new year. Community events got hosted still and I can only voice utter appreciation at that. I absolutely adore my memories of the Shattered Glass (miss you a heck of a lot, Mac) despite this fact, but things were rough in January/february.

Hype about the addition of Kul Tirans as an allied race infused the community with new life, at least for a little bit. Three new discords were created for each of the zones in preparation for this infusion of new people the community expected to get...

...but then we didn’t really get a lot of new people. What was more, the community suddenly found three new discords to have to be involved in, but the Tiragarde Sound and Drustvar ones were basically just empty and dead most of the time. It was the same discord just copy/pasted for the zones, with the same leadership team. While I’ve heard the Tidesage one was active, by the time I joined long after it was made, the place was incredibly quiet. I don’t really know a lot about the leadership teams of these discords, but I don’t think any major events came out of them.

On Moon Guard, the Boralus Law Project (a sort-of clone of the very popular Stormwind Law Project) was started in June, had one meeting, and then barely ever met again. While the effort was earnest, the delivery was... lacking, really hard. The solitary meeting was mostly argument over Drust relics and being told where we were allowed to stand.

At this point in time, about a year after the trio of new Kul Tiras servers got started, all five public discords related to it are dead and most of the stuff in that vein is over, save for what I’ll list below.

Some Praise

The only time I’ve seen life infused back into the Kul Tiras community as it was fading was the hosting of @caelin-tautstring‘s Kul Tiras Market. I know things have gotten quieter there, but I think he’s absolutely done the best with what he’s been handed. I wish the market had more patronage than it does now, but I’m not really a huge member of WrA’s community and MG’s Kul Tiras groups are laughably distant, small, or don’t play retail so I have no real way of getting the word out about it.

Jacquell has been at it hosting bars in Kul Tiras for as long as I can remember. Seriously, it may not be every week but that’s absolute dedication that no other event runners have had. I wish I made it to more of these just to show up and support her because she absolutely deserves it. Go give her forum thread some love and go to the next event on the 6th.

@atc-wra runs the HARBOR GAMES. Gosh, those are awesome. go to them! support them! Support Kul Tiras. They’re really cool people and I wish I had gotten more opportunity to interact.

Some Takeaways

Don’t start a community unless you intend to provide for it.

I appreciate the various Kul Tiras communities being founded. I absolutely, 100% do- my own character wouldn’t be around there if I hadn’t been given a great place to be. However, my main gripe with the people who founded these communities is that they just made them as a place to congregate, and very little else.

The same goes for the trio of discords that got founded- where are the events? Bar nights, roll events meet & greets, stories. We’re all here to write stories, yeah? I feel like it is the role of moderators or leaders to do their best to provide for these communities with events, support, and most importantly, direction. People need to know what a community is for, rather than just being “the kul tiras community” or “the tidesage community.”

Support community events!

Seriously, I remember being discouraged when my events weren’t supported. If you can’t make the event, then hawk it to your friends or guild members who can. Hell, make a guild event out of attending. Give them praise, feedback, anything. People who make events are the lifeblood of communities. They will die if they do not have a variety of events happening at frequent intervals.

If you’re going to abandon something, pass ownership off to somebody else in the community.

BfA sucked. yeah, we all know. I don’t blame anybody for going to FF14 or ESO or any other game, but I do blame them for leaving and failing to put other people in charge of the communities they ran. If you don’t want to host a bar event anymore, then give it to one of your customers or take on an apprentice or something. If you don’t want to run a discord, see if a community contributor can help.

I think the community would have been better off if they weren’t left waiting for things that weren’t going to happen.

A couple of prominent event runners left people waiting for events that never came. I feel like it’s important to be communicative, and if necessary, pass popular events off to other people if you’re no longer interested in running them. Promising how there will be more bar nights soon, or that you’ll do an event in the future, and then never following up on it? That sure sucks, especially if the event runner moved to FFXIV or Classic.

I’m grumpy about Moon Guard’s Kul Tiras community.

Nobody is responsible for supporting a community if they don’t want to. That is very important to preface this with. However, I do feel like if one is trying to position themselves as the center of Kul Tiras roleplay, they should engage themselves and their entire guilds in the community. Refusing to show up to the cross-realm events (or host anything) despite having like... at least 20 people around in your guild really sucks. A golden opportunity to beef the RP up was lost. If you want an example of what should have been done, <Kul Tiran Admiralty/Commonwealth> hosted open events for people to come to, supported other events, and generally was super active.

Hell, MG’s most active Kul Tiran groups were <Boralus Merchant Marine> and <Outliers> and they were both really small guilds. I love ‘em and I wish I’d helped support them more. The big ones should have taken lessons from their involvement, because at least they did it.

Now the people who ran the big guilds complain a lot about the death of the community, and i’m like... hello?? You had your chance and didn’t bother until it was too late.

- - -

This has been an extremely long rant about Kul Tiras. Is it fair? Maybe? I don’t know. I’m trying to throw out whatever I can for this without being too harsh.

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thedreaminus · 6 years

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Rebels

ff.net | A03

Summary: When the Union gets problems in its own ranks. A Noblesse AU about the Trio.

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5

Their nerves were blank. A mixture of tense expectation and fear. The latter came from Kranz, who came to them shortly after midnight to speak to them. Takeo did not think he would blame Tao and him for the behavior of the other DA-5 members. But Kranz has always had far-reaching disciplinary procedures. Excuses from their side would only make things worse.

Takeo did not have much time. he made a rough plan with which words he wanted to distract Krantz best. Shortly after the alarm, Krantz was already at the door. Takeo caught him with the news that the headquarter of the 12th Elder was being attacked. This commanded Krantz the hoped-for stop. Their leader immediately focused his thoughts on the essential.

"When did this happen?"

"Ten minutes?" Takeo estimated, stepping back to give Krantz a better view. He had not replaced any instructions, caused any trouble. Unlike Tao, he had a certain fighting ability that could not be dispensed with so quickly. That had always made him one of the better DA-5 agents in Krantz's eyes. Now that the trouble with Shark and Hammer was so fresh and certainly would not be so easy to clean up - Takeo did not even want to waste a friendly or neutral thought on Shark - it was all the more important to draw Krantz on their side.

"Why I was not informed earlier?"

"Not all drives were connected because of ... a lack of manpower" Tao intervened and glanced over to M-21, "I'm afraid the existing storage capacity would be insufficient once I started to reflect the data on the sever. Takeo was so nice to help me out."

Krantz sorted the information he heard. "How much do you have?"

"Hard to say," Tao put his laptop aside, swung his legs across the table and walked over to the server, looking at the hard drives in different colors and tones signals. "Six of the disks are full," the hacker replied. "The seventh, in part. That's roughly between 50-70 terabytes of data I could save before the connection broke. I can't say how much total data was there. I also can not rule out that a part is damaged because it was quite hectic."

Krantz turned on his heel. "I'll contact the Sits," he said, meaning the rest of Elder. "Shark and Hammer are not supposed to approach for now and ..." Krantz stopped beside M-21's camp bed, "What's up with that?"

Takeo's stomach churned. "Will recover, but that will take a few days". How should they convince Krantz - without sounding suspecious - that the M-21 was useful? Currently, M-21 had no value except as an additional worker.

"How long?"

"We do not know," Tao sat down again with his laptop, "But it takes several days to retrain someone." More contradictions thrown in hopes that Krantz will bite onto someting. They could not afford more opposition. Krantz thought for too long for Takeo's taste. Finally he turned and left the room. As soon as the door slammed and Krantz's footsteps ceased, Tao hissed and let his breath out. Even Takeo kneaded his fingers to release a bit of tension.

Tao chuckled and it sounded a bit manic. "In the next few days and months, much depends on our acting performance!" He stopped laughing and gasped excitedly for air. Takeo brought him some water and watched as he drank. Apparently M-21's action had done exactly what they had hoped for. From now on, things would be twice as dangerous.

Behind Tao's forehead was chaos already, that much was clearly visible. Takeo stood patiently beside his partner and took the bottle after a few minutes. He knew too well how much depended on Tao now. Neither M-21 nor he could develop a system to infiltrate the Union, they could only help and try to keep most of the stress away from Tao. Takeo had already experienced Tao in high work mode. Too many tasks, stress and then no sleep. In addition, the hacker in the last few hours had to deal with M-21's attack and the incident with Shark and Hammer. Enduring Shark was no easy feat.

Takeo knew he had to take care of him.

"I need a new laptop. Help me choose a few items." Tao was at a speed on the legs, which Takeo had to respect. He held up a part, looked at it and casually let it fall back into the box.

"Why?" Takeo made his way over to help him. A laptop? He should be able to manage that. Roughly, Takeo knew what was involved, and he started looking for the power cables.

"I want to build a laptop or a mini-computer," Tao formed an appropriate size with his hands. "It would be awkward if the Union finds the data from their labs on my laptop." The hacker nervously gnawed on his lower lip, "I love my baby," he murmured, glancing at his laptop, "But I should not hoard any borrowed data on it"

Takeo nodded and knelt beside another box to look for those useful parts that Tao had asked him to find. "Would not it be better to just access the data?" He asked, looking at two cables to see if they differed.

"Sure. Seventy terabytes is already a lot of data and with only one-small-equipment." Tao underlined the last three words with a corresponding gesture. "Hell ... I mean we alone may need a separate terminal server that we have to hide somewhere."

"This is very expensive."

Tao nodded. "From the beginning I had put backdoors in the standard programs. Well hidden, of course. A laptop with a virtual machine is enough for me. I can access and then use their server and their memory. But what if we want to send it to the Noblesse? A link over a longer distance with a system that I don't even know about? I would have to send the data in pure form, through the lines!"

Which none of them had thought about. M-21 had contacted Noblesse, but would they continue to listen to what he had to tell them in future? When it came to building an interface? Tao patted him on the shoulder.

"Let's focus on my new laptop first."

"Ah."

It was probably the best.

-.-.-

The Union did not take long to react to the attack. Not twenty-four hours after the attack on Union base and all its quarters hummed like a hive. Unfortunately, the 12th Elder was not in the lab at the time of attack and had survived. He had himself, via a remote switch, let Tao salvage the data and his server through his personal security code. He was very suspicious and reminded Takeo of an angry pig.

Starting in the morning, more and more workers, more temporary workers, more technicians and more material would come to help build the servers. They only had a short time window to prepare and make plans. Fortunately, Tao's new laptop was already ready and only needed to be introduced to the standing server.

Takeo had managed to find some cans. 'Pork with beans' was labeled on the already fading wrapping paper. It tasted only slightly better than the bars they usually took, but they still liked it. A little change was good.

As modified humans, they did not need food for weeks. They did not have to eat, but were able to recharge their energy reserves as normal people did. They only ate now to occupy themselves more than anything else. Eating together was comfortable and they felt more like human when they were doing such a normal, humane activity. Last but not least, it was M-21 who had brought it to them since he had to eat - despite modification - much more often than Tao and Takeo.

So they sat quietly talking to each other on their provisional seating and ate. They still had to make the server room and take away their personal belongings. After all, soon the place would be swamped with dozens of technicians and assistants. It was only convenient to look for a room from where they were hopefully only minimally disturbed.

"You know," Tao mumbled with his mouth full of beans, "Now that it's obvious we're still spending some time here, we should get ourselves a stove and a pot." Takeo squinted over to him and raised an eyebrow questioningly.

"Then we can warm up our food! Maybe it will taste better."

Takeo took the effort to look into the can. The pulp he saw in it did not make him want to warm it up. Who knew if the stuff would come to life and attack him?

"How is M-21?" Tao put his can aside. They both looked over at the couch where the gray-haired man had been lying and sleeping since last night. This was not the first time Tao had inquired about M-21 and Takeo went over to check on him. M-21 did not move and showed no signs of waking up anytime soon. Neither of them could say if this was good or bad.

"No abnormalities so far," Takeo informed and added after a moment: "We have to carry away our equipment..." in one of the lower rooms. The room they had chosen as their base of operation. Did that mean M-21 had to go down with them? They could not leave him up here. Could they move him?

With renewed anxiety he strode over to the patient's bed again. Tao followed him.

"His complexion looks a little better," Tao remarked as they both leaned over the wounded man.

Otherwise nothing. "Maybe we should change the associations," suggested Takeo, waiting for Tao's nod. So they could see the wounds and could estimate how far the healing process had advanced. With an army knife and a lot of patience, they opened the knots one after the other. However as soon as the bare skin appeared, they froze.

"That's ... shit," Tao cursed under his breath and Takeo agreed with his heart. There was nothing left. No wound, not even a scratch, just some dried blood and a few faded bruises. He scanned the ribs and bones. Everything seemed to be alright there too.

"I suppose we can just carry him down."

"Ah ... let's put the bandages back so no one can see."

"Good idea."

They both set to work quickly. More to calm their troubled nerves. M-21 should not be able to recover so fast. Not from the injuries he had, not during this period. "We need Crombel's data as soon as possible," Tao whispered hastily, "I like this less and less."

"I know someone who is a hundred times more uncomfortable," Takeo replied quietly. But Tao was right. They had to access Crombel's data to find out what was going on with M-21. For his own sake.

-.-.-

"What do you think?"

"Hm ... looks like a headband."

"Nobody will see that later. Not with your hair anyway. It's more important that nobody can hear us later and you have no button in the ear! This goes directly over the temporal bone. "

"I don't know …"

"Hng ..."

Takeo interrupted his conversation with Tao and thus his attempt to turn this invention on its head. As soon as they could spare a little time, he would exchange a serious word with Tao. About personal boundaries for example. Tao showed impressively that he did not believe in this concept and leaned so close to M-21 that their noses almost touched.

"You are in my face," M-21 did not mumble, fully awake and blinked up at Tao, who grinned at him. Noticing that Tao's grin was turned-up a bit too much because of his excitement, Takeo pulled him back by the collar. M-21 took the opportunity to sit up. The man grimaced and shook himself as if he needed to get rid of an uncomfortable feeling.

"How long?"

"Not twenty-four hours."

M-21 raised his eyebrow and scanned his torso. Then he paused, considered and pulled one of the bandages away completely. They waited quietly until he realized what he was seeing and what it meant.

"Yes, fuck my life," grunted the gray-haired and threw the bandage carelessly behind him.

"Want to hear something good? The headquarter of the 12th Elder was completely destroyed," babbled Tao carelessly to distract M-21. "Unfortunately he was not present at the time."

"That was too good to be true, right?" M-21 remained in his ironic mode, ignoring Tao's distraction attempts. He clenched his fists several times and then sighed heavily. They could see how he had pulled himself together and his face showed no signs of discomfort. But he could not fool Tao and him. They knew he was anything but calm and they knew he did not want to talk about it.

"What is the current status?"

"Well ..." Tao gave him an overview of the developments of the last few hours. Takeo brought a can and some water to M-21. To his irritation, he only took the water and put the can away from him.

"Not hungry?"

"Yet," M-21 slowly and thoughtfully opened the bottle cap, "But, maybe I should not."

To keep himself weak. Takeo frowned, skipping the pros and cons that came with M-21's statement. It was natural to suspect that M-21 changes were related to the better lifestyles they offered him here. That his body could now resort to more energy reserves. On the other hand, M-21 did not even admit to knowing how much he had changed before their meeting. Food deprivation could slow down his progress, but it was not a certainty. Therefore, this was probably just an indefinite test. Takeo took the can and put it back.

"Not for long," he added for safety's sake. M-21 nodded in agreement, or he nodded reassuringly. The man was more stubborn than the concealed barrel of a semi-automatic.

"Say M-21," Tao sat down on the cot next to M-21 and besieged him. Takeo could see how M-21 paused briefly in his movement, probably not knowing how to respond to this sudden approach. Takeo watched as Tao moved so close to M-21 that their shoulders touched. M-21 remained in his posture, still holding the bottle in his hand. Takeo saw his muscles twitch.

"How were they?"

"Who?"

"The Noblesse."

M-21 curled his lips and his eyes became ice cold. The change came so suddenly that Tao, who was immune to mood swings, jerked back. Takeo got worried, but M-21 was back in control. This was another point that made it so hard for him to get warm with M-21. He was unpredictable and even Tao had a hard time assessing his temperament. The gray-haired hid his emotions too well.

"I suppose Noblesse do not like modified human," laughed Tao, trying to lessen the tense situation.

"... Yeah," M-21 growled trying not to dump his emotions on them. "I ... I spoke with the boy I had saved," half whispering he added something like: ungrateful brat. "Turns out he was trying to find his father back then."

"His father?" Takeo pulled another bed closer to sit down, "Did the Union kidnap him?"

"Probably. He talked a lot and also a lot of stupid stuff. Something about the fact that the Union has almost wiped out his family or relatives and probably abducted his father. In any case, he believes that."

"And then he wants to alone...?"

M-21 laughed. "I told him same. But he just said that he is older than me and he's such a shit."

Takeo thought the child must've said a lot more about M-21. M-21 seemed emotionally charged and these were certainly not just matter-of-fact words. The gray-haired man looked gloomily and brooding to the ground.

"They do not like modified humans," he mumbled then and kept all that the Noblesse must have thrown in his face for himself. But the spoken was already enough. Takeo and Tao were silent with him and all of them were thinking.

Takeo stared at his hands, at the scarred, calloused skin. That was fine. They did not know the Noblesse and it was probably too much to expect that this species was positive about any aspect of the Union. Only that was the point. They also detested the Union. Disdained their actions, what had been done to them, and what they were forced to do. But they were still part of this organization.

"We can not expect from a child, who has lost his family at the hands of the Union and whose father is probably imprisoned, to see the difference." The difference between wanted and forced.

"Sure, the only party that's interested in us ..." M-21 started to spit out, but left it at the gesture itself. "We do not want anything else from them". Beside him, Tao gave an infinately sad expression, just before M-21 clutched at his nape with one hand, the other entangled in his hair almost tearing them out.

"M!?"

"I just feel like it," M-21 growled near Tao's ear and continued on with this strange attempt to distract Tao. Takeo sighed and counted out the seconds. Normally, M-21 let go himself. He did not like physical contact very much.

Yeah! Next chapter! And the number 6 is already done ( nearly ). So it should not take ssooo much time. I am aware that not so much action happens in this chapter, but there will be enough of that. This is more of a trio-bonding chapter^^

#noblesse #Noblesse: Rebels #M-21 #Takeo #Tao

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numinousmysteries · 7 years

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Vanquish by Wisdom Hellish Wiles (3/9)

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 On AO3 @fictober @today-in-fic

Chapter 3

Mulder's first instinct was that William must be nearby. Back when he was exposed to the rubbing from the artifact that washed up on the Ivory Coast, he’d experienced the same sensation Scully had described—that someone was speaking to him from within his own head--but it had only been people in a close vicinity.

There were images from those days right before his impromptu brain surgery that had stuck with him nearly two decades later. When Scully had come to see him in the hospital he'd felt the immense force of her love for him and her fierce desire to protect him. It felt different from the emotion emanating from Diana, which was tainted by an instinct for self-preservation.

He'd felt the same way about her for years but always feared that the feeling wasn't mutual. As he lay on an operating table unable to speak or move, her warm tears fell on his face and any doubt he had about her affection toward him vanished. It's what gave him the courage to tell her she was his touchstone and, although it took a few more months, to finally kiss her.

Achieving the high school fantasy of being able to read your crush's mind was one of the very few perks of being at the center of a global conspiracy. If his sister had never disappeared, he never would have joined the bureau nor met and fell in love with Scully. If his abnormal brain activity hadn't allowed him to read her thoughts he'd probably never have worked up the balls to do something about it. He asked Scully once why she'd named their son for his father and not her own. She said it was because if his father hadn't done the things he'd done, no matter how morally questionable those actions were, they wouldn't be together and William would never have been born. He understood the sentiment but he didn't know if he could ever forgive him father for the cowardly choices that had torn their family apart.

It was also then when he saw the boy building sand castles on the beach. At first he thought the boy was the manifestation of his inner child’s frustration of never being able to save his sister. But the boy didn’t look exactly like he did at that age. His features were softer and his eyes were a bright blue he’d only seen on one other person before. It wasn’t until Mulder held his son for the first time that he realized the boy on the beach was William. More than a year before he was born, months before he was conceived, back when the very idea of a son of his and Scully’s was an impossibility, he’d seen his son and felt his thoughts in his head.

During the years since he’d last seen his son, he’d tried to conjure the memory of being able to connect with him psychically, if only to know that he was safe and still alive. He tried techniques to induce lucid dreaming and even dabbled with self-hypnosis, but he was never able to make the connection again. But now Scully could, and although he couldn’t explain why, he knew that William was in trouble and they had to find him.

If what Scully felt was right, he had to believe that their son would make the right choice and not be tempted by whatever beautiful lies the other side was offering him.

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

After Scully assured him she was alright in the hospital, Mulder headed back to their office. On the drive over he knew who he’d have to call. He hadn't been in contact with the Gunmen for more than a decade since their deaths were staged. It was their plan all along. In a series of heavily encoded emails before their disappearance, they'd reached out to him about the attempts made on William's life. They'd figured out a way to monitor certain channels where the existing members of the syndicate still communicated, but to ensure their access wouldn't be detected, they had to go deep underground. Beforehand, they had showed Mulder how to navigate a messaging service on the deep web through which he could reach them through a series of encrypted IP addresses, but it was only for life-or-death, the-planet-is-at-stake emergencies. He figured this qualified.

Back at the office he followed the instructions he'd memorized and typed, in the code they’d crafted years ago: NEED HELP. ASAP.

He didn’t know what to expect after sending the message. Would they see it right away? Was it being sent from server to server getting further encoded and secured? Would they even be able to help him?

He sat dumbfounded with his head in his hands. The worst part of all of this was feeling helpless. He was better at handling disasters when there was some piece of evidence to be found or someone to point a gun at and demand answers from. He'd be willing to do anything to find William, but he didn’t even know where to start. In one way or another, Mulder had felt helpless for the past 15 years. He couldn't keep William safe nor could he erase the pain and guilt Scully felt for giving him away. Instead he retreated inward and, when Scully finally walked out, he knew there was nothing he could do to stop her.

Suddenly a notification popped up on his computer. In the reply to his message was simply a link, written in nonsense characters. As soon as he clicked the link, his phone began to vibrate on the table. A FaceTime request from a hidden number. He accepted and saw Langley on the other end. If the end of the world wasn’t imminent he’d tease his old friend for still managing to look so young while his own visage was marked with wrinkles and hair graying on his temples.

“Long time no see, old friend,” Langley greeted him. But he wasn’t smiling either. “I’m assuming you know it’s starting?”

“Colonization? The alien virus? Is that what’s starting?”

“We’re hearing chatter on certain channels. Byers and Frohike are furiously digging in right now trying to get more info. But all we know right now is that something big is afoot.”

“And William?”

“Mulder, I’m sorry—“

“What? What happened to him?” He shouted at the phone.

“We have every reason to believe he’s alive. They seem to think he’s more valuable to them that way. But he was taken from his adopted home early yesterday. We would have reached out to you if we could, but we’re doing all we can to find out where they took him.”

“Who took him?”

“The same bastards who are trying to save themselves at the expense of all of us. I wish I had more to tell you," said a familiar voice just out of view.

The image on Mulder’s cell phone screen shifted suddenly and he found himself looking at Frohike’s disgruntled face.

“We started gathering information as soon as we could," Frohike started. “I don’t know how helpful this is, but we found an address.” He recited a South Carolina address that Mulder hastily jotted down.

“Is that where William is?”

“I don’t know. But it seems like there’s some sort of meeting about to go down there. And if what we’re hearing is true, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone who knew what happened to him is there. Shit, man. You know we were doing everything we could to keep an eye on him. But something happened this yesterday and all of our lines of communication were jammed. When we got back online today we realized he’d been reported missing. Supposedly never showed up at school yesterday and didn't come back home all night."

“I understand,” Mulder said. He knew it wasn’t their fault. If anything, the blame laid with himself for leaving his fledgling family nearly nearly sixteen years ago. Now he ached, too, for the other set of parents who were missing their son because of him. “I’m going to head down there now. You’ll be able to reach me if you get any news?”

“Yeah, Mulder, we got your info when you reached out to us. How did you know, anyway?”

“I didn’t,” he said. “Scully felt he was in trouble.”

“She felt it? Like mother’s intuition?”

“I’m scared it’s something a little more powerful than that. Call me as soon as you hear anything.”

“Of course. Be safe out there, man.”

He was already out of the elevator on the ground floor when his cell phone rang again.

“Mulder.”

“Mulder, it’s me. Where are you?”

“I’m following what’s either a very promising lead or going on a wild goose chase to somewhere in Spartanburg, South Carolina.”

“South Carolina?”

“I got an address from the gunmen. I don’t know if William will be there but if there’s any chance, I have to go now. I’m headed to the airport now to get the next flight down there.”

“Come pick me up on the way.”

“Are you being discharged? Did they say you’re alright to leave?”

“I’m checking myself out, Mulder. We have to find our son.”

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

She was waiting for him when he pulls up in front of the hospital. She looked nearly back to normal in her black pantsuit but on closer inspection he saw blood splattered on her white blouse and a sizable bump under the bruise on her forehead.

“How’s the noggin, doc?” he said as she slowly eased herself into the passenger seat. She cringed and he realized she must’ve gotten more banged up in the crash than she'd thought.

“I’m fine. It’s so strange though, I remember getting in my car to go to work, and then having that vision, and then nothing until waking up in the emergency room. I don’t even know if there was another car involved or what happened.”

“That is strange, Scully. But if William is somehow reaching out to you through psychic ability, it wouldn’t be unusual for you to experience missing time or lapses in memory. I don’t know how any of it works, but when I was experiencing it I remember time seemed to bend and contract in ways that didn’t make sense. And there were stretches of time I can’t account for.”

“None of this makes sense, Mulder.”

“I know. But if he did reach out to you, we have to go on every lead we have to try to find him.”

“We'll find him,” she said. “I know we will.”

He felt her small, warm hand on his thigh and he looked down at in surprise as she gave him a reassuring squeeze. He covered her hand with his and they interlocked fingers. He didn't know if it was just meant to comfort him, or comfort her, or if she was trying to tell him she forgave him for acting like an asshole for the better part of the past year. He didn't question it, just held her hand tightly all the way to the airport.

Their hands found each other’s again during the flight and she leaned her head on his shoulder. He turned and gently kissed the crown of her head right above the bruise and she didn't pull away. They had spent hundreds of flights like this before, her dozing on his shoulder, but this time neither of them could sleep. They just clung to each other and counted down the minutes until landing.

They followed the directions of the rental car's GPS away from the airport and down narrower and narrower roads until they were driving on a gravelly path with long stretches of nothingness between driveways.

"You're sure this is right?" Scully asked. It was such a familiar question, one that he'd heard dozens of time whenever they were on the back roads of Anytown, USA, chasing down a lizard monster or a demonic high schooler. They used to rely on AAA maps that Scully opened up from their origami folds and spread across the dashboard trying to find their location on the veins and capillaries crisscrossing the map. Now they had the calm if robotic female voice of the navigation system leading the way. He preferred the spectacle of Scully trying to navigate on a map that was longer than she was tall.

"Well, it's certainly taking us to this address, wherever it is," he said. They squeezed hands on the console as they followed the electronic map.

Your destination is on the left

Mulder stopped the car the left side of the road but there didn't see to be any house or driveway.

"Look," Scully pointed, "Up there, it looks like there's a turn-off."

He drove slowly forward and sure enough there was a clearing farther down between the thick elm trees framing the road. The driveway, if it could be considered one, was narrow and branches scraped up against the side of the car. After about a quarter mile the path opened up to a clearing with an inconspicuous white clapboard house. Tires were tossed in a pile of weeds in front of the house and clothing were draped over the railing of the small deck.

"I guess this is it," he said. If he were to imagine a location for the most powerful men in the world to meet and discuss the fate of humankind, this small rundown home wouldn't top the list. But the address matched the one he'd been given by the gunmen so it was all they had to go on.

"Let's check it out," he said.

"Right behind you, partner." He glanced back and smiled at her wishing they were just going to interview a citizen who witnessed strange lights in the sky, and not possibly about to see their son for the first time in sixteen years.

"Oh, Mulder!"

Mulder spun around and saw Scully crouching over the car in pain with her hands on the sides of her head.

"Scully! What's wrong? Is it your head, from the accident?"

"Ah," she gasped and he came to wrap himself around her. "Yes. No. I don't know. I think I can hear him again. And I hear--oh god--that noise!"

It must be the same high-pitched, ear splitting sound that he had heard in the presence of the imprint from the African ship.

"Let's get you back in the car."

He opened the passenger side door and helped her back into the seat.

"Shut the door!" she shouted and he did, running over to enter again on the driver's side.

"This is better," she said. "He's close, Mulder, I can feel it. But I can't go in there, you have to go alone."

"I can't leave you here."

"You have to--you saw what happened to me outside."

"You seem better now, do you want to try again?"

"No, it'll be worse the closer I get. Just go."

He didn't want to leave her alone in the car but from what he remembered about the same crushing head pain and excruciating noise, he knew she wouldn't be able to go in with him.

"Be safe," she said before he stepped out of the car and shut the door.

The front door was unlocked so he entered slowly with his gun drawn. The interior of the house felt more spacious than it looked from the outside. He stepped slowly through the entrance way and into what looks like a study, with hardwood floors and bookshelves lining the walls. The sound of a deep exhalation startled him and he spun around to aim his gun at an older, heavy-set man sitting in a leather chair.

"Mr. Mulder," the man said. "I've been expecting you."

"Who the hell are you?"

"Someone you can trust."

"I've heard that before," Mulder said with his gun still directed straight at the man's head.

"Please, put that down," the man said. "You must trust me. I'm on your side. I want the same thing you and your partner do."

"I doubt that. We want to save humanity, you want to see blood on the streets, the extermination of 7 billion people."

"No, you've got it all wrong. There's only one man left who wants to carry out that plot. The rest of us, the few who remain, we want to stop him before he puts the plan in motion leaving only himself and his cronies to rule over a zombie race of people infected with the alien virus."

"Who? Who is this man?" Mulder shouted.

"The only man vile enough to sacrifice the entire human species for a taste of ultimate power. It's your father, Mr. Mulder."

"CGB Spender? The smoking man? That's impossible, he was killed sixteen years ago in the desert of New Mexico."

"Men like him don't die, Mr. Mulder. He's sold his humanity years ago in exchange for alien technology that gives him capability beyond what you and I could dream of. You're the only one who can stop him. Kill him before he kills us all."

"Why me? How can I stop him?" Mulder asked more gently but didn't lower his gun.

"Because you can find the one thing he needs to set his plan in motion."

"My son."

"He needs the boy, Mr. Mulder"

"My son is none of your business," Mulder shouted again, feeling his anger at this man and for the injustice of it all.

"He's a very special child"

"He's a child. That's all he is. He doesn't deserve to be dragged into this."

"A child with exceptional abnormalities in his DNA. He can thank you and your partner for that. He has the power to save humanity or, if your father gets to him first, to destroy it."

Mulder shook his head. "My son was taken from his home earlier today and I have reason to believe you're behind this."

"We tried to take him, Mulder, we tried to take him to protect him but he escaped. I don't know where he is, but it's imperative that you find him before Spender does. Your father will promise his grandson eternal life and a seat alongside him as omnipotent ruler of what's left of this planet in exchange for the genetic material within him that can protect them while the world burns."

"William wouldn't agree to that. He wouldn't take that deal."

"Are you sure about that? When was the last time you saw your son, Mr. Mulder?"

Mulder tried not to think about that day, so many years ago when he was forced to leave the two people he loved most, the only two people he'd take a bullet for without a second thought.

"You're wrong," Mulder said. "He's my son and I know he wouldn't do that. Now where the hell is he?"

"I told you, I don't know. I had my men sent to Wyoming to get him and bring him here, but they were unable to find him. They're out looking for him now but I suspect you and his mother will have a better chance of finding him."

"I swear, if anything happens to him, anything at all, I will personally put a bullet through your brain and find every last one of your henchmen and kill them myself."

"Well, let's hope it doesn't come to that, Mr. Mulder."

Mulder shook his head and turned away from the man. When he walked out of the house he saw Scully was motionless in the passenger seat with her eyes closed. He ran to her side and opened the door.

"Scully," he gently shook her shoulders. "What's wrong?"

She didn't flinch or open her eyes. He could see she was still breathing but when he squeezed her hands she showed no response.

"Shit. Scully." Mulder ran around to the driver's side and got into the car. He found the address for the nearest hospital and keyed it into the GPS.

He kept trying to rouse her during the short drive over but she remained slumped over in her seat.

He pulled up directly in front of the emergency room exit and carried her in his arms through the sliding door.

#xf #xfiles #xf fanfic #xfiles fan fic #msr

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miss-m-calling · 5 years

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Fandom 5k letter

Requests:

Adult Wednesday Addams -- Wednesday Addams

American Gods (TV) -- Laura Moon/Mad Sweeney

Cabin Pressure -- Carolyn & Arthur & Martin & Douglas

Moonlighting (TV) -- David Addison/Maddie Hayes

Dear writer,

Hello and thank you for writing for me. I’m very excited to read whatever you come up with.

I do give more or more detailed prompts for some of these canons than for others – that’s not because I want some more than others, but only because for some I get lots of ideas, for others I’m more “waves arms all over the place give me more of XYZ I love in canon!!” I hope whatever I put down sparks your creativity, and feel free to reach out through the mods if you have any questions! My likes and DNWs are all the way on the bottom of the letter.

Without further ado…

Requests:

Adult Wednesday Addams

Wednesday Addams

Genres: Action/adventure, Canon-style plot, Humor, Slice of life, Worldbuilding

I belatedly discovered this webseries, and it resurrected (see what I did there?) my love for Wednesday and how the Addams Family canon runs on the endless possibilities of this loving, happily eccentric family being 100% true to themselves and the world just having to deal with it. The show was everything I never knew I wanted till I watched it, the perfect blend of Addams-macabre and cozy slice of life with bonus Wednesday navigating the world alone, without always knowing her family will back her up, and it made me crave more of adult Wednesday’s mini adventures in LA. For this canon, I’m good with gen or, if you want to write that, more of Wednesday’s adventures in dating guys who really aren’t up to the challenge, and you can absolutely have Wednesday interact with OCs I haven’t listed as part of a pairing. I’m keeping the prompts pretty short, just to (hopefully) pique your creativity, as I expect I will love any way you make these or any similar scenarios play out:

-Wednesday goes to IKEA

-More of Wednesday’s interactions with the nice interns at her receptionist job. Maybe they invite her out to happy hour, or to the beach or a club. Or maybe we get to eavesdrop while they shoot the breeze on their lunch break, possibly over barbecue-chicken pizza from CPK.

-More of Wednesday’s gigs. She already babysits and walks other people’s dogs, what else might she do for extra cash that would be both really common and seemingly ill-suited to Wednesday, except she totally makes it work for her? Cat sitting (especially if the cat belongs to someone incredibly rich whose house is full of secrets – and expensive things for the cat to knock over), driving an Uber/Lyft, becoming an AirBnB host, catering/server, working the late shift in a New Age/occult supply store where none of the woo is real…?

-Or, alternately, Wednesday finds a career that is perfect for her, in which she can have success and respect. What ever could that be and still fit into the non-Addams world?

-Wednesday tries speed dating

-Or, she runs into Brian a.k.a. chains guy (I cackle with glee every time I rewatch the bit when he tries to kiss her at the pet store) a third time – how does it not go quite as he wanted or expected this time?

-Wednesday’s family comes out to sunny, plastic, image-conscious LA to visit her and make sure she’s doing alright. She gives them a tour of the city, and LA will never be the same again.

-Wednesday takes an evening class, or goes back to school part time, or enrolls in an online degree program

-Wednesday takes a road trip, alone or with her apartment mates/colleagues/Brian/strangers she met for carpooling purposes. Bonus points if you work in real roadside attractions, or tourist traps, or famous sites/landscapes.

-It’s Dia de Muertos, and Wednesday goes out to celebrate and soak up the atmosphere. It may or may not live up to her expectations.

-If you wanted to get a bit meta and/or enjoy playing around with different formatting, what does Wednesday’s Tumblr/Twitter/Facebook/Tindr look like? Or, Wednesday gets tasked with updating company social media at her receptionist job, and she does it with her own special flair.

American Gods (TV)

Laura Moon/Mad Sweeney

Genres: Action/adventure, AU - canon divergence, Canon-style plot, Character development, Getting together, Smut, Worldbuilding

Let me preface this by saying how much I appreciate that you are willing to write for an ongoing canon! I love this pairing, and while most of my prompts are basically the same ones I’ve used in exchanges before S2 (which I am watching) started airing, let me assure you that I am 1000% fine with your fic getting jossed, or including a divergence from what we already know or how things happen in canon. You can work with the canon -- or as much of it as we have by the time you’re done writing -- or diverge in a way that works for your story. Really truly honestly it’s all fine since you are writing for an active canon, and I really truly honestly appreciate you wanting to tackle this! Canon divergences and canon-flavored-if-not-entirely-compliant stories are my jam, so please don’t feel anxious as the canon keeps unfolding, nor pressed to keep up with S2 if you can’t or don’t want to watch it right now. (I tried to keep S2 spoilers to a minimum in my prompts, but there are some spoilers.)

So *clears throat*

I ship it. Yes I do. They had me at “gimme-my-coin-dead-wife”-flicks-him-into-wall. The snarky road trip was the best thing I never knew I wanted until it happened, and I adored every second of it. They’re both such assholes and so fascinating, even if they start to mellow toward each other a bit toward the end of S1, and all the gods/magic/resurrection stuff swirling around them begs to be explored further. Also I love love love how their dynamic is about equal parts spikiness, pathos, and humor (they’re funny! and the canon doesn’t shy away from putting them in ludicrous situations), and it weaves seamlessly between those three. Plus she’s half his size yet can and does beat him up with literally one finger, and then there’s the angst of he having killed her, feeling really guilty about it, and then bringing her back.

Please give me either missing scenes from the road trip (if you can work in a divergence, that’s great - for example, I like Salim, but if you want to have him boot Sweeney and Laura to the curb and go off on his own, or Sweeney to boost his taxi before Salim catches them, or whatever else to have those two alone, go for it!), or a S1 divergence (instead of going to Ostara, they go where? to see whom? about getting Laura resurrected) or something about these two post-S1/during-S2:

-Laura discovers (how? you decide!) that Sweeney gave her back the coin after their accident – whatever happens next, some punching may be involved.

-Wednesday’s big war finally comes, and “don’t you dare die on me, you asshole” is a line either Sweeney or Laura (or both) might say to each other.

-Laura asked “What does Wednesday have to lose?” and the answer is…? (Yes, give me that sweet poetic justice. One possibility, though not remotely the only one, but as of S2E3 Laura is technically a god-killer...)

-On a similar note, Wednesday told that luckless cop that Sweeney had been against the big gods’ war from the start, and while Wednesday lies, Sweeney definitely seems to be participating out of a sense of obligation and lingering guilt over the war he ran from long ago, rather than lust for a good fight or even a dominant death wish. What if he decided to hell with Grimnir and his war and his having Sweeney kill random people? I’m guessing Sweeney too drank three glasses of mead so he can’t back out without dire consequence - but he does have a fierce, dead woman in his corner.

-They go to some as-yet-unnamed old god (feel free to bring in whatever mythology you want) in order to bring Laura back to life. Between Sweeney’s mouth and temper, and Laura’s mouth and temper, it doesn’t go well. Now one or both of them are in big magical trouble with a pissed-off deity and have to get themselves/each other out of it.

-Things happen and Laura finds herself in the position to throw Sweeney under the bus but also help/save him, and while he knows it’s only karma, he can still be pissed about it - how do they navigate this?

-Laura gets fully alive again, but traces of her (un)dead state remain – what are they, how does she cope, what price did she/he/they have to pay for her resurrection, and how does their relationship change? I’d especially be curious how it would work if they’re already a sorta-maybe-item and *then* she’s alive again and it’s weird in a new way.

-For reasons I’ll leave up to you, Sweeney and Laura have to stay put in a single place for a while and end up essentially cohabiting, regardless of what their relationship is at that point. Take “cohabiting” as literally or as creatively as you want -- in any case, I’m sure it will be marvelously disastrous and amazing.

-Slight or major AU from the opening of “The Ways of the Dead”: Laura has hitchhiked with Sweeney instead of going off in a huff with Wednesday, or she otherwise gets to New Orleans sooner, and she and Sweeney tear up the town together. Gimme bar fights, carnival shenanigans, backstage craziness with the Christian rock band (Sweeney seems to have a backstage pass on a lanyard around his neck when Laura finds him)… Maybe they even cross the paths of some loa and it doesn’t get all angsty (for what it’s worth, I think the reason the sex magic didn’t bring Laura back to life was because she couldn’t accept the truth(s) revealed during the astral-plain sex – see how she defaults straight to “this is all Wednesday’s evil plan” the morning after – not because the loa fucked them over as Sweeney said). They were actually getting along nicely in those first couple of scenes, only ribbing each other a little while still being their grouchy selves, before they got to Le Coq Noir. I wouldn’t have minded seeing some more of that.

-All the old gods hide their true appearance to an extent. A situation arises in which Laura sees Sweeney’s true, or at least old, self (I’m thinking of his surprise!poignant monologue about when he used to be a king, and the glimpse of him in full Celtic warrior mode in the S2 teaser). Or Wednesday’s war ends in victory, meaning the old gods again get belief, worship, and sacrifices. How does Laura, the ultimate skeptic even when she’s on the other side of the mirror, react? How does this new knowledge and new reality change her opinion of/attitude to Sweeney? Or to flip that around, if Sweeney were again relevant and believed-in, would that actually change his bad attitude and fix his issues (my guess is it would be complicated)?

-The power of names: for all his “dead wifeing,” there comes a time when Sweeney (has to) call her by her actual name, and that’s a tricky moment for them to navigate. Or, Mad Sweeney is almost certainly not his actual name, since true names have great magical power and so must be kept secret; Laura discovers or learns his name, from someone else or from himself; what does she do with that knowledge? Or, Sweeney gets to say “cunt” in a situation (sexual or otherwise) where, not only does Laura not peel his lips from his gums, but she finds that she can’t object, even though she knows that he knows that he’s getting away with it.

-So far in canon, it’s pretty clear that Sweeney has a lot of complicated but sincere feelings for Laura. But Laura is still pretty focused on Shadow (or rather her idealized vision of Shadow and what their relationship might yet be), whom she seems to equate with her own lost-maybe-to-be-regained life, although she’s starting to soften toward Sweeney as she realizes he’s doing things for her that are not all about getting his coin back (and her sparring match with Wednesday in “Muninn” may finally force her to accept that her relationship with Shadow died alongside her and Robbie on that road in Indiana). Tell me the story of how Laura stumbles her way to starting to feel more complex, maybe kinder or softer, really annoying for her blunt-force-trauma-personality things about Sweeney and about the notion that her dynamic with him is different from the way she tended to use men for her convenience without really letting them in in the past. Also I’m pretty sure that even if they felt the same – or sorta in the same ballpark – about each other, their relationship would still run on a lot of conflict, and I would so be here for it.

-On that note: in “Munnin” it also becomes clear that Laura has, without realizing it herself, started to rely on Sweeney. The “I trusted you” line made me think, whoa she’s too mad to catch herself doing it but this is huge for Laura, and the fact that she goes off with Wednesday (!) basically because she’s mad at Sweeney because she thinks he’s prioritizing his debt to Wednesday over her… Yeah, I would like to see that explored some more and/or to see Laura and Sweeney get to a point where they trust each other and rely on each other, and know it and accept it, however difficult the getting there and being there may be for them.

-And since I’m on the subject of Laura, you know how she’s not actually an abrasive bitch all the time to everyone? And when she is, the people on the receiving end of it sometimes richly deserve it, and anyway it’s refreshing to see a female character who doesn’t bother flirting and accommodating others for the sake of social harmony? As much as I enjoy watching her rip into people (ahem, Sweeney), I also love it when she acts differently, like her genuine interest in getting to know Salim and her joy in seeing him again in S2, or her running passive-aggressive battle of wills with Wednesday, or even her general disaffection and numbness in “Git Gone.” Her beginning to feel sympathy for Sweeney and her anger and disappointment when she feels let down by him are a part of that, and I’d love to see all that explored more. Nuance! Give me all the nuance and seeming contradictions in both Laura and Sweeney’s characters!

-My perfect AG spinoff would basically be Sweeney and Laura tooling around America, looking to get her resurrected (whether they succeed or not is up to you), stealing ever more ridiculous vehicles, arguing/fighting and having those pesky moments where vulnerability and genuineness creep in – and fucking. So yessiree I’d be down for porn, including “it’s technically necrophilia/zombiesex” porn.

-All the petty, ridiculous ways in which Sweeney’s bad luck manifests itself make me laugh (can’t help it, won’t even try), and I’m down for more variations on that theme.

-If you wanted to throw in some worldbuilding, maybe something exploring living death. Magical bargains. What kind of favor did Sweeney do for Ostara that would be worth her bringing someone back to life as repayment? What other powers might Sweeney have (he doesn’t seem on a par with someone like Wednesday and Ostara, nor is he really a god, more a mythological being/kinda-deified former-mortal)? How long can a dead wife keep going before she’s “soup”? What other superhuman abilities might dead!Laura have? Can the dead do magic? What even are the rules governing and the limits of different beings’ magical abilities?

If it helps your inspiration, you can find some of my meta and lots of tag-burbling about these two here. I have read the book though I remember it only in bits and pieces, and while I prefer the show characters and the fact that they get thrown together, you can use or riff on book material if you want. With reference to one of my DNWs, for this canon, describing Laura’s physical decay is totally fine. Also, Shadow/Laura don’t interest me except as a part of Laura’s backstory (so if your story wants to include Laura figuring out or having already figured out that pinning all her hopes on Shadow to make everything right is unrealistic, unfair, and not how it works – by all means, go for it!), and Shadow/Sweeney interest me not at all.

My one canon-specific, really strong DNW for this pairing is this: I’m not into Laura being Essie’s reincarnation/descendant or – as fanon suggests and canon hints she may be – some sort of reincarnation of Sweeney’s wife from back when he was a king in old Ireland. Reincarnation/“new love looks like old love”/“lost love found again” plots bore me, and I don’t enjoy ships that hinge on characters being somehow destined to be together. Characters having agency is my jam as much as canon divergences are. Or if your fic really needs to go there, please please please don’t dwell on the Laura-Essie-Sweeney’s-wife-of-old thing, a brief mention would be more than enough. I’m certain Laura would have neither time nor patience for the notion that Destiny Fate and All That Jazz threw her together with ginger minge, and even if it were technically true, she’d still want this relationship to work on her terms – and Sweeney obviously has a problem with Laura’s cheating, her relationship with Shadow, her personality (though he also recognizes they’re alike in many ways), and all that maps onto his anger and sadness over becoming irrelevant over time, so it’s not just about Laura. So yeah, let them be their own (grumpy, spiky, dysfunctional) people, and let Laura’s dynamic with Sweeney not be shaped solely by his past and his issues.

Cabin Pressure

Carolyn Knapp-Shappey & Arthur Shappey & Martin Crieff & Douglas Richardson

Genres: Action/adventure, Canon-style plot, Humor, Slice of life

I just want more canon-y stories with their loopy humor and their weird yet loving family dynamics among the crew. Shenanigans in mid-flight or in the tedium which precedes and the tiredness which follows them. Someone smuggles (knowingly or not) an exotic animal on-board, legal, security, medical and/or slapstick chaos ensues. A mechanical, passenger- or smuggled-goods-caused problem arises and is solved during a journey. More games played on board GERTI. Playing around with a specific destination, like in many episodes, would be a plus. If it helps inspire you, my favorite episodes in terms of tone and content are: Douz, Gdansk, Johannesburg, Limerick, Ottery St. Mary, Uskerty, and Xinzhou.

For this canon, I prefer gen with maybe, if you want to go there, some Douglas/Carolyn on the side. That’s a ship I always thought had potential – they understand each other very well and trust each other... some of the time, but they’re both also snark-masters, tend to look down on anyone not as smart or quick-witted as they (Arthur being the sole – occasional – exception), and are really good about keeping their defenses up against other people. But I requested the gen group, and I definitely want the gen group – please don’t feel pressed to write the ship, that’s just a wild suggestion I threw out there.

Moonlighting (TV)

David Addison/Maddie Hayes

Genres: Action/adventure, AU - canon divergence, Canon-style plot, Established relationship, Getting together, Humor, Mystery/procedural, Slice of life

I osmosed tons about this show over the years but didn’t get around to watching it myself till recently. And then I loved it much more than I thought I would! Yeah, sure, some of it’s dated, and some of it’s ropey in terms of how the characters interact ( all the casual sexism and battle of the sexes stuff are very 80s indeed), but the chemistry! the banter! the funny! the shiptease! Gimme!

I tried to come up with lots of prompts, but ended up with a list of stuff I love about the show – and would love to see in fic – with some prompts mixed in. Hope it helps! Basically, give me as much of the show’s “flavor” as you can, and I’ll be happy.

My two DNW requests for this canon would be: please ignore everything that happens post-S3 (so if you want to write Maddie/David in the aftermath of their resolving their UST, please go ahead with the canon divergence of your dreams, I bet it’ll be a million times better than canon), and please don’t have secondary characters (Agnes and Herbert, or Maddie and David’s relatives and exes) hijack the story. They can be in it, but I really do want a David/Maddie story, despite the canon sometimes sidelining them due to behind-the-scenes shenanigans.

Prompts/likes:

-all the banter, wordplay, innuendo, puns, comic repetition

-arguments – those long, explosive, funny, overlapping, always hilarious fights they have

-breaking the fourth wall – yes, please. In canon, they often seem to know they’re fictional characters but ones that exist in the real world, with studio lots and such. Do they now know they’re characters in a fanfic of fictional characters that also exist in the real world, or something even more mind-screwy?

-David calling Maddie “blondie blond” – it just makes me laugh – and Maddie calling him “Addison” when angry but “David” when worried or when shit hits the fan

-random cultural nods – off the top of my head, canon referenced Spanish poetry, objectivism, American realist drama, Dr. Seuss, Shakespeare, of course all the Hollywood tropes and genres; go high or low culture, go famous or obscure, even if I don’t know the reference, I want it! Ditto if you decide on a plot that parodies and pays homage to a cultural landmark story (The Silence of the Lambs? Much Ado about Nothing? A Hitchcock movie? Something else?), I’d love it!

-speaking of: I love the pun-tastic episode titles referencing everything under the sun

-all the canon-era detail which both takes me back and jars me with how much things have changed: people smoking in public buildings, seeing someone off at the boarding gate, dial and push-button telephones, VHS rentals, no cellphones/internet, all the 80s fashion and permed hair… Throw it in just for kicks or weave it into the plot (e.g., they’re following someone and only have a paper map and their own faulty sense of direction to help them)

-casefic – I love the silly plots (and chases! All the chases!), which often combine really gruesome outcomes or real violence with slapstick. I’d be especially tickled if you wrote a plot that starts out silly and seemingly innocent (e.g., they get “hired” by a kid who lost their homework) but ends up deadly serious, or vice versa

-I also love the flashes of really dark humor, usually provided by David snarking about plot developments, though my favorite example remains the intro to S3E1, with David assuring his sick mother that they’ll sweep the Emmys, and then they lost big time and we see a title card saying that the mom died on Emmy night. What can I say but: ROFL

-Maddie and David are really pretty terrible detectives, but they always manage to solve the mystery – or a solution falls into their laps – and I’m here for it

-Blue Moon almost never seems to take on actual paying clients – what else might David and Maddie do for much-needed cash? Bodyguards, extras on a movie, professional consultants on a movie (probably a really shlocky, C-grade production being filmed in the middle of nowhere), dance marathon, talent contest…

-all the shippiness before the UST becomes RST – in canon they slow-danced in a bar, they slept side by side on a plane, he’s snuck into her house multiple times when he was in trouble, etc. etc. etc. The sky’s the limit!

-maybe they get together in a different way than in canon and/or they have a relationship that departs from canon? Or how about if they resolve the UST as they do in canon, but then find a way to be both partners and lovers, without getting so wrapped up in what they each think the other one should be that they spoil everything? Basically, could they be mature enough to have a relationship that works for them both, or be friends with benefits, or hell even break up but remain each other’s most important person (and maybe still have sex occasionally)?

-tropes – the canon plays with so many tropes, you could too! Some suggestions: there’s only one bed, undercover as lovers/married/client and bodyguard, waking up married, any variation on Lady and the Tramp you can think of (including David having to pretend he’s a class act while Maddie has to play the slob, for a case or because of a situation with their families or…), they get zapped by a mad scientist they’re surveilling and swap bodies, etc.

-road trip! Oh the possibilities...

-playing Twenty Questions or another game during a boring stakeout, and personal revelations come spilling out

-Maddie’s experience as a model proves key to cracking a case, whether you want to make the whole story a riff on the world of fashion (The Devil Wears Prada parody, anyone?) or use that as a surprise plot point

-they get tangled up (again) in international espionage and go on a globe-trotting adventure, either chasing a MacGuffin or being chased – basically, get them out of Los Angeles and their relative comfort zone, and send them Indiana Jones-ing all over the world

-the show often makes 80s-typical mean jokes about Russia and the Cold War – what if a case took Maddie and David to the Soviet Union in its last years? Give me all the culture clashes, David being obnoxious and Maddie trying to be diplomatic, all the vodka, chases down frozen streets and over the frozen Neva River, dodging the KGB, sneaking around behind the scenes at the Bolshoi or Kirov Ballet and winding up on stage…

-when they visit a “rough” dive bar in S1, there’s a whole scene of David teasing Maddie to show tough-girl attitude, and she quips that she can’t wait till he has to accompany her to a high-society event. Um, yes please!

-they attempt to date like a regular couple, and stuff keeps getting in the way – whether they go to the opera/ballet and a fancy restaurant, or a basketball game and out for beers, or they try a quiet dinner and a movie at home (or all of the above!), canon-like complications keep interrupting. But then again, the ridiculous way they work is what brought them together in the first place. Bonus points if the fish-out-of-water partner ends up getting into the other one’s date-activity of choice, while snarking all the way.

-David has been to Maddie’s house multiple times – including to sleep over, both platonically and not – and they’ve both crashed at the office, but what little we see of David’s place, it seems to be a bachelor pad/hovel with a large yet mysteriously unfurnished living room. Maddie visits David/comes to spend the night/hides out with him from villains, and shenanigans ensue.

-canon often resolves the clash between David’s opportunism, happy-go-luckiness, and cockiness, and Maddie’s gentle idealism, worrywartness, and romanticism, by having David “win.” That can be funny, but what if the plot gave Maddie the right a bit more?

-I’m honestly not that into smut for this pairing - a fade to black, something implied, something referenced, innuendo, maybe brief flashes (heh) of what the characters think about/imagine/remember work much better with the canon’s overall tone, I think.

Likes:

I love pre-canon, canon, post-canon, canon-divergent, and missing-scene stories. I love character-driven and plot-driven stories equally, and I love fics which mix humor and angst/serious business when appropriate for the canon.

I love stories about characters at work and play, group dynamics, family dynamics (including constructed families), professional partnerships, friendships, alliances, rivalries, intimate couples (new lovers/first times as well as long-term/established couples), UST-ridden couples who are not just UST-ridden but connected in other ways too, etc.

I love irony, snark, humor as well as angst arising from the characters rather than the plot crowbaring it in, linear, non-linear, and 5+1 stories, hopeful endings, happy endings, bittersweet endings, worldbuilding, spiky characters who keep their jagged edges and spikiness in adversity as well as when their lives are going well, square-peg-in-round-hole characters, characters who are their own worst enemies as well as those who can get over themselves when the occasion calls for it, characters with conflicting values which may or may not be reconciled/resolved, characters who treat each other with respect and as equals even if they hate/annoy/can’t stand/love to dislike each other.

I especially love workplace stories (this can mean anything from an actual workplace/casefic/procedural setting to anything that revolves around the canon world in which the characters live) in which the characters are competent and dedicated to the job, and while they may not be exactly friends and they may well irritate one another, they still manage to rub along to get the job done and maybe even grow to care about one another (much to their surprise and sometimes reluctance/discomfort). Or, if they can’t get along, show me why not and what’s preventing them from finding common ground.

In terms of ship dynamics, I love (where it fits the characters) banter, competitiveness or antagonism shading into attraction (this tension need not be resolved), oh-god-why-did-it-have-to-be-you-what-did-I-do-to-deserve-this, bickering yet loving couples, faithfulness, characters who are serious about their romantic interests, characters who think they are much better at flirtation than they actually are, characters forced to work together only to prove much more compatible than they initially assumed, fics which mix an exploration of characters’ professional and everyday lives with shipping. A dynamic I cannot resist is shipping a couple who are incompatible in some important way (they are ideological enemies, cop and criminal, spies from opposite sides, one betrayed the other or they betrayed each other), and while they love and want each other they’re also not willing to change sides or surrender/compromise their identity for the other’s benefit, and how they might (or not) make their relationship work anyway.

I don’t have any very specific likes for smut, other than smut fitting the characters – show me how their canon dynamics spill over into the bedroom (or other place of congress). I also like sexual scenarios that subvert expectations a little and surprise the characters themselves (e.g., the person who’s usually quiet or more passive taking charge, the more aggressive person goes with it possibly snarking or commenting on it as long as they can). And I like sexual scenarios that contain an element of competition, antagonism, oh-god-this-is-a-bad-idea-but-we’re-going-for-it-hammer-and-tongs, not wanting to admit feelings or show vulnerability except oops it happens anyway, whether the characters acknowledge it or not, or just people getting way more into it or being more affected by it than they thought they would. When it fits the characters and their canon dynamic, you also can’t go wrong with we-both-wanted-this-for-forever-and-now-we-both-know-it-so-here-we-go-diving-in-headfirst. For het and/or slash, oral, vaginal, anal incl. pegging, manual (ifyouknowwhatImean) – it’s all good. You can go as veiled or as explicit as you like, but please avoid excessive medical jargon – I don’t find a lot of mention of “penis” or “clit” sexy.

DNWs:

MPREG, A/B/O, knotting, D/s, kinks, incest, underage, genderswap/genderbent characters, xeno, non-/dub-con, torture and abuse (this and non-/dub-con can be mentioned if the story needs it, but please don’t dwell on it in loving detail or subject any of my requested characters to it), dwelling on bodily fluids (mentions of gore/blood and come are fine), toilet humor, character bashing, issuefic, gender/sexuality/race/ethnicity/religion/ability/identity headcanons, unrequested ships, soulmates and soul marks, major character death (unless it’s canon), serious illness or injury, pregnancy and children, holiday or wedding setting/theme, secondary characters shipping the main pair like it’s their job, reference to RL current events, 1st/2nd person POV, AUs which have nothing to do with canonf

#dear author letter #fandom 5k fic exchange

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worryinglyinnocent · 7 years

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Fic: A Helping Hand From Beyond (10/?)

Summary: “You know, sometimes the deceased stay with us, waiting until they’re sure we’ve moved on before they can move on themselves. Giving us a helping hand from beyond, as it were.”

When Gloria Rush and Rum Gold meet one cold October morning, they quickly come to the realisation that they share a common goal – to help those they left behind in life to move on and find happiness again. Using what little means available to them, the two lost souls team up to ensure their widows’ future, and find their own peace.

Rumbelle, Rushbelle, Gloria/Nick, and an epic Gold&Gloria bromance.

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[One] [Two] [Three] [Four] [Five] [Six] [Seven] [Eight] [Nine] [AO3]

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Ten

Desperate Moves

Gloria and Gold race against time to perform damage limitation.

Gloria is feeling rather pleased with herself as she sits in her usual place outside Nicholas’s office. He’s still smiling today and he shows no signs of burying his head in the sand and ignoring his feelings. He’s working just as hard as he normally does, but there’s something of a spring in his step this time and she just hopes that it remains and he doesn’t start to doubt himself. He hasn’t locked himself in his office overnight working fiendishly, and he hasn’t yet gone to the coffee machine. It’s still broken; apparently she’s a lot better at rewiring these things than she thought and the maintenance crew remain baffled. Soon enough he should be making the journey over to the library for his first daily dose, and with any luck, Belle will be there and they can continue where they left off.

“We’ve got a major crisis.”

Gloria startles at the words in her ears and twists to see Gold standing behind her, his expression nothing short of frantic and his hair messy and sticking up in places, as if he’s been raking his hands through it in agitation. His fingers are white-knuckled where they grip his cane, and the entire spectacle is nothing short of alarming. She glances back across at Nicholas’s office.

“Not him, the other one!” Gold exclaims. “Come on, we have to get to the library, there’s not much time!”

“Gold, what’s going on?” Gloria asks, getting to her feet and following him away from the physics building.

“I’ll explain on the way, but we can’t be too late!”

“Gold, what’s happened?”

They’re running. They never run. Gloria doesn’t think she’s run anywhere since she died. Their existence has always been a slow and calm one, never with this level of tremulous activity. But here they are, tearing across the campus on feet that will never stumble, legs that will never tire, neatly dodging the first students of the day who are trudging to their early morning lectures.

“Belle’s about to do something irretrievable!” Gold yells to her. Gloria has to appreciate how well he runs considering the cane. Phantom muscle memory must be good for some things.

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know, and I’ve already spent two hours cursing myself for that! Something’s upset her badly and I don’t know what! She was bloody distraught when I went to check on her earlier and now she’s thinking with her gut rather than her heart or her brain and she’s doing what she always does when she freaks out!”

“What’s that?”

“Overreact!” Gold replies, his voice panicked. “She’s learned to control her impulsiveness over the last few years but when she’s in a bad way emotionally she still makes these awful snap decisions!”

“Like what? Gold, what’s going on!”

“There!” They skid through the library double doors. Belle is nowhere to be seen, but her computer is logged on behind the desk and Gold grabs Gloria’s hand, dragging her over to take a look at the screen. It’s Belle’s student profile, showing all the courses she’s enrolled on. More specifically, it’s the de-enrolment page, and her mouse is hovering above the button for one of the courses that Nicholas teaches. Gloria feels a shiver run down her spine.

“Christ, Gold, what happened?”

Gold shakes his head sadly. “I don’t know. Something must have spooked her last night. I thought it might have been something Nicholas said, but they were on such good terms when they left the library that I didn’t see how it could have been.”

“And Nicholas is still in a good mood this morning,” Gloria agrees. “If he’d done something to hurt Belle this drastically, he wouldn’t be happy. He’s stubborn as a mule and absolutely infuriating at times, but he’s not cruel, not like that.”

“I know. I haven’t known him long but I’ve guessed that much.” Gold sighs, keeping an eye out for Belle, or for any strange looks in their direction from either of her other colleagues behind the issue desk. “My second thought was that it was something one of her colleagues said, they’re not the least judgmental bunch, but she hasn’t had chance to speak to them since. Whatever this is, it happened last night between leaving here and her waking up this morning. Something really upset her, enough for her not to want to see Nicholas again.”

Gloria’s heart is beating painfully in her mouth, or at least, the memory of it is.

“We’ve got to do something,” Gold says. Gloria looks up at him, her hand hovering over the mouse.

“Are you sure?” she says.

“What? Yes! Of course I’m bloody sure! You know as well as I do that they’re meant to be together and we can’t let her jeopardise that like this!”

“I mean, are you sure that intervening right now, like this, is the best thing to do, or will that push Belle to do something even more desperate? I don’t know her like you do, you’re going to have to make that decision.”

Gold takes a deep breath.

“Distracting her usually works. Distracting her and derailing her. Whenever she got into a complete tizz about things, distracting her from whatever crazy thing she was about to do would work, and she’d calm down. The only thing was, I was always there to calm her down and make her see sense, or one of her friends at home. There was always someone there.”

Gloria nods, understanding.

“Ok, we’ll take that risk.”

She glances over to the other librarians, but neither of them are paying her any attention, and she quickly opens the task manager, changing the password on Belle’s account and locking the screen. Most computers have a time-out lock-out, it won’t look suspicious.

“What are you doing?” Gold asks, still panicked.

“Buying us some time to think,” Gloria says. An idea comes to her. It’s probably the most audacious idea she’s ever had, especially performed in broad daylight with no preparation. “You distract her, stop her coming back here. I think I know what to do. And do have a think about what might have tripped her up.”

Gold nods. “I think I know what to do.” He speeds away into the recesses of the library and Gloria sidles up to the office door. It’s open a fraction, and she needs to time her entrance perfectly.

The library doors slide open and a gaggle of students rush in, borne on a fierce, cold autumn wind. Gloria takes advantage of that to slip inside the library office, the door banging shut behind her being attributed to the wind. Beyond the office is the tech room; she’s spent long enough on this campus to know where everything is. The door’s locked, but thankfully one of the librarians has left her keys on one of the desks, and Gloria grabs the bunch, flipping through them to find the one that will let her into the tech room.

In the background, muffled through a couple of walls, she hears an almighty crash and the sound of general confusion, and she smiles to herself. It appears that Gold is performing his task with aplomb, and she only hopes that she can do her work before whatever it was that he caused is resolved and Belle returns to her desk. At least her password change will have bought them a little bit more time.

Finally the correct key presents itself, slipping easily into the lock and turning. Gloria rushes into the tech room, looking at the racks of firewalls, load balance boxes, proxies, routers, servers… She’s going to have to be careful; it can’t look too much like blunt vandalism, but something that could have happened by accident.

She moves over to what is obviously the network router, wings up a quick prayer that all the students have saved anything they might be working on in the network, and pulls out the power cable from the back of the box, dropping it down to make it look like it just fell out. It takes a little while for the commotion to start, as all the computers in the library suddenly drop off the network and all the pages begin to crash. Gloria can hear the librarians coming through towards the tech room and realises she’s left the door open. She races across, shuts it and locks it on the inside, and returns to the router. Just one thing left to do. Thank god she’s already dead and can’t be electrocuted.

She picks up the network cable and bites down on it, scraping it with her teeth until she meets copper wire with a jolt. Grimacing against the metallic taste, she continues to worry it between her teeth until it’s a horrible mess of fine wire and plastic, and she manouvers it back into its place. There’s an impressive spark and a little puff of smoke, just as one of the librarians uses her own keys to get into the tech room. Gloria slips out past her, confident of a job well done as the librarian gives a shriek, exclaiming about mice in the tech room biting through the wires.

She goes out to the issue desk, hovering beside it. Belle is still nowhere to be seen, nor is Gold. Finally, he comes over to her from the depths of the library, one eyebrow raised to question.

“I think we’re sorted for a short term fix,” Gloria says. “It won’t hold long though, so we should probably start thinking about the cause.”

Gold nods. “I think I have it.”

“Good, because Nicholas is probably going to be coming in to get coffee in the next five minutes and if we can get things back on track right now, that would be perfect.” She pauses. “What did you do? Whatever it was, it sounded very impressive.”

“Ah.” Gold looks a little bit sheepish. “Well, one of the reshelving carts has dodgy brakes. I took the brakes off and assisted it in running into a bookshelf where Belle was working. I hadn’t intended for it to knock quite so many books off the shelf and I really didn’t intend for one student to get concussed with a copy of ‘A Brief History of Time’. But Belle’s been rushing around putting books back and will be doing so for the foreseeable future.”

In spite of it all, Gloria has to laugh, but then she remembers the reason the catastrophe occurred in the first place.

“So what do you think caused it?” she asks tentatively.

“I think Belle had a nightmare,” Gold says with a sigh. “After I passed, she had a lot of nightmares, usually about me and my death. They still come back occasionally when she’s emotional; she had a spate of them just around the time she was moving to California, but she didn’t think anything of them then. I think she’s had a nightmare and she’s got it into her head that it’s a sign she shouldn’t be with Nicholas. So she panicked and instead of thinking logically that it was just a dream, she decided to cut off all ties.” Gold curses and smacks his fist against the issue desk. “I knew I should have gone after her!” he says. “Last night, I wanted to give her some space, not bring death into this new part of her life, but it found her anyway and I wasn’t there!”

Gloria rubs his arm. “Gold, it’s not your fault. You can’t stop nightmares, you can’t do anything to tell Belle that she’s allowed to move on, that you want her to move on. Nothing you could have done would have changed last night.”

Gold looks mournfully over his shoulder as Belle reappears from the stacks.

“We’re so close to them,” he murmurs. “And yet we’re so far.”

“I know,” Gloria says. “Believe me, I know how much it hurts to watch them fall apart and know there’s nothing you can do. All we can do is hope.”

She nods over at the doors. Nicholas is coming through, and he gives Belle a little wave as he goes over to the coffee machine. She doesn’t return it, hurrying back to her desk and attempting to log back into her computer, her brow furrowing when her credentials don’t work.

“Belle, honey, the network’s gone down, didn’t you hear the commotion?” one of the other librarians says. “It’ll be a couple of hours before the maintenance guys get down here with a spare cable.”

“Right.”

Belle looks down at her computer screen, then across at Nicholas drinking his coffee. He’s looking at her with his head on one side, and Gloria crosses her fingers. She tries to cross her toes as well, making Gold give a soft huff of laughter.

Nicholas approaches the desk and leans over it.

“Hi.”

Belle finally looks up at him, and a wan smile creeps across her face.

“Hi.”

“I, erm, I had a good time yesterday,” Nicholas begins. “And I was wondering if we could perhaps do it again sometime. It’s nice to find someone who’s as interested in hyperspace as I am.”

Belle seems to be giving the matter serious consideration. A few feet away from her, the other librarians are unashamedly listening in, and Gold looks like he wants to smack them both in the face with his cane.

“Nicholas, I’m not sure…”

“It doesn’t have to mean anything,” Nicholas says. “Just two friends with similar interests drinking coffee.”

It’s the word ‘friend’ that does it. Gloria sees the moment when Belle goes from dilemma to sureness. The reassuring notion that for now, they can just be friends.

Belle nods.

“All right,” she says. “I’d like that.” There’s another pause. “After class tomorrow?”

“Sure. Maybe somewhere off campus,” he adds, eyeing Belle’s nosy colleagues.

Belle nods. “Good plan.”

As Nicholas leaves the library and Belle attempts to get back to work, both of them are smiling, and in an uncharacteristically tactile display of happiness, Gloria throws her arms around Gold, who squeaks then pats her back awkwardly.

“Crisis averted.”

#rushbelle #rushbelle fic #Gloria Rush #Fic: Helping Hand

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typingdyslexiaisathing · 6 years

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The Straw Hat Alchemist

// LONG FANFIC! As in 97KB on my desktop long. So be warned if you hit the read below. This is a One Piece fanfic I did way back when. And of my OC Maggie. The alchemist of the Straw Hat Pirates. This is in actuality a LuffyXOC fanfic. And I loved making this despite the fact checking and migraines. //

As usual, I lay on the sheep's head of the Going Merry, my arms tucked under my head as I doze in the sunshine. I can hear Zoro snoring down by the mast, which means I'm not the only one with the idea to nap while the sun is out. My entire frame is warm from laying on my customary perch, my top barely covering my back to show off my scars and one visible tattoo. I'd gotten the tattoo to signify permanently joining the crew, the smiling skull adorned with my captains signature strawed hat with the red band. Though my hair tended to cover it when it hung loose, I did try to keep my bandana on to actively show it off whenever I could. Granted, the bandana doubled as the perfect ascot to cover the tattoo along with my hair when I needed to do so, my hair tickling down my back instead of barely brushing my shoulders as it had when I first set out with Luffy and the others. I think of how I first met Luffy, his smiling face so cherubic and comical as I start to doze off. He'd been grinning at me as I'd stood there with Zoro in the prison yard of the Marine Base in Shells Town. I'd been trying very hard to catch a nap, since I had been exhausted from the beating the marines had given me earlier. But Luffy and Zoro had argued so much, I'd given up and grumbled out, "Can't those of us trying to pass out do so in peace?" Zoro had looked a little guilty at this, but Luffy had just laughed. "Why do you want to take a nap in the middle of the day?" Zoro had growled at him, "Since the Marines just got done beating and whipping her to an inch of her life, not to mention the night long interrogation they gave her." Zoro had looked over at me, his frame just as covered with wounds and drying red as my own. "Why don't you just open that jar for that Helmeppo prick?" I'd scoffed at this, "I'll gladly die first, thank you. What is in that jar is meant only for me, it is of no importance to anyone else. Even if they could see what's inside, what it contains is my only treasure." Luffy had gotten curious. "Oh really? Is that why you snuck in here?" I nod at this, Luffy grinning like a fool as he'd asked me, "What's your name?" I'd blinked at him to answer, "Magdeline V. Ariade. Expert alchemist and apothecary." Luffy grinned to ask me, "Wanna join my crew? I'm looking for members!" I'd looked at him, and struck a deal right off the bat. "Help get me my red jar from Helmeppo, and I'm all yours. Deal?" He'd nodded vehemently and gotten me free, "DEAL! Welcome aboard Maggie!" We'd gotten out with only moderate chaos, the jar easily located since the prissy boy Helmeppo was about to throw it off the tower. He'd had my apothecary bag on him as well, and I'd caught the jar with one hand when I'd sliced him in the shoulder with my dagger. You'd have thought I'd bisected him clean in half with the way he screamed, his father ramming me into the wall for the commotion I'd caused. Axe-Hand Morgan had tried cleaving me with his next swing, but I'd caught his strike with the jar. Everyone had been surprised at this, and I'd rolled out of the way as Luffy took care of him with his fists.

We'd ended up in one of my former haunts soon afterwards, Orange Town. Though the only one's left after Buggy the Clown invaded were Mayor Boodle and Chouchou the dog from Hocker's old pet store. Though Chouchou was very aggressive towards Luffy, he'd openly greeted me with a wagging tail and happy barks to usher me into his master's pet store. Hocker had let me store all my savings in the supply room when I'd been in town last, and the stash was still there along with much of my alchemy supplies. I was very surprised Mayor Boodle was there, since Buggy was adamant at killing anyone left in town that wasn't part of his crew. But since Chouchou refused to leave, since the store was his only treasure, I'd understood Boodle's reason to keep coming back. "No man nor pup left behind, eh Bood?" He'd grumbled at me as Chouchou munched on the dog treat I'd gotten him from out of the back. "Like you're one to talk. If you didn't have a treasure you could take with you everywhere, you'd have stayed put indefinitely wherever it was." I nodded at this fact to say, "It’s a definite plus that the jar can't be broken besides." Mayor Boodle knew what was in the jar, his sadness showing in his eyes as he tells me, "You were always a strange one. I'm guessing it comes with your alchemy territory. But still, to carry the heart of your dead lover, how gothic and morbid can you get?" I snicker at this to give him an evil grin like a sadistic crazed person. "Is that multiple choice or essay, my pretty?" Chouchou had let out a bark of a laugh, my own joining in as I say, "Semantics. It’s better than a prayer tablet or rosary, especially since I had to play a witch a few times and the jar is see through under specific lighting. Makes the act at being a crazed witch more believable, so why not enjoy putting on a show to go along with it? Logan and I made good money that way performing at carnivals when we needed to, it isn't that hard to make a witch costume or deck out a room with spooky stuff. Might as well go for broke, you only get one life to live after all." Mayor Boodle had nodded, only for Luffy to start shouting at us outside that trouble was coming. Luffy'd ended up having to fight Mohji and Richie from the Buggy crew when they burned the pet store to the ground. Zoro had dealt with Cabaji the second mate, then he'd fallen over for me to tend to his wound he'd intentionally reopened during the fight. I'd sealed it closed with my special glue extract as Luffy and Buggy scuffled, Zoro asking me where I'd gotten the glue as I'd sealed his side closed. "I'm an alchemist, Zoro. I know tons of medical and herbal remedies for things, since alchemists also know herbalism and some basic medical jargon." Zoro had laughed at this to ask me, "I take it you do fortune telling and palm reading, then?" I'd glared at him. "Last time someone gave me that line, I ripped their tongue out to stuff it back down their choke hole. I'm not a damn gypsie with a wagon and scarves." Zoro had snickered as he said, "Well then what would you be close to?" I'd huffed at this to give him a malevolent grin. "A witch, just without a broom or black cat stereotype." He'd laughed so hard I feared he was going to rip himself open further, "That explains so much, Maggie!"

We'd gotten tons of new crew members along the way to the Grand Line and afterwards once we’d gotten here. Nami to be our temporary thief to then be our full time navigator after dealing with the tyrant Arlong. Usopp joined as our sniper slash fibber from Syrup Village, along with our ship the Going Merry, after beating down Captain Kuro to save Usopp's friend Kaya. Only for us to end up at the Baratie restaurant to get an official cook, since I was the alchemist of our band and couldn't have two jobs according to Luffy. I'd scoffed at this to ask, "How is mixing potions and cooking things like soup different?" Luffy had grinned, "Soup tastes a lot better than your potions, Mags." I'd raised my eyebrow at him, "What'd you call me?" He laughed at my question to answer with, "Mags. Since Magdeline is way too long for me to say." I'd rolled my eyes to laugh at him, "Then why not call me Maggie like the others do?" Luffy had gotten a serious look on his face. "Because that's who you are to me, your Mags. I'll stop if you don't like it." I'd shrugged my shoulders at this, "Fine by me Luffy, as long as you officially make me your second mate." He'd nodded at this with emphasis, "Deal, Mags." I'd enjoyed getting the position, only for me to get roped into helping work off the damages Luffy had done to the Baratie upon our arrival. Since I was now second mate and just as responsible for the actions of the crew and the captain by deficit, I threw my lot into the responsibility and made the both of us hired hands at the restaurant. I'd been designated as server and hostess in front of the restaurant for Luffy to work in the back as a glorified chore boy. Thankfully I had experience from bartending from the carnival I'd joined with Logan, so I was a bit more help than what the staff first figured. Though none were as happy for my help as Sanji, the head cook's protege and current sous-chef. He'd been so polite when introducing himself, taking a knee to kiss my hand as the others had rolled their eyes at him. I'd been very flattered, telling him that relationships in the workplace would have to stay platonic while working. He'd given me a slightly dejected look, but he'd found one way or another to flirt with me or give me a compliment regardless. I'd laughed and blushed slightly when he laced an origami flower into my bandana, Luffy watching with a neutral expression as he swept. I proved my worth to the Baratie a few hours into working that day, since a large crowd of people from an unexpected cruise ship came in and demanded that we open the bar. Head chef Zeff had originally told Sanji to refuse them, when I told them I could run the bar and mix the needed drinks. Zeff conceeded with a dire warning to me should I screw anything up, but I smiled and opened the bar. I'd mixed and served with all the needed flourish of a professional bartender, earning a whole boatload of tips and acclaim for the Baratie as a result. I'd had a few of the cooks along with Sanji watch to teach them the basic drinks, their enthusiasm apparent at learning a new cooking craft. While I then made the harder variants with everyone watching, spinning the bottles and juggling the shot glasses with grace and ease of movement. After four hours of serving and giving a few shows of my mixing and setting a few drinks on fire, the group had left and we'd made a killing from the extra tip money. I'd handed the overflowing jars to Zeff right away to undo my apron, intending on going back to my position as hostess. But Zeff had stopped me to ask, "You up for making a few drinks for the staff?" I'd smiled and complied, even making Luffy a virgin Brass Monkey when he'd asked for something cool. I'd made Zeff a Flaming Volcano complete with an extra touch, lighting the drink with a flourish to have it spout crimson red flames before going out.

Zeff had been impressed enough to applaud as I'd made one last drink, telling me he'd hire me for keeps if I ever wanted a permanent position. I'd smiled at this. "Thanks, but I prefer to mix potions and elixers of the alchemic variety." I'd then finished the Painkiller I was mixing to slide it over to where Sanji was leaning against the bar, his hand catching it automatically to look around at me. "I don't remember ordering this, Maggie." I gave him a smile before walking off. "That's on me, enjoy it while I get some air." I'd headed outside to the patio area, hanging my head all the way back so the breeze could lace over me as I stretched all my kinks out. My head was pounding as if I'd had a dozen or so shots of whiskey instead of serving them, making my eyes ache like crazy as I'd given a long sigh. "Yep, just like always. I get a hangover from the fumes and none of the fun. Though Logan would have taken over halfway through that to let me have a break. Ah well, it's part of the job. Even if you aren't supposed to get buzzed from the fumes like I tend to do." I heard a laugh from my right, Sanji coming up to lean against the banister next to me."Is that why you came out here?" I nod, though I wince slightly at the motion. "Oxygen is the best cure for a hangover, at least that's what I was told. It's why I don't drink alcohol for any reason. I'm that much of a lightweight. How was the Painkiller?" He'd smiled at this to tell me, "Very good actually. Remind me to make you a special dinner later." I'd grumbled, "I'd rather have you make the little imps in my head stop bashing my brains in, please and thank you." Luffy had chosen that moment to take out the trash, giving us a look as he'd come over to me. "Mags? You okay?" I'd given a long sigh, "I'd kill for an asprin right now. But this'll have to do." I got out my herbal packets I always carried in my pocket, popping the mix in my mouth to chew as I made a sour face. "Bleck, at least it works right away. So how many dishes have you broken, Luffy?" He snickered at this to state, "A bunch." I gave him a frustrated growl, "You are going to put us in more debt that what I can help work off at this rate. Maybe I should stay behind so you can go achieve your dream in the meantime." Luffy had gotten mad at this to shout, "What?! No way, Mags! Why would I leave my second mate behind like that?!" I'd smiled as I chewed the herbs. "Necessity. The Grand Line is your dream Luffy. I just said I'd tag along for the ride. If serving the crew is best done working off our debt for me to follow behind you afterwards, then that's what I'll do. Don't have a fit, it was just a suggestion. You want us to work this debt off together, then I will respect your descision as the captain and do so. Though as your second mate, I will tell you it would be better to leave me behind to work on this solo." Luffy had shaken his head vehemently at me, nearly losing his hat in the process. "Absolutely not! You and Sanji are coming with us! I won't leave either of you behind! You're my second mate and my cook and that's final!" Sanji had rolled his eyes to snarl at him, "Would you drop that already?! I told you I'm not coming with you, idiot!" Luffy and Sanji got into a shouting match at this, making me break the two of them up to have us get back to work.

A hand full of days after this, the infamous pirate Don Krieg had been brought to us by his best man Gin. Though Sanji and I had agreed to helping Gin out readily a few days prior when he was about to keel over from starvation, I did recommend lacing the food for Don Krieg with a paralyzing agent to keep him from hurting anyone. Sanji had scoffed, "I won't do that. It'll compromize the taste of the food. I do have my pride as a chef, Maggie." I'd rolled my eyes to walk down with him. "I get that, Sanji. But it's gonna get you killed. Let me serve it to him then, at least that way Zeff won't lose his best chef." Sanji had glared at me for this, but he gave me the food and I served Don Krieg the meal with professional courtesy. I'd had Sanji stand back a bit as I'd poured water for Don Krieg and Gin in turn, giving Gin the sandwich I had made for myself with a smile. "Here you are, sir. Since you probably haven't eaten since your last visit. My treat to you, in hopes to make up for our staffs poor hospitality earlier." Gin had gone bug eyed at this, his shock apparent as Sanji had given me a warm smile. I was about to get back up on my feet when Don Krieg showed his true colors, grabbing me by the neck once his strength returned to then slug me full force. My eyes had gone wide as all the air left my lungs, a few bones audibly snapping as everyone had given shouts of alarm. Gin had gone dead white at this, his eyes begging me for forgiveness as Don Krieg demanded we supply his full crew with food. The rest of the staff had been horrified as Don Krieg held me in the air, his threat apparent as he'd shook me like a rag doll. But no one was more surprised by my words than Gin, if not Don Krieg himself. "Go ahead and feed them Zeff... I'll work off the tab for it... Every last grain of rice and granule of salt..." Gin had clapped a hand to his mouth, Don Krieg laughing as Sanji and the others complied. I'd been dropped into Gin's arms for Don Krieg to tell him, "Keep her as our hostage, Gin. Slit her open if they try anything funny." Gin had been shaking as I'd coughed up a bit of red, his words hissed through his teeth as he whispered to me, "OH SHIT! Maggie! I am so sorry for this! Don Krieg gave me his word that no one would be harmed! Damn it all! I never would have brought him here if I'd known! I swear it on my honor as a pirate!" I'd reached down and handed him the sandwich to shut him up, my smirk evident. "Enough, Gin... I know... So stuff this… in your mouth… Before I deck you..."

Gin had lowered his head as tears leaked out of his eyes to comply, not wasting a single crumb. By the time the crew of the Dreadnaught Sabre had been seen to and fed, I was half conscious and still having breathing issues. I just couldn’t seem to get enough air, each ragged breath torture as Gin kept me propped up to help me without Don Krieg catching on. Gin had intentionaly taken off my bandana to let my hair down, the strands of chocolate brown hiding his hand at my neck to keep his fingers pressed into my pulse. Though he did make a convincing show of twirling my dagger in his free hand, giving as neutral of an expression he could possibly manage as I choked and coughed with every other breath. But I knew he wouldn't hurt me, Sanji knowing the same thing as he watched Gin tap his foot to keep perfect time to the pace under his fingers. He'd even brought out one of my herbal packets out of my back pocket, feigning threatening me by gripping my jaw to snarl at me for a supposed whispered comment. "Watch your tongue, or I'll see how you enjoy watching me cut it out of your smart mouth!" But he’d done so to help, palming the herbs into my mouth for me to chew them and relieve some of my pain. Don Krieg had noticed my hair being down as Gin had threatened me like that, his sneer curling his lips to question this interest. "Playing with the harlot isn't like you, Gin. Have you taken a particular interest in our hostage?" Gin had brought the dagger up to tilt my chin upwards, barely nicking me to trace a line of red down my throat. "Perhaps. I do have a preference for my prey just as much as my women. It helps she's half decent looking, albeit a cheeky smartmouth. It would be such a pity to have to take her tongue for such a slight." Don Krieg had laughed long and hard at this to tell him, "Just don't let your interests in her stop you from slitting her open should I deem it prudent, Gin the Mad-Demon. I'm half tempted to hang her violated carcass from the mast of the Baratie later when we take it back to the Grand Line." I'd shivered at the idea, Gin giving a smile he didn't really feel as he'd nodded to his Captain's departing form. I'd whispered one thing before I finally passed out. "Gin... Don't let Don Krieg keep my red jar... Please... Ensure that much to me at least..." His hand at my neck had twitched in response, giving the barest of nods in consent before I'd gone limp. Sanji had tensed at this, but Gin kept tapping his foot to the floor without breaking pace to my pulse, removing the dagger at my throat to continue twirling it in his hand in feigned casual nuance.

By the time I woke back up, chaos was underway with Dracule Mihawk showing up to finish his destruction of the Dreadnaught Sabre. I'd gotten outside to see him slice Zoro open with his blade, my fingers tightening over the rail as I vaulted over it to bolt for Zoro with all I had in me. I caught him before he hit the deck, unlacing my needle and thread from my pocket to start frantically stitching him closed. My other hand got out my last herbal packet to pop it into his mouth. "CHEW DAMMIT! This duel or fight or whatever this was is over! Don't you dare even twitch, Zoro!" Mihawk had blinked at me in evident surprise as he stated, "I was not going to kill him. He shows far too much promise to have his life be wasted here this day." I'd given a choked laugh to say, "Glad we agree on this, Lord Mihawk. Zoro, I'm going to kill you for being so stupid! You should know better than to throw yourself at a practical dragon when you are yet still a fledgeling! I'm thinking I need to try teaching you some basic common sense, dumbass! Thank you Lord Mihawk for not cleaving him in half! I'd rather not have to see such a display! Geez, I hope I have enough reagents to make more of that glue, if not the salve to numb pain receptors! I ought to strangle you with my thread Zoro, or grind your nose into my spices, you stupid halfwit!" Mihawk had sheathed his blade to openly stare at me, recognition alighting in his eyes. "You are Magdeline V. Ariade, are you not?" I nodded at this, my hands still stitching Zoro closed as Mihawk looked at me as if he'd seen a ghost. "Yes I am, Lord Mihawk. I take it you know of me, if only by my reputation in the East Blue." I'd almost stopped working on Zoro when Mihawk said to clarify his reaction, "So you are the love of Logan D. Rossi. He spoke well of you Magdeline, along with your skills of alchemy." I nodded to show I'd heard his comment, though my mind was half fogged over from the mentioning of Logan by the Pirate Lord standing behind me. "Yes I am, and I thank you for the compliment. I take it you know him?" Mihawk had nodded to tell me, "Logan is my distant relative. Though it has been a long time since last I heard from him. Is Logan here with you, by chance?" I'd lowered my head, tears lacing down my face as I told him the news. "No. He is dead, the marines felled him a year and a half ago." Mihawk had lowered his hat at this. "...Regretable. My sympathies to you, my lady." I'd choked to say, "And to you as well, Lord Mihawk. He did mention he knew you, though he never said how. Be sure to pay your respects if you do end up at the church we called home. I laid his frame to rest there." Mihawk had nodded, then he'd held up my red jar to place it next to me. "I do believe I may have done so in part already. Logan mentioned your promise and your shared belief." I'd nodded to look up into his eyes. "I thank you for returning his gift to me, Lord Mihawk. All that I treasure rests inside that one simple container. The contents will always be priceless to me and my own." Mihawk had placed a warm hand to my head, his fingers lacing through my hair to promise me something. "It is an honor to serve a lady that gave much to one who was both a blessed scoundrel and dreamer. In resciprocating his evident affection for you, I will provide any form of help you may ask of me in the future." I'd finished my stitching of Zoro by then, tying the thread to then shorten the lengths with my dagger. "I am honored at this gesture and thank you graciously, Lord Mihawk. I'm sure that will happen if and when my world comes to an end. But I don't take hand outs from anyone as a rule of thumb. Even so, I will keep that in mind. I thank you for letting me keep a friend when I have none to spare."

Mihawk had given me a small smile at this, then he left to return to the Grand Line. Zoro had declared to Luffy afterwards he would never lose a fight ever again as I'd helped him up, handing him off to his friends Johnny and Yosaku for safe keeping. I'd picked up the jar and held it tight, glaring at Don Krieg with vehement hatred. I told him, "You will pay for touching this, Don Krieg! I take it nothing is sacred to filthed meat like yourself?!" He'd glared at me for the insult, ordering his men to attack. I'd fought right alongside Sanji, my martial arts having me weave in time with him to have us descimate the enemy. Until the Dreadnaught Saber's commander Pearl had entered the fight and sent me flying to where Gin was standing, my ribs cracking further on impact with the wall and blacking out after landing on the deck. Gin threw me into the Baratie to keep me out of harms way, the jar still clutched tight to my chest as he did so. By the time I came to inside the restaurant, the entire fight was over and Luffy was out for the count right next to me. Gin was half dead from saving Sanji from the poison gas Don Krieg used, but my antidotes worked for him to depart with his crew. I had to give him five of the vials to take with him, since the MH5 bomb had such a powerful poison in it and he'd not fully recover without them. He openly thanked me for my help, to which I'd hugged him tight in farewell. Sanji had spent a few moments outside sitting with Luffy and myself after Gin left, openly telling us about finding the Great Blue one day as the others cleaned up the inside of the Baratie. I'd smiled as he talked, noting how Zeff was standing above us to listen and see Sanji's enthusiasm before we heard the call for food. The whole staff tried a coy attempt to get rid of Sanji at dinner, critisizing the soup he had made to exclaim he needed to leave. But I gave a long sigh as I then took a direct sip our of Zeff's bowl, making the others shout in surprise. I said to them, "Then your taste buds are all dead and you should hop in the same boat out to sea. Just tell him you want him to pursue him dream instead of acting all macho and tough. Men are measured by their words as much as their actions, and lies are a bitter concoction to stomach even on a good day." I'd gotten Zeff to sigh at me as I added in, "It isn't nice to lie in front of a woman. So just tell him to pack up and head out with us." Zeff had glared at me. "You are a very pretentious girl, aren't you?" I nodded to then hand over my untouched soup, drinking the rest of Zeff's directly out of the bowl as I walked outside. I threw over my shoulder, "This is fantastic Sanji. I'd love to compare recipes with you sometime, since my soups tend to taste a little off in my book. But you need to get things straight with Zeff and the others, and I suggest everyone be open and honest. Luffy, you wanna make sure I don't fall over into the ocean out here? My ribs are still killing me and everything is telling me I'd like to fall over flat sooner or later."

Luffy had brought out a few plates of food with us, our enjoying of the meal shared between us as he'd asked me, "Are you okay, Mags? That Gin guy didn't hurt you when he held you at knifepoint, did he?" I shake my head. "Nope, he actually fed me one of my herbal packets when he grabbed my jaw that one time." Luffy smiles as he notes, "Okay. So that's why you had a few green bits in your teeth earlier." I whacked him over the head at this, his laugh echoing over the open ocean as I'd threatened to chuck him out into the water. But I didn't have the energy, since my ribs were very cracked and my sides were turning many different colors of painful. Luffy had frowned when I took my long sleeved shirt off, his hand reaching up to gently touch my one side where my ribs were a dark blue. "Ow. I'm guessing you won't be able to fight for a while." I'd snorted at this to state, "I'm going to have to breathe on the weekend. It just hurts too much to do so now." I got up and sat on the railing at this, Luffy looking at me with a serious expression. Then he'd gotten up to come forward and carefully hug me, his head leaned down to my shoulder as he said, "I'm sorry you got hurt. I should have kept that Donny guy from even getting a hand on you. I won't let that happen again, Mags." I'd chuckled to hug him back. "Don't Luffy. I knew the risks and I did it anyways. Granted, I had suggested we use a paralyzing powder on the food, but Sanji declined. So I got slugged, but I'm not dead and we won." Luffy shakes slightly as tears lace down his face, and I go wide eyed as he whispers, "I'm still sorry, he hurt you and would have killed you and everyone else. I should have killed him." I honk his nose at this, making him look up in surprise as I shake my head. "I'd rather you didn't. It's better not to get used to such thinking." Luffy smiled at the warmth in my eyes, and I'd hugged his head to my heart as he thanked me. His hat came off when it bumped into my chest, but I caught it as he went wide eyed and blushed slightly. I'd laughed to hug him tighter, his eyes closing as we'd hugged each other with the breeze playing over us. His hands had held me around the waist as I set my chin on his head, his hat hanging by the string I'd laced into the rim as he asked me, "Are you sure you're okay, Mags?" I'd nodded to tell him, "Of course I'm okay Luffy, hugs always make everything better." His smile was warm when he looked back up at me, "Then can I ask for one whenever I want?" I brought his hat back up to set it on his head again. "Sure Luffy."

I spent our entire excursion through Arlong Park pretty much on the sidelines, my ribs aching so badly I could barely breathe or move without wincing. Though that didn't stop me from helping Luffy when Arlong tossed him into the water with his feet stuck in a chunk of the floor. I'd plunged down towards him to give him air, bringing out a vial of acid to eat away at the stone surrounding his feet. But my own air gave out too quickly to be of much help, since my ribs refused to accomidate me. Add on the fact that one of Arlong's crew, a ray fishman by the name of Kuroobi, had decided to openly attack me the moment I tried coming back up. But Sanji had kept the thug from reaching me, and I headed up to gasp and choke the moment my head broke the surface. Then I realized Sanji wouldn't have a prayer without some help in the water, so I dove back down after drinking a flask of my rejuvinating potion. Kuroobi was swimming rings around Sanji, bashing him relentlessly as I unlaced my steel thread from my bracelet to then take it off my wrist and hook it around the fishstick's neck. I'd given Sanji a few signals to give him a game plan, and he'd nodded as I moved into position. I was able to get behind Kuroobi, looping the thread around his neck and cinching it tight to then snap to the bracelet. His shout was evident as his fingers delved for his neck, but then I leaned down as Sanji swam up next to me. We took what air we had left and blew into Kuroobi's gills, effectively asphixiating him soon after he snapped the line around his throat. Kuroobi went bug eyed to thrash and smack us away from him, bolting for the surface as Sanji grabbed me to tug me up with him. The moment we broke the surface, I carefully uncorked a few flasks of my more powerful healing extract for him. I put them in his teeth for him to tilt his head back and chug down fast. Sanji was halfway out of the water when I shoved him back up to dry land with a sputter, "Hurry up and floor him!" He'd nodded to exclaim, "Thanks, Maggie. I'm glad we were thinking along the same lines with that." I nodded and then got out, coughing a few times in vehemence as my lungs burned. I turned when I heard an annoying laugh to my left, a jellyfish like chick coming out of the hideout to openly insult me. "Hoo hoo hoo! The drowned little dreg can use what brains she has, it would seem!" I ended up facing off against her, the haughty primadonna saying her name was Nanami, who was too busy fanning herself to do much of anything else as she looked at me with disdain. I gave her a few flippant comments as she started snapping a whip coated with nasty looking slime at me, and I'd rolled and jumped to avoid it as best I could. My tictures came out of my belt to have me grip them in my fingers as she laughed and chided me. The whip burned when it snapped over my skin, making me hiss as I threw a vial at her. She snapped the whip to cleave the vial in half, the acid and evident sparks of the whip making the slimed coating catch fire. Though she'd cackled as she used the whip with the flames over it's length, the material of the whip soon dissintegrated for me to push forward. She'd shrieked as I tossed an open flask into her face, it's poisons seeping onto her face and under her coat as Nanami fell to the ground and writhed. She rolled into the water to wash it off, but I just grinned when I heard the splash. Her shrieking became tenfold as the water took her flesh off along with the poison, blood billowing around her as she cursed and screamed before sinking below. The bubbles only lasted for a few moments as the red continued to spread in copious amounts, my laugh barely audible as I'd hissed out, "That's for making me dance around like a ballerina on strings, you arrogant bucket of chum."

Sanji had looked very impressed with my victory as I had panted for air. "Do I even want to know what's in the other two vials, Maggie?" I snickered at him to say, "Orange is oil that stays lit even in water, yellow is a more concentrated paralyzing agent like I would have used for Don Krieg. Either one means falling down and not getting back up, since the paralyzer can keep you from breathing if you get enough of it into your system." Sanji shivered at this to state, "Remind never to piss you off, or you'll put that yellow one in my drink." I nodded at this, getting up onto my feet as Sanji went down to get the chunk of stone off Luffy's feet. I ran over to where Nojiko had Luffy's head stretched above the water, Genzo staying below to do what he could. I was frantic at the sight, my terror all consuming as Luffy looked very much drowned. I'd had Nojiko keep watch as I'd helped Luffy, blowing air into him to keep him alive. I was about to give up hope by the time Sanji got him free of the boulder to slingshot into me and have us roll a few times. Then Luffy had gasped and whipped his head up to clunk it full force into mine. I'd given a loud yelp as he coughed and sputtered, my head in my hands as I layed there unmoving. "OW! LUFFY! Don't do that! We won't make it out of this if you take your crew out along with that Arlong prick!" But we made it out alive in the end, albeit further broken and bruised after the fact. I had decided to make my joining the crew official during the huge celebration that night, having Dr. Nako do my Straw Hat Skull after he’d finished with Nami’s pinwheel design for her shoulder. Luffy had teased me relentlessly for kissing him, my chosen tattoo design giving everyone even more cannon fodder for the joke. We'd stopped to resupply in Loguetown, and I'd gone off on my own to restock on all my alchemy supplies and reagents while I could. I also ran into Alice from the carnival I had joined with Logan years ago, the two of us grabbing a meal in a nicer restaurant at my insistance. We chatted and laughed for hours, though she was rather upset hearing that Logan had died. Alice had shed copious amounts of tears as I told her what happened in full, her misery evident as she said, "Oh, Magdeline! I am so very sorry! The carnival was headed back to your area next month. I'll make sure we go there to all pay our respects. Logan was amazing! I wish he was still with you, if not the rest of the world." I nodded to then tell her, "Thank you for that, Alice. It means a lot to hear that after all this time. Feel free to use the church as a campsite if you guys want. There's plenty of room for all the tents up there. I won't mind in the least if you all crash at my old haunt." She'd raised and eyebrow at me, and I smiled when she asked me, "You aren't staying there anymore? Was living at the church just too hard for you to stay, or did you find another gig?" I nod to show her the Straw Hat Skull, "You better believe it. I'm a second mate of a crew now, as well as the Alchemist of my merry band." Alice had clapped her hands to her mouth to squeak with vehemence, "MAGGIE! You are in such deep-" Then she stopped herself to whirl around, noting the few people who were looking at us as I asked, "What's wrong with you? Scared of my change in lifestyle?" She'd then lowered her voice to a bare whisper, "There's a bounty out on your captain! Or didn't you know that yet?!" I give a casual nod to intone, "Attitude Alice, tones it down m'dear." She looks around again and gives and understanding nod, sinking back into her chair as she says, "Why am I not surpised? You always loved the unorthodox, it's a part of your roll as an herbalist slash alchemist slash apothecary. At least tell me you're happy." The smile I gave was warm and full of joy, "That I am Alice. It's really crazy at times, but I am very happy."

She'd nodded as we heard a commotion outside, people saying there were pirates in the square where Gold D. Roger had been executed. I went wide eyed when they mentioned Luffy by name and that he was going to be killed, whipping my bag of supplies over my shoulder to slam the money down onto the table. "SHIT! Can't I leave him alone for one afternoon?! I'm sorry Alice, I gotta book it!" I sprinted full tilt out of the restaurant, heading with all due speed throught the streets to get to the square. I ran into Zoro and Sanji, unlacing a few smoke bomb as I told them, "You two get him free, I'll make a cloud cover for-" But then we got to the square, and Buggy was standing on the execution platfrom with a sword at the ready. He was standing right over Luffy, who was in the actual guillotine with his hands and neck bound. I started shoving people out of the way, shouting out, "Luffy! Don't panic, we're coming! Damn it all, move or get squashed!" But then Buggy started to swing, making Luffy give us a wide smile to say, "Sorry guys, looks like it's the end." My eyes went as wide as allowed as I watched the sword come down in slow motion, my hands going into my hair as I'd shrieked with all the air I could muster, "LUFFY!" But then a bolt of lightning struck Buggy's sword at the last second, blowing the platform to pieces as I charged forward. I threw my smoke vials with vehemence as I moved, giving us cover as I sprinted to Luffy to hug him tight when I reached him. My hands gripped his shoulders as I shook him as hard as I could while shouting in his ear, "Don't you ever dare do that to me again! You hear me, Luffy?! You do this to me again and I'll stuff my resignation down your throat!" He'd stopped smiling at the last bit, his head swaying as he'd told me, "Okay, okay, Mags. Can we run now?" I nodded and helped him up, running alongside him with my hand in his as we bolted for the dock. Zoro was stopped by a marine who starts cursing him for tricking her, and he stayed behind to fight her as the rest of us kept running. My lungs started burning from the lack of air, but I was in the lead when a big marine stopped us. He told us his name was Captain Smoker and he wouldn't let any pirates escape his base of operations. Luffy and Sanji tried to fight him, but he kept using his Devil Fruit power to turn to smoke. I brought out a particular blue vial, throwing it at his feet to grab the others and yank them away from the mist. "BACK UP!" Smoker's frame started to freeze over as he shivered and cursed out, "What the Hell?! What is this stuff?!" I gave him an evil grin as I slipped into my act of being a witch for him. "Do you like my magics, my pretty pet? It is my Freezing spell, and you'll be a rather good ice sculpture once it encases you. Tah tah my pretty, it is time we took flight from this meager town." Smoker had shouted as the ice covered his entire frame, my legs shaking as Luffy and Sanji kept me upright between them. Sanji noted how hard I was panting, then all three of us noted the cracks that were forming in the ice over Smoker. Sanji hitched my bag onto his back to pick me up, telling Luffy, "We'd better move it!" Luffy nodded to then look at me, his frown evident as he told Sanji, "Get Maggie back to the ship, I'll hold this guy off and meet back with you all later. Just get Maggie to safety, that's an order Sanji."

I was going to protest right along with Sanji, but then Smoker broke loose. Luffy shouted as he charged, Sanji giving a growl to then run with me in his arms. I'd gripped his front tight to tell him, "Damn it all Sanji! We have to go back! As second mate, I order you to-" Sanji had fumed at me, "Quiet, Maggie! Our captain gave me an order, and I'm going to insist we get you back to the ship!" I'd started to beat my fists against his chest, though my strength was mostly spent as I fumed at him in turn. "I'd have God damn you to Hell if I believed He would do so for me! Shit! Luffy had better come out on top, or I'll make myself captain and order us all to go back and get him!" Sanji nodded to tell me, "I'm sure the others would agree with you completely on that course of action, though Usopp would most likely challenge you for the title of Captain." I'd scoffed at this, my eyes going half closed as I said, "I'd deck him easily and you know it." He laughed at this, then I gave a moan and went limp. Sanji skidded to a halt as he exclaimed, "Maggie? Maggie?!" I gave a tug on his coat to tell him, "Breathing is all kinds of not fun. Keep going, Sanji." He started running again, his concern making him frown as he said to me, "It probably doesn't help you that your ribs are still healing. Plus all the excess punishment we put ourselves through just makes your injuries that much worse." I give a choked out sigh to tell him, "Dr Nako said the ones that were healing recracked from all my acrobatics against that Nanami bitch. So I essentially put myself back at square one, but that doesn't change the fact we will be going back for Luffy." A thunderstorm had started pouring down rain, lightning flashing over us as I blacked out when Sanji reached the port. I came to with Luffy kneeling over me, his smile a welcome sight as I'd reached up and hugged him tight. "Luffy! You're okay!" He'd laughed as I openly cried, his hands on my shoulders as he said to me, "Of course! We're you worried?" I hugged him tighter as I sobbed and choked, the others going wide eyed as I wailed, "Don't ever do that to me again, Luffy! I thought you were gonna die! I thought I was going to have to watch someone I cherish be executed, all over again! Please Luffy, for the sake of my sanity! Don't ever do that to me again! PLEASE!" I'd leaned my head onto his shoulder and bawled like a toddler, my entire frame trembling as I hiccupped and sniffled into his vest. None of them had ever seen me cry, the sight making Zoro lean down next to me. Zoro put a hand on my head, his fingers lacing into the strands to ask me, "Why are you taking this so hard, Magdeline? I get that it was scarey and all, but you've never gotten this shook up before. Why?" My hands laced into Luffy's vest as I choked out, "Logan didn't just die like I said, Zoro! He was executed in front of me by the Marines!" Zoro's fingers in my hair went tight, the others giving sounds of horror as Luffy went stock still. I started sobbing so hard I choked and coughed with vehemence, my misery streaming down my face as Luffy crushed me to his front. His words were hard as he told me, "I promise, Mags. I'll never make you watch me be executed like that."

The next few adventures with Laboon the whale and on Whiskey Peak Island had felt like a blur once Vivi and Carue came into our fold, meeting the giants Dorry and Broggy had also been quite an experience. Though dealing with the Baroque Works agent Mr. 3 had been a scary experience. Vivi, Zoro, Nami, and myself had all been stuck to a massive waxed cake as decorations, with a spinning upper pedestal to lace wax over us. Mr. 3 had said we would be perfect works of art when he was finished, and I'd given a large groan as Nami started to freak out. Zoro had decided to take a cool looking pose in case we didn't make it, and I slapped a hand to my face to lightly chide him. "If anything, make some comical expression to ruin the artwork. Don't give the nut bar what he wants, you doofus." Zoro had started fuming at me, but I just laced my bandana over my face and sat down. Vivi had asked me, "Don't you have a flask full of acid or something to get us loose, Maggie?!" I nodded. "Yeah, but it's too small to eat away all the wax to get any one of us free. The best use for it at this point would be a mercy killing, with all of you getting to watch as I drink it and melt my insides." All three of them go wide eyed. Zoro telling me, "If it comes to that Maggie, I'd rather you just let me run you through. Since you're standing close enough for me to reach you and it would be a lot less painful." I shook my head and told him, "Not through the heart, Zoro. I've always believed that ones heart holds ones soul, and I'd rather you not shatter what's left of mine. I'll let you kill me if we lose all our hope, but I'd rather have faith that Luffy will get us out of this." Zoro had smiled to nod in agreement, our faith in our captain proving to be our salvation. Luffy and Usopp defeated the Baroque Works agents, Mr. 3 and Mr. 5 along with their partners, and got us free of the wax cake. Luffy hugged me tight as I'd coughed vehemently from the traces of wax in my lungs and the pain from my still healing ribs. Dorry wasn't feeling much better, so I had Broggy help me make a larger batch of my healing potion for them both. Dorry wasn't happy to drink it, but I told him, "Fine, if you aren't going to use it, then I see no point in having me drink any of it. What's the point if even a giant can't get any benefit out of it?" But Luffy had shot up to the rim of the cauldron and intentionally knocked me off balance. I'd yelped before falling into the potion, my splashing evident as Dorry and Broggy laughed in good humor. I'd coughed and sputtered to shout with vehemence, "ACK! LUFFY!" He'd snickered as he croutched down to watch me splash around in the red liquid. "Sorry Mags. But you need this stuff. Plus it's gonna work loads better if you're soaked in it instead of just drinking it." I'd flailed about a bit as I fumed openly, my cursing evident as Dorry held out a finger for me to latch on to. I got up and into his hand to lay there and huff in air, his amusement evident as he said, "Well then, if you are this active after sampling this drink, I have no choice but to do the same." He drank several bowls under my direction, having him save the rest for him to drink a few times a day to get him back to par. I had Broggy take some too, since he also got pretty banged up in the scuffle with Mr. 3. Broggy had laughed to say to me, "Of course, pretty human woman. I will gladly drink your potion. Though I get the idea it will not taste good." I smirked and told him, "That means it works Broggy. Now stop talking and start drinking." He'd laughed to then do show, shivering before laughing again, "Indeed, this will work well by the bitter taste." I nodded at this to say, "Good then. Just be glad it's fresh, it starts to get thick and sludgy after a week or so. But the sludge makes it stick to your insides and it works even better." We parted as friends with the two giants, then we were off to head for Alabasta with all due speed.

Tony Tony Chopper was added to our rag tag band when we had to detour. We went to Drum Island to get a doctor for Nami, since I could tell it wasn’t a minor fever and we needed a professional expert on medicines to help. I'd stayed behind with Vivi and Usopp to help Dalton, the former captian of the guard, to defend the city against the returning King Wapol. Dalton had been formidable against the enemy, his Devil Fruit ability to change into a half bison gave him more strength and even more speed to defeat multiple henchmen with each swing of his spade. But then Wapol's hencemen Chess decided to fight dirty and riddle the townsfolk with arrows. I knew full well Dalton would use himself as a shield in order to protect them, and I moved without even thinking of the consequences. I didn't realize I had vaulted off Dalton's bent knee and up to cover his frame until I got hit, the move placing myself between the arrows and his chest as all three arrows hit home. One had gone right through my leg, just stopping against Dalton's shirt. The other one had gone right through my chest, impaling me into Dalton's frame slightly as the third had gotten him in the far right between his chest and shoulder. Red ran freely from my mouth as Dalton wrapped and arm around me told hold me perfectly still. His words pained as he exclaimed, "What possessed you to just up and throw your life away?!" I choked on the red as I gave a hoarse, "Pot calling kettle black, Dalton..." He'd gone wided eyed as I'd slumped into his chest, my eyes glazing over as he pressed his fingers into my neck. "You have moments if that. What words should I give to your crew?" I'd coughed to take a ragged breath. "Make sure my red jar... is with me when... they lay me to rest... And tell them all... especially Luffy... I was truly happy again... GHAH!" My air had cut out as blood flowed freely from my mouth, Dalton's front getting soaked as he heard the approaching avalanche. I took out my special white vial and told him, "Help me... drink this..." He'd uncorked it to bring it to my lips, the liquid burning like alcohol as he asked me, "What will it do Maggie?" I'd shivered to tell him, "It will buy us time... Give it to Dr. Kureha... and she'll explain... what it is..." I'd gone limp in his arms after the concoction started to work, the avalanche burying us both as he'd hugged me into his frame to protect me. Though the townsfolk got us out once Zoro showed up, I was pretty much dead as Zoro took me from Dalton. His anger and grief was apparent as he took in my ruined chest and my sightless eyes, his head coming down to listen as he choked, "Please Maggie... Don't do this to us... Please!" But there was no indication of life, neither of breath or the steady beat of my heart. His eyes burned with tears at the silence in my frame, hugging my lifeless body tight as he growled in a mix of emotions. "NO! Damn it, Maggie! One of you quacks get over here! Right now!" The cold helped preserve me enough for the Isshin-20 to try helping me. But they were only able to do so much. Dalton had been tended to and he helped everyone get to Drum Castle, carrying me in his arms as they hurried to where the final battle was taking place. Dalton had brought my limp frame to Dr. Kureha and handed her the vial, her eyes going wide to exclaim, "Who the devil made this little miracle?!" Dalton told her, and she cackled ruthlessly. "Smart, very smart indeed! Talented little fox! With this little cheat, there's definite hope to salvage-" Then Luffy had seen me, his scream stopping her mid-sentence as he'd run up to collapse next to my bluing frame. "MAGS! NO! MAGS! YOU CAN'T BE DEAD! MAGS!" Dr. Kureha had smacked him at this point to state, "Calm down, kid! She's not dead yet! CHOPPER! Get over here and bring this clever fox inside! Then get the surgical tools ready!" Chopper had lifted me up in his full human form with care to bring me inside, the others following as Luffy demanded at the top of his lungs, "How can you be so sure she's not dead?!"

Dr. Kureha held up the empty vial, a few droplets still swirling in the bottom as she told him, "This is how. This is a very special concoction, putting a person into a state of metabolic rest. Her body is in a type of suspension, and will be like that for quite a while. In a sense, this elixier is time in a bottle, halting a life to keep it in stasis." Luffy had growled audibly at her, "I don't even get what you're talking about!" Dr. Kureha smirks at this, "Okay, I'll make this simple. She's not dead, more like under a sleeping spell. Once the potion wears off, she'll wake back up again. That easier for you?" Luffy had lowered his head, tears burning down his face as he shook all over. Dr. Kureha raised and eyebrow at him, then he gave a whispered, "I don't care what it is... Just save her... Please... I'll give you whatever you want... Just don't let her stay asleep forever..." Dr. Kureha raised the other eyebrow when Luffy got down on his knees and touched his head to the ground, his entire frame trembling as he waited for her answer. She looked over at Dalton to ask him, "Did she get skewered helping you?" He nodded and said to her, "Yes. If she hadn't shielded me, I'd be the one in critical condition." Dr. Kureha gave a loud snuff of air at this news to state, "Well then. Best not let that kind of charity go unpaid then. All right, get up off the ground you twit. I'm not about to let such a skilled alchemist like her kick the bucket." Luffy had leaned back up to kneel in front of her. "Thank you... so much..." He'd rubbed at his eyes with an arm to sniff and choke, Dr. Kureha getting a knowing smile on her face as she and the others headed into the castle. I wasn't the only one she'd had to treat that day, Sanji and Luffy getting more work done along with Dalton getting his shoulder rebandaged after carrying me. Dalton was the first one I saw when I woke up, my body snuggled in a comfy bed and blankets piled over me. He'd been sitting at the fireplace with his chair turned towards me, his eyes closed and his head resting on his hands as I'd blinked a few times. I'd noted I was still among the living, and my lips had pulled into a wide smile. I also noted the tingling over my nerves, the given side effect of the white potion and what that meant. "It worked..." Dalton had opened his eyes at the sound of my voice, his gaze locked on my face as he'd gotten up out of the chair to walk over to me. "Magdeline?" I'd started laughing, though I didn't have much breath or energy to do so. "It honestly worked... I'd cheer if... I could breathe..." I'd started to cough a few times, Dalton getting me a glass of water to gently lift my head so I could drink. "Here, you have to be parched. Weren't you sure that it would work?" I chuckled as I finished the glass. "Nope... Never used it before..." He frowned at this bit of news, placing a hand over my chest to say to me, "Dr. Kureha was rather impressed with whatever it was. She told us what it did, but she never gave us the name." I'd smiled as I told him, "The name in... my alchemy book... is Halted Pendellum..."

Dr. Kureha made her presence known at this point, walking in to snort out, "Who came up with that cockamaimee description?!" I'd said, "Whoever wrote... that section... of the alchemy book... My mom... or my dad... I'll never know... I have no memory... of either of them..." Chopper had walked in to bring me more medicine, hopping up onto the bed from a chair to have Dalton remove the blankets over me. I was covered in bandages, my chest wrapped like a mummy as Chopper lifted up my arm to inject the medication. I'd gotten more of my wind back to look to each of them. "Thank you, all of you, for helping my friends and myself... I am truly grateful, since I would hate to lose my family twice..." Dr. Kureha growled at me, her aggression evident as she'd said, "You're welcome. But I'm not of a mind to let you fool me with polite words. For all I know, you'll try finding a way to discover the secrets of my youth and long life. Those are my trade secrets, missy. Nobody gets those save for Chopper." I'd nodded in understanding as Chopper examined me in detail. "Noted... But I have enough herbal mixtures... to promote health and youth... I'm not about to steal yours..." Dr Kureha had raised an eyebrow as I offered, "I will gladly share them with you... as thanks for all that you've done... If you like, I have full copies... of all my alchemy recipes that you may have... As payment for your help if you... do not accept gifts of that manner..." She'd gotten a gleeful look on her face, nodding at me to say, "Excellent! I happily accept! Is it one of the rather thick binders in your bag?" I shake my head as Chopper grips my wrist. "No, it's all of the binders..." Her eyes went wide to exclaim, "There's five thick volumes in that bag!" I nodded. "Was a pain to... sit and write everything out... But those original books... are really huge... I have a spare set of binders... Though the last one isn't completely finished..." Chopper had gotten out his stethescope at this point, making me take deep breaths for him as he listened. I got halfway before coughing, my ribs complaining as I shook slightly. Dalton took my hand on that side and held it tight, his smile warm as I panted and squeezed back. Chopper listened to my heart as I lay there wishing everything would stop aching, my eyes drifting closed as I grumbled out, "Time to pass out again..." I did so as Chopper moved the stethescope over my front, my heartbeat kissing the listening end in a gentle rythmn. He told Dr. Kureha, "She's showing vast improvement. I'd say she's been in recovery for a few days by now if we hadn't just stitched her closed a few hours ago." Dr. Kureha nodded at this to state, "I had a feeling those healing extracts were potent. But even I have to admit, I didn't expect them to work this well. She's a progidy, an alchemic wizard. I haven't seen the like since my own younger days. I've half a mind to adopt her as a daughter." Dalton raised and eyebrow as Chopper hopped back down off the bed, lacing the blankets back over my front but making sure they only came up to my collarbone since I was slightly warm. "Really? Interesting." The both of them turned their gaze back to me, my head slightly tilted towards them as my chest rose and fell slightly. Dalton leaned forward to lace his hands together, his eyes never leaving me as he asked her, "Do you think we should tell her the truth? That her parents are from our Drum Kingdom?" Dr. Kureha shook her head to scoff at him. " Oh, don't be a fool. If she really has no knowledge of her parents, it's best left that way. What good would knowing such things do for her now? No. Best to leave that nasty business alone and in the past, Dalton."

I adopted Chopper as a little brother right away, having him bunk with me the past few nights to help settle him into being a part of the crew. He’d nuzzled his small frame into my chest to fall asleep each night, his warmth snuggled close as I ran my hands through his soft fur. He especially enjoyed the belly rubs I gave him all the time, his little heart kissing my palms as I would stroke my fingers in his plush pelt for him to give a loud sigh. He’d giggle as I sang a silly song for him I made up, Usopp and Luffy joining in during the refrain to make us all laugh. I didn’t actually mind bunking with the guys one bit, it made the nights more enjoyable as we chatted with each other and swung in the hammocks. Now we were on our way to fabled Alabasta to help Princess Vivi and her people, since the Baroque Works was about to destroy her kingdom and hunt us down for good measure. I give a long sigh as I open my eyes and look out to the fading sunlight, it's rays casting oranges and reds along the water as we sail towards Alabasta. I was half baked by now from laying on the head of the Going Merry all afternoon, my skin taking on a bit of a tan as I'd laid and turned and basked in the sunshine. My hair was no longer straight brown anymore, but kissed with evident highlights from the constant sunshine. I laugh at this, the months I'd spent as a Straw Hat Pirate changing me on the outside and the inside in turn. My smile is full of contentment, my grief at losing my lover nearly twenty months prior much more muted. I wasn’t alone anymore, after making good friends in the crew and the few others we'd met along the way. Especially Luffy, his simple ways and bright smile making me feel whole and full of joy. I think back to my life before as I gaze at the sunset, when it was just Logan and myself all the time. We'd been everything to each other, meeting one fateful night back at the orphanage when I was five. He'd snuck in to get food, and I'd packed a bag from the pantry to give to him. When the caretaker caught me in the kitchen moments after he'd closed the back door, she'd beaten me badly to then lock me in the cellar. Logan had gotten me out by picking the locks on the door outside, having me come with him to the next town over where he lived in an abandoned church. He became my teacher in the ways of survival and trust, to then be my best friend and sparring partner when an older man had come to stay at the church a few weeks later. He'd taught us both a mixture of martial arts in payment for the roof over his head, leaving ten months later to say we'd learned all he had to give. We then spent a few years traveling as a part of a carnival, where I'd polished my alchemy and pawned it off as witchcraft to the ones that came to the carnival. I'd always had my books of alchemy and apothecary studies, those items being the only thing I had of my parents who I didn't even have faces to recollect on. But by the time Logan and I had gotten back home to the church, I was a highly skilled and well known alchemist as well as a first grade apothecary. I was also more than just Logan's friend, we had fallen in love after finally giving in to the romance under our platonic relationship. Though I was a few years younger than him, we were both fully commited to being together in every possible way. Our nights at the church were spent making love in copious amounts once I hit sixteen, and each night we'd pass out on the old mattress under the stained glass window. I was almost twenty now, my age making me the senior member of the crew. Though none of them ever dared to point this out for any reason.

*****

I hear a loud laugh as Luffy hops up onto the sheep's head of the ship next to me, his grin wide over his face. "I figured you'd be up here, whatcha doin' Mags?" I stretch at this to then give a loud yawn. "Besides getting a tan and a nap? Just thinking about all that's happened. I mean that whole escapade on Drum Island was quite a thrill ride." Luffy nods at this, his smile fading as he says in a more neutral voice, "Yeah. I'm glad we have Chopper with us now as our doctor. But I was really worried when you got hurt again." I give a light snort. "Comes with the territory, Luffy. I wasn't about to let Dalton get skewered." Luffy frowns, placing his hand on my back where the arrow had hit home and gone through my chest. "I thought you were dead, Mags. It scared me to see you like that. It was bad enough when that Donny guy broke you, but this time I really thought you were gone for good." I give a long sigh. "Sorry Luffy, I didn't even think when I moved. I just reacted to keep Dalton from getting killed. Though us getting buried by your avalanche didn't help the town much." Luffy snickers at this to say to me, "Whoops. I forgot about that part. Sorry, I know how much you hate the cold." I pinch him. "Convenient memory loss is so you." I tackle him to tickle him all over, making him laugh so hard he can't breathe. His mood only stays improved for so long though, his frown coming back to say to me, "Don't die on me Mags. I don't want you to go away. Please Mags, you're my second mate so we can all conquor the Grand Line together. I want you as my second for when I make my dream come true and I become the Pirate King. So please don't leave like that before we do make it. Please?" I hug him tight as I say, "I promise I won't willingly keel over dead on you, Luffy. I will always fight alongside you and I will help you in achieving your dream. For as long as I'm able to share in the adventure. It's all I can promise, since I’m only human. Is that good enough for you, Luffy?" He nods at this to say, "I guess so, but I'd rather you never die on me ever." I flick his nose to tell him, "Likewise. Now are you going to tell me what brought this up, or are you gonna avoid it again like you keep choosing to do lately?" I hold my gaze to Luffy, noting the apparent frown on his usually cheerful face. He sits back up to stare off into the sunset, making me tilt my head at him. "You keep trying to over think this, and you're gonna break your brain. Just say what's on your mind already. You know full well I'm not going to hold it against you." He just keeps staring off into the distance, the waves lapping against the bow of the Going Merry as he asks me, "Anything, Mags?" I nod at this, "Go ahead, before your head pops off your shoulders for me to go fetch and sew back on with Chopper's help."

Luffy lowers his head, the brim of his hat hiding his eyes. "What does it feel like to fall in love?" I blink at him. "Really? Is that what's been bugging you?" He nods. "I know you've fallen in love before. I just wanted to know what it feels like. Would you tell me?" I smile and look out at the horizon as I tell him, "It's amazing, Luffy. From the moment you realize the sensation, your heart and your life feels full and vibrant. Every heartbeat is filled with a tingling lightness, like a bird fluttering about in your chest. Each breath is lush and savory, like a bouquet of fresh flowers held to your nose. Your vision is full of color, the world bright and gleaming all around you. Every moment is more important and worthwhile, as if filled with sunshine you could drink out of a steaming mug on a cold day. Just being around the one you love makes you feel fuzzy fluffy all over, as if your insides are the softest wool. It's the best feeling ever, and you never forget the sensation once you find it." I laugh at the memories, my smile warm yet tinted with sadness. I lace my fingers in Luffy's hand next to me, and he grips my hand tight in his own. Luffy asks me, "Is someone able to find that kind of love again when they lose it?" I think for a second. "I'd certainly hope so. Logan would be devastated if I wasn't able to find someone who could love me like he always felt that I deserve. His death won't have changed that, he'll always want me to be happy and well cherished. Even though my heart broke at losing him, his love is still in my heart where it always will be. I can feel it even now, though it's been nearly two years since he was killed by the marines. Each pump of my heart inside my chest is tinted with him, but there is always room for another inside of it's chambers. I just have to catch the one that would want that place inside of me." I give a long sigh as I look out to the sunset, my mood darkening. "Granted, the one I have fallen for isn't showing any open signs of doing so. I'm about ready to stop waiting and tell them myself." Luffy goes stock still, his hand crushing mine as he starts to shake. "Is it Zoro?" I shake my head. "Nah. He's great and all that, but Zoro isn't the one I fell in love with." Luffy keeps shaking. "Sanji?" I roll my eyes. "That flambe of a flirt can't commit to a relationship like I would really need. And don't even suggest Usopp as a possibility, I'd rather strangle that idiot most days!" Luffy looks down at me. "Then who else is left, Mags?" I give Luffy a very warm smile to tell him, "Point your finger at your nose, Luffy." His eyes go as wide as allowed in his head for him to stare at me, his hand in mine going limp in shock. I grin at him. "Granted, there are times I'd like to deck you along with Zoro and Sanji. But it's time I told you the truth. I'm in love with you, Monkey D. Luffy."

Ever so slowly, Luffy gets that grin back on his face, his eyes shining as much as the water that is kissed by the rays of the sunset. His excitement alights his entire face, his hand gripping mine tight as he shouts, "REALLY?!" I reach up and honk his nose playfully. "You bet your berries, Luffy." He falls backwards to lay next to me, his legs pumping furiously in the air as he roars with laughter. His eyes leak tears of joy as he exclaims, "ALL RIGHT! This is so awesome! It isn't just me then, you really are in love with me?!" I roll on top of him, my nose to his as I tell him, "Yep!" He hugs me so tight I can't breathe, but I couldn't care one bit. Luffy nuzzles his nose against my own, his laughter ringing in my ears as he crushes me to his chest. "YES! I've been wanting to tell you for ages! I'm in love with you too, Mags! WOW! This has got to be the best day of my entire life!" I give a somewhat breathless laugh as he let's up on his hold on me, asking me with a gleeful grin, "Does that mean I can kiss you now without you trying to kill me like you did to Sanji?" I lean down and do so in order to answer his question. I press my lips lightly to the corner of his mouth, his eyes popping slightly before drifting closed. His hands lace over my back to press my chest to his front, his fingers wrapping into my top in the process. My hands drift to his neck as I continue pressing light kisses to his lips. Luffy shivers slightly before he snickers against my mouth, his words breathing over my lips. "Mmmm! That feels great! No wonder Sanji risked getting himself killed to steal a kiss from you!" I give a low chuckle to say, "I take it you've never been kissed before?" Luffy smiles at me to remind me, "No. You've kissed me already." I snort at him. "Oh good grief! That was to get you to start breathing again! Which reminds me, don't ever get caught under a boulder at the bottom of a water source ever again, you dork!" He gets a naughty grin to say, "Why? You'll definitely kiss me again if I did!" I tickle him, his laugh vibrating through his chest as I scold him. "I'm going to be doing that regardless, smarty pants! I'd rather not have to think you're going to die on me like Logan did!" Luffy nods his head at me, "Okay." I give a sigh as I lay there with him, my mind drifting to the past as I start to cry slightly. Luffy frowns at this, knowing where my mind is right now. "It was bad. His death. I take it that's why you wake up at night either screaming or not being able to breathe." I nod, my eyes leaking as I tell him. "Luffy... they... the marines butchered him. Logan had his body pretty much cleaved in half before they tossed him over the wall down towards me." Luffy goes wide eyed as I tell him what I haven't said a word about to any of the crew since I joined. "It was horrible, Luffy! His insides had come free of the opening in his front! I had to watch his lungs gasp for air and his heart beat in his ruined chest! But I was so adamant at not losing him! I tried to breathe for him when his air cut out! I put my hand to his heart and squeezed it to keep it working! Even after his body was long cold and pale white from losing too much blood! I knew it would make no difference, but I spent a full hour trying to bring Logan back to me!"

Luffy hugs me tight, his hand in my hair to press my head to his shoulder. Then a thought dawns on him. "Mags? Is that why you have that red jar that can't break or be opened?" I nod into his shoulder as I continue to cry. Luffy thinks for a moment, then he whispers in a dead pan voice when he realizes what I did. "Logan's heart is in the jar. You took it out and kept his heart after he died. That's why you got arrested and tied up next to Zoro in the prison yard. You were caught by the marines taking back the heart of the man you fell in love with and lost." I nod again, my eyes streaming. "Yes. I kept and preserved the one piece of him I could never let go of. Call it morbid, call it psychotic, but I just couldn't give all of him up to the cold hard ground. His heart has always been my treasure, whether it was beating to keep him alive or in the jar after it's pace was silenced." Luffy flinches slightly, but he doesn't seem that freaked out by my admission. "I get it, Mags. You're an alchemist, mixing potions along with other really odd things is your specialty. Preserving his heart to keep with you isn't that much of a stretch to me." I choke and shiver, my sob breaking my voice slightly. I tell Luffy, "It's believed that the heart holds ones very soul in it's chambers. I was so distraught, Luffy. Logan meant everything to me, he was my treasure. I only had Logan to make my life whole. But his death destroyed me. I had to carry his body all the way back to the church we lived in. I had to sit in the church after I got there, with his body next to me to leak red all over the floor. I had to dig a grave for him in the cemetary out back, crying all the while because I had to leave him in the church while I did so. But I couldn't stand the idea of giving him up completely. So I took my dagger and carefully removed his heart to place it inside the jar, adding the last bits of my reagents to preserve the contents before sealing the jar closed. I had to lay him into the cold ground and put the dirt back over his body. I passed out onto his grave with the jar in my arms, his heart inside clutched to my own as I laid there as dead as he was beneath me. If the mayor hadn't come to find me, I would have frozen to death right there at his grave."

Luffy lays there with me as I sob and choke, my misery practically drowning me as I wail into his vest. But then Luffy lifts my chin, placing his mouth on mine in a sweet and somewhat sloppy kiss. I blink a few times as his hands rest on my shoulders, then I return the kiss eagerly. His yelp of surprise is lost in my mouth as I practically devour his tongue. Then he moans very loudly and hugs me tight, his own tongue running into my mouth to copy me. I taste the legs of meat he snuck out of the kitchen with my help earlier, but I don't mind in the least as he licks at me with abandon. Luffy ends up drooling slightly as our tongues clash, and he notes the wetness to break away. "ACK! (cough) Sorry, Mags! Why do you taste so good?!" I snicker as I tell him, "I was chewing one of my herbs earlier, the one to keep my teeth from rotting out. So I bummed a tangerine from Nami to rid myself of the sour aftertaste." Luffy smiles at this, wiping the drool off my chin with his thumb as he laughs. "No wonder you taste so sweet. I didn't mean to slobber all over you like a dog." I burst out laughing at this. "Yeah right! If anything, you'd have started licking my face and barking at me if that was the case!" He blushes at this to then get a wicked grin. "Not a bad idea! C'mere kitty!" I give a shout and hightail it, Luffy chasing me as he barks and howls behind me. I shriek with laughter as we loop around and about the Going Merry, his barking and my laughter getting the others to watch us from the kitchen door. I backflip over Luffy into to the netting leading up to the crows nest, Luffy skidding on the deck as I climb with all due speed to then crawl over the side pole holding the sails out. I look down at Luffy as he gives a convincing growl at me, and I mewl at him to lace a hand next to my head like a paw. He snickers at this. "The kitty is very nimble." I meow at him, "Nyah. So what now, sweet puppy? You gonna chase the pussykitten all night?" Luffy gives me a wicked snicker as Sanji goes bug eyed at the kitchen door, his cigarette nearly falling out of his mouth as he exclaims, "MAGGIE!" I jerk in surprise, losing my balance on my perch as I yelp. My foot just catches the pole before I go tumbling down, the rope of the sail winding over my ankle to pull something in my foot. I cry out in pain as Luffy goes wide eyed in fear. "MAGS!" The blood starts rushing to my head as I try to get loose, my fingers fumbling with the rope as Zoro exclaims, "Great job, dumbass! She'll break something important if she falls! Maggie, I'm on my way up!"

I give a growled curse to shout out, "Hurry, Zoro! This cat does NOT have eight extra lives! I'd be lucky if I have four left at this point! DAMMIT! I can't get lose! Zoro, get me free before my head pops off!" I give an extra twist as I struggle to get free, my ears roaring as my head gets lighter to seemingly float away on the breeze. Zoro fits my fallen dagger into his teeth to climb up to me. Nami shouting out to me, "Maggie! Try and stay calm!" I give a snarl as I tell her, "Too late! Get me free before I lose my lunch or something else!" Chopper runs to the banister to shout, "Try climbing back up onto the pole! You need to get upright before the pull of gravity messes with your head and blood vessels!" I try to grab the pole to pull myself back up, but by then I'm ready to black out as Zoro gets to me. "Luffy! Get your hands around her! Hang tight Maggie!" I give a snarled, "Not... funny..." Large hands evelope my frame as I go limp, my eyes rolling back as I black out. Zoro cuts me free with a few slices of the dagger, Luffy's hands catching my weight to shoot me back down into his waiting arms. "Mags! Say something! MAGS!" My nose starts to leak red as Luffy lays me down onto the deck, Chopper running down with his bag to help me. Luffy is bawling at this point, his fear evident as he chokes and sobs. "Mags! Please be okay! Please be all right!" Zoro puts the dagger back in his teeth to hang from the pole before jumping down to the deck, his legs taking his weight to then roll forward to lessen the jarring on his frame. Chopper checks me over thoroughly, Luffy holding my hand in a death grip as I lay on the deck with more red leaking from my nose. But then I give a loud cough, my eyes opening for the others to give shouts of relief. Luffy openly cries as he clutches my hand in both of his. "Mags! You're okay!" I give a groan as Chopper listens to my heart and lungs with his stethescope. "That's up for debate... Ow much on many levels..." Chopper looks into my eyes at this point to flinch slightly. "Ow indeed. Your left eye blew." I take a ragged breath of air as I note, "Great. So that's why I feel like I got shot in the head. Terrific. Anything potentially fatal, Doc?" Chopper frowns as he listens to my chest and tells me, "Not that I'm noting at the moment. But that could change any minute." I give a hiss as I look down with my one good eye. "Peachy, wanna make sure my foot is still attached when you get the chance?" Chopper looks and flinches again, noting my ankle and heel are bruising over and getting darker by the minute. "Yeah. I'll check that once I know your heart isn't going to jump out of your chest." I give a breathless laugh as I say, "Luffy can always catch it for me. My heart is his to keep after all." Everyone goes wide eyed as I look at him, my free hand flicking him playfully on the nose as he says, "Honest, Mags?" I nod to then wince slightly. "Yep. Might as well make us official for the whole crew. I'm all yours Luffy."

Nami gives us a wide smile as Usopp gives a chuckled, "It's about time, you two." But Sanji starts fuming, his shouts making me wince as he bellows, "Are you kidding, Maggie?! How can you do this to me?! It was bad enough I had to compete with your dead lover! Now I get completely tossed aside! For Luffy, out of all the guys in our crew?! You're seriously going to do this to me, Magdeline?! DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!" I give a very long sigh as he continues to fume at the top of his lungs. "Sanji... Sanji! SANJI!" He stops mid sentence to look around at me. "WHAT?!" I glare at him with my one good eye and state, "We both know you'd rather have Nami! You're just too much of a halfwit to make a commitment to her! So enough with the bellowing already!" Sanji glares at me to state in turn, "And just what exactly gave you that kind of impression?! Yes, I really do love Nami! But I wanted to try being with you all the same! Besides, she isn't even interested in me, or I'd have given Nami my heart a long time ago!" Nami goes bright red as Sanji whirls around to start cursing and stomping over the deck. Luffy looking at Nami to say, "But you told Mags and me you were in love with him, Nami." Sanji goes ram rod straight at this, whirling around to exclaim, "SAY WHAT?!" Nami goes as red as Luffy's vest, her eyes looking away as she fidgets slightly. "Yeah... but he and Maggie were kissing that one time I was going to ask..." She looks up at him with a tear coming into the corner of her eye. So I tell her, "Nami. He's an idiotic flirt that needs to be roped and hog tied in order for you to keep him. If you had stuck around for the show of me chasing him around the kitchen to rip his heart out, I'd have gladly handed it to you after I had done so. As long as you don't mind keeping him on a tight leash, he's all yours." Chopper moves down to examine my foot, his hooves flexing my ankle with care as I snarl and jerk when he does so. Nami lowers her head as Sanji kneels down next to her, his hands coming to rest on her face as he whispers, "Nami? You-" Then she whips the cigarette out of his mouth to crush him to her frame. They go down onto the deck in a heap as she tells him, "No more smoking, Sanji! I expect my guy not to taste like he licked an ash tray! And you so much as chase down an old lady in a walker, and I'll break every bone in your body!" Sanji goes wide eyed as she looks him full in the face. Then he smiles to look at me and ask, "Maggie, you still have those ingredients to make that herbal chew to kick my bad habit?" I laugh at this and tell him, "You bet. Already measured and waiting to be combined, along with a mint extract for you to get rid of that said ash tray taste. I am the Alchemist of the Straw Hat Pirates, so I was just waiting for your all clear." Sanji nods to then look at Nami, his hands lacing over her as he says, "Guess that means I'm all yours." Nami gives a slight sniff as they hug, her head pressed to his heart as they fall over again onto the deck.

Luffy snickers as he watches them, then he looks down at me to ask, "Are you okay now Mags?" I give a flinch as Chopper rotates my foot some more. "OW! Mostly, though my foot and ankle feel very different shades of not pleasant at the moment." Chopper gives a loud sigh, "Yeah I know. It's pretty bad, Maggie. You tore a lot of muscle and ligaments when your ankle caught in the rigging. I may have to set this in a cast for you." I fall with vehemence onto the deck. "Great! So I get to have an eyepatch and we might as well put a peg leg on me! How more cliche can we possibly make this?!" Usopp grins to say, "I can always stuff a parrot and squack behind you if you like." Luffy laughs really hard at this, but I tell Usopp, "You do that and I will stuff the parrot in your mouth! Or better yet, up your reared end where that idea came from!" This gets everyone laughing as Luffy says, "At least we'll know what happened if Usopp starts waddling around." I then take it a step further as the others start choking and sputtering even harder, "You forgot him farting out feathers when he waddles." We all laugh so hard we end up splayed out on the deck, our roaring evident as I pound my free hand to the deck in mirth. Zoro crouches down with his arms around his middle as he shakes all over while he roars with vehemence, Chopper rolling around to smack the deck with his hooves. I laugh so hard I start coughing, Luffy laying next to me as he laces his hands over my middle to hug me tight. “You are hilarious, Mags. You should have been our comedian instead of our alchemist.” I honk his nose before bringing my arms around him. “Thanks, but I’ll pass. I don’t make good money from being a smart ass.” Luffy grins to then place a tender kiss to my neck, his nose lingering as he inhales to say, “Yummy. You were making perfume with Nami's tangerines again.” I nod. “Those tangerines will spoil if we don’t use them, Luffy. So I made a few bottles to make sure they didn’t go to waste.” Nami gives a grumbled, “I’m hoping you plan on splitting the profits for them? They are MY tangerine trees, Maggie.” I laugh to tell her, “I gave one bottle to Vivi and the others are on your work desk.” Luffy looks down at my foot, then he gets his arms under me to pick me up. “You aren’t walking for a bit, let’s get you into your hammock.”

Chopper follows along behind us as we get to the sleeping area, Chopper standing on a barrel as I sit in my hammock. He brings out one of the herbal salves I made, having Luffy rub it over my heel and ankle as I growl and flinch. “Ow! Careful, that- OUCH! We getting the casting mold out?” Chopper shakes his head to say, “I think a good and sturdy wrap job will do. But we’ll have to keep a special covering over the wrap for when you’re walking in the desert.” I nod for Luffy to say, “I can always just carry you, Mags.” I tug on his hat, “No. You aren’t having me ride piggyback through all of our trip. You’d keel over from heat stroke.” Luffy grins as Chopper gets the bandages out, running the roll over my foot and ankle with care. I wiggle my toes as he works, both of them laughing as I do so. “At least the digits still work. Remind me to be more careful when I’m up so high. I’d rather not break my neck or repeat this little adventure a second time.” Chopper nods at this, “Me either. You're really lucky your foot caught in the rigging. But the fact your eye blew out means you’ll be wearing an eyepatch for a bit.” I give a long sigh as Chopper finishes wrapping my foot, getting out an actual red eyepatch to give to me. I lace the string around my head to knot it tight with a doubled bow. Chopper leaves his bag on the barrel as he hops down. “All done. Now you lay here for a bit and rest. I’ll make sure Sanji sets something aside for you to eat later.” I nod to then look a little surprised as Luffy sits in the hammock with me. “Okay Chopper, thanks. I’m gonna stay with Mags.” Chopper grins at this to then hurry off, Luffy wrapping his hands around my waist as I smile. “I must be important if you’re forgoing food. Does this mean I can ask you for something?” He nods for me to finger his signature straw hat. “Mind if I try this on?” He frowns for a moment, then he takes it off to drop it onto my head. The hat fits snug against my hair, Luffy tilting the rim up to look at me. I give him a warm smile as my face heats up. “Does it suit me?” Luffy nods his head, the look in his eyes melting my insides. “It’s perfect on you, Mags.” I ask him, “I know it’s important to you, but you never told me why. You mind telling me now?” He nods to tell me all about how he acquire his signature straw hat, laying us into my hammock as he hugs me. When he’s done I’m wide eyed to say, “I think I’ve met Shanks before, your description of him fits.” Luffy goes wide eyed to shout, “What?! You have?!” I nod as I close my eyes to remember. “Large crew, flaming red hair, one arm missing. Red sash and a saber at his waist.” Luffy hugs me so tight I choke, “THAT’S HIM! Where’d you meet him?!” I growl out, “Luffy!... AIR!...” He lets up to let me get a breath. “Sorry! I just got really excited. But you’ve really met Shanks?!”

I nod, “Yep. He and his crew bunked at the church for a while about four years ago. They had to make repairs on their ship, so they beached it on the shoreline in front of the church to do so. They were expecting the church to be empty, but were very surprised when Logan and I tried jumping them for coming in without knocking. We both ended up on the floor with our heads under a boot, but Shanks apologized profusely when he realized they’d intruded into our home. I made a large dinner with the supplies they brought from the ship, even making a salve for Shanks when he kept flinching any time Logan slapped his shoulder. Turns out he got an infection a few days prior, and he was very happy for the salve as I rubbed it in for him. We were fine with them bunking at the church, since it's huge and has three stories counting the empty bell tower. Though most of the time they were too busy getting hammered and partying all night long to care where they eventually fell over. I was surprised that any of them had any brain cells to walk, let alone work on the ship each day. Shanks was constantly fighting a hangover and I had to make him a tincture to help him see straight every time he woke up for breakfast.” Luffy frowns at this. “But Shanks has never been a lightweight when it comes to drinking.” I laugh really hard as I tell him, “That was my fault, Luffy. Shanks kept demanding me to give them some hard core liquor drinks and to make it as laced as possible every night. I got to show off my bartending, many of them tossing back drinks to then go red as tomatoes after the burning laced through them. I’d told them that I had an open bar policy for houseguests, but they left an entire bag of jewels when they left. Shanks also made sure Logan and I were down there partying right along with them each night, instead of letting me get any extra work done. He’d enjoyed watching me mix and measure out my alchemy, even helping me double check my measurements and keeping me compay as I worked. Logan was always outside helping them with the repairs on the ship, or getting into a contest of some kind with the other crew members. By the time they left, we were honorary crew members. Shanks promised they’d stop by if they ever came back into the area. I made sure to carve out a note for them into the door of the church so they’d know… So they’d know… Which gravestone to pour sake over… And to use whatever was left there to find… to throw one last party… If only for them to give tribute to… the man named Logan D. Rossi…” Tears burn in my eyes to trek down my cheeks, even though one eye is covered by the eyepatch.

I tilt Luffy’s hat so I can lay on top of him without bending the rim, my head nestled over his heart as he sighs, “I’m sorry Mags. I know how much remembering hurts for you. What can I do to help? I’ll do anything if it will make you feel better.” I close my eyes as his arms circle over my shoulders to hug me tight, his heart thumping in my ear. I ask him, “Anything Luffy?” He hugs me tighter, “Anything.” I bring my arms around him to hug him back, my words aching in my chest as I beg, “Promise me you will never stop loving me. No matter where we go, no matter who we meet, no matter how long we stay together. Promise me that I will never lose your love. Please Luffy?” His hug is like steel as he crushes me in his arms, his heart starting to pump harder. “Always, Mags. I love you. Forever. I promise.” I lift my head up slightly, pressing my lips to his chest over the apex of his heart. His heart skips a beat as I do so, his gasp of surprise making me smile. I do so again and he shivers, his heart thumping hard in his chest as I laugh. "I take it you've never had a girl kiss you here before." He snickers as my fingers lightly tickle his sides, my lips feathering over his chest as his heart hammers at my attentions. "Nope! And I'm loving every single bit of this! More!" I oblidge him as he shivers and jerks as I tickle and kiss, his entire body going slightly red as I do so. Then I lay next to him as he asks me, "I was wondering since you have my hat, can I see your jar, Mags?" I nod and tell him, "I have a better trick for you to enjoy, Luffy." We sit up for me to turn to where the jar sits on a table close to the hammock, setting the jar onto a special metal pedestal that was next to it and telling him, "Instead of just seeing the jar, I'll show you what's inside." Luffy goes bug eyed as I turn a few switches on the pedestal. "Really?! Is that why you have this special boxy thing next to your hammock?" I nod as the pedestal charges slightly with electricity. "Yep. The jar is made of a special ceramic material. It goes trasparent like glass when you charge electricity into it. I also added some extra touches to Logan's heart in the jar as well. But you'll see once the pedestal starts working." Luffy hugs me tight as the pedestal starts to whine slightly, then I flick the switch. The electricity of the apparatus courses through the jar, instantly changing the red ceramic into what looks like glass to reveal the contents inside. Then the jar stats to vibrate slightly as Luffy goes wide eyed in amazement, watching in avid fascination as I hug him tight. There in the jar rests the heart of my first love, Logan D. Rossi, the electricity lacing through special nodes and wiring I placed within the jar to have his heart beating at a slow and steady pace. Luffy reaches a hand out to the jar. His fingers touching the surface to say, "Amazing... The jar is actually moving..." I nod to then carefully hook two wires from the pedestal into the rim of the jar, taking it off the pedestal to place in Luffy's hands. He holds the jar with great care as I place my hands over his, Luffy's laugh full of evident wonder. "Wow, this is so cool. The whole jar vibrates with every heartbeat. This is amazing. Logan's heart is really strong to pump this good, Mags." I nod as I watch Luffy, his smile of amazement warming my insides. I tell him, "Logan was always very healthy, Luffy. My alchemy and special herbs helped keep us both at our peak. The only time we ever really needed to see a doctor is when one of us broke something." Luffy gets up to set the jar very carefully back onto the pedestal, kneeling down to watch closely as he tells me, "This has to be the coolest use of your alchemy I have ever seen. How'd you even know how to do this?" I laugh. "There was a letter stuffed in the jar when I found it next to the pedestal, the writing the exact same as in my alchemy books. Apparently, it is a common practice in my family to keep the heart of one's lover should they pass away too soon." Luffy gets up to stand in front of me as I reach out to turn the machine off, his eyes hidden by his hat on my head as he says to me, "Thank you for sharing this with me, Mags." I smile. "You are most welcome. Like I would say no when I'm wearing your own treasure. I love you. As such, all my treasures are now yours to enjoy right along with me."

Luffy goes dead still at this, then he says, "Does that mean I can keep your heart for myself?" I look up and give him my warmest smile. "Yes, Luffy. My heart is now yours to treasure. Always and forever." Luffy leans down to kiss me, and I wrap my arms around his neck to kiss him back. Then he says to me, "Then I have a great idea." He reaches over to delve a hand into Chopper's bag, making me raise an eyebrow at him to say, "What are you up to?" He pulls out Chopper's stethescope, his grin evident as he says to me, "Isn't it obvious, Mags? I want to listen to my new treasure." I laugh as he puts the stethescope on, so I take the listening end in one hand to then have him lay next to me in the hammock. I place the listening end of the stethescope to my chest, right over where the apex of my heart is as he smiles to exclaim, "Whoah! Awesome!" I put my head to his own heart as he chuckles and says, "Damn. You've got a strong heart, Mags. It's really pumping." I touch my free hand to his chest to note, "As is yours Luffy." I can feel my heart as it thunders in my ribcage, the pace hard and fast as Luffy snickers. "Is your heart supposed to be thumping this hard?" I smirk to casually say to him, "What can I say Luffy, today has been a very exciting day." He snickers at this to say, "True. But I have to admit, this is exciting in itself. Especially with how hard your heart is thumping. I could lay here all night and listen to this." I laugh as I nuzzle my head to his front. "It'll slow down once I pass out again. But feel free to continue after I've fallen asleep. My heart is now yours to enjoy whenever you wish." My heart skips a beat the same time his does, his amusement in his voice as he snickers. "Heh! I heard that, your heart skipped a beat before it started thumping again." I poke his chest to tell him, "I heard yours do the same thing, Luffy. So lay off the teasing." His laugh vibrates in his chest. "I know, I felt it. Man, your heartbeat is really strong, I can even feel it against my fingers." I give him a purred, "The better term for that is my heart is kissing your fingertips, Luffy." His heart skips again to start pumping hard. "Cool, I kinda wish I could hold your heart as it thumps in my hands without a jar to keep it in. But I'd rather you kissed me for real while I listen." I lean my head up and do so, his fingers pressed into the apex of my heart as I place my mouth to his at the corner. We both shiver as I press my lips to his in a shower of kisses and a few licks over his bottom lip. His face goes flush as my heart pounds hard in my chest, his free hand tracing to my neck to press his fingers into my pulse. My entire body goes hot as my heart skips and thuds under his love and attention, my air coming in hard pants as I deepen my kissing. He gives a long moan as I lace my tongue into his mouth, his own tongue copying me to then give a light nip to my lip. Luffy and I spend a long while kissing and enjoying each others company, my heart thumping and soaring in evident joy as Luffy listens with avid attention. Then he gives a breathless laugh to lean back and say, "Oh wow, that's so good I want to do this forever. But your heart is going to explode if we keep this up any longer." I give him a wicked grin to snicker at him, my humor and love evident as I tell him, "That's a clear sign you got this right, Luffy." He laughs loudly at this. "Great. But I think that's enough for our first date, Mags. Besides, you need to sleep." I give a long yawn, wrapping my arms around his middle to say, "Yeah, time to do so. I love you, Luffy." His free hand laces into my hair. "I love you too, Mags." I drift off very quickly, Luffy smiling as my heart settles to beat in a relaxed pace as he closes his eyes. His enjoyment is evident as he twirls the strands of my hair in his fingers, the steady beat of my heart like a well played symphony as he whispers, "This is the best treasure I could ever have found as a pirate. All I love about you is in this one piece of you, Mags. This treasure that is your heart is now my own personal One Piece."

#One Piece #fanfic #Luffy X OC #TW: violence #TW: death #TW: blood #TW: surgery #TW? since there are medical drugs and potions in this so tagged

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megaonlineedu-blog · 7 years

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Squint audit: Two cameras are quite often superior to one Why burn through $200 on one camera when you can get two for $170?

As savvy home surveillance cameras turn out to be increasingly normal, you'd think their costs would begin descending. In any case, most new cameras still retail for $200 or more, and that is only for one camera that screens one range of your home. Flicker's approach is distinctive: much like brilliant lights, a Blink framework associates various savvy cameras by means of a center point and makes every one of them controllable through a portable application.

For just $169, you get two cameras you can put all through your home, which is an incredible arrangement considering you'll pay more for only one camera from contenders. While the Blink framework has most surveillance cameras beat in value, a few provisos merit considering before dove in.

Plan: More for your cash

Each Blink framework begins with a center point and at least one cameras. One camera and a center point costs $99, yet there are two-, three-, and five-camera groups to look over. In the wake of beginning your framework, extra cameras are simply $75 per unit. I tried a framework that accompanied a center and two separate cameras, all of which came in little, square boxes to mirror their little, square shapes.

The center point is somewhat littler than the cameras and is only a basic white square with small scale USB and Ethernet ports on one edge. Since you can associate the center point through Ethernet or Wi-Fi, you can put it anyplace in your home. I was charmed by this since I as of now have a lot of things associated with my switch. The smaller scale USB port is for power, so you'll require an outlet for it to work.

Once connected to, the center's little blue light goes ahead, and in the end the green light directly underneath it goes ahead too, flagging the center point is prepared to match with a camera. The cameras are likewise white squares, however they have thin, straightforward edges that stand out and help them stand up on their sides. Every camera accompanies a little stand on the off chance that you need to conform the edge of the camera's POV, or you can simply set the camera up on a rack or on a table and let it be.

This plan is unique in relation to most home surveillance cameras I've attempted. Most organizations make cameras that look like present day vases or moderate, ornamental tchotchkes. While that is fine and dandy, Blink's no frills configuration makes it less demanding to put the cameras about anyplace in your home (just the center point requires an associated control source). Also, since the squares are moderately thin, you can shroud them mostly behind items the length of the dark round focal point can see outward into the room. Obviously, regardless of what you do, a Blink camera will dependably resemble a camera.

Each Blink camera keeps running on two AA batteries, which is both a gift and a revile. Batteries are incorporated into the crate, and camera position isn't restricted by nearness to an electrical plug. Be that as it may, you should supplant the batteries inevitably. Squint claims the batteries will most recent a year prior to you have to change them and, considering the cameras don't consistently record (they just catch and spare video when movement is identified), that could well be the situation. The organization additionally as of late pushed out a refresh for the majority of its frameworks that boosts vitality effectiveness and knocks up camera battery life to two years.

Putting numerous cameras all through my home felt more secure than simply having one camera in a unified lobby or parlor. Cameras like the $199 Canary cam, the $199 Netatmo Welcome, and even the $70 Ezviz Mini are fundamentally one-gadget frameworks, and including another camera in with the general mish-mash promptly pairs the cost. Despite the fact that Blink frameworks get more costly as they get greater (the three-camera framework is $229 and the five-camera framework is $349), regardless you'll spend less generally speaking to make more progress in your home.Features: somewhat inadequate

After setup, the Blink framework can be allowed to sit unbothered to screen your home, much the same as most surveillance cameras. In the application, you can pick when to "arm" the cameras, which implies they will be on caution for development inside their field of view. You can arm them physically when you go out and incapacitate them perfectly fine get back, or you can utilize the application's scheduler to set certain circumstances and days for programmed equipping and incapacitating. I adore planning highlights on surveillance cameras (and shockingly, not every one of them have it) since they let me utilize my routine to direct when the cameras ought to search for movement.

The scheduler gives you a chance to set numerous begin times for outfitted and incapacitated periods on the same number of days of the week as you need. Each time one of those periods begins, the Blink framework sends a caution to your cell phone telling you it was "fruitful." All of your cameras take after a similar calendar, so you can't set diverse timetables for various cameras. Too terrible: I needed to arm my lounge room camera around evening time while leaving my room camera incapacitated.

At the point when a camera is outfitted and movement is identified, you quickly get a cell phone alarm. The camera's blue light turns on, so you unmistakably know when it's recording and when it's recently sitting inactively (that likewise implies anybody with sound judgment can see when the camera is recording, as well). Cameras record cuts from five to 10 seconds long, and you can watch cuts in the application. Ten seconds isn't much, however in any event you can see the begin of the movement and its source.

Cameras record various clasps if movement keeps going longer than 10 seconds, with some slack time between the underlying clasp and the followup cut. That implies you may miss some activity in the middle. For instance, if a camera catches the minutes a thief enters your home, in the slack time between the principal cut and the second clasp, that robber could move to an alternate some portion of your home, abandoning you with a void, uninformative live stream of your lounge room. While all you truly need is that first clasp to know whether somebody wrongfully entered your home, the minutes after that could be significant in demonstrating further wrongdoings were committed.If the framework is equipped, you keep on receiving cell phone cautions the length of the development happens, which can bother. Each time I got back home while the framework was furnished, my telephone exploded with a caution like clockwork to tell me that I was in my own particular flat. Not at all like the Canary camera, Blink can't perceive family unit individuals and incapacitate itself, so I generally needed to go into the application and incapacitate the framework just to get the cautions to stop.

Flicker cameras just distinguish and caution you to movement, however they do record sound, so every one of your clasps will have sound. They likewise just record video in 720p, though most contenders surrender you alternatives to 1080p. Be that as it may, both the video and sound nature of recorded clasps are adequate for you to perceive what's going on in your home, regardless of the possibility that a few points of interest are obscured.

Since a 10-second video clasp is not extensive, you can spare any clasp you need to your cell phone by discovering it in the application's Clip envelope. On the off chance that you have to get to a clasp by means of cell information and not Wi-Fi, Blink evaluates a 5-second clasp will use around 750KB of information. When I exchanged a spared 10-second video to my PC, the record was around 1.1MB. Every one of your clasps are likewise saved money on Blink's servers, which will keep on saving up to 7,200 seconds of video (or 720 10-second clasps). Once that farthest point is achieved, Blink naturally erases the most seasoned video cuts, arranging for more space for new ones. That is all free also, as Blink doesn't have any layered membership benefit.

Flicker's basic, nitty gritty framework makes setting up simple, however, dissimilar to other home surveillance cameras, it doesn't have numerous additional elements. Squint has neither an alert, nor would it be able to connection you to the contact data of nearby experts the way a Canary camera can. I like both of these elements in a surveillance camera, even as I would like to never need to utilize them. Flicker doesn't perceive confronts like Netatmo's Welcome, either, and it doesn't give you a chance to framework particular discovery zones in every camera's field of view. As it were, you get what you pay for. Flicker's estimating is an awesome arrangement, however thusly it's an essential camera framework that doesn't take into account much customization or adaptability.

At the point when most surveillance cameras need to find oblivious, they utilize a blend of infrared lights or inconspicuous LEDs that don't plainly sparkle out onto individuals in the room. Not Blink. Rather, every camera has a super-splendid LED that turns on promptly when it needs to record movement in low-light. The Blink about blinded me when I strolled into my lounge room mid one morning while the framework was furnished. On the off chance that I were a thief, I would have known in a split second that somebody was watching me. No other surveillance camera I've utilized does this. Gratefully, the application releases you into the individual camera's inclinations and set the light's force to low, medium, or high.

I couldn't test Blink's new Alexa joining highlight, which permits you to arm, incapacitate, and get data about your framework by means of voice controls. On the off chance that you have an Alexa-empowered gadget like the Amazon Echo, you can solicit Alexa to change the status from your Blink framework or even ask it when and where the last video clasp was recorded. In the event that you don't utilize the scheduler in the application, this could be another helpful approach to arm and incapacitate the framework as you're leaving home.Blink application: A fundamental entry to your home

Flicker's Android and iOS applications put your camera sustains up front on the landing page. You can see a current picture caught from every camera, and tapping on the video symbol at the edge of any bolster will convey you to a live stream of what's going on in your home. There's additionally a picture catch symbol that takes a photograph of the present happenings in the event that you'd rather simply observe a still image.My live nourishes were ease back to load, taking no less than five to 10 seconds to fly up. Additionally, I saw that on the off chance that you successfully aggravate the cameras, similar to move them a little or change their area totally, the live sustain will take considerably longer to stack in the application. While seeing, you can kill the volume on or with the upper right corner symbol.

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