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#why do all ccs have to fight???? each other???? when we all love and do the same things????

1indigoisles · 4 months

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Can we just step back and take a moment to appreciate the fact that we now have the smallest, tiniest, most insignificant inkling of an idea as to what might happen in TWP?

And that after New Year we will have more small, tiny, insignificant inklings as to what we might get to see?

CC has us all in web woven by her novel universe. I love her.

But gratitude and all aside, it's TWP CrAckPOt ThEorY TImE (by yours truly)!!

I have some pretty random theories and headcanons that I will be randomly spouting around now and for the next couple of days.

Theory #1: Kit gets gold wings.

Hear me out, why not? He's not just any old part faerie, he's the descendant of the First Heir! Also, Clary had a dream in CoLS of two people standing together beside a lake, one with white hair and black wings and the other with gold hair and gold wings. At the time, it was assumed that those two people were Sebastian and Jace, but the pieces are falling together! ASH HAS WHITE HAIR AND BLACK WINGS, can you not tell how excited I am?

Theory #2: The disappearance that Kit and Ty have to investigate is Livvy's.

I mean, does anyone reading this post have other ideas? It would make sense, since Dru would be sucked into Faerie danger, and even if she wasn't, she couldn't really help Ty because she can't even see Livvy. And if we assume that Dru is in Faerie, Kit is literally the only one Ty could go to, since nobody else knows (except for Magnus and Ragnor, who I think would either be too busy or simply refuse to help, thinking that if Livvy had finally truly died, then it would be lucky that the world got off without having to pay for it). Ty would, obviously, try to find Livvy on his own, but the thought that only Kit could help him would be nagging at him the entire time. So either he finally plucks up the courage to ask Kit, or they just bump into each other on their own. Either way, they team up together, very begrudgingly on Kit's part, because he'll be all ice and "I hate you" on Ty. Then, Kit's faerie magic spurts out again in a moment of danger, or in a fight scene where they're outnumbered, and Ty, aside being amazed, interrogates Kit heavily, and when Kit is finally worn off, he tells Ty angrily about his heritage and how if Faerie knew of it, the entire lands would be after him. And even though the thought gives me immense pain, I think that eventually, it's how Jessa dies, and Kit blames himself for it, and added to how he has to take care of Mina and live for her, he absolutely refuses to help Ty any longer. But then, when danger strikes again, his faerie magic comes out in full, Kit gets himself severely injured. And THIS happens:

"Well, it's a bit ironic, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"All that effort to convince you I wasn't in love with you, and here I am, dying in your arms."

[Teaser #6] Link below.

I just realised I gave an entire rant about it, I'll stop now.

Theory #3: What can transpire between Dru, Jaime and Ash.

And I don't mean this just romantically. Dru getting involved in Faerie finally connects the dots, since Ash literally lives there, and Jaime disappeared there. Their storylines probably merge somewhere around TLKoF and they have their own adventures. Also, headcanon; you know how in TDA, Jaime was all distant when he found out that Dru was 13 and not 16, like he'd thought? And how he literally left, like, the next day? So, what I'm thinking is that he was already beginning to crush on Dru, and he was disappointed, not because she hid her age, but because they wouldn't be possible. Okay, okay, I know Jaime said that Dru was like his sister, but that if you go to that scene, you'll find he's speaking after a moment of being silent, perhaps drinking in the situation. I think he says that because he's trying to convince himself that whatever he likes about Dru is just friendly, and nothing more. Now, I know that people don't have the kindest opinions about DruxJaime, because Dru was just a child when they met, but if you really think about it, 13's really not that young, and Dru was really mature for her age. And this 3-year gap is nothing compared to what Lucie and Jesse had going on. Girl meets a 17-year-old-looking boy when she was 6 years old. Can you believe the age gap that I'm too lazy to calculate? So yes, DruxJaime is plausible, it can and will happen, although Dru will obviously end up with Ash. And if CC pulls an open end to Jaime's character like she did to Matthew, I will literally cry. I really dislike open ends, because it fills me with so many questions! I hate not knowing what happens next! I really want Jaime to either end up with Anush or go poly with Thais, which I know is just wishful thinking at this point. Any character will do, CC! Please and thank you!

Okay, I just read this entire thing over, and my self-critic says; this is not a post, this is me ranting. My writing is literally all over the place. I feel like I wrote too much. But I think I got it all out for now. This was fun.

#Honestly this has turned into a Shadowhunters rant.#I tend to dive deep into a topic #I'm sorry #the wicked powers #twp #kit herondale #ty blackthorn #dru blackthorn #ash morgenstern #jaime rosales #anush joshi #thais pedroso #cassandra clare #shadowhunters #theory

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misc-obeyme · 2 months

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CC I'VE BEEN SCREAMING ABOUT THE NEW CARDS SINCE LAST NIGHT, MAMMON LOOKS SO AKDJWJJD, SIMEON TOO BUT MAMMON IS MY BABES

it took me all 40 pulls to finally get Mammon (and everyone else too), and ohmygoddd

Mammon in boxing gloves has me... unhinged. Mammon boxer AU and maybe an MC who's the ref, and they always see him every night, and sometimes he loses sometimes he doesn't. It's all for the money and show

And one night Mammon can't wrap his hand and MC comes across him and helps him and akwkfj sorry I'm. brainrotting and going crazy, I just want to patch up a beat up Mammon BECAUSE THERE'S SOMETHING SO INTIMATE ABOUT THAT. I still remember reading a Mammon boxer and MC ballerina one shot (it was smut) and it lives rent free in my brain)

I wish the devilgram had been about boxing but it was still really cute and we got no 2 and Mammon content, that's my son right there. I'll never get over him calling Mammon Papa

SORRY FOR RAMBLING, ALSO MY CONCERT WENT AMAZING AND I GOT A LIVE DEBUT OF A REALLY OLD SONG AAAA

- ✨ anon

OMG THESE CARDS THOUGH.

I feel like this is so mild compared to what it could be, like omg steamy shower scenes oooooo lol. But we're so starved for any suggestive content that it's making us all go crazy!

Ahh, I love the boxer!Mammon thing, too. There is something intimate about patching up someone who's hurt. It's because you have to touch them to do it, but it's also tender because you clearly care about their well being which is why you're doing it at all. So it's a nice combination of taking care of someone when they're hurt and soft touches and possibly an opportunity to scold them if they were doing something reckless and that's how they got hurt to begin with ahhh I just really love all of it lol!!

There's also something about both of you being hurt and then you taking care of each other~

But yeah, you know Mammon would get into boxing for the money aspect of it. I kinda like the idea that he's somehow involved with the rigged betting, like he's losing on purpose because he knows it'll make someone win and then he gets a big cut of those winnings for it. Gets involved with some shady characters. Then for some reason he wins when he's supposed to lose (maybe his opponent insulted MC and actually pissed him off??). Then he's in trouble with the shady characters who come after him and he has to fight them and gets away but not without getting hurt... then MC is like what happened?!?! And he's all blushing as he stammers out that he had to defend your honor!! And all that while you're sitting there holding an ice pack to his black eye or something adlkfkdf

OOPS I got a little carried away but listen I love this scenario.

Anyway, I also love lil D no 2 what an absolute cutie! I love the lil Ds on these cards, they're adorable and they should be included more. I know they gave Simeon a wrath lil D because Simeon's sin is supposed to be wrath. Does this mean there are multiple little Ds of each sin? Because I was kinda under the impression that there was just the one and that's why we had to go find each of them when the brothers went crazy. And if that's the case, I kinda love the idea of Simeon just hanging out with Satan's little D. Like I find that very funny lol.

Never apologize for rambling! And I'm so glad your concert was good woooo!

#for real I am the worst rambler of all #obey me #obey me nightbringer #obey me mammon #obey me simeon #obey me little d #✨ anon #misc answers

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modelbus · 1 year

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Tommyinnit x masc nb reader where they don't try to hide their relationship from the internet, but at the same time refuse to confirm nor deny it.

Like...they have pictures online of them on dates, wearing each others clothes, in each other's background during stream, etc, etc. The evidence is right there??? But they don't confirm it. Matter of fact, they don't even "know who that ugly mug in the picture is".

Wilbur is the first one to leak their relationship tho, woops.

”whoops” killed me. Also, look at my funny little guy in the photo! It felt fitting.

Pairing: CC!Tommyinnit x Nb!Reader (romantic)

Evading Evidence

Tommy’s streaming when you get tired of scrolling through Twitter. Normally you’re able to sit on his bed, just out of sight of his camera, and catch up on all the drama. It’s been a quiet few days though, so you’re already bored.

“I’m going to run to the store real quick.” You say, getting up.

Tommy turns, neither of you acknowledging the stream. Chat’s going crazy about the fact you were there the entire thirty minutes Tommy’s been live for, and possibly longer.

Despite the fact you and Tommy were dating, neither of you had let the internet know yet. Sure, there were pictures and Tweets and remarks basically confirming it, but both of you were careful never to say it outright. At this point it was almost a game.

“Oh, can you get me twin gummy snakes?” Tommy asks, practically begging you with his eyes.

“Why would I do that?”

“Because I need fuel and you love me?”

You consider it for a second before giving in. “Fine. I’ll be back in, like, ten minutes.”

“Thanks! Don’t get run over!”

“Why would I- never mind.”

Tommy doesn’t turn back towards the stream until after he hears you leave, shutting the door behind you. It’s only then that he takes notice of the chat freaking out over his words.

“Chat, what the fuck are you talking about? They don’t love me. Actually, I don’t have a clue who the fuck that was!” He exclaims. “Back to Minecraft.”

“Hey, is this okay to post?” Jack Manifold asks, practically shoving his phone into your face.

You take it, examining the Twitter draft. It’s a selfie he took before the filming of the latest Tom Simons vlog. Behind him you can barely see you and Tommy curled up on the couch together, looking at something. The photo is captioned “Tom Simons vlog done.”

“Sure. Tommy?” You ask, handing the phone over to him.

He barely takes a look at it. “Yeah.”

“Thanks!” Jack says cheerfully, immediately posting.

“Time to fight the stans like our lives depend on it.” You joke, already opening Twitter and navigating to Jack’s profile.

“It’s fucking funny.” Tommy laughs.

“Gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss. What’re you tweeting?”

“I’ll reply to yours.” He leans over to watch you type out your reply, reading it aloud. “'Not Jack photoshopping the background'.”

“Are you two ever going to tell the internet?” Jack asks, laughing a little.

“Oh, the internet definitely knows. They just chose to believe us when we lie to their faces.” You answer.

“I’m replying ‘incredibly disrespectful.’” Tommy announces. You get the notification of his reply right after he says it.

“Don’t get me canceled.” Jack sighs.

“No promises.”

"Why are you talking about Tommy so much?" A donation asks.

You were doing a just chatting stream, spilling some fun stories. A few of them had been dates with Tommy, but you didn't call them dates. Chat still had their suspicions though.

"Because I hate him." You deadpan, staring into your camera. "Worst person ever, kill all Tommyinnits."

It barely takes a second for the chat to react to your words, thousands of people calling you a liar. As your eyes flick through messages, one catches your eye.

"Why are you wearing his hoodie then, hm?" Gets read aloud. "Well, you see, it simply isn't his. This very clearly branded Tommyinnit hoodie? Mine."

It's merch of his that hadn't shipped yet, his name displayed across your chest. The only possible way for you to have some would be him giving you some or you stealing his. One guess as to what you did.

Yeah, you took his.

"I have the fastest shipping in the world guys, you have to believe me."

Nobody believes you. It's not even the first time you've worn his clothes, just the first you've worn them on stream. Maybe you should've been a little more careful, but oh well. Who really cares anyways? The game was fun, but not too serious.

"Besides, as if I'd ever wear something Tom fucking Simons tainted with his gremlin hands." It's a fun little jab, one you know he'll hear about later. Probably from Twitter.

"Hey!" Tommy yells from somewhere in the flat.

Or maybe he'll hear about it right that second. He must be watching your stream, making you smile.

"Sorry." You say it in a way that clearly shows you don't mean the apology, laughing to yourself a little. After running a hand through your hair, you speak again. "Did I tell you guys about how I almost killed a person by riding a bike the other day?"

Of course, all jokes eventually end. This one just happens to meet its death in Wilbur's hands, live on stream.

“We’re out, we’ll see you tomorrow for the vlog.” Tommy says, pulling you to your feet.

It’s been over an hour of being on Wilbur’s stream, stuck in his little cramped office. One person was fine, two could fit, but three was just too much. Besides, you knew Tommy’s limit was an hour.

“Have a good stream!” You tell Wilbur cheerfully, shutting the door before he gets the chance to say goodbye. To make up for it, he waves.

“And there go the lovers.” Wilbur jokes to his stream, putting himself back into the middle of the frame now you and Tommy are gone. “Off to do whatever they do.”

It barely takes a minute for chat to explode, making Wilbur realize exactly what he just did. His face drains of color as he sits up.

“Shit- fuck. It was a joke, guys. A joke.”

Like a dog with a bone, chat’s already taken his words and ran with them. Wilbur’s fuck up is beyond repair. Instead of digging himself a deeper grave, he just messages you and Tommy.

You’re both back in his office in a matter of seconds, having sprinted back down the corridor. It wasn’t that you were upset, more just panicked. This definitely wasn’t how you meant to confirm it.

“Well… shit.” Tommy finally speaks, just off camera. “You’ve leaked it Wil.”

“I didn’t fucking mean to!”

“We should leak something about you in return.” You joke.

“Hey, I didn’t mean to!” Wilbur quickly defends himself.

Tommy pokes his head into the camera frame to address chat, grinning to show he isn’t pissed at Wilbur at all. You laugh, waiting to see what he’ll say.

“Oi, chat, you’re all fucking dumb. Took you lot long enough.”

Wilbur sags with visible relief, glad neither of you are going to kill him for his slip-up. Now that it’s established he didn’t ruin everything, it’s a lot funnier.

“We’re going to miss the movie showing.” You announce, checking your phone for the time.

“Fuck. Bye again.” Tommy laughs as you drag him out the door.

When the door shuts, Wilbur laughs and shakes his head. “Whoops?”

#tommyinnit mcyt #tommyinnit x you #tommyinnit x reader #tommyinnit #mcyt #dsmp #tommyinit dsmp #tommyinnit imagine #mcyt imagine

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carpedzem · 8 months

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questionnaire results that i didnt forget about at all

im okay so i forgot and then forgot again a few times. ANYWAY. enjoy the results!!

i cant post every written answer, so heres my favourite :)

whats your favourite animal, be as specific as possible

Peregrine Falcon

domestic cat! specifically MY cats but any cat will do

your mom

Black bear. One tried to walk into my house recently and he was really cute but I had to tell him no :( (ARE YOU OK?)

Dumbo octopus

fancy rats

honestly i’ve always been too scared to settle on one animal as a favorite, because it feels like a question with no satisfying answer. like if i had to be honest it’s probably dogs? because i’ve grown up around them, they’re an animal i like beyond just aesthetic purposes. but when you hear this sort of question, you wonder if the asker wants to hear about something exotic, some random interest that caught the interviewees eye at a young age and never left their conscious. anyways i think it’s probably house cats

rainbow trout, luzon-bleeding hearts, and horses.. dogs too

emperor penguin

any type of liddol snake. I love them so

sea sheep

Long eared Jerboa

(most people chose cat)

george (42,5%)

second place with also a lot of votes (37%)

sapnap (45,7%)

dream (44,1%)

this is my favourite question and i cant believe i misspelled it

you can put two of your mutuals against each other in a fight. who do you chose

i can’t answer this they all hate one another it’s too real. bellaya (bellaya was the most popular answer)

Lost and Kiuda. There can only be one (one of what)

Can I just give loyal a nice spa day? I'd like to give loyal a nice spa day

violence is never the answer

🤦🏻‍♂️🤣

i would fight them all myself obviously

I fear that no matter who I put here they'd just give up and make out instead

I only have two moots I joined tumblr a day ago help (i wonder how this person likes it here so far)

Nunki "demonstars" vs Nov "sueñitos" for La Velada 2024

no fighting…. sharika shakira

Gogciety v powergnf battle of the golos

im giving you a gun with only one bullet. what do you do (vent section) (while a lot of answers made me laugh a lot im gonna skip ones that can get us in trouble LMAO. but remember you made ME laugh)

Listen would killing q give us usmp back? No. Would it make me feel SO MUCH BETTER??????? YES!!!!!! (i mean obv q took like half of the shots. the other popular answer was just lining everyone)

I give it to Sapnap. He has made it clear he will kill for Dream god bless

am i given a time machine? can i shoot someone already dead? does it have to be someone reasonably killable? the answer to these questions is irrelevant because no matter what i want it to be steve jobs.

shoot at internet cable

going to british land and the first dumbass cc i see gets it

use it to open a jar because my hands are very weak and im too embarrassed to ask anyone else to open it for me

only one :(?

Lay it carefully on the ground.

hand it to George he could judge more fairly than I (and hope he doesn't shoot Sapnap)

i send the gun and bullet to the dteam house as a secret gift with a note explaining that it's for sapnap and george only, and a letter stating to pass extras to the rest of the munchy squd. if we all donate our weapons to them, they'll be able to shoot all of dream's haters. the only obstacle is dream himself, which is why he can't know what's in the box.

Give it to gnf&sapnap and watch them fight over it

(IM SORRY I FORGOR....)

top drolo 2023 - ones i forgot about

punz

hannah

puffy

bbh

squidkid

Radio statio guy

SYLVEEYYYY

illumina

me. sorryyr i dont mean that

you (im soo not BUT THANK YOU)

I think all munchies deserve this spot, theyre all the best drolos :(( i love them

powergpu guy (jesse)

george deserves it tbh for slut smp (that is true, but i excluded snf bc i was afraid they will sweep...)

shadoune

LARRAY

Lil nas X

THATS ALL. thank you everyone who took part in this AND ONCE AGAIN IM SORRY I FORGOT ABOUT IT.... ill be better next time o7

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catsinaspacesuit · 6 months

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About the fandom fights between team supporters, I'm just gonna write this here i case.

• yes, red team supporter

• have only seen hate towards red team, but I'm aware it is going from every direction to every direction, which i think is pretty stupid

• let them do whatever the fuck they want, the killing each other and dying constantly makes it funnier

• this is a competition, they all are going to try to win, blue team might win one day, red team the next and green team the other and that is OKAY

• getting the ccs involved is just ridiculous, they are very aware this is a game, they are all friend and still will be after this. If they don't care, why would you?

• i know most of us are worried about the eggs and that's mainly why we care so much about our favorite team winning and our favorite egg being saved, but again, it's a game and a competition. We can't make it all the time about the eggs, people are gonna make jokes, players are gonna kill each other, teams are gonna win or lose. We're meant to have fun and stop worrying so much.

And about my posts:

• I did and I'm probably going to continue making jokes about red team being cursed, i don't know if they actually are and don't really care, it's just jokes

• if i ever post something about any cubito of other team saying to stop killing or leave alone red team, I'm totally joking and/or being sarcastic. I love every single one of them and I'm most likely crying laughing as i post it (and if it's about BBH, come on, i might not be that active in his chat anymore but he has always been one of my mains and i love him so much)

• I'm autistic and English is not my first language, i might write stuff that doesn't sound the way i mean it. If that ever happens and it seems like I'm hating on anyone, PLEASEEE correct me.

• I love QSMP (specially qsmblr) fandom so much, I literally smile like an idiot when we're liveblogging together and it kinda hurts when i see people fighting about stupid stuff like this.

If anyone actually reads this, luv ya, have a great day/night. No sean pendejos y no pelien.

#qsmp #qsmpblr #qsmp purgatory #purgatory event #purgatory field trip #cats says stuff #qsmp eggs #qsmp quackity #qsmp federation #quackity #philza #badboyhalo #team red #team blue #team green #cellbit #Baghera #Slimecicle

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azsazz · 3 months

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if we're being honest sjm was never a phenomenal writer, every book lacks depth in some way and she never actually explains much about powers/characters. there's also a big theme of telling not showing (especially in cc - i mean she keeps telling us bryce is super cool and all i can see is a try hard). i only read parts of cc3 and parts of tog but i think tog and the first 2 books of acotar aren't terribly written even with a couple of the problems i said before but after acowar it really went downhill. i think it's part she has shooters now (i mean some ppl were being attacked for saying cc sucked which it does) so if it's not good they'll still read it and hype it up and she keeps writing things too fast and that might not fully be her fault so i'll giver her that. but yeah writing a whole 800 page book in a month? is not impressive, to me it just shows she didn't care to make it better and barely reviewed it. if that's the speed she's writing at then i can see why her latest books have so many problems and plot holes. she also got greedy lol. im sorry but there were what? 4 or 5 bonus chapters? and this book still feels like a cash grab idc if it makes a multiverse or not, id actually rather not ever see any of the other characters in each other's books

anyway all this to say i don't really like sjm (as a writer and now im a bit iffy as a person too), what got me was the characters but i learned a lot more about them through fanfiction than the actual books

PREACH SISTA LET IT ALL OUT because you did not miss with this!

i've also said that the 5 bonus chapters of cc3 are def feeling like a cash grab...when i tell you i saw a tiktok of some girl showing all of the different bonus chapter books off i was sick to my stomach. it's kind of out of hand some of these people lol (like the acotar balls and stuff, the ugly men they try to put into the roles, ruining the characters we love...they're fictional for a reason plz stop)

if cc has one hater it's actually me. if bryce has zero haters im dead. i most of the other characters, but bryce is a total miss for me. i love how sjm the entirety of cc3 is that the fae women aren't allowed to do anything except breed lol likeeee what? then it's basically just bryce and the men fighting the war or whatever...like what about the other women or her friends? mad side eye

thankfully i haven't been attacked about my cc opinions because ive never been quiet about them lol

i think that tog was better written, and i also liked most of acotar...maybe it's the modern setting and bryce's total cringiness that i can't get on board with

#ask azsazz

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waynedunlaptheorgandonor · 1 year

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i resent very much that i am writing twd meta this late in the year of our lord two-thousand-twenty-two after my long journey to distance myself from it, but the words are rattling around in my mind grapes, and because i am incapable of keeping things to myself, how about one more go for old time’s sake?

i think the main thing that i want to say to y’all is that we didn’t imagine it

obviously caryl has had chemistry from the very first scene they had together, but even these past few years, where we’ve dissected and meta’d every second of their screentime together under kang’s watch to death, and been like “here’s how bernie can still win!” we weren’t being delusional. the romantic beats were all there. the narrative was set up that way. she was wearing a ring in that dream sequence. he brought her a cherokee rose on a tray. they longed for each other, and planned to run away together, and it was never once foolish of us to believe otherwise, bc the only reason it didn’t happen is bc the narrative got eaten by amc’s desire to beat the shit out of twd for every drop of money it could possibly give them, and in the process they contracted Chris Charter Syndrome, which is unfortunately fatal

for those unfamiliar (tho with this group there’s probably enough crossover that i don’t rly need to explain), chris carter, the creator of the x-files, is notoriously dense af about how much of his show’s popularity is driven by his ~amazing lore~ vs the audience’s desire to have mulder and scully fuck

every conversation with him, to this day, goes p much like this:

[chris carter: people love the x-files for the mystery and intrigue and they don’t want resolved sexual tension, they want to watch our mains constantly will-they/won’t-they while battling government conspiracies until the end of time

the audience: we would watch one hundred billion hours of mulder and scully searching for bigfoot but comically missing him every time bc they get distracted by fucking each other, we could not care less about your plot. your plot doesn’t even make sense

chris carter: they just can’t wait to see what twists happen next

the audience: we are tired of the twists, and we want them to bone. in fact, here are graphs and studies and stats that all say that we would be much happier if you would just give us mulder and scully fighting silly monsters and stop trying to be gritty and dark with your plots that even you admit you don’t understand

chris carter: i am very good at my job

the audience: you are not good at your job]

rinse and repeat

if this sounds like gimple, that’s bc he has the worst case of CCS i’ve seen in a long time, and it’s unfortunate bc it’s contagious, and those who are especially susceptible are misogynistic money-hungry dudebro companies who think that what people want are GRIT and BLOOD and MAN PAIN, even when their statistics consistently tell them that they are wrong. a key component of CCS is an undeserved inflation of one’s ego and the inability to recognize the fact that one is making an ass out of oneself, which is why the past 84 years have looked like this:

[gimple: man, people love my negan and rick man-pain arc

the audience: no we don’t

gimple: i know what the ladies want, they want jerk-off contests between mediocre men while i kill off all their faves

the audience: no we don’t

amc: hmmm, while i’m picking up what you’re laying down, gimple, let’s see what this other showrunner can do for a minute

kang: people want stories about people. they want to see the seeds of character development that were planted at the very beginning bloom. they want to see the characters with chemistry go down on one another

the audience: yes, this, this is what we want

amc: interesting concept

amc: however

amc: that sounds suspiciously like conflict/resolution, and if things are neatly resolved then we can’t make money out of it anymore. i know that all the statistics say that caryl is our top ship, and that we should get them together, and let them have a concluded, peaceful ending

amc: BUT

amc: let’s instead launch a spin-off with one (1) of the duo (the male, obviously), and then let’s leave their storyline ambiguous bc that way they’ll follow us to the shitty spin-off, but also anyone who just has the hots for daryl/norman reedus will also watch bc he’s still an Eligible Bachelor ;)

amc: this is a good idea that will make us lots of money

the audience: no it will not

amc: gimple, we need your wisdom again, btw, the people miss you

the audience: no we do not

gimple: who’s ready for some GRIT AND BLOOD AND MORE MAN PAIN?!?!?!

the audience: for the love of god]

it’s stupid and exhausting, and i have Mad Respect for those of you who have been putting so much effort into making sure our voices have been heard. ( @my-mt-heart , @gunmetal-ring , @lighteneverything to name just a few) plz know that your voice WAS heard, and i fully believe that you DID make an impact. it’s just that, when push comes to shove (i.e. when you’re dealing with misogynistic rich white men), CCS is one helluva disease

and it’s sad! it’s very very sad! i’ve been spending my time away over in the “our flag means death” universe, and y’all, it has been WILD. all of the interactions with the show’s creator and the cast have been “oh you enjoyed that? we’ll be sure to keep that in mind so that we can cultivate a show that you will love, bc it makes more sense to listen to our viewers than to ourselves sometimes, bc they’re the ones who keep us from driving ourselves directly into a ditch! thank you for your feedback, we appreciate and love you!”

like??????

but see, that’s the difference between creators who are in it for the story vs. creators who are in it for the money. if you are solely money-driven you’re never going to be able to dedicate yourself to the narrative, bc narratives have concrete endings. they require you to not always be looking for that next spin-off, or to not sacrifice a character’s integrity to fit it inside of a bad plotline. they are shows like the good place, that had an ending in mind from the start. they are shows like ofmd or what we do in the shadows, where the audience’s opinion gets listened to. even supernatural (mother fucking supernatural, you guys!!!) catered to its biggest fanbase better than twd did. it might have been clown shoes, but destiel’s last-minute confession was at least explicitly romantic. amc was too cowardly to give us even that, bc it might “jeopardize” their spin-off

what we can take solace in, tho, is the fact that they are in the end stages of CCS. they think they’ve given enough to string caryl fans along over to the spin-off era of twd, but they haven’t. they’re going to crash and burn, and go out the way of GoT, in that everyone is going to be like “wow that was... let’s just not talk about that one, huh?” and it will be satisfying to watch them fizzle out into nothing when they get hit with the grim reality that they should have gotten their heads out of their asses and listened to their fans who told them that, yes, your “hot male lead” needs that middle-age grey-haired woman you cast to the side so carelessly, and that fact doesn’t change just bc you can’t fathom people caring about a woman over the age of 25

whatever. it is what it is. what matters most here is what i said up top, which is that we didn’t imagine it. we did not waste our time. we were not stupid. we had these beautiful characters laid out before us, and a storyline that supported them, and we took it and ran with it in the right direction. it’s not our fault that the narrative didn’t follow

our retribution will be the fact that now it’s our turn not to follow. instead, we can finally rest, not having to worry about the future, bc who fucking gives a shit about their dumb taunts, trying to get us to watch the spin-off for the “possibility” of caryl way down the line? we’re over it. we’re not chasing anymore carrots. we’re happy here in our caryl sandbox, with our li’l aus and headcanons and fix-its, and we don’t have to fucking discourse at each other every week anymore. we can come and go with a lightness we haven’t felt maybe fucking ever, bc it’s over now. it’s not in their hands anymore, it’s in ours

it was real. the feelings we felt, the relationships that were made between us, they were real. and it will all continue to be real in whatever way we decide to keep it. we can and should grieve what could have/should have been, and we can and should be mad, because there’s no question, we were wronged, but let’s not stay in that negativity place forever. let’s not forget why we all were drawn here to begin with, and let’s not forget what we’ve gained from each other

it wasn’t “just a tv show.” it was, and is, a community that has influenced lives to the point of changing their entire trajectory. i have written over one million (1,000,000+) words of caryl fic, and bc of that i have been able to self-publish my own book, and get into freelance writing. bc of caryl, i have been able to ghostwrite and collaborate with published authors, and am on my way to making my actual day job being writing, which is something i’ve wanted since i was itty bitty. bc of caryl, i have traveled the world. bc of caryl, i have made relationships and connections that have, quite literally, changed my entire life. amc can’t take any of that away from me. it can’t take any of that away from YOU

so yeah, shit sucks, but hey, i got something for you:

we are fine, fam, or we will be, once we’ve had a chance to lick our wounds, because we are the holders of the narrative now. caryl is OURS, finally

so, when you’re feeling up to it, come join me in the sandbox, and let’s have some fun

stay hype, stan each other, bc twd is in its grave, but caryl is forever,

-diz

p.s. felt weird not having a 30 rock reference in here anywhere so:

k bye 4 real

#god bless and amen #luhh u all #caryl #caryl spoilers #twd #twd s11 spoilers #dunlap tp

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jessnotfoundd · 1 year

Note

if your requests are open can you do friends to lovers with dream?? before or after the face reveal or during!! just fluff and tension!! go drink some water <3

This is amazing anon! i love your idea! <3

𝐍𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬

Pairing: cc!Dream x reader!

Masterlist here!

The first time I met Clay, we were 17, when he got into a fiscal fight because a boy was making fun of me.

I was shocked because it was the first time I'd ever seen him. I stopped him before the director come to put him into detention, I just took his hand and make him stand up just to run to my car.

-Why did you do that? are you insane?- I said when we were already inside the car. I open the car dashboard and take the first aid kit to help him with the scratches and the cut lip.

-Not I'm not, he was being an idiot that it's completely different.- he smirks.-I'm clay- he looks at my eyes and I just focus on my job at his nose, which is bleeding.

-Idiot fits you better.- we both giggle.- I'm y/n- i take a moment to see him.

-Well, it fits you really well.- I roll my eyes and smile.

-Yeah, I wish I could say the same to you.- we both laugh and he tickles me a little.

A knock on my door distracts us from our jokes.

-Detention, now, both of you.- the bald man yells and I sign.

-We should drive away- he says and I look at him smiling.

-it's Too late.- I kiss his cheek and get out of the car.

At detention, this guy Dylan, who was making fun of me earlier flinches when Clay passes beside him and I try not to laugh.

We sat together and the teacher that was supposed to take a look at us for the rest of the classes fell asleep, so Clay decided it was a good idea to talk so we could get to know each other.

Two years later, we both finally made it to college, we manage to keep being best friends by living together, we were just friends, even tho everyone thought we were a couple.

-That bot over there is really looking at you- The tall guy talks to my ear- he's eating you with his eyes.- I can hear the rage in his voice.

-Should I talk to him?- I question and he holds my waist. We were dancing together at a friend's party when he realized that boy was "eating me with his eyes"-

-No- he smirks at my neck and I smile. I turn around and snuggle into his arms.-Want to go home?- I nod into his chest and yawn.-Let's go say goodbye.- He always left with me, even if he was enjoying the party if I wanted to leave, he was leaving with me.

After saying our goodbyes we get into his car and he starts the engine. I take his free hand and play with his fingers, my vision was completely affected by the drinks I has before.

-You take really good care of me, Clay.- I smile at him.

-It's because I love you y/n- his eyes looked at me for a second.

-I love you too.- I kiss his hand and close my eyes. I know that I was going to wake up in my bed.

After three years, the brunette was a really big streamer, a faceless one, the only one who has seen his face was sapnap, who is now living with us. Clay sit on his gaming chair and sits me on his lap, I was having a bad day and wanted to be with him.

I just came home from a dinner with work colleagues and those few drinks had my head dizzy.

-Did you realize we never kissed?- I blurt out and I feel him tense.

-Because we are friends, I guess.-

I take my head out of his neck and look him straight to his eyes, all this sudden confidence was crazy.

-But you don't want?- he looks at me, I can read him like he was a book with the years of being friends, he was nervous.

-What? kiss you?- I nod.- Yes.- he starts editing his video again.

-Then why don't we do it?- my hands are now holding his cheeks so he would look at me.

-I guess, you had more drinks than you should.- he smiles and I can't take it anymore and kiss him. At first, he just stays there, he doesn't reciprocate so I just stand up blurting a few apologies before running to my room. A knock on the wooden door sounds.

-Y/n?- it's him.

I was sitting on the floor of the bathroom.

I heard his steps. I put my arms around my legs, knees on my chest, and my face hiding.

-Why did you run away?- he sits beside me.

-You don't like me like I like you.- I sob a little.- You see me as a friend, I don´t want to be just your friend.- I feel pathetic for crying over this.

-How do you know that?-

-Well, I heard you talking with sapnap about a girl, and how you didn't want to break our friendship because of that and I can't help but feel jealous of her, because she has you and I don't.-

-I guess you didn't hear the whole conversation. He takes my hair out of his way.- Look at me- I do so.- You are the same girl, all the conversation was about you, about us.- he says smiling.

-You're just trying to protect my feelings.- I sign and he moves me so I'm now sitting on him, with my legs at the sides of him.

-You are the only girl I have my eyes on, I just didn't want to be the only one who feel this way and fuck up our friendship.- my forehead lays on his.

-Really?- I say, looking into his eyes.

-Really- he gives me a quick peck on the lips.-I swear to god, I've been in love for so long that this moment feels unreal.- we both giggle.

Our lips are connected over and over again, not losing more time than we already lost.

-My mom is gonna be really happy we are finally together.-he laughs and I nod.

-My mom is gonna lose it.- I think about how our moms wanted us together since we met.

-Do you want to be my girlfriend? even when the drinks that you have disappears from your system?- I nod, I wanted to keep this moment for dear life. -Doesn't drive you crazy just how fast the night changes?- I smiled and kissed him again.

-Even when the night changes It will never change me and you-

#dreamsmp #dream mcyt #mcyt x reader #dream smp #mcyt imagine #dreamwastaken #dream team #dream x reader #Dream x yn #Cc: dream #fandiction

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khaleesiofalicante · 7 months

Note

I just had a random thought from last night when I wrote a little (Alec thinking a very typical English idiom) and it just can't leave me alone.

Why do Nephilims have English as their language of communication? They are a superold society, and when they first lived, English wasn't a dominant language. Especially not considering the location of Idris - their homeland. They also don't mix with mundanes, so that's not a reason. Why don't they have their own language? I think it would honestly make more sense if they spoke latin, since well, all their keyphrases are in latin ie "Ave atque vale".

I have faith in you to make sense of this mess for me. 😘

*clenches fist* I love questions like this. There could be multiple reasons for this:

Colonization - The reason why we (mundanes) speak commonly in english is because of colonization. Even if shadowhunters don't mix with mundanes, key mundane events (let's say the industrial revolution) do have an impact on nephilim society. So, similarly, I do think colonization had some kind of impact on nephilim.

Shadowhunters travel - Even though travel year is not mandatory, it is important. Most nephilim go on a travel year and it's important they have a common language they can communicate in for that purpose. Like for eg, how Cristina speaks in English when she is in LA but goes back to Spanish when she is with the Rosales brothers.

There is also this bit where CC said Jonathan Shadowhunter spoke in English (doesn't sound historically accurate but okay) so it could be that was the 'origin' language of the nephilim anyway.

As for your question why shadowhunters don't have their own language, I think it's because they already had their languages and were able to communicate with each other in some way. In other words, shadowhunters were created from mundanes, right? From all over the world. They already spoke a lot of languages. So, there wasn't a necessity to build their own language.

BUT - even if they didn't develop a language, they did develop their own vocabulary. There are words that are unique to their race (including stele, institute, etc) and phrases they uses (by the angel, raziel's sake, ave atque vale, etc). Shadowhunters, for me, are a sub-culture that emerged from mundane for a specific purpose (fight me, nephilim!) and as such it is highly unlikely for them to have their own language.

however, i agree with you on the fact that since shadowhunters were created in Europe in the middle of the crusades, it makes more sense for latin to be their 'common' language rather than english - but this is probably where the mundane influence comes in. the same way shadowhunters adopted their clothes and other habits to the mundane culture, they had to adopt their language too - especially since they're more a global community.

Hope this made sense and I ddin't ramble too much x

PS - lbaf 5 has a lot of history involved in it and I've been reading up so much about nephilim origins and this is all very fascinating!

#tsc

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asknarashikari · 11 months

Note

When I discovered this tiktok https://www.tiktok.com/@superherotime_tvasahi/video/7231018667918626049 was using Yuna Hoshino’s song, I immediately thought up with this scenario.

Neon: So how about it, Ace? Want to try?

Ace: I don’t know…

Keiwa: Learning a the movements couldn’t be that hard, right?

Ace: Why don’t you do it then?

Keiwa: Sure, if Neon-chan would let me.

Neon: Honestly, the more the merrier.

----

Comment a: Another Neon-chan and Ace-sama collab? I’m eating?!

Comment b: shipping two real people, that’s gross.

Ca: I do not ship them, ew, I’m just a big fan of the both of them.

Ca: And I love me when artists collab with each other.

Cc: Is Ace-sama a very bad dancer?

Cd: He couldn’t be, right, I mean he danced in the BL in “Win his Heart”

Ce: Dance doubles are thing tho.

Cf: Honestly, fair.

Cf: From what I heard, Ace-sama is also good at cooking and drawing.

Cf: There should be something he’s bad at.

Cg: All of you are fixated on Ace-sama’s bad dancing, who’s the cute guy they’re with?

Ch: probably a mutual friend? I’ve seen him with Neon-chan and Ace-sama on separate occasions for some time.

Ca: Oh, it’s the guy that works in a small soba shop!

Cb: Right! I saw the Neon-chan and Ace-sama with him and his sister eating at the soba shop he works now.

Cc: His sister is a huge fan of the both them.

Cd: Lucky!

Cf: I don’t know. I feel like having a sister that’s a big fan of my friends would be asking for trouble.

Ce: Eh, we don’t know the guy, let’s leave him be.

Cg: He is cute tho.

----

Neon: The comments are funny.

Neon: *reads the comments*

Ace: *pouts*

Keiwa: Maybe you should attend dance classes.

Neon: Did you really have a dance double in that BL?

Ace: No, I had to learn the steps for a very long time.

Keiwa: Fair, I was a bit lost myself there.

Keiwa: But with enough practice, we can learn it XD Neon: That’s the spirit.

Lmao Yuna was making them work for it XD The boys looked so lost

But yeah if they can fight a raging bull on the reg they can figure out a few hand movements... Surely the Star of the Star of the Stars would have a few tricks up his sleeve to learn the steps... or at least fool everyone into thinking he did :p

#kamen rider geats #ukiyo ace #sakurai keiwa #kurama neon #ask #hxmxbros

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acourtofthought · 1 year

Note

Hello, hello!! Thanks for answering my Tamlin-Vassa question! :D

First, those readers who say that Elain hasn't been nice to Lucien are the same as the characters who expect Elain to be nice just because that's all they expect from her. She's....nice. Feyre and Nesta were openly angry and terrible at their own mates. Why can't Elain be the way she is? Oh because she's Elain and she has to be "nice"? Pleeeease. This is exactly why Rhys said that Elain might be that way because that's what's expected of her. My babygirl Rhys can be an asshole sometimes, but BACK OFF, he's right okay? LMFAO. When he told Az to back the f*** up, I was like I always knew I loved you for a reason Rhysie. SJM uses him many times to express HER own thoughts. That's why they turn out right most of the time.

Second, I think Vassa and Tamlin could be interesting just because Tamlin needs a good whipping. Hahahaha. Vassa might be able to do it. But at the end of the day, I feel like his story ties in with Lucien and Tamlin won't be getting any romance. He might die, who knows? I am pretty neutral with him at this point. He can get a redemption or no redemption, I can deal with it.

Third, I don't think Lucien and Vassa work because they are both associated with fire. Fire and fire do not necessarily work for a harmonious relationship. SJM retconned a lot when she decided that Nesta and Lucien, who are both associated with fire, would not work because they'd probably kill each other. That same reasoning could be applied to Lucien and Vassa. Also, when Lucien tells Feyre about Vassa for the first time, he says that he thinks they'd get along. My immediate reaction was--oh, so he kinda sees Vassa the way he sees Feyre, maybe not as close with that much history, but very much as a friend (Feycien bestfriendship for the win! What do you think about that friendship btw?) or maybe like a sister. When Lucien blushed at the end of ACOWAR, I don't think it was because of Vassa, but because Feyre called him an acolyte, meaning that he, a Fae, was suddenly very pro-human. Lulu has come a long way. Also, the way Lucien calls Jurian and Vassa as "being at each other's throats" sounds very much like TENSION. And Lucien sounded more annoyed about having to deal with their fighting. You know, it amazes me how well Lucien can make friends and get along with so many people. He just manages to transform himself as necessary and it's not fake. It's just who he is.

Finally, yes, my friend accepted all this. The conversation started with her being like aw Elain and Az. By the end of it aka 20 minutes later, she was on my side. It didn't take much convincing because AGAIN, she's just a casual reader.

Thanks for letting me rant!!! And for answering my question! I know I basically asked more in this one but heh. You just answer so fast and you answer so well!

PS. I want Dorian and Manon to get their own novella. I need their HEA. I am a Dorian girl. You? Lorcan, Rowan or Dorian? Also, did you see the new SJM interview from yesterday? It sounds like we should be getting news about CC 3 soon! I want her to get that out already so that we can move on to ACOTAR 5!!! Heh.

Much love! <3

I'm so excited to get a follow up from you!

And I LOVE that you pointed out the hypocrisy for those that were accepting of Nesta and Feyre being cold toward Cassian and Feyre while not being accepting of Elain who was possibly in an even worse position with Lucien considering she was engaged and in love with Graysen (whereas Feyre had chosen to leave Tamlin). Elain is nice but....she deserves to feel what she's feeling for as long as she needs to feel it especially because choosing not to engage with someone that you've never really met before is not actually "mean". No, she's not handling it in the socially polite and appropriate way but she's not going out of her way to insult him or spit venom at him. They have a bond but that doesn't come with a set of rules she has to follow. And so far Lucien hasn't asked, "will you consider our bond?" so it's not like she's refusing to answer direct questions he's asking her.

And I agree. Rhys pulling rank in the POV is a highly debated one but why would he sit there and say, "go for it man!" when Az said nothing about caring for Elain as a person, nothing about being over Mor, and only focused on the fact that his brothers got a bond so why didn't he? Rhys isn't acting like a High Lord, he's acting like a protective older brother (in law) who basically had a buddy tell him he wanted to Hit it and Quit it with his little sister. Taking the political stuff out of the equation, that fact alone was reason enough for him to put his foot down. Rhys had every reason to think Az was just using Elain for a good time since he knew he couldn't have the female he had wanted for centuries.

Hahaha! I love your take on Vassa and Tamlin and I do agree. Because she would be the kind of female who wouldn't let him get away with ANY-THING. Which I kind of think someone like Tamlin needs, the type to match every attempt he makes at exerting control over a situation with their own dominance. But I also see what you see. Tamlin's story will definitely cross with Lucien's and I don't think a Tamlin romance is going to be a focus of that. I think we'll see the mending of their friendship (whether they'll ever be as close, I'm not sure) and Tamlin figuring out what he's going to do in terms of his Court and I think love is just not in the near future for him.

And YES!!! SJM rarely does literal matching of a couples powers. Aelin was Fire and Rowan was Wind, Ice, Lightning. Bryce is the ability to wield Starlight and Hunt is Lightning. They might play off one another like Cassian and Nesta both being a sort of Lord and Lady of War and Death with their individual powers but they still have their differences. Feyre is the exception to that rule because of how she was Made but Vassa being a Firebird and Lucien being a Lord of Flame are too matchy in my opinion. And also what you said. The way Lucien views Vassa is how he seemed to have viewed Feyre and that is not in a romantic way. I feel like when these characters develop new relationships, it almost replaces a similar relationship they had with someone else. Like Nesta. She's always protected Elain but we can see that relationship changing and I think they're headed in different directions. Gwyn is someone Nesta also has this need to protect and holds up on a pedestal (in a similar manner as she did Elain). I think it's a healthier relationship than what she had with Elain but I do notice similarities and it's almost like Gwyn will now fill that spot that Elain vacated but in a different way because Gwyn has been able to prove to Nesta that she's capable on her own.

I don't think Lucien and Feyre will ever have the same friendship they shared in the beginning of the series though I do imagine they'll mend any discomfort that currently exists. But her place is now in the NC and Lucien's is not. So his new "Feyre" seems to be Vassa, doesn't it? And I could easily see Vassa becoming Elain's new Nesta / Feyre. A friend with an extremely bold and slightly abrasive personality but not one who will coddle her as the others did because the sister dynamic (and everything that goes along with growing up together) isn't there. I feel like Feyre and Vassa may have gotten along under different circumstances but I think the fact that they are two "leaders" who seem to expect the other to respect their position as "leader" caused tension for them during their first meeting. Vassa came off as a bit demanding to Feyre and Nesta and I don't think Feyre cared much for that considering she might have felt she deserved to be treated in a higher regard.

Seriously, I feel like I'm loving everything you're saying because I also agree with what you said over Lucien blushing. I don't think it had anything to do with him having feelings for Vassa (which wouldn't make sense considering he's still looking at Elain with longing a year later) but because Feyre is basically calling him out in front of his Mate for expressing positivity about someone and something and YES, the fact that he had such issues with humans in the start of the series and now he's giving them accolades. I actually love his time in the Human Lands for this reason because Elain was the most attached to her humanity and it's going to make him more understanding of what she lost.

And yes again (I'm a broken record at this point), I completely agree that Lucien is a bit exasperated by Jurian and Vassa. Here he was, thinking he was living with two friends and now it's turning into a hate / love trope between Jurian and Vassa and he's starting to feel like a third wheel.

I would love a Dorian novella too! I understand why we didn't get more (it wouldn't have felt realistic in the time frame given but it's still tough when things are left so open ended). I was a huge fan of Lorcan and Elide's story as well so I'm a bit bummed there's was so fade to black.

Thank you again for the additional message, it was really fun going back and forth on these things with you! ❤️

#feyre acotar #vassa acotar #jurian acotar #elucien #acotar elain #rhysand acotar #acotar lucien #tamlin acotar #lucien vanserra

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ifonlyweknewwhatiwasdoing · 1 year

Text

Anger Like a Prayer Waiting to Be Heard (#26 Whumptober 2022)

Prompt: Separated | Rope Burns | “Why did you save me?”

Fandom: Star Wars- All Media Types, Star Wars - The Clone Wars (2008)

Pairing: Obi-Wan Kenobi/CC-2224 | Cody

Rating: Teen

Warnings: Post Order 66 Sadness

Summary: Sometimes the guilt was the worst part.

Probably because it was the part that Ben couldn’t soothe.

Ben couldn’t relieve himself of his own guilt most days, so it would have been a miracle if he could relieve Cody of his.

--- Fic Under the Cut ---

Sometimes the guilt was the worst part.

Probably because it was the part that Ben couldn’t soothe.

Ben couldn’t relieve himself of his own guilt most days, so it would have been a miracle if he could relieve Cody of his.

And despite Cody and Obi-Wan being inseparable during the war, despite them being as close as a commander and general could be, despite them knowing what the other was thinking with little more than a raised eyebrow or a fraction of a movement, despite them knowing each other better than any commander and general should.

He’d walked that path with Cody.

The fight is done.

He knew the guilt of losing the war.

We lost.

He knew the guilt of living in a world ravaged by an Empire that had risen due to your own arrogance.

Sith lords are our speciality.

He knew the guilt of being hunted, of being one of the only left, of being away from the ones you loved.

This message is a warning and a reminder for any surviving Jedi: Do not return to the Temple. That time has passed, and our future is uncertain.

But he didn’t know what had happened while Cody had been gone.

Execute Order 66.

He didn’t know what had happened before he’d found the man again, destroyed the chip, and taken him away in the hopes that he’d have just one person again.

Good soldiers follow orders.

He didn’t know how to explain to Cody that his life’s work had gone from peacekeeping to hiding. How the only job left for him was to watch over a child in the hopes that he could one day once again be the hero that the galaxy needed.

Stay hidden. Stay safe.

“Why did you save me?” Cody had asked him one day, a few hours into a sandstorm that was echoing in their home, rattling the small hut around them like they were little more than a rowboat trying to navigate the seas of Kamino.

Stay hidden. Stay safe.

“What do you mean?” Obi-Wan had asked back, like he couldn’t imagine where the line of questioning was going, though he knew better.

Stay hidden. Stay safe.

“It would have been easier to kill me and be on your way,” Cody told him, voice matter-of-fact, just like it’d always been during the war when they were trying to figure out how to get themselves through the next battle, knowing that although they could try as much as they wanted and still never get all of their men out safely.

“It would have,” Obi-Wan agreed.

We lost.

“So why did you save me?” Cody asked, “Why not just leave me be? I wouldn’t have been able to say where you were going. I wouldn’t have been able to say much at all. I might have been dead by the time they got there for all you know. And even if I hadn’t, you could have just killed me. It would have been quicker, simpler, safer.”

“I hate you!”

“I saved you because you deserved to be saved,” Obi-Wan said, feeling decades older than he actually was.

It was partially a byproduct of living on Tatooine and partially a product of having been through what they’d been through, he knew, and yet, that didn’t make it any easier.

“That seems like a very Jedi thing to say,” Cody said softly, “I thought you said you weren’t a Jedi anymore.”

“I’m not,” Obi-Wan answered automatically.

“Then why did you save me?” Cody asked again, looking just as, if not more, tired than Obi-Wan himself.

“Because I could,” Obi-Wan finally said, after a few moments of silence, “Isn’t that enough?”

The silence ring of no echoed through the small hut, unsaid but still louder than any word that had even been spoken between them.

“I guess,” Cody lied to him as if knowing that Obi-Wan wouldn’t be able to hold up to the line of questioning poised on his tongue at that moment.

“Tya syœ kràdràbikærg,” Obi-Wan whispered, the words echoing like the sentiment of his people once had in Cody’s ears.

May the Force Be With You.

“I know,” Cody said, voice weak, “I know.”

The wind outside them continued to rage, angry and bitter in the way that both of them wished to be, as if it knew that they were pushing the urge down, just waiting for the moment when they’d no longer be able to hold the emotions back.

#why did you save me?#whumptober2022 #no.26 #star wars #fic #commander cody #obi-wan kenobi #codywan #star wars fanfiction #codywan fanfic #musicsoul1982 whumps

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saiilorstars · 1 year

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Ch.30: The Round Up

Pairing: Barry Allen x OFC

Current Masterlist | Previous Story

Pronunciation of OC: Bell-en. The last syllable has an emphasis so it’s not pronounced like ‘Helen’ would be.

Taglist: @ocappreciationtag @arrthurpendragon @anotherunreadblog @maaaaarveeeeel @stareyedplanet @foxesandmagic

[If you’d like to be part of this OC’s taglist, let me know!

It was a dark night when Earth 2's metahumans would decide to attack right in the open. Maybe it was their strong belief that they wouldn't be caught, or maybe that it would simply be more fun to mess around together under the dark night. Either way, it didn't work. All around, there were reports that the Flash had returned and was cleaning up the city from the new dangerous metahumans.

But now it was the other way around.

The Azalea was missing.

The news was quick to report that Zoom had taken the Azalea right in front of the CCPD. It seemed to the city like they could never have all of its protectors together but it would have one additional member ready to help again.

Black Orchid swooped down on a pair of metas throwing a park bench into a fountain — God knew what type of fun they could be having from doing that — and swiftly knocked them down with a thick vine. For good measure, she wrapped the pair up like cocoons, leaving behind only their faces free. She stormed over to them and placed a foot over one of their bodies. "Where's Datura?" she demanded. The two metahumans exchanged glances with each other before both bursting into laughter. Black Orchid made a show to press her shoe deeper into the meta's body, forcing that obnoxious laughter to cease. "I didn't make a joke. I asked a damn question so answer it. Where's Datura?"

"No idea!" the other metahuman finally answered. "She's been M.I.A. ever since she brought us over to this world."

"And Poison Ivy?"

"Who knows!"

Black Orchid removed her foot just as a gust of wind struck behind her. She turned sideways to meet Barry's gaze. Without saying anything, she shook her head. Barry's jaw clenched. He didn't waste another moment there. He sped the two metas out of the scene to their new home in the pipeline.

~ 0 ~

'Some people are calling it the metapocalypse, the days when Central City was overrun by an army with powers beyond imagination. But in these dark times, we must never forget our own strength, our own power to fight back. That it is only in the blackest of nights that we can truly see the light... and know for sure we are not alone. We are never... ever... alone.'

Nina's eyes fervently finished reading the day's newspaper and lowered said paper to see Iris on her bedside. "Love the title, hate the reality."

Iris took the criticism (although not meant for her) with a small shrug. "A lot of our articles this week has to do with that unfortunately."

"Wonder why," Nina pushed herself to sit upright on the bed. She was still under watch for her stab wound but was making normal progress in her condition.

"That and the missing people and the obituaries," Iris added with a sigh, her shoulders slumping. She'd been tasked with some of those fatal stories and it was killing her to write about the innocent dying at the hands of Zoom's metahumans.

"Is that what they still think happened to Belén? That she's just missing?"

Iris nodded silently. "Yeah." During these times, the story wasn't so drastic. And that was sad. Despite the conflicts that Belén was having with CC Pictures, the latter still cared for her safe return.

Their silence was brokered by the sound of Barry and Shivhan returning from their latest metahuman hunt. Neither Iris nor Nina needed to ask them anything to know how successful their mission went.

"You should be resting," Barry said to Nina after catching her trying to shift from her bed.

Nina scoffed. "Cut the crap, I'm the doctor here. I know what I should and shouldn't do."

"No need to argue here," Shivhan told the two with a cautious air in her voice, "We're all on the same side."

The tension between Barry and Nina stemmed from their own individual guilt about Belén's capture. If Barry hadn't been in the Speed Force, he wouldn't have let Zoom take Belén and in turn if Nina had been 'stronger', she would've put up more of a fight. Both guilts — as each of the others stated — were completely misplaced. Shivhan had her own guilt to handle. It was a terrible situation to come out of the Green because the Green itself commanded her to return and help Belén. The whole reason she'd even been in the Green for such a long time was to help protect the people Belén wanted to look after. Shivhan never imagined that it would be this moment that Datura would choose to make her play.

"I have looked everywhere and I just...I can't," Barry felt ashamed that he was letting Belén and Caitlin down. He said, he promised, he would find them and yet here he was empty handed.

"There has to be something we're not seeing," Nina said after a moment. "You don't just hide two grown women in a city like this."

"Well, maybe that's it then," Iris said, earning herself several looks. "We can't account for Zoom because we don't really know him but we know Belén. Datura is Belén therefore we can assume that she thinks like Belén."

"No she doesn't," Barry snapped, utterly offended on behalf of Belén. Datura was far from being Belén. His Bells didn't think murder — she didn't think about hurting people.

"Hold on, Iris may be onto something there," Shivhan rested a hand on Barry's arm. "Fundamentally, their core is the same. Little stuff can be the same. What's Belén's thought-process like? Like...is she complicated?"

Barry sent her a flat stare. "Far from it. She likes things plain and simple. She likes mysteries but she doesn't like a whole elaborate plan. But she likes tricks, so…" he paused a moment, "She has to be hiding them under our noses. The last place I would ever think of." It actually worked for both doppelgangers when Barry got to more thinking. Belén like things simple and Datura liked playing harsh games. Wherever she was keeping Belén, it had to be somewhere close to Belén but still supply Datura with a smug victory. A pleasurable victory knowing she was hanging Belén right in front of them.

Barry felt his body tremble. He absolutely despised Datura.

~ 0 ~

Datura took a sharp intake of breath after smelling alcohol. She nearly busted heads with Caitlin who had swabbed a damp cotton under her nose.

"Where the hell am I!?" the dark-brunette blinked rapidly.

Caitlin slowly helped her up to her feet. "You're here, in Mercury Labs. Don't you remember?"

Datura scrunched her face when the alcohol became too much. She shook her head and looked around, seeing no Belén in the room. "The doppelganger!? Where is she!?" she frantically began to search under tables and around them.

Caitlin was having trouble figuring out what was going on. "You can't...you can't remember, can you?"

Datura stopped and sideways glanced at the woman. "WHERE. IS SHE!?" Caitlin flinched when the woman stalked up to her. "WHERE!?"

"P-Poison Ivy took her! Remember!?" Caitlin managed to answer between the shakes. "I-I don't know where because you said it was a secret!"

Datura let Caitlin go and thought for a second. "I think...I think I don't remember."

"You don't….?"

"I-I know where Poison Ivy took her, but I...I can't remember asking her to," Datura ran her hands through her hair, obviously frustrated with herself. "Why can't I remember? Why…?"

Caitlin actually felt sorry for her. "Um, it's...it's part of your condition. You're beginning to have blackouts due to the other...uh…"

"People in my head?" Datura tapped her temple.

"Yeah…" Caitlin nervously bit on her lip. "It's your DNA's way of coping with all the alterations it has to go through. By removing you - the host - it creates a temporary space for other powers to take control."

"How pathetic am I," Datura shook her head. She leaned against the table to take a breath.

"In extreme cases you'll start to pass out."

"Oh, great."

Caitlin walked over with a cup of water in hand. Datura eyed the gesture suspiciously, like there was poison in it. Caitlin chuckled. "It's the water you gave me earlier so unless you poisoned it for me…"

Datura snatched the cup from her and took a swig of it. She could see Caitlin staring at her with so much caution, concern...

She wasn't used to that anymore.

"I think I'm hitting a break through," Caitlin decided to change topics. She returned to her table and hoped Datura would do the same. "I had an idea from Belén. When she first started using her powers, she had the same blackout episodes you're having now. We managed to help Belén without so much of chemical interference, but…" she stopped when she realized Datura wasn't listening.

She supposed it was just better to finish up.

~ 0 ~

A tall brunette dressed in all black leather confidently walked up to Mercury Labs. She scanned the area and saw it was mostly empty...on the outside. She knew just who was in that building and she couldn't wait to take it down along with a birdy or two.

She emitted an incredibly strong sonic wail. The building began to immediately shake as if an earthquake was striking. For kicks, she added in a second sonic cry and watched how easily the building began to crumble.

~0~

Caitlin fell back against the table opposite to her workspace and banged her head in the process. Everything was shaking. "What's happening!?"

Datura was closer to the door but was still struggling to stay on her feet. "Siren bitch!" she cried out.

"We're going to die!" Caitlin used the table to bring herself up. "The work! It's being destroyed!"

Datura could see that for herself. The work table was almost empty of viable tools. Liquids had been thrown around and beakers shattered. Caitlin yelped and slipped to the side again. She rubbed at her head but saw a piece of the ceiling was crackling, getting ready to drop. Caitlin screwed her eyes shut and waited for her last breath to come to an end.

Datura groaned from her spot and thrust a hand forwards, firing a white streak of energy that stopped the falling ceiling chunk in its spot. "I didn't take you for a damsel in distress!" Caitlin didn't say anything, her shock of being saved by the very woman who was threatening to murder others was too much. "Gravitational pull is always tricky with these powers. It's why I don't use it so much." Suddenly, a flicker of red crossed Datura's eyes. "He's coming," she announced. "We gotta go!"

And so they went.

~0~

Outside, Barry and Shivhan had gotten everyone out in time, including Dr. McGee who'd come to a very close end.

"Thank you, Mr. Allen," the woman kindly said despite the spectacle. Barry did a double-take upon hearing his name but McGee merely smiled. "I'm not stupid."

From a distance, the culprit who stared everything strode away with the biggest smirk. "Boom."

~ 0 ~

"Why is she here!?"

"Because Black Siren happened!"

"What—"

"She killed me, Ivy! She basically just killed me! My cure - the ingredients we had were destroyed when the building came down!"

There was silence after that for all of a minute before someone started to grunt. Caitlin could neither see nor breath at this point. She'd been gagged and blinded with the same strips of cloth. Her hands and ankles were bound together as well, keeping her on the ground, or at least a hard floor.

Datura had saved her alright, but the moment they were out of Mercury Labs, she knocked Caitlin out and brought her to their other hiding place. Caitlin assumed the still body she could feel next to her was Belén's.

"Not now, Caity," Datura had moved over and pulled the gag out of Caitlin's mouth. "I'm a little bit busy drowning in my sorrows."

Poison Ivy was thoughtful in her spot. "You couldn't save anything from the cure?"

"No!" Datura snapped but quickly calmed. "No... it's all gone."

"There has to be something else, maybe you didn't look—"

"Of course I couldn't!" Datura was back to shouting. "The frickin building collapsed! The Flash and Black Orchid were coming and I wasn't gonna risk being caught."

"Okay, then I'll go check right now," Poison Ivy devised the plan and pointed at Datura to stay put. "You look after those two and don't forget to apply the sleeping draught on your dearest doppelganger. We're all out of meta-dampeners so you better make sure she stays down."

Datura nodded for her to get going. She didn't look spirited enough to argue for a better plan. When she was alone, she closed her eyes and did her best to hold herself together.

Caitlin swore she heard small sniffles somewhere along that silence.

~0~

McGee stood in the middle of the cortex subjected to various troubled looks from the rest of the team. It really did come as a surprise that she knew Barry and what STAR Labs actually did.

"Is there anyone who doesn't know about you guys?" Shivhan's question wasn't made at the most prudent time but she was very curious to know of the answer. She liked to think that if Belén had been around, she would've answered with something sarcastic. She would brighten up the mood as usual.

"So how did you know?" Barry finally asked McGee, if not simply to know the answer.

McGee offered a little smile of comfort. "Come on, Barry, I'm a scientist. We're paid to be perceptive. And you're always a little too well informed when things go pear-shaped in this city." She took in notice of the newcomers of the group — Shivhan, Henry, Veronica and Nina in the group. "But I don't believe we've ever met before. Dr. Christina McGee."

Henry shook hands with her first. "Doctor Henry Allen. I'm Barry's father."

"Veronica Green," went Veronica but slightly quieter. As of late, she wasn't much of a talker.

"Oh, David's ex-wife," McGee easily recalled.

"Doctor Nina Clarke, friend of Belén's," Nina said afterwards.

"You're not our friend, then?" Cisco mocked a pout.

"Children," Nina rolled her eyes. "That's what happens when I'm the eldest meta in the room."

"Not by that much," Shivhan sent her a sarcastic look before shifting gazes back on McGee. "Shivhan Jang."

"And where's Miss Palayta? I must say I'm a little biased saying that she's my favorite." Her smile only lasted a minute before she noticed how the others were squirming. Nobody could match Veronica's and Barry's faces, though. She was missing something big. "Have I—"

"Belén is gone for the moment," Barry struggled to put into words. "She and Dr. Caitlin Snow are under Zoom's metahumans' hands."

"Oh, oh, I'm so sorry," McGee said, both to him and Veronica.

"We're going to find her," Veronica stated, although it sounded like it was just a reminder for her. And perhaps it was. Everything already looked terrible when she remembered how she lost her older children. Even more so, things between her and Belén were finally getting better and now she was gone.

"Dr. McGee did you happen to see who it was that caused your building to collapse?" Shivhan asked after waiting for Barry to do so. He spaced out a lot lately too. They needed to start this investigation in order to get closer to Belén and Caitlin.

"I didn't see anything. It happened so fast," McGee admitted with guilt. She wished she could have had a better answer for them. "Plus, to be quite honest with you, the last couple of days have been a bit fuzzy."

"Fuzzy how?"

McGee seemed troubled by the idea but she went on to answer however she could. "A couple days ago there were these...women, they just entered the place, but...but somehow it felt alright. Like...like they were supposed to be there. It was okay."

Hardly anyone understood her. Barry, however, studied her expressions carefully, recognizing some of the...feelings. "Dr. McGee, these women, was one of the particularly special?" he formulated his question carefully.

As he suspected, McGee answered without hesitation, like it was a fact. "Oh yes. She had wild red hair and beautiful eyes."

"Yeah," Barry agreed with a mutter. "When I fought Poison Ivy she used this...this weird controlling trick on me. It makes you physically love her or something."

"Yeah, Bells wasn't too happy about that," Cisco smirked only to receive an elbow on his side courtesy of Nina.

"So if the same trick was used..." Iris started, "...does that mean that...?"

"They've been keeping Belén and Caitlin in Mercury Labs this whole time," Nina said.

"Right under our noses!" Veronica exclaimed with a deep frown. She expected Barry to say something along those lines as well, share her anger, but for some reason he was silent. He was thinking. "What's wrong?" Veronica asked him.

Barry cocked his head to the side. "I get why Datura would want to be there — she's probably using Caitlin to finish up the cure — but it doesn't make sense to keep Belén there too. It doesn't have that...thing that would make it smug."

"Well, even if they were there, they can't be anymore," Henry gestured towards McGree. "The building's been destroyed."

"So there has to be a secondary location," Barry said with all the certainty in the world. "That's where Datura is getting her smug victory from. I'm sure of it."

"Do you think we can get street cameras to see if we can catch Datura leaving the building?" Shivhan looked to Cisco for the answer.

"Maybe!"

"In the meantime, Mercury Labs does have a Crash-Survivable Memory Unit," McGee said, "Perhaps we can use it start somewhere."

Henry shook his head. There were simply too much he didn't understand around this group. "I'm sorry, a what?"

"Virtually a black box for buildings. It will have stored all the security footage right up until the building collapsed."

"You know..." Shivhan folded her arms over her chest, "Mercury Labs just happened to be destroyed when Datura was working on her cure?" Her expression willed the others to see what she was hinting at.

"You don't think Zoom did this...do we?" Iris thought it would be the stupidest decision Zoom would do considering what Datura was. "Would he really jeopardize his precious siphoner?"

Barry suddenly remembered Datura's words from the last time he saw her.

"And you didn't tell Zoom?"

"I'm mad with him."

Datura never said why she was upset with Zoom. Barry never even considered it actually being true. But if it was true...

"If Zoom has a problem with her he won't think twice of disposing her," he said. This could be their opportunity to seize Datura and make her see reason, even if it was under lies. He wasn't opposed to that anymore, not when Datura had shown she wasn't willing to change.

"There may be one more possibility," McGee spoke up with a very different idea. "A few months ago, I saw Harrison Wells running out of my facility. I know it sounds crazy, but I'm certain it was him. Is there any way he could have anything to do with this?"

The man himself appeared to answer the question, with a steaming mug of coffee in hand. "A few months ago? Sure. Now? No."

McGee seemed ready to pass out.

"Yeah, there are a few more things that we could catch you up on, Dr. McGee," Barry cleared his throat. Truth be told, there was a lot they would need to run by her.

~0~

Caitlin couldn't help the flinch her body gave when cold gloves touched her. "What's going on!?" she quickly demanded.

"It's time to go, Caity," Datura said and it took Caitlin another minute to realize Datura was taking off the binds from her wrists and ankles.

"Wh-where?"

"You to STAR Labs I imagine, and me…" Datura pulled her up. "Off to die I guess."

"Wait, what—"

"Don't you dare take the blind off your face until I say so."

Caitlin felt herself be pushed forwards. "No! What about Belén!?" Belén!"

"Oh she's still knocked out. Truth is I ended up liking you more than myself, ha. The irony," Datura gave a small laugh. "I'll let her sleep it off while Black Siren destroys the rest of the city."

"But what's happening? What are you going to do?"

"Pay my last enemy a visit. If I have to die, so does she. Just do me a favor, if Siren bitch does get me, I want to be buried in my world. Now go before I change my mind!" Datura ignored Caitlin's shouts to be returned to Belén's side or to at least let Belén go as well.

~0~

Barry didn't waste a second searching through the pieces of the leftover Mercury Labs. He was soon back with the group holding a rectangular black box in his arms. "Is this it!?"

"That's the one," McGee confirmed.

Barry handed the box to Cisco who carefully put it down for a second. "All right, great. Dad, Dr. McGee, Cisco, why don't you guys crack this open, see what you can find?"

"Sure thing," Cisco gave the box a pat.

"And we'll—" Barry then gestured the others in the room, "—go see what kind of metahuman powers can take down a building like that and how to stop it. Not you though, you need to go lay back down," he purposely said louder for Nina.

"I will never humor you," the woman calmly responded, even smiling for his sake.

"Guys!?" they heard a familiar shout to them. It was hard to believe it was real but when the same voice called again, they accepted it.

They ran out of the cortex, except for Nina and Dr. McGee, to meet Caitlin halfway.

"Caitlin!" Barry reached her first and hugged her.

"How are you here!?" Cisco took his turn next. "I mean, not that we're upset or anything but...how!?" Caitlin mustered a smile at them through clear tired eyes.

"Caitlin, is Belén…?" Barry had little hope for that question to but even when Caitlin gave a sad shake of her head, it still crushed him. She was still out there somewhere, waiting for them — for him — to find her.

"She only let me go," Caitlin said with the reasonable guilt that would haunt her from the situation. "I'm really sorry."

"No, no, it's not your fault," Barry was quick to say. He gently took her by the arms and made her look at him. "None of us are responsible for what Datura chooses to do."

"But I think I am," Caitlin bit her lower lip, chewed on it more like it. "She said...she said that she liked me more than Belén. She chose to let me go."

"Like an echo of your friendship with Bells," Cisco said behind them. "Funny how those work."

"Caitlin, please," Veronica moved forwards, "Where did she take you after Mercury Labs?"

"I-I don't know. She kept me blind for the entire time—"

"But anything you managed to see?" Veronica pushed for a better answer. "You felt?"

"I don't—"

"Something you heard at least!?"

"I'm really sorry—"

"Don't tell me you're sorry!" Veronica exclaimed in frustration. "I just want my daughter back!"

"Veronica," Joe pulled her back. She had to remember that Caitlin had gone through a lot of things as well. Veronica waved a hand at the group and slowly moved for the cortex again.

"We should get you checked out," Barry gently moved Caitlin with him and glanced at his father to see if he was up for the task.

"I'm sorry for not paying better attention," she said as Iris helped her move with Henry.

Barry nodded at her. Of course he understood her. "It's okay. It's not your fault."

Caitlin would try to think he was right but just as she was about to go into the cortex, she remembered something. "Barry..." She reached back for the speedster who was quick (naturally) to come up to her. "There was a-a scent in the air."

Barry would take what he could get. "What kind of scent?"

"Like...like wet dirt…" Caitlin tried to think some more. She didn't spend a lot of time in that place and the little time she had was spent in a haze wondering what was Datura's next play against them. "Yeah, I think it was wet dirt. And...damp too. I'm sorry, I'm not helping much am I?"

"No, you did great!" Barry exclaimed, more than happy about having these clues. Wet dirt wasn't something so common so it would have to narrow down the places Datura was keeping Belén.

~0~

Caitlin sat through her check up with a strong, yet clearly tired, face. It'd been countless sleepless nights after all.

"She's in shock. A little...dehydrated and malnourished, but I think she'll be fine," Henry gave her a small woman after realizing the check up.

"I am okay," Caitlin reassured with a nod. "I mean…I was better when I was with Datura and Poison Ivy."

"So they make good babysitters," Cisco mumbled and earned himself a strange, sharp look from Caitlin.

"You don't know what's happened," the brunette said.

"How did you escape?" Iris was the one to ask. She'd been waiting for someone to ask the million dollar question but since no one did she would do it.

Caitlin gave a light shrug of her shoulders. "It was Datura. She...she just let me go."

"No way," Shivhan snorted. "Datura would never do something like that."

Caitlin understood why they would think it — she would think the same thing if she was in their spot — but she assured them it's what happened.

"Why would she do that?" Barry asked her. Datura never made a decision without purpose. Was this a trap somehow?

Caitlin lowered her head, for some reason finding it difficult to answer. She wasn't sure what the hell she was doing but to be fair she was really tired. Her mind raced with everything she'd lived through as of late. It was complex going through and making sense of it.

And Barry saw it. "You've been through a lot. You should get some rest." Their questions weren't doing Caitlin well.

Caitlin felt like it was the best thing she could do for them and herself right now. Maybe after some rest she would remember more things.

Almost as soon as they were gone, an alarm went off from the computers. Cisco ran over to the desk first and brought up a tab for everyone to see. "Oh no…" he muttered and raised his gaze to the others.

"What is it?" Barry emerged from the side room with a face ready to go. No one needed to answer him. The great big lightning symbole carved of fire across the CCPD was answer enough.

"Barry, don't do it," Henry barely got the words out when Barry sped out.

He didn't hesitate to go right into the precinct, to where his old lab still (miraculously) stood.

Hunter stood across the lab, staring at the board still holding the case of Barry's mother. "You know, I never saw the crime photos of my mother's murder. Well, I guess I didn't need to. I had a ringside seat while you got whisked away. Too delicate, I suppose. Not just a hologram after all, are you, Flash?"

Just looking at him made Barry's blood boil with anger. "Interesting. I know you didn't call me up here just to banter. Let's finish this. Right now."

But Hunter merely smiled at him as if it were just a game. "Actually, I did. I called you up here to tell you you can't keep running from one meta to the next. Around and around, like a dog chasing its tail."

"I'll do whatever it takes to stop you."

"If only that were good enough. 'Cause here's the thing. I know you. I know what's holding you back. You and me... we're really just the same person."

Barry didn't even try to hide his incredibility. "Right. You keep saying that, but it's not gonna make it true."

"You'll see," Hunter wagged a finger at him. "We are. Same tragic background. Same reason for running. Same desire to be the fastest, to be the best. The difference? You think your anger is dirty somehow. You want to be seen as pure, the hero. Doesn't it get exhausting?" he rushed to face Barry. "Doesn't it get exhausting, Barry! It was exhausting playing Jay, believe me."

"I'm not pretending," Barry made the promise.

There was a distant rumbling and when Barry looked out the window he saw one building shaking on its own.

Hunter smiled once again. "Now if it were me, I'd let that building tumble without a second thought. But you, you'll never let that happen, will you? That's why I'm gonna beat you, Barry. Because you always have to be the hero. You always have to save people. You'll make the pit stops to save the building...survivors...maybe a girlfriend in between those…? Or Caitlin?"

It took Barry by surprise that Hunter didn't seem to know Caitlin wasn't even in his clutches anymore. He had trusted Datura and...the woman had betrayed him. She really is mad at him, Barry thought. And that could work for him. For the moment, Barry followed Hunter's game and sped out to help the people in the crashing building.

~ 0 ~

"Zoom doesn't know that his favorite meta betrayed him?" Cisco laughed. "I'm gonna love to see his face when that happens."

"Do we really?" Nina asked from her bed, her eyes flickering from the two men to Caitlin. "I mean, we watched the man kill himself so imagine what's gonna happen when he realizes she let Caitlin go."

Barry leaned back against the doorway of the side room, pretty grim looking. "Yeah. But my main priority is getting Belén out before Zoom figures it all out."

"You have to get them both out," Caitlin finally spoke up. She'd napped for about an hour or so and it did do her body good...but it wouldn't take away her worry.

"Caitlin, these women kidnapped you too," Cisco gave her friend a sharp look. "Even if the conditions were better it was still kidnapping."

"You didn't see what I saw," Caitlin sighed. She leaned back on her chair and nervously bit her lip. "They had me working on a cure and...I saw how Datura worsened."

"So we're supposed to feel sorry for her now?" Nina raised an eyebrow. "Try again."

Caitlin understood it was difficult for the others to accept what she now thought, but she couldn't give up. "She's been having black outs and...she nearly attacked Poison Ivy at one point. I was so close to getting the cure when Mercury Labs was taken down. She could have left me, but...she didn't. She saved me."

"Caitlin, you can't be serious," Nina waited for the others to tell Caitlin how wrong this all was...but Caitlin snapped.

"She knew I couldn't make the cure anymore and she still took me! Look," Caitlin took in a deep breath to begin again, "I'm not saying she's a changed person or that she deserves the sun and rainbows, but she's accepting she's going to die. She betrayed this horrible monster by letting me go. I'm just supposed to forget that?"

"Caitlin, isn't there a chance Zoom was just gonna kill her anyways?" Cisco's gaze averted the sure scolding glare Caitlin would give.

"Barry, help me out," Caitlin shifted to see the speedster. "You wanted to help her. Belén said that you wanted to see if there was still some human decency inside Datura —well, there might be."

Yeah, he did want to see that before. That was before things got worse. "Right now, I really just want to get my Belén," he responded.

"And the way to get to her is to get through Datura first," Caitlin stood up from her chair. "I'm gonna work on that cure right now but we need to bring her in."

"I'm all for bringing her in," Nina jumped in at the chance then added, much to Caitlin's dismay, "...straight to the pipeline. And maybe throwing her ginger friend in wouldn't hurt either."

"Guys," Caitlin tried being rationale. "She's a villain, yeah, but it's like Barry's been saying, she doesn't deserve to die like this. And when Zoom figures out she let me go, he's going to slaughter her. That is gonna be on us." She parted with a definitive face and walked out of the room.

Nina pushed herself up on the bed and began to say how crazy they were acting. "She's a villain. Ask yourselves if this woman didn't have Belén's face would you be cutting her all this slack?"

"Okay, but the point is she does," Barry rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes for a second. "I tried to look past it but I couldn't. I can't punch her, I can't kick her, I can't hurt her. It's literally beyond me."

"Barry, you're a forensics for God's sake! I can't believe we're-"

"Woah…" Cisco had rocked on his feet all of a sudden.

It took little less than a second for the others to realize he was vibing.

"Cisco, what did you see?" Barry asked immediately after Cisco had returned to the present. "Is it Belén?"

"No…" Cisco looked dead confused. "I just...saw a bunch of dead birds…"

"I hate being the oldest one here," Nina mumbled and shook her head at them.

"I have to go talk to Wally," Barry announced, figuring a break would do them well. "Cisco, look into the wet dirt lists again?"

"Definitely, Shivhan was already going through some of them before," Cisco nodded and set straight to work.

~ 0 ~

"Getting ready to smash another building?"

A brunette's darkened lips smirked. Her black leather screeched as she turned sideways to meet her opponent. "How could you possibly think it was my fault?"

"Just a hunch," Datura mimicked her tone. "You basically killed me," she said in a much darker voice.

"Did I?" Black Siren's eyebrows raised up with pure innocence.

"My time might be up but I'm taking you to hell with me."

"Is that now?" Black Siren released a small chuckle. "In your condition?"

"Honey, my condition never stopped me from killing. If I took metas stronger than you, what chances do you have?" Datura's eyes glowered blue with frost. "You're as dead as a dog," Killer Frost spoke through her and started firing ice blasts.

Black Siren jumped to the side and consecutively two more times before retaliating with her deadly sonic scream. Datura was thrown backwards, her head smacking against the road's cement. Blood trickled down from the side of her forehead.

"You really want to push your death date earlier?" Black Siren smirked at the scene. "I'm all happy for it too."

She's going to kill us. Get her! Move out of the way and let us do it! Datura clutched her head and yelped. Voices were overlapping in her head and rising. "Stop it!"

"The great siphoner gone mad?" Black Siren laughed, making the mistake of distraction.

Datura shot bands of electricity towards the woman and successfully hit her. She pushed herself up, revealing golden eyes. "What's the matter?" her voice overlapped with another. "Cat got your tongue?

Black Siren growled moved to stand up. Datura brought her arms back, allowing electricity to surround her hands, and thrust it forwards. The hit never reached Black Siren because of Barry crossing between it. The electricity didn't seem to affect him like it would have to the other woman.

"Did I just charge you up instead?" Datura's lips turned downwards into a scowl. "No matter, I'm sure a little Frost will bring you down."

Barry winced as the last surge of electricity left his body. He shook his head and hoped he was good to go now. Soon as he took sight of his vicinity, he came across...Laurel Lance?

"Laurel…?" he said without thinking.

Black Siren took the recognition with some curiosity. "Laurel Lance is dead. On this Earth, anyways. Poor Black Canary." She raised her gloved hand and wiggled her fingers. "Bye-bye, birdy."

"You knew the doppelganger," Datura rolled her eyes. "Figures."

"And you...know each other?" Barry assumed from their battle that called him in (and away from Wally). He noticed the drying blood on Datura's face.

"You can say that," Black Siren smirked across at the woman.

"This fight doesn't include you, so go," Datura waved a hand at Barry. "I'm just here to close business. For good."

"Bel…"

Datura raised a finger. "Call me that, I dare you." She pulled out a familiar looking pink flower from her jacket. "Does this Azalea ring a bell?" she laughed shortly. "Oh, double pun. I definitely didn't plan for that!" She threw the flower at him. "You can keep it. There's plenty more where that one came from."

Barry pursed his lips and made himself calm. If he angered her, there went his chance at finding Belén. "I know what you did with Caitlin. You let her go on your own…"

Datura's cold demeanor slipped off as soon as he spoke the words. Black Siren, on the other hand, seemed delighted with the news.

"You let the famous Caitlin Snow go?" she laughed and put her hands together.

Barry realized his mistake all too late. Datura was fear-riddened at the prospect.

"I'm gonna enjoy Zoom killing you," Black Siren sucked in a breath and used her sonic wail on her.

Barry clapped his hands over his ears but it wasn't enough to block out the horrible pitch. Datura didn't have the same luck since the attack was for her. She groaned on the ground and rolled over with hands over ears but it wouldn't work.

Barry mustered his will and used his speed to knock Black Siren down. "My bad, was that too loud?" the woman smirked easily jumped back to her feet and strode up to him. "Perhaps we should quiet things down a bit." She threw in a punch followed by a second one, easily putting Barry down. "You know, the sad thing is, I think Zoom's actually afraid of you. And I didn't think that he feared anything." She thrust her boot and hit him straight on the chest. "And you, you're hardly worth the chills. How many metas did he send to try and kill you? Well, it's too bad. He should have just sent me because that way, you would have already been—" Tires screeched as a car knocked her out of the way.

Wally open the passenger's door and motioned Barry to go in. "Hurry up!"

Barry glanced over to see Datura already making her escape, and it looked like she would get away with it. He got in with Wally and let the younger man drive them away.

~0~

Caitlin swabbed away the dry blood from Barry's ear and told him he would be alright in the end.

"What?" Barry still heard a mild ringing in his ears and solicited a smile from Caitlin.

"Why do so many villains that we go against use sound as a weapon?" Cisco muttered.

"So Wally just drove on up into the thick of it?" Joe did good in keeping his anger more or less simmering. "Must have been some conversation you two had, seeing as though he did literally the opposite of what we wanted."

"This I can hear," Barry mumbled to Caitlin but Joe snapped at him.

"It's not funny. I'm in no laughing mood!"

"Look, Joe, I tried. I told you I would try, right? I... Wally's a determined kid."

Joe agree there, just not exactly the way Barry thought. "Yeah, determined to get himself killed."

"Or determined to help people. And be glad, or you know, I would not be standing here right now."

"Well, he was lucky tonight. I don't want to see the day when he isn't!" Joe finished with that and stormed out.

"So who was this lady meta anyways?" Nina inquired, much more interested in the new case than a man who clearly knew what he was doing.

"No idea," Barry shrugged in his seat. "She was fighting Datura when I got there. The two seemed ready to kill each other."

"That mysterious meta does have the ability," Cisco informed them just in case the hadn't realized it yet. "She was just reaching the 200 belps when you got there."

"Siren…" Caitlin mumbled, her mind slowly beginning to turn the wheels. "Black Siren? That had to be her! Datura and Poison Ivy were talking about her. She's the one who brought down Mercury Labs."

"Yeah and she's the one who's going to tell Zoom you're not kidnapped anymore," Barry still felt incredibly guilty on that part. "We've got to find Datura first."

"Good luck with that," Cisco started back to the desk. "Shivhan didn't find any place with what Caitlin told us."

"That's because damp and wet dirt isn't much to go by on," Nina sighed.

Barry stayed silent as he thought about the case. Datura was Belén, in some form, so she had the same mindset. She would give him the answer to his face without actually saying it.

Datura pulled out a familiar looking pink flower from her jacket. "Does this Azalea ring a bell?" she laughed shortly. "Oh, double pun. I definitely didn't plan for that!" She threw the flower at him. "You can keep it. There's plenty more where that one came from."

"Barry?" Caitlin called to him three times before he actually realized. "What is it?"

Barry got up from his stool with a bit of a jump. He was definitely thinking of something now. "She had an azalea with her! She can't make those…"

Even though Caitlin wasn't following, she helped him with another bit. "Belén can't either. She's been under sleeping droughts since she was taken."

"So she had to grab one!"

"Well it's not like those are commonly grown," Nina began to see where Barry was getting at and turned to Cisco.

"I know!" Cisco was already on the computer with a new mission.

"Damp smell? Wet dirt? That's a flower shop," Barry rushed over to Cisco. "How many are there in the city with those flowers?

"Just ten!"

"And I know which one to start with," Barry said with newfound hope. "Tell Shivhan to head over!"

"The closest one is—"

"I know, Cisco. It's Bells' favorite place!" Barry sped out but soon called to Cisco again to ask for the following locations of the other shops just in case the first one struck out.

~0~

Arriving at the shop, Barry figured it was closed down. The door was shut and the insides were covered up. Perfect hiding place for a while. Poison Ivy had to have taken control of the owners.

"Hey," Shivhan appeared behind him. She was already looking at the building for a way inside. "You think this is where they are?"

"I'm sure of it," Barry muttered. "Datura's hiding her in plain sight with an extra punch just for them.

"Alright, how do you want to play it?"

Barry vibrated the lock off the door and pulled it open. He heard Shivhan's quiet 'I guess like that'. He wasn't there to waste time with plans. He knew exactly what he was going to do. He carefully walked inside and took immediate observation of the area.

"Dude, do you see anything?" Cisco called from the comms.

"Nothing yet," Barry replied quietly and moved further inside. "But it definitely smells damp...and dirt…"

Shivhan noticed how unattended the remaining flowers were. Some of them were already dead and others well on their way. "For a botanical metahuman, this is a travesty. They don't care about the plants — they must be spiraling."

Barry stopped when he spotted something leathery green poking out from behind a display table. Not wasting a moment, he sped to the spot. Shivhan was quick to follow. Barry's heart jolted upon meeting Belén's unconscious body on the ground. "Belén!" he turned the woman over and gently peeled the duct tape off her mouth. "I found her, guys!" he informed the others.

"And yet, you won't be taking her anywhere."

Barry rolled his eyes when he heard Poison Ivy drawling behind. Shivhan did the same and while Barry tended to Belén, she turned around to face the ginger.

"Seriously, we're not in the mood!"

The ginger smirked. "I have never heard that one before."

"How about instead of this pointless standoff you help us find Datura?" Barry stood back up. "Because we know she's missing. Don't even deny it. She let Caitlin go and now Zoom knows."

And just like as if he was seeing Datura, the same fear filled Poison Ivy.

"Ooh, now we're getting somewhere," Shivhan smirked. "If you value your partner's life then I suggest you back the hell up. We're the only people who can help you now."

"How about I kill you three and just hope Zoom forgives us with your corpses as gifts?" Poison Ivy's eyes narrowed down. "I like that idea a lot more."

Shivhan balled her fists as dark tendrils of vines wrapped around her. Before Poison Ivy attacked, Shivhan fired thorn-riddened roses her way. Poison Ivy brought up a shield to protect herself but Shivhan disbanded into vines to re-appear behind the woman and clock her. "That was for Belén. And just because Belén is nice enough to allow your friend to still get a cure doesn't mean it's on the table full-time. Every last metauman from Earth 2 is about to be rounded up."

Barry took the binds from Belén's wrists and ankles. She took in a breath like she always did when she was close to waking up. "No..." she started shaking her head, albeit loopy.

"It's me Bells," Barry whispered, not wanting to scare her. "We're taking you home."

~0~

Because Caitlin already had a good information set on Belén's state, there was no surprise when she told the others her recovery was as easy as pie. "She's coming out of the effects already," Caitlin was happy to finish with. "She'll just be a little, uh... loopy...with the drought's effects."

"But she will be fine, right?" Veronica was right beside Belén's bed. She hadn't left her daughter's side since they'd returned with her.

"Yeah," Caitlin nodded then excused herself to continue working.

"Mmm…" Belén took in another breath and turned her head. Her eyes slowly opened and met her mother's worried gaze. "I'm so...tired…" she announced with a raspy voice.

Veronica chuckled. "It's okay, you're going to be okay."

"Mhm," Belén glanced at her other side and smiled at Barry. "Hi…"

Barry returned the smile. He reached for her hand over her stomach and gave it a grip. "How do you feel now?"

Belén took in another breath. "I feel like a bus hit me. And I'm hungry."

Barry laughed shortly. "I promise when we go home I'll be your personal chef."

This time it was Belén who laughed. "May God help the kitchen."

Even if he thought he had progressed finely in his cooking skills, Barry laughed with her. He was just happy to finally have her back with him.

"Datura...where is she?"

"Doesn't matter where she is!" Veronica muttered.

"Except it does," Barry gave her a straight look. Veronica refused to meet his gaze so Barry tried with Belén instead. "She's probably hiding. Zoom knows that she let Caitlin go."

Belén's eyebrows raised in surprise. "Hm, leave it to Caitlin to bring my heart out."

Barry shared a chuckle with her but Veronica was ready to burst. "This is not funny! Neither of you should feel any sympathy for this woman!"

"Believe me Ms. Green, I've tried my best but you haven't seen her face. It's the same as Belén's and no matter how hard I try, I can't against her. I can't fight her, I can't hurt her...and I'm pretty sure you wouldn't be able to."

"We have to find her, Mom," Belén took in a small breath. "Zoom doesn't get to kill whoever he chooses."

"But Belén-"

"And she let Caitlin go out of her own will? Mom," Belén fixated her best 'cmon' expression. That alone meant something. Caitlin mentioned it to her as soon as Belén was lucid enough to realize Caitlin was in STAR Labs and not imprisoned.

Veronica released a sigh. "Alright. But I don't want her anywhere near you. And I certainly don't want to look at her face," she pushed herself up from her chair. "You might be right about the face thing…"

"Mm, believe me," Barry hummed. He gave Belén's hand a gentle grip and had to tell her he needed to go for a bit. "Wells said he could bring down all Earth 2 metas in one go so…"

"You can't pass up that opportunity," Belén smiled. "Bring them down once and for all."

"We will," he promised her. He leaned over and kissed her then stood up.

"I'll stay here," Veronica said for both their sake's. "You—" she laid eyes on her daughter, "—are no longer allowed to be on your own." Belén rolled her eyes but was not quick enough to make a comeback. "Until everything is finished, you have to be with someone."

Barry wouldn't openly agree since Belén would probably scold the hell out of him for it later, but he agreed with Veronica's stance for the time being. Datura had accepted death and a person with nothing to lose was an even more dangerous enemy.

~0~

"Guys, it's the metahuman alert app," Cisco studied the location the computer was giving him. 'Black Siren' was blinking in and out. "It's the high-rise development on the west side. Hundreds of people live there."

"Can we assume the siphoner will be there too?" asked Joe.

"I don't think so," Barry said as he came into the breech room. "If Datura saw our plan she's most likely going to go into hiding."

"Damn psychics," Iris shook her head.

"Ramon, we're up. Let's go," called Harry. "Set that pulse off right now. Allen, you need to start generating that refracting field right now!"

"But Black Siren can take down this building at any point! Wha... all those people, Wells!"

Harry understood the complication but he felt he was looking at the bigger picture. "How many more people are gonna die while we wait?"

Cisco purposely cleared his throat loudly. "I think I just got the worst idea of all time. I'm gonna go find Caitlin."

~ 0 ~

Black Siren was gazing at her newest targets from an abandoned building. "I don't think I've taken down so many buildings at once." She was about to set her own personal record.

"Maybe you're not as powerful as you think," shot a familiar sounding voice.

Black Siren turned sideways to see two incoming metas. It was Reverb and Killer Frost. "What are you two doing here?"

Cisco did his best to produce his finest doppelganger imitation. "Why should you have all the fun?"

Black Siren narrowed her eyes on them. "I thought you two were dead." She lingered a little more on 'Killer Frost'. "Datura siphoned you up like a sucker."

"She didn't finish the job," Caitlin smirked.

"She really is getting more pathetic," Black Siren got smug. "But you two - you're idiots if you think you can pull one over on Zoom. Well, enjoy being dead."

"I told you," Cisco mumbled to Caitlin.

"Give her a chance," Caitlin nudged him.

Black Siren looked from one to another, getting riled up they were acting as if she wasn't there. "What chance?"

"She's not ready—"

"Excuse me!" the woman shouted at them.

Cisco faked a sigh. "Do you know what I'm capable of doing?"

"Try it, and I'll shatter your entire nervous system without breaking a sweat."

"Wow, you really think you can take on Zoom."

"We can. You don't even know how powerful you are," Cisco played her. "With a single call, you can take down a building. I'd call that impressive. But why... stop... there? Why serve a master when you can be a master, when you can be a god? We... could be gods."

Despite her, Black siren seemed intrigued.

Through the comms. Caitlin heard Shivhan say that Barry was about to begin making his rounds on the city's boundaries. They just had to keep Black Siren out of the loop for a little longer.

"If I were interested in forming an alliance with you two, what's your plan? Exactly?" Black Siren began to circle Cisco and Caitlin.

"We ambush Zoom at CCPD. With our three powers combined, he'll be no match for us," Cisco said with ease. It was the simplest lie he could have come up with.

Black Siren hummed and store away from the two. "Hmm. Well, I like the sound of that."

Caitlin briefly glanced at Cisco. This could possibly end up working. "Great. Then let's go."

Black Siren stopped and spotted a metal tool lying on the ground. "There's just one more thing. Reverb...catch." She had picked up the tool and gently tossed it to Cisco who indeed caught it. "You know, all doppelgangers... they're mirror images of themselves. But you two, you didn't know that, did you?"

Caitlin gulped and began backing away with Cisco. "Reverb is left-handed."

Cisco lost his breath then. "Well, I just... I just happened to... catch it with my right... run!"

He and Caitlin turned and ran for it only to come to a quick dead end.

"Oh, no. What are we gonna do!?" Caitlin whirled around for another escape but only saw Black Siren striding to them.

"Get out of there!" Shivhan yelled at them through the comms.

"I don't think that there's anything you can do." Black Siren opened her mouth to give them her sonic cry when Cisco blasted her with some force of energy that threw her backwards to the ground.

Caitlin's eyes nearly popped out from her head. "What the what!?"

Cisco, who had fallen back from the force, was trying to get back on his feet. "I don't know."

"Well, do it again!" Caitlin urged him and even pulled him up when he was too slow.

Black Siren pushed herself and began going for them again. "There's nothing on this Earth that can stop us!"

But the others had come through. A high pitched screech filled the air and forced Black Siren on her knees as well as every other Earth 2 metahuman. Caitlin and Cisco were relieved to see her go under the effects.

~ 0 ~

Belén had re-gathered her strength from the sleeping droughts. While the others finished putting the Earth 2 metahumans away, Caitlin came to check up on Belén and tell her how things went.

"So...Black Siren is actually Laurel's doppelganger?" Belén repeated with a tired sigh afterwards. She gave a shake of her head. "I really hate the word 'doppelganger' now. It feels like we're in the Vampire Diaries. I feel Damon Salvatore's pain now."

"She's in the pipeline now, but...we decided not tell Sara nor Captain Lance," Caitlin said quietly.

Belén agreed with the notion and began pushing herself up from the bed when she noticed Caitlin's blank face. "You okay Cait?"

The brunette blinked out of the trance she was in and adopted a tiny smile. "Yes, I think I'm just tired."

"My Mom told me you've been working nonstop on the cure…"

Caitlin's gaze lowered and her voice had gone quieter. "I-I'm just doing what you and Barry had already decided to do."

"I know, Caitlin, don't worry," Belén was sure Caitlin must have had some retributions for her decision to work on the cure. She wasn't going to be one of them. "But what I will say is that you need to get some rest. Mom said Datura wasn't among the metahumans Barry put away. She's out there and I doubt she'll be coming for us right now."

"But Poison Ivy is here which means sooner or later she'll come back again and I want to be ready to argue with her." Caitlin passed a hand through her messy hair and sighed. "I know it seems ridiculous—"

"I wasn't going to say—"

"Zoom terrified me but Datura - while her intentions weren't good either - took me away from it," Caitlin came around to face her friend whom she felt needed an explanation. "She risked her life by letting me go."

"And now you wanna return the favor," Belén understood.

"It's more than that too. You saw that she wasn't into this whole thing anymore, chances are she never was. Working for a monster is a terrifying job. I mean...now I see him everywhere…" Caitlin trailed off, swallowing hard. "It's hard. If we can cure her then maybe she has a chance to move forwards."

"I'll help you, Cait, I promise," Belén reached for Caitlin's hand.

~0~

The next day, the precinct had its hands full finishing up the paperwork on every metahuman they had captured last night. Veronica was the first to spot Barry coming in and nudged Joe.

"You've got about 100 cases to go through," Veronica warned the meta.

Barry was not looking forwards to that and it showed. "Yeah…"

"My daughter?"

"Doing just fine," Barry promised. Veronica's condition to let Belén return home was that she needed to be updated every so often. "I think Iris was picking her up to go to work."

"God knows she can use it," Veronica moved to her desk. "Do you think CC Pictures will end that stupid suspension?"

"It did sound promising," Barry said. Now that CC Pictures had firsthand experience with the metahuman apocalypse and those who had helped put them away, they were more inclined on bringing Belén back.

"Joe—" Barry called before Joe moved to return to work as we, "—listen, uh, I've been thinking about Wally some more—"

"Are you gonna talk to him again?" Joe jumped in with a resolution.

Barry shook his head. "No, I'm not."

"Why not?"

"Because he's your son, Joe…"

"I know he's my son—"

"I... look... what I mean is he's got your values," Barry went slow so that Joe would understand him. "He's got your inner drive to help people do what's right. We're supposed to think we're something we're not until we become that thing. That's the path that Wally's on. I'm not gonna stop him from being the hero that he's gonna become. I really don't think you should either."

Joe didn't appear to be mad. He seemed...irritated. "I can't wait till you have kids and they torture you. I'ma laugh in your face."

Barry tried not to laugh there and then. "Alright, gramps."

"Poppa," Joe pointed.

"What?"

"My grandkids are gonna call me 'poppa'."

This time it was Veronica who laughed, earning herself some weird looks. "I'm sorry, but that's not gonna happen." She closed a folder in front of her and leaned her arms on the desk. "I always said my grandchildren would call me 'Nonna' - that's Italian and I'm gonna remind you I was married to an Italian man - and yet what does Axel call me?" Joe couldn't help laugh as he went to take a seat at his desk. "Keep laughing, grandpa." Veronica rolled her eyes and got back to work. "They'll be yours too, just remember that."

Barry slowly got away before the two actually went at it for real. He wanted no part of that.

~ 0 ~

Later that evening, Iris had surprised everyone by hosting a dinner at her house. It was a well deserved event.

"What in the world?" Barry was the last to find out about the dinner. He and his father took in the crowded living room with awe.

"Blame Iris," Joe was quick to say.

Iris made an offended noise from the dining table. "Okay. I just figured that since Henry is officially back for good, we should celebrate. And since Zoom is gone and the city is quiet right now."

"And we got our friends back," Nina smiled at Belén and Caitlin. "It's definitely worth celebrating."

When Henry went to talk with Dr. McGee and Veronica, Barry chose to join Belén and Iris at the table.

"How did work go?" he asked. He had yet to see Belén in that day after all. "Did they...?"

Belén smiled like she hadn't in a long time. "The suspension's been lifted. I'm back full time again."

Barry's face lit up with joy. "Bells, that's great!" He pulled her into a hug, though not a tight one since her body was still healing.

"Mhm," Belén pulled back to reveal a pout that hadn't been there a moment ago. "Except I'm pretty sure some co-workers have started a tally chart of my kidnappings."

Shivhan stopped by to make one comment, "I offered to kick their asses but she said 'noooo'."

"It'd look suspicious!" Belén huffed. Shivhan rolled her eyes and walked on.

Iris put a finger to her cheek when Barry turned a sharp look on her. "I tried to stop them! I gave them a hell of a moral lecture but…"

"Long story short, they're all idiots," Belén shook her head. "All except for Linda of course but she's still not back from Coast City, so…"

"We soldier on without our third musketeer," Iris made a fist in the air.

"I'm fine," Belén laughed in the end and leaned on Barry. He wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her head.

Wally came by with empty plates for the table. Jesse saw him and inched closer, nervous. "So is it true? You saved The Flash's life?"

The other three stayed quiet but couldn't help eavesdrop.

"Oh, I mean, I was just in the right place at the right time," Wally cleared his throat, his gaze shifting everywhere but Jesse.

"Proud of you, Wally. You did good," Joe said, truly meaning it.

"It means a lot to wally: Thanks, dad," Wally smiled.

"I'm proud of you too," Jesse managed to squeak out.

Caitlin came out with a pot roast in gloved hands. Nina was beside her trying to advocate her usefulness.

"I was stabbed in the stomach not the head," Nina muttered and set down some empty glasses.

"No," Caitlin laughed at her.

Before everyone could eat, Joe decided to make a special toast. "To family."

Cisco beamed. "That's my kind of toast, short and sweet. Let's eat!" but before he could even put his glass down, he vibed.

The first thing he saw were the dead birds on the ground. He moved his gaze up ahead to find Earth 2's Central City in destruction.

"Cisco?" called Barry, snapping him out of the vibe. "What is it? What'd you see?"

Wally was making odd faces. "What do you mean 'see'?"

Finding no point in hiding anything more, Caitlin answered him with the truth. "Cisco gets visions."

Cisco was trying to make sense of the images he saw. "I don't understand."

"What don't you understand, Cisco?" Belén raised an eyebrow.

"Earth-2 splitting in half. Straight down to the poles," Cisco explained, but even saying it didn't make sense. "Tell me I didn't just vibe the future. Please tell me I did not just see the end of the world!"

A gust of wind hit everyone in the face when Zoom came in. He went directly for Henry. "Our story continues, Flash."

Barry's heart nearly stopped, and it almost did when Zoom took his father away. He followed in suit, ready to go another round. Zoom led him to his old childhood home...right to the same spot where his mother died.

"It's poetic, returning to your childhood home," Hunter held Henry tight.

"Jay. Don't do this. I'm begging you. I'm begging you!" Barry couldn't get closer for fear of his quick moves. "Take me. Kill me!"

Henry nearly lost it at the proposal. "No!"

Hunter almost laughed at the two. "You still won't believe me that you and I are the same. Come on—"

Henry's intuition told him this was truly the end. "Barry, look at me, son—"

"—so I'm gonna have to make you believe me," Hunter said like it was the most logical thing ever.

"Whatever happens you have made me the happiest father—"

Barry didn't know who to listen to. Everything sounded meshed together and his own ears were ringing with the sound of his fast heartbeats.

"This time, you're gonna watch your parent die just like I did," Hunter smirked. "And this is what's gonna make you just like me!"

Henry was able to take a last breath to say his final words, almost. "Your mother and I love—" Zoom shoved his hand through Henry's chest.

Barry screamed and charged forwards, but Zoom was quicker. Again.

#ocappreciation #fd: the flash #the flash #barry allen #barry allen fics #barry allen imagines #the flash fics #the flash imagines #barry allen x oc #the flash x oc #arrowverse ocs #oc: Belén Palayta #oc: Belen Palayta #oc: Datura #fic: rise up

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missjanjie · 1 year

Note

35 with Brinty? CC if you're feeling spicy 👀 either way is fine 😌

I love all of your prompts 💙 lots of smooches for ya 😘

idk why i got excited for a cc request but then i remembered i pretty much exclusively wrote mlm for 90% of my time in fandoms lmao. and thank u!!! ♥

(also the line was from 'all to myself' by mariana's trench and i was verrry close to making this a songfic lol)

35. “I want you all to myself.”

“Where are we going?” Brigiding had already asked a variation of the question several times, regardless of how much it seemed to annoy Minty. They had been walking through town for nearly twenty minutes and he was growing tired and frustrated, thus whining and questioning ensued.

Minty let out an exasperated sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Please, just follow me,” he insisted, adding “and maybe shut up,” under his breath.

Admittedly, he was amused by the other’s frustration, as goading each other had become part of their relationship. The usual cycle consisted of teasing, fighting, and makeup sex. It didn’t make sense to the people around them, especially their friends that knew their history, so it was only logical that they never put a label on things and continued to see other people as well.

“Sit,” Minty instructed, sitting down on the grass and motioning for him to join. It was quiet, calm. It was a spot he often came to when he needed to unwind, though this was possibly the most nervous he’d ever been. “What we have… it’s been working for us, I know that. But it’s not enough.”

“You mean you want us to stop being dicks to each other?” Brigiding asked. “That seems like a tall order on your part.”

“No. I mean, yes, but not like that,” his brows furrowed as he tried to find the right words before settling on simple honesty. “I want you all to myself.”

Brigiding, for the first time in the entirety of their relationship, was speechless. “You do?” she finally asked, blinking rapidly.

“I have for a while, but I kept sucking it up and ignoring it because I knew how easy it would be to fuck things up. But we’re too old for this shit, I want you and I know you feel the same. So what’s the point of these stupid games?”

Another quiet beat built up tension until Brigiding broke it by kissing him. “You’re right,” he breathed out, “and you have me.”

#brinty

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vague-humanoid · 1 year

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The Rise of the Video Game Union is an all-in-one explainer on why game workers are unionizing and the specific steps that future organizers may take. We encourage you to share the link, and we’ve also prepared a zine version that you can print and distribute in your community. In legal speak, the zine is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States license (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US), which permits distribution of the zine provided that it is not altered or modified, or used commercially. Learn how to print it in your town.

AtariAtari workers in California tried to unionize in 1984 — an attempt struck down by anti-union sentiment and by an internal hope that the games industry would be different, that the young field would eventually mend itself.

Hope didn’t work.

For decades, studios across the industry and the globe, studios both big and small, have pushed their workers to the limit through low pay, brutal crunch, and discrimination. At first, we only heard about these injustices in whispers. Workers had little leverage, and employers wielded creative careers as a cudgel, saying that game developers should feel lucky to be able to do what they love.

But in the past decade, workers across all industries have rekindled that spark of collective action, fighting back against poor working conditions with lawsuits, resignations, and stories told in the press. They’ve made inroads. On the occasion that a company had to publicly reckon with its actions — be it sexism, racism, discrimination, exploitation, or some other mixture of misbehavior and cruelty — bosses would vow to do better. In recent years, some promises have even become realities, as some of the industry’s worst offenders have invested in improvements that help them avoid legal repercussions and sliding stock prices.

Incremental change is real, and yet the games industry is still plagued by corporate mismanagement and workplace misconduct. There’s still so much to be done. Unions, now finally on the rise in the field, could help make significant, sustainable change across the industry. The video game industry is following a nationwide trend: Even though union membership in the U.S. has been declining steadily for decades, there has been a recent uptick in people filing union petitions.

In conversations with dozens of workers, and through a decade of Polygon’s coverage of the game industry workforce, we have heard a consistent message: that the video game industry will not repair its systemic problems voluntarily.

And so, nearly 40 years after Atari employees began marching down this long road, workers are taking power through solidarity. They’re starting unions.

A union isn’t a third party that comes in to fix things. It’s the very people at the company who are making games. It’s artists, programmers, and QA testers; writers, user interface designers, and systems engineers. Unions are how gaming workers believe they can wrest back some power and agency. Together. Because that’s how solidarity works — when workers have each other’s backs, their power combines.

As journalists, our responsibility is to bring awareness to systemic injustice, hold the powerful accountable, foster transparency, and provide the public with the information and tools necessary to improve their lives, their workplace, and the world. [Ed. note: Polygon is part of the Vox Media Union under the Writers Guild of America, East.] That is why we feel it’s our obligation to share the story of game creators in the thick of this process — to provide service journalism in the same way we seek out collectibles and achievements in the industry’s biggest games. This is simply a recognition that, for workers across the industry, the status quo has failed.

This pamphlet is neither an all-encompassing instruction manual, nor legal guidance, nor a demand that every studio unionize. What we have assembled is purely information, and for many, inspiration for a potentially better way. This is, for those interested, an overdue first step in the marathon. And those who are indeed interested should seek direct guidance from labor relations professionals, like lawyers and union organizations noted here and elsewhere.

Unionizing isn’t easy. There is risk involved in organizing — there are legal protections against retaliation, but employees often face resistance all the same. There’s also no guarantee that unionizing efforts will be successful. Some workers may not want to unionize, and that’s their choice. Management can apply implicit and explicit pressure, deploying anti-union talking points and going so far as to reprimand or even fire people. The process of forming a union, winning recognition, and then negotiating a collective bargaining agreement usually takes multiple years.

A union can fall into the same issues it may be trying to address if it’s not intentional in setting up a system that’s anti-racist and anti-sexist. And a union won’t automatically solve all of a workplace’s problems, but it can help establish a framework that makes it possible to take them on.

It’s a lot to take in. It can be scary. But there are people doing this work, people who are leading the way. We’ve highlighted a number of them in this explainer covering a complex issue, and the hope is to make the process a bit more transparent.

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