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disappointmentthemusical · 2 days

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[A/N: I don't speak Spanish, so the conjugation was based off French. Forgive (and correct) any errors.]

Chris isn't one to brag, but he has a lot of friends. Like, a lot.

Not all of his friends are kids like him (some of them are old like his dad and Buck), but he's still kinda popular at school. He's not the most popular kid, though.

That would be Jesse.

Everyone think Jesse's, like, super awesome — 'cause he is. He always has the newest game for his Switch, he's the fastest kid in their grade, and he was the only one in their class to get all three ice cream scoops and toppings at the multiplication tables party. He's basically the coolest kid Chris knows.

And he invited Chris to his house to play.

To say that this was an honor would be an understatement. Dad and Buck are always telling him that popularity doesn't matter, and it's your "character" that's important. Chris thinks that's all fine — and true (because Dad and Buck know everything, so if they say something doesn't matter, then it doesn't) — but it doesn't change the fact that Jesse is the most popular kid at school. And he wants to be Chris' friend.

Dad has one of his super, really long shifts that weekend — something about covers (?) — so Buck agreed to stay over Friday night and drop Chris off at Jesse's in the morning. The drive over takes a lot longer than Chris would like, but it's not so bad because it means he and Buck can listen to an entire episode of a podcast about pollinators, though Buck says he doesn't care if wasps have a job to do — he's making Dad kill every one that gets in the house.

"Have you seen a wasp, Chris?!" he asks incredulously when Chris can't help but laugh at his obvious fear. "They're huge! One bite could kill me!"

Chris tilts his head back and laughs, clasping his hands together. For such a big man, Buck can be so silly sometimes.

"Oh?" Buck narrows his eyes in the rearview mirror. "You think this is funny, do you? Laughing at my pain, huh?"

Chris covers his mouth his hands, trying to stifle his giggles, but he's not very successful. "No."

"That's fine. This just means I can use you as a shield next time we have one at the house 'cause you're obviously not afraid of them."

This just makes Chris laugh harder. "No!" he cries through giggles. "I'm the kid; you have to protect me from wasps."

"Nuh uh. I'm a scaredy cat, remember? You have to hug me when we watch E.T., and now you get wasp body guard duty 'cause you're so much braver than I."

"E.T.'s not even scary!"

"Um, yes it is? You've seen what he looks like, right? Scary."

They pull up to Jesse's house a few moments later, and Jesse opens the front door before they even get out of the car.

"C'mon," he says, waving his hand for them to hurry up. "I have something I want to show you!"

"Jesse! Manners." A short round woman steps up behind him who Chris assumes is Jesse's mom.

Buck sticks a hand out to the woman when they get to the door. "Hi, I'm Buck. It's nice to meet you. Thanks so much for having Christopher over."

"Beth," Jesse's mom says, shaking Buck's hand. "And it's no worries; Jesse's been looking forward to this all week. We're happy to have him."

Buck opens his mouth, and Chris knows it's going to be grown up stuff like Chris' allergies and pick up time, so he tugs on Buck's shirt to get his attention.

"Can we go play now?" He pouts his lip in a way knows will make Buck forget about correcting him for being "rude."

"Yeah, yeah," Buck says with a sigh and runs a hand through Chris' hair. "Gimme a kiss, and I'll see you later, buddy."

Chris tilts his head to receive his forehead kiss goodbye. "Bye, Buck, love you. Please make tacos for dinner."

Buck's breath puffs against his face when he laughs before straightening back up. "Yes, sir. Tacos it is. Now go play — and be good. Love you."

Chris offers him a small wave before following Jesse inside. He can still hear Buck and Mrs. Jesse's Mom talking when the door closes, though he ignores it in favor of taking in the size of Jesse's house. It looked big on the outside, but the inside is even bigger. Hopefully Jesse will be down to watch a movie on the huge TV he spots mounted on the far wall.

"Why do you call your dad by his name?" Jesse asks as they walk through the living room to the backyard.

"Buck? Oh, that's because–" Chris cuts himself off, frowning. Why does he call Buck by his name? "I dunno."

He guesses it's because he can't call Buck "dad," 'cause Dad is Dad. (Sometimes Daddy, but not so much anymore 'cause Chris is a big boy, and only babies call their dad "daddy." Well, big boys also call their dad "daddy" after nightmares or when they're sad and want hugs, but those are special occasions and don't count.) Buck is, well, Buck.

But Buck is also like his other dad, isn't he? So shouldn't he call him something different? Before, when Buck was just his best friend, calling him his name was OK, but things are different now. They've been through a lot together, and Buck is more than just his best friend — plus he makes food better than anyone Chris knows. Maybe not Abuela, but close. So "Buck" isn't good enough, anymore.

He's not able to think about it much longer because Jesse shrugs his shoulders — he doesn't care enough about the question to be bothered by Chris' non-answer — and asks if Chris wants to see the dead snake he found behind his mom's rose bush the other day. Chris, never having seen a dead thing before, readily agrees.

Jesse's house is a lot of fun. They play outside for a while, looking for cool bugs, though Jesse's mom says they're not allowed to bring them inside. She eventually calls them in for lunch, which is sandwiches and mac'n'cheese. It's fine. Not as good as Buck's, though, and Chris wonders briefly what the difference could be — does Buck put extra love in Chris' sandwiches? — before Jesse offers to show him his Switch.

Jesse has a bunch of cool toys and gadgets — like, all of the ones Chris has seen on TV during commercials — and he's a really good sharer, so Chris gets to try them all. It's pretty fun, but he's tired by the time Buck comes to pick him up.

On the drive home, Buck puts on another podcast — this one about what Christopher Columbus was really like — and they listen to it quietly. Chris watches Buck from the back seat and thinks about Jesse's question.

Is it bad to call Buck his name?

He remembers one time when he tried calling Dad his name 'cause a girl on TV called her dad his name, and it made Dad, like, really sad. Not sad like he cried, but Chris could tell that it hurt his feelings. He'd spent the night in Dad's bed after that to cuddle, and he never tried to do it again.

Does it make Buck sad that Chris calls him his name?

"Whatcha thinkin' about back there, bud?" Buck asks, eyebrows furrowed in the rearview, giving himself what Chris likes to call his Wi-Fi lines.

Chris thinks about telling Buck about Jesse's question but decides not to. It's good to think about things before making a decision, and Chris doesn't feel like he's thinked enough.

"Can I tell you later?"

Buck nods his head. "All right, you let me know when you're ready to talk. Just remember that I love you, and there's nothing you can't tell me or Dad, OK?"

"I know; I love you, too. I'm still thinkin', though."

"And that's OK, too."

When they get home, Chris goes to his room to build his legos, while Buck continues dinner prep. Tia Pepa gave Buck a tortilladora as a surprise gift, so now Buck refuses to have tortillas that aren't made by hand in the house. Dad thinks Buck is being silly, but Chris doesn't mind it. It's fun to help Buck press the tortillas, even if it takes a while to make them all, and they taste the best in the whole world (except for Abuela's).

In his room, he doesn't actually build legos. Instead, he rips a piece of paper out of his school notebook and sits down on his bed, pencil against his chin. His teacher at school said sometimes it's better to draw out thoughts to help organize them, just like how he has to count sticks sometimes when he's doing math. Maybe this will help with the "Buck" question.

At the top of the page, he writes "dad" in big letters and underlines it, then he puts a bullet point underneath. Biting his lip, he hesitates for a second before writing "strong" in his neatest handwriting. Another bullet point.

"Fire fiter."

"hansum."

He taps his pencil on the page. What else?

"Loves Chris and Buck."

"Loves Abwella."

"Loves Tia Pepa."

"Funny."

"Likes to wach fiteing"

"Hates Hildy."

"Best at pushing the swings."

Looking over his list, he counts how many bullet points he has under his breath. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10. Ten things about Dad that make him a dad.

He flips the page over and writes "Buck" in big letters and underlines it. He puts down 10 bullet points down the page and doesn't wait to write down the first several points.

"Strong."

"Fire fiter"

"hansum."

"Loves Chris and Dad."

"Loves Abwella."

"Loves Tia Pepa."

Those are all the same, but Dad and Buck can't have the same lists because Dad is Dad and Buck is, well. That's the question, isn't it?

Chris stares at the page, thinking hard. What are things that make Buck like his dad, but not his Dad?

His pencil hovers above the page for a second before he nods and writes his answer down.

"Cries alot."

But he doesn't cry a lot because he's sad, though, right? It's a different type of crying, the kind that makes Dad's eyes crinkle in a smile, even though his mouth doesn't move.

He adds another point.

"Silly."

Buck also likes to read books with Chris, and not all the books are adventure books. Sometimes they're books with the author's purpose to inform (just like he learned about in school), and Buck also puts on learning podcasts in the car. That has to mean something.

He writes "smart."

OK, just one more. What should he write, though? It's kinda funny to think that he knows Bucks so well, just like Buck knows him, but he can't think of all the things he knows when he wants to. Dad says he and Buck are starting to forget things 'cause they're old. Maybe Chris is getting old, too.

He takes a deep breath through his nose and hums when he can smell dinner cooking. Buck is so good at cooking. He wishes Buck could move in so that they could always eat Buck's food.

Oh! That's a good point.

"Good cooker."

There, that's 10 things that make Buck his dad.

What now?

Before he can continue think-writing, Buck calls him for dinner.

"Wash your hands, buddy," Buck says when he enters the kitchen.

Chris shakes a finger at him. "En español, por favor."

"Ah," Buck says, shaking his head and smiling, "sí, sí. Lava tú manos, mijo."

A few months ago, Abuela had made an offhand comment that Chris' Spanish wasn't very good anymore, and Dad had kinda freaked out, just a little. From what Chris understands, he feels like he's done a bad job teaching Chris because they usually only speak English at the house, though Chris doesn't feel like this is all Dad's fault. Mom hadn't even known Spanish, and Grandma and Abuelo speak English with him, too.

But now Abuela and Tia Pepa only speak Spanish when he's with them, and Dad made it a rule that they speak only Spanish during meals. As a result, Buck is learning Spanish, too. (Though, apparently, he already knew some because he used to live in Peru, but he had a funny accent that's only now getting better. It used to make Tia Pepa laugh to hear him speak.)

Just like Chris knew it would be, dinner is delicious. He's unable to fully enjoy it, though, because he's still thinking about dad-Buck. What's he supposed to call him?

Buck must notice that he's distracted because, unlike usual, he lets Chris get away with answering only a few questions about his play date. The rest of the meal is spent in comfortable silence.

"Ayúdame a lavar los platos," Buck says, collecting their plates. "Luego, lavate y acuéstate."

"Will you read me a story?" Chris asks and shrugs at the look Buck gives him. What? Dinner's over.

He spends his time in the bath thinking some more. What are other names to call a dad? Chris is only aware of two, and it would be too confusing to have to have Dad and Daddy when sometimes Dad is Daddy, too. What else is there?

It's not until halfway through his bedtime story — a chapter book about a porcelain rabbit named Edward — that it hits him. Of course! It's so obvious. How could he have not thought of it earlier?

Buck puts the book aside, marking their page with a bookmark Chris got from the Scholastic Book Fair a month ago, and tucks the covers under Chris' body, pressing a firm kiss into his forehead.

"Buck?" Chris asks before Buck pulls away completely.

"Yeah, buddy?"

"I'm ready to talk about what I was thinking about."

"Oh," Buck says, resettling on the edge of Chris' bed. "OK. What's up?"

"Well," Chris starts but then pauses, biting his lip. He sends Buck an unsure look. What if Buck doesn't want him to call him anything but his name? What if he gets mad? Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, after all.

Buck runs a soothing hand through his hair, though, and it makes him relax. "Whatever you have to say, buddy, I promise you it's gonna be all right. If it's a problem, I'll do everything I can to help fix it, OK?"

Nodding his head, Chris releases a breath. This is Buck. Buck loves him, and he loves Buck, and it's going to OK, just like Buck promised.

He decides to say it all at once:

"Jesse asked me why I don't call you 'dad,' and I didn't know what to tell him 'cause you're my dad, but Dad's Dad. A-and I remembered that it made Dad sad when I called him his name, and I don't want you to be sad that I call you 'Buck,' but I wasn't sure what I should call you, but I think I know now."

Buck had a really strange look on his face. His face was red and his eyes were really wide (so wide, Chris was a little afraid they might fall out) and wet, like Buck was going to cry.

Oh, no.

Was Buck upset? Is he going to cry because of what Chris said? Oh, no.

Before he could get too nervous, though, Buck bent down and gave him a huge, squeezing hug, pressing kisses on his face and hair. Chris giggled when it tickled.

"You can call me whatever you want, buddy," Buck said, leaning back but not releasing Chris. "I love you like you're my own son, and that won't change, even if you want to keep calling me 'Buck.'"

"I don't want someone else to ask me, though. I don't like it that they might think you're not my dad."

"OK, what would you like to call me?"

"Well, Dad's 'dad,' and I don't know any other words in English to call you, so I thought, maybe, I could call you 'papí,' 'cause me and Dad are hispanish."

"Hispanic," Buck corrects gently, smiling at him. "And I think that sounds perfect. Thank you, Christopher. I don't think you know how much this means to me."

"I love you, Papí."

"I love you, too."

The next morning when Chris comes down for breakfast, Dad's already at the table, drinking a cup of coffee, while Papí scrambles eggs on the stove.

"Dad!" he says, rushing over to give his dad a hug.

Dad stands and picks him up under his arms, swinging him around before squeezing him in a hug.

"Hey, mijo," he says with a big smile. "Papí was just telling me about you two's conversation last night."

Chris picks his head up from where it's resting on Dad's shoulder and sends him a look. "Is that OK? You're still Dad, but Papí's also my dad and I thought–"

"Hey," Dad says gently, running a hand up and down his back, "it's all good. You're right; Papí is like your other dad, and I know he loves you just as much as I do, and that's a whole, whole lot. We're family, no matter what, and it's good to use words that fit that."

"Yeah," Chris agrees, snuggling back into his dad's arms. "We are family."

So, yeah, Chris had a lot of friends, and some of them were old. But he also had two dads, and that was even cooler than any of Jesse's toys.

#911 abc #drabble #eddie diaz #evan buckley #buck x eddie #evan buck buckely #buddie #christopher diaz #fic #911 fic #911 show #911 fox

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jamiedc-they-them · 2 days

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Good People Part V - Can't Be For Nothing (Platonic)

Summary: War. Revelations of two-hundred years ago, and of a night that won't leave your mind. A new world is seemingly born; as is a new family.

Episodes 7/8

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Note: Thank you all for following this journey! I will probably do a post mortem on it; exploring my ideas going in, what changed and such. Hope you enjoy it when that comes! I'll link it here when I write it!

"We don't have oysters in my vault," Lucy says, making you and Maximus turn around, "we have canned tuna. But, if you like oysters, I'm pretty sure you'll like canned tuna," you both don't know what to say. You both look at each other, then back at Lucy, and just nod. Maybe. Maybe not.

She chuckles, nervously. Then --

"I was supposed to marry a stranger from another vault," she blurts out.

"I thought you were meant to marry your cousin?" you question.

"Wait, what--?!"

"Well," Lucy says, correcting you on the timeline, "I was. But, I didn't really want to. I didn't feel a - connection. I guess I...I did with this one...as he - as he, uh, as he stabbed me. But, look, my point is, I don't have the best luck when it comes to strangers. But...Titus...Y/N...you are the best strangers that I have ever met. You're good people. You deserve nice things. You deserve a home, and a roof over your head. And to not have to fight anymore. And, if you wanted to, you could both come and live with us in Vault 33."

There's a look in her eyes as she looks at Maximus - Titus, the knight who isn't a knight; he'd told you before the whole thing in the vault happened. Sure, you didn't like being lied to about his identity; but, a good person was a good person - and it's a look you've seen before. Romantic love. Attraction. Even out here, it blossoms.

You never wanted that in your life. Friendships were enough for you. So, as quietly as you can, you back away. You go through the doors, letting your friends have their moment together.

It gives you a moment to process. Maximus. Why'd he be honest with you at first? Why not lie. Maybe it was getting too hard for him. Maybe he thought, one slip would be ok. He bet right, it seemed. You didn't tell anyone. Maybe you were a good person. Maybe you did deserve a second chance at life. Another sis-

"Hey," Lucy says, as she leaves with Maximus. He nods to you, you nod back.

"Are you both all square?" you ask.

She looks to Maximus, nodding with a soft smile, "yeah, we're good," she looks back to you, "you ok with a roomie in the vault?"

You look at Maximus, "he ain't so bad company, for a non-red," he snorts at your wording, "I think we'll manage."

Lucy nods, a spring in her step as she walks, leading the way, "let's go get that head, and go home, huh?"

Maximus stands next to you, "ready to go home?" he asks, looking at you.

"Yeah," you say, arms folded. You bump your arm on his, "let's go home."

You, finally, find Thaddaeus, as he sits near a radio station. You see the booby traps, but all three of you pause. Perception working in tandem.

Gunshots are next. However, luck seems to intervene. They all miss. Still, the hands go up. You're not a threat to him. You just want the head.

If anything, though, he's a threat to himself. As he backs up, an arrow goes through his neck. However...he lives still.

His reaction:

"Aw, no! Awwww!"

Then you hear it. Your pulse picks up. Your hand goes into a fist. You feel the nails break skin.

Vertibird. The Brotherhood are here. Your breath picks up.

Maximus breaks one of the heads left behind. He says things to Lucy, then to you. He looks concerned, but doesn't have time to help. He gives you a light push. Lucy takes your hand. Everything sounds underwater. The only thing you can hear is that fucking Vertibird.

You follow Lucy. She keeps a grasp on your hand. You take her gun, just in case.

You make it far away. Or, what you hope to christ constitutes too far away.

You lean against a dead tree, going down to your knees.

Lucy puts the fresh - well, not really fresh, but new - head into a bag and ties it to her belt, before kneeling down next to you. She's seen you feel. But, never to this extent.

"Ok. Ok. Okey Dokey, Luce, you can do this. You can do this. Your friend needs you. Your friend needs you," she tells herself. The old self is still there.

"Y/N?" she asks, softly, "Y/N, I need you to look at me. Focus on my voice," she says. Chet would sometimes get overworked with things. So, she had some practice. But never with someone so trapped in themselves as you.

"Are - is touch ok?" that breaks through, and you nod.

"Ok. Ok, that's - that's, uh, that's good. That’s good, Y/N,” she may be out of her depth - but you need her, and so she’d do all she could, “that’s good. Can you try to take some breaths with me?”

She takes a deep one in. You follow. She sees you now. Whatever the Brotherhood had done before, it had destroyed you.

“Do you wanna tell me what happened?” she asks.

“Just…” you take some more breaths, “just bad memories of the Brotherhood,” you chuckle, but it’s anything but a laugh, “Jesus, Luce. Whatever is in that head, it’s gonna change the world, whoever get their hands on it. You know,” you say, smiling a bit, “we could just run. You and me, huh? Just not let anyone get that fucking head.”

Despite what Lucy would leave behind, she smiles, “it’s a nice idea,” she says, “but, I need to get my dad back. I need to know why Moldaver took him. I need to put this all behind me, one way or another. That,” she stands up, and offers you a hand, “and I made you a promise. A place in my vault. Safety. This place sucks, but it sucks a lot less with someone by my side. And, I’m not leaving you. I’ll wait as long as I need to.”

You’ve seen loyalty like that before. Or had seen it. It hadn’t been followed through on. But, here was someone who you had known for two weeks, who was following through on a thing someone who you had known your entire life didn’t do.

So, you nod. You can tell her later your full trauma. Right now, she needs you.

You take her hand, and continue along your way. You hope Maximus is ok. And, selfishly, you hope he can buy you the time you need to get this done.

You make it to your destination. Finally, People with guns surround you, but neither of you flinch. The doors open, and in you go.

You walk through a garden, seeing kids running around. A community. Home. Safety. Family. Life continues on, even throughout all of this shit.

Lucy and you get to the entrance to the observatory. Lucy is let in, but you aren’t.

“No,” she says, voice firm, “they come too. They’re family. Moldaver doesn’t get this head if Y/N doesn’t come with me.”

Begrudgingly, the man lets you pass.

You reach the doors.

“You ready?” you ask your best friend. She takes a deep breath in, and nods.

“As I’ll ever be.”

“Hey,” you say, nudging her, “I’m right here, ok? Like I said, offer still stands.”

She smiles, “I know.”

You enter the room. It’s a grand view, you’ll give it that. See almost the whole wasteland from here.

You stay back, keeping an eye on things from afar.

“I’ve had a lot of time to think about this moment,” Lucy says to Moldaver, “you wouldn’t believe the things that went through my head. One night…I, I actually tried to stuff a grenade into the neck hole; but, I guess I thought that, really, I was gonna walk in here and…blow everybody up. But it's not really how I was raised. That, and I was stopped by that person over there,” she nudges her head to you. You give a wave, a sarcastic one as you then go back to keeping an eye on thing. So, if you don’t mind, I’m gonna keep things civil.”

Moldaver takes what she needs. It wasn’t his head after all. It was his neck. A blue, small, shining little thing that caused all this bloodshed?

She then makes Lucy an offer. One to fully learn who her father is. To fully understand how Moldaver knows him; and why she did what she did.

Her father tries to make her not listen. He even looks to you, “you can stop this, you know. She’s your friend, protect her!” He demands.

You look at him, and a part of you wants to. You look at Lucy, she does a slight - almost unnoticeable, but not to you - shake of her head.

“It’s her choice,” you say. The man snarls at you.

Moldaver continues. She tells a story. A story about how her father had been around for a long time.

“Part of an organisation that thought they had the answers to all the world’s problems…” she continues the story. Saying about the people he was a part of. Vault Tec.

“He never told you where he’s really from, when he’s from. He never told your mother, either…”

Lucy takes the bait. Your hand moves towards your gun. Her father may be in a cell, but he’s a dangerous man - who has been around for a long time.

Lucy is described as just like her mother: kind, loving, curious.

“Isn’t that why you came to the surface? Moldaver asks, “partly to rescue your father, but…to know why I took him.”

Lucy looks at you. She’s been read like a book.

Moldaver then looks to you, “have I seen you before?”

You look at Moldaver, tilting your head before shaking it.

She studies you for a moment. Then, her eyes light up in realisation. They’re not cruel, though. Just realisation. That’s the only look in her eyes.

“Ah. Y/L/N, right?” she takes your frozen stance as a ‘yes’ before continuing, “I knew her.”

“...’Knew’?” you ask, throat tightening.

“Stop,” Lucy’s dad says. You don’t know why. There’s a slight ringing in your ears.

“Lucy deserves to know the truth,” Moldaver spits at the man, eyes still firmly locked on yours, “so Y/N does too. You came all this way with her, to deliver something for someone you didn’t even know. That sounds like your sister to me,” it’s not said tauntingly. It’s not said with any negative connotation. It’s just simply said.

“You knew her?” is all you can repeat.

Moldaver nods, “I did. She thought you died out there, that night the raiders came. The night the Brotherhood made their own mess of things. She survived. Barely, but, she did survive. We took her in. She helped us anyway she could. Some sort of thanks, but also I think a punishment to herself for seemingly losing you,” you look to Lucy, who looks in concern, but also a hunger to know - to know about herself and her mother, and how her father ties into all this; a hunger to know about you, about what made you this way.

Curious, as Moldaver said.

“She was a fighter,” Moldaver continues, “just like you are. Sure, you can shoot and hit things. But, you, no. No, you are more in battle up here,” she says, tapping her head, “now, that is a battle I can fully respect. It isn’t easy fighting a battle like that. Wanting to hurt people, and yourself,” your eyes drift, meeting the eyes of Lucy’s father. He doesn’t say anything.

“No, don’t look at him,” Moldaver says, “he doesn’t care about hurting anyone. He’d hurt his own daughter before he got hurt himself.”

“How dare –!”

“How’d she die?” you ask. The words were easier to come out than you thought. Your eyes go back to Moldaver. Your fist clenches again. You feel it pierce skin.

“I think you know,” Moldaver says, a bit of empathy slipping through.

You blink, or try to blink, the tears away, “raiders.”

She nods.

You cave inwards. You hear your heartbeat. You hear echoes of your sister’s voice. You feel everything you did on that night. The fear. The pain as a wound opened up from a knife. The relief at the Brotherhood arriving. The dread at them just cutting everything and anything down. You played dead. You remember waking up hours later, on top of the rotting pile of one of your friends who had left you for raiders. You remember looking around, not finding your sister. The panic. Then the pain. Then the rage. Then the numbness. You lost…it couldn’t have been years, could it? It could’ve been for all you knew. You just wandered. And hurt. Sometimes even got pissed on. Sometimes did the pissing. You were sometimes the victim, and sometimes the aggressive. Sometimes innocent. Sometimes guilty.

You hear the alarm, then feel someone grab your arm. Your eyes open, it’s Moldaver. She nods to the door. Your fingers are removed from your flesh. You gasp. Moldaver gives you a pat on the arm, before leaving with her people. You run to the massive hole in the building, seeing the Brotherhood arrive. You pray with everything in you that Maximus isn’t in one of the suits. You look to Lucy, then nod. You go to the door.

As if having sixth sense, Lucy turns around and sees you heading for the door, “where are you going?!” she asks, alarmed.

You pause at the door, hand hovering just over the handle.

“Y/N? Where are you going?”

You don’t turn to look at your friend. Instead, you shut your eyes and answer:

“I’ll buy you some time.”

“What–? What, Y/N that’s - that’s suicide!” She moves forward, grabbing your arm, making you turn to look at her.

What she sees makes her pause.

It’s the same look she gave Norm when she hid him. A protective fire. One that could be used for limitless energy just like the Cold Fusion that everyone was fighting over.

It’s then. Right then and there, she lets herself say it to herself.

Sisterly. It is sisterly, how she feels towards you. You were like Norm, someone she just accepted and would do anything for. You’re family.

You seem to have that same realisation. Given the look in your eyes.

It is the sibling telling the other: I will sort this out. Do not come out until then. I love you.

But, instead of a camera reel burning to project the living hell being brought down upon you all. The whole world seems to be burning that fiery red instead. Burning and crumbling down all around you.

Just like with Norm, that assurance doesn't work. She grips your arm tighter.

“Please.”

You put the hand that was hovering around the door on top of hers, squeezing it.

“I’m coming back,” you promise.

“Don’t make a promise you can’t keep.”

You shake your head, “I ain’t. ‘Cause them out there, they’re fighting for power. Some, dumb thing such as that in a world that lost control years ago.”

“Then - then why are you going out those doors?”

You smile, “I already let one sister down. I ain’t doing that again.”

With that, you pull your arm free, and open the door. You give Lucy one more nod, before shutting it behind you.

She gulps. Then she hears ringing in her ears. As all that she has learned about her mother, father, upbringing, everything, comes crashing down upon her.

You remember one of your first kills. A man was trying to kill yourself and your sister. He had knocked her out. He had punched you a few times and the world was spinning. You had spat blood onto the floor as the man moved over to your sister. With whatever strength you had left. You got up, charged him, and had him on the floor this time. You punched him a few times, before sticking your teeth into his neck. His gurgled scream didn’t mean anything to you. You just had this anger. This protective fury to you. You ripped out the piece of his throat that you had taken, spitting it out.

Your sister was standing next to you the next moment, you both watching the man bleed out. She only reached a hand out to you. You took it. You held it for a while after. A bloodsoaked hand. But a promise to never let go. To keep going together.

Fate had other ideas. The Brotherhood had their goals. But they mistook you for raiders it seemed. Or just couldn’t see shit in those helmets of theirs when they started firing. It was only you and your sister and at that point, you didn’t mourn them much. But, that fire of knowing - or, at least, knowing as you did at the time - that your sister had been seemingly killed as well…it made you punish yourself. It made you never fully heal after fights. It made you never fully accept help.

And yet, that damn Lucy Maclean had come into your life, and given you something you never thought you’d have again:

Hope.

You remember that hope as you fir each round - you are a decent shot, especially for someone who has no actual training with them - and hit most of your targets. You take weapons from fallen people where you could.

A bullet hits your piece of cover. You heard footsteps. Your latest weapon had clicked ages ago. So, you wait…and wait. And then –

You dive, tackling the person to the floor. They block a punch, before you get one in and –

A bullet slams into your shoulder, sending you to the ground.

“No!” you hear a familiar voice say. You blink, adjusting to the searing pain and the daylight. It’s Maximus, with a friend of his, “they’re my friend! They’re my friend!” he says.

“Oh shit!” his friend says, dropping to one knee, dragging you out of the way. The war itself is distraction enough.

“Where’s Lucy?” Maximus asks you.

You have a hand to your shoulder. One his friend removes as they put a Stimpack into your arm. You groan at it, before answering him:

“Upstairs…with her father.”

“Is she alive?”

“The more you piss around here, not likely,” you say.

Maximus nods. He looks to his friend, “go,” they say. He nods, and pats you on the arm and leaves.

His friend stays with you, “I’m sorry,” they say.

You nudge your head to the door, “go. Don’t get caught out here.”

They look like they wanna stay, then realise why you’re saying that. The Brotherhood are brutal. They only let Maximus live due to loyalty. They nod, leaving too, but a few extra rounds find their way onto the floor.

Good deeds and all that, Lucy would say.

The battle seems to be dying down. And you are just plain dying. Another shot had hit you. This one closer to your chest. You had stumbled your way into the building, seeing dead Brotherhood members around you.

You collapse, growing weaker by the moment. You hate it, having your promise be broken. But, you tried. You fought them off as best you –

“Aw, hell,” you hear a gruff voice say. A hand grabs your arm, and you are hoisted up; your arm going around someone’s shoulders, “we gotta stop meeting like this, sunshine.”

You look, and see the Ghoul who had taken you hostage.

“Ah,” he says, “don’t talk. You’re the silent one. I like that about you. Only talk when necessary,” he begins to move you to the stairs, “now, don’t worry about these ones. They’re all taken care of. But, I do need a word with Mister Maclean. And, I do think that if little Miss Lucy finds out I left you to die, she might do more than rip off my finger, this time.”

He gets you to the room. He opens the door and goes in, leaning you against a wall. You stumble in as best you can, looking worse and worse by the second.

“Uh-uh,” The Ghoul says when Hank Maclean looks at you, “don’t look at them. You look at me, now,” Hank complies.

You make your way over to Maximus and Lucy. Getting to the floor with at least a bit of grace. Lucy looks at you, eyes going wide.

You reach out with your hand not on your wound, and cover Lucy’s. A bloodsoaked hand. But a promise to never let go. To keep going together.

“You look out at this wasteland,” the Ghoul says, “it looks like chaos. But there’s always somebody behind the wheel.”

He knows Lucy wants to know how he knows her father. But makes an offer. You can stay here, wait for Maximus to wake up, but you won’t be spared - hell, you were by a sheer stroke of luck - or, you go with him, and meet your makers.

“You coming?” he asks you.

Lucy squeezes your hand. Your vision goes hazy. Time is running out. A gunshot goes off. Lucy’s mother dies.

You feel hands on your arm as you are once again lifted up. Lucy is holding you. Even now, she’s gentle.

You realise what you are then, to each other: an anchor.

Something pulling the other ashore. Making sure they don’t get lost in the madness of this world.

You feel a jab in your side. Another fucking stimpack. Christ you hope a dependance doesn’t follow with these.

You see the Ghoul again, “one for the road.”

You nod. To your surprise, so does he.

Lucy takes your hand.

“You ok?” she asks. You nod, feeling a bit stronger.

“Okey Dokey,” she says. This time, not as bright in tone. One that isn’t entirely flat either. More of relief, a tired relief. A want for rest. But also one that tells you she understands now. This world was dark and painful. There were few light spots in it for hope.

Her hand in yours, tells you she understood your own realisation. You are a bright spot in each other’s lives. A friend to always be there.

So, off you walk together. Her father was gone, in more ways than one. He had fled like a coward. She’d almost shot him. She wanted to.

Her family was now down to two members:

Norm - her little brother. The one she’d always protect.

And you - a sibling she found out here. One that would protect her just as much as she did you.

It wasn’t much. But it was something.

It wasn’t all for nothing, coming up here. It wasn’t all for nothing, delivering that head.

A new world was coming through. It was fighting.

Now, it was the time for monsters.

She was just glad you weren’t one of them.

#lucy maclean x reader #lucy maclean fallout #lucy fallout #lucy maclean #lucy maclean x you #lucy maclean imagine #fallout x reader #fallout imagine #fallout #fallout x you #maximus x you #maximus imagine #maximus x reader #maximus fallout #the ghoul #the ghoul x reader #the ghoul x you

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do-it-for-the-fandom · 2 days

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Cloudy With a Chance of Murder.

This is the first part that will stray from the canon story-line a little. But it won't change anything, it's just more of a little detour. We are picking things up the morning after Castle's TV interview where he says yes to a date with Kristina Coterra. This kind of runs along with the scene in the episode, then we verge off for the next part (coming ASAP, I promise!).

Part I: leaving the crime scene.

Part II: the phone call.

Part III: a visit to the morgue.

Part IV: the lunch break.

Part V: lunch part II.

Part VI: the perfect cover.

She was fuming.

And she had every right to do so!

Kristina Coterra had made a move, asked him out. The nerve. Not that she had done anything wrong, exactly. Castle was, for all intents and purposes, a single man in the eye of the public. Beckett had insisted on the whole 'pretend to be single' thing...

So, maybe she didn't have every right to be fuming.

But still, pretending to be single in public and going on a date - an actual date - with another person were two totally different things! One was protecting their relationship, the other was just flat out disrespecting it. And to think they were off to such a good start.

She had left the studio in a fit of anger, leaving Castle to find his own way home.

Maybe Kristina could give him a lift, she thought to herself as she drove away from the lot.

She didn't hear from him that night.

The next morning, she headed straight to the precinct. She'd had time to reassess the situation, to calm down. She wasn't seeing red anymore, wasn't consumed by anger. She was, however, hurt.

Insecure.

Maybe even a little jealous.

"You left," he accused without so much as a good morning.

She gave him a quick glance over her shoulder. "I had work to do," she lied.

"When I came back here last night they said you hadn't come back after we left together."

She felt a twinge of guilt in the pit of her stomach; she hadn't expected him to have headed back here to try and find her. And she knew - because she knew him - that he had probably wanted to head straight to her apartment afterward to see her, possibly even apologize to her, but he didn't. Because he knew her too. He knew she needed time to cool off.

She sighed and closed the filing drawer she had been digging through.

"Fine," she relented - but her pride wouldn't back down that quickly. "I went home."

"You're upset."

"Why would I be upset?" she asked as she pushed her way past him. "It's not like you're going out with some super hot TV personality or anything," she said bitterly. She stopped her journey to escape, turned on her heel and looked at him through narrowed eyes. "Oh, wait; yes you are."

"I'm doing it for us," he claimed.

A bold claim, really. Dating another woman - a woman known for crossing boundaries, for baring her body for the sake of entertainment - in order to protect the sanctity of what was theirs; what an insane notion. She had no words: no sarcastic quips, no arguments, no questions or queries... nothing. His idea of doing this for us had left her utterly speechless.

She turned, once again, and stormed away.

"Kate!" he called out after her, but she wouldn't stop.

She heard the heavy fall of his footsteps as he rushed to catch up. Halfway down the staircase, he was by her side.

"I'm telling you, it's the perfect cover," he insisted enthusiastically. "No one's gonna suspect us if they know I'm going out with Kristina."

As if to prove his point, Esposito approached from the hallway with a boyish grin on his face.

"Yo, Castle! Nice work with Coterra, bro."

Beckett couldn't contain the frustrated roll of her eyes as they bumped fists like teenaged boys in the locker room, bragging over their latest pursuits. And as soon as Espo was out of earshot, Castle looked at her with a smug grin.

"See? Perfect."

She hated to admit it, but he might have actually been onto something.

That didn't mean she had to like the idea.

"Yeah, it's perfect," she said without a single ounce of conviction in her voice. "So, how far do you plan on taking this date?" she dared to ask.

And she hated her voice for failing to hide how insecure she felt in this moment, hated her mind for even allowing such thoughts to consume her, hated Castle's apparent oblivion to it all.

"Well, I'm taking her out to a fancy dinner," he informed her oh-so-casually. "Some place romantic where everyone will see us; maybe even end up on Page Six. How great would that be?"

She forced a smile. "That'd be- that'd be really great."

And, finally, he realised. "You are okay with this, right?"

She bit her tongue, this wasn't the time.

But Castle had other plans. He grabbed her hand and hurried out of the bullpen, dragging Kate along behind him.

#uh-oh... where are they going???#I hope they're not rushing off somewhere to make out #I mean up. Make up not out.#kate beckett #richard castle #caskett #kate beckett x richard castle #castle #castle fanfiction #castle fanfic #my drabbles

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nixariel · 1 year

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More trivia! (this time with Extra Maps™)

For interest's sake I was trying to figure out where in Poitiers Cleo’s hôtel particulier might be, plus identify the train stations featured during Carmen's trip to Paris—and I think I’ve figured (most of) it out.

First of all, Carmen is supposed to be fifty yards from the townhouse in this shot.

That puts the building somewhere on the east side of the River Clain, slightly north of the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Poitiers, but not too far from what looks like the Pont Joubert (the little bridge in the lower right corner). The Caserne d’Aboville (barracks for the 9e Brigade d'Infanterie de Marine) would be a reasonable stand-in for location, and even looks a little similar in terms of architectural style.

The station Carmen flies in to also bears a more-than-passing resemblance to the real Gare de Poitiers

but the pattern of terrain she passes over doesn’t quite fit with what appears to be a southerly approach.

However! This particular background gets rotated and recycled about ten seconds after initial use (left being its first appearance, rotated for comparison; right is unaltered but from ten seconds later), and if we go by the second version,

the curve of the river is a close-enough fit for having taken a path like so

with the little arrow being her upcoming destination, the Gare de Poitiers. Unfortunately I could not match the station Carmen’s train briefly stops at to a real location en route to Paris

so if anyone recognizes it, please let me know! Which leads me to the other ‘???’ moment I had while working on this because

...yeah. Yeah, I’ve got NO idea what’s going on with Player’s map here. He's got France oriented in the usual 'up is north' way, but that just makes it weirder? Because by that compass, Carmen is moving south—even though Paris is east and NORTH of Poitiers.

Though this show does get a little fuzzy with its geography at times*cough*Interpol's HQ is in LYON*coughcough*and Devineaux’s conspiracy map has the Canary Islands on the WRONG side of Africa*cough*

Anyway, after Player regains Carmen’s signal, her GPS marker is heading in approximately the right direction

answering exactly zero questions about where it was going earlier, but all’s well that still ends (somehow) in Paris, I guess? The Gare du Nord then looks to be the best match for where Carmen makes her exit

even if all direct trains from Poitiers to Paris seem to go to Gare Montparnasse instead.

Update: this seems to have turned into a bit of a series, so check the reblogs to get an episode-by-episode for the rest of S1! A full-show overview is here. Also, the street Chase and Julia are driving down at the very beginning of the episode looks to be none other than the Rue de la Cathédrale, as the structure behind them is consistent with the Cathédrale Saint-Pierre’s south tower. From a cartographic standpoint, it does place them on the wrong side of the Clain as well as moving in the opposite direction of Cleo’s residence, but that’s where the artistic licence comes in, I guess. ;)

#my post #carmen sandiego 2019 #cs 2019 trivia #carmen sandiego #player #countess cleo #every show has a few goofs and in general CS 2019 does a good job of keeping them subtle #but that just makes it more fun when you do spot one XD #like when teenage!shadowsan walked through a table #clearly he started his ninja training early XDD #or when the windows of the San Diego HQ changed from two together to two separate in S2E09 #and then changed right back in the next episode #my gif #reference material #nixariel

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kitnita · 23 days

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whatever, i've reached a state of zen about it all actually. i don't want to blow up the team -otter with my mind anymore. they're just trying to build on the near-reverse-sweep vibes of last year's playoffs and lull all of vegas into a false sense of security by sucking as much as humanly possible

#stars lb #can we get a lineup change next game though. please. for real.#i wanted the ai theming to change after last game & it did so this is the request i'm putting out into the universe now #like w mush & faksy potentially hurt it Has to happen right #for the love of god fix the fourth line #bring back craig smith #fuck it bring back delly #call up mav! he had an insane game for the texas stars last night!! call the boy up and shove him in the pavelski household!!!#we tried the dadonov-faksa-steel thing for whatever fucking reason can we PLEASE move on now that faksa's maybe gone #but anyway!! i'm totally zen!!!#gonna watch early season episodes of project runway & move on!!!!

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bahoreal · 7 months

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the way theyre so out of sync with each in where they are in the relationship (stede is 100% in but ed is hurt and overwhelmed, whereas when they first kissed ed was 100% in but stede was overwhelmed) but they're so weirdly in sync in their view of themself (ed desperately wants to be someone different to improve his view of himself but doesnt know what that is and stede is trying so hard to be different, to be his idealised view of himself - a pirate - even if that doesnt suit him) and when they move too fast theyre liable to just run away (stede to mary, ed to a fishing boat) they keep coming back to each other theyre always circling each other they absolutely love each other but theyre both so bad at dealing with it

#im very intrigued to see what'll change next episode to make them come back together again #ed knew he would be overwhelmed if they fucked but put his feelings to the side because stede was hurting. it wasnt the right decision for #either of them but they're. they're so whim prone when emotions run high they're liable to do anything. ough i cant wait to see how they #like. settle their emotions enough to get together and stay together.#but i know we'll have to waut until f UCKING S3. godamnit #ofmd spoilers

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heartshattering · 15 days

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5 AM

Just me and my overactive mind facing the nighttime again 🙃

#hopefully the meds work but while waiting for them to kick in I get so damn nervous #and sometimes I do get nights where even on my full dose my anxiety is too overpowering and I just. Do Not Sleep #I mean I do eventually but not without spiraling first :')#way before I was prescribed sleep meds my longest was 3 nights without sleep while on a VERY stressful trip #I felt like I was gonna die and I did not sleep until I got off the plane and was back at home #(this was like 15 years ago already but it still haunts me fhfgsgdh)#my best friend and I were having a conversation today #and she was like 'not sleeping can make you hallucinate right?'#and I was like :') I get the hallucinations in other scenarios too #BUT I also get what she meant #not sleeping is really bad for me mentally which is why I can't do 'sleep restriction therapy'#and fun fact #a lot of my OCD obsessions revolve around sleep!!!#which is 'awesome' because laying in bed with insomnia makes my OCD flare up so like #the two get to feed off each other and make my life a living hell!!!#and don't even get me started on my sleep paralysis episodes #(which I like to think of as just my brain misfiring but that my aunt tells me is saints or demons trying to talk to me)#'cause she hallucinates too but hers are like 'spiritual' or whatever #same with my mom's hallucinations as well #and to add fuel to the dumpster fire of my mind and body is the fact I've been overcaffeinating again #which I've known not to do ever since I was in middle school and saw the pediatric cardiologist who specifically said 'hey don't do that'#fast-forward to adulthood and I still haven't learned how to handle anything #like. I have heart meds and sleep meds and migraine meds and IBS meds #and yes meds are good but like. I know you need to incorporate lifestyle changes as well #which I do for like 2 weeks until the next time I fuck up #I've been so irresponsible lately but like. ESPECIALLY today #didn't eat #took some meds on an empty stomach and forgot to take my other ones at all #had too much caffeine #stressed out over some stupid situations thanks to overthinking

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cherrymoonvol6 · 10 months

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the worst part about flapjack's death is that luz and hunter's friendship died right along with it lmao

#idk it's just funny. TTT goes so fucking far in order to say that luz and hunter have built a strong bond between them #to the point that luz calls him family #then luz is the only one who refuses to fight possessed hunter #she only gets close to him to hug him and do the 'this is not you!' middle school couple trope on him #not only that but flapjack entrusts his powers for luz when he sees what's become of hunter and THAT is what she CHOOSES to do #you know. flapjack who was caleb's palisman. who was there for the entirety of caleb and evelyn's romance to the point that belos-#-considers him a symbol of caleb's betrayal (his love for evelyn)#this is the same flapjack that looks at phillip trying to harm 'caleb' again and decides to literally put his powers in luz's hands #and ultimately his sacrifice means neither caleb or evelyn have to die again #which is kinda confirmed by the way hunter goes like 'there's a reason you and i are alive and here right now and it's because-#-it's our turn to defeat belos' like i didn't even have to reach for this. hunter says it himself #and this is all great and compelling and makes sense except for the fact that the show just forgets about this on the next two episodes #and so where the first episode establishes that luz and hunter are close friends FTF and WAD are like 'do they even know each other?idk idc #and i get to stare at the camera because OBVIOUSLY if hunter and luz were a couple this wouldn't be a problem to begin with #and flapjack's death loses meaning when it turns out that nothing about evelyn or caleb or the previous confrontations between belos and-#-the other grimwalkers has any bearing in the plot anymore #flapjack gave its life to preserve the love that changed the world back then but because it's just never acknowledged it's like. who cares #someone had to die and we can't kill one of the kids #shrugs #sorry i have so much resentment in my heart #but do not get it twisted. it's HILARIOUS to me that TOH is at its most compelling when the lunter/witteclaw parallels are at its strongest #and then shoots itself in the foot when they realize that they paired off both characters with other people #okay that's all i have to say by now #lunter #is this anything

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milo-is-rambling · 10 months

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I am so high I love you dabs I love you big bong rips I love you huge heavy bong I love you only having 20 dollars to my name and no plans but getting high and ignoring it I love you oh no I’m thinking about it

#I want to take an ice cold shower and scream and smoke a whole pack of cigarettes and lock myself in a closet for 72 hours in the dark with #no distractions to figure out what I actually want to do with the rest of my life and to face every bad thought I have and struggle to #ignore even years later like ugh I just need to be at the bottom of the ocean floating sinking alive dead in between for like a month and #then pull me back up and either I’ll be normal or I’ll be so fucked up they just put me back in there #like either way I am vibing at the bottom of the ocean (I have been desperately imaging a sensory deprivation tank all day)#(put me in a fucking sensory deprivation tank until something in my fucking brain rewires and I get worse or better than I am now this #inbetween stage is fucking killing me like what do you mean I’m not a horrible person but also what do you mean I struggle every day but I’m #normal but I have things about me other people don’t and alienate me to the point of near total isolation but also this is just how humans #are and I need to take meds and actively struggle to fit into a perfect little box of what a person should be like god damn I am so tired of #getting better and worse and better and worse and better and worse and better and worse and I’m miserable and I’m happy and I’m sobbing and #I know a month from now I’ll be depressed again or I’ll be the best I’ve ever been and it’s so fucking horrible to be in the middle stage #where I actually have to step up and admit shit is wrong and face it like why can’t I just lay in bed forever until I become the bed and not #like get a job and have a future. ugh. depression is so fucked esp bc most things in my life are normal I guess or like easier than my #friends like we all have seperate challenges but I’m the only one still living off their parents (ha. parent. forgot for a second.) and the #only thing wrong with my life is the mental health issues but I won’t step up and deal with it bc I feel like I’ve been depressed for so #long I like fucked up the foundational shit and like I know it’s fine but also I feel so behind and I feel like I’ll be behind and unhappy #forever even when im happy I know the next depressive episode is right around the corner and I give up again. ugh. I hate knowing that’s #what’s wrong with me but still not having the energy to step up and fix it. im so pathetic I want to cry. my brain is me but my brain is #destroying my life. anyways. im high and now im sad and have dry mouth. I think im gonna drink ice water and change into shorts+lay in bed)

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stinkrascal · 2 years

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i tried using new eye defaults for like a month but alas my heart is owned by remussirion eyes

#i just dont think my sim style works w those cartoony eyes ;(#i love how detailed remussirion eyes are theyre sooooo nice and pretty #especially since they came out with the ghost eyes that are pure white which ive DESPERATELY needed for vlad and niko and carlile and ilya #their eyes always look blue which isnt right. their eyes are supposed to be white #when remus dropped the ghost eyes i knew i had to switch back to remus eyes theyre just <3 the best #having to change all 50+ of my sims eyes was a journey #it took me like two days and 30 episodes of soul eater to finish. oh how i love soul eater #ive been rewatching a lot of anime lately next im rewatching blue exorcist yesssssssssssss

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piperamitt · 9 months

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Rare moment: I have free time and I choose to write in it.

What happened to me?!

#Piperamitt #Like since when am I productive?!#I'm not even home right now #Finished the MAWS episode and went to write a FOP fic that I was suppose to finish 3 months ago #I need a tag for my thoughts #Eh...#Real Piperamitt #Sorry my creative juice is on my fic right now #Will change in the future #Should make it clear that my free time isnt enough to start watching Quinten Review's video #I'm saving that for next week when I'm back home on my comfy bed

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survivedsarchived · 11 months

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i do think s8 has gone a little easy on madison for, you know, being a kidnapper. i think the narrative is leaning more towards "morgan blames himself more than anything" but i think it would have been more accurate to have grace or morgan (or both) be a little more hostile towards madison - yes, morgan is hostile towards her in 801, but only in the sense of "why would you bring wren here?" because they've already committed to this; they have for seven years; it was the right thing is what he kept trying to tell himself, and it was hard to see mo and be confronted with the fact he didn't really want her to go to PADRE but it was the best choice for her to be alive, of course. i would have liked to see him get angry with her for putting them into this position in the first place, because he's more than allowed to be. he and grace both are. because it is her fault, more than anything

#am i making sense. anyway #to ME morgan doesn't trust madison at all.#he wanted to at first because of alicia but it's very hard to believe she's actually changed #because she hasn't really showed anything #he did have that line about her not actually wanting to make things right but trying to clear her conscience #and i hope we lean into that more. i hope he gets to really express his anger #after regressing back to his I Don't Die mindset i think he might be a little more resentful towards her in 806. but :/#i do fear the narrative trying to just force them into being friends. unfortunately #anyway. he's so beloved. hope he kills lots of people next episode #ch: m. jones.#meta: m. jones.

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abluescarfonwaston · 2 years

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In the Ranma 1/2 au Kotetsu transforms into a tiger when splashed with water and obviously the heroes can't just let a wild tiger (no not That wild tiger) run around so he's been captured and transported to the zoos in and around sternbild a few times.

Sometimes he waits until they release him to an exhibit and just 100 powers out of there (usually resulting in some minor accidental damage) and sometimes he just breaks out of the cage. The zoos refuse to take in the Tora at this point (even if the video feeds of him escaping lead to Huge boosts in visitors who want to see the toras paw print left in the wet cement.)

Barnaby isn't particularly aware of the legend of the tora so he tries to catch him the first time they meet. Origami tries to stop him because "It's bad luck to catch a tigers tail!" "... I thought that was foxes?"

Either way Anges keeps the camera focused on the cage and when he breaks free the chat lights up with

The tiger

He's destroyed his cage

Yes

YES

The tiger is out

#ranma 1/2 au #theres this whole mythology around the Tora #and Kotetsu is just like ugh... im going ot get in so much trouble if it comes out #but he Promised the gaurdian of the springs not to tell #more people like you will come and they will drown #and you are the reason they come then their deaths will be because of you #Barnaby: so we know this guys just a vigilante next right #why arent we capturing him #anges who Loves the tora ratings: Youre welcome to try. id love a special episode #bison who's been helping kotetsu change back since the start: ....... im going home

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tobiasdrake · 3 months

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*deep breath* Okay. Here we go.

I don't think the Netflix Avatar show likes women very much. It's a great show for fans of Aang, Sokka, Zuko, and Iroh specifically. All four of those characters get a ton of great material. In fact, it's super great for Sokka stans, because the show takes him ultra-seriously and can't go five minutes without one character or another (usually a woman) praising him.

But the way it handles its female cast is troublesome.

Katara

So, all three of the main trio got some changes made to their stories. They changed Aang's story so that he wasn't running away from his responsibilities; He was just clearing his head and somehow accidentallied himself into a tsunami. Whoopsy-dooodle. Aang did nothing wrong.

They changed Sokka's story so that him being a leader of his people and a great guardian warrior is treated with complete seriousness. Multiple times, characters stop to talk about how brave and noble Sokka is for taking on such an intense responsibility, and tell him to his face what a great warrior and a wonderful leader he is. Also his misogyny is erased.

And they changed Katara's story so that she directly got her mom killed because she sucks at waterbending.

Katara tries to waterbend to attack the Fire Nation soldier but couldn't manage it, provoking the soldier to start actively searching for her and forcing her mom to fake a waterbending attack and draw his fire. They changed Katara's story so that her bad decision making fucking got her mom killed.

This is treated with the same level of severity as "Sokka was bullied by mean kids and also his dad doesn't think he's good enough to be a leader."

"I hoped Sokka would do better but not everyone is meant to have people's lives in their hands," Sokka's dad says of him.

Yeah, you're right, that's totally comparable to watching your mom get barbecued because you tried to waterbend in a situation you shouldn't have and then failed.

In fact, they give Sokka's greatest trauma more weight because it gets examined again with Yue next episode, while Katara actively getting her mom killed isn't brought up again at all. We get traumatized glimpses of it throughout the season leading up to the reveal, but after this scene in episode 5, it never comes up again.

But to be fair, Katara was a child. An event this significant would surely have motivated her, driving her to become the great waterbender she is now, right?

No! Katara sucks at waterbending and needs men who aren't even waterbenders to teach her how to waterbend. She requires instruction from Aang in episode 1 to learn how to waterbend, then from Jet in episode 3 to learn how to waterbend better.

And unlike the show, her relationship with Aang isn't a give-and-take; Katara doesn't teach Aang a single goddamn thing. He never learns to waterbend. She is a strictly a pupil throughout the whole season. Though she at least gets officially labeled a master in episode 8, so there's that.

In any case, the whole traumatic memory thing isn't even the only time she's directly compared with Sokka. Episodes 3 and 4 see Katara and Sokka bicker over whose morally dubious side character is better. Sokka likes the Mechanist and Katara likes Jet.

Ultimately, Katara is forced to eat crow when Jet turns out to be the worst, while Sokka is vindicated when the Mechanist sees the error of his ways and reforms. But not before two separate arguments where Sokka calls Katara childish and accuses her of acting like a little girl.

Arguments ultimately resolved when Katara apologizes to Sokka for not adequately respecting his very serious and ultra important role as village protector and leader. Gives him a whole speech about how great and glorious he is. And Sokka... appreciates Katara learning to respect him properly, I guess, because he never offers any similar sentiments back to her.

The show just... They need you to know how important Sokka is, okay? It's very important that you respect Sokka.

Suki

Suki suffers tremendously from that whole "Sokka's misogyny was removed" thing. Y'know, because they need something else to do with that episode. The show is deeply aware that Suki is Sokka's love interest, so they just do that right off the bat. Suki falls madly in love with him from the moment they meet, and spends the entire episode making goo-goo eyes and trying to get him to Notice Me Senpai.

They still do the "Suki Trains Sokka" stuff. But Sokka is a serious, dignified manly man worthy of the deepest respect now, so of course they don't make him wear the Kyoshi uniform. Instead, the main purpose of his training is to allow them to flirt some more. It's less martial arts training and more an excuse to grope each other and near-kiss.

Suki's just a waifu now. She still fights real good, but all of the stuff that made her relationship with Sokka interesting has been erased.

Yue

Yue, similarly, leaps straight to shipping from the word go. They write out her fiance, Hahn, by having Yue briefly meet Sokka earlier in the season. She spends one minute talking to him in the Spirit World about Spirit World lore; In that time, she falls so desperately, madly, unfathomably in love with him that she breaks off her marriage to Hahn and devotes herself to waiting for him to one day come to her.

"Never have I known such joys as that time you let me explain the spirit bear Hei Bei to you. Truly, we are destined to be together for life."

Like with Suki, they go out of their way to have Yue and Sokka already be a ship from the word 'go' so they don't have to spend time developing any kind of meaningful attraction.

They just. They really want you to know that Sokka is the manliest and most desirable man ever to walk this earth. It is very important that you understand how great he is. Women hurl themselves into his arms with zero effort whatsoever, because he's just so goddamn irresistible.

Fortunately, Hahn is super okay with this turn of events. He's the most chill guy ever, he gets along perfectly well with Sokka, and he completely supports Yue's right to dump him! In the famously misogynistic Northern Water Tribe, no less! What a swell guy. Aren't men swell?

June

June gets hit with that "rewritten as hollow waifu" stick too, but her eyes are set on Iroh. They rewrote June to be super attracted and flirty towards the man who was her unwanted sexual harasser in the source material. So that's fun.

Also, she barely does anything. Zuko hires her to find Aang, she succeeds, and then she fucks right off out of the show - But she manages to find time to express how unbelievably sexy Iroh is twice during that time.

She seriously just dropped into the show to flirt with Iroh and leave. She is unbelievably inconsequential.

Kyoshi

And then there's Kyoshi. They really want you to hate Kyoshi. She's constantly shot from below, as if looking down on Aang and the audience. Her voice takes on a demonic echoing reverb at one point as she's screaming at Aang that "THE AVATAR MUST BE A MERCILESS WARRIOR!!!"

She despises Aang, calling him a coward for running away from his responsibilities - Which, I remind you, is no longer a plot point because they unwrote that flaw from his character. So she's just a complete and utter asshole, shot from the asshole angle, yelling violently at him with asshole sound effects. They want you to despise this woman.

Azula

Awkwardly, they do not seem to want you to despise Azula.

There's a lot to be said for how Ozai treats Azula in the original show. The way the favoritism he shows her is every bit as cruel and manipulative as the unfavoritism that he shows Zuko. Ozai does not love Azula. He loves the reflection of himself he sees in her eyes, and his encouragement urges her to polish herself to ensure his reflection always shines through.

This is not that. The show instead erases the favoritism entirely. Ozai doesn't really care one way or another about either of his kids. He plays them against each other, bragging openly to Azula about how great Zuko is and unpleasably writing Azula off as weak and useless.

They've rewritten the dynamic between abusive father and his two abused kids in order to take Azula's pride away. Reimagining her from a gifted prodigy who excels at imitating the toxic behaviors of a father who doesn't truly care for her, to a put-upon overachiever tearing herself in knots to live up to the standards of her unpleasable father.

This results in a truly wild portrayal of Azula as insecure and jealous of Ozai's seemingly love for Zuko. Here, she is simply a browbeaten child constantly complaining to her friends about how mean her father is and conspiring to get one up over Daddy's Golden Child Zuko.

Which she fails at, because she backs Zhao. Zuko deftly defeats her without even realizing they're in competition.

Conclusion

The season ends well for some of these women. It ends promising that maybe we'll see Katara teaching Aang some day. It ends with Zhao bragging that Ozai just used Zuko to train Azula so maybe we'll see the more confident and misguidedly proud Azula some day. Yue becomes the moon like she's supposed to. June's still out there so maybe she'll get to do something again some day.

Katara gets to fight Pakku and lose, but she looks pretty cool. She gets to fight Zuko and lose, but she looks pretty cool. Azula learns to lightningbend because she's just so mad about Ozai's contempt for her and favoritism for Zuko, which isn't how you lightningbend.

But promises of future content fall flat when the content that exists is so underwhelming. This season made its feelings on these characters pretty evident, and it's unwise to expect better material from creators who've disappointed you with the material they already made.

The women of Netflix Avatar simply do not get to shine, outside of superficial moments like the "Women of Northern Water Tribe demand the right to fight and then fuck off and don't do anything for the entire rest of the episode" bit.

"In the midst of battle, we demand that you stop being sexist and give us permission to fight! This is a way better idea than convincing you to teach us to fight before the battle begins."

The characters of this show feel as if they've been reimagined to glorify the boys at the expense of the girls. The boys are treated with a great amount of care. They're dignified and made important movers of the plot, with their rough edges sanded off. While the girls are molded around them.

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