#they structured the entire season around building to this and you know what. it worked.

[toxicrelief]

Crawling Back to You

Chapter seventeen

Synopsis: You, Rex, and Bulletproof are working as a private security detail for a high-end donor’s Gala. Your job is to blend in and mingle, which is hard to do when you want nothing more than to stay near Rex the whole evening.

Pairing: Rex x F!Reader

Word Count: 6k

Chapter: 17/?

Masterlist of all Chapters

TW: None, but the tension is crazy, eat up

Note: Kind of includes an OC like character, so warning for that? No one in the canon universe fit the need for the part so I just made up someone. Sorry if you hate added noncanon characters, I needed someone to be the donor in order to progress this part of the story. This chapter (plus part two of it) is also extremely self-indulgent so I hope you enjoy anyways!

“You think if all the Guardians pooled their money together, we could afford a place like that?” Bulletproof stepped out in front of you and Rex.

“I didn’t even think anything could be that big.” You stated, feeling mildly overwhelmed by the looming estate before you.

“I can think of something-” Rex snickered and then seemed to immediately regret it. “Sorry-”

“Do we just…walk up?” You continued, ignoring Rex, taking a cautious step forward.

“I thought we were arriving early, why are there so many planes already here?” Bulletproof commented, looking back at the large array that lined up with the Guardian’s jet.

“You guys are thinking way too critically about this, I came to party, and that’s what I’m going to do.” Rex, walks ahead of both of you, holding his hands intertwined behind his head.

“We’re here to work, Rex.” You reminded him in a dry tone, but even for you, the anticipation was rising.

To call the estate before you a house, would be a falsehood, to call it a mansion still felt untrue, but closer. It was practically a castle. High-reaching spires jutted out towards the heavens, accented perfectly by the pink tone of an oncoming sunset. Various chimneys contrasted against the sharp peaks with their rectangular structure. As you got closer you could somehow clearly see where the land stopped, and the backyard began. There were various stone walkways, surrounded by meticulously upkept greenery. A fountain laid dead center, although to call it simply a fountain also felt like it was falling short. It was more like a pond, or a small lake, with marble enclosing its sides. A stone pillar in the center served as a base for a small waterfall. Upon approach you could feel the cool spray against your skin.

The backdoor was formed of overexaggerated double wooden doors, pushed further into the dark outer stone wall. There was a covered walkway against the house, vines trailed down from the columns and covered the archways. You figured it was a stylistic choice rather than the owner letting them grow due to lack of care. The whole area was far too well-upkept for it to have been missed. You imagined what they might look like in season and wondered if they would bloom or not. Either way, the whole place was breathtaking.

The large arched windows revealed bright but still soft, yellow lighting from inside. From just a few yards out you could see the busy bustle from inside, all the people within your view wearing identical black suits. Caterers.

“This place is insane.” You whispered, not meant for either of your companions. Stopping, you looked back to take the garden in, as well as the land that spread out for miles. Further off behind the makeshift aircraft hangar, you could make out trees. You did a small spin looking around as far as you could before your vision was stopped by the walls of the building. This entire area was closed off by a forest.

You wanted to laugh, giggle, do something. You couldn’t really believe where you were, well, you didn’t really know where you were to begin with. But to you, it felt like you had walked into a storybook. Any twisting feeling you had felt on the journey here was completely gone and replaced by the buzz of excitement.

After doing another semi-spin to look at it all again you realized Rex was standing quietly, his hands shoved into his pant pockets, staring at you. Clearing your throat you dropped your shit-eating grin and walked forward a few paces, leaving him behind. You didn’t need his negativity ruining this for you. Even as you walked up to the back entrance there was an extra pep in your step.

“Do we knock-?” Zandale’s question was cut off by heavy creaking as the large double doors began to shift on their hinges. It took a few seconds longer than necessary, which made you shoot a small chuckle in Rex’s direction, snickering at the over-the-top feeling of it all.

A single man stood in the center of the doorway. He was wearing a tuxedo, with a dark bowtie, his features seemingly stuck in a look of displeasure.

A moment.

“So-” Rex starts.

“Dr. Mune wishes to meet with you all before guests arrive, please, follow me.” He did not wait, quickly taking off at a pace that felt a lot like running to you. He did not seem to share in your breathless sentiment, easily spouting out facts about different art pieces you passed as if he were giving a tour. Every room you walked through, or rather sprinted through, seemed to have more and more luxurious décor. Complex lighting fixtures both on the wall and in the form of chandeliers, pearlescent columns, and waxed floors. You tried to take as many mental notes as possible to add to your persistent country home daydream. Although, granite columns might be going a little overboard.

“God, this place is a little…” Rex whispered from next to you. He looked far less pleased than you felt. In fact, he even looked a little sour, a firm scowl displayed across his features.

Before you could quietly question him on it the man who had been leading you all slid gracefully to a stop. You did this less gracefully, not expecting it and jerking back a few feet. As fancy as your dress was, you still had the mannerisms of someone more…normal? Is that the way to put it?

It was hard to think that all of this could be viewed as normal for anyone.

“Dr. Mune, your Guardians are here.”

Cheesy. But you were grinning like an idiot anyway. This was already better than any stakeout you had ever experienced the misfortune of being bored out of your mind on.

A woman, tall but well filled out stood next to two workers. She was wearing half-moon spectacles, a pearl-encrusted chain connecting them down to her neck. There was a general no-nonsense air to her. A tweed skirt reached down to her knees, which was met by a pair of black tights. She was wearing a matching jacket with a white flowy blouse underneath. One of the workers uttered a few hushed tones to her, which she responded to with the same frequency. Her maroon-lined lips formed around every syllable. With a nod, the two workers left and she turned her attention to your group.

“Ah, the guests of honor.” She smiles; the action accentuating wrinkles across her face. She couldn’t be much younger than Cecil. However, unlike Cecil, she still had luxurious hair, black with only a few white streaks accenting through it.

The three of you were not the most competent when it came to introductions, but luckily the man who had led you spoke first. “I have given them the tour-” It took you maybe three minutes to reach where you were now, how would that be a proper tour? “And I told Lance to prepare the earpieces.”

“Oh, we’ve already got some.” You start, taking an apprehensive step forward.

“We’ve got jammers placed out all over.” The woman speaks. “You won’t be able to reach each other. My security team has some, that way you can keep them up to date as the night moves forward, yes?”

“If you have a security detail already, why do you need us?” Rex scoffs out. It’s a valid question, but the brash execution has you cringing.

She doesn’t falter in her smile or demeanor. “Because, Mr. Sloane, threats of this magnitude don’t always end well under the careful watch of the everyday man, do they?”

Mr. Sloane? You turn slowly to look at him. His jaw is clenched, but he doesn’t say anything else.

“Why are you getting threats?” Bulletproof asked, folding his arms.

“Were you not all briefed in some capacity?" She straightens out her jacket, moving forward towards the small semicircle of people in front of her. “I am not very well-liked by a multitude of crowds. Although-” She turns her attention to the man who had brought you. “Who has the largest price on my head right now?”

“That would be Mister Liu, ma’am.”

“He still upset about that?” She laughed but did not divulge what she was laughing about. “My point is, it could be anyone or anything. Liu doesn’t think it is worth wasting his own time, but he sends assassins now and again.” She flutters her hand like she’s discussing the afternoon weather. “You don’t have to watch me specifically, as I said I have my own detail. However, our most recent threat was remarked as…What was it again, Gareth?”

“I believe they claimed that they would ‘scar the earth so heavily that no one could build in the same area for two thousand years’, ma’am.”

“Ah, yes.”

You paused, deciding if it would be appropriate for you to speak. A glancing over at Rex provides you with no help or comfort in the answer as he was still staring forward with an unpleasant expression. “Excuse me, Dr. Mune-”

“Mune is fine.”

“Mune,” You repeat, “If you are receiving threats like this, should you really be throwing an event like this? Isn’t it kind of…tempting fate?”

She blinks a few times at you, and you feel like the floor is being pulled out from under you.

“My dear, if I heeded every threat nothing would ever get done. This one isn’t half as colorful as the ones I usually receive, but,” She sighs, folding her hands, “I received word of movement that concerns me, so I would rather be cautious.”

“How would you like us to start?”

She explains her estate in detail, promising an escort will show your way to each place once she is done. Throughout she seems exceedingly sure that nothing will happen, which puts you less at ease every time she says it. At the end of her presentation, she tells the three of you to ‘enjoy yourselves’. Rex scoffs but doesn’t say anything else.

“Gareth will take you to get your earpieces and meet the team. I’d like you to stay behind if you please.” You looked up and she was gesturing towards you. Ah, crap.

“We should all stick together-” Rex starts, taking an almost indistinguishable sidestep towards you.

“I don’t bite, Mr. Sloane. And if you wish to indeed, blend, you shouldn’t all stick together, yes?” Her smile remains unwavering, as she ushers him away.

You give him a shrug taking a few steps towards her, when a hand grabs your wrist. Glancing back, you give him an odd look, mouthing a small ‘what?’.

He doesn’t say anything but imperceptibly shakes his head. Now what the hell are you supposed to do with that? This is a job, a duty, you can’t just tell your employer ‘No, I won’t stay behind to discuss anything with you’.

“I’ll catch up.” You reassure, but his reaction was doing nothing to calm any of your nerves.

His eyes almost seem to darken a shade but he just nods, slipping your wrist from his grip and following close behind Zandale and Gareth who were already a good yard or two away.

“Cecil has talked about you.” Dr. Mune starts, turning to a worker who walked up with a book of some sort. She didn’t seem interested in addressing Rex’s hesitation.

“Yeah? Hopefully okay things.”

“Okay is putting it mildly.” She chuckles, before shaking her head at the worker and then turns her full attention to you. “You’re the poster child for everything Cecil wants in a hero. Obedience, self-sufficiency, discretion.” She takes off her glasses, letting them hang down around her neck. “He couldn’t have made a better soldier if he crafted one himself.”

You hummed, not sure exactly what to say to this. Part of you was pleased that Cecil spoke well of you or even spoke of you at all. The other part was concerned as to where this was headed.

“I like you.” She affirms, glancing up and down your figure. “I think we’ll get along just fine.” She holds out her arm for you to take, which you realize after staring at her for a few moments. “You shall be my Merlin.”

What on earth is this woman on about? “Merlin? As in King Arthur?” You ask it with a polite scoff in the way you appease someone who just spoke utter nonsense to you.

“That’s right.” She pats your arm while leading you in the direction the others went. “I took an interest in the Arthurian legend a few decades ago. Security humors me and it pleases me to see everyone fit into their roles.”

“And you think I would be the Merlin in your story?”

“Yes.” She says it like it was a ridiculous question. Maybe the papers Donald gave you all should have mentioned she was about two days away from madness. “Mr. Randolph strikes me as a Bedivere, do you agree?”

“I can’t say I know exactly who that is, Mune.”

She sighs dramatically. “No one ever realizes my true genius.”

“You worked a lot in the body enhancement side of the GDA, didn’t you?” The question slips past your lips the moment there is a lull in conversation.

“I suppose, I don’t work in it anymore, but I hear they still use my blueprints. Or at least I get the royalty check every month in the mail.” She laughs off-handedly. It feels like you have both been walking for ages, passing door after door, the sound of your individual shoes clicking against the floors.

“How long did you work there?”

“Longer than you’ve been alive. I worked there when I was still young, full of life, you know the sob story.” She pauses in her step. “The GDA hasn’t always been the place it is now.”

“What do you mean?”

“You don’t get genetically modified superheroes without casualties.” Dr. Mune continues walking, pulling you with her. “How is Mr. Sloane doing?”

The question takes you off guard. “Oh, Rex?” She nods and you continue, “Pretty good I’d say? He’s excellent at what he does.”

“Oh, I know.” The first true sense of distaste flows off of her. “He always was.” Between this and Rex grabbing your arm earlier, you were questioning what their history was. “He’s a Gawain.” She states suddenly before the two of you pull up to the final door. She let go of your arm and gestured for you to go inside. “My Lancelot will tell you everything you need to know. I do hope you are able to enjoy your evening.” She says your last name, a small twinkle in her eye that made you wonder for a moment if she planted a bomb herself just for her own entertainment.

“Lancelot?” You ask, quirking your brow up slightly.

“It’s cute, right?” She smiles, more to herself than to you, before turning to leave you there.

“But Lancelot betrays Arthur.” You cock your head, and she slows to a stop, a smile still spread across her wrinkled features.

“Good thing I’m not Arthur.”

“Then who are you?”

“Excalibur.”

--

You couldn’t quite decide how you felt about her. She was odd, but she was sure of herself. After so many years and so many accomplishments maybe you would be too. A part of you liked her, the idea of her interacting with Cecil was one that intrigued you deeply. But you were put off on behalf of Rex. He obviously didn’t trust her, and she even conceded to them having some kind of history. Alongside keeping an eye out for anything suspicious, you were also determined to figure out who Mune thought Arthur was.

People began to arrive while Lance, affectionately called Lancelot by Dr. Mune, familiarizes you all with the equipment. He was very no-nonsense, speaking in as brief of statements as he could. Once he felt confident that the three of you were set, he had Gareth come back and take you all to the ballroom, while repeating one last time to notify him if any of you saw anything.

The ballroom was just as meticulously decorated as every other room you had seen so far. Gold plated chandeliers hung from a ceiling painted with a beautiful mural. A night sky with ancient figures all wearing roman attire. The floor itself was wooden, waxed over with something to protect it from spills. A stage sat towards the front, where artists and their instruments were gathered. Tables of varying sizes speckled the area, and there was a bar at each side of the room for refreshments.

The expansive area filled quickly, people from all walks of life, all well dressed in the most obnoxious way. Even still, you could feel your excitement returning. The three of you had decided to stay together for the first few minutes, then slowly peel off into the other parts of the ballroom. Zandale had already made his way over to the bar, speaking with an older man in a suit that looked like it cost more than a year’s rent.

“So,” You looked over at Rex, who had been suspiciously quiet since you rejoined the group. “What’s the deal with you and Mune?”

“There’s no deal.” He says shortly, then sucks his teeth and continues. “She worked at the GDA when I was a kid, I’ve met her a few times.”

“That was a pretty strong reaction for just a few times.” You say it softly, your eyes scanning the room behind him. You doubted that anything would happen this early in the evening, but you still wanted to keep an eye out.

“Well, it wasn’t exactly the happiest point in my life.” Rex grits out, his gaze following the other side of the room behind you.

“Is she not trustworthy?” You wait a moment, but when he doesn’t answer you poke his arm. “Rex, this is serious. We’ve got to get through this job, I need to know if I should be watching her as well as everyone else.”

He rubs his arm absentmindedly where you had poked him. “She’s trustworthy.” He concedes begrudgingly. “She’s practically Cecil in a different fucking font.”

“I don’t mind Cecil.” You mutter, returning to look at a couple that walked through the doors.

“I don’t mind Cecil either, but I don’t doubt that he’d sacrifice anyone of us if he thought it was for the greater good.”

“It’s the job.” You respond simply, but you know he’s probably right. “Hey, by the way, did you know apparently that you are ‘Sir Gawain?’ to Mune?” You raise a brow with a soft smirk.

“She’s still doing that shit?” He sighed. “At least I’m not Mordred anymore. When I was younger, she sat me down to tell me exactly why that was who I was. Not great to hear one of the more prominent adult figures in your life compare you to the bad guy of a kid’s fairytale.”

“I thought Morgana was the bad guy?”

“She is too, but Mordred kills Arthur so- ah shit I don’t even know.” He raps his fingers against the cocktail table the two of you are standing at.

“We’re you a troublesome kid of something? Kill any kings?” You laugh, but your smile falters slightly when Rex does not.

“Uh-”

Are you two going to split up or stand there talking away all evening?

Bulletproof’s voice sounded out over the comms, interrupting Rex before he could finish. He puts a hand to his temple and stays standing next to you for a moment, his fingers still tapping on the table.

“See you soon?” You finally say, giving him a small smile.

He looks at you and blinks a few times before curtly nodding and heading in towards a group stationed behind you.

“Shit.” You whisper to yourself, looking down at your hands as they spread across the dark tablecloth. A glance back to the bar shows Zandale still chatting with the elderly man, but you catch how his gaze flits across the room every few seconds.

“Hello.” An unfamiliar voice fills the space around your table from where Rex had just been standing. A man, most likely in his early to mid-thirties stood before you. He was wearing a light grey suit, with a black bowtie.

“Hi.” You say, giving him a polite smile, glancing behind him to keep an eye on the door.

“Are you waiting for someone?”

“No, just people watching.”

“You came to a house of this magnitude and you people watch? You could do that anywhere.” He grins.

“Well, maybe I like to look at all the ridiculous outfits.” Low risk, high reward, He either agrees with you and it’s fine, or he disagrees and leaves you alone.

“You definitely won’t find a shortage of that here. For a gala that is supposed to have dancing, there is a surprising lack of ballgowns.”

“Did you leave yours at home?” You glanced back to where Rex had been, his back was to you as he talked to a tall slender woman with a fur coat. You wanted to know more about his experience with Mune, you were practically counting down the minutes until it would be appropriate to walk over to him again. The woman laughed and you felt yourself stand up a little straighter, what were they talking about? It couldn’t be that funny. You practically felt your mood sour at the sight, turning back to the guy who had welcomed himself to your table.

“Touche.” He says, picking up his wine glass you hadn’t realized he had set down. “You’ll have to save me a dance.”

“Oh, I’m not sure I will be dancing.” You state quickly,

“Well, if you change your mind, save me one.” He lifted his glass to you and walked past you to another table where two people were standing.

You could feel your excitement fading once again. Tonight was going to be a long night if every interaction was like that. And it was going to be even longer if you kept turning to watch Rex seemingly hitting it off with everyone he talked to.

--

The evening was running without a hitch. You managed to make perfectly fine small talk with a variety of people while only conceding to a few drinks. Not that they had time to work their magic with your elevated blood processing. About forty-five minutes in, Mune entered the room, silence slowly falling over the different groups that is only broken by a few whispers.

“I hope you all donate as much as you drink up my fine wines.” The crowd laughs, but Mune seems more put out by them than actually making a joke. “The orchestra will be starting up in the next few minutes to start up the dancing, so I expect every one of you to visit the floor at least once. And if you don’t want to now, have a drink until you do.”

You would need a lot more than one drink to convince you to step out there, even if you didn’t have practically an immunity to alcohol as it was.

You nodded your goodbyes to a couple you had been talking with and spotted Bulletproof loitering around an empty cocktail table.

“Have you seen anything?” You ask in a low town as you take your place next to him.

“I mean, some idiot is definitely trying to steal a few pieces of the silverware but that’s about all the malicious intent I have seen so far.”

“It’s surprising how many of these people hate each other, and how easily they announce it to complete strangers.” You sigh, putting your hands on your hips and stretching out your back.

“You owe me so big for this shit.” Bulletproof grumbles, straightening out his tie.

“What, you’re not even having a bit of fun? You should go dance or something.” You snicker, turning so that your elbows are resting on the cocktail table behind you.

“I hate dances, I hate high society, and I’m starting to hate you.”

“Me?”

“You should have just asked Rex to join, why am I even here?” He glances at you out of the corner of his eye.

“I’m not sure what you’re trying to imply but I do actually like your company on missions Zandale.” You pause before shifting your hand in the air and adding with a smile: “Somewhat.”

“Am I wrong though? You asked me to come to bait Rex into coming didn’t you.”

“No, I asked you to come because I didn’t want to come alone, and you’re one of the only people on the team who can stand me.” You sigh heavily, giving a polite smile to someone as they walk by.

“Well, Rex-”

“Not everything is about Rex!” You say a little louder than you meant to, reaching up to pinch the bridge of your nose. “I couldn’t ask him, okay? He shouldn’t even be on the field; he was just shot in the head for Pete’s sake.”

“It’s the job.” You cringe at your words being recited back to you.

“I know.” You mutter gently. “But… I want better for him. I want better for Rae. Hell, even Kate should have had better.”

“You can’t protect him.” Zandale shrugs, but his voice is understanding. “Or any of them. We all knew the risks. Do you?”

You look up and out into the crowd, searching silently. Verdant eyes meet you during your search. He’s standing in a circle of people but angled just right so that you can see him between the shoulders of two people in front of him. You angle your head to the side to see him better between the two people. He mirrors the gesture, his lips downturned slightly before they grow into a full boyish grin. You smile back at him and then his attention is taken away from you as someone speaks to him.

“It was easier when he was mean to me.” You murmur bitterly, still watching Rex who appeared to be listening intently to what someone was saying.

“If you want, I could let him know, maybe even help him pull together another scheme to try and get you kicked out.”

“Ooh, enticing offer.”

Bulletproof looked back to where you were looking and sighed when he saw Rex. “You should go talk to him, ask him to dance, something. This thing sucks but it sucks more with your obvious ogling passing over me. I’m gonna barf.”

“I’m not ogling! I was watching someone else over there…” You feign a gasp. “Oh my god! He’s got a gun!” You look back at Zandale, “I’m working, see?”

“You both are insufferable to be around.”

“In a good way?”

“What-? No! How can you be insufferable in a good way?”

Bulletproof heads back to the bar, and you decide to look around outside. Huge double glass doors lead directly from the ballroom into the garden you had seen earlier. Attendees stand outside chatting and smoking cigarettes at several different parts of the patio area. Cocktail tables are set up sparsely all the way out and up to the fountain.

The smell of smoke and crisp night air fills your lungs, it is much cooler outside. A couple passes you, leaving an open table for you to stand at that easily surveys the area.

“I think I’ve missed my calling.” You don’t have to turn to know who it is, an uncontrollable smile crossing your face.

“Yeah?”

“I think I should have been a fucking con artist; these people love me.” Rex moves in next to you, breathing the night air in deeply. “I could do fundraisers, get ridiculous amounts of cash, and then just pocket it.”

“Let me know how that goes.” You snort, swiveling your head to face him.

“Seen anything?” It’s unnecessary, an excuse to keep talking. Even if you don’t fully believe Rae in her insistence that he shares your feelings you can recognize this from a mile away. You had said the same thing to Bulletproof earlier, but that had been to keep things light. Rex wasn’t one for small talk like that.

“Nope, Zandale saw someone stealing some silverware, but it’s been pretty calm, you?”

“Nothing as exciting as that.” He scoffs, his gaze trailing over the garden. You turn so that your back is to the table, leaning on your elbows again while watching the glittering lights from inside. Faint orchestral music can be heard from all over the garden. Couples dance, some with less grace than others, but all of them seem to be putting the most effort possible into it.

A small shiver travels up your spine at the chill of the night air. “God, a little cold out here, right?” More small talk.

Without hesitation Rex is pulling off his coat jacket. He brushed it out with his hand as if it made any difference and held it out to you.

“Oh, I’m not sure I really need-” He pulls his hand back almost imperceptibly and you let out a breath. “Okay.”

He places the coat over your shoulders after you step away from the table. It’s not horribly warm but at least it stops the breeze, Worse than the breeze is the fact that it smells like him. You hadn’t even realized you knew his smell until now, which was something you’d unpack later.

“Do you dance, Rex?” The question leaves your lips and almost instantaneously you can feel Rex tense beside you.

“No.” He responds curtly.

You just nod, not sure if you expected him to say something else. Your hands distractedly play with the edges of the tablecloth,

“Would you like to dance?”

“What? No.” You laugh awkwardly, still intently watching the pairs spin from behind the glass doors.

“I’m not asking if you want to dance, I’m asking if you would dance.” You look over at him and he had shifted, his hand outstretched to you. An actual invitation. “With me.”

“You don’t dance.” You respond softly, your gaze flickering down to his hand.

“I don’t.” He repeats, that boyish grin returning to his face. “Could I have this dance?”

You glance back to the crowd of dancers, then snap your gaze back to him. His emerald gaze is soft and nonjudgemental. You weren’t sure you even knew how to dance. You’d get out there and probably look like a fool in front of everyone. Rex would get irritated because you stepped on his foot one too many times, it was sure to be a disaster-

“You may.” The affirmation seemed to tie an invisible line between the two of you, as your hand met his. He doesn’t lead you into the ballroom though, rather he leads you down the steps into the grass. Most of the people who had left for smoke breaks had slowly trickled back inside. Besides a few stragglers, the two of you were alone.

“Afraid of the crowd?” You joke lightly, as he takes your hand and intertwined your fingers, his other hand coming to rest gently on your hip. Like he was holding it almost painstakingly away from direct contact.

“Maybe I don’t want to share.” He said it offhand as if it didn’t make your brain short-circuit. Weeks of casual conversation and visits to his hospital room, and this was the boldest thing he had said to you. It made you feel warm, fuzzy.

“Oh.” Was all you could manage. Rex took the lead, instructing you to follow his moves. “Where did you learn to dance?”

“Oh, well, I didn’t.” He says honestly. “I just watched the people inside for a long time. It’s fairly simple.”

“You were analyzing the people dancing?” You tried not to outwardly laugh, but your expression was giving you away. “Why?”

A beat of silence passes between you, and you listen to the cues of the loud orchestra rendered quieter by distance.

“I wanted to know what I was doing when we danced.” He admitted quietly, his hand on your hip twitching faintly as he finally let it rest fully against you. The feeling of his hand on you has your head spinning so much that you almost don’t register what he just admitted.

“You were planning on dancing with me?”

“Did I have much choice?”

“Yes, obviously!”

He chuckles lightly. “I’d be a fucking idiot not to take the opportunity.”

“Have you been drinking?” His hand tightens slightly against yours as you take your hand off his shoulder to pull his jacket back over your own once you start to feel it slide.

“Not much. Definitely not as much as Bulletproof, dude doesn’t seem to remember this isn’t a paid vacation.”

You scoff. “I feel bad for asking him to come, I just didn’t want to come alone.”

“Why didn’t you ask me?” The air between the two of you feels like it’s buzzing at the question, and your eyes lock with his.

“Did you want me to?”

“Yes.” His admission is quiet, whispered like it’s a secret. It makes your mouth feel dry, and your body feels even more responsive to his touch than you had thought was possible.

“I’d hoped you would come.”

“Then I guess we both got what we wanted.” A tense silence falls over the two of you as you glide across the grass, a small laugh leaving you as your heel gets caught on the uneven ground and you trip. You can hear the music winding down for the end of the dance, and both of your movements slow.

“You look…” He hesitates, biting the inside of his lip and looking away from your gaze. “You look beautiful tonight. By the way.”

“Don’t tease, I’m not an idiot.” You roll your eyes, but his words make you feel mushy, your guard dropping more by the second.

“Tease?” He cocks his head slightly, but his gaze doesn’t meet yours, it is settled further down your face. The realization sends an electric shock up your spine, into your fingertips.

He slowly looks up to your stare, his eyes half-lidded, and his pupils blown. Oh.

You open your mouth to retort, or really say anything, convinced you were imagining this. He looked down at the action, leaning in a few millimeters, but not enough to close the distance in any meaningful way. He seemed to be watching your reaction, waiting to see you react poorly, push him away, call him out. But you didn’t do any of that. You just waited, your eye darting over his face to watch every micro expression. His throat bobbed but he didn’t lean forward anymore, his brow furrowing.

“So, can I get that dance?” A voice cracks through the tension that had been building to a head, causing Rex to pull back entirely, his attention turning to the person speaking. His hand leaves your hip, but he doesn’t immediately drop your hand.

Mind racing you look up at who was maybe one of the people you would want to see least in the world right now. The man with the grey suit from earlier. He’s leaning against the archway, his arms folded over his chest. “You said I could have one if you decided to dance, and from the looks of it you just did.”

“Uh…” You run your free hand through your hair, willing your thoughts to quiet down so you can think. “Yeah, okay, just give me a moment.”

“The next song’s gonna start.” The man states, an insufferable grin spreading across his face.

You sigh and look at Rex, he looks back, his expression unreadable. Maybe you had misread the whole situation. Imagined that he might kiss you. You slid your fingers from his grasp and headed up the stairs back onto the patio area. “Thank you.” You called back to Rex, who was still standing where you left him.

Author's Note: Fun fact, the idea of Mune comes from a concept I have for a Cecil x reader one-shot. We will see if I ever write it :P

divider credit: @/ saradika

taglist: @kittymeowmrow @sketchlove @jewelwayne101 @0ut0fsweets @sugaramped @spidernuggets @sweet-cuddlebug @ohmysoultakemysoul @lapisbwub @velovicy request to be tagged for new parts!

Chapter eighteen

[qinduang]

Brutally Honest Thoughts About Every DMD Friendship the Reality (It Takes Two) Pairing

It took me 6 months to finally watch this totally-not-dating-show, and I come bearing brutally honest thoughts about each couple.

I have to say that this season is less about finding a partner, and more about making it work. Although I enjoyed the "will they, won't they" aspect of last season, I admit that I have an appreciation for this one more. Most of the participants already have lined up works with a partner, so the show basically gives them what they need to build rapport: friendship time.

The structure of the show barely changed at all, except maybe the fact that there's significantly more people in this one than the last. Inevitability, there's gonna be a lot more "couples" this season, too.

So, here's my unsolicited thoughts on each one, because there's nothing more enjoyable for me than to perceive celebrities unprovoked.

NetJJ - The "Where Have You Been All My Life?"

I can barely formulate anything to think about these two. Obviously, they're ending up as partners one way or another, but the way they constantly seek each other out in the entire show does something magical to me.

Watching Net and JJ feels like watching a couple that has full confidence and faith in one another. They're not scared to be vulnerable and honest, because they know how difficult the path was to get to where they are today, and they accept all the difficulties that will meet them together eventually. It's a wonderful trade of support and assurance that they have each other's back.

Plus, the chemistry. Oh goodness, the chemistry.

While I honestly did not see how they could end up working at first, they solidified NetJJ after the zombie play. Net, especially, did a great job at making me believe that there is no way for him to live without JJ in the apocalypse, which is to be expected when he has quite an experience under his belt, but JJ... Oh, JJ. He keeps saying that he doesn't want to drag Net down, but he's literally so good. He provides a contrast to Net's soft, pleading eyes with his stern, determined expression. His character in the zombie play almost felt a little toxic, and I'm here for it!

They are both so good, individually and together. I can't wait to see what they have in store.

JimmyOhm - The "Just Married"

"It has the same vibe as a wedding ceremony," is an insane thing to say, by the way!

Jimmy could have worn something better, but I digress. He's literally all about Ohm the moment he arrived, and I love him for it. Compared to all the other couples, these two seem to have their own world every single time. I almost see hearts floating around when they're together! It's that bad.

They might just have the best chemistry in the show. No joke. They also have the most comfortable vibe together, because they don't shy away from any form of skinship. Jimmy literally laid on top of Ohm's chest for a cuddle one time, and Ohm instantly wrapped his arms around him like clockwork. They also won in the acting department, because that zombie play absolutely dominated. At this point, JimmyOhm and NetJJ should star in a dystopian film.

I don't know who made Jimmy believe that Ohm would hesitate to choose him as a partner, because they're obviously lying! Ohm literally starts glowing the moment he sees Jimmy in the show. They are so smitten. Parents.

PorTeetee - The "Right Person, Right Time"

If you know me, you should know by now that I absolutely love Teetee. So, I was ecstatic when he joined the show!

But nobody told me that Teetee and Por will carry this show for me. They give me the sugar of young, giggly love, and I caught myself losing my mind over these two to no avail. Teetee literally went "Hello, P'Por!" when they just entered the show, and I cried.

Wow, let me backtrack, because I forgot that DMD Friendship the Reality is, in fact, not DMD Dating Show.

Teetee and Por have the dynamic of a rom-com duo. They are so awkward that it makes them so charming—this is literally what the judges said about their robot play. Teetee gets so shy easily, and Por looks at him with adoring eyes every time. They are what good first dates look like—if that makes sense. Por keeps saying that they barely talked, and yet he's fixed with the decision to choose Teetee anyway. They work together, clicked, connected, or whatever it may be.

Also, their robot play was my favorite.

LatteKim - The "Will They or Won't They"

I have complex feelings about these two, because they reminded me of EP 1 KengNamping from the first season.

Kim has a special place in my heart, so it pisses me off when he's treated as unwanted. Work is work, I know, but damn, can Latte at least pretend to be a little happy to have Kim around? This unrequited love dynamic is not for the weak—me.

But then they spend friendship time together, and I start questioning everything that I feel about them.

So, Latte. He's a totally different person outside of a group setting. I should have known, because the way he acts with Kim in the hotel reminds me of how he was with FirstOne in that one special dinner. He's playful, flirty, and sweeter one-on-one. Him saying "I won't hesitate" before entering the canopy is probably the best representation of who he is. Latte is certain of who he's choosing upon entering the show, and his lack of gusto to grow closer to Kim probably stems from the fact that he doesn't have to do that anymore. Latte doesn't owe us—me—anything, and I should respect that.

They really need to work on the acting chemistry though.

AuauSave - The "One That (Almost) Got Away"

Absolutely nobody can write something like this.

Auau and Save are the most surprising bunch I've seen in this show. They might as well write a book about the emotional roller coaster they took us in, because it was peak "hurt/comfort" if you think about it.

AuauSave are the PorTeetee and LatteKim combined. The best of both worlds, except it means that they both have the quality of being awkward and having the one-sided love dynamic in the clutch.

It was difficult for me to watch them navigate their relationship in early episodes, because Save has the biggest heart and the smallest self-esteem. He thinks he's never good enough for anything in the show, and that includes Auau—god, Save is going to be the end of me. Then, we get Auau. Auau who literally cries about being a failure, because he has battles to deal with within him. It's so devastating to watch the mess that they are when you see how talented and good they are already.

It's unfortunate that we don't see them act together during the challenge, but the canopy moment totally makes up for it. I don't even know where to begin!

First of all, Save is so evil for making Auau think that he's alone in this, because he literally looks like he's about to cry. But I don't blame him at all.

This is the first time Save admits to feeling this way about Auau's actions, and I stand by whatever choices he makes after this. Supporting gay rights and wrongs.

Auau's reaction to finally seeing Save is absolutely magical. He's speechless, he's smiling, he's grateful, he's heartbroken, he's happy, he's everything all at once. It's cute to see the both of them so upfront about what they feel, and I kid you not that nothing can replicate this moment in reality show history!

If you catch me rewatching Your Sky, it's definitely because of them. They are literally RealHia in real life.

Anyway, go check out all the episodes of DMD Friendship the Reality (It Takes Two)! It's a treat to see subversions of traditional male friendships every single time.

[dekkiidan]

Tuff (beloved) Headcanons

As promised! A little list of my Tuff headcanons! I just love our lovely blue-eyed worry-wart! Below the cut to keep things neat and tidy!

As a general rule, Tuff is sensible, a chronic worrier, and probably considered a bit of a stick in the mud by younger hearthians (even moreso than Gossan!); but their cautious exterior comes from a place of care.

Tuff is either a few years older than Hatchy, so perhaps around Marl's age? Like a big sibling; OR they're in their mid forties. So part of Rutile/Esker's hatch-season. There is no in between. I normally lean more towards the older rendition as it works better for my own universe building, wehe.

They miss Esker a lot. I think they were likely firm friends before Esker got more involved with the Outer Wilds Ventures.

Tuff is surprisingly strong. Sure they work near the Zero-G cave, but think of all the ore they've had to lug to and from the mine entrance. Plus, look at the size of their work pack and the pickaxe they're consistently swinging! I reckon they've got a good core and strong shoulders. On the back of this, I think their hands are rough and calloused from all the of the physical work they do in the mine. In their younger years they were a little self conscious about this, but like their ear, they've now come to accept it's just part of being Tuff.

Despite their consistent hard and often dirty work, Tuff always smells like peppermint or ginger. Why? Well, they always have a flask of peppermint or ginger tea on them whilst in the mines to help settle their stomach!

Tuff likes their home to be neat and clean. Working in the mines all day means they're covered in dust and grime for most of their day, so washing that off must be a relief. I think they make a routine of cleaning themself up after a hard day's work and enjoying fresh clothes and a tidy environment.

Tuff is extremely knowledgeable about Timber Hearth's geology from a mining and structural engineering perspective. They can easily tell you where you're most likely to find precious minerals and can read the earth (hearth?) with ease. I'd like to think they're often consulted before a new building project (alongside Marl and Gossan) is undertaken to do a structural survey of the area for safety purposes.

Tuff enjoys early morning walks, especially with Rutile. The pair are often up before dawn to climb one of the firewatch trees outside of the village, flasks of pine-tea in hand, to enjoy the sunrise.

Tuff speaks with a soft, West Country accent. This is wholly and entirely because I'm from a tiny West Country mining village myself and I wanted to give a nod our mining history, haha! Don't know what that sounds like? Here you go! Okay I tried to find a good video but all of them are far too strong for what I'm imagining, haha! I can understand 'em as it's how most of my village-mates sound, but it definitely leans too hard into what I was thinking for Tuff.

That's all I've got for now, I'd love to hear all y'all's own headcanons for them too!

[spatial-jump]

Spoilers for all episodes of the Umbrella Academy Season 4 and profanity below.

What the actual fuck was that finale?? Was I watching the same thing directors looked at and went, “Yeah, this is cool!”

Those last two episodes were a total shit show. An absolutely horrendous finale to a wonderful TV show.

The first thing I am so fucking pissed about is how they’ve written Five in this season. They ruined him. They tore apart the aloof apocalypse-obsessed arsehole who loves his family, destroyed it, spat on it, and then danced on the grave before crushing it under an anvil.

In no fucking timeline whatsoever would Five and Lila be a thing. I understand where some people would come from to defend it — that yes, they were both isolated for seven years and could only find company in each other, distorting their relationship as they sought comfort which mistakenly and incorrectly transpired into ‘love’. No, it’s messed up. It’s so fucking messed up and creates unnecessary drama that the writers probably wanted since they were undeniably lacking in the finale. When I first saw the camera angles and shots they were getting prior to Year Five in the subway, I was naïvely thinking, “Surely not. Please don’t tell me this is where I think it’s going.” And lo and behold, I was right. And I’ve never hated to be right so much in my entire life.

Lila (WHO HAS THREE ADORABLE CHILDREN WITH DIEGO, BY THE WAY) has known Five for absolutely ages — since he was in the body of a thirteen-year-old child. Mentally, he’s however many decades older. Regarding the actors, Aidan and Ritu, themselves, there is a fifteen-year gap between them. But my point is, Five is not a home-wrecker. Five is the type of character who would not deliberately fuck around with his brother’s wife because he absolutely adores his family. It’s not in the nature that has been presented to us, and goes completely against his values — and for what? To serve exclusively as a shitty love triangle so that Diego and Five would fight in the finale and break up the family even more at the most crucial point for them?

Five is your textbook example of a pragmatist. He knows how to prioritise, and would certainly not decide that the time to fight Diego was when two of their siblings were badly injured and another had merged to bring about the Cleanse — a.k.a. end of the world, again.

I am so, so disappointed with this, especially as Five is the character I’ve had the strongest attachment to, ever. I think I’ve managed to disconnect S4 him from the first three (that fucking greasy rat’s nest hair of his has finally been given a beneficial purpose), but I’m still sick to my stomach.

Anyway, next thing: the episodes. I know we were told in advance about how there were only going to be six episodes, and we knew they had a lot to fit in to make it work.

It didn’t. It was executed very poorly. I understand some fans didn’t like the unnecessary subplots and fillers from the previous seasons, but S4 was a bit too rushed? I mean, they found and drank the marigold within the first episode. And floundered around at the end, not even bothering to stop the Cleanse until it had been aired on TV. I get they might’ve wanted to make the show more fast-paced, but it could’ve been handled differently. They didn’t have to do a ‘Stranger ThingsTM’ and make four goddamn films for a Part One. They just needed to properly iron out everything, and that didn’t happen, which is a massive shame.

The finale itself (not the erasing their identities, but from the moment Ben is shot) deserves some YouTuber to pick it apart with a four hour video until it’s dust. It was badly structured. Normally, you see a rather pleasant — not exactly linear, but in the concept we’re progressing positively — pattern as the episodes and plots build up to the finale. We see the family find out about an apocalypse, they fight and break off individually, then they slowly pair up, eventually coming together to save the world. This was not like that.

Instead, you had one sibling fucking around in a subway with his physically much older and mentally much younger sister-in-law, another that was hopelessly obsessed with a girl he just met (but no hate for him — no one exactly told him that being closer to Jennifer was just harming them both and the world), one germaphobe who, despite not taking drugs or drinking, is off looting money wherever he can find it and deciding that was the moment to pay off his debts??, three others doing fuck knows, and then the last one who actually gives a shit, teamed up with his hideous father, and tried to prevent him from killing Ben as long as possible because he knows what it’s like to end the world, and is therefore the only one who did anything useful. God, that was a long sentence, so I’m sorry for those of you who struggle with it.

The finale was not your Umbrella Academy finale. Once everyone had (I say this in the lightest way) been ‘brought together’, they had no bloody idea what to do. In the meantime, they’d disbanded about three times within the thirty minutes of screening because of petty fights and the drama I’ve already discussed. Five leaving them at the most essential moment (due to Lila and Diego, blah, blah, blah) was an error in his character. This old man has survived through apocalypses, the one who tries to round everyone up despite everything he has seen. Even with his doubts in the S3 finale, he was still there — and his doubts were shared enough that they created a majority. In this S4 finale, there was no majority. It was just Five, and Five alone. There were gaping holes and shredded pieces of the beautifully developed characters the show had done so well in portraying. They did this with Allison during that scene in S3, where they took her villain arc too far. There are so many flaws in this, and there is definitely many people out there who can communicate it better and more concisely, but here is my two pennies anyway.

I have a lot more thoughts, but I’m currently bone-tired. I might post another rant if I remember anything else — but don’t be too surprised if it’s Five x Lila related.

I am thankful and appreciative that the Umbrella Academy was one of the lucky shows that saw its way to the very end, but I think all of us are entitled to a little disappointment at its quality and execution as it was brought to a close.

[sequinsmile-x]

You're a Mean One

Snapshots of three Christmases that Aaron and Emily spent together as she helps him learn to love the season.

-x-

Hi besties,

I think we all know there will be a number of Christmas fics from me over the next couple of weeks and I make no apologies for it. I am not feeling festive at all so I am hoping writing these fics will change that haha. I also will make sure I write non-Christmas fics as I go haha

Anyway, I wanted to write some sad Aaron because it's been a little while, and this is what came out.

As always, let me know what you think <3

-x-

Warnings: none

Words: 4.1k

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

He’d never been a fan of the holidays. 

When he was growing up they’d only highlight how dysfunctional his home life was, his classmate's excitement about two weeks off school and scores of gifts at complete odds with how he felt. He loved school because of the escape it gave him, the structure, and whilst summer always took that from him for longer than Christmas did, he’d never hated it quite as much. He’d return to school in January and hear his friends excitedly discuss their new bikes or games. He’d join in and pretend that anything he had been given hadn’t been tarnished by his father’s actions and his mother’s determination to ignore them. 

Haley, on the other hand, loved Christmas. Her whole family did, and as soon as they were married he started celebrating with them instead of his family. Guilt for what felt like abandoning his brother and his mom would colour everything, even though his dad was long dead. It would seep into the taste of the eggnog he’d be passed endless mugs of, and dull the Christmas lights Haley’s dad had carefully wrapped around the tree, but he’d do his best to push past it. He’d remind himself he was building his own family now, that he was doing his best to start from scratch and build a solid foundation to ensure any future children they had would not have to grow up like he did. 

As with so many things in his life, it hadn’t worked out as he’d hoped. Any vague enjoyment he’d found in Christmas started to fade along with the life in his marriage. It disappeared entirely when Haley died. A part of him that she’d curated buried along with her. He did his best for Jack. Would paint a smile on his face and drag a tree slightly too tall for their apartment in through the front door. He’d buy gifts, decorate their home and do whatever he could so Jack would enjoy himself, but he couldn’t get past the block that he’d build brick by brick. A form of self protection that blurred the line with self sabotage as he told himself that maybe, he just wasn’t supposed to enjoy the happiest time of the year. 

Then he fell in love with Emily. 

Her love of the holidays, which outmatched even Haley’s, was something he’d known about long before that warm summer day when he’d finally found the courage to ask her out. He hadn’t thought about how she would bake everyone Christmas cookies and have a tiny tree on her desk when she smiled at him, her eyes shining brighter than the setting sun when she leaned in to kiss him. A breathless finally against his lips when she eventually pulled back. Even if he had thought about it 6 months ago it wouldn’t have made a difference. He loved her more than he’d ever thought possible, the way he felt about her the stuff of the romance books she liked to pretend she didn’t enjoy, and there was nothing that would have stopped him from moving forward with her. 

Her love for Christmas only seems to make Jack even more excited about it. She comes with them to buy a tree, but only after checking with him several times if it is okay, and he takes a step back and watches as Emily walks from tree to tree with his son on her hip. Matching looks of wonder on their faces as they debated the pros and cons of each one until they finally made a decision. He’d done what he’d done for years. He smiled and enjoyed his son’s enjoyment, and now his girlfriend’s, but he couldn’t get into the spirit of it himself. He knows Emily has noticed. He would wave off her concerns, would smile and then kiss her and say he was fine even though they both knew he was lying, his underlying frustration and sadness something he was used to hiding. It felt like so much a part of him now he didn’t know who he was without it, a pit low and heavy in his stomach that felt like the punishment he deserved for robbing Haley of every Christmas he got to experience that she didn’t. 

It comes to a head when they are discussing their Christmas plans with the team. She was spending the day with him and Jack, something else she’d also checked was fine multiple times before she’d yes, and when they told the team that they had the expected reactions. A squeal of joy from Penelope, a curt nod from Spencer, and a knowing smile from Dave and JJ. He’d even expected Derek’s reaction, a well-meaning joke that had added to the weight in his gut.

“Santa’s head elf and The Grinch spending Christmas together? I’d love to be a fly on the wall on the big day.” 

Aaron doesn’t get the chance to react because Emily does first. She narrows her eyes as she throws her pen at Derek, hitting him square in the chest, as she protests both of the titles he’d given them. Defending her love of Christmas and Aaron’s grumpiness with a vague threat and a raised eyebrow.

“I slipped a little brandy in your eggnog.” 

“Thanks, sweetheart,” he says, and he smiles as he looks up at her, taking the drink she hands him before she sits next to him. She presses her shoulder against his as he arranges the blanket over his lap over hers, and she links one of her arms through his, her other hand tight around her own cup of spiked eggnog. He takes a sip of his and lets out a breath at the burn of it as he swallows, chuckling as he turns his head to kiss her temple, “By a little brandy…did you mean the whole bottle?” 

She laughs and turns to look at him, the warm lights from the nearby tree never as beautiful as when he saw them reflected in her eyes, “I thought I’d loosen you up a little,” she says, winking before she leans in to kiss the corner of his mouth, “Make sure I can have my way with you later.” 

“We both know I never need any encouragement for that,” he says, kissing her firmly, tasting the eggnog she’d clearly snuck a sip of in the kitchen on her lips, “You don’t need to spike my drink for that.”

“Good to know,” she hums and rests her cheek against his shoulder as she continues to look up at him, her teeth sinking into her lower lip as she studies him, her eyes flicking over every fine line and the first shadow of his beard, “Are you okay, honey?” 

He suppresses a sigh, capturing it behind his lips as he presses them together, and he tightens his grip on her thigh, “Em-”

“And please don’t tell me you’re fine,” she says, sitting up a little straighter, something close to desperation shining in her eyes as she shakes her head at him, “Because you clearly aren’t, and I don’t know why you won’t just tell me.” 

He wants to tell her but can’t. He doesn’t want to put this burden on her, to do anything that might ruin her enjoyment of what she’d told him was her favourite time of year. 

“Em-”

“Is it because of what Derek said? I’ll kill him,” she grumbles, shaking her head as she carries on talking, seemingly unaware she’d cut him off, “I know this time of year must be hard for you anyway because of Haley, but-”

Later, he’d know that it was the mention of his ex-wife that tipped him over the edge, that it was the final straw after years of repressing how he felt, but at the moment he’s talking, yelling, before he can stop himself. 

“Emily, will you leave it alone,” he grits out, raising his voice without meaning to, “I’m fine.” 

The shocked look on her face, the hurt that flashes in her eyes, fades as she chuckles dryly, “Clearly,” she says, looking down at her cup of eggnog before she separates herself from him entirely. She stands up and puts her cup down, her arms tight over her chest as she clears her throat, “I should go home.” 

Any misplaced anger he’d felt disappears the moment she’s by the front door, draining out of him as he slumps forward, his head in his hands as he listens to her zip up her jacket and pulls on her shoes.

“Sweetheart, wait-” he says, standing up and walking over, his hands in his pockets as she looks at him and cuts him off. 

“Aaron, it’s fine. You clearly don’t want to talk about it,” she smiles tightly, “I’ll go home, and you can call me tomorrow, okay?” 

He watches as she turns to leave and he swallows thickly as he reaches deep down inside of himself to find the bravery he’d felt on the day he first asked her out. 

“Please don’t leave,” he says, and she tightens her grip on the door handle as she turns to look at him, an expectant look on her face as she waits for him to continue, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have shouted. I…I’m sorry.” 

She nods, finally letting go of the door handle as she crosses her arms over her chest again, “No, you shouldn’t have,” she says, her tongue sticking out to wet her lower lip as she steps closer to him, “But I forgive you. The holidays are hard sometimes.” 

He chuckles and nods, scratching at the back of his head as looks at the ground and admits something that makes him feel exposed, even though she’d seen him naked countless times, “I don’t remember a time they weren’t hard.” 

When he looks back up she’s standing just much closer, her jacket back on the hook next to his, with an understanding smile on her face, “Why don’t we go sit down and you tell me everything?” 

He nods and reaches out to squeeze her waist, another apology pressed against her as he holds her steady as she slips her boots back off. When they sit back down, once again wrapped around each other, his arm hugged against her chest and his head resting against the top of hers, he tells her. He tells her about his childhood, about how Christmas never meant for him what it did for other kids, how Haley had been the only one to ever make him enjoy the season and that she’d taken that enjoyment with her when she died. 

She listens intently, one of his hands sandwiched between both of his, her touch gentle and soothing as she runs her thumb back and forth over the heel of his hand. She only responds when she’s finished, tilting her head so she is looking up at him. 

“Did I ever tell you why I like Christmas so much?” She asks, and he shakes his head, “Christmas was always a spectacle when I was growing up. All of it was for show and none of it was for me,” she smiles sadly as she thinks about it and he squeezes her hand, “I decided then that when I grew up I’d make Christmas everything I always wished it had been,” she looks around his apartment. Looks at the tree and the gifts they’d already wrapped and the ornaments on every possible surface, and she scrunches her nose up, “I promise to tone it down next year.” 

He shakes his head, his heart growing in his chest at the casual mention of next year, as he cups her cheek, “No that’s not-”

“I never want to make you feel uncomfortable, honey,” she says, turning her head to kiss his palm, “We’re building a life together. That’s all about give and take,” she smiles, “But you have to tell me these things, okay? You know I’ll never judge you for it.  But I can’t help if I don’t know.” 

He nods and leans in to kiss her, making sure to rest his forehead against hers when he pulls away. “Okay, sweetheart.” 

___

He makes sure he quietly pulls Jack’s door closed behind him, although he’s sure after the excitement from the day he could slam it shut and the little boy wouldn’t wake up. 

It was their first Christmas in their new house. They’d signed the deeds just two months ago, Emily’s hand tight in his when they looked around it again once it was theirs, her excitement palpable as they walked from room to room, her smile close to shy as they stepped into the room the realtor had said would be perfect for a nursery. It was home now. Pictures of the three of them, the team and Haley scattered around the house, memories printed and framed that were ready to be joined by new ones. 

He smiles as he walks downstairs, following the sound of his fiancee’s humming in the living room. She had toned down the decorations as she’d promised the year before, but they had a bigger tree this year because they had more room so it was hard to tell if you didn’t look for it. She’d made a point of keeping it all in one room. She stopped short of wrapping a garland around the handrail on the stairs, her smile shy as she laid it over the mantle in the living room instead, making sure Christmas didn’t spill out from the living room. 

When he walks into the living room he finds her kneeling on the floor near the tree, carefully arranging all of the gifts they’d kept hidden until Jack went to bed. 

“He’s fast asleep,” Aaron says as he joins her, raising an eyebrow at her at the smile she throws him when his knees click, “I think the excitement wore him out,” he says, taking a gift as she passes it to him to lay it under the tree, “He should sleep through until the morning.” 

She hums, “Well if last year is anything to go by he’ll wake us up insanely early.” 

He chuckles, “We both know you were up before him last year sweetheart.” 

She sticks her tongue out at him but leans in to kiss him, her hand on his cheek as she holds him in place, drunk on him and her favourite time of year, “I love you.” 

“I love you too,” he says, stamping his lips against hers before they carry on arranging the gifts, “I don’t remember buying this much.” 

“Me neither,” she says, scrunching her nose up as she turns to look at him, “We’ll have to be more careful next year if we have a baby by then,” she adds, her smile turning shy, “Otherwise it will take all day to open them all.” 

They’d started trying shortly after he proposed to her, both of them more than aware they wanted a baby desperately and that time wasn’t necessarily on their side. The thought of it never failed to warm him from the inside out, the idea of her pregnant with their child, of watching her snuggle with a baby that was half him and half her, was enough to make him forget every awful thing that had ever happened to him. Each one of them something that he’d survived to make it here with her. 

“The first year, babies are more interested in the boxes and paper anyway,” he says, winking at her when she places her hand on his arm, her hope about what their future could hold as infectious as his, “Jack was only two months old his first Christmas, but even by his second one he was just fascinated by the wrapping paper,” he smiles at the memory of it, of the last Christmas he’d had with Haley before their marriage fell apart, “We ended up making a game of it. We’d toss a balled up bit of paper and he’d chase it.” 

She laughs, loud and booming and gorgeous, and she raises an eyebrow at him, “So what you’re telling me is we’ll play…fetch with our kid at Christmas?” 

“Not just Christmas,” he says, leaning in to kiss her again as he places the last gift in place, “Birthdays too.” He stands up, groaning at the ache in his knees, and then he offers her a hand to help her up. She leans against him, her arms hooking around the back of his neck as she kisses him, her moan stamped against his lips as he pulls her closer, his palm wide and warm on her lower back. 

“I’m looking forward to it,” she mutters, barely pulling back to speak before she kisses him again, her excitement and hope for their future sweet and addictive on her tongue. 

“Me too,” he replies, kissing her once more before he pulls her in for a hug, his cheek resting on top of her head as she sinks against him, her cheek against his chest so she can look at the tree next to them. 

“Are you doing okay?” She asks, pulling back to look at him whilst she tilts her head at him, “I know this isn’t easy for you.”

He smiles gratefully at her and he nods, “I’m okay. I promise. Watching you and Jack enjoy yourselves this time of year is enough for me.” 

She smiles sadly and she scratches at the back of his head, her fingers trailing through his soft short hair, “I know, but I wish I could make sure that you enjoyed it too,” she says, “And not just for us - but for you.” 

The truth was, she had started to help him find joy in it all again. He no longer felt like a spectator all the time, no longer felt like he was behind a glass wall whilst everyone else enjoyed themselves. It was still hard, but it felt manageable with her by her side. 

Everything felt manageable when she was with him. 

“I’m sure you’ll find a way to make me enjoy Christmas,” he says, a hint of challenge to his voice that makes her smile, “If anyone could, it’s you.” 

She smiles and kisses him, “You’re right,” she says, winking at him as she finally pulls away, her hand tangling with his as she leads him over towards the couch, “I’ll find a way.” 

___

He wakes up to the sound of crying. 

He sits up immediately, unsure when he’d fallen asleep at all, and he almost stumbles when he tries to stand, his limbs more uncoordinated than usual. He looks up when he hears his wife chuckling, her tired eyes meeting his as he walks over to the bed, drawn in by her. 

By them. 

“Daddy’s tired, Sophie,” she says, lifting the newborn from the bassinet next to the bed, soothing the little girl as she settles her into his arms, “You’d think he was the one who gave birth today.” 

He smiles apologetically as he sits on the edge of the bed, his eyes fixed on his girls together, “Sorry.”

She winks at him, “I’m joking honey,” she says, gently rocking Sophie as she tries to stop her from crying, “You’ve been up just as long as I have. I think she needs feeding.”  

He hums as he leans in to kiss her cheek, before he helps her undo her gown, “You're the one who had her, sweetheart. I just held your hand and brought you ice chips.” 

“You did a lot more than that and you know it,” she says, raising an eyebrow at him, her nose scrunching up as Sophie latches on, the sensation still new and strange to her “Besides, it’s never easy watching someone you love in pain.” 

She was right about that. By the time Sophie was born, it was close to 24 hours after Emily’s contractions had started. She’d taken in her stride, had refused most of the meds the doctors had offered her and walked around her hospital room as long as she could. He’d been there every step of the way, had been there to lean on - quite literally at times - as her body was pushed to its limit. Every contraction, every tear she’d shed, every time she’d insisted she couldn’t do it, disappeared the moment she was handed Sophie. He’d placed his hand over her shaking one on their daughter's back as he told her how much he loved her, how much he loved them both. 

“She’s worth it though,” he says, smiling as the newborn's eyes start to drift close, even though she is still eating.

“So worth it,” Emily replies as she lifts Sophie when she unlatches, smiling at her husband, “Want to burp her?” 

“Of course,” he says as he takes the baby and rests her against his chest. He stands up to pace with her as he pats her back, something he does without thinking - a ghost of a memory from when Jack had been this small. 

“Was Jack okay when you said bye to him?” Emily says, on the same wavelength with him as always as she reties the front of her gown, “I know this probably wasn’t the best way to spend Christmas Day.” 

Jack had spent most of his day with Jessica and Roy, eagerly waiting for news that he could go and meet his new little sister. By the time Sophie was born and they were settled, there were only a few hours of Christmas Day left. Even though Emily was exhausted, and even though Aaron suggested that Jack came to visit the following day, she’d insisted that he came - desperate to see their eldest on Christmas Day even if it was just for an hour or so. Watching the three of them together, Emily’s arm around Jack as she helped him hold Sophie, Aaron couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so happy, let alone the last time he’d been so happy on Christmas Day. 

“Are you kidding?” Aaron asks, raising his eyebrow at his wife as he looks at her, “He told me she’s the best Christmas present he’s ever had,” he smiles, “So I told him we’ll return that bike we bought him.”

She laughs and shakes her head at him, “No you didn’t.” 

“No,” he replies, smiling when Sophie burps, “I didn’t.” 

Emily holds her hands out to take the baby back from him, and he passes Sophie back as he sits on the edge of the bed again, “I’ve to say, when the doctor said December 25th was my due date, I didn’t actually think I’d have her today. Everyone kept telling me I’d go overdue because she’s my first.” 

It was something that he knew had driven her crazy the further into her pregnancy she got. The thought of being pregnant a moment longer than she needed to be, of being so uncomfortable a moment longer than she needed to be, enough to make tears shine in her eyes. She was insistent she wasn’t going to go overdue until the moment she went into labour on the evening of Christmas Eve, when the reality of their baby girl's due date seemed to finally hit her. They’d taken Jack to Jessica’s on the way to the hospital with some of his gifts packed into a bag and promised him they’d open the rest when they were home from the hospital with the baby. Aaron had imagined some kind of pushback, the boy's love for Christmas well established, but he’d agreed without argument - his eyes bright and full of excitement as he said he was going to share his toys with his sister.

“What was it Reid said?” He asks, shifting so his arm is around her so she can lean against him, “Only 5% of babies are born on their due date.” 

She hums and traces her fingers over Sophie’s cheek, “Hear that, Soph? You’re already special.” 

“Of course she is,” Aaron says, kissing Emily’s temple, “She’s our little girl,” he rests his chin on Emily’s shoulder so he can look down at Sophie, unable to stop himself from staring at her, desperate to learn everything there was to learn about her, “You really were serious about your aim of getting me to enjoy Christmas more.” 

She laughs and turns to look at him, her lips catching his temple before he tilts his head up to kiss her properly, “Yeah, well. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do,” she says, as if she could have ever actually planned this, “It’s not just Christmas anymore though,” she says, kissing him again before she turns to look back at Sophie, her temple against his, “It’s her birthday too.” 

“Yeah,” he smiles as love and warmth and joy flood his chest in a way it hadn’t in years, “It is.” 

[kiteblue42]

Is Eric Kripke America’s Tolkien?

So I started Supernatural for the first time around 6 months ago for which I blame Tumblr entirely (where do I claim compensation?). In fact it’s very good and fun and I can’t believe I missed it when it was live.

Ok so bear with me I’ve been sick for a few days a combination of high temperature plus rings of power trailer drop may be making me delusional, but I got to thinking … why did this show have such a hold not just on this site, but also on so many fan artists and fan fic writers. (I mean it has a strangle hold on Ao3)?

Then the RoP trailer dropped and I got to thinking is it because it world builds from a US stand point like Tolkien world built from a European standpoint?

Then because I am sick and can’t sleep I am sharing my stream of consciousness o: Kripke as Tolkien, Sam as Sam, John Winchester as Gandalf, Castiel as Beleg and Dean as Turin Turambar - and maybe now I’ve got this out of my head I’ll feel better….:

I attempted to put this under a cut so hope it worked!

:readmore:

Source material

Most modern fantasy stands on the shoulders of JRR Tolkien who basically ingested a ton of European myths and languages (with focus on Northern Europe) and spat out the middle earth legendarium.

Eric Kripke (plus writing team) seems to have ingested a ton of US urban myths and US pop culture and spat out “Supernatural-verse”. Because it is *US myth making* it is distinct from a lot of other US writing that builds off Tolkien and / or European myth arcs (I’m looking at you Star Wars, Westeros etc).

And the themes and sensibilities therefore pulled out by Kripke are *not* the same as Tolkien’s themes and sensibilities. This makes it different to a lot of modern genre fiction (in whatever form) that either builds on or seeks to subvert the themes in Tolkien’s work.

(There’s also a lot of genre fiction that is satire or allegory for the real world, but that is another category to me and not really world building in the same way - incidentally the Boys fits into that category along with Good Omens).

Both ofc back end off the Bible but this is English literature based story telling and no one escapes the Bible or the bard.

Structure

We usually think of Tolkien in terms of:

(1) Hobbit - entry level nicely structured “there and back again” story for children, darker than expected. Main hero arc -Bilbo.

(2) Lord of the Rings - the pretty perfect fantasy master piece - very accessible clear meaningful themes and tidy /satisfactory ending. A number of hero arcs, but clearest drawn are Frodo / Sam.

(3) Silmarillion (&etc) - this is where the legendarium really gets built. It’s not neat, it’s not accessible, some of it is *not* a good read but the ideas here build the world. We have a creation myth. The “good” “wise” guys turn out to be more complex and flawed than we thought. The evil guys are extremely toxic but entertaining and bring the drama. There are epic doomed romances between immortal beings and mortal beings. Everyone messes up and makes catastrophic world destroying errors on the regular. People get cursed and can’t escape their doom. I can’t think of any real traditional hero arcs (maybe Beren or Luthien??). Note Tolkien didn’t finish this and it’s put together by someone else.

Now let’s do Supernatural

(1) seasons 1-3 - Horror procedural-

Entry level solid procedural hunting / horror story. Sam W is here in the traditional hero role. Dean is like your Thorin initiating the adventure. John Winchester is in the Gandalf role (he knows what’s going on and holds the secrets but is not available to the adventurers at all times). Maybe there something deeper and darker going on? This is your Hobbit equivalent very accessible but not particularly unique.

(2) season 4-5 - myth arc - lots of fans will say this is the perfect part of the story and a masterpiece of genre writing. It’s neat with clear meaningful themes and a tidy satisfactory ending. A number of hero arcs though Sam’s remains the most clearly drawn. Dean is more like your Aragorn or Faramir at the end of 5, Bobby in the mold of a Theoden and a Castiel in sort of Gandalf type position. Baby ofc is Shadowfax. This is your LoTR equivalent

(3) seasons 6 - 15 - the Legendarium- this gets a lot of criticism but it’s where the legendarium really gets built. It’s not neat, it’s not that accessible, some of it is not great to watch, but the ideas here build the world out. We have a creation myth (hello Chuck & Amara). We have hero doomed by the narrative (most notably Dean Winchester, though also Castiel). We have epic love stories between mortals and immortals. Yes I am comparing Dean & Cas to Beren & Luthien (!) though Turin & Beleg would perhaps be more appropriate (there’s a good case for Dean = Turin in this universe). The good guys turn out to be more complex or darker than we thought. The evil guys are extremely toxic but entertaining and bring the drama.

There aren’t really any straightforward hero arcs which is one of the reasons Sam fades out a bit and Dean comes forwards as a character. The stories are messy and tragic.

Landscape

Middle Earth - if you read the books or watch the movies or show it’s clear that Tolkien’s (sub)creation is a love letter to the mountains, lakes and woods of England and Europe. It’s also a cry of anguish for their destruction. Both the beauty and destruction are heightened (Europe doesn’t really look like this and really never did - as for the movies they were shot in anew Zealand and then digitally enhanced…) This is as important as the characters and plot - and stands out in particular in the Hobbit and LoTR where there are long descriptions of landscapes (or long shots of the same in movies / shows).

“Middle Americana” - it’s clear that as much importance was put into the look of the landscapes in Supernatural as to the characters or story. In this verse the look is long open roads, beautiful mountains and big skies that are a declaration of love for America, and the run down small towns seem to present wistful sadness. But again it’s not real it’s heightened. The cinematography in first few seasons is particularly thoughtful (and perhaps Kim Manners is to be thanked for that). The show is shot in Canada and the motels / gas stations in middle of no where needed to be built because they didn’t exist in reality. Again the landscape - the open road, the small towns, the big sky, the motels / dinners / gas stations in the middle of nowhere are as much a character as anything else.

I could go on but I suppose if anyone read this far you get the point (and more importantly it’s now out of my head and I can think about something else!).

Ultimately it will take some time to see if this could be right - in terms of genre fiction Tolkien is everywhere and you can’t escape it (even if you never read or watched any Tolkien!). Time will tell if the Kripke verse has the same impact on creatives and audiences, but I just look at the A03 archive and notice how many people know what happened on Supernatural without ever watching it (!) and think hmmm these are the readers and writers of tomorrow after all.

[azaharinflames]

That was such a good episode!!! Loved every bit of it: hen/wilson family, ravi!, bobby being hero, chim/maddie, badass athena, grant kids, buck being great mentor, hot evil scientist, i prob missed smth.

Anyway 2 questions:

Do you think the cake was really a mistake, or are we having a surprise girl or a twin?

With everything going on what do you think well get on bucktommy front?

I wont ask about possibility of [redacted] it hurts too much, but them building a home and then [redacted] seems so cruel i wont be able to cope

It really was, Nonnie! Gotta confess, 813 being the way it was gave me hope that these two episodes were going to be amazing (kinda like all their effort went there for a while), and I'm happy to see my gut feeling was right!

I loved the episode, and I especially enjoyed Buck and Ravi. I wanted these types of scenes between them for so long, and it's so nice to finally have them! And Buck being Ravi's mentor once more was heartwarming. I know we joke a lot about Buck, and that the show also does it, but he's truly showing how much he's grown in the last few years. I feel proud, even.

As for your two questions:

My first thought was that it's a surprise girl (mostly because to find two babies, one boy and one girl to play the Han twins would be a bit of a hassle, ngl), but as a twin myself (also boy-girl), I think it could be fun! Maddie and Chim would be outnumbered lmao. But for now, I'm just going with a surprise girl.

I'm not sure about Bucktommy (mostly in terms of structure). I maintain that, narratively, the most logical thing is to be working towards a reconciliation. And I honestly don't think it'll be dragged into Season 9. Likewise, I just don't think it makes sense to give them the storyline they've had if they're going to randomly decide they're better off as friends, you know? Why bring Tommy back around if that's the reason? Buck could've had closure differently. I guess what I am trying to say is that to be dragged along with the hopes of a reconciliation (because, again, that is what the narrative is heavily implying) and to then give it an unsatisfactory resolution would be, rather, a cruel thing to do. We had already made peace with Tommy being gone, as hurt as we were about it. To bring him back if their idea was to send him away again is just needlessly cruel, yk?

Now, as for how I see a reconciliation could happen? I have my doubts, mostly because the next episode seems to be quite action packed, so idk if there would even be time for BT to work it out. However, if they are in the helicopter together, I still could see it. I think 911 loves to do work on their couples pre-relationship, but also loves to get them together rather quickly. Meaning, we've seen the work done with BT, so I wouldn't be entirely surprised if their reconciliation isn't dragged along and is a quick, sweet thing. I, also, wouldn't be surprised if the important talk happens off-screen. I know that's not what we want, but in terms of the screentime they have for the rest of the season and the rest of the storylines? It's most likely a big portion of their reconciliation talk (aka working through their issues) happens partly off-screen, or even entirely.

As for the structure, here is where I doubt the most. Because fact is that Tommy does come back post-815, and if Buck and he were done, there is no need for that. Moreover, if Jennifer's story suggests a scene of Madney+Bucktommy, there is no need to have him there if Buck and he are not together, or in their way of being back together. So I still maintain it could happen in 815. If not, 818 by the latest. But personally, I expected them together by 815 in order to give them some time together before 818, when some decisions for the next season have to be made*. The pace of 815 is what is confusing me, tho haha.

Also smaller sidenote, but from what we know, 816 seems to be Athena heavy (which makes sense). To me, that means either they get together in 815, or they are a bit pushed back while we deal with [redacted]'s possible [redacted].

Anyway, sorry, this got long lol. I was trying to get over a cold yesterday and only could catch up with 911 this morning, so I have a lot to say still haha.

take careee <3

*I don't mean it in a negative way, btw. just a lil something I've been thinking they could do at the end of the season.

[errorryx]

unraveling — part three, season ten

read on ao3 | read part one | hermitcraft, 2.9k words

this is the third and final part of my fic for MCYTblr AUFest! once again, if you haven't read the first part, please check it out for more info about this AU. enjoy this infodump about plant-based fibers disguised as a minecraft fanfiction!

—

Ever since Pearl began expanding her original starter base, she’s been working on some kind of big secret project.

It probably has something to do with her choice of theme this season. Or maybe it's an even bigger, more spectacular redstone machine than the already very impressive Dyeduction. Whatever it is, Pearl’s determined to keep it a secret, which means Gem is even more determined to figure it out.

She watches Pearl from a distance, using her spyglass. Pearl’s base is developing into a labyrinth of different structures, with so many entrances and passageways wedged into tight corners, each building blending together into a larger whole. It’s getting big enough that Gem can get lost in it. She gets turned around even from afar, watching Pearl enter a building and emerge somewhere completely different a few minutes later.

This morning, Pearl seems to be harvesting some of the many different plants around her base. She clips back the fast-growing vines that crawl up the sides of her buildings, wades through dense fields of flowers to uproot entire plants, and even collects bark from the bushes and trees. Gem can’t imagine what she’s doing with it all, and she’s even more confused to see Pearl deposit her harvest into a large pool and leave it there.

After a while, Pearl spreads her elytra and rockets off in the direction of the shopping district. Gem takes the opportunity to poke around her base and investigate directly. She stops at the pool first, which has a small channel out to the river, not quite wide enough for a boat to pass through.

When Gem steps into the pool, the water only comes up to her knees. The bottom is full of different stems and leaves, weighed down by rocks to keep it from floating up to the top. Nearby is a small hut filled with shelves and shelves of the same plants in various stages of drying.

Gem has been toying with the idea of a proper scientific investigation for a while now, and clearly Pearl is the perfect subject. She takes a recording device out of her pocket and begins to describe her surroundings.

“This is Dr. GeminiTay in the field, reporting on my observations at PearlescentMoon’s base. Recently, I've observed several anomalies in Pearl’s behavior, and I came to the conclusion that I must analyze her natural habitat for hints as to what may be causing this…deviation.” Gem nods, proud of herself. She sounds so professional! “It appears that Pearl has been soaking plants in water, then letting them dry. The purpose of this behavior is as of yet unknown.”

Nearby the pool and the shed full of drying plants is a building that Gem knows has been here for a while, but she doesn’t think she’s ever been inside. The top floor is full of more plants in the next stage of the process, whatever process that is. One one side is a pile of fully dried plant material, and on the other side is a heaping pile of fibers and several chests stuffed to the brim with very tiny wood shavings.

Gem relays this information as best she can into the recording device, then takes a staircase down to the basement, which is much larger than the room above. The center of the room is taken up by several large spinning wheels, each hooked up to a redstone device that Gem doesn’t even bother to try and make sense of. Presumably they help automate the process, though they all seem to be shut off right now. Gem is tempted to flick one of the levers to see what happens, but she’s not Grian. She has more self-control than that.

Though, it would be really funny if she broke something.

Gem peeks outside to make sure Pearl isn’t back yet, before running back to switch the lever on, giggling to herself. The wheel starts spinning, but since there’s no fibers or threads on the spool, nothing else interesting happens. She’s disappointed, but also relieved that she didn’t break anything. She flicks the lever back off and moves on.

Pearl has hung several picture frames around the room, but instead of artwork, the frames contain embroidery projects. The largest of them reads live laugh love in familiar cursive lettering, surrounded by a border of leafy vines. Most of the others are textless, with designs of different plants and flowers.

A large table on the left side of the room is covered in dozens of small scraps of handmade fabric. Some are of higher quality than others. None of them look like the sort of crochet pattern that Gem’s used to seeing on Pearl’s body. Pearl must be trying to branch out with her projects, and these are some of her first attempts. There’s another embroidery project hanging right above the table, the only other one with any text, which reads, Start small.

Beside the table is an ordinary loom, and next to it, a larger, more intricate version constructed out of several different types of wood. Normal looms are only used for banners, but Pearl’s handmade loom seems to be built for broader purposes. On the other side of the loom, in the back corner of the room, is an iron door without any visible way to open it.

At this point, Gem can safely assume that she's found the room where Pearl keeps her mystery project. Clearly it's some kind of fiber art—or several different kinds at once, from the look of it. But all the things she's seen so far are just pieces of the puzzle, and she still can’t figure out what Pearl’s making.

Her only remaining option is to see what’s behind the locked door.

Now, Gem could easily go home and construct her own lever to open the door, or just break through the wall herself, but that’s no fun. She’d much rather figure out how to use this secret door the right way. Knowing Pearl, it’s not a special kind of lock that only she has the key to, but some kind of thematically relevant puzzle that anyone can figure out if they try.

So Gem tries. For a good long time, she looks around the room for hints. She stops in front of the table of scraps, looking at the embroidered message. Start small. It doesn’t quite fit with Pearl’s sense of interior decoration. The live laugh love one is clearly a joke, a reference to last season, but there’s nothing about Start small that holds any sort of meaning to Gem.

Unless it’s meant as a clue.

In a moment of inspiration, Gem stands on her tiptoes, reaching over the table to take the frame down from the wall. She looks over to the door, but it hasn’t moved. When she flips the frame around, she can see the messy backside of the stitching, plus a hand-written note from Pearl, reading, smaller than that.

Definitely a clue, then. Gem switches on her recording device and begins to narrate. 

“The wild Pearl is known for her cleverness,” she tells her imaginary peer-review science board. “One of the defining behaviors of a Pearl is to set up puzzles for her friends. It’s important to provide her with enrichment by participating, which is why I’m doing this, of course. Not because I’m nosy.”

She paces up and down the room, the reassuring rhythm of her footsteps against the floor helping to clear her mind. That is, until she steps down on a block that makes a strange metallic clanking sound.

Gem may not know much about redstone, but she knows a hidden hopper when she hears one. The spot where she’s standing is just a few blocks away from the door. All she has to do now is figure out what to throw into it.

“Pearls are practical creatures,” Gem says. “This Pearl would not choose something rare or difficult to access as the key to a door she uses all the time. It’ll probably be something inside this room.”

Start small. Smaller than that. The answer’s sitting right in front of her. Pearl doesn’t start a crochet project by jumping into it blindly and hoping for the best. She plans it out beforehand, making patterns and testing out stitches. All of the different test swatches on this table are her way of starting small, practicing for the big project she’s making.

Gem grabs one of the scraps of fabric, dropping it on the floor above the hopper. The door opens with a loud clank, and she enters the room, holding her breath in anticipation.

She’s not expecting Pearl to actually be inside. She knows for a fact that she saw Pearl fly off, though admittedly there was plenty of time for Pearl to sneak back into this room while Gem was wandering around her base. But the surprise of Pearl’s presence pales in comparison to the shock of what she’s making.

Pearl is hunched over a player-sized figure made up of many different kinds of fabric, lying on top of a large worktable. Only one of its arms are attached, the other sitting right beside the empty shoulder, and both legs end just below the knee, still unfinished. Most of the fabrics look coarser than the soft wool yarn that Gem is used to, but there’s no mistaking who it’s supposed to be.

“Oh. My. Gosh.” Gem blinks several times, unable to believe what she’s seeing. “Pearl, are you multiplying?”

Pearl laughs, sitting back and looking up at her. “Do you like it?”

Gem takes a few steps closer, taking it all in. The new Pearl’s plastic button eyes have been replaced with wooden ones, and her hair is a mixture of several different textures and shades of brown. She’s wearing a white postal jacket like the one Pearl’s wearing now, but this one is made out of a more refined version of some of the swatches in the previous room.

When Gem commissions new outfits to fit her themes, she doesn’t spend much time thinking about the work that goes into it behind the scenes. She just pays their exorbitant prices and assumes they must have worked very hard. Now, having seen all the steps in Pearl’s process, she’s baffled as to how her clothesmakers are able to deliver their finished products so quickly, or how Pearl herself has gotten so much done without anyone noticing.

“It’s beautiful, Pearl. It’s so detailed.” Gem can’t think of anything to say that doesn’t feel like an understatement. “Have you been working on this all season?”

“Only since I decided on my solarpunk theme,” Pearl says. “It shouldn’t take me much longer. I’ve processed most of the fibers that I need already, and that’s the slowest part.”

“I have so many questions,” Gem says. It’s a little disconcerting to see this new version of Pearl in an unfinished state, looking so much like Pearl does now, but lifeless and incomplete.

“I can explain it to you if you want!” Pearl looks excited at the prospect. “There’s a lot of steps, but if you break it down it’s actually pretty simple—”

“Have you been hanging out with Mumbo recently?” Gem asks. “None of what you’re doing is simple, Pearl. This is very complicated!”

“Already had a peek around my base, did you?” Pearl tuts in mock disappointment.

“It’s only fair! You don’t get to complain after what you did to my base with all those pickle messages.”

“Ah, well.” Pearl shrugs. “You may have a point.”

“What is it for, anyway?” Gem can’t help but notice that Pearl isn’t making these modifications to herself, but to an entirely different entity. “Why do you need another you?”

“Gem!” Pearl laughs at her. “You got all the way to this point and you still haven’t figured it out?”

“What do you—Oh. Wait.” Gem blinks. “Are you—you’re building yourself a replacement body?”

“There you go,” Pearl says. “We got there eventually.”

“But that doesn’t make any sense!” Gem says. “How do you get yourself into a whole different body? Can you turn back after you’re done? If you can just go around switching bodies, what’s stopping you from being a—a pig, or a sheep or something?”

“Oh, that’s easy,” Pearl says, waving her hand dismissively. “I just, y’know…” She pauses, frowning. “Well, I—hm, okay. I’m not sure, actually.”

“You’re not sure?”

“I don’t know how it works,” Pearl says. “It just sort of happens. Like how everyone gets new outfits to stick through respawn.”

“That’s normal, though. Everyone does it!”

“Yeah, but how?”

Gem opens her mouth, then closes it again. She doesn’t know. How does she not know?

She feels a little dizzy from how fast her thoughts are racing. Gem pulls up a chair and plops herself down, trying to get her thoughts in order.

In this world, and in every world since she spawned, there have been rules. They vary from place to place, and they can be changed, too—even bent or broken. Gem knows people who break the rules—some of the most infamous rulebreakers in the world reside on this very server with her—but she’s never counted Pearl among that number.

And, now that she thinks about it, that seems like an oversight on her part. Gem has known Pearl for longer than most of the other Hermits, and she can’t remember ever questioning how Pearl came to exist in this form, this version of herself that Gem’s always known.

Gem has never broken the rules, or at least, she’s never knowingly attempted to do so. She’s happy where she is, building and mining and fighting the normal way, seeking out challenges from within the confines of what’s supposed to be possible. She’s amazed by the accomplishments of her reality-bending friends, but that sort of thing has never interested her.

Now, standing on the edge of what seems to be a rule-breaking realization, Gem wonders if this is how they felt—Etho, or Cleo, or Doc, or Pearl, apparently—any of the Hermits that ever asked the right questions, or put the pieces together, or stumbled upon a loophole in the rulebook.

She clings to the fabric of her lab coat in wonder. What kind of force tethers this silly costume she’s wearing to her own body? Why does it stay with her even after death? How does any of this make sense?

Is everything just a—

“See, you can't question these things,” Pearl says, bursting through her train of thought. “Or it all falls apart.”

“Falls apart?” Gem asks, alarmed. “What does that mean? That sounds bad. Is it bad? Have I broken the world?”

“No! No, of course not, don’t worry.” Pearl rests a soft hand on Gem’s shoulder. “Well, maybe a little bit, but it’s fine. Nothing that can’t be fixed.”

Gem puts her head in her hands, taking a deep breath. It helps, a little. “This is—a lot, Pearl.”

“Here, let me show you something.” Pearl holds up a swatch of fabric, which Gem is reasonably confident in identifying as crochet, though she doesn’t know the specific stitch. “It’s like this. The fabric holds itself together just fine if you leave it alone, but when you pull on the edges…” She does just that, and the first row collapses on itself, then the next, then the next. “Things start to go a bit wonky. But…” She pulls out a crochet hook and starts stitching, rebuilding the row she’d just unraveled. “You can make them right again, if you learn how. It can go back to normal. Or, well, normal enough.”

“But what about people who don’t want it to be normal?” Gem asks. “How do they deal with it?”

“You’ll have to ask them about it,” Pearl says. “That’s not how I do things. I prefer to patch the holes I find rather than explore what’s inside them.”

Gem leans her head against Pearl’s shoulder. “This really hurts my brain.”

“I know. I’m sorry, Gem. I didn’t mean to push you into this.”

“It’s okay,” Gem says. “The fact that I made it through two and a half seasons of Hermitcraft before getting here is probably pretty impressive, right?”

“It’s not for everybody,” Pearl says. “Like Grian, for example.”

“Grian?”

“He noped out of it even harder than I did, you know. Did it so well that I’m not sure he even remembers anymore. I don’t want to bring it up with him, because if he did forget, I think he meant for it to be that way.”

“Huh. I had no idea.” Gem lets out a heavy sigh. “I don’t know if I want to go his route or not. Or your route, or some other route. I feel like I know way less about the world than I did this morning.”

“You should probably talk to someone other than me about it,” Pearl suggests. “It’s different for everyone. But whatever you do, it should be your own way, not someone else’s.”

“My own way.” Gem smiles. “I like the sound of that, whatever it is.”

“Don’t stress yourself out over it,” Pearl warns her. “I know the way you are. Take your time, Gem. You have basically forever to figure it out.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll try.” Gem wraps her arms around Pearl. “Thank you, Pearl.”

“For what?”

“For explaining stuff,” Gem says. “For being my friend. For being so cuddly, too. You are so soft.”

“Aw, you’re welcome.” Pearl hugs her back. “Would you be mad if I got less soft, though?”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Gem says. “I love every version of you.”

Pearl laughs softly. “I love every version of you too.”

—

if you read this all the way through and enjoyed, please consider reblogging!

<Previous part

[evolutionsvoid]

(Eucella, I realized there was a section I need to add to my Harpy entry! I knew I was forgetting something! I know you don't like adding more to things, but please! I will keep it short, I promise!)

When it comes to mating for harpies, these birds rely on song and presentation to woo a partner. As the season grows near, the males will go out in search for nest materials, looking to build a fine home that would attract a female. They start with the basics: sticks, grasses, leaves, cloth and other mundane building blocks. They start construction up in the trees, in the higher branches where terrestrial predators cannot reach, while also sticking to some cover so that they remain out of sight of flying carnivores. A flock of harpies tends to stick together when it comes to nesting and raising young, so these nests will be built amongst others, typically staking out a chunk of trees to call their territory. After getting the basic structure of a nest built up, the male will then look for decoration. Colorful objects and shiny trinkets will help make his home eye catching and appealing, so this is when harpies get to their tricks of stealing baubles and other small things. Each male tends to have their own definition of "pretty" so no two nests look alike. It is better that way too, because some times neighbors may like a certain decoration and try to steal it for their own nest!

In time, the mating season will roll in and hopefully the male will have completed his nest by now. At this point, the single females will be on the look out for a potential mate, so the male harpy needs to let them know they are available. They inflate their air sacs and use them to sing out to the females, who will then listen to the song to see if this suitor is up to snuff. From their performance, the females get an idea about size and health, which will let them know if it is worth checking out or passing by. If the female likes what she hears, she will swoop down to the male and be ready for the next step. At this point, the male leads her to his prepared nest and shows it off. He will eagerly hop around it and even pick up special pieces to give her a closer look. She will move in for a close inspection, often pecking parts and testing structural integrity. If the nest fails to impress her, she will fly off and leave the male to try again on another female. But if she likes what she sees, the two will take part in a little song and dance, which is the final part in choosing a mate. They follow one another in singing and playful hopping, which is meant to forge the bond between them. If all goes well here, the two shall mate and it will be for life. Harpies keep the same partner for their entire lives, only ever getting another one if their mate dies. Once this is complete, the united pair than work together to further build up the nest, with the female adding her own touches to it as well.

Then the day comes when she lays her eggs, typically laying two to five of them. Once they are laid in the nest, the male will be the first to incubate them, while she goes out to get food. At this point, the two harpies will switch back and forth, with one going out to gather while the other stays to keep the eggs warm and safe. Partners often bring food back with them to share, even when taking over the nest shift. After enough time passes, the eggs will hatch and out comes the little harplets!

There are many cute things in the world, but harplets have to be near the top of the list. Look at them! They are so round and poofy! All that down makes them such chubby little things! Ooooooh, so cute! Now where are the stuffed animals of these?! I would buy a dozen of them! Ack, Chlora, stay on track! Anyways, the harplets will emerge from their eggs and the time comes for raising the kids. The role switching will continue, with one parent staying at the nest while the other gathers food. But this time, they're hunting to bring back grub for their little ones, and they are quite hungry! Harpy parents work hard for the first few weeks, constantly bringing back food to give to their chicks. But eventually, things start settling down and a good schedule is set. Once the harplets have grown a little bit, it comes time to teach them the ways of the harpy!

While the other parent is out getting food, the other will start to show the young ones some tricks and performing in front of them to watch. It can be simple things like preening or picking up sticks, but then it starts growing more complicated as they pass on all that they have learned. In some cases, the parent that returns home will also bring back "difficult" food, like thick rind fruit, hard shelled nuts and insects with special defenses. They will then show the harplets how to tackle these situations, demonstrating right in front of the nest how to get the good stuff on the inside. And all this time, the harplets will watch with endless curiosity! That is another thing that makes them so cute! They are always watching and wondering, keeping their eyes on anything that draws their interest. I remember when I climbed up a tree to get a closer look at harpy nests for observation, and all the harplets just stared at me for hours! The whole time I was there, they would hardly look at anything else, always following my every move! It got to a point where I think the parents were shooing me away because I was ruining lesson time!

It should be noted that while harpy nests have two parents to raise the young, the entire rookery puts in an effort for every harplet. Harpies that have not gotten mates will often help around other nests, and even take part in training the young. It is pretty much practice for when they raise their own chicks, as they watch the parents and see how it is all done. Harpies will also band together to defend their territory from predators, everyone teaming up to scare away threats from any nest. And if one mated harpy loses their partner, others will step in to help keep their young fed. It is an incredible system of teamwork, and goes to show how intelligent they are! Be warned, though, that this same smarts and working togetherness can be used against those who wrong them. Threaten their nests or kill their young, and the whole flock of harpies will label you an enemy for life. They will attack you on sight and cause all sorts of mayhem if they find your own "nest." Birds of prey who have taken their chicks will have their own nests harassed when their season comes, as the harpies dish out revenge. As cute and wonderful as harpies can be, do know that they can get nasty if you give them reason to! I don't blame them, as I would do anything to protect those precious little harplets!

Chlora Myron

Dryad Natural Historian

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

"Harpy and Harplets"

[centrally-unplanned]

The lack of fleshed-out Buffy Army Plotline in Season 7 is a big issue for one of the Season's key plot moments - when the Slayers rebel against her command and choose Faith as leader over her.

For one, its structured poorly on the episode-level. Buffy orders the Potentials on their first real operation to attack Caleb's base, their first time encountering him, based on a baiting threat Caleb makes, and they got wrecked - several potentials die & Xander loses an eye. Then Buffy, based on a ~vibes~ insight from second encounter with Caleb where she gets wrecked again, decides they need to attack the base full repeat, due to the idea that the base must matter to Caleb and hold something of power.

She has no new info for this conclusion, no intelligence gathering or research that gave her new insights on this. Hilariously, Spike is on a mission finding new intelligence, but Buffy did not know about it, protested it, and does not wait for its completion. She has no strategy or approach for beating Caleb now compared to before. She comes off as proposing a suicide mission for no reason - there is no pressing clock that they know about. Its a bit deranged, and out of character for her. Everyone is completely right to rebel against her, but the narrative will punish them all anyway next episode due to authorial fiat. Its lazy writing, and easily solvable - give Buffy new intel & a new approach, and have the potentials rebel anyway due to fear and resentment.

The second issue is seasonal. Buffy has been training the potentials, but the reality is that they have never done anything of use, not really. The First spends most of the middle half the season "in remission" after the defeat of one of its minions, until Caleb shows up, and those episodes resolve around character arcs for Spike, Willow, Buffy (and also Andrew!) and Scooby Gang missions. The potentials sit at home and train. Until Buffy decides to full-army attack a base where they get completely wiped, with no real intel and no real plan. The potentials, to remind here, are *potential* slayers - they have no super strength or any real powers (seems like they are 10% stronger than they should be, but that is reading between the lines). This mission itself was in fact extremely foolish of Buffy, and the build-up to it is...a few scenes at most. Its amateur-hour leadership without the narrative recognizing it. The potentials should have spent months fighting vampires on patrol or something, and had many excited to finally "level up" and fight First minions (or something).

And meanwhile, since it is the potential's first mission, it makes them come off like whiny children. There is no build up to a "rebel against Buffy" arc, not really, they haven't been doing enough for that. They are very often despondent about their hopes, but that isn't Buffy's fault, their enemy is really powerful. Buffy protects them, trains them, tells them that this is a war and some of them will die, then one bad mission goes off and they all rebel immediately, including Buffy's long-time friends. They could do that in real life, sure, but this is TV -you need to seed stakes to make things satisfying!

A big dropped ball of Season 7 is that the potentials - except for Kennedy, who gets a (annoying) personality virtue of sleeping with Willow - are just a big mass of scared teens. Because they never do anything they can't evolve an identity. As large org, they should gain opinions, and from there factions. This is done very slightly at times (Kennedy is very fight-fight) but never with consequences. If you want a rebellion to work dramatically, what you need are differing groups that support the "Buffy leadership" and groups that dissent more, and then you hit a tipping point where the Buffy faction switches sides - for concrete reasons. And then their switching can be *their* story, not just them as a mass going "woah Buffy you are crazy" and its entirely Buffy's story. Its a deep structural problem - Buffy isn't the one making the decision here.

To get around this the writers have the mass potential squad choose Faith as their leader, to make it "her" story. This has a few problems - one is that Faith didn't want it at all, and is explicitly not the leader type. They only motive for choosing her is that she is the Slayer - but come on, this is a rebellion against Slayer-ocracy, superstrength doesn't make you a leader. She is a dumb choice - Giles is the obvious counter choice here, but also "democracy" exists too.

More importantly, Buffy's core friends go along with this, and the last time they saw Faith she tried to kill Buffy! She has tried to kill all of them multiple times. She tried to rape Xander! No one mentions that!! Yes she got better, but off-screen, they never saw that. She has been in town for a weekend, tops. They know, intimately, that she is awful leadership material. This doesn't fly at all. The whole thing doesn't fly on this part, *Giles* has been doubting Buffy's leadership for a while but Willow, Dawn, & Xander haven't, them flipping on a dime makes no sense. But this part double plus doesn't fly.

Also there is a fundamental scene-itself issue where Buffy proposes this plan to literally everyone in the living room, all at once, with no actual operational plan herself. Again, amateur hour - sit down with your leadership team and lay out your goal & motives, then devise a strategy with that team, then present that to the team as a cohesive operation with united leadership.

And it is sad because actually this concept has a ton of legs to it; mass army leadership is a brand new challenge for Buffy, this is a very good way to test it. This could be the peak of the season, but alas its dramatic stakes are at war with its logic. Should have hired me to write it, clearly!

[callioclops]

I've been trying to structure my thoughts about this for a bit, I think I'm ready to talk about Rick and Morty season 7. Specifically I'm gonna talk about the structure of the season as a whole, why it's weird, and why I think it works anyway. Obviously spoilers ahead.

So I'm going to assume you've seen the entire season, and whether you enjoyed it or not I'd take a guess that you got sucker punched by episode 5. The season 6 finale ended with Rick saying that season 7 would be him hunting Rick Prime, maybe actively in the episodes, maybe all happening in the background. After 4 episodes of hearing nothing about it except that it's happening, it's reasonable to assume that they've elected to go with the latter, and we won't get anything until a big climax. Which granted is what we get, but in the midle of the season.

Obviously this is strange, the tension in a season of any show usually takes a dip around the middle in order to build back up for the climax in the finale. But instead we're getting that finale now. Or at least, the tension you would expect from a finale. Previous seasons of Rick and Morty have always had these big flashy displays in finales with very little on that level in-between. I have a few ideas of why this break from form happened, but I want to circle back to that later and talk about the actual finale of season 7.

Episode 10 is one of my all-time favourite Rick and Morty episodes. That may be recency bias, but I think even after that wears off this will remain in my top 5 easily. But it doesn't feel like a finale; at least not in terms of scale. It's a remarkably focused episode, barely even about Rick. It's almost entirely a character exploration of Morty and his perceived relationship with Rick. It may not have the flashiness of finales like season 2 or 5, but it is one of the most intensely character driven episodes of the entire show.

And that's just it, R&M finales typically have both of these things. A central character or aspect of that character to explore; as well as flashy, climactic action scenes. But both of these episodes only have one each. Now I'm not saying that either episode is completely devoid of the other aspect, they do have some. But in each case they aren't a focus. The character moments in episode 5 exist to show that this isn''t character development for Rick. This thing he's been chasing for so long has done nothing for him, it's what he told himself he wanted while shutting out the things he needed. This isn't a conclusion for Rick, so why should it be a conclusion to the season?

On the other side of things, the actual finale shows us incredible character development from both of our main characters. Morty's fear of Rick needing him far less than he needs Rick manifesting as Diane has so many layers to it I couldn't possibly do it justice here. Meanwhile, even though Rick doesn't get much the fact that he listens to Morty when told not to go in the hole hits remarkably well. Even with the suggestion of his dead wife being in there, he trusts Morty. Personally I don't think he would've listened in season 6, or maybe even eariler in season 7. On top of that he's proud of him, enough to make sure his picture gets put on the wall to showcase his achievement (and also caring enough to keep said picture in his wallet).

Separating the action from the character not only created two very entertaining episodes for two very different reasons, but also I think symbolises where they plan to take the show. A clear favourite was chosen: character over action. If only one were to be in a finale which would it be? Now we have our answer, and knowing that answer makes me incredibly excited for season 8.

[januishstory]

Almost every gardener I know wishes for a greenhouse. Maybe you dream of moving your seed-starting operation out of your spare bedroom and into an outdoor space. Or you may want to experiment with growing citrus trees that are too big for your cozy yet tiny home. I get it—whether you’re a beginner or veteran grower, a greenhouse is an exciting addition to your garden! However, it also presents new challenges and a sometimes steep learning curve. If you want to grow healthy plants in your greenhouse this year, you must know how to manage this space properly. I’ll cover a few essential tips involving maintaining the proper environment, selecting the right plants, and making the most of this unique growing space. What Is a Greenhouse? They are permanent structures with a metal frame and glass or rigid plastic panels. If you’re part of the gardening world, you’ve probably heard people throw around terms like greenhouse, hoop house, high tunnel, and cold frame to refer to protected growing spaces. Since people use these terms so loosely, it can be challenging to determine if they all mean the same thing or if each one has a distinctive definition. While I’m not here to manage how you use these terms, knowing the exact definitions of each structure can be helpful. A greenhouse is typically a permanent or semi-permanent structure designed to stay in the same place for years. It’s often constructed of a metal frame and glass or rigid plastic panels, and the structure is often set on a solid foundation. Although it’s not a requirement, many greenhouses contain heating and/or automated ventilation systems. High tunnels and hoop houses are semi-permanent structures that are easy to move. They consist of large metal hoops covered with a UV-resistant plastic layer. Although some high tunnels have heating and ventilation systems, most do not. To manage temperature and ventilation, you can raise and lower the plastic sides of the tunnel. Cold frames are small, season-extension structures that can take many shapes and forms. They typically cover a single garden bed and require manual ventilation to control temperature and moisture. Although some of the following beginner tips apply to all of these structures, I’ve written them with greenhouses in mind. Establish Your Desired Use If you plan to use your greenhouse solely for seed starting, an eight-foot by eight-foot structure will work just fine. Before buying and growing in a greenhouse, consider how you will use it. Do you envision it as a seed-starting space, a place to overwinter your cold-sensitive lemon trees, or a spot where you can grow tomatoes early in the season? As long as you set up the space appropriately, it’s okay to use your greenhouse for multiple purposes. Determining how you will use your greenhouse will help you select the proper structure and build it appropriately. For example, if you plan to use it solely for seed starting, an eight-foot by eight-foot structure will work just fine. Since you won’t be growing any larger plants, you’ll have space to build a potting bench, tables for seedlings, and shelves for storing pots and soil mix. Since you’ll regularly water seedling trays, consider covering dirt floors with gravel or landscape fabric to avoid soil splash and weed growth. However, if you mainly want to use the space to overwinter cold-sensitive plants like citrus, ginger, and figs, you’ll probably want a different layout. You’ll need open areas where tall plants can expand and an opening that allows you to move them in and out of the greenhouse easily. And if you want to grow plants in the ground, you’ll want an entirely different setup! Rather than building a concrete or gravel floor, you’ll want to develop rich soil or build raised beds. You’ll also want to consider irrigation systems and ensure pathways are large enough to accommodate harvest baskets or bins. The moral of the story? Think about how you plan to use your greenhouse before filling it with plants so you can avoid common beginner mistakes. Designing a proper layout and systems ahead of time can save you countless headaches down the road. Pay Attention to Moisture The easiest way to control humidity is to use vents and fans. Since greenhouses are closed structures, humidity is a major concern. While it’s possible for the humidity to get too low in a greenhouse, growers usually face the opposite problem. Irrigation and plant transpiration can lead to moisture buildup in closed greenhouses. This high humidity means plants are more likely to develop fungal diseases like powdery mildew, downy mildew, and gray mold. Therefore, your goal is to keep the humidity at moderate to low levels. The easiest way to control humidity is to use vents and fans. They push out humid air and draw in dry air. Some greenhouses utilize sensors and automated systems to open vents and turn on fans when the greenhouse reaches a specific humidity level. However, you can manually open vents and turn on fans to decrease air moisture. Another option is adding a dehumidifier to your greenhouse. However, this won’t add a beneficial increase in airflow like fans and vents. If your greenhouse consistently has consistently high humidity, consider your irrigation practices. Watering your plants more than necessary will increase the air moisture levels. Plus, constantly moist soil will increase the likelihood of pests like fungus gnats. Regularly Scout for Pests Most pests experience increased reproduction rates in warm conditions. Since greenhouses are closed structures removed from the outside world, greenhouse-grown plants often face different pest pressures than their outdoor-grown counterparts. There are a few main reasons for these differences.  Absence of natural predators: Since greenhouses are mostly closed off from the outside world, natural predators like ladybugs, green lacewings, and hoverflies have difficulty entering. Therefore, the pests they feed on can quickly multiply. You can purchase and release natural predators, but be aware the predators will die or fly off when they run out of their food source. Favorable environment: Most pests experience increased reproduction rates in warm conditions. That means a few pests can quickly evolve into an outbreak. So, even if aphids or mealybugs aren’t a big deal in your cold garden in the late fall or winter, they can cause serious harm in the warm greenhouse. Closed from outdoors: Since your greenhouse is closed to the outdoors, the pests rarely escape. Instead, they continue to reproduce and feed on your greenhouse plants. One way to prevent pest damage is to regularly scout your greenhouse for unwelcome critters. Set aside 15 minutes each week to thoroughly inspect your plants. Turn over leaves and check the base of the plants near the soil. Note any insects and their numbers. If you’re not sure what the insects are, spend time figuring it out! Remember, not all insects are bad for your plants. Start by browsing through this list of common pests and common beneficial insects. Once you determine you’re dealing with a pest, you can take appropriate control measures. Removing the pests may be as simple as wiping the pests of your plants. Use a soapy rag and continuing to monitor their numbers. Avoid Sudden Swings in Temperature A combination of heaters, vents, and fans can help you maintain a relatively steady temperature. One major benefit of growing indoors is the ability to control and regulate temperature. With the help of a heater or a sunny day, the air inside your greenhouse can be 70°F (21°C), even if it’s below freezing outside. And if you’re not careful, the same greenhouse can reach over 100°F (38°C)! While you may be tempted to allow hot days to offset cold nights, you should avoid sudden temperature changes. It’s okay if the temperature is warmer during the day and cooler at night, but you shouldn’t see a swing of 50 degrees (10°C). A better option is maintaining a relatively steady temperature throughout the day and night. A combination of heaters, vents, and fans can help you accomplish this. Once the temperature reaches above 70 or 80°F (21-27°C) during the day, open vents and turn on fans to decrease the temperature. You can also use heaters during the night and program them to turn on when the temperature hits 50°F (10°C) or 40°F (4°C). When setting the temperature, remember that each plant has an ideal temperature range. Brassica and lettuce seedlings don’t mind temperatures near freezing, but many tropical plants experience stress when the temperature dips below 50°F (10°C). Select Proper Varieties Cucumbers are well-suited for greenhouses because they produce fruit without pollination. If you’re growing in the ground in your greenhouse, pay attention to the varieties you select. This applies whether you’re growing tomatoes in the spring, lettuce in the winter, or citrus year-round. Since growers often plant vegetables like tomatoes and cucumbers in protected culture, plant breeders have created varieties that thrive in these growing conditions. For example, there are cucumber varieties well-suited for greenhouses because they produce fruit without pollination. Since greenhouse tomato plants remain dry but are often grown in high humidity, resistance to leaf mold and gray mold is more important than resistance to early blight. If you plan to grow greens like lettuce, kale, and spinach throughout the winter, you should also look for well-suited varieties. While you can try growing any variety in your protected structure, cultivars resistant to common greenhouse diseases, such as downy mildew, are more likely to perform well. Avoid Wet Leaves Water potted plants near the base of the plant to avoid wet foliage and soil splash. Since wet leaves can lead to fungal diseases, it’s best to keep plant foliage dry. This is especially important in a greenhouse since airflow is often limited, and disease can spread quickly in the confined space. Water potted plants near the base of the plant to avoid wet foliage and soil splash.A watering can, hose, or drip irrigation system can all provide proper irrigation. You can also choose to bottom water potted plants and trays filled with seedlings. If you’re growing plants in the grow, opt for drip irrigation instead of overhead watering. Drip emitters apply water directly to the soil and keep foliage dry. If you choose to water seedlings with a hose, ensure you provide excellent airflow to dry the foliage and prevent disease. I recommend running fans near your seedlings, especially if you utilize overhead irrigation. Keep a Journal You can use the information in your journal to fine-tune your practices and continually improve your garden. Although beginners think they’ll never forget that intense aphid outbreak or that impressive tomato harvest, it’s easy to forget greenhouse milestones, let alone minuscule details. That’s why I recommend using a journal to keep track of planting dates, temperatures, pest problems, and more. If you notice some of your plants show signs of disease or cold-damaged, you can look back on your notes to try to determine a cause. For example, you may realize you brought disease into your greenhouse when you moved outdoor plants inside. You can also look back on your journal year after year to remember planting dates, first harvest dates, and when seedlings were large enough to transplant outdoors. Then, you can use this information to fine-tune your greenhouse practices and advance from a beginner to an expert indoor grower. Source link

[generalluxun]

I think whether you’re supportive or not regarding how Chloe ended up in Revolution depends on whether you think having a support system is something that should be earned.

I mean, that might be one aspect of it?

There's a LOT of baggage regarding the end of S5, and not just the finalé. Smack dab in the middle of *Monarch having all the miraculous and that being very serious* and *There are senti-people and they matter* plots, they shoehorn in a ridiculous mean-girl plot that breaks even the very broad suspension of disbelief that the show is given being a superhero kids show.

More than anything it all comes off as forced and performative. 'We have to wrap this up and so we are, but we're not actually building on anything we're just plopping it into place, and spending a LONG TIME on it.'

It has a very different feel than even previous mean girl eps from previous seasons. Before they were comedic. Chhloé is being ridiculous, and she gets some kind of minor comeuppance, and folks laugh, and it works. This time, it's just... awkward. Everything feels mean spirited, not just Chloé's behavior, but the entire framing of the episodes. We don't get Chloé all messy on the street after turning down Kim harshly. We don't get her being chased by a giant hair dryer after being a jerk to Nate. We don't get her zooming around Paris in a flying car zapping people into bananas.

We just get this spiral down into a bad ending and all people do is stand around and say 'Well, you know we tried one thing that that one thing didn't work, so I guess there's nothing we can do' like, this is the worst magical girl/hero protagonist ensemble ever if you take that at face value. It's just so very strange.

All this just to say, by the end, if you're happy with the way Chloé's story wrapped up in Revolution, I don't think it has to do with support structures, I think it has to do with spite. I think it has to do with projecting some person in your life onto Chloé and getting vicarious, unhealthy, revenge.

There's no scenario where anyone actually seeking justice, positivity, or a basic common good can look at an outcome that involves protracted psychological abuse of a child and think 'That is what should have happened.'

[theplatypusblue]

COMPILING ALL LEGENDS OF CHIMA SEASON 1 THOUGHTS BELOW THE READ MORE (super long post, written as I was watching)

(I can be a little mean but I promise I’m having fun lol)

Episodes 1 + 2:

Man this shits super boring.

Idk if I can get behind craggers plot line tbh. He’s too much of a dumbass for me to really root for him.

The lore seems really cool so far. I like the settings and the stuff about the legend beasts.

Like?? Forest full of trees that just fall down all the time? Epic.

Legend beasts are especially cool cuz it means this is how Chima characters react when seeing a regular ass lion for the first time:

Episode 3:

Man Laval really fucked everything up.

I have a feeling all of cragger’s dumbass-ness, like, transferred over to laval and now we’re gonna be seeing him making all the dumbass decisions

The only thing I really care about here is the b-plot about Gorzan and his flower. More engaging than the main plot

Episode 4:

Prediction about Laval replacing Cragger as the resident dumbass seems to be coming true

Gorzan is quickly becoming my favorite.

Oh hey look it’s the beavers!! I remember they show up in that one episode of ninjago. I had zero context for what they were all about then but now I know!!

Episode 5:

The gorilla tribe seems like the most chill out of everyone. Gorillas 👍

Can I just say I hate the fucking skunk. He sucks.

Honestly kind of a nothing episode

Episode 6:

Eagle spire does that cool thing where all the buildings are built on super scary precipices. There’s literally a post going around about this exact thing but I can’t find it rn

Oh so the eagles are just a bunch of nerds. A little weird I guess(?) I feel like eagles are usually symbols of strength n stuff so that’s different. It’s giving cloud kingdom.

“Wing girl” tf kinda nickname??

Apparently the ravens are double crossing everyone but I have not been paying close enough attention to what’s going on to really process that

Ok so it was all an extremely convoluted way for the crocs to get everyone to fight each other. And the ravens tried to profit but they’re kinda stupid so nothing really worked out for anyone

Episode 7:

Purble moon??? Epic

Man the bears are so epic just like me fr

Nooo don’t mess w the gorillas they’re so chill :(

I am entirely uninterested in the 100 year full moon skunk fart lore. Sorry.

It’s a little strange and maybe I’m hallucinating but I feel like the animation has has somehow gotten better?? Like the lighting or smthn…. Or the facial expressions???

Oh….. skunk fart lore is plot relevant………

Now that I’m thinking… is that the only skunk in chima?? Cuz rn it looks like just the one guy

Episode 8:

Oh it’s a big boy chi

There’s a fucking peacock?? Don’t know how to spell his name. So wait if he wins who does the chi go to?? He gets it all to himself?

Oh wait nvm it’s probably a cragger thing. Mr. Peacock comes back after retirement or w/ever in order to do some evil shit with the crocs I get it I get it

Gorzan I love you

WHO THE FUCK IS THAT GUY?? Is it a pig? A warthog??? It’s giving Mr. E vibes.

Man idk this episode is structured rlly weirdly. Nothing really fit together very well. It’s alright tho.

Episode 9:

GORILLA EPISODE?? Let’s go dude

It funny cuz I feel like gorillas aren’t actually this mellow irl

STOP FUCKING WITH THE GORILLAS CRAGGER I’LL KILL YOU

Oh hey it’s our mystery mans. Oh nevermind he left again.

There are balloon plants?? Oh yeah those are the things they were using in the other episode. Sorry I wasn’t paying attention to anything else that happened.

Episode 10:

Uhh I forgot to take notes while watching uhhh

The fox guy was cute. I like a little fox guy

This episode managed to make me feel a little bad for cragger!! He wants to do a good job but he kinda sucks at everything :(

It also made me confused abt cruller!!! What are you doing w ur life girl!!!!

Kinda messed up how the wolves had to serve the crocodiles tho… probly for the best she threw away that pledge

If Laval’s dad is right when he says they’re not gonna race for chi for a long time, I’m guessing they’re not gonna do any more racing episodes for some time. That’s fine honestly.

WAIT THAT RHINO GUY’S DYING. Oh nvm. This whole situation is cringe I hope it’s a one-off thing….

Also I forgot everyone thinks craggers parents are dead but really they’re just chilling in that canyon. Kinda funny actually

Episode 11:

Oh man the wolves are fucking everything up

“We all gotta stay here till the walls are fixed” bruh just call the beavers or smthn

Man what is the deal with this shadow wind dude.

If there’s one similarity I could point out with ninjago, it’s all this talk abt ~the balance~. I guess it makes sense since they take place in the same universe, technically

These bears are so cute lol napping does solve everything so true

Episode 12:

Jets travel super fast in the air. If they’re going through a storm Laval should totally be dead by now

Cragger is setting boundaries!! We love to see it. Cruller is acting pretty cringe. In her ~~girlfailure era~~

Is Laval gonna fall in this gorge?? Oh yeah he’s gonna fall in this gorge

Noooo Gorzans underwear is gonna tear

It’s a little sweet how Laval still wants to help out cragger

Episode 13:

I guess I’m still not super into cragger but I pity him a little. He’s trying his best but he’s just a bit stupid. And also his sister sucks ass

Okay. So she may be cringe but cruller is living her best(-ish) life.

That wolf is wearing a really cute apron

Man they were bringing up Shadow wind earlier and I thought they were gonna reveal their identity but now I’m a bit disappointed…

Laval is being peak dumbass rn I kinda like it. “The warm milk of oppression” lol

Episode 14:

“You bears think you’re so clever” bro they are literally asleep I don’t think they give a shit

I think the thing with Cragger is that I absolutely hate him when he’s under the influence of the flower thingy. He’s unlikable in a not-so-fun way, but he seems much more cute/compelling when he’s normal lol.

Oh my god they’re getting back-alley chi lmao

Oh is everyone gonna think Cragger did this on purpose. That’s sad.

This Reagle(?) guy is really silly I like his design a lot

Ohhhhh the wolves are gonna plug the fake chi and become chickens. It’s not a Cragger-might-be-evil thing. Gotchaaaa that’s cute

Seeing Cragger and Leval act like buddies again is genuinely nice they’re friends :)

Episode 15:

Eagles are based communists that live in the sky got it 👍

Cruller stop fucking with the gorillas istg.

Okay what the hell did burning the flower do. Is that like taking an inhalant

The ravens attempted to use the eagles’ based communist values against them. However, they didn’t realize that the eagles are boring as shit, and don’t “own” anything cool in the first place. Based communist eagles for the win.

Okay wait is Eris liking the rhino like. A brand new development or was it hinted at before?? It’s been a hot second since I watched the last couple episodes

Also I recognize that animation from the Ninjago season 5 finale lol

Episode 16:

Man I just hate this stupid skunk

This fog of destiny stuff is really goofy looking from the outside lmao it’s hard to take serious

So it’s like. Making them entirely delusional or something? Some of them are acting the opposite of how they usually do, but others are having like, delusions of grandeur. Idk how it works exactly

Laval there has got to be a smarter way to wake them up. You keep getting thrown into the lake…. Oh my god is the skunk gonna fart again. If that’s literally how they wake them up I’m gonna be so mad.

Oh okay thank god I was wrong.

Oh wait it randomly made cragger evil again. Man come on.

Cruller you stupid dumb idiot lmao get wrecked honestly

I hope the skunk dies like actually for real

Episode 17:

Oh shit Lavals dad also had a best friend that did shitty things and eventually grew apart from?? Damn.

Also Laval in exile time!!! Hopefully this will be cool

Eh. It’s not so cool with the skunk around

OH SHIT is the shadow wind the guy that was exiled before??? Ohhhhh

Ahhh okay Cruller backstory time. Damn girl was getting compared to her sibling straight out the egg. Didn’t even have a moment to spare there huh

Noooo Laval you just enslaved the wolves again by giving him the treaty. That was like the one cool thing cruller manages to do

Oh. I guess the exile thing literally didn’t matter at all lmao kinda underwhelming

Episode 18:

Lol so Cragger is such a dickhead now it’s even causing his stupid ominous dream to take notice

Okay so the floating mountain that gives everyone the chi also makes you on fire when you touch it. Chima world building really is epic man I gotta include random cool shit in my stories once I get around to writing stuff

This definitely feels like part of a finale lol maybe we’ll finally learn what the deal is w shadow wind

Andddddd the chi’s all fucked up now

Episode 19:

Tbh I would also be kinda mad at the lions like. They had no idea what they were doing or if it would have any negative consequences.

Man the whole thing with the wolves just kinda. Fizzled out huh? Like a few episodes ago they had ~all the chi in chima~ and now they’re all like “idk man why don’t we all just get along” lol

I love the attitude of just asking the beavers to fix the mountain. Like let’s just chuck a couple of construction workers at this malfunctioning holy site that’ll probably work

Episode 20:

I’m guessing this is the finale?? Let’s see

Laval looks so weird without his little crown thingy lol hes so square

He’s definitely not dead tho

CROCODILE LETS GOOO!!!!! EPIC!!!

OH UM. Okay well that complicates things. And there’s like a million other questions we still haven’t answered but ok. I guess all of that other stuff can wait until later????

I thought the eagle guy said chima only had 2 moons left before everything fell apart?? So they really gotta get the ball rolling on that one uhm. Oh well.

**EDIT** Last time I posted this I thought it stopped at episode 13 for some reason?? Tubi is stupid; thanks to the person who pointed out the actual episode number. I’ll probably stop here for a while, sorry it took so long to update this lol. My initial thoughts and feelings haven’t really changed all that much, so I’ll keep them as they were:

I definitely feel like it’s a show that doesn’t have super strong characters. I think it would better if the show leaned more into the world it’s created instead, if that makes sense. Maybe later the character writing will improve a little bit, and I’ll changed my tune. But!! Who knows. I’m having fun with it.

Idk when I’ll get to season 2, cuz I get super busy sometimes (I started this one a couple months ago but couldn’t finish it till now ugh) but I do want to continue watching!! Eventually!!!

[highfantasy-soul]

Looking at how media has progressed, specifically TV shows, it's so funny how quickly the 'new model' takes over everything and people just...idk, freak out? heavily criticize? get a false sense of superiority over? any show that steps foot outside their newly expected box.

Memories are short, we know this. But it really wasn't long ago that TV shows put out pilots that were filmed entirely separate from the rest of the season and that pilot had to do really well in order for the show to be picked up at all. This led to pilot episodes being suuuuuper blunt about the concept, characters, world, and plot (and many times some stuff retconned in the subsequent episodes). Because those TV shows that survived have become well known and well loved, those first episodes/seasons have been rewritten in people's minds to the point where they genuinely don't remember how hamfisted writing was at the beginning of the show - because that's how they got people to be interested in watching.

It wasn't part of the model to 'show not tell' and stretch basic character beats out for the entire season. Due to the format, they front loaded exposition to let the watcher get a feel for the characters/world and THEN slowed down and settled in. Once we moved to a show structure where things were connected (part of a franchise), shows stopped front loading so much though it was still there- after all, they were still airing week-to-week on cable. But they trusted the 'built in' audience because the show was based on an already popular thing.

Then Netflix started dropping shows in one huge chunk. Now, you didn't have to worry about hooking a viewer immediately and shoving the whole world building exposition into the first episode, you just needed to give them the basics (especially if it was fantasy) and then provide a cliffhanger at the end of each episode that would support the 'binge' model of viewing.

Now, we've started to shift back to a weekly format for many shows, though they all seem to be still part of franchises, so that audience is already built in. But we do get '2 episode' or '3 episode' premiers to let the set-up take it's time while still giving viewers enough to ground them in the world and look forward to more.

So the point here is that none of these writing formats is 'wrong' and none of them are 'right'. They shift to accommodate how the show is going to be viewed. When people criticize 'wonky pacing', I just can't help but roll my eyes. Maybe you personally don't like the pace, but the pace isn't 'wrong'. Hell, I love high fantasy and people freak out all the time about the slow pace of that. People see shows dropping at an unconventional rate and declare that it's because the studio has no faith in the project and it's bad, actually (see Echo, which was really, really, good actually).

When people criticize 'heavy exposition' in first episodes, I roll my eyes again. That's what you do when you're introducing people to a world (especially a fantasy one) and the story isn't centered around figuring out how the world works. Sure, if you like slowly figuring out how the world works, then a show that doesn't explore that might not be your cup of tea, but recognize that and know that that's personal taste, not objective writing truth. First episodes can be REALLY GOOD and also have heavy exposition.

I like being able to look at all the different ways storytelling is done - the different paces, focus on different things, etc etc. Classics are written VERY differently from modern stuff, stories from different cultures are extremely different from ones you've always grown up with, thrillers are going to be told differently from cozy fantasy. None of these are 'wrong' or 'bad writing' because it's not the other. They're just different.

I guess what I'm saying is get out of your little 'media critique' bubble and understand there's no one correct way to write a story. Your obsession with 'spotting bad writing' is actually defeating your ability to critically examine media outside your extremely narrow world view. Look back to the past and realize things were done so differently then, but understand that it wasn't 'bad'. Look to other cultures/genres and understand one isn't 'better' than the other and should be the 'standard'.

It's ok to prefer one way over the other, but be careful tossing out the blanket, nearly meaningless now, 'bad writing' criticism as if you actually know what that means.

(Why does all my annoyance at 'media criticism' feel like it always circles back to Cinema Sins and the irreparable damage they did to people's brains?)

[axratsffxivwrite]

FFXIV Write Day 7 - Morsel (Hunter's Stew)

If there was any solace or hope to be had in the fate of Rabanastre, it could be found at the Delima Hunters' Pub at meal times. 

The building wasn’t anything grand on the outside, truly, but as one of the few rebuilt structures amidst the ruined cityscape, it stood out. The hunters congregated upstairs, trading rumors and investigating the mission board for the latest marks and bounties. Even up here, the smell of seasoned stew wafted up the stairs, mixing with the din of chatter and conversation. 

The residents of Rabanastre gathered downstairs, either sat amidst repurposed reels turned tables or crowded around the bar to call out their requests. 

Behind one end of the bar, Kemal huddled over a book, taking names and dates and noting who was ordering for coin or labor and who was here for the clan’s charity. He made smalltalk in between, ever chatty – sometimes too chatty, in Marsil’s opinion, but that was hardly a crime – and kept smiles on the faces of those who were waiting. 

An impressive feat, considering everyone here was hungry. 

Marsil dished up bowl after bowl of their hunter’s stew, loading them up onto trays before passing them along to Kemal to dole out to those in need. The heat of the hearth and of some two dozen people gathered around the room left him sweating and uncomfortable, his red bandana firmly stuck to his forehead even as he dabbed the rest of his face on a towel. Uncomfortable as it was, he did not dare adjust the bandana to wipe beneath it. 

One bowl of stew, one watered down ale. Free to any Rabanastran resident, once per day. For many, this was the only morsel of food they would have today. Supplies did not come cheap here, but each and every individual here was either too stubborn or too poor to make the move to Valnain. 

Marsil would keep his people alive, even if this was all he could do. He had the privilege of an organization, of associations with Lente’s Tears. He would be remiss not to put those to good use. 

While Marsil was halfway through filling another tray’s worth of bowls, a man knocked twice on the surface of the bar and called to the back, “hey Marsil! What’s in the pot this time around?” 

“Hells if I know,” Marsil chimed back, “Kemal? Think this one was your handiwork, wasn’t it?” 

“Kin, too.” Kemal replied, checking the day’s list for the name of the person in front of him. Not seeing her, he placed her down for a new order of the daily stew. “Should be harpy and rabbit, with some carrots and garlic Dad brought back from Valnain.” 

Marsil chuckled. “Oh, so Kin kept it reasonable this time?” 

“For once. I think he just likes showing off for– …well, certain people who weren’t there.” 

Marsil chuckled to himself. Maybe Kemal wasn’t entirely incapable of keeping others’ secrets. Very bad at it, yes, but he tried. 

The man at the counter chuckled. “Who’s your elusive Viera boy smitten over these days?” 

“Not a damn clue,” Marsil lied, picking up the tray and carrying it over to the bar. 

Hungry faces stared back but they waited their turns as Kemal called for names one by one.

Over the shouting, Marsil continued to the man, “Kin keeps his own counsel. I don’t think his own mother knows what goes through his head. Viera men are notoriously solitary creatures, I’m told.”

The man grunted. “I don’t think I’ve seen him and his mother talk even when they’re working the bar together.” 

Marsil grimaced, scrunching up his nose as if sucking on a lemon. “Aye, noticed that too. It’s complicated, I try to keep my nose out of their affairs.” 

Another line. Another lie. Such was Marsil’s life; a hundred little white lies, all piled up on top of each other, threatening to topple at any time. He lived with it, even as it loomed precariously before him. 

“Prob’ly for the best.” The man agreed, taking his offered stew and mug of ale from Kemal and inclining his head gratefully. “Thank you both, and give my thanks to the kid when next you see him.” 

“We will.” Marsil promised, taking up the empty tray once more. “I should put you on the bar more often, Kemal. It’s not normally this calm.” 

“It’s not that different from working the counter at dad’s shop. People are just hungrier here.” 

Marsil chuckled. “Fair enough.” 

Hours passed before those seeking food began to taper off. Once he had closed the kitchen, Marsil handed off the leftovers to Kemal to take down to the waterway, and seek out those who could not reach the bar themselves. Then he began the slow process of cleaning up. 

Most people left, seeking their own shelter either down in the waterway or elsewhere, but many remained put. A few folks pitched in to help clean, and Marsil made sure to note their names down on the list of folks entitled to an extra free meal. Tables were stacked atop the stage, lanterns put away, and floors mopped down and dried before he began assigning beds to those who stayed. 

The pub only had a few bunks to offer, but once those were given out to the eldest or the infirm, they turned to the supplies sent from Doma. Soon, the floor was covered in eastern futons, arranged to maximize the amount of people they could fit without blocking the thoroughfare entirely. A few hunters without their own homes to return to made their beds in the storage loft or on the couches upstairs, serving as both protectors and deterrence from any desperate thoughts of thievery.

Once everyone had settled in for the night, Marsil dimmed the final lantern, retrieved the lockbox that held the clan’s coin, and retired down to the waterways himself.

They would do this again the next day, and the next, until the Desert Sapphire gleamed with all her former glory once more. However long it took, Clan Delima’s hunters would keep their people alive.