#we need to find concord again... hmm

[c-infinity-83]

being in control has been fun but can someone else take the reigns now

[sparrowsingsstories]

Wednesday WIP

Tagging @adventuresofmeghatron @dovabunny @boxonthenile @totally-not-deacon - only if you want to. :)

From Cry Mercy - Mercy comes home and finds out Codsworth has made some...household changes. This is set early in the story.

**

“That chair was not there this morning,” Mercy said.

“It’s a nice chair,” Jake said.

“Glad you like it, Sir,” Codsworth said as he buzzed into the house. “I thought you could use more furniture, Mum. What with your companions coming and staying here. Deacon and MacCready, it is so good to see you both again.”

“Hey Codsworth,” MacCready said. “Making dinner?”

“Why yes sir. Have some radstag, freshly caught today. If you’ll give me a little bit I’ll be able to get the stew on the stove. It’s been slow cooking all day across the way. And of course, we have bread and we found some greens, Mum.”

“Codsworth, I love you,” MacCready said, heartfelt.

“Mmm…see. He’s a blessing.” Mercy said.

“Mum…if I may…but are you bleeding?” Codsworth buzzed closer. 

“Doc Anderson’s being gotten, Codsworth. I got into an argument with a raider. But I won in the end.”

“Hmm. Those raiders need to be a taught a lesson, Mum. Need any help with that?”

“I think we taught them a lesson today, Codsworth. But thank you. Oh, and this is Jake. Jake, this is Codsworth.”

“A pleasure, Sir. I’m thrilled to make your acquaintance. Will you be staying the night or just for dinner?”

“Seeing as how I live just down in Concord, I should be okay to get home.”

“Well, it is no bother if you change your mind. If you don’t mind, Mum, but I had some other changes done to the house while you were gone.”

“Um…okay…like what?”

“I had the single beds removed. We found a rather…enormous…bed, Mum.”

“You…what?”

“Why made sure you and the Sirs would be comfortable. We had to dismantle the bed to bring it in, of course. But it was no trouble. And I made sure it was made-up with fresh sheets. We did have to relocate the chests of drawers to the other bedroom, but that worked out fine. We found some armor stands to hold your and your companions’ armor, a few gun stands, some new rugs…”

“What?”

“And if Mr. Jake wishes to stay, I could grab a single bed for him as well. Unless he is also using the new bed. I believe four full-grown adults will fit on the bed.”

“Codsworth. Just…what do you think is going on?”

All three of Codsworth’s eyes swiveled to look at Mercy. If a robot could smile, she swore Codsworth would be smiling just then. “Why Mum, that is not any of my business. I was just looking to make you and your companions more comfortable. I am just thrilled to see you smiling again. Of course Sir,” the word came out seriously and a little sadly, “Sir would like knowing you were happy, Mum. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get the stew.”

“Of course, Codsworth,” she said, faintly. Codsworth gave a little hum and toodled out the door.

The room grew quiet. Dogmeat yawned. Mercy stared blankly at the empty fireplace across the room from her. MacCready tilted his head back and Mercy could feel his eyes on her. Deacon’s feet shifted, but she refused to look at him. Jake cleared his throat.

“So…” Mercy said.

“Does that robot think we are all…” Jake started.

“Maybe he has a hiccup in his subroutines,” Mercy said.

“Did he get you a bed so we could all sleep with you or…sleep…with you?” MacCready asked.

Deacon started laughing. 

[crispyjenkins]

Hi can I request something where jaster picks up obi wan early in his apprenticeship like on bandomeer or melida/daan and just adopts him and jango and obi grow up as like childhood sweethearts? Love your work, thanks for writing! :)

(**because they get together as teens, i’ve adjusted the age difference to 2 years instead of 9 because just like. no. they’re 17 and 19 in this!

hmm also i feel the need to say the true mandalorians being chill about showing their faces is super intentional in all my works, i have so. many. headcanons about different clans, and why the covert is so careful about their helmets, and i just never seem to find the time to talk about it (๑o̴̶̷̥᷅ㅂo̴̶̷̥᷅๑) sigh someday)

  “Stop smiling, you smug bastard,” Obi-Wan grouses as his would-be suitor awkwardly shuffles away under Jango’s feral grin. 

  Endlessly pleased with himself, Jango leans against their starfighter and watches the Chiss mechanic disappear into the crowded spaceport. “That’s three you owe me, ‘Nobi.”

  Obi-Wan glares at him and snatches Jango’s buy’ce from his hands to shove it on his stupid vod’s head. “I can take care of myself, Vhett. I don’t owe you banthashit.”

  “It’ll be easier when you finish your armor,” Jango adds unhelpfully, righting his helmet and strapping it on properly as if nothing had happened. “Only drunks and spice-addicts try to hit on with Mandalorians in full beskar’gam.”

  “That’s very reassuring, thanks.”

  “If you two are done flirting,” Bosoloc cuts in, their Arconan pilot smirking down at them from the primary cockpit, “we were supposed to meet your buir hours ago.”

  Obi-Wan says, “That’s Jango’s fault,” just as Jango grumbles,

  “‘Nobi’s fault.”

  Bosoloc levels them both with a world-weary look that has them scrambling up the rusty ramp stairs to the secondary cockpit. Obi-Wan helps Jango over the edge and kicks away the ramp, before pulling the lever to close the blast canopy over their heads.  With only minor grouching, he lets Jango tug him onto the edge of the seat between his legs, because this starfighter is absolutely not made for three pilots. 

  “Hands to yourself, spacer,” Obi-Wan says as he follows Bosoloc’s lead to get the ‘fighter ready for the short flight to the nearby moon where they’re to rejoin the Haat’ade and, hopefully, avoid a lecture about safety. Again. 

  Jango chuckles, impossibly close, and slips Obi-Wan’s own helmet onto his head. “You’re the one that got us into this mess,” he reminds him, somehow managing to fasten the strap under Obi-Wan’s chin without looking. 

  Bosoloc signals for takeoff, and Obi-Wan elbows Jango in the ribs, leaning over to calibrate the astronav system. Practically oozing his amusement, Jango innocently sets his hands on Obi-Wan’s hips, but doesn’t otherwise bother him until they’re out of atmo, properly refueled this time. Which had maybe sort of, yes, been Obi-Wan’s fault that they had not been when they left Concord Dawn.

  Not that he would ever admit to it.

-

  The Haat’ade camp on Aslo II is a whirlwind of activity, commandos in various states of beskar’gam running back and forth from tents to their ships, blaster cartridges exchanged faster than words as supercommandos bark orders and direct the foot traffic, and Obi-Wan lives for this.

  The energy, the excitement before a battle, the way his people leak every thought into the Force until he can’t feel anything else. The way this is the closest he’ll ever come to being a knight.

  Jango takes one look at his expression after dropping from the starfighter, and shakes his head. “Alright, come on, adrenaline junkie,” he snorts, grabbing Obi-Wan by the arm to tug him right into the heart of the whirlwind.

  He senses Jaster before he sees him, their Mand’alor all but glittering in the Force compared to the more muted signatures of the other Haat’ade; Jaster will swear up and down that being Mand’alor has nothing to do with the Force, and Obi-Wan can’t really remember much of what he’d learned in the Temple, but he knows Jaster’s full of it. The whole camp orbits around one nondescript tent, as if pulled by a physical gravity to their leader, and what little he does remember tells him the Force is just as much a part of the Mando’ade as it is the Jedi.

  “Buir!” Jango calls as he drags Obi-Wan into the tent where Jaster is standing before a dataterminal with one of the supercommandos. He looks away from the graph Obi-Wan wouldn’t be able to make heads or tails of, and visibly sags in relief. 

  “And we thought we’d actually have to hold a funeral this time,” Ezovaq says from Jaster’s side, smiling benignly as Jango unclips his buy’ce and bounds forward to accept the hair-ruffle Jaster gives him.

  But Kyr’tsad is closing in, and they don’t really have time to discuss the, arguably obscene, number of disappearances the Mand’alor’s foundlings have managed. 

  Obi-Wan joins them at the terminal, leaving his own helmet on. Jaster settles for knocking his knuckles on his forehead in greeting, and Ezovaq respectfully looks away; some things are not meant for anyone but clan.

  “I’m glad to see you both in one piece,” Jaster sighs, turning back to the holoscreen and adding a datachip to the terminal so a map of Aslo replaces the graph. “When we did not hear from Bosoloc, we worried.”

  “We needed to stop on Aslo to refuel,” Obi-Wan says on external comm, still unsure about how to speak with other commandos around. “A tropical storm had communications out until we were out of atmosphere. Sorry, Jas’alor,” he adds sheepishly, because of course Jaster knows who would have fueled the ‘fighter on Concord Dawn. Or not fueled, as it were.

  Jango shoehorns himself against Obi-Wan’s side, the familiarity of the action catching Ezovaq’s gaze, but they say nothing as Jaster gives Obi-Wan a tired smile. “It is nothing, ad’ika. It is only a mistake repeated twice.”

  “Bosoloc is finding another pilot,” Jango butts in, dropping an arm around Obi-Wan’s shoulders as easy as breathing. “She said Montross flew ‘Nobi’s and my fighter in?”

  And Obi-Wan feels a swell of pride at that, that Jango is finally admitting they share custody of the rustbucket Jaster had gifted Obi-Wan for his fifteenth nameday, and at the implication that his and Jango’s repairs and advancements had been deemed worthy enough for an actual battle with Kyr’tsad. He isn’t an ace mechanic by any means, but Obi-Wan is still ridiculously proud of their S3 Y-wing – even if using it in combat puts Obi-Wan in the gunner’s chair and Jango behind the wheel.

  To be fair, Jango hasn’t crashed them in over a year.

  Jaster’s mouth moves as he responds, but Obi-Wan doesn’t hear it. White-hot fire races up his spine, and it feels as if all the air is sucked from the tent all at once, and Obi-Wan has only a moment to try and identify what the Force is trying to warn him of before a light flashes on the terminal and Myles’ voice cuts through the muggy air.

  “Vizsla’s dropped out of hyperspace,” he reports, and Jango tightens his arm. “Contact in ten minutes, Mand’alor.”

  Jaster looks to them with a parent’s resignation. “You heard the man,” he says, jerking his chin to the tent flap. “Contact in ten.”

  “Mand’alor!” they return in unison, and duck from the tent to rush to the Y-wing.

Mando’a: buy’ce — beskar helmet vod —  “brother, comrade, sibling”, pl. vode, technically gender neutral but used most often in fandom as “brother”. used here to denote that they are both jaster’s foundlings. Vhett — original form of the Basic-transliterated surname Fett, lit. “Farmer beskar’gam — Armour made of beskar, “Mandalorian Iron” that was actually probably a steel alloy buir — “parent”, gender neutral Haat’ade —lit. “true children of Mandalore”, True Mandalorians (slang shortened to Haat'ad/e) Kyr’tsad — Death Watch, lit. “Death Society”

[ironwoman359]

True Loves’ Kiss

@badthingshappenbingo

Prompt: Bedside Vigil

Fandom: Sanders Sides

Pairing: DLAMP

Summary: Virgil has fallen under an enchanted sleep, but his boyfriends are determined to keep him company and find a way to wake him up. 

Content Warnings:  Sympathetic Deceit, kissing, let me know if I need to add anything else!

Word Count: 1,941

Read on AO3 here

Bad Things Happen Masterlist

Bad Things Requests are closed

—

“Patton?” 

“Hnng...hmm?” 

“Patton, you should get some sleep.” 

“Mmm...m’not sleepy, Lo, really, I can stay–” 

“You’re dozing off already, Pat. Take a break and let one of us look after him for a little while.”

“Okay...any luck with the countercurse?” 

“No...Janus and Roman are going over the books from the imagination library to see if there’s anything I missed, but…” 

“Hey, hey, Lo. We’ll figure it out, okay? You’re the smartest person I know; I know that you can do this. We’ll figure out how to save him.” 

“You...you are right. Of course you are right. Go to bed now, starlight, you need your rest.”

“Okay. Logan’s gonna look after you for a bit now, okay Virgil?” 

Virgil didn’t answer. 

He wanted to answer. He wanted to squeeze Patton’s hand and tell him to get some sleep and promise him that everything would be okay, but he couldn’t. He wanted to smile at Logan and thank him for trying his hardest and promise him that he was enough, but he couldn’t. He could only lie here, eyes closed and body frozen but still completely, painfully aware, trapped in an enchanted sleep with no way to let the others know that he could even still hear them. 

A soft hand brushed his bangs to the side and a pair of lips pressed gently to his forehead, murmuring a soft “Love you, kiddo.” 

I love you too, Virgil wanted to say back, but his body remained stubbornly unresponsive.

Virgil imagined that Patton gave Logan one more small, shaky smile before turning and leaving the room, the door shutting behind him with a soft *click.* He imagined that Patton went back to their shared bedroom and gently pried Janus and Roman away from their desks and into bed. He imagined that none of them would be able to sleep easily, not with him and Logan gone, but that they would try anyway, huddling together in a tight ball in the middle of the bed. 

He imagined, because it was all he could do anymore. 

The room was silent for a moment without Patton’s gentle, nonsensical ramblings to fill the space between them, but then there was a rush of breath as Logan let out a deep sigh, and a hand threaded through Virgil’s fingers. Logan’s hand was cooler than Patton’s, but not quite cold, rather a firm, grounding presence, and Virgil wanted nothing more than to squeeze his hand back. 

“I find myself wishing for your company even more so than I usually do, now that I am deprived of it,” Logan said quietly. “I love the others just as dearly, of course, but...we are incomplete without you with us.” 

I miss you too. 

Logan’s hand withdrew then, and Virgil heard a bit of rustling before Logan spoke again. 

“I brought the next Hercule Poirot book we were going to read together,” he said, his voice uncharacteristically thick. “I...did not feel right, starting it without you. I suppose you cannot even hear me, but...I would like to read it to you, if you’d permit me.” 

Logan waited a moment, as if to give Virgil the chance to reply, and Virgil didn’t know if he’d ever wanted to kiss Logan more than in that moment, but he remained as still as a statue.

“Very well, then,” Logan said quietly. “I shall begin.” He cleared his throat, and there was a quick rustle of pages before Logan began to read.

“It was close on midnight when a man crossed the Place de la Concorde…” 

Virgil let Logan’s voice wash over him and transport him to the streets of Paris, where a shady deal was about to take place. Logan’s voice was one of his favorite sounds...it was rich and even and grounding, and Virgil could listen to him talk for hours. 

Which is just what he did, though the passage of time was hard to measure when he couldn’t see or move or speak. Eventually Logan’s voice trailed off and was replaced with soft, gentle wheezing and the occasional snore that signified that he’d fallen asleep. Laying there listening to him breathe, it was almost as though Virgil was simply lying in bed alongside the others, not a care or worry in the world. 

Virgil pretended that’s what he was doing until a gentle knocking at the door roused him from his mental stupor. The door creaked open, and a soft, familiar chuckle filled the room as footsteps made their way towards where Virgil lay. 

“Ah, getting the ‘high quality sleep’ that you so often impose upon the rest of us, I see.” 

“Nnngh...what?” 

“You should have gotten one of us if you were going to fall asleep,” Janus chided gently. “You’re going to be sore for sure now.” 

“I assure you, sleep was not my intention,” Logan responded with a yawn. 

“Mmhm.” 

Janus didn’t sound convinced, and Virgil could imagine the eyebrow on the snake half of his face quirking upwards, a smirk playing at his lips. 

“Do not give me that look,” Logan protested, and Janus laughed. 

“Go take a shower and have a cup of coffee, Love, before Patton finds out that you slept in here yourself after telling him to go to the bedroom.” 

There was a pause, then Janus spoke again, his voice softer. 

“I’ll look after him, Logan, don’t worry.”

“...very well.”  

Slightly chapped lips pressed against Virgil’s cheek and a cool hand squeezed his tightly before Logan was gone, and Virgil was left alone with Janus. 

Unlike Patton’s constant chatter about anything and everything or Logan’s reading aloud, Janus was quiet as he sat by Virgil’s side. He’d never been one for idle chit chat, and Virgil didn’t expect him to start now. 

No, Janus didn’t speak, but he took Virgil’s hand in his, gripping perhaps a little more tightly than he needed to, and that tiny action spoke volumes more than words ever could. 

How long the two sat in silence, Virgil didn’t know, but Janus’s grip didn’t falter once, and when Roman came and told him Logan needed his help investigating yet another possible lead, he pressed a kiss to Virgil’s knuckles and whispered, “Stay with us, alright, my shadowling?” 

Then it was silent again, but only for a moment, because it was Roman at his bedside now, and the day that Roman would sit silently beside him would be the day Virgil burned all of his MCR merch.

“Still slumbering away, Sleeping Beauty?” Roman asked, and Virgil could practically hear the sad smile that accompanied his words. 

Fingers brushed through his hair, then trailed down the side of his face to cup his cheek, and Roman let out a sigh. 

“We’re still looking for how to wake you,” he said. “Logan has a new lead he wants to explore. So hopefully this won’t be an actual, original sleeping beauty situation and we’ll have you up before a hundred years have passed.” 

He was trying to be lighthearted, but even without seeing his face, Virgil could hear how the optimism fell flat. Roman traced Virgil’s cheekbone with his thumb and sighed again, long and deep and sad.

“We miss you, Stormcloud,” he murmured. “I miss you. I miss watching you and Logan debate conspiracies and hearing you laugh at Patton’s puns and seeing you and Janus curled up asleep on the couch. I miss–” he paused, and when he continued his voice was choked, as if he’d swallowed down a sob. “I miss your stupid emo music and I miss arguing with you about Disney movies at two in the morning and I miss curling up in bed with you in my arms, I–” 

Something wet splashed onto Virgil’s face, and Roman took a shaky breath. 

“I’m sorry, Stormcloud,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to bring the room down with my silly dramatics. We’ll find some way to wake you up, I swear it.” 

Then he leaned in close and kissed the teardrop off Virgil’s face. 

Virgil gasped as his eyes flew open, and Roman jerked backwards with a yelp of surprise. 

“Virgil! I– what? Guys, he’s awake!” 

Virgil heard shouts of surprise and delight followed by rushing footsteps, but all of that faded into the background as Roman pulled him up into a bone-crushing hug. Virgil felt tears of his own pooling in his eyes as he squeezed back with all his strength, and by the time Roman leaned back to look at him a few had already slipped down his cheeks. 

“Virgil, I...you…” 

Virgil interrupted him by slamming their lips together, and Roman melted into the kiss immediately. 

“Virgil!” 

Virgil and Roman broke apart at Patton’s shriek of delight, and Roman barely moved out of the way in time before Patton flew into Virgil’s arms and started peppering his face with kisses. He ended with one to Virgil’s lips, slower and softer than the others, and Virgil smiled at him when they broke apart, unashamed of the fresh tears in his eyes. 

“Hey, Pat.”

“Virgil, oh my god, I was so worried about you, I was afraid you wouldn’t–” 

 “I know,” Virgil interrupted, pressing another quick kiss to Patton’s lips. “But I’m okay now, I promise.” 

Logan didn’t waste any time with words, he just pulled Virgil into a kiss so searing that Virgil saw stars.

“Don’t scare us like that again,” he whispered in a strangled voice, pressing his forehead to Virgil’s, and Virgil squeezed his hand. 

“I won’t, L. I’m sorry.” 

“And don’t you dare apologize,” Logan added as he leaned back, and Patton nodded emphatically. 

“No talking bad about yourself!” he insisted, but Virigl wasn’t paying attention to either of them just then. 

Janus stood at the edge of the room, his face a shade paler than normal. Virgil locked eyes with him, and for a moment nobody moved. Then, Virgil reached towards him, and Janus was across the room faster than Virgil could blink.

Janus pulled him into a hug, cupping the back of Virgil’s head like he was the most precious thing in the world, and Virgil could feel his shoulders shaking. 

“It’s okay, Jan,” he murmured. “I’m right here. I’m okay.” 

“Don’t you leave us,” Janus whispered. “Don’t you ever, ever leave us, Virgil, I–” 

“Never,” Virgil interrupted, leaning back and laying his hand on Janus’s cheek. “Never again, Janus, I promise.” 

Their lips met, just briefly, then Janus pulled back with a frown.

“I don’t understand though...how did you wake up? Roman, what did you do?”

“I didn’t do anything!” Roman insisted, and Virgil blinked. 

“I love you guys, but you’re all total morons.”

“Huh?” Patton asked. 

“I must admit, I am lost as well,” Logan said. 

“How do you break a curse?” Virgil asked, looking at each of them in turn. When he got no answer, he rolled his eyes. “You even said it yourself, Princey. Sleeping Beauty?”

“True Love’s kiss,” Roman whispered. “But I didn’t–” 

“Here,” Virgil interrupted, touching the place where Roman’s tear had fallen. “Here,” he added, holding up his hand to Janus, whose eyes grew wide with understanding. “Here, and here,” Virgil finished, tapping his cheek and his forehead, smiling over at Logan and Patton. “The four of you...you saved me.”

“Oh, Virgi!” Patton’s eyes filled with tears, and he rushed forward

Virgil and Janus caught him easily, pulling him into their embrace. Logan and Roman followed, and the five of them ended up in a pile on the floor, squeezing each other’s hands and taking turns pressing kisses to Virgil’s face. And if he shed a few more tears as he held his loves...his true loves closer? Nobody minded in the slightest.

—

Bad Things Happen Masterlist My Fic Masterlist Commission Info Ko-fi

Sanders Sides Taglist: @thomasfandersunite​, @slightlyobssesive​,  @logicallyanxious​, @apologetically-anxious​, @keys117​, @digitally-analog​,    @ocotopushugs​, @warping-reality​,  @grey-lysander​, @your-username-is-unavailable​, @hikariyukino​, @theresneverenoughfandoms​, @virgil-sanderssss​, @violetmcl​, @thatfandomfollower​, @nothingelsemattersme​, @cdragontogacotar​, @absentmindedproff​, @fantasyandfairfolk​, @virgilsblogofanxietys​, @your-average-outcast​, @sanderstalker​, @galaxy-warping​, @queen-of-all-things-snuggly​ @a-little-bit-of-ace​, @faithfreedom-art​ @therealhmmlingle​ @xxladystarlightxx​, @morgan-the-art-girl​, @stormcrawler75​ @wowitsmyblog​, @romanssippycup​, @lamp-calm-sanders​, @musikasworld​ @cyberpunkjinx​, @mauvelavender​ @samathekittycat​ @black-out-wonder​ @i-read-by-lamp​ @ravenclawicecream​ @nashiraneko​ @lucifer-in-my-head​ @ladyartemisia28​ @awesome-and-unique-username​ @zoalish​ @entpscarleharrrr​ @raygelkitty​ @zeldahadasword​ @gubbalupagus​ @musicphanpie-b​ @virgilssweaterpaws​, @faacethefacts​ @a-simple-fryingpan @pinkeasteregg​ @punknerdmusings​ @imantisocialgetoverit​ @anuninspiredpoet​  @awkward-avocado-of-death​, @poison-lyra​ @modcarbz​, @thisrandomperson102,  @skydiamcnds​ @just-another-starfish​, @thepoolofthedead​,  @theinvisiblespoon​,  @dreamsshadowwashere​, @broadwaytheanimatedseries​,  @bitten1ce​,  @madly-handsome​, @cats-with-blogs​, @damienswifeolicitydallysgirl​ @fanderrawr​,  @starjames-pma​ @crownswriter123​ @stars-sunsets-and-oliver​, @akiraaria​, @thilb0burrit0​, @dragonangel-funandfire​, @painterman-bobross​ @galaxymindedindividual​,  @sassy-in-glasses​, @vergeangst​, @iaminmultiplefandoms​,  @thedundundunnnsong​, @podcastsandcoffee​, @bosmeri-alyd​ @anyay666​,  @celinethotwrong​,  @poorlittleanxiousbaby​, @bibbidi-bobbity-booyah​ @chaloopa12​ @lastbeginning​ @readeatfightlove13​, @girlwthanxiety4ever @entpscarleharrrr​ @artistic-introvert54​ @logically-emotional @punsterterry​ @fluidityandgiggles​ @gatlily​ @stupidfangirl107​ @default-lesbian​ @sharkkittem​ @thesocialbookwormishere​ @amuthefunperson( @ @lunareclipse-524​ @purplesoul-at-hogwarts​ @asymmetricalgarbage8888​  @maxiswriting​ @bluebloodstains​ @savage-fox-cacti​  @skitari​  @iridescentglassflowers​  @ultraviollettt​ @satanblessi​ @iloveeverytjing123​ @the-average-loner​ @ahyeahisurehopeit-does  @theunoriginaldaisy​  @para-keat​ @today-only-happens-once​ @03-30-am  @why-only-have-one-fandom​ @analogical-mess​ @twilight-trix​ @silverjay520 @purpleandblacknightmares @anxious-fander-bean​  @felicianoromano​  @idioticsky  @storytellerofuntoldlegends​ @theymaynotbedenied​ @fight-or-flight-reflexes​ @brownie-aunt​ @sweetsmalldog​  @chelsvans​ @sos-fandoms​  @opaque-puppet​@ninja-wizard101​  @mklwritestoomuch @comicsimpson​ @muliphandomer​  @thetruepacifist​ @hitmewiththatfanart33​ @katie-the-noble-fangirl​ @yalltookmyurlideas​ @fearthepenguinboye​ @theunknoen69​  @the-most-random-blog-on-ear-blog​ @evetheodd​ @fanartfunart​ @midnight-tragedyy​ @ymmm-someone​ @blep-blep-motherclucker @fandomloverangel​ @dorkoverse​ @imabad-b-youcantkillme​ @so-yeah-imma-witch​ @spinnerthedolphin​ @whenistheworldending @sardonicsquish​  @look-ma-im-on-tv​  @gattonero17​  @yumi-bulan @averykedavra​  @sofiathehufflepuff​  @luella-the-homosexual​  @dwbh888​  @underthesea73​  @maestro-ofvillainy​   @hold-our-destiny​  @apocalypticbekfastclub​  @5150brotherbear​  @isabel3710​ 

[mandalorianbrainweasel]

Older Boba/That One Cadet?? I like that very much!! How about a first kiss? :3c

Thank you for prompting this because it made me look up his name. Jax! His name is Jax. I love him. I'm sorry for what I put him through in this.

They're like fifteen and this didn't go how I expected, they took over. As you'll see by the word count.

a taste of wasting time

T. Boba/Jax. 1580 words. Inspired by every summer camp I've been to, but the kids have actually been taught weapon etiquette which unfortunately includes the Bullying. Dumb teenagers, mean kids, Boba's potty mouth, survival training but fun, mushrooms, first kiss.

Boba likes the nights on Concord Dawn.

Staying back on Mandalore, in Sundari, is fine. That’s where most of his family is. Para and their riduure, Paz, Kix and Fox, Sati’bu, Ba’tat Arla, the Babas.

He loves his family and he doesn’t really feel a desire to be spending all his time in the Slave I for another couple years straight and he doesn’t really ever feel like spending more than a couple weeks up here with the Mereel side of the family.

And he’s not even here with them, right now. Out of all of the family members he’s stuck with right now, it’s Omega. Sure, a few of the counsellors for the training camp are clones, and more than a few of the other verd’ike are clones, but that doesn’t mean a lot. Most of the other clones that Boba even knew before Para’s quest were Alpha class or Commandos. A few others he’d seen, yeah, but no one is really family-family instead of clan-family.

He’s in a squad with two other clones and three kids from other clans. Omega is off with her squad, well away from Boba, and it’s funny how a training camp that they were both at is the only time in the last two years that he’s gotten space from his sister.

He pokes at the fire in front of him, mostly occupied with staring at the sky while his squadmates are off setting up camp. He got teased for being the spoiled one and how this was probably all he could do.

Omega would probably have tried to take their faces off with her teeth.

He’ll show them, later. This is their first night in the wilds and he’s a damn good shot and Be’baba has been running him through training almost every day since Ursa Wren dragged him to Mandalore. And that didn’t stop after he got his first beskar, like he knows some of the other clans do, leaving training to the Academy clubs and these training camps.

He doesn’t know about what the other clones will have been used to since leaving Kamino, but he knows he’s been shooting and camping long before they ever got to.

“Oh, hey, you got the fire going,” one of the other clones in his squad says, dropping down beside him. It’s the one with the red tint to his hair—Jax—instead of the one who has her dark hair buzzed low—Vril, he thinks.

“What, think I couldn’t even manage this?” he asks, glancing at him derisively.

Jax shifts uncomfortably.

“You didn’t,” he realizes, furious.

“You like in a palace,” Jax points out.

“And you either live in a really nice apartment or on a clan compound,” he points out. “I learned how to start a survival fire when I was four. And I learned how to cook on a fire a couple years later when Buir decided I wasn’t going to fall into a soup pot.”

Jax snorts and covers his mouth before he breaks into giggles.

“Seriously, my squad last year wasn’t nearly as” mean “shitty.”

Jax at least ducks his head, ashamed.

“You do realize I live with my ori’vod, right? The Mand’alor? Do you really think they’d leave me defenceless and unable to take care of myself? We may be a family, but shit happens to everyone.”

“Hey,” Vril shouts, “Stop yelling at Jax.”

Boba and Jax both swivel their heads to her and Boba.

Well, Omega is preferable right now. Even if she might insight a feud over this. And she’s still a last ditch place to go. This area of Concord Dawn is pretty safe for someone wandering on their own.

He tosses the stick into the fire and heads out into the trees, strolling until he’s far enough they won’t hear him break into a run, angry tears prickling at his eyes. He wants the Lieutenants, and Para and Mij and Fordo and Ven’ti, and the Babas. He wants people who don’t want to see the worst in him. He remembers Korkie talking about this kind of thing, when Boba first started going to the Academy. Hell, he remembers stuff like this himself from his first months there.

He makes himself another fire when he comes to another clearing and has made sure none of the animal tracks around it are the kind of things that would bother him or be bothered by him. No tent, but he’s slept without a tent or a sleeping bag plenty of times.

Maybe an hour has passed when he hears more human-like footsteps, and he unholsters the blaster he brought—not one of Buir’s blasters, not for a few more years—and fires a warning shot.

The bolt of plasma sends a tree branch cracking down, and a clone yelps.

He doubts it’s Vril.

He sighs and reholsters the blaster. “I’m this way,” he calls, making another skewer of friendly-familiar mushrooms he’d found around here and setting it at the edge of the fire while he grabbed his own from where it had been roasting.

Jax steps through, rubbing his head. There’s a little scratch on his cheek that looks like it might bruise. “Hey. You...really got far out here. I don’t think I’d have gone this far.”

He shrugs. “I’ve always had to be kind of alone.” He peeks a mushroom off of the top of the skewer and pops it in his mouth.

Jax stares.

“There’s more,” he points out, motioning to the pile he’s made and the roasting skewer. “Wait for it to get brown, though.”

“Oh, uh. Okay.”

Again, Jax sits next to him.

“Sorry about, uh. All of that. I set her to rights about what we’d been talking about. The others, you know, they didn’t believe you?” Jax laughs hollowly. “They told me to come get you back because they’d get in trouble if you died out here, and Vril was too stubborn to come apologize.”

“I’m not going back until in the morning, then,” Boba decides, smiling as he eats another mushroom. “Let them sweat. I have my comm and I was going to ping our counsellor soon. Probably my ori’vod, too. Need to tell some member of the family, but if I tell my sister she’s liable to commit homicide. If not get her squad to join her.”

Jax laughs and finally it sounds like something that he’s letting himself be fully amused by.

Boba averts his eyes and goes back to munching, but he picks the skewer he set for Jax up as soon as it’s hitting the perfect shade and passes it to him.

Eventually, Jax eggs him into an actual conversation, and they chat about education modules—though Boba doesn’t mention his are for university classes. They give a report to the counsellor who agrees with Boba’s decision to let them get anxious with a kind of vicious smile that makes Boba wonder what happened last year. When the counsellor commends Jax for avoiding getting drawn in by bad influences, he really wonders.

But he doesn’t ask, not when Jax looks so beat up about it.

The next morning, after a night where they’d doze until an alarm warned them to check the fire, then doze some more again, they head back to their squad’s initial camp, after bagging up the rest of the mushrooms that they don’t eat for firstmeal.

When they get to the camp, they watch from the woods as the counsellors are scolding the rest of the squad about losing two members and how they’re going to have to send out a search party! Now why would those two have run off, hmm? Did this have anything in common with last year, hmm?

Jax finally has enough and Boba shrugs and starts whistling as they head into camp, the bag of mushrooms over his shoulder.

“Hey, Ordo, I got some of those mushrooms you like,” he tells the counsellor who had been in charge of his squad last year.

She grins, pushing the other young teens out of the way and going for them. “I don’t get how you always find these, Fett’ika! Seriously. I should never have told you they were my favorite, now you have bribery available.”

He sticks his tongue out at her.

“Anyways,” she adds, “We’re adding you two to Squad Beta. It’ll be fine.”

Boba raises an eyebrow. That squad is one from the above year. “If you say so.”

“Saxon’s in charge of them,” Ordo adds with a roll of her eyes.

“Oh, yes, then it will be fine,” he agrees.

Jax looks between the two of them. “Really?”

“Yeah, Aden’tra likes me best,” Boba says.

The rest of the camp goes fine, though Boba doesn’t find out what happened to the rest of his first squad of the year. They’re all packing up to leave when Jax takes him aside, then knocks him back into a tree and kisses him.

“I, uh, sorry. I hadn’t really said that. About the first night,” Jax says, looking down as Boba stares, shocked at him. “I, uh. Really like you. I’m sorry, if that was, uh!”

Boba kisses him this time, then grabs his comm and types in his code. “That’s me. You can ping me whenever.”

“Boba!” Aden’tra hollers. “Come on, Korkie promised to make the fritters if we get back before nightfall!”

He snorts. “I gotta go. Send me a message, okay?”

“Yeah,” Jax says, “Okay.”

[jq37]

The Royal Report– A Crown of Candy Ep 3

Keep Sharp

On the Road Again

Welcome back to Calorum you guys. We last left off witnessing an actual miracle as a group of cheese assassins masquerading as meatlanders (and Brennan by proxy) failed to kill a single Candian, Tartguard included.

Now, everyone is picking up the pieces. Amethar is still messed up from the fight so he’s being tended to. Liam and some of the NPCs are working on clearing the tree from the road. Ruby, still covered in blood, is in one of the carriages and when she uses Prestidigitation to clear the blood from a circus flyer she was carrying, Calroy walks in and grabs her hand to stop her as a reflex. He quickly drops her hand--very bold move to grab one of the princesses like that--and tries to impress on her that the rest of the world isn’t like Candia and she really really needs to stop with the casual magic when they’re on the road. Ruby is really naively taken aback and frustrated by this information but Calroy describes it like it’s business as usual. Her aunt, Lazuli, has the title of Archmage but the official position is that the title is an archaic holdover from less enlightened times and she was simply a really good alchemist--even though everyone knows that’s untrue. That’s politics bay-bee! Lapin joins the conversation (along with Theo shortly after) and says that if people knew where he got his powers from, he’d be dead (which seems a weird thing to say with Calroy in earshot).  

Outside, Liam is chopping up the tree and finds these little peppermint acorn things called Heartseeds which are basically concentrated, ambient, magical energy that can grant small wishes. Preston eats them and gains a fly speed of 40 (but it’s like he’s a firework--he has to land after 40 feet). Jet finds Liam and asks for help with keeping an eye on Ruby. She’s pretty shook after seeing her almost die. Liam is down to do it for nothing (the kid just wants to be included) but Jet insists on being in his debt and--always on brand--he just asks for some cool seeds. She also finds a meat shield that’s made out of gross, burnt, stuck-to-the-pan meat bits that she names Burnt Ends. 

They get going again and in the PC wagon you have all the PCs but Jet (who is outside with the guards and Grissini) along with Cruller and his wife--Lady Donetta. She chats with Grissini for a little bit while the adults try to get her to get in the carriage. She’s finally swayed by Ruby but when she comes in she says she wasn’t (just) flirting. She was trying to get intel on how in trouble Ruby was. Liam offers that he speaks Ceresian so he can spy if they need him to and also did anyone have any dreams last night? Theo--who is trying to keep everyone alive and was like so close to being impressed by Liam--along with Lapin and Cruller try to get everyone back on track but Ruby--defiantly--is all, “They’re not gonna kill me. I’m a princess!” Theo points out that someone almost killed her literally ten minutes ago and Cruller points out that death isn’t the only bad thing that can happen to a person. She could get forcibly put in a monastery for instance. Jet is not even having that in hypothetical-land and says that as the heir princess, she would lay the smackdown on anyone who tried to do that. 

It looks like things are about to dissolve into overlapping gibberish but Amethar does the dad thing of putting his foot down and yelling at everyone to get along before taking a dad nap passing out from his injuries. Lady Donetta patches him up while Cruller once again talks about the importance of politics. It’s not just them that have to play this game. The Meatlanders are polytheistic generally but all Bulbian on paper. Jet thinks this whole song and dance is ridiculous and should be changed once she has more sway in politics, but she’s willing to shut up for now. She’s also willing to keep Lapin’s secret, but him bringing it up sparks Cruller’s interest. Lapin tries to gloss over it but Liam chimes in that he’s sorry about breaking his teacup. Lapin shuts him up (Liam on a low Insight check thinks he hates him) and rolls a 14 to get Cruller off his back.

Secrets and Lies

As they cross the border into Fructerra, Sir Theo invites Ruby and Jet out for some fresh air and they invite Liam which he goes along with even though it’s clear he wanted to talk to the sisters alone. As soon as they’re out of earshot of everyone Theo turns off the scold and says that regardless of everything they’re all saying, Ruby absolutely needs to keep studying magic. He says that he was a ward of Lazuli who taught him some magic (including animating Sprinkle) and he has a whole-ass lore dump for them that he was planning on subtly revealing over time but now’s the time for getting everybody up to speed ASAP not mentoring from the shadows:

He says that Lazuli--who, like Ruby and Jet, wanted magic to be acceptable and not relegated to the shadows of one kingdom--was doing arcane research into wild stuff like immortality that would have advanced the world a lot further than its current state. She died sacrificing herself in a battle where she was the only Candian casualty. Theo was there and, before she sent him away, she said that she needed to do it to, “save [their] people and save [their] world.” He didn’t get what she meant and why that would be literally the hill she--a princess and Archmage--would choose to die on but he knows she would sometimes have visions of the future and he thinks she might have known Ruby was coming and needed to ensure that timeline happened. Ruby--who is outraged that this is the first she’s hearing of all of this and shocked that Theo is suddenly cool (“I've always been cool! All of us are cool!”) still doesn’t want to do all this “book stuff” or embrace any kind of magical destiny and even Jet is like, “Come on girl.” Anyway, Sir Theo tells them they just need to be chill and lowkey and he’ll hook them up with magical training and banned books for Jet. He also promises to teach Ruby the Find Familiar spell. 

Liam helps Lady Donetta with herbal remedies for Amethar and he comes back at full health. Amethar gets to talking about Liam’s dad who he says had Liam’s knack from nature stuff and taught him (Amethar) how to fight. Calroy chimes in that his dad and Amethar fought together in the Ravening War. He also says that Liam being a hostage (he outright calls him a hostage) is what lets his dad not join the Concord (the kind of ride or die, post Ravening War pact everyone else is in) and remain an independent rebel state. Apparently, he seceded because, King Jadin (Amethar’s Dad--the past king), would not uphold Candia’s alliances. Liam’s dad (Duke Joren Jawbreaker) turned traitor to go fight with their Dairy Island allies.         

It takes another couple of days to get to Comida and, on the way there, Ruby learns and casts the Find Familiar spell--netting her a butterscotch falcon that she names Yak after the noise he makes. She hopes he’ll be friends with Sprinkle because Siobhan knows that the second real objective of every D&D campaign (after making friends) is acquiring pets and having them play with each other (which is in direct opposition to the DM goal of not letting any of your players have any pets).    

Cruller checks in with Theo about the secret magic lessons and also says that he’s looked into it and the imperial soldiers who saw Ruby do magic are gossiping. Grissini is shutting some of it down so it’s not spreading like wildfire but it’s really just a matter of time. Cruller tries to get more specifics about what Jet and Lapin were talking about (his Sugarplum magic) and Theo dodges the question. Cruller says that he can be more helpful if he’s in the loop but doesn’t push further. 

Faces and Names 

We have made it to Comida and, after a quick House Rocks family heart to heart, it’s time for a parade of a BUNCH of new characters:

Manta Ray Jack: Man at Arms of House Cheddar and one of Amethar’s Ravening War buddies. A literal 2 foot tall cube of cheese. He also has a tattoo of a Manta Ray on his arm  which isn’t important to the plot but is important to me that you know.       

Sir Morris Brie: Knight of House Cheddar, Master of State to the Duchess (who we’ll get to next) and another Dairy Island buddy of Amethar.

Duchess Primsy Coldbottle: A literal bottle of milk, 16-year-old regent of House Cheddar (Duchess of Lacramor specifically) and ruler of the Dairy Islands. On a nat 20, Ruby knows that Prince Tarthur Cheddar was the prince during the Ravening Wars but died. She also knows about…

Captain Annabelle Cheddar: (Captain of the Colby) who is this cool, naval, battle-ready lady that Ruby sees hanging out with a bunch of solider women fighters and having a great time while Primsy is talking to her advisors. Apparently, Anabelle should be the rightful heir to the Dairy Islands but was stripped of her title because she refused to marry (hmm) which Ruby thinks is sick as hell. She goes to chat her up and finds out that she’ll be fighting in the Melee part of the tourney.  

Senator Augustus Ciabatta: A full bread person who’s a senator from the very populous Ceresia and he’s throwing coins to the people from his palanquin. (I want it on the record that I feel an episode called Bread and Circuses coming.)

Prince Cabbage: The adult son of King Cabbage. His palanquin is the second largest. The largest belongs to...

Hierophant Rex Belizabeth Brassica: She is basically the Bulb Pope. She’s like a green woman with broccoli hair. She and Lapin have met before before she became pope. They quickly talk and she invites him to tag along as they pay their respects to the Emperor. He agrees to go. She’s followed around by Archbishop Onionpatch (another Primogen from Greenhold in Vegetania).

Theo is a little nervous about Amethar cozying up to all these dairy people considering the attack but Amethar insists he can handle himself. There’s a big feast set up and Amethar goes to talk to Primsy who is just super sweet and seems to know she has a lot of responsibility that she is trying her level best to uphold. She’s like the anti Jet and Ruby and Brennan...if something happens to her...I swear...  

Anyway, Theo is scanning the room for trouble and he sees (1) That Anabelle is looking at Amethar forlornly from across the room (maybe like she wishes she could be in the room where it happens so to speak?) and (2) there is a young Dairy nobleman stealth flirting with Primsy. Amethar asks Sir Brie about the attack and he says they had nothing to do with it. They don’t have the resources after the war which was fought largely in the Dairy Isles. He seems to blame Anabelle at least partially for the diminished power of House Cheddar based on the dirty look he shoots her when he mentions the state of the state. Amethar reiterates that the alliance between Candia and the Dairy Isles is solid and Manta Ray Jack pops in to casually drop that Amethar had a war girlfriend (lover? idk what the proper terminology is here) in the Far East Isles back in the day so I’m sure that’s gonna become relevant at the worst possible moment. 

Brennan also curses us by unleashing Thad (Jet’s avocado pen pal boyfriend) onto the story and as soon as Jet re-meets this poncy, French-y, horny, avocado she’s like “I made a huge mistake” and later gets him to “meet her outside” so she can ditch him.   

Theo goes with Liam to check up on Primsy because he’s concerned with whatever is going on with her and that cheese boy who he learns is her traveling companion--Lord Stilton Curdeau. And it’s covered by cologne but his cheese stink is familiar. He wants to alert Amethar but Amethar is currently eyeing Basha Myaso (Warlord of the Beef Clans and ruler of all of the Meatlands) who is glaring at him. On Calroy’s advice, he squares up with Basha who implies that Candia is responsible for the false flag attack. Amethar tells him to “watch [his] fucking mouth.” Diplomacy!

Meanwhile, Lapin is with the Pontifex in the Great Food Pyramid (which is, of course, a thing). She introduces him to Sir Keradin Deeproot who is this super buff super intense carrot Paladin. We learn that Lapin isn’t an archbishop and his title of primogen comes from his status as a “miracle worker”. Apparently, Miracle working is very uncommon even though the Bulbian church is so massive. When asked, Onionpatch says that things in Vegetania are fine except that King Belvedere Cabbage is infirm. Another Priogem--this one of Cersia--joins them, the Archbishop Fettucina Alfredi who is this very classically beautiful looking, toga wearing woman with glowing eyes--she’s also a miracle worker. Lapin is like, “Oh fuck,” because if she’s magic too then she might be able to tell that he’s not actually on the level.          

Lapin veers away from Alfredi and chats up the Pontifex who says Brightgarden is OK but they're currently dealing with a murder of an archbishop in the Meatlands (the Archbishop Raddica). Lord Basha is looking for who did it and the Pontifex wants them brought to justice ASAP. Alfredi brings up the attack on the road and wonders about the rumors she heard about strange magic. Lapin, sweating bullets, lies and says that he thinks it was the work of the Bulb. On a 14 Deception from Lapin, Alfredi thinks lavender fog would be a weird Bulbian intercession. It sounds more like something a false good she’s heard about from Candia would do. What’s her name? The Sugarplum Fairy? Lapin, with a 25 Persuasion check, is able to wave that off as primitive backwoods things that he’s working to stamp out in Candia. That’s enough to get the Pontifex on his side and they go up to see the Emperor. 

Outside of his room is his daughter--Lady Plumbeline Uvano--who is lowkey very upset about something. She greets them and then takes the Pontifex in to talk to the Emperor while Lapin waits outside with Alfredi and Kerradin. When she’s done paying the respects of the church, the whole holy crew goes back to the party. Before Lapin splits off, the Pontifex does a little pull aside with him about Candia’s role in the war and how she thinks, with him at the helm, Candia is in good hands.  

At Sir Theo's suggestion, Amethar has the Candy Crew stand with the Cheese Peeps during the announcement of the tourney which is a big deal because it’s a symbol that the alliance is still on even though they were attacked by cheese bandits. Primsy introduces herself to the princesses and gives them cool, milksilk handkerchiefs she embroidered herself with a candy cane crossed with a cheese cube on a stick with their house words: There is Strength in Sweetness. She doesn’t have one for Liam but gives him hers (it has her house words: Keep Sharp) on the condition he joins the archery competition and fights for her. With not a 15 between the 6 of them (even w/ multiple help actions) none of the PCs have presents for anyone else.              

The tourney is announced. There are three events, each with a dope prize. Winner of the melee gets a boon from the emperor at the end of his rule. The winner of the archery contest gets a seat on the Cornucopian Council, the title of Master of Arrows, and is made advisor to the next emperor (which seems like a LOT to put on a person whose main skill is “can shoot arrows well” but OK sure). The winner of the joust gets to name a candidate for Emperor from any class or house they wish and their choice must be considered. Ruby and Liam join the archery contest. Theo signs up for the joust. Jet is hesitant but Amethar convinces her to join the melee with him. She also scratches “The Dairy Islands Rule!” into a piece of wood for Primsy and she’s charming enough that Primsy doesn’t think it’s a slipshod afterthought.  

An imperial courier shows up and tells Theo the Emperor wants to talk to Amethar. He brings all the PCs and Calroy. Lady Plumbeline is still outside her dad’s room and she’s still pissed. On a 24 Insight check, Theo can tell that--as I suspected from episode 1--she is pretty ticked that she has all this institutional knowledge and competence and experience but, because of an arbitrary rule, she can’t take the throne. She tells Amethar (who she met when she was a teen) that they need to limit how many people go in as to not overwhelm him. He takes Lapin and Theo (who gives Sprinkle to Jet) and goes in to talk to Uvano.

Uvano, as we already know, was another Ravening War buddy of Amethar’s and another person he’s seen piss and shit--which we learn because that’s apparently how Amethar classifies who his best friends are. They talk the way old buddies do and Uvano asks what he would say about his life taking a surprising turn. Amethar says that if it was anyone else asking, he probably wouldn’t be on board but for Uvano? He’ll do it. That’s just what he wanted to hear.   

And that’s where we end the episode without rolling initiative because the combat in the next episode is all fun and games and to quote Lou Wilson--who I suspect is about to become the wrongest person in D20 history--“It’s all sparring. Nobody is going to get killed.”

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuure.

You Should Know

Country Accents seen to be as follows: Dairy (Scottish), Meat (Russian), Fruit (French), Grain (Italian), Candy (American/British)

In the long awaited sequel to “Kristen Has -3 Dex,” Liam has a -2 to Charisma. 

Ruby speaks Lacra (Dairy-speak).

The Meatlander gods include The Great Cow, The Great Boar, and The Great Hen. 

The head beef dude has a super jacked T-Bone steak wife who I assume we’ll get a name for during the melee next episode. Update, courtesy of @fjordgofurther--we did get a name this ep. Her name is Scravoya.

The Bulbian concept of hell/the devil involves the “Hungry Ones” which just serves to underline that Brennan really did think this crazy thing all the way through and still decided to not do it but to DO it. 

Everyone levels up every episode I believe since D20 uses milestone leveling for the main seasons but Ruby and Jet leveled up twice to level 3 to help catch them up a little now that they have a story reason to be stronger. 

Things I’m Concerned About

Uvano is only in his 60s. Like, people die in their 60s but that detail casually mentioned in a setting like this always brings up the possibility of poison or some other kind of sabotage.

The second Brennan mentioned the daughter of Uvano in passing ep 1, I clocked it and the situation is basically what I was anticipating it seems. Like, of course she’s pissed. I would be too. I wonder if either the boon or the chance to offer up a candidate could be used to override the Concord rules? Either way, gotta keep an eye on her. Also, I noticed the little flippant remark she had for the Pontifex (“This is Fructerra, I’m dressed for court.”) and I don’t know if that’s distaste for the church or something more personal but it seemed interesting enough to mention. 

I know that the improvisational nature of D&D means that there’s not foreshadowing in the same way that you have in something fully set like a book or a movie but every time the Rocks family gets together for a sweet (ha) conversation (“We just want to protect you, Pop.”) I am just more and more sure we are being set up for a fall.  

Lou Wilson’s defining trait as a D&D player is doing what his character would do and letting it play out to its logical conclusion, consequences be damned--consequences be welcomed even. And Amethar is--como se dice--no Calroy when it comes to politics. I can’t imagine these facts at up to any kind of happy sum.  

Also, speaking of, I wanna trust Calroy, but I can’t. He’s too good at this. He’s too competent. He knows too much information and Amethar trusts him too much. Hope he proves me wrong but I will not be made a fool of by a slice of cake. Do you hear me Brennan? I REFUSE.    

I've only had Primsy for a week, but if anything happened to her, I would kill everyone in this room and then myself. No but, seriously, if she is just as she appears to be (and this is GoT so I guess it’s not off the table that she’s secretly like bad and it would have taken a 30 Insight check to find out) then MAN I am so scared for her. Characters who are just trying their best to do a good job are my Kryptonite and she is as much in the wrong genre as the twins are. Moreso even.  

I’m concerned Amethar has a cheesecake baby somewhere out there that’s gonna end up being a Problem. Oh my god what if one of the twins dies and their backup character is Amethar’s illegitimate kid? 

The Bulbian Church has so much power but so little magic which seems...odd. Also, just curious, what is a Paladin without divine magic? Isn’t that just a fighter?

I very much vibe with the concept of Alfredi as a character but lol I was STRESSED for Lapin during that whole conversation and I feel like that’s gonna be my default state for him all season.  

I’m concerned (or maybe just suspicious) that there’s more to the backstory with Theo and Lazuli than we heard. That little extra narration from Brennan about swearing he could feel her smile? Mmm, OK. 

Five More Things

The character art for this season cracks me up because Brennan clearly gave the artist for this season two lists and one list was labeled “Hot” and one was labeled “Ridiculous” and that’s how we got characters like Primsy and Calroy in the same scene as Anabelle and Grissini and the funniest part is Brennan’s absolute refusal to play any of these characters like they’re any more or less ridiculous than any of the others. He’s like, “The hot pasta woman is valid and the talking cheese cube is EQUALLY VALID.” 

“Not this season. Not season five.” Very bold of Brennan to be outraged about Emily trying to ride a living sprinkle dog like that's the ridiculous thing about a world with a living sprinkle dog.

The Sucorsi Road running into the Glucian Road for Sucrose and Glucose is the kind of worldbuilding detail that I love. 

I was gonna be so mad at Brennan for the nonsense that is the name “Belizabeth” but he said on Adventuring Party that he was specifically dunking on GRRM with that so he gets a pass this time. 

You know that famous Pixar meeting/lunch where they came up with Bugs Life, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, and Wall-E in one conversation? I bet Brennan had a similar brainstorming sesh where he came up with Garthy, Anabelle, and two other thirst traps that haven’t been introduced yet. Like come on. He described her hair as, “princely”? Brennan is trying to kill some of y’all. 

[flyinbanachab]

Comfortember 29: Build Something Beautiful

The warm breeze ruffles Riza's bangs as she strolls through the bazaar. Overhead a net stretches between buildings, dappling the stalls and cobblestones with bright little blobs of sun. It's Sunday morning, market day in Lowestown, and it’s bustling, a riot of colors and smells. Half the city must be here--which is really saying something, these days.

Riza walks slowly, taking it all in, saving the feeling of Roy's fingers loosely intertwined with hers. They're dressed casually, just here to shop, just another pair of light-skinned tourists--but even in straw hat and sunglasses, people still recognize them.

"General, General!" the vendors shout from their stalls.

"A pretty dress for your pretty captain!"

"Spices from Xing! The only real cinnamon in the market!"

"Free samples just for you, General!"

It's all good-natured, today; the vendors all want to say General Mustang shopped here. What a change from five years ago.

Roy gives Riza a sheepish "what can do you" smile before coming to an abrupt halt in front of a flower shop.

"General, welcome welcome!" The shopkeeper waves from behind the counter.

Roy stares around the stall, mouth agape. "Are you growing these here? In the desert?"

"Oh yes! My home, thirty miles south. Only place in Ishval flowers can grow."

"They're beautiful," Riza says, genuinely. It’s been a long time since she’s seen flowers like this.

"General,” the vendor sing-songs, “your lady says she likes the flowers."

Roy laughs and produces his wallet. "Give me a bouquet fit for the world's most beautiful woman."

The florist grins and starts pulling stems.

"Roy," she protests weakly as the pile grows, "I'm going to have to carry that all day."

Roy gives her a mischievous grin, the one that always makes her heart skip. "Yes, you are." He hands her the bouquet; it smells heavenly.

Around the corner, they run into Breda and Maria, also enjoying a day off. He's got his arm around her waist, she's leaning into him and laughing. To think he would have killed her, if Roy had asked. Without hesitation. Breda spots them and waves.

"Hey, Dex and Birdie! Long time no see!" Riza smiles. She hates the nickname, but she’s glad to have one.

“Hello, Heymans, Maria,” Riza returns with a sparkle in her eyes. Equivalent exchange: he hates his first name.

Breda points to the flowers, eyebrows raised. "Damn Dex, how bad'd you fuck up?"

Roy scoffs. "A baseless and telling assumption. Maria, you can do so much better. Find a man who buys you flowers just because you're beautiful."

Maria looks Breda square in the eyes and deadpans, "Yeah, maybe I should."

Breda heaves an enormous sigh. "Goddammit Mustang. Where's the flower stall?"

They point him that way, and they head off, Maria cackling gleefully. Roy is still chuckling to himself, which makes Riza smile in return. She never takes a moment of lightheartedness for granted.

The market is busy today. Rounding another corner, they find Rebecca and Kain, laden with bags, Concorde Blue trotting happily alongside. Too bad she’d left Black Hayate at home today.

"Riza!!" her friend cheers, dropping her bags and wrapping her in an enthusiastic hug.

"Hi Becca,"  Riza laughs. They just saw each other three days ago! "Doing some shopping?"

"Yep!" She chirps. "We found the flea market section. Bar junk for me, radio junk for him."

Kain nods vigorous agreement. "You should see her barter, she's really amazing." His voice takes on a tinge of awe. It always does, when he talks about her.

Rebecca grins, throws her arm around his neck, and kisses him on the temple. "Oh, that's just for fun. HE's the amazing one, I can't get over how he can just take a pile of garbage and--” she waves her hands dramatically-- “turn it into cool stuff." Kain ducks his head, and Riza can practically hear him thinking Not in front of the general! even after all this time.

"Nice flowers, by the way. What's the occasion?"

"Hey, I don't need an occasion!" Roy protests.

Rebecca regards him with a faux-critical gaze. "Hmm. Okay. I guess you're good enough for Riza for one more day."

"I'll be sure to check in again tomorrow."

"See that you do. Anyhoo, we gotta run, bar's not gonna open itself. Ciao!"

As they continue through the seemingly endless maze of streets, Riza can’t help marveling at it all. At Roy, holding her hand in the open. At the flowers, grown by someone once marked for death in a valley inhospitable to life. At her friends, finding each other. At the market. The city. The future.

Roy looks at her with a soft, quizzical smile. "What are you thinking about over there?"

“Happy endings,” she says, and leans in to kiss him.

[eeveevie]

golden hour

On a quiet morning in Sanctuary, Madelyn realizes an affectionate gesture of hers means a lot more than just a 'boop' on the nose. Or, the first time Madelyn tells Deacon she loves him. 

@alittlestarling​ asked from this prompt list: Dust floating in golden sunlight ☀

Deacon x Madelyn Hardy (Agent Charmer)

1215 words (under a cut for length) | Ao3

Madelyn always was an early riser—something ingrained in her mind that had her waking just before the sunrise, regardless of how much sleep she had achieved. For once, as she fluttered her eyes open to the world, she was pleasantly surprised to find herself feeling rested. A rare experience, especially since leaving the vault, especially given her location.

Sanctuary.

Madelyn still struggled with spending the night in the little settlement she used to call home—in all the months that she’d been traveling the Commonwealth, she’d only done so a handful of times, mostly as a last resort when returning that far west, or when meeting up with Preston on Minutemen business. The memories of her life there before the war still haunted her and despite all the changes, all the work the new settlers had put into developing the community, it was still a difficult place to be.

She and Deacon had been working a Railroad op nearby when she was called over the Minutemen radio, and at first she was ready to make the long journey to the Castle when it was made clear that it was Sanctuary that needed assistance. For as quiet as the area usually was, a group of raiders from Concord had drifted a little too close and was causing trouble—the nearby settlements had no guards to spare. It didn’t take long for her and her partner to dispose of the undesirables, but after Sturges had encouraged them to stay for a group dinner, Madelyn figured it was best to stay overnight as well.

Of course, she wouldn’t be staying in her old home. No, never again. Especially with Deacon. She might’ve been brave enough to allow herself to move on romantically—slowly—but she wasn’t about to betray the memory of her dead husband and the home they shared with their son. At least, it made sense in her mind when she chose a quiet, private little home on the riverfront. Deacon didn’t question her, and for that she was grateful.

The morning light of the sunrise started to drift in through the window above the bed, slowly turning from blue to a soft golden. Madelyn smiled to herself, watching the speckles of dust that flittered through the air above her face, highlighted by the incoming light. She hadn’t felt so calm, so free of thought or worry in a long while. Slowly, she sat up, careful not to disturb the heap of slumbering limbs that was Deacon beside her. Blankets tucked around her she stared out the window as the sun inched higher over the horizon.

“Damn,” Deacon’s sleepy, breathless voice pulled her away and she softly laughed as she glanced down, finding him barely peeking his eyes open. “Now that’s a sight to wake up to.”

Madelyn giggled, gesturing to herself. “What, me?”

“Hmm,” he agreed, arm outstretching so he could grasp one of her hands. He brought it to his face and slowly kissed her knuckles, the side of her wrist. “Just you drenched in sunlight. Beautiful. Am I still dreaming?”

“I can pinch you and you can find out,” she teased, leaning down just enough so she was hovering over him.

Deacon pouted, though it was obviously in jest. “I’d rather you kiss me. Less painful, less bruises…unless—”

Madelyn cut him off with his request, pressing her lips to his mouth, swallowing up his soft chuckle in the process. His arms were quick to wrap around her, tucking her close to his body under the covers, but she wasn’t inclined to get too carried away. Not there, at least, even if she desperately wanted to. Reluctantly, she pulled away, resting her weight on one arm as she gazed down at him, searching those steely blue eyes for any hint of disappointment—but there wasn’t any.

Of course not. Deacon was the one who told her they could set their own pace, go as slow (or as fast) as they wanted in this brand-new aspect of their partnership—relationship. Ever since then, there had been plenty of opportunities, but life and the Wasteland got in the way. Turns out, they were both far more patient then either had let on. Madelyn could only be grateful she had somebody so understanding, somebody that cared for her—somebody in her corner.

Like she had done so many times before, she stroked her free hand along the side of his face, fingers outlining the angle of his jaw and chin before affectionately pressing against his nose. “Boop.”

“Always with the boop,” he laughed. Though he didn’t say anything else, or ask, Madelyn felt that she owed him some kind of explanation.

“You were always so touch-oriented,” she started, brushing her thumb across his cheek. “Touchy-feely despite the lies about not wanting hugs. Made me happy, since I’m the same way. Probably why we became such good partners right away.”

“Probably,” Deacon agreed, one of his hands leisurely running along her spine over her nightshirt. “Is that why you keep the boops? For old times sake?”

Madelyn grinned, ghosting her touch across the corners of his eyes, silently inspecting the barely-there crow’s feet. “I started doing that to flirt with you, Deacon.”

“I knew that,” he fibbed. “Expressing emotion through touch is an art, but sometimes you miss a few brush strokes along the way.”

“How poetic,” she smirked. A more grounding memory came back to her, but instead of feeling sad, she felt warm—hopeful. “When I used to tuck my son in for the night in his crib, I’d boop his nose and tell him I loved him. He was a baby, he couldn’t understood my words, but he understood my touch.”

Deacon was looking at her intently, quietly. Madelyn’s heartbeat increased when she suddenly realized what she’d inadvertently revealed. She felt her face flush and as her hand slightly trembled she noticed his small, knowing grin. Well—she might as well come out and say it.

“So…when I do that, then, now, with you—” she paused to steady herself—she never thought she’d ever be in the place to say those words again, to feel that way again, to be with someone new. But there she was, her heart racing and emotions on edge and world bright with color like the very first time. “I guess that was my own way of saying that I love you—long before I knew, before I was ready to say it,” she breathed out, only feeling confident at the fact that his smile was steadily increasing.

“Like a little secret all for myself.”

“Secret’s out now, Charmer,” Deacon said in a low voice, completely mesmerized by her confession. “Might as well give me a proper demonstration.”

Madelyn resisted the urge to laugh—God—she really did fall so quickly for this silly man without realizing it. The room was filling up with more sunlight, painting the bed and the two of them in a glorious golden warmth—she never wanted to leave. She trailed her fingers across his cheek, repeating the gesture from before a little more slowly, with more intent. As she rested her fingers against the side of his nose, she leaned closer, lips ghosting over his.

Finally, she whispered, “I love you.”

[idonthaveanyurlideas]

Ep 5 Spoilers

i think... joren and caramelinda should team up....

anyway u can also read it on ao3

“Your Majesty! Your Majesty!” A guard ran up to Caramelinda, a scroll clutched in one hand as he reached her, panting heavily.

“What’s going on?” Caramelinda frowned.

“Something’s gone terribly wrong in Comida!” The guard said, pushing the scroll towards her. The blood draining from her face, Caramelinda took it, trying to guess which of her family had done something ill-advised this time.

She read it in silence, the council she had been holding all waiting patiently, muttering to each other.

“This is a trick.” Caramelinda looked up from the scroll, staring at the guard, who frantically shook his head.

“It’s real! We just heard about it!”

“Has something happened?” One of the councillors asked, and Caramelinda looked at him for a moment before looking back down at the scroll, reading and rereading every single word, trying to find a single explanation for the utter horror on the page in front of her.

Amethar… what did you do?

“Where are they all now?” Ignoring the councillors, Caramelinda turned back to the guard. “Are they in custody? Are my daughters harmed?”

“We don’t know!” The guard exclaimed. “That’s the only official announcement we’ve heard… but there are rumours-”

“This council is adjourned.” Caramelinda stood up, the bewildered councillors staring at her. “You are all dismissed immediately.”

“Your Majesty, we simply must-”

“You are dismissed, I will call for you again shortly.” She repeated, waving a hand towards the door, not dropping it until all of them had left the room, leaving just her and the guard that had delivered the scroll.

Caramelinda dropped the scroll onto the table she had been sitting at, stepping away and walking towards the window. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, even though her fingers were trembling.

“Has Duke Jawbreaker heard the news yet?” She asked.

“I don’t know.” The guard said. “If he hasn’t yet, he probably will soon.”

And as soon as he did, there was no question in Caramelinda’s mind as to what he would do first.

“Alert every guard, call for every official. Close the borders except for Candian citizens reentering the country, and make sure we know the location of every single foreign diplomat and high-ranking member of the Bulbian Church. No harm is to come to any of them. Send for Sir Maillard and Sir Toby to meet with me as soon as possible.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” The guard said, saluting her.

Once she was alone, Caramelinda exhaled a long, shuddering breath, walking back over to the scroll on the table and reading it once more. Then again. And again. Over and over until the first people she had called for began to arrive.

The door to the throne room crashed open, hitting pillars with a sickening thud. Caramelinda did not flinch, simply standing up from her throne (still her throne) as Joren Jawbreaker strode inside, his sons flanking him on either side.

He strode almost all the way up to the throne unimpeded. “You know why I’m here.” His voice was low and serious. “I’m sure you’re not stupid enough to stand in my way.”

“I’m not,” Caramelinda spoke through gritted teeth. “And I hope you’re not stupid enough to not listen to what I have to say.”

Joren tilted his head up slightly to look down at her, and one of his sons — Trivel, third-born, not the brightest. — took the opportunity to trash-talk. “Why would we want to listen to a false queen?”

“Because regardless of my current standings in the eyes of you, Candia, and the Concord, I have been Queen of this country for nearly two decades, and if you do not tread carefully we will all be invaded and killed.”

“And what gives you the belief that you know more about operating in wartime than me?” Joren asked.

“I have never declared such a thing.” Caramelinda took a step towards them, keeping her back perfectly straight and her head held high. “I have the utmost respect for your proficiency in battle, and I make no claim to being better at it. But what I am skilled at is diplomacy. Politics. This is not the Ravening War restarted, this is every other nation of the Concord against us alone. If we rely on military strength, we will be crushed.”

Caramelinda put her hands behind her back, staring Joren in the eyes. “I ordered my guards to allow you free passage here, with no resistance at any point, because we no longer have the luxury of indulging rebellions. The Bulbian Church has declared you rightful King, and no matter whether I or the rest of Candia agree, your skills and strategy will be essential in our survival.”

“And you want a seat at the table.” Joren scowled. “So that if Amethar comes back you can try to get right back to where you were.”

Behind her back, Caramelinda curled her hands into fists. “I don’t know where Amethar or my daughters are. I don’t know if they are alive, or captured, or dead. Do you know where your son is?”

“My son was supposed to be safe with your people.” Joren glowered, stepping forward until he was only inches away, casting Caramelinda in shadow, but she refused to cower. “And you sent him into the heart of the enemy and let him be tried for witchcraft!”

“If your son performed magic where others could see, I am certain they tried their best to protect him. But we do not have time to argue about it because all of them could be dead at this very moment while the Imperial armies march to our doorstep!”

She stepped to the side, walking away with her back turned, almost daring him to plunge his sword into it. “If we make a mistake now, all of Candia will fall to the Concord. And I know that is the last thing you want to happen, Joren.”

There was a dark chuckle behind her. “You’re not fuckin wrong about that.”

Caramelinda turned, facing him again. “And that is why you will need my help. You can lead the armies, you can formulate brilliant battle strategies, you can slaughter a hundred soldiers by yourself, but it will mean nothing if the people are not organised, if there is no plan or structure beyond winning the next fight. Whether I am Queen or not, I still know how to keep a kingdom functioning.”

Her stomach twisted even as she said it, the power and drive that she had dedicated all these years to snapped away in a single instant. But now was not the time to fall to despair, to leave in petty anger. Now was not the time to dwell on Amethar, on how his single mistake had brought everything crashing down around them. Now was not the time to think about her daughters trapped in hostile territory, with only a handful of people, however dedicated, however powerful, on their side.

“Hmm.” Joren scratched his chin. “Alright, Duchess, you’ve got yourself a deal. For now.”

Caramelinda tried not to let the ‘Duchess’ title sting. Now was not the time for self-pity. Now was the time for action, for strength. She could not allow herself and her country to lose anything else.

[controloffandoms]

Paparazzi (J.A.)

Prompt: Requested by anonymous for a friend. (I’m sorry, I lost the ask so I came up with this without the prompt)

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Daughter!Reader, slight Thomas Padalecki x reader

Words: 3193

Warnings: cursing, Paparazzi, panic, anxiety

Notes: I may or may not have been reading a lot of fics about the daughter/dad relationship between Jensen and his daughter, the reader. For the purposes of this story, Thomas is 17, Shep is 10 and Odette is 5. JJ is 8, Arrow and Zep are 4. Maison is 13 and West is 16. Obviously I’m changing the years of birth :)

Part 2

Ever since you could remember, you had been put in the spotlight. Your father, Jensen Ackles, was a huge star in the show Supernatural and everyone wanted to know about his personal life...and that included you. Not to mention that you had a weird family from the cast of Supernatural. You had your Uncles Jared, Misha, Jim, and so on. You had you Aunts Ruth, Kim, and so on.

The nice thing was that you could shield your younger siblings from the paps. You could almost make their life normal. You were the oldest, you could grab all of the attention in the room in order to keep your siblings at a safe distance from those who would try to get too close to your younger siblings.

You weren’t Danneel child biologically. You did call her mom, though. Your mother had dropped you off at Jensen’s when you were just a baby. That had been eighteen years ago. You’d met Danneel in 2007. It had been a while since your father had met someone and you knew he was seeing someone, but you hadn’t gotten to meet her until about a year after they had started dating. You were seven at the time and loved her instantly. When you turned nine, Danneel and your father were expecting their first child and you finally got your wish for a little sister. When you turned thirteen, you got two more siblings and you loved them all unconditionally.

You would do anything for them. Which is why you were in your current situation. “You remember the store Mom went in, right JJ,” you asked her quickly.

“Yeah, the Victoria Secret store,” she replied.

“Good, take your brother and sister into the store and find Mom, okay? Tell her that we need to be leaving soon,” you gave your sister a tight smile, trying to keep calm.

You watched as they left through the back of the music store. You watched as some of the paps went to follow and you had to think fast. You started playing the piano in a rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody accompanied with the singing. That certainly drew the paps eyes. They swarmed you and you inwardly cringed. You hated singing and playing any instrument in front of anyone, let alone paparazzi.

As you finished the small segment of the song, you stood from the piano and tried to make your way out of the store, but there was no out. Your breath picked up slightly. You hated being trapped. The paps just kept shouting questions at you. Some of them on how you learned to play the piano and sing, others on very personal matters, others you couldn’t distinguish. “I need to go-please.”

You tried to push through the paps, but they kept pushing you back. “P-please, I need to leave. I have-I have to go,” you whispered.

They kept shouting questions and kept preventing you from leaving. Your breathing continued to get faster as tears started to prickle at your eyes. You don’t know how long it was until someone was pushing their way through the crown and putting an arm around your shoulder, shouting back at the paps and forcing his way through the waves of men and women trying to get a story.

Once you were a safe distance from the store, the person stopped walking. “Hey sweetheart, are you alright,” he asked.

“Daddy,” you buried your head in his chest and wrapped your arms around him tightly. He wrapped his arms around you just as tight, placing his chin on the top of your head and talking calmly to you.

“It’s okay, don’t work yourself up. I’m sorry they attacked you like that. I thought y’all would be fine for a couple of hours by yourselves,” he hugged you even closer, running a hand over your back in an attempt to ground you.

“They-they just came out of nowhere and I was-I was with JJ and the twins and I knew that they would be scared if they stayed and I told them find Mom and then some of the paps wanted to follow them so I had to distract them and then they just all crowded me and they wouldn’t let me out and they just kept coming and screaming at me,” you sobbed slightly, holding your dad tighter.

“I’m sorry baby. I should have been there sooner.”

“Are Mom and the kids okay,” you asked after a quiet moment.

“They are just fine. They’re waiting in the car. Dani’s worried about you,” your father responded, pulling away from you slightly. “Ready to go, kid?”

A couple of weeks passed and you were finally feeling less afraid of leaving the house. As you walked through the door of the house after your classes, you were met with an eight year old running into your legs followed by the four year olds stumbling over each other as they ran towards you. “Hello, what’s the occasion for you all to attack me the second I get in the house,” you raised an eyebrow at your parents as they rounded the corner with smiles on their faces.

“Mommy and Daddy can’t take us to the park and said that maybe you could! They have work,” Arrow smiles up at you.

You chuckle but nod. “Hmm, I’ll have to check my schedule. Let’s see, I did have that scheduled tickle monster attack for my siblings at 3 PM, but I guess I could bump that up in order to take y’all to the park, Munchkin,” you raced towards JJ and picked her up, tickling her relentlessly.

“No, stop it! (Y/N),” she whined. You laughed and put her down.

You turned to your parents and smiled, “when should I be expecting y’all back?”

“We will be going to dinner at Jared’s house around seven. Do you think you could bring your siblings over? Dani and I will be coming directly from work.”

“Sure, Dad. We’ll go to the park, maybe get a light snack and either do something in town or come back here until it’s time to come over for Dinner,” you stated.

“Great, thanks baby, you’re the best,” he responded, placing a kiss on your head and doing the same to your siblings.

“Really, you’re amazing. I don’t know what we would do without you,” Dani added as she brought you into a huge hug while kissing the top of your head.

“Mom, it’s not a big deal. I love watching out for the little ones. They remind me of the energy I use to have and wish I could get back.”

“Don’t we all,” she responded.

“Alright, Miss JJ, I need to change and then we’ll head out. Help your brother and sister with their shoes,” you called out. An excited ‘okay’ was called back to you and you went to your room to change.

“JJ, don’t go to far away. I need to be able to keep an eye on you,” you called as you pushed the twins on the swings and JJ played around with a couple of the other kids at the park.

“Single mom,” the woman next to you asked.

You laughed slightly, “no, oldest sibling that only has two hands.”

“Think of it this way, the day you have your own family, it will come much easier after doing all of this now,” she responded, “and I’m speaking from experience.”

“I would hope so.”

JJ came running back over, “can we go get snacks,” she asked, face flushed from the running around she did.

“Yes, please (Y/N),” Arrow yelled, clapping her hands.

“Snacks,” Zep asked.

“Okay then, let’s go find a place to get something to tide you over to dinner.” You grabbed the twins hands and instructed JJ to walk close to you.

You walked a couple of blocks until you found a place to go. “How about we get ice cream? Just don’t tell Mom and Dad,” you winked at JJ.

“Yes,” the twins shouted. JJ nodded, bouncing on her feet. You decided to save yourself some trouble and sit the twins down with JJ in charge of making sure they don’t get up. You went to get the ice cream for the four of you.

You paid for the ice creams and sat a table. JJ took a huge bite out of her cone. You set your ice cream aside and get Zep and Arrow ready to eat theirs by trying to protect their clothes the best you could. Finally, you gave them the cups of ice cream and turned to yours, taking a bite. “Try not to get it on your clothes, Jay.”

You spent a couple of hours walking around town until it was about six twenty. “Okay, who wants to go see Uncle Jared and everyone else,” you asked. You got variation of happy sounds so you headed towards the house.

You were almost there when things turned sideways. You tried not to stop, but they swarmed you. You gave your phone to JJ with your dad’s number already dialed. You put had her get on your back. You put a twin on each hip and hugged them close and they returned the favor by burying into you. The second you heard one of the twins start crying, you lost it.

“HEY! BACK THE HELL UP, YOU ARE SCARING THE CHILDREN,” you yelled. The paparazzi went quiet, but you didn’t stop. “You guys would do anything to get a damn story and I’m fucking tired of it! There are better ways to get your stories than ganging up on people! Back the hell up and let me through or I swear to God it’s not going to be pretty,” you glared at the paps in front of you.

They moved slowly to let you through. JJ quietly handed your phone to you as you moved through the crowd who was slowly starting to get louder. “Dad, yeah. I’m three blocks away. Concord Street. Please hurry, I think they’re gonna start up again,” you quietly whispered through the phone.

Not only were the paps freaking your sibling out, but they were freaking you out, but you didn’t get to hide away from them because you were protecting your siblings. You sure as hell weren’t going to let them be even more freaked out by the jackasses.

You backed up from the paps-who were starting their shouting again. “You want a story? Why don’t you write about how paparazzi don’t understand the term ‘personal space’ or how the paparazzi are willing to scare the hell out of three children in order to try and get the juiciest story? I don’t care if you swarm me when I’m alone, but don’t you dare do it when I have my siblings with me! What the hell is wrong with you?!”

More questions were shouted your way and you ignored them. “You wonder why no one wants to talk to you and this is why. You take and take and take and never give back. You do anything for a story that isn’t even true. You twist the words and situations and you give bad reputations to people who deserve so much better than that. Fuck off and stop scaring my family,” you growled, chancing a look behind you to see your father, Jared, and Misha hurrying towards you.

You placed Arrow and Zep down and they ran to your father. You let Misha take JJ and Jared took care of you. Before you could completely walk away, you turned back and got out of Jared’s grip. “And another thing, why don’t you try being decent enough human beings to try and get the stories straight. Stop scaring the shit out of people and book an appointment to talk to someone. Or is that too complicated for you to follow? You should all be fucking ashamed of yourselves! You made children cry, you scarred them and for what? For me to yell at you? For me to yell at you and you to make up a story about how mentally unstable I am? To shine a bad rep on my family? Yeah you should be fucking ashamed,” you growled and let Jared lead you away.

You climbed into the car, biting your lip. All attempts to talk to you slowly died out once you got to Jared’s house. You quickly got out of the car and walked into the house. You bypassed Dani and the others, heading straight for a bathroom. You locked the door behind you and looked into the mirror. You hadn’t realized you’d started crying.

You wiped your tears and let out a couple of shaky breaths. You turned the sink on and splashed your face multiple times before wiping it off. You looked at your form in the mirror, seeing the shaking easily and you took a couple of deep breaths to calm down.

A knock shook you out of your head. “Just a minute,” you called out quietly.

“It’s Tom, open the door, Ackles.”

You debated for a minute before unlocking the door to let him in. He walked in, closing and locking the door behind him. You had sat leaning on the cabinet before Tom had turned to look at you. He joined you on the floor, sitting close enough so that the sides of your bodies barely touched.

It was quiet for a few minutes before Tom spoke. “They don’t know when to stop. They don’t know boundaries and they think that they can do anything. I’m scared of them too. I hate being in the spotlight. It’s okay to be afraid,” he stated.

You leaned a head on his shoulder and wrapped an arm around his waist, “I know...it’s just like they’ve been targeting me and Jay and Arrow and Zep and they freak me out but I can’t show that to my siblings or else they would be even more scared. So I push it back and handle it. Then it all catches up and it crashes down all at once,” you whispered back. Tom’s arm pulled you closer, his head resting on top of yours.

“It’s going to be okay. They’ll find someone else to chase after soon enough.”

“But they shouldn’t! It’s fucked what they’re doing and they know it. They made all three of my siblings cry today, Tom! That’s not alright,” you brought a hand to your face, wiping away your tears.

“I know that. Them making you cry isn’t alright either...but there’s not much we can do about it. We just have to keep moving on and making sure you and your siblings are alright.”

You sighed and nodded slightly. “Yeah...but I need a moment to pull myself together,” you responded.

“And I’m right here to help you get it together.”

Everyone had decided to stay at Jared’s for the night. He had plenty of rooms to share anyway. You couldn’t sleep though. The paparazzi swarm had really gotten to you. Slowly over dinner, you had forgotten about it, even if it was just for a little while, but now it was coming back full force.

You got yourself up from the bed and quietly made your way to the kitchen. You grabbed a glass and filled it with water. You sighed and leaned against the counter. “Couldn’t sleep,” Tom asked from the doorway. His tall frame was covered in shadows.

You shook your head. “My brain won’t shut off,” you whispered.

Tom walked into the kitchen and began getting things out from the cupboards. “I have an idea.”

You shook your head as Tom started putting ingredients into a bowl. “You are insane, Thomas Padalecki,” you laughed and started to help him.

You relaxed into the couch, Tom sitting beside you as you both were eating the cookies you’d made and were drinking the milk. “I’m surprised, they actually taste good,” you looked at Tom.

He fake gasped and placed a hand to his heart, “I’m offended. I am a wonderful cook and baker.”

“The last time you cooked, you burned the pasta.”

“That was one time,” he quietly exclaimed. He placed an arm over your shoulder and leaned further against the couch.

You relaxed even more against him, feeling sleep pull you in. “Thanks for this, Tom. You didn’t have to stay and put up with me,” you yawned.

“I’d do anything to see that beautiful smile on your face,” he responded as you fell into the arms of sleep.

You slowly woke to the sound of muttering voices. As you slowly became aware of everything around you, you felt the arm around your waist. You could also feel the mattress below you moving….wait, that wasn’t a mattress. You opened your eyes and squinted at the light. Somehow during the night, you and Tom had moved to lay fully onto the couch with you on top of Tom.

The voices got slightly louder as they entered from another room. “We should wake them up,” your father stated.

“It looks like they had a long night, Jens, let them sleep,” Gen replied.

“Yeah, let them sleep,” Tom’s chest rumbled under you. His voice was deeper from lack of use. His arm around you tightened slightly as he started to doze off again.

You flushed slightly and bit your lip. “You should see your faces,” Misha lost it. Curious, you looked over the couch to where your father and Jared had varying degrees of shock, excitement, and amusement on their faces.

“Your faces are kind of funny,” you mumbled and placed your head back on Tom’s chest, feeling the tiredness sink in again.

“Oh no you don’t,” your father responded. “Time to go (Y/N).”

“I don’t want to,” you grumbled and snuggled more into Tom’s chest, wishing to go back to sleep. You heard multiple choked laughs at the response. You assumed your father was giving them a look that made them try to be serious.

“Tom, (Y/N) needs to go,” Misha stated.

“No,” he responded.

You laughed quietly. “We can do this again sometime. We can talk later,” you whispered, not really wanting to make your father angry.

Tom made a sad noise but his arm slowly released you. He sighed and sat up. Because you were on his chest, you went with him. “Hello there,” he smirked as your faces were inches from each other.

“H-Hey. Um, I have to-I’ve got to g-go,” you quickly got off Tom and leaned down to give him an awkward hug. “Talk to you later,” you rushed.

“Yeah,” he smiled genuinely. “Maybe next time we won’t be so rudely interrupted,” he smirked.

Your face flushed even redder and you made a couple of unintelligible sounds. “I-uh-I d-don’t think-that’s not-I-bye Tom,” you stuttered and hurried out of the room, catching small glimpses of the adults’ faces. Most were close to cracking up. Jared had a proud but amused look on his face and Jensen’s was stone hard. This was going to be a fun ride home.

Supernaturalites

@dragon-star-light @lifelovelaughangell123 @clarinette07 @jessikared97 @the-wintergirl

[orokinarchives]

Operation: Hostile Mergers

(Jovian Concord hype image)

Operation

On Wednesday (22 May 2019), the event began with the release of Update 25.0 and was set to run until 03 June. Upon logging in, a new mission was available on Jupiter, labelled "Operation: Hostile Mergers Mission 1". This update also contained the Jupiter Gas City tileset rework, and the Amalgam enemies found within.

Mechanics and Missions

The new node on Jupiter, Operation: Hostile Mergers Mission 1, was a Disruption mission on the remastered Gas City tileset. The Tenno had to complete one round of Disruption, and then were given the opportunity to extract. Upon completing the mission, a second node was unlocked on Jupiter, where the Tenno had to complete two rounds of Disruption. Completing the second mission unlocked a third mission with three rounds of Disruption. Completing the third mission unlocked a final node, labelled "Operation: Hostile Mergers Endurance", where the Tenno participated in Disruption for as long as they could.

During Disruption missions, the Tenno would drop into the Gas City and have to hack a door to proceed. Ordis and Alad V would send transmissions throughout the mission. Some of Alad V's transmissions were distinct from his usual ones, spoken in a lower tone of voice and with a darker camera view, and a camera angle high above his head. These transmissions were mostly addressed to an individual called CT, and not intended for the Tenno.

Ordis: "Ordis is detecting Sentient waveforms, Operator. Strange interlink. Splattered in Corpus crosstalk. Bypass that console so we might get a better understanding…."

Alad V: "Oh no! You've caught me! Me and my little partnership! Where's that Lotus when you need her? Now, sniff-sniff, Betrayers. See if you can find the cheese."

(upon hacking door) Ordis: "Outgoing communications cipher…. Not much of a trick for Ordis, is it? Oh, how scandalous! Alad's system has a back door! Shall we… listen in?"

Alad V (to CT): "Ah, more test subjects have arrived. Right on schedule. CT, prepare my Amalgams for further… evolution. I've baited the traps."

Ordis: "These conduits are the source of those Sentient waveforms. This may be worthwhile if we can find the key component… but it does seem a tad convenient, doesn't it?"

Beyond the door, the Tenno could find four terminals of Sentient design. Vapos Corpus enemies would begin to spawn in high numbers, accompanied by occasional Amalgams. Upon death, these Amalgams dropped keys that would activate the terminals.

(upon picking up first key, variant) Alad V: "Almost there, you clever vermin! But what to do next? Can you feel that coming rush? That cocktail of unflinching violence and pseudo-random rewards? Mm, good for business."

(upon picking up first key, variant) Alad V (to CT): "Showtime, CT. Inform our Partners another trial has begun. Prep interference routines. Bait and wait… it's time for Alad V to get back on the corporate map, yes!"

Inserting the keys into the conduit terminals would trigger a 2-minute countdown, and trigger either a boon or a hazard for the Tenno, which would last for the duration of the conduit activation. In addition, a Demolyst would spawn somewhere on the map, and immediately head towards the active conduit. This Demolyst was essentially an improved Amalgam unit that periodically pulsed a nullifier field. If it was able to reach the conduit, it would charge up for roughly 3 seconds before detonating, destroying itself and the conduit. If it was killed before it could detonate, the conduit would be considered safe and the countdown would end.

If the conduit was projecting a hazard and was destroyed, the hazard would persist for the rest of the round. If the conduit was projecting a boon and was defended, the boon would persist for the rest of the round. In all other outcomes, the condition ended once the conduit was no longer active.

(upon activating conduit, variant) Alad V: "In battle, advantage goes to the one most willing to die. And my Demolysts, Tenno? Well, they aren't just willing… they want it."

(upon activating conduit, variant) Alad V: "As a man with everything to lose, I make a point of employing the opposite. Release the Demolyst!"

(upon activating conduit, variant) Alad V: "Feeling a bit… out of sorts, Tenno? Noticing any… performance problems with that metal seashell of yours?"

(upon activating conduit, variant) Alad V: "I've taken my knocks in the past, but, Tenno, you seem a bit sluggish, a bit spent. Are you sure you want to continue?"

(upon activating conduit, variant) Alad V: "Disciples, remember your vows. Increase profits, and decrease… Tenno!"

(upon activating conduit, variant) Alad V: "Demolyst! Target the Conduit… and claim your glory!"

(upon activating conduit, variant) Alad V: "Demolyst! Light your fuse!

(upon activating conduit, variant) Alad V (to CT): "CT, time for a Demolyst."

(upon activating conduit, variant) Alad V (to CT): "CT… they've accessed a Conduit. [sigh] Deploy a Demolyst!"

(upon activating conduit, variant) Alad V (to CT): "Conduit activated! CT, send in a Demolyst."

(upon activating conduit, variant) Alad V (to CT): "They're preoccupied! Now, CT, the Demolyst!"

(upon activating conduit, variant) Alad V (to CT): "Relentless, even when they're spinning on the spit. CT, signal the supply decks. We're going to need additional 'volunteers' for conversion."

(upon activating conduit, variant) Alad V (to CT): "This has gone far enough. CT, cycle the interference routines. We need to knock these freaks down a notch."

(upon activating conduit, variant) Alad V (to CT): "CT, permute the next interference routines. They had better work this time."

(upon activating conduit, variant) Alad V (to CT): "Bait followed by battery followed by bait. I'm getting bored. CT, let's salt our interference routines and dispatch the next Amalgams, yes."

(upon activating conduit, variant) Alad V (to CT): "I need to cut my losses, quick. CT, dispatch updated interference routines… and, uh… lower the room temperature, could you?"

(upon activating conduit with a boon, variant) Alad V (to CT): "What… what if we make the Tenno more of a threat… really see what these Amalgams can do?"

(upon activating conduit with a boon, variant) Alad V (to CT): "Let's flip the script, and see what these Amalgams can do."

(upon activating conduit with a boon, variant) Alad V (to CT): "CT, invert the algorithm. Give them a little false hope."

(upon activating conduit with a boon, variant) Alad V (to CT): "CT, the model is getting a bit predictable. A little morale boost might be good for conditioning, yes."

(upon activating conduit with a boon, variant) Alad V (to CT): "Let the Betrayers have a little fun while we crunch the numbers."

(upon activating conduit with a boon, variant) Alad V (to CT): "Give the Betrayers a little hope, and we'll sink the hook deeper."

(when a conduit is destroyed, variant) Alad V: "Don't be discouraged! Failure has made you what you are… a failure."

(when a conduit is destroyed, variant) Alad V: "Betrayers, frustrated yet? Get used to it."

(when a conduit is destroyed, variant) Alad V: "Will you try again? Will you give me another reason to laugh?"

(when a conduit is destroyed, variant) Alad V: "A pity… you could have used that. Hmm, but I'm bad at sharing, you know."

(when a conduit is destroyed, variant) Alad V: "This week on Nightwave: Tenno lose big, give up on life! Details at the next cycle."

(when a conduit is destroyed, variant) Alad V (to CT): "Finally. Some investments take longer to earn out."

(when a conduit is destroyed, variant) Alad V (to CT): "These disciples finally show some merit. Credit where credit is due: I am an excellent leader."

(when a conduit is destroyed, variant) Alad V (to CT): "CT, fast-track these disciples for promotion… I mean, conversion, of course."

(upon defending conduit) Ordis: "Scans indicate these conduits are connected to a massive stockpile of resources. Just how long is the Operator planning to fight for?"

(upon defending conduit) Ordis: "Operator, the stockpile of tech and resources connected to these conduits seems beyond Alad's means. Where did he get all this?"

(upon defending conduit) Alad V: "Good! Keep it up. Every single bit-stream of this carnage only makes me richer."

(upon defending conduit) Alad V: "Thank you for your generous brutality and violence! My Amalgams have never been better!"

(upon defending conduit) Alad V: "The smart move would be walk away while you still can. Consequences aren't your strong suit, are they?"

(upon defending conduit) Alad V: "Ready for more, Betrayers? I have to admire your greed! Sure! Let's go again!"

(upon defending conduit) Alad V: "Oh, are you still floating there? Like a twit tetrapod, oblivious to the rising heat."

(upon defending conduit) Alad V (to CT): "Steady… steady now, follow the plan. Trials make data, data is sold, Amalgams evolve… Tenno die. And I won't have to beg for mercy from the Partners."

(upon defending conduit) Alad V (to CT): "Useless disciples! CT, is it so hard to get good help these days? The sooner they're all Amalgams, the better."

(upon defending conduit) Alad V (to CT): "CT, rescan the comm channels. I can't shake the feeling that someone's listening in. The Board? Our Partners? I don't know."

Hidden in an out-of-the-way room could be found a datamass. This datamass could be inserted into an active conduit that was projecting a hazard in order to cancel the hazard.

(upon finding conduit failsafe) Ordis: "Some kind of failsafe? If placed in a conduit, it will cancel the running interference routines. Use it wisely, Operator; there's only one!"

After all four conduits had either been defended or destroyed, the round was completed and another round would begin shortly (unless all four terminals were destroyed, whereupon the mission promptly failed).

(during a round, variant) Alad V (to CT): "The data's good, at least. Worth more than a few trinkets to our business partners, yes."

(during a round, variant) Alad V (to CT): "CT, integrate this for the next generational cycle. We need to recoup… aggressively."

(during a round, variant) Alad V (to CT): "Unfortunately. But this is how evolution works. One generation closer to an Amalgam they just can't kill."

(during a round, variant) Alad V (to CT): "Wasteful, but failure teaches faster. Our Partners will be pleased."

(during a round, variant) Alad V (to CT): "I thought you were better than this! You're making me look bad in front of my new business associates."

(during a round, variant) Alad V (to CT): "Another weakness revealed and removed. Who knew these violent prongs would be so good at science!

(during a round, variant) Alad V (to CT): "I don't like this. Inventory as bait was a mistake. What do I do now?"

(during a round, variant) Alad V (to CT): "This is getting out of hand."

(upon completing a round) Alad V: "Take your trinkets. A small price to pay for a superior product."

(upon completing a round) Ordis: "Impressive! Ordis is just fluttering with anticipation! What will the Operator—murder—find next?"

(upon completing a round) Ordis: "Ordis thinks Alad will miss this."

(upon completing a round) Alad V (to CT): "More losses. More debt. How am I going to explain this to that… that thing?"

(upon completing a round) Ordis: "Excellent find. Might the Operator now consider returning to the warm embrace of the Orbiter?"

(upon completing a round) Ordis: "For how much longer will the Operator play along with Alad's twisted game?"

(upon completing a round) Alad V (to CT): "What did they get? This is spiralling on us. I'm hemorrhaging inventory."

(upon completing a round) Ordis: "Ordis will add this to the pile."

(upon completing a round) Ordis: "May Ordis suggest extraction? Nothing Alad has is worth your life."

(upon completing a round) Ordis: "Ordis knows the Operator has the wisdom to choose comfort and safety over material gain. Ordis… is right, is he not?"

(upon completing a round) Alad V (to CT): "CT, transfer more disciples and begin conversion at once. We're deep in the red now."

(waiting for next round, variant) Alad V: "Is that all you're good for?"

(waiting for next round, variant) Alad V: "Stay awhile… stay… forever!"

(waiting for next round, variant) Alad V: "We're just getting reacquainted. Don't leave the party just yet!"

(waiting for next round, variant) Alad V: "Smell that? Newly evolved Amalgams, fresh from the oven! Want a taste?"

(waiting for next round, variant) Alad V: "You could have so much more…."

(waiting for next round, variant) Alad V: "You're greedy, Tenno, very greedy. It's an inspiration to us all."

(waiting for next round, variant) Alad V: "Don't leave, Betrayer! Think of all the science we could be doing…."

(waiting for next round, variant) Alad V: "Impressive performance, Betrayer. But, if you don't mind, we're going to change things up."

(waiting for next round, variant) Alad V: "Keep testing me, Betrayers. And I'll keep testing you."

(when next round starts, variant) Alad V: "The next Amalgam cycle will show you what it means to be on the bleeding edge."

(when next round starts, variant) Alad V: "Destroy them, my Amalgams!"

(when next round starts, variant) Alad V: "We have unfinished business. Shall we?"

(when next round starts, variant) Alad V: "So… feeling better, Tenno? I can fix that."

(when next round starts, variant) Alad V: "Another roll, Betrayers? I think your number's bound to come up."

(when next round starts, variant) Alad V: "I told my Partners you were insatiable… but even I'm impressed!"

(when next round starts, variant) Alad V: "Let's see if that shiny Tenno luck holds."

(when next round starts, variant) Alad V: "I see. Another round? Good to see my greed wearing off on you!"

(when extracting, variant) Alad V (to CT): "It's not an ideal outcome. I just hope it's enough to appease that flying freak [sigh]."

(when extracting, variant) Alad V (to CT): "They'll be back. And my Amalgams will be waiting."

(when extracting, variant) Alad V (to CT): "Costly. CT, send combat results to our Partners, but… omit our losses.

(upon failing, variant) Alad V (to CT): "This… this is how we do it. CT, prepare the revised Amalgam routines for the next production cycle."

(upon failing, variant) Alad V (to CT): "That should keep the Partners happy. Or, at least, less… un-happy. [sigh]"

(upon failing, variant) Alad V (to CT): "Disciples performing well. Perhaps I should start a profit-sharing program? [snickers] No."

(upon failing, variant) Alad V: "Game over! You lose… but take comfort in what that means: that I win! [laughs]"

(upon failing, variant) Alad V: "You got greedy, Tenno. Best leave that to a professional."

(upon failing, variant) Alad V: "Thank you, Tenno. By your thick-headed violent demonstration, my new Partner Amalgams are ready for full production!"

Rewards

After completing the first mission, the Tenno received an inbox message from the Lotus containing an Operation: Hostile Mergers badge.

Inbox message: Success!

You went above and beyond the call of duty today, Tenno. The skill you displayed will inspire your fellow warriors.

—The Lotus

After completing the second and third missions, the Tenno received identical inbox messages containing an Operation: Hostile Mergers sigil and an Aura Forma, respectively.

If the Tenno achieved a score of 1000 on the Endurance mission, they would receive an inbox message from the Lotus containing a Spectra Vandal. If the Tenno achieved a score of 4000 on the Endurance mission, they would receive an inbox message from the Lotus containing a Glaxion Vandal. These inbox messages were identical to the messages received before. Both Endurance goals could be completed on the same run.

The founding warlord of each clan received an inbox message from Ordis with a trophy based on the clan's level of participation in the event.

Inbox message: HOSTILE MERGERS: Maximum Disruption

Operators,

[clan] inflicted maximum disruption to Alad V's Amalgam laboratory. In doing so, you robbed him of resources and strained relations with his Sentient partners.

Ordis has taken the liberty of commissioning this statue. Surely it will become the focal point of whatever room you place it in.

Your loyal Cephalon, Ordis

[Navigation: Hub → Events → Operation: Hostile Mergers]

[falloutdialogue]

Conversations in Sanctuary

A collection of short conversations the Concord group (Marcy and Jun Long, Mama Murphy, Sturges, Preston) have with one another; the player doesn’t participate... they just eavesdrop.

A Walk

Jun Long: Hey Marcy, I was thinking, if you have time later, that maybe you want to go take a walk along the river. Marcy Long: I can't, I have to much to do. Jun Long: Oh...well, maybe I can help. Marcy Long: No, you won't do it right. I have to do it myself. Jun Long: Oh...yeah, okay. Marcy Long: (Sigh.) Jun, I'm sorry. I'm just busy right now. Let me finish up, then we'll go for a walk.

Screaming Last Night

Jun Long: You were screaming again last night. Marcy Long: Oh. Sorry... Jun Long: Do you want to talk about it? Marcy Long: No, I'm fine. I just...I don't want to think about it anymore. Jun Long: It's okay. I still think about him too. Marcy Long: I said I'm fine. Leave me alone, Jun.

Don’t Double Cross a Raider

Marcy Long: Hey Mama, how are you getting along? Mama Murphy: Just fine. It's nice to finally settle down after spending so much time moving around. Marcy Long: Oh, yeah? You spent a little time on the run when you were younger? Mama Murphy: Oh yes, you have to when there's a bounty on your head. A little elderly advice, don't double cross a raider. They hold long grudges. Marcy Long: Yeah, that's good advice... Sounds like quite the adventure. Mama Murphy: It was. Some day I'll tell you all about it.

Checking In on Jun

Sturges: Hey Jun, you hanging in there? Jun Long: Oh, well, I guess so. Every day, I get up and tell myself, "You just have to get through today." Sturges: You've been through a rough time, man. The worst. Just, uh, let me know if there's anything I can do to help. Jun Long: Oh, okay... Hey, uh, I know I haven't been pulling my weight around here. And I'm really trying to do better. Sturges: Come on, there's nothing to apologize for. You worry about you, and everything will take care of itself. Jun Long: Okay. Thanks, Sturges. Thanks for checking in on me. Sturges: Of course. We look out for our own. Always.

Can’t Talk to the Dead

Jun Long: Mama Murphy, can we talk? Mama Murphy: I know what you're gonna ask me, Jun. I've seen it. And there's nothing I can do for ya. Jun Long: But... You have the Sight... It has to be able to... Mama Murphy: It can't talk to the dead, kid. Even the Sight has limits. I'm sorry.

Sturges Meets Codsworth

Sturges: So what do we have here? Codsworth: Good day, sir. I'm Codsworth. Sturges: Hmm. You seem to be in pretty good shape, all things considered. Codsworth: I get by, as best I can. Although I do apologize for the state of the garden. Please don't hold it against my master./missus. I take full responsibility. Sturges: So you've been here all these years? What... waiting for mom and pop to come home? Codsworth: Of course. Sturges: Robots... Well, you may as well make yourself useful. You can leave off tending your, uh... Codsworth: Posies, sir. At least, that's what they were. Sturges: Sure thing. Glad to meet you... Caldwell? Codsworth: Codsworth. Sturges: Right-o. Well, we're the new neighbors. Maybe you can have us over later, for a cup of tea or something. Codsworth: Oh, yes, that sounds lovely. I'll, uh, see what I can do. [to himself] Oh, dear. Where am I going to find tea?

Codsworth Follow Up

Sturges: Hey, Codsworth. Codsworth: Yes, sir? Sturges: You never invited me over for tea. You haven't forgotten about that, have you? Codsworth: Oh, no, of course not, sir. I'm, just... waiting to find a free day in my schedule! Sturges: Okay, then, buddy. You keep doing what you're doing. Seems to be working for you. Codsworth: Yes, sir.

Killed a Deathclaw with One Bullet

Sturges: That Deathclaw in Concord was bad news huh Mama? You ever seen one of those suckers before? Mama Murphy: Oh sure, plenty. One time I killed a Deathclaw all by myself, no power armor and fancy minigun, just a pipe pistol...and one bullet. Sturges: You're telling me you killed a Deathclaw? With one bullet? Come on, who do you take me for? Mama Murphy: It's true. I might not look it, but back in the day I had quite the shot. Sturges: Yeah or quite the imagination...

Mama Murphy Overdoses

Mama Murphy: Oh no... *chuckle* Should've seen this comin'... 

Marcy Long

Are you kidding me? What are we going to do without the Sight?

Everything always goes wrong. What are we even doing here?

Jun Long

This can't be happening... Not again...

She's not moving... Oh god...

Preston

Mama Murphy! Oh god, no...

I told her the chems would kill her... Dammit! I should've done something...

I let it go on. Should've told her no...

Look, just... give me a second here...

Sturges

She's... she's gone...

She's dead... I can't believe it.

I'm... I'm gonna need a moment...

Mama Murphy Overdosed (After a Few Days Pass)

Marcy Long: Can't believe you and Preston let Mama Murphy die like that. You should've stopped her.

Jun Long: I can't believe she's gone. Haven't we suffered enough?

Preston: I hope using the Sight was worth it. The cost has certainly been high enough...

Sturges:  Mama Murphy dying... I know she was old, and a chem user... but sometimes I really thought she was gonna outlive us all...

[janchriseurope]

Those magnificent men in their flying machines...

What a day ... it was awesomnmmmme....

We left West End at 9.30 to head to Duxford, which is closer to Norwich than London. The traffic was relatively heavy but no real hold ups. Saw some amazing cars... Alpha Romeo, two Bentley’s, one of which was a soft top, and an e-type Jag.

We arrived just after 11 and were amazed at the size of the complex. As we got out of the car, we heard a tonky engine start up... both Chris’s headed for the fence... a Harvard was getting ready to take off.

There are 8 areas to see, so off to the far end... hang on ... there are spitfires on the runway, exciting... OMG they going to fly... well that set the theme of the day....

As we were walking towards #8, I heard a deep rumble and said .. hey what’s that.... hmm the boys said.... it’s coming from that building ... no I said, it wasn’t ... I’m sure it’s out here... with that a Spitfire flew through... two nil to Janet!!!! I knows me Spitfire engine sound....

The number 8 area was about the ground war. As we approached, leaving CW at the fence, I thought hi hum.... more tanks... seen 150 of them... however, this area was more than tanks, it was full of life sized dioramas of trenches, deserts and towns. Really scary seeing a broken home with a bloody big tank hiding inside... there was a large information area on D-Day. Monty’s vans for his office, bedroom including a bath and another one for his map/ situation room were beside a raised area so you could look in..

One thing really got me as a Kiwi.... was the sign, The Forgotten War. Conflict in Asia and the Pacific.... hmm. It was a shock to see it as a ‘minor player’, because to us ANZACS it was such a major influence of the character of our side of the world ....

The four of us would wander off to something of interest then meet up again and look some more...

Number 7 was the American Air Museum... it was amazing how many big planes they could fit in that area, including a stelf fighter, a B52 and a drone.

We grabbed a cup of coffee and decided to go looking for a restaurant for lunch.

We then headed for the #4 display area... hold up Spitfire flying... CW headed out the door in a hurry to get to the fence... I apologised to the staff member, who was actually trying to enter at the same time, and explained that we were Kiwis and didn’t get to see Spitfires flying very often. He asked if Chris was keen on them... oh Yeah.. so he asked if he could borrow Chris for 10 minutes. We had to look a fair distance to find Chris to point him out, but the lovely gentleman headed out and took him off to Hangar 3. Mary, CA and I stayed to have a look at the planes.. I heard the Spitfire return so took off back outside to take a video or two.

I headed off to find CW as he’d been gone longer than 10 minutes. He was in heaven. More Spitfires and the lovely man had actually taken Chris inside the roped off area. He even took Chris’s picture next to them. We chatted and then the boss turned up and explained that the Spitfire we were looking at was the most original they had. It was owned and flown by Ray Hanna the Red Arrows Ace. (Born in NZ).

We backtracked to #4 to find out what we had missed and met the most amazing gentleman. Sgt Bernard Morgan, and a young Sgt pushing him around in a wheelchair. The 95 year old was wearing a chestnut of medals including the French Legion d’honoure. He was extremely enthusiastic about talking to people and explaining that he had been on Gold Beach on 6 June. He was a code breaker in the Airforce so was on the beach to supply information as it came. He still has the message of wars end that came through his office. What a real privilege to meet him. The young Sgt with him was a rugby fan, he’d been to NZ in the Lions Trip. Chris took his All Black badge from his cap and gave it to the sgt. There was a large group of what we’d call ATC cadets wandering around - the young Sgt was their ‘boss’.

More flight watching, Spitfires, byplanes, mustang, Harvard, Kittyhawk, as well as ‘modern’ helicopters(think they were mainly bird scarred) and planes all flew during the day. What a thrill. Both Chris’s went on the Spitfire flight simulator.

Into #2 display which had private that are operational. In the second room was a very tiny acrobatic plane. We all can’t figure how you could fit in it. A few planes were missing as they were out flying. There were adverts for this weekends aurshow for the 75th Ann DDay. We all thought we had a far better day because we weren’t tripping over 20000 off other spectators. As it was there were at least 6 different school groups wandering through.

Display #1 was Airspace. Here there were some amazing planes, the Concorde-we got to walk right underneath. A Harrier, a Sunderland, Mosquito and a Lancaster Bomber as well as a number of others. All close to look at but not tough!!

By this time it was 5.15 so we headed to the shop to see what we could buy. Ouch. Souvenirs are expensive!! A few badges and books later, we met up with Mary and CA and headed for the car park.

It was beer O’clock. Into the countryside, and pub hunting. Chris A had, as a young man, spent some happy hours in The Tickell at Whittlesford. Two beers and twines later, we were in the mood, albeit tired, to head back down the motorway to home and a light tea at 9.00pm.

We didn’t need rocking!

[crispyjenkins]

I just fell on your jangobi fix-it and... Uh... Alright if it's a future fix maybe not a prompt for this verse but else what about another jangobi? Something sweet and cuddly? Have a good day and much love to you ♥

(i’m almost done with the first chapter of the fix-it, so will maybe be able to post it soon?? but have an experiment with another one of my au’s where boba is force sensitive and jango is Big Gay so doesn’t know how to ask for help properly and somehow convinces obi to teach him the basics by rescuing him on geonosis when he was unable to get a message to anakin. it a mess. i hope boba cuddles suffice!

AND MUCH LOVE TO YOU i hope you stay safe and healthy!     (づ￣ ³￣)づ )

  “You’ll have to let me go eventually,” Obi-Wan says one night, with Boba sitting in his lap meditating. Jango looks up from the datapad where he’s calculating their next jump, and raises an eyebrow at Obi-Wan’s serene expression. 

  The jetii had appropriated a stretch of floor in the galley for a folded blanket to act as a meditation mat, which means Jango can keep an eye on them during Boba’s lessons, but Jango has come to find it’s a lot less moving things with your mind and a lot more sitting around thinking. Boba seems to be enjoying himself, though, even if Jango isn’t used to seeing his kid so calm for such long stretches of time.

  He shakes away the thought and focuses back on Obi-Wan, who isn’t even looking at him, his eyes closed as he pretends to meditate for Boba’s sake. 

  Jango snorts. “I don’t have you under a suppressor,” he says, adding another digit to his calculation. “You could have escaped weeks ago.”

  “Mm, perhaps,” Obi-Wan murmurs with that kriffing smile that makes Jango want to shoot him and be done with it. But Boba still needs a teacher, and Jango doubts he’d forgive him if he tried to kill Obi-Wan. Again, anyways. 

  “I think you’re avoiding the jetiise,” Jango says, like this is something they do, and they don’t: they try their damndest to stay away from this topic, to talk about almost anything else to avoid being reminded of how precarious this arrangement is. 

  They’re existing on borrowed time, and Jango knows Obi-Wan is too perfect a Jedi to leave the war for much longer. He’s spoken with that padawan of his, of course, but there’s no possible course of events where Obi-Wan doesn’t return for him. No matter how much Jango might want him not to. 

  Obi-Wan lets out a little sigh, the sound impossibly intimate in the quiet rumble of the ship. “Jango,” he says and finally opens his eyes. He checks on Boba first, expression the sort of affectionate that has gotten Jango into more trouble than he cares to admit. 

  Carefully brushing the hair from Boba’s face, Obi-Wan somehow manages not to disturb the kid from his trancelike state as he drops a kiss onto his forehead. 

  They’ve been at this for five ten-days, sequestered in the Slave I and only making landfall on neutral planets long enough to restock, and yet it sometimes feels as if Obi-Wan has always traveled with them. As if he’s always puttered sleepily around the galley in the morning making hetikleyc caf, or helped Boba with his reading lessons, or joined Jango in the cockpit after Boba’s gone to bed. As if their... scuffle on Kamino had never happened.

  “I cannot abandon Anakin,” Obi-Wan murmurs, glancing up with that serene expression peeling at the edges. 

  “I wouldn’t ask you to.”

  He sighs again. “I know you wouldn’t, just as I would never ask you to part with Boba. And I cannot abandon my family to face this war alone, I cannot ignore the Jedi’s place in it, but I... would not abandon you and Boba, either.”

  Which is the crux of the problem, isn’t it? That Jango has ruined this man by forcing him to choose between two families.

  Well, in his defense, he hadn’t gone into this with the intention of getting attached, either him or Boba, but Jango should have known better, with the sort of luck he’s been living with since he was ten standard years. It makes him wonder about Obi-Wan’s own luck, if it landed him here with them.

  With him.

  Obi-Wan’s eyes narrow as if he knows what he’s thinking, but is luckily trapped until Boba resurfaces, so Jango is safe to level him with a glare warning him against reading his mind. 

  Scoffing, Obi-Wan straightens against the wall. “You do not intimidate me, Jango Fett.”

  “There must be something keeping you here,” Jango snorts, “and I don’t think it’s my charming smile.”

  “No, it’s the charming smile of your progeny,” he returns easily, any bite softened by the fact Boba is leant against his chest like he belongs there. Then Obi-Wan’s smile slips a little, and Jango knows the Slave I is too small to run from this conversation. “What do you plan to do?”

  Jango lets out a slow breath and sets aside his datapad, somehow already exhausted with this. “Well, we can’t go back to Kamino, not unless the jetiise are suddenly willing to be very, very forgiving,” he says, unsurprised by Obi-Wan’s grimace of agreement. “I was thinking Concord Dawn.”

  “That’s a gamble. Are you in contact with other Haat Mando’ade?”

  Jango grunts. “Not any that would be willing to give us asylum. But there are a few old clans that might help us get on our feet.”

  “You could...” Obi-Wan clears his throat and lets his face twist. “You should stay in neutral systems, I can’t imagine Count Dooku would take kindly to you in CIS space.”

  Jango hmms non-committedly, eyeing him; sometimes Obi-Wan has all the subtlety of a rancor, when it’s something he’s overthinking, and Jango would really rather he didn’t have to think about why he knows that. 

  “I cannot read minds, Kenobi,” he offers, when Obi-Wan has gone back to watching Boba meditate. 

  “Ah, well.” He clears his throat again, Jango noting with backburner delight that he’s blushing underneath his beard. “It... crossed my mind that Stewjon has remained a neutral party in every galactic conflict since its first settlers. Their system is too small for the CIS to care about, and the Senate gave up on them decades ago.”

  “Stewjon,” Jango repeats and, even knowing that it’s impossible to follow Obi-Wan’s thought process at all times, it still throws him off centre. He only knows Stewjon even exists because he almost hyperjumped through it on his first flight with Jaster, and you don’t tend to forget the planet you almost exploded with bad math. “Alright, jetii, I’ll bite: what’s on Stewjon?” Obi-Wan’s expression twitches, the fact he won’t meet Jango’s eye more telling than any lie he might be thinking up. Jango knows him too well, too fast, to be fooled. “I thought you were a temple bastard.”

  “I was,” he says softly, brushing over Boba’s hair again. “The healers do genetic tests to make sure they don’t accidentally poison the younglings. I never went looking for my family, but I’ve visited Stewjon for cultural festivals several times; the Stewjoni are a bit insular, but are welcoming to refugees. They have similar creeds as Mando’ade regarding children, and would certainly welcome Boba into their schools.”

  This is bigger than Jango has the time to process at the moment, bigger than the way Obi-Wan has let Jango hold his ‘saber or see him without his many layers, bigger than the way Obi-Wan has stuck around them by choice for so long. Jango doesn’t try to stop himself from asking, “And does your ad know about this?”

  “No. I’ve never told Anakin.”

  “Then why in Corellian Hells are you telling me.” 

  Obi-Wan shrugs, but that’s not good enough. Jango pushes himself to his feet to lean against the table instead, and maybe Obi-Wan also knows him too well, too fast, when that’s all it takes for him to give in. 

  “I can’t keep Anakin away from the war, not with what the Senate is asking of the Jedi. I can’t keep any of them safe, not even the younglings, but I can get you and Boba somewhere as far away as possible.”

  “You don’t owe us anything, Obi-Wan,” Jango says. “If anything, I owe you.”

  “For the kidnapping, yes,” Obi-Wan chuckles, like he hadn’t been forcibly rescued from his execution on Geonosis by the very bounty hunter he had been trying to apprehend, and then forced at blaster-point to train his force-sensitive clone son to control his newfound powers. “I do not have to owe you anything to help you, Jango. That’s somewhat the core of the Jedi code.”

  “Still,” he grumbles. That smile returns, and it really would just be easier to shoot him. Then, against his better judgement but with Sheeka a burning hole in his mind, Jango says, “And when the war is over?”

  Obi-Wan fully flinches and drops his gaze. “Well, it’s a little early for that sort of talk, isn’t it?” And it doesn’t matter if he means early in the war, or early for them, because Jango knows his answer will be the same. 

  He watches Obi-Wan start to coax Boba back to reality, his kid blinking back awake to the soft lights of the galley, and tucks that question away for later. War waits for no one, least of all them. 

Mando’a: jetii — Jedi, pl. jetiise hetikleyc caf — Mandalorian spiced caf, lit. spicy caf (fan creation courtesy of @atelier-dayz​ !) Haat Mando’ade — lit. true children of Mandalore, i.e. True Mandalorians ad — child, kid. gender neutral 

[chemaddictedghoul]

Chapter one: 50 years? More like 210

WORD COUNT: 2313 Summary: Anne takes her last steps in vault 111, and her first steps into her new life. To Concord we go...

A/N: Am I writing a fic all about my FO4 playthrough? And breaking canon a bunch? yep. If you’re not into slightly shitty writing or a very shippy fic, then I’m sorry. If you follow my main, then the characters will be a bit more familiar. Anyways. yeah! Chapter one!

i need a tag for this story sksks

By the time Anne had grabbed up the pipboy and was standing before the vault door, watching it unscrew, she had thrown up several times. The first was when she got out of the cryo-pod. She had just seen her husband murdered, after all. Of course her guts would fail. The second time was when she saw the first giant cockroach. It was just so... disgusting. The sound it made, the way she had to crush it with her hand... It made her retch. The third time was when she saw all the skeletons. Each and every one of them made her gag, but the doctor with the pipboy was what did it. It was probably a mix of the cockroach she had to kill, and the way her hand brushed the bones before she got the pipboy itself. She blew off the dust of the screen, coughing as she accidentially inhaled some. That would probably come back to bite her in the ass, but she didn't know. It took just a couple seconds for the pipboy to boot up, and just a couple more for her to insert the plug into the vault door controls to start opening it. Anne had pressed the button, and ran over to the platform. And that is how she ended up there, and empty stomach and a gun in hand. She watched the large door unscrew with a loud screech, the rusty metals opening up. How... How long had she been in there? It had to be years... Her mind flashed back to the man, and what looked like a robotic arm on him. Maybe she was just too middle class to have seen. But she saw the bombs. No life would exist for years. No way. So safe money was on at least five decades. Fifty years. That seemed logical, right? She didn't have time to keep questioning the time, because the vault door had opened and the elevator and came to a screaming halt at the bottom. Anne slowly crept forward, eyes widening at the elevator. She was going to get out. But she wasn't sure she was ready. What... What would the world be like? Would there be life? Would people have rebuilt? Or would there me nothing left? Would it be hopeless, some desolate wasteland with nothing left? Anne swallowed, and suddenly the gun weighed heavily in her hand. What if she couldn't take what she saw? But she quickly pushed away the thought. No, she had to push through. She had to rescue her baby. She had to rescue Shaun. And besides, she didn't have time to contemplate such drastic measures; she had arrived at the elevator. She took a deep breath and stepped forward. The doors closed behind her, and the elevator started going up. Going up to the new world. To her new life. The elevator couldn't have gone any slower. It just crawled up, groaning at the lack of care and the sudden use. But it did it's job, and made it up. Anne gave a bitter laugh as it almost reached the top. What if it had collapsed? Wouldn't that be some climactic end to her journey? It didn't fall, and soon the vault door began to open. The sunlight instantly filtered through, nearly blinding her. She squinted, holding her hand over her eyes as the doors kept opening. The sun was directly overhead,  lighting up the moving platform. Then, it finally stopped, leaving her to take in the view. Everything was dead. The trees hardly had any leaves on it, and the grass was all yellow. Hardly anything had grown around the vault. Anne gasped, slowly falling to her knees. Right in front of her was her old neighborhood, standing mostly unruined. She choked back a sob, forcing herself up. She couldn't take time to pity herself. Rather than walking down the path she had traveled so many years before, Anne slid directly down. She knew those people would've died, and she couldn't bear the thought to see them. She moved the gun to her other hand, shaking out her wrist as she began to walk. Crossing that old bridge. Walking the dusty path. The neighboorhood loomed before her, the simple blue colors of the building having faded over time. She took each step slowly, taking in the views. The air was dusty, choking her out as she walked. She had to fight for each breath, but she slowly got used to it. By the time she reached her old house, her lungs were used to the unclean air. Which was good for her. Standing--or rather, floating-- before her was Codsworth, her loyal Mister Handy robot. He focused his eyes on her, in his own way of showing shock. "As I live and breathe... It's you..! It's really you!" Codsworth turned his body around, floating towards her. Anne laughed softly. Even if he didn't intend to, Codsworth filled her with some slight happiness. He was a welcome sight, for sure. "Yeah... It's me." Anne set down the gun, and opened up her arms. Less like asking for a hug, and more like showcasing her body. Codsworth seemed as happy as a robot could. "You're still here..." And then it hit her. "Then... Then that means other people could be alive, too!" "Well of course I'm still here! Surely you don't think a little radiation could deter the pride of General Atomics Internation?" Had he been a human, or even an animal, he would be puffing out his chest in pride. It made Anne smile again. "But you seem the worse for wear. Best not let the hubby see you in that state. Where is sir, by the way?" Anne's smile faded away. He was... Gone. He was shot and killed by a man with a scar. Anne clenched her fist for just a second, blinking rapidly. "They... Came into the vault. M-Maybe you saw them? They had guns... And strange outfits?" "Ah, no. Only Ms. Rosa's boy, running around in his Halloween costume, more than a week early. I swear, the nerve of that woman leaving her brat unsupervised..." Codsworth hummed, his tone indignant. "Ah, not like you, mum. You're the perfect mother. And sir is.... Oh, where is sir, by the by?" Anne bit back a sob, shaking her head and blinking again. "He's... He's in a better place." "Mum, these things you're saying, these... these terrible things... I... I believe you need a distraction. Yes! A distraction, to calm this dire mood. It's been ages since we've had a proper family activity. Checkers. Or perhaps charades. Shaun does so love that game. IS the lad... With you?" Codsworth leaned closer, like a curious kid. The memory flashed, just as vividly as when it happened. "It doesn't make sense... I just don't get it... There's no reason somebody would take my baby..." Anne held her head in her hands, trying and failing to block it all out. And to think, she thought she lost everything when the bombs dropped. How wrong could she be? "It's worse than I thought. Hmm hmm. You're suffering from... hunger induced paranoia! Not eating properly for 200 hundred years will do that, I'm afriad." Anne's legs gave out. She fell down to the ground, her arms the only thing keeping her from faceplanting. He... He couldn't be serious, could he? "200 years? W-What? Are you...?" "A bit over 210 actually, mum. Give or take a little for the Earth's rotation and some minor dings to the ole' chronometer." Codsworth lowered himself, letting Anne use him to get herself back up again. Instinctivly, she brushed the dirt off of herself. She then looked back at him. "That means you're two centuries late for dinner! Hah! Perhaps I can whip you up a snack? You must be famished," he continued. Even if Codsworth hadn't been acting strange, Anne could definately not stomach anything right now. Or ever. "Codsworth, you're acting a bit strange... Are you alright?" She asked. The fact that should could somehow managed to get some coherent thought out surprised her. Guess she wasn't as bad as she had thought. "I... I... Oh, mmum, it's been just horrible! Two centuries with no one to talk to, no one to serve. I spent the first ten years trying to keep the floors waxed, but nothing gets nuclear fallout from vinyl wood. Nothing!" He leaned closer to her. "And don't get me started on the futility of dusting a collapsed house. And the car! The car! How do you polish rust?!" "What do you know, Codsworth," Anne asked. Maybe just talking to him like he wasn't having the robot equivilant of a mental breakdown would help him out. Codsworth lowered his eyes. "I'm afraid I don't know anything, mum. The bombs came, and all of you left in such a hurry. I thought for certain you and your family were... dead. I did find this holotape. I believe sir was going to present it to you. As a surprise. But then, well... Everything 'happened'." He extended a claw hand, giving her the holotape. Written on it, in Nate's unmistakable handwriting, was "Hi, honey!" Anne, inserted it into the pipboy, but she didn't play it. Not right now. Not yet. "Thank you, Codsworth. It's something." "Well, enough feeling sorry for myself!" And just like that, his entire mood changed. Anne wished she could do that. It would make her life so much easier. "Well, shall we search the neighborhood ourselves? Maybe sir and young Shaun will turn up!" Anne knew that they wouldn't turn up. She saw Nate killed and Shaun kidnapped. But being with Codsworth would be welcome. It would help her. "Alright, Codsworth. Lead the way." Anne gave him a smile, and touched the cool steel of his body. He turned around, keeping one of his eyes on her as  he started off. "Tally-ho!" Codsworth took the lead, taking her over to one of the uncollapsed houses. He quickly located some giant bug, and burned it alive. Anne snuck past him, and one of those giant cockroaches came running at her. She shot it, shuddering. Codsworth had went down the hallway and had burned up several more bugs. "Just some bugs here... Oh wait, my sensors are detecting movement! Follow me!" He rushed out of the house, towards another house full of bugs. Anne let him take the lead on this one, hanging back outside. Those bugs would be the death of her... But then again, 200 hundred years could do some mutation... 200 hundred years. Her estimate of 50 seemed somewhat off. Codsworth came out much slower, eyes drooping. "Sir and young Shaun are really gone, are they..?" "No. Shaun is out there. He's alive. My baby has to be alive." Anne stepped forward, closer to him. Codsworth straighted up his eyes. "Then might I suggest you head down to Concord? There are some people there, and they only managed to hit my with a few rocks... Perhaps they could help you?" He suggested. If a robot could look hopeful, he was a perfect example. Anne smiled softly. "Thank you, Codsworth... I'm glad you're okay." "Of course I am! Good luck, Miss Anne! I shall hold down the fort while you search for young Shaun!" And Codsworth floated past her with a new energy. He had a purpose now. Anne watched him going, looking down at the gun in her hand. Who knew working for somebody could be your purpose in life? But then again, that is how he was programmed. Anne pushed the thought away, looking towards the bridge out of the neighborhood. She then started walking, crossing the rickety bridge slowly. There was a dead man laying on the ground, a gun a few feet away from him. Anne knelt down beside him, touching his coat. There was hardly any blood, and it felt much sturdier than her vault jumpsuit. She peeled it off the man, putting it on herself. It fit pretty well. Yeah, she was wearing a dead man's clothes, but it could be worse. She rifled through the pockets, feeling quite a bit of ammo in there. She then walked over and picked up the gun. It looked like some type of rifle, but she wasn't sure. Being married to a soldier had it's perks. As a result, Nate constantly taught her little things. One of which was how to use many guns. Anne popped out the mostly empty magazine, discarding it. She felt the belt around it, and slung it around her body with a smile. A real wasteland hero in the making. She then continued walking. A little ways down the road was an old gas station, a Red Rocket. She had to get much closer to it, however, to notice the dog. He ran up to her, sniffing her with that usual dog-like excitement. Anne looked at him, and knelt down. "Hey there, boy... How's it going?" The dog rested his muzzle in her paw, letting her tilt his head up. He then started panting, like he was smiling. Anne laughed. "Well I guess you're coming with me. Come on, buddy." She stood up, groaning quietly. She would have to do a lot of working out, now. At least she would get her dream body. Anne started walking away, and the dog trailed behind her. A little ways down the road, there were a couple huge mosquitos buzzing around. They hadn't noticed Anne or the dog yet,  so just a couple shots from her new rifle took care of them. This was her new life now. Anne looked at the city in front of her, sighing softly. She reached down to give the dog a scratch. They were going to find Shaun. They were going to avenge Nate. To Concord they go.

[invisible-allover-blog]

creative writing

abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz

"Too many bongs" silly bastard.

So it started when i was around 15 my cousin was living with me and my Dad, he smoked pot, so did my aunty but ill get into that in a bit. I used to sneak into my cousins room and look for crumbs of weed in his draws if i found some i would scarpe them up run into my room and roll a joint. And then off too school i went. I was on the bus right (thought i was super stoned) smelt more like tobacco but oh well i was just getting into it. I packed myself a tin of baked beens and some other garbage thought it was hilarious and sat next to a girl from highschool and giggled the whole was. That was loads of fun. Serously, it was dont mind my monotone like writing im just not in the descriptive mood you know. It gets like that after too many trips. So off on the gateway heaven to drugs (not good, dont condone. sarcasm) And then my favourite cousin, the on i grew up with just around the corner from me and i would sneak into my aunties room and scuffle around ooking for scrapings of weed on the ground we got high all the bloody time and i dont regret that for a second.. i regret it for a lot more. Im starting to feel depressed brb having some valium. I needed to take the edge off. Its unfortunate weed does that to some people. Im starting to really question the war on drugs, and wheres the fucking happy pill? I remember one time me and some of my old friends "were out the back" (where we would smoke bongs) saw her dog eat a whole lizard we cracked up so fucking hard. She literally dug it out of the ground. Its funny being a teenager and thinking your being all stealth mode while your parents know exactly what your doing. We had this weird ongoing joke that we were gagging and spewing after bongs just to see who would actually spew from it. it was hilarious. I wont write about all of that.

"a Fucking cigarette" for fuck sake.

so it all started when i was 18 i began to lose my mind. I walked outside and saw the moon beaming. i looked up to the stars and wondered if i was alone. Were there aliens above me? was i sent from above. "clearly i was delusion, says the nagging voice in my head. But i was so filled with wonder, i felt wonderful. This was after smoking a cigarette.. benson and hedges ofcourse. I felt as if i was on a trip. I didnt know whether or not there was drugs in me but looking back its okay. It was a memory... a thought maybe i should get Mr Burns with radiation poising tattood on my overly big calves. Hmm probably not. So, that was my first paranoid delusion which in retrospect is a conspiracy that many people have delved into in he past and havent given up on themselves. but was it heresay for them and experience for us? Thats the question that was just on my mind, Hmm. I was told not long after my eighteenth birthday that i was not going to "make it in life" because i hadnt been to university or finished highschool. So off in an ambulance to the nuthouse i went. Because of PSTD i wont go into it, but i will say this; dont give up before youve really understood yourself and the world. dont giv up ever. Suicide, delusions, conspiracys are memories adventures and i didnt line that up perfectly but look life is life, and there aint nothing better than that. Life is an awfully big adventure. Peter pan quote, flipped on its head for ya.

"Lulu" my baby pup.

So itd been a long hard 3 months in hospital, i had just gone through another mental beating off of the nurses. One of them pulled my hair. Cunt. In his defence i spat a pill at him cause i was sick of being over drugged. Valium, seroquel, clopixal, flouxitine, clozapine. and many acufazes... they inject the violent patients with it. I couldnt help it id gotten into my first cat fight and enjoyed it a little too much. They locked me in there and then wouldnt let me go to the toilet. So i pissed on there motherfucking floor. "Ha!" had to clean that one up didnt ya hospital. It was really in humane the way they wre treating people honestly its like american horror story back there, where the people never get out. I had a vivid dream that someone was going to kill me. i wasnt wrong they literally dressed up in all black and came for me. i woke up and remembered the one thing my ex told me "i hope you scream" and so i did and he/she ran away i had suspicions that the black hooded figure crept into the medicine room... the room noone ever walked in or out of? Hmm. i wnder what they are hiding. another DREAM i was having was that there were homeless people hiding in the bushes outside of concord waiting to kill. i guess they chose to see red. idiots. Its been a long 10 years discovering the world isnt all rainbows and butterflies. And im over the hospital trying to cover there arses. be gone with it, they are using it as a prison now, trust me. I saw the badges. I was let go, thank fuck for that. My dogs barking madly outside. PRobably seing things pretty sure my dog sees dead people "haha" or possibly shes seeing things in time. I do believe its possible but what it is is a delay in the workings of the universe. Dont tell me that i know theres time differences. I didnt go to uni to have to see to believe. Thre was a woman that was pregnant in there, she smeared shit all over the walls so im guessing she never even got let out to do that. WHAT THE FUCK! SERIOUSLY! I guess the toughst people do go through the toughest battles. Im an aussie battler. ive never used that one before, that saying i mean. i really hope my first love doesnt end his life. Same with my most recent ex he just got out of a relationship with me and went straight back to his first love, and to me thats okay. Its good, im glad. I was going to hold him back ya know? i really was he had money and everything. Thats another thing the test of time has taught me. Love and let go. Wow it just dawned on me that the saying if you love something let it go... wait im changing that if you love someone let them go, and if they go and dont come back theyve moved on positively or negatively. I cant help falling inlove with the feeling of love over and over again. He told me he was going to marry me, were just kids. I wonder if ill ever find someone to love me again. I thought i was depressed and broken hearted. and i really was, i couldnt eat i couldnt sleep i couldnt speak.

"whinging again" the fucking hospital Theyve taken so much blood off of me its unbelievable, okay done whinging.

"sex" here we go. i havent had sex in so long, it feels like years. I cant help that my thing is to make love and really connect on that level where your both in it. really enjoying it.

"by the way" the man that stalked and preyed on kids is locked in a basement getting the shit beaten out of him. I think maybe torture is enough. lay him to rest.