#aftershocks

[finn-m-corvex]

Aftershocks Pt. 1 - Cole

The first of the stories that you all voted on for October's poll! Since the poll tied, I said that you guys would be getting TWO stories on the same day instead of just one, and that's still happening! This one will be going up in the morning, and then Falling Sleeves will be going up in the afternoon, so I hope you guys enjoy this double-whammy. Lightning in a Cubicle Pt. 3 is also going up tomorrow just in time for DR Pt. 2!

Words: 3.7k

TWs: sensory overload stuff, vomiting mention but nothing graphic, lots of fluffy moments bc it's Whumptober and I can do that kinda stuff.

Jay shivered where he stood in the kitchen, reaching up into the cabinet to grab a clean glass so he could get some much-needed water. He ignored the way his vision suddenly tilted to the right, gripping the countertop in an effort to stay standing against the wave of vertigo that threatened to draw him under. Nausea rolled through his head, and it took everything in him not to duck his head into the sink and throw up every bit of bile in his body.

This sucked.

He reached up to try and rub circles into his aching temple before recoiling, blue sparks trailing from his fingers as he drew them away. Instead of trying again, Jay just shoved his hand back into the hoodie's large pocket with a defeated sound. Guess that little trick of his wasn’t going to work this time, which would of course make this a thousand times more miserable.

Skin crawling from the scratchy t-shirt he had on, Jay ignored the way the hoodie felt uneven on his shoulders no matter how many times he readjusted it. His socks felt like they were suffocating his feet, and the hair stuck to the back of his neck with sweat made him feel claustrophobic; the only thing not bothering him at the moment were his pants, but he wasn’t sure how long that was going to last. At the moment Jay wanted nothing more than to curl up in his bed on fresh sheets in nothing but his boxers, wrapped up in his favorite weighted blanket and sleeping the day away. Except he couldn’t do that, because then he would have to explain his current predicament to the others, and he did not feel like playing a game of twenty questions when he was feeling this sucky.

Definitely overdid it on the last mission, he thought to himself as he finally snatched the glass, shuffling over to the sink to fill it. The motions sent familiar waves of pain radiating through his legs, pins and needles burying themselves deep into his skin. Jay turned the sink on, and immediately had to turn it off because when did it get so loud? 

Preparing himself properly this time, he filled his glass, even if the sound of the rushing water made him want to smash his head into the wall. He raised the glass to his lips, taking a very shaky sip of water; it was the first time he had drank anything in a day and a half.

First Master, he wanted a hug. He wanted a hug so badly. A tight one, a loose one, even a side-hug, he would take anything at this point.

Why were his hands shaking so bad? He knew why, of course, but he was going to ignore the problem for as long as he possibly could. Part of him wondered if he could make it to the laundry room and grab his compression gloves without the others noticing; those would definitely help. Zane had insisted on washing them after their last mission since it had involved quite a trek through the muddy woodlands of Primeval's Eye, and the gloves hadn't escaped unscathed.

His plan of ignoring all of his ailments was shot down pretty quickly when Cole came strolling into the kitchen only a minute later, flicking the light switch that Jay had intentionally left alone.

The blue ninja gave a small cry, free hand tangling itself in his hair as his vision whited out because ow ow ow it hurts it hurts-

Cole quickly turned the lights off, and Jay was left gasping for breath at the counter as his vision came swimming back into focus. It was a miracle that the glass hadn't slipped from his fingers and cracked on the floor. The hand buried in his hair started tugging in distress as Jay's barely contained panic threatened to rise to the surface, lightning struggling to leap from his body into any available surface willing to ground it. Why did his element always have to act up at the worst of times?

"Jay?" Cole asked, and Jay flinched because why was he talking so loudly? "What are you doing in here with the lights off? You okay?" 

He put the glass down onto the counter, leaning on his elbows over the sink. He wasn't entirely sure if he was going to throw up or not. "Headache."

The earth ninja made a small concerned noise that made Jay want to cry; Cole was definitely upset with him. "You overdid it on the mission, didn't you?"

And he was not in the headspace to be lectured; he was barely coherent enough to think of basic sentences. "Not right now, Cole-" 

"You told us when we got back that you would be fine!" Cole continued, "But you weren't, were you? I bet you got home and thought you could take care of it yourself but-"

Jay pitching forward into the sink with a strangled gagging sound was not what the ravenette was expecting to happen, but he quickly adapted to the new situation. Jay's fingers kept tugging on his hair so hard that it started to hurt, and the extra stimulation just made the lightning in his gut even stronger as it responded to Jay’s distress. Skin crawling, Jay’s fingers went to itch at the skin on his forearm, hoping for any sort of sensation to distract him from the pounding in his head.

"Stop it, Jay, that's not helping. Here, I gotcha,” Cole quickly did his best to break the vicious cycle, untangling Jay's hand from his hair and replacing it with his own larger one. He wrapped his arm around the front of Jay’s torso, frowning at the intensity of the smaller ninja’s shaking.

The blue ninja only sunk into Cole’s hold, shoving as much of his body weight onto his brother as he could. Somehow, Cole’s touch made the crawling so much easier to manage, and now Jay wanted nothing more than to be in his brother’s arms for as long as he wanted.

Cole squeezed Jay tightly. “I think you need to lay down, Sparky. C’mon, we’ll go to the couch.”

Except Jay couldn’t move. He whined when Cole tried to pull him away from the sink, knuckles going white with the force of his grip on the counter’s edge. Cole winced in sympathy when Jay vomited again, the sound of his gagging echoing off of the small kitchen walls as nothing came up (that was concerning in itself). He rubbed his brother’s back comfortingly, his hand in the auburn hair working to keep Jay’s bangs out of his face.

“Thank you,” Jay panted softly, spitting into the basin with disgust.

“Anytime. You really don’t feel good, huh?” Cole said softly, grunting as Jay nearly collapsed onto him.

“What was your first clue?” Jay snapped, even though he knew it wasn’t Cole’s fault he was feeling like shit, it was his. Reaching behind him and wincing from the feel of the fabric under his fingers, Jay drew his sweatshirt hood up and over his head, even though it did nothing to muffle the small sounds around him and only made his claustrophobia so much worse. Hurray.

Cole just hummed, still carding through Jay’s hair and lightly running his nails along the blue ninja’s scalp. He was more than experienced enough to know when to interfere and when to just let things slide. Jay closed his eyes and let some of his excess lightning course through his body; he knew it wouldn’t hurt Cole and he needed it out. Some of the tension finally bled out from his shoulders as the invisible pressure relieved itself, his body no longer having to work overtime to keep his powers in check. 

They stayed like that for a few minutes, blue lightning humming across his skin as Cole gave Jay time to catch his breath and dispell some of the dizziness from being upright for too long. “Are you okay to lay down now?”

“Yeah, I-I think so.”

“Bed or couch?” Cole asked, and Jay had to think about it for a minute. The couch was closer, but the bed…

“Bed, please,” he said quietly. He wanted the comfort more than anything else right now; if he couldn’t fix it, then he would have to ride it out.

“I gotcha, buddy,” Cole said softly. “Come on, I’ll carry you so it’s easier. Just don’t throw up on me, alright?”

“No promises,” Jay groaned, clutching at Cole’s shoulders when his brother started to lift him up. Cole hooked one arm under Jay’s rear to hold him, the other hand going to rub in smooth strokes across the blue ninja’s back. The motion was achingly familiar from all of the other times that the two of them had been in this situation, and Jay just huddled closer to his big brother when he felt the tears stinging at his eyes.

Here was the hug he had wanted so badly, and Jay wouldn’t trade it for anything in the whole world.

Walking back to the bedroom was a much smoother ride than it would’ve been if Jay had tried to go back by himself, and suddenly he was grateful that at least one person knew about his predicament. Cole knew the drill, keeping his steps as even as he could and swinging Jay as little as possible as he went. He knew Jay would do his damndest to keep his bodily fluids to himself even if Cole wasn’t being careful, but Jay was already having a rough enough time as it was. 

The earth ninja squeezed his little brother just a little tighter, hoping the extra pressure would bring him some peace of mind.

Opening the door to the bedroom with a well-practiced movement, Cole made sure to flick the lights off before checking to see if anyone else was inside. It was empty; everyone else must still be outside training. Cole already knew that he was going to have to send a message to the groupchat about Jay’s condition, even if he knew that the blue ninja would have something to say. Jay always did; it was one of Cole’s favorite things about him.

Putting Jay down on his bed after moving the covers, Cole was quick to shut the black-out curtains over the window. They were something he had invested in a long time ago when Jay went through his first sensory overload and they had proven themselves useful time and time again. “Do you need anything?”

“New hoodie?” Jay groaned, sitting up and starting to peel his current hoodie off; he couldn’t stand the texture anymore. His shoulders ached from the movements, throbbing uncomfortably as he laid his head against the pillow. Even the small movement aggravated his blossoming migraine (pretty sure that’s what it was turning into), and he was more than grateful that Cole had closed the curtains before the sunlight could do very much damage.

“I’ll do you one better.” Cole dug around in his drawers, snatching up one of his softest hoodies (Jay’s favorite) and a simple black shirt. Turning around, he threw Jay’s old hoodie into his laundry basket; it would end up back in Jay’s hands eventually.

“Touch okay?” Cole asked, sitting down on the bed.

“Yeah,” Jay whispered, hand brushing his bangs out of his face. He could feel the subtle heat of his fever from his forehead; it was a sure sign that his lightning was still acting up, “please.”

Cole didn’t waste any time in stripping Jay out of his soaked-through shirt and putting the new one on, and he snickered at how large it was on his smaller brother. The thing practically came down to the blue ninja’s knees, and Jay was more than happy to tuck his legs under the hem, leaving just his feet poking out from the bottom. He shouldn’t have felt so much satisfaction from the new position, but that’s ADHD for you.

The earth ninja sighed. “How many times have I told you to stop stretching out my shirts?”

“Don’t care,” Jay replied half-heartedly.

“I know,” Cole said, shuffling down to be next to his brother. “You know I don’t really mind. Now how are we doing this?”

Jay bit his lip, feeling his face flush with shame as he popped his legs back out. How old was he? Certainly old enough to be able to take care of this himself. His anxiety flared, and Jay quickly found his breath running out and suddenly he was struggling to breathe because First Master what was he supposed to do when his brothers weren’t there and he would have to do this alone-

Until strong arms settled around him, drawing him into Cole’s larger chest with one of his legs thrown overtop of Jay’s. Jay ignored how he could feel every one of the earth ninja’s leg hairs, instead focusing on the rise and fall of Cole’s chest against his back and how pleasant the fabric of the new shirt felt against his sensitive skin.

“Breathe,” Cole told him gently, hands going to Jay’s belly and rubbing in soothing circles. The knot in Jay’s stomach slowly started to come undone.  “I don’t mind, seriously. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t want to be here. Do you need me to lay on top of you?”

Wordlessly Jay nodded, and Cole was quick to shift positions so that he was directly on the blue ninja. As soon as he stopped moving, Jay felt like a weight had lifted off of his chest, ironically enough. Cole chuckled when he felt his brother relaxing, reaching up to lace their fingers together and cross his ankles on top of Jay’s. Jay always told Cole that he felt like the world’s best weighted blanket, large and warm and heavy enough to be grounding but not suffocating (even if all of the others would disagree). Exhaling, Jay felt himself relax even more when Cole reached and pulled the blankets over both of them, making sure to tuck them up so that it was like a little tent for Jay. This was already so much better than how he felt in the kitchen.

“Okay?” Cole asked, and Jay hummed in agreement.

“Yeah.”

“Good, now how about you get some sleep, huh? So you’re a bit less of a grouch?”

Shutting his eyes, Jay was more than content to let his brother’s breathing soothe him and the insult slide, the rhythmic inhales and exhales like a soft lullaby in his ear with Cole’s heartbeat to accompany it. Wishing Cole a soft goodnight even though it was the middle of the day, the blue ninja fell fast asleep to the feeling of Cole tracing along the backs of his hands and a small kiss pressed against his forehead.

Quickly pulling out his phone from his pocket after seeing that Jay was asleep, Cole opened up his messaging app, clicking on the chat with everyone but Jay that they used when he was out of commission.

Earth Wind and Tired

Hey, Jay’s not doing too good

Watergirl

wdym

Earth Wind and Tired

I think he overdid it on the last mission

Sour Green AppLloyd

shit srsly???

Earth Wind and Tired

Yeah, he threw up in the kitchen and I couldn’t clean it

Frozone But Cooler

Do not worry, I will take care of it. Is he resting?

Earth Wind and Tired

Yeah, just got him to sleep but I’m stuck in bed. Can I get some help?

Watergirl

me and kai are coming hang tight

It was only a couple minutes before Cole heard his door open, two sets of footsteps scurrying in and closing the door. Cole watched as Nya and Kai both crouched down next to his bed with worried looks on their faces, eyebrows pinched in a similar sibling manner. They were still in their training gi; Nya must’ve been checking her phone right when Cole texted and paused the training session.

“Hey,” Nya whispered, “everything okay?”

“Jay’s getting pretty sick,” Cole said in a low tone, squeezing his brother’s hand. Jay didn’t squeeze back, good. He was still asleep. “Threw up more than once in the kitchen from the typical sensory stuff. Definitely a headache, muscle aches, fatigue, and grouchy too. Very huggy.”

“Do we have his pudding?” Kai asked, even though Nya was already making a note on her phone to send to Zane.

“We’ll have to run out and get it,” she sighed. “But that’s fine, we’ll pick up some other stuff for him too, not the end of the world. Is he running a fever?”

“Starting to,” Cole moved his head to let Nya press the back of her hand against Jay’s neck and forehead, her thumb lingering on the small scar across his left eye. He saw her eyes cloud over with emotion, and he was quick to press a kiss to her knuckles as Jay leaned into her touch. “He’ll be okay, Nya. He just needs some rest.”

“I know,” Nya murmured, eyes softening when drool started leaking out of her Yin’s mouth as he snored, much to Cole’s false chagrin.

“Every single time,” Cole fake-grumbled, and to both of their surprises Kai was the one to reach out and wipe it away without a word, although the red ninja had a gentle smile on his face as he did so.

Nya started taking her training gi off, reaching behind her to root around through Cole’s dresser and throwing on one of his shirts and a hoodie. Kai and Cole looked away when she threw her bra into Cole’s laundry bin, pulling a pair of Cole’s boxers up and over her waist so that she was clothed entirely in the earth ninja’s attire.

“Shove over, I’m coming in,” Nya said, and Cole shifted over as best as he could to make room for her, turning Jay on his side but making sure he stayed asleep. She laid down on her side next to Jay, close enough for her to pillow his head in the crook of her neck and cup the back of his neck. Nya pressed a few kisses to his hair in a rare show of affection, and Cole watched with bated breath as Jay started to stir.

The blue ninja barely blinked his eyes open. “Nya?”

“Hey, hun,” she said quietly, kissing his warming forehead and then his flushed cheeks. “You don’t feel so good, do you?”

Jay whimpered, tucking his arms against his chest and making himself smaller as Nya adjusted her hold on him. Cole wrapped his arms around both of them, making a fist with his hands and rubbing light circles into Nya’s back. 

“Back to sleep for you, dear,” Nya said, cheek to his hair with Cole kissing her forehead. Jay hummed in agreement, content to ball up her shirt in his hands as she threaded her fingers through the auburn curls. The touch soothed Jay, and he let himself bask in the joy of having his Yang and his best friend loving on him His head was still pounding and he was entirely too nauseous for his liking, but having both of them there made everything so much better than it would’ve been if he had gone back to his own bed, all alone.

Alone. He didn’t like being alone when he was sick.

“You’re not alone,” Cole said softly, nuzzling his face into Jay’s hair. “We’re right here, and so is Kai, and none of us are going anywhere.”

The knot in his chest loosened when Kai laid his hand on Jay’s arm, and Jay let the tension he had been holding in his shoulders leak out until they relaxed completely; the sensation was a little strange after keeping them up for so long. Yeah, he still felt like a steaming hot pile of shit left outside to bake in the sun, but it was okay. It was going to be okay.

Kai stood up from the side of the bed, watching as Jay’s eyes closed and his breathing evened out again. “I’m gonna get you guys some water since you might be here for a while. Need anything else?”

“Granola bars,” Cole said, and Nya nodded in agreement. “The peanut butter ones with marshmallows.”

Sighing, Kai shook his head in fond exasperation. “I’ll never understand how you guys can like those things, but okay. I’ll see what I can find.”

“Thanks Kai,” Nya called as the fire ninja walked out of the door, making sure to close it as quietly as possible. The two of them stayed silent for a minute, listening to the sound of Jay’s breath ease in and out of his chest and the dull thunks of someone hitting the dummies outside, probably Lloyd. Nya started playing footsies with Cole, even though her shoe size was a fraction of his, and she groaned when she very quickly lost the game as Cole extended his giraffe legs over her own normal-sized ones. She pulled out her phone, and Cole was expecting that to be the end of that when she suddenly shoved the device into his hands.

Cole looked at it in confusion, turning it around and reading the screen. “What?”

“We’re playing Heads-Up, now get a move on and pick a category so we can start.”

“Nya, you could’ve just said you were bored,” but Cole did what she asked, picking the music category and holding the phone to his forehead as best he could with one free arm, the other buried under Jay and Nya. Nya snorted when she saw his choice.

“Oh come on, you know I’m not that good at music!”

“I just gave you some new records last week! Did you not listen to them?”

“No old man, I don’t have time to listen to records. I have a life, you know-”

Jay made a small noise, and both of them went dead silent as the blue ninja moved around a little, throwing his leg over Nya’s and making a satisfied noise as he hiked it up. Nya was more than used to the drool that started leaking onto her hoodie, only making sure that it wouldn’t go down her collar and on her shirt with a sigh before turning to look at Cole. She smoothed her hand through her Yin’s curls, letting the stuttery thump of his heart fill her with calm. He was here, and he was going to be fine.

“Quieter?” she said. Cole scrunched his face up, thinking, before nodding.

“Quieter.”

“We’re still playing though?”

“Hell yeah, Waterlily, and I’m gonna kick your ass.”

[katiemonz]

Ashe brought it to my attention that I never uploaded the final few Aftershocks chapter pics here? So uhhhh here, go read Aftershocks if you haven't and go reread it if it's been a while. Or don't, I'm not your dad

[the-navistar-carol]

Chapter 20 of "Aftershocks," up now!

Kelly "Vacay" Savannah, Weapons Systems Officer, has been called back to Top Gun years after her graduation, about a mission she knows nothing whatsoever of. Luckily, she's not alone. Her frontseater Marisol "Floodgate" Carter, has been called back, too. OR: Two more people join the Dagger Squad. Not a lot changes, but nothing is the same.

New year, new "Aftershocks" chapter...? My bad on y'all for that big gap. It might happen again, but considering I only have one chapter left to write, I really fucking hope not.

EDITED BY @zee-has-commitment-issues THEY ARE AMAZING I LOVE THEM SO MUCH

Tonight, her sharp edges and hard lines were brittle enough to hurt those around her far worse. Tonight, she was hurting. Tonight, she could not inflict that on anyone else. She would not be a hypocrite.

So there Marisol Carter stood, opposite Jake Seresin, with tape and cotton batting and canvas and twine wrapped along all of her needle-sharp edges, with all her angry love fighting to escape in the only real way she knew how to. She liked him well enough. She had no idea how much she trusted him, but the universe was about to force its hand on the one card she didn’t have a raised flush against.

Read now on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41581620/chapters/134401249

Taglist: @missezri

[wuffgang-ameowdeus-moozart]

choices are my arch-nemesis actually

[driftward]

Junelezen 2023: Aftershocks

Last week, I had a masterpost of every single entry I made for Junelezen 2023, which I dubbed Echoes. This week, I am posting annotated entries for every post from there, except this time I am linking to specific entries in the reblog chains, or to posts that others made as responses to Echoes. In particular, one member of my FC, (here on Tumblr as @yzeltia), took it upon himself to create a reblog response to every post.

The previous masterpost can be considered the 'original cut', consisting solely of my entries. This is the 'fat cut' I mentioned there. What parts of all this are canonical? I don't know, come back with a warrant.

As already mentioned, this post will have annotations on the various entries. I could go on for hours about my thought process, things I learned, and I may yet make some other posts about such things, but for now, I am (mostly) restricting myself to commentary here, both on my work, and the work of others.

I have learned a lot during this. One of the things I have learned is that in the future, readmores and reblogs do not necessarily play well together for these round-up posts, as readmores will roll out without the linked reblog, and if you just look at the reblog chain, you'll miss whatever was in the readmore. If I do this again in the future, I think I will stick to making posts, and maybe just link back and forth between them. And maybe if I am responding to someone else's work like this, instead of a reblog, I might just tag OP? I am uncertain. Reblogs keep tumblr alive. The cleanest for archive purposes would probably be reblog the original, then make the follow-up and tag the originator. Still though, that's neither here nor there. What is here is the fantastic work done by others.

And I appreciate all of it. I am humbled by the response.

Final note, these will largely link to Y'zel Tia's responses, since he reblogged almost every response with his own screenshot and words. Click throughs and context should make it obvious which ones are which.

.portrait

Where we got started, with a bit of a literal framing device. Y'zel Tia belongs to @yzeltia; part of his character canon is being a cousin to Y'shtola Rhul, and so that'll explain why you'll often see both of them in his responses. I'm not at all sure why Y'shtola would be interested in what happens to some random feckless adventurer, though...

Special shout out to @matrixdragon and @sabbactroll who both had, uh, opinions on this development. :)

.home

Look, haven't we all had a scientific experiment go a little sideways and light someone's world on fire. This is, of course, the bridge between the Incident and Junelezen: Echoes.

.spring

What strange sights are seen beyond the veil of reality, and what utterly normal places those left behind would go. I picked Coerthas as an early anchor point, since that's where Zoissette grew up.

.new adventure

I was still learning a lot here, both about my tools (gpose+more/Affinity Photo) as well as the posting medium (tumblr). An early goal I had was that the Junelezen 'entry' would be its own screenshot with minimal words, and I would build on the 'story' portion in reblogs or readmores, so that way people who were only interested in the Junelezen part could ignore the rest. This one I used a reblog to expand the story.

Studying Her History (by @yzeltia)

Zoissette would probably prefer they stay out of her room at the Baldesion Annex. Y'shtola is always cute when passed out from studying too much though.

.job

Using a reblog chain to expand the story portion again. I couldn't figure out how to make the jobstone work, so I added a light source to Zoissette's hand to make a kind of 'glow'. Not real happy with how it turned out, but making mistakes makes the learning happen.

Informing Alka Zolka (by @yzeltia)

Okay Y'zel was just trying for emotional damage here. I mean, he succeeded, but still. :|

.mount

I have written about part of Zoissette's mission of mercy before. Look ma, my lore has lore. This event left its mark on her; it did not change her in any great way, just sort of underlines who she already was at that point. In the reblog, Y'zel went for the emotional damage again. Writing in my FC is a PvP activity.

Absence Felt (by @ladyofvoss)

Incredible work here, in the expressiveness of the posture, and the choice of shots taken (at my heart). This is Thalia Voss, belonging to @ladyofvoss. Where she's at is Zoissette's office at Gage Acquisitions (designed by fellow FC member Ghurab)

.friends

Another reblog chain. Compositing the 'shards' to put the faces of friends into them was quite difficult, each one requiring four layers (the way I did it) and quite a bit of manual touch up work. The color scheme was chosen on purpose. Look, Junelezen is also Pride Month, I don't make the rules, but I do make things queer.

1000 words remix (by @yzeltia)

Y'zel has a real fondness for all things music, and that's seen here. As @saesama put it, 'he made an AMV in tumblr form'. Having not played FF X-2, I was not familiar with the song, but I am now. This will not be the last musical piece from our aurally inclined catboy.

.beauty

With this one I really found the problems with reblog chains when making archival posts. This links to the reblog I made to my own post to add story, but in going to the original post, it's actually really hard to fish out the reblog!

We get further hints here that 'Adriané' may not be who Zoissette thinks she is.

Dancing Alone (by @yzeltia)

Dance like nobody's watching. Hey. Why are you watching. Go away, this is meant to be a private moment!

.mirror

Getting to here took a lot of false starts, fiddling with Affinity Photo, getting samples from in game, changing outfits, and it was all worthwhile in the end. I really like the end result. Y'zel went for a more chaotic approach.

Absence Mourned (by @scrollsfromarebornrealm)

For context, the character in these shots is Mathye Bishop, who belongs to @scrollsfromarebornrealm, a character who has been courting Zoissette for over a year by this point. They are close, in any case. The tone provided by the filter and his posture all scream of the devastation he feels in the wake of Zoissette's absence.

.summer

A memory that never happened, but did. Strange things in these echoes, and as has happened before, Y'zel's character visits the 'real' location, feeling a twinge of what is going on out beyond the rift, thanks to his own Echo gift. Klynt Gohtawyn belongs to @saesama, and this hearkens back to the days she and Zoissette may have crossed paths back when they both worked for the Maelstrom.

Klynt's a jerk.

.day

Not much to say for this one. I thought the sun would make more of an arc crossing the sky, making for an interesting dynamic shot, but it turns out it makes kind of a very straight line, which makes sense if you think about it. I had an alternative shot planned that, while it was gorgeous, I just couldn't make the story aspect of it work out. I will probably share that shot, and others, at a future date.

.sun

You can see I am choosing more and more often to use readmores instead of reblogs, and I will probably stand by that decision in the future. Also here is where I found out I had been doing a crime these many years. Due to her somewhat reserved nature, I usually have Zoissette have very subtle almost-nonexistent expressions. Clearly, this entire time, I should have been turning them up somewhere around 11. I love her face.

Echo Disrupted (by @yzeltia)

Looks like in the search for their friend, someone may have overdone it a bit. Overdoing it a bit, in fact, seems to be a bit of a theme with Y'zel, both player and character.

.ancient times

I am not going to take the space it would require for me to say everything that I would like about Atlas, so instead I will just mention that this served as a useful pivot for the story, and provided a path forward. I had actually been juggling several ideas up to this point, and this is where I hard committed to a specific direction. Thanks, Atlas.

Sanctuary remix (by @yzeltia)

Honestly I think Y'zel having his character black out was just an excuse to have a space to put this entry without having to worry about what I was doing. Which, really, is a stroke of genius. Another AMV in tumblr form. Should we make a new word for that?

.night

It was around here that I decided to lean more on my strengths - writing - and less on screenshots. That decision did not last long. Junelezen started as a screenshot event, and I was having fun with those. Here we anchor for everything ever after.

Connected remix (by @yzeltia)

Y'zel introduces me to a new song that lives in my heart.

.romance

Zoissette, no longer losing herself in the echoes, shows up only in the containment suit in shots from here on out. I continue to be cheeky about the colours I use whenever she's in the rift, and Y'zel drops a slick FF8 reference, which just really plays into my love of multiverse shenanigans.

.magic

Not completely sworn off of reblogs yet, though this reblog was pushed out fast, before I had a riot on my hands. This is also where I started hinted more heavily at things to come, with another Lavender PoV piece.

In the reblog chain, where you see the fairies, from left to right, is C'oretta Khell's (belongs to @autumnslance) Lotus, pink-shifted compared to the others; Ryssthota Sundstyrwyn's (belongs to @erickgage) Glitterdust, and Riven Fortemp's (belongs to @scrollsfromarebornrealm) Sugarplum, who I tried to make the little hairtufts rounder for.

.magic response by Y'zel Tia

You can ask Y'zel about this one.

.autumn

And pulled that trigger. This is where I finalized the smoke effect I wanted to use for Lavender, and I'm rather proud of how it turned out, particularly in future shots.

.landscape

I really like this shot, for the utter alien landscape I managed to make using FFXIV assets and some aggressive photo editor work. My only regret is that it does not -quite- look like Zoissette and Lavender are actually in that place, but I think that can be fixed with a few more adjustments.

I'd been leaning on Y'zel's entries to sort of weakly gesture at what may have been going on in the 'real world' while Zoissette was gone, but here I start to make my own narrative about the matter. Judging from conversations I've had, there is one thing I could have made clearer in this story. Zoissette's perspective of how much time has passed is dramatically different from that of the Source. In the Source, it has been a short time. For Zoissette, it has been quite a lot longer.

.travel

I think this is the only one with a single screenshot. I lean more heavily on my writing abilities once more, and I think they speak for themselves.

.dungeon

Figures. Zoissette is having one of the worst days of her life, and the cats are napping. It took me a while to settle on a ghostly effect for the people 'yelling' at her, and I rather like how it turned out. We also are spending more time with Lavender. Hard decisions to be made, but just because they are hard does not mean they are difficult. Lavender and Zoissette are alike like that.

.deity

Some trivia. Zoissette's mom lost her right arm fighting a dragon, back before the Calamity. The Deity is supposed to be a mix of Halone and Zoissette's mother, and so, she, too, is missing her right arm.

.harvest

Reaper job unlocked. Un-edge-lording your edgelord jobs since at least 2016.

.hobbies

So while I was writing a follow-up story for The Incident, I was also trying to follow the Junelezen prompts. And one of my goals was that someone who was just here for Junelezen could just see the photo, nod, go 'ah that makes sense' and move on without having to know a damned thing about the Incident or about Zoissette. I probably did not succeed as well as I would have liked, but I did try.

Having said that, the location of the hobbies prompt in the middle of the others and what I had planned presented some real problems for me, and I did not solve it until pretty late. So we get this moment of downtime. I like how it turned out, but it sure did vex me getting there.

.winter

Back where we began. A lot has changed, a lot has stayed the same. There are a lot of subtle things I did intentionally throughout this story. In this shot, the shift to the skybox and lighting, as well as changing where they are sitting relative to the fence, were decisions I made on purpose.

Speaking of changes done on purpose, Y'zel-the-character's hair goes white as he once again overdoes it. We do recurring themes here, sir.

.cozy

I will stop composing shots of Zoissette and Y'shtola sitting like this the day I die. Also, seriously Y'zel, is NOW the time to be forcing that question??? Ridiculous, now we have -two- casualties.

.relaxing

Under the readmore, we spend more time with the science team, as they try to work out what to do next. But here...

A Relaxing Summary (by @matrixdragon)

I will let @matrixdragon provide the summary.

.fancy clothes

A schematic of the Aurora Laboratories Containment Suit. And two more questions from @matrixdragon, who picked up on my oh-so-subtle (okay no it wasn't) Babylon 5 reference. On that note, I adore the Babylon 5 questions, and I think they serve as an extremely useful framing tool for just about any character in any universe.

Some very touching possible answers from Y'shtola in Y'zel's reblog.

Midnight talk

Things are happening, and faster, now. I did not use a readmore or the reblog chain for these additional entries, which I made sure were scheduled for 2300 in my time zone every night. 1100 for the Junelezen post, 2300 for additional story posts. I keep to this plan for the rest of the run. These special additional entries I refer to as The Eleventh Hour.

.family

Thank you to everyone in these shots. I have a little story in my mind for each one. Maybe I will even write them one day.

The Trapeze Swinger remix (by @yzeltia)

As I go through these entries, I can tell how and where my skills are improving. I can say the same for Y'zel, whose 'tumblr AMV' skills expand. While they are all very good, this is one of his best works, in my opinion, and I found another new song through him.

Recovery plan

Another Eleventh Hour entry. You know, it's funny, this arguably all started because Zoissette was trying very hard to not be a burden on her FC or an inconvenience to anyone.

Sure seem to have inconvenienced a lot of people here.

The Last Contingency: Judgement Call (by @saesama)

This one stabs right in the feeling-parts, but somebody has to think of these things, and Zoissette isn't here to do it.

.holidays

Erick Gage (@erickgage) has something to say about this whole mess.

The Only Exception remix (by @yzeltia)

You may have invented the AMV. But Y'zel tumblrized it. Perfected its new form. And then he unleashed it upon us all.

Reconciliation

And truth, at last. I could say so much here. I elect to say nothing.

.free

The final shot was a pain to composite, and I am so proud of how it turned out.

.begin

One year, from Zoissette's perspective, give or take a lot. Two weeks for the world. But she's home again.

Ma there's a cat on the foot of my bed I don't know how it got there (but seriously, thank you @yzeltia :) )

BONUS SECTION

Imposter Syndrome! (by @starladyquasar)

Ladies, ladies, you're both beautiful. Though also seriously, Squeenix, give us more customisation options.

ELEZEVANGELION (by @yzeltia)

You want to know what it's like being part of the funniest FC? It's pretty great, I tell you what.

Anyroad. Special thanks to all of you - those who stopped to leave a comment, or found me on the moon during a screenshot session (you know who you are), or even those of you who just followed along, in whole or in part. And for those of you who were just here for Elezen shots, I hope you found something you liked in here!

[forgedroyalseal]

Aftershocks

This story is a prequel to my fic “Aftermath” but can be read individually

Gilan and Halt: Part One

“Something is off with him.” Halt says out of nowhere, eyes not straying from the widow where he’s watching Will fire arrow after arrow at a set of targets.

Gilan rolled his eyes as he poured himself another cup of coffee from the pot that was sitting on the table between them. “Halt, I know that you can be a bit, socially stunted, but come on, even you have to realize that that’s the understatement of the century.”

“First, I am not socially stunted, second, I was trying something new called being tactful.”

“Yeah, it’s not working.”

“That’s also not the point. Will-“

“Will went through significant trauma. I can’t name a single knight or ranger that could endure being captured and enslaved and then immediately thrown into a war without coming out on the other side with a ship load of damage. And as easy as it can be to forget, Will’s still just a kid.”

“I know. And not trying to minimize what he went through, or invalidate his coping mechanisms, it’s just, this feels different. You and I have seen plenty of cases of PTSD. I’ve interviewed prisoners of war and captured slaves. The way Will reacts to certain things, especially other people, it’s just…” Halt trails off as he looks up from his coffee and at his former apprentice. He watches as something dark and terrifying dawns on Gilan.

“What?” Halt asks.

Gilan shuts his eyes tight, as if he can hide away from his own realizations. “I’m sure I’m wrong.”

“Tell me.”

“It’s just. You’re right, Will’s behavior is different than POWs. But, I have seen it before. So have you.”

“Stop avoiding the subject. Say what you mean.”

Biting his lip and praying he’s wrong, Gilan answers. “We’ve seen it in victims of sexual assault.”

“No.” The word was icy and final, but Gilan still pushed past it.

“Halt-“

“No! He’d had said. It’s been a year Gilan? He wouldn’t have kept it from us! From me! No, you are wrong.” You have to be wrong, Halt thinks.

“I might be. I hope I am. But don’t sit here and pretend like Will doesn’t bottle up his pain. That he doesn’t try to hide it from you, that he doesn’t pretend to be strong. Because there’s not a doubt in my mind that Will would lie about this because he doesn’t want to disappoint you. And if we burry our heads in the sand because we are scared to face this possible reality, then we are just going to end up hurting Will even more.”

As if summoned by his name, Will stumbled into the cabin, dripping in sweat from his long archery practice in the hot August sun. His eyes dart between the two men at the kitchen table.

“What’s wrong? Is there another mission?” Will asks, faint traces of apprehension coloring his words.

Halt raises an eyebrow at Gilan in silence question, and he replies with a shrug. No time like the present.

“Come sit with us for a moment.” Halt pulls out the chair next to him and Will cautiously sits, perched on the edge like he’s ready to bolt at a moments notice. “We think something happened to you in Skandia Will. Something that you’ve been hiding. And we want you to know, that it’s ok. We are here to help you, but you need to talk to us about it.”

Will swallowed hard. “I already told you everything.”

Gilan reached out slowly towards Will’s hand, which he pulled into his chest defensively, as if Gilan’s warm, open palm was a viper ready to strike. Gilan choked down his heartbreak and withdrew his hand. “You haven’t. And I know that’s it doesn’t feel like it, but Will, you have nothing to be ashamed of. Whatever happened in Skandia, it won’t change the way Halt and I view you. It won’t change our love for you.”

Will’s eyes watered and he’s shoulders curled inward. “You can’t know that.” His words were barely more than a whisper.

“Of course we can. You know why? Because we are family. And that mean our love is unconditional.” Halt yearned to wrap Will up in his arms and hold him close and safe, but after his reaction to Gilan, he forced his arms to remain where they were.

“You can’t say that. You don’t know.”

“What don’t we know?” Halt pressed.

“You don’t know what I let them do to me.” His voice fractured and split over the words, his shame and anguish overtaking them.

The words triggered something strong and protective in Gilan. “You were a salve Will! You didn’t let anyone do anything! You were scared and starved and vulnerable. Whatever those monsters forced you to do, it was not your fault! They-“

“Gilan.” Halt broke Gilan’s rage over the gross injustice done to his brother. He turned to his former mentor and frown. Halt nodded towards Will. “I don’t think we need to be raising our voices right now.”

Gilan looked at Will, who had shrunk even more into his seat. His face was white and his eyes wide with panic. Gilan forced himself to take a deep breath. And then another one. And another just for the hell of it. “I’m sorry. You’re right, shouting won’t help anyone.”

Will’s hand slips into his pocket, and he pulls out the bronze oak leaf Halt hadn’t even noticed was missing from around Will’s throat. Will momentarily rubs at the pendant, then extends his arm and drops the necklace onto the table in front of Halt. It falls with a soft, clink, the only sound in the room.

“Why are you giving me your oak leaf?” Halt asked, keeping his voice calm and steady.

“I can’t be your apprentice anymore Halt.”

“Why would you say that Will?” Halt’s heart stuttered with pain. Had Will finally realized that Halt had failed him? Had failed to protect him, to keep him safe? Did he not trust Halt anymore? Or did he think that this was the normal kind of danger that rangers got into? Did he not know just how awful and shocking what had happened to him was?

No, what Will was thinking was so much worse. “Because I’m disgusting! And a coward, and pathetic and weak and worthless and filthy and-“

“Enough! Will you aren’t- god, how can I make you see just how remarkable you are. How strong you are.”

“I’m not though! I let-“

“No. Gilan already told you, you did not let anything happen. You survived. That’s all you had to do. That’s all you could do.”

“I’m an apprentice ranger, I’m supposed to be better.”

“Says who? Because last time I checked Will, you’re still human. We all are. Ranger’s are not indestructible. We are just men. Made up of flesh and blood like everyone else. We still get scared, we still get hurt. We still have lingering trauma and nightmares and panic attacks. More than the average person I dare say. We aren’t legends Will, we are merely mortal men. And that’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Will finally let the tears that had been building behind his lashes fall. He cried quietly, shoulders shaking, and while both men sitting besides him wanted nothing more than to hold him, they knew that physical contact would not give Will the comfort it was intended for. So instead, they let their own tears fall.

[afterdarkprincess]

Aftershocks Part 5

This was definitely a labor of love today but I'm happy to be able to give you all another chunk of this story!

We're getting to the good stuff I swear :)

This is set immediately after Tribal Combat at Summerslam for those joining the party, and Samijey is definitely endgame here.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Tags for @feelschicken and @southerngirl41

----

The ride to the hotel was only about 20 minutes but it gave Sami ample time to replay his interaction with Jey over and over in his mind.

They’d been so close. So close to… something.

The interaction could have went so many ways, it nearly had spun out of control after Sami’s blunder in bringing up Jimmy too soon. But ultimately Jey had been receptive to him in a way he hadn’t in a long time.

Getting Jey to agree to come back to his room?

He was trying not to think about it too much. Not to hope too much. Surely this night will go the way so many others have, sleepy jokes shared between the two of them as they settle down, and resting in separate beds.

Of course, they would actually be alone this time. No Jimmy or Solo to cut the tension.

And there had definitely been tension in that med room. Sami had been determined to at least try to convey the depths of his feelings. Even if he couldn’t quite nail all of them down yet, he’d been brave enough to reach out and touch that beautifully tanned skin and pledge his fealty again.

Kevin might be his tag partner, and his relationship with the other Canadian would always be special. But Jey was his tribal chief.

He wouldn’t go to such lengths as Paul to show his adoration, but maybe he could show it in other ways.

Sami felt his face heating up at the thought.

He wasn’t sure at what point over the last year his feelings for Jey had developed from brotherhood to something else. It was a gradual change and Jey was too important to him to risk the bond that they’d developed after War Games to even think about it realistically back in the winter.

They were always with the rest of the bloodline then, and it was easy to dispel those thoughts when his gaze or touch lingered too long. He and Jey were never alone for long, and looking back now, maybe that had been by design.

He certainly wouldn’t put it past Roman to actively try and keep him and Jey apart. The head of the table had been too delighted to stop Jey from putting that lei over his head.

And after that? Well they did say absence made the heart grow fonder.

Meeting Jey behind the arena, following him in dark hallways, risking everything just for a few moments to talk.

It had seemed so important to try and get through to Jey. But Sami never once tried the same for Jimmy or Solo.

And the Wrestlemania match? He certainly hadn’t planned to show his heart that much. He watched the match back with Kevin after, and dismissed the questions about holding Jey’s face and the words he’d only barely whispered.

“You chose this.”

Maybe that hadn’t been fair. Jey did choose his family, but Sami had made his choices as well.

It was hard to regret the decision to leave, saving Kevin and putting that chair in Roman’s back had been the right thing to do. It led to him becoming the tag champion he is today.

But the choice had ultimately come down to choosing Kev or choosing Jey.

And it had been very hard to not choose Jey, to choose to leave him to languish in a family that only loved him for how useful he was, and not the million other reasons to love him.

And Sami did. Love him. He was almost scared of how much. And for the first time, he could contemplate that maybe those feelings weren’t one sided.

He knew Jey loved him like a brother. He’d said as much in front of the whole world when he defended him in tribal court. And there had been moments in those months when they were close that felt like more than brotherhood, but they were easily explainable.

Jey crying in his arms tonight, and the way Jey had looked at him after he’d acknowledged him? Well it didn’t feel very ucey.

His phone’s GPS loudly announced that his destination was ahead on the right, sharply bringing him back to reality and the fact that he would be alone with Jey tonight.

He would not allow himself to think about anything untoward. It wouldn’t be right for him to take advantage of Jey’s emotional state, even for a chance to taste those pouty pink lips.

He turned the wheel sharply, whipping the car into the parking lot, and rubbed his face with his hand.

A perfect example of thoughts he SHOULDN’T be having.

He took his bags into the hotel, exchanging pleasantries with the bored-looking night staff.

Sami found himself distracted again during the check in process, stubborn mind fixating on how warm Jey’s pulse point had been under his thumb earlier, and how the sweat on Jey’s brow might taste on his lips.

He shook his head, trying to clear his head as the woman hands him a key card, he thanks her and heads off to the elevator to get to room. With any luck he might have time to have a very cold shower before Jey arrived.

He sent a quick text to Jey with the room number, receiving a quick reply that just said “Ye.”

He shakes his head fondly. Typical Jey.

He ignores the 4 messages from Kevin that question his life choices and sanity. Thankfully Kev had gotten his own room, but he was never going to hear the end of it.

Despite the hotel being empty at this late hour, it seems like they booked his suite on the third floor as far away from the elevator as humanly possible. Usually its not a huge issue, but Sami is tired and every step seems excessive.

When he finally reaches the room, he’s greeted with a bathroom and living room setup, beds presumably around the corner in the nice large suite. Being a champ had its perks after all.

He drops his bag a few feet in the door, and heads into the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face. His hair is still haphazardly tied up into a bun from earlier, and his beard looks scraggly. Sami owns his look, knows that his scruffy appearance is part of his appeal, but he has an urge to try and clean himself up, make himself more presentable.

Jey is always so put together, so fastidious with his appearance, with 8 skin care products in his nightly routine and a variety of lotions and oils to keep his skin nourished and healthy.

Sami had seen those new back tattoos on the monitors. He wondered if maybe he’d catch a glimpse of them later.

He splashed more water on his face. Maybe he should get a spray bottle to keep himself in check, like a naughty cat.

A knock at the door pulls him from his thoughts.

Damn, he hoped he’d have a little more time before Jey would arrive. But he felt his heart flutter a bit as he opened the door.

“Hey Uce,” Jey’s soft smile was a welcome sight. “You sure you got rid of KO?”

Sami laughed, “He wasn’t happy, but yeah it’s just us. Beds should be through there.” He gestured around the corner of the living room and Jey nodded, picking up Sami’s bag as he went.

Sami headed back into the bathroom, he just needed another minute to collect himself and he would be fine, a perfect gentleman.

He started to shut the bathroom door when he heard, “Uce?”

There was a strain in Jey’s voice that alarmed him. He yanked the door back open with a bit more strength than probably necessary and headed back in the direction of the beds.

Or bed.

Instead of the two Queens he was sure he had booked, there stood Jey staring at the singular King sized bed in the center of the partitioned part of the room.

“Somethin’ you forget to mention about you and KO?” Jey said with a nervous laugh, his voice still strained.

Sami’s heart was beating out of his chest. Surely he would have heard “One King” during check in, but his traitorous mind had been otherwise occupied.

“Jey, I hadn’t even looked- wait, no!” He felt his face turn bright red as he realized what the Samoan had implied. “Kev and I aren’t- I mean we’re friends but I wouldn’t, I don’t-“

Jey lets out a sigh, which Sami tries not to read into too much. “Alright, Uce. Chill, okay? I believe you.”

“I’ll go down and ask for a new room- it’s fine, let me just-“ He’s talking too fast and he knows it, turns to trek back down to the lobby to get this sorted out, but he’s stopped with a hand on his shoulder.

“Sami.”

He meets Jey’s eyes, and finds an expression he can’t place.

“It’s okay. We’ll make it work.” Jey drops Sami’s bag on one side of the bed and moves to place his on the opposite, like its the most natural thing in the world.

Sami is spending the night with Jey. In one bed.

He’s so fucked.

----

THERE'S ONLY ONE BED, FRIENDS!!

Next time- Jey's thoughts on this situation, and definitely some more feelings!!

We're getting to the good stuff soon!

[theashemarie]

Aftershocks - a ROTTMNT Fic

Chapter 1: Mikey: We’ll Be Fine Eventually

(Art by @katiemonz)

[The Krang invasion is over, but the recovery is going to be long and hard. No one said winning would be easy.

A story of recovery told from five perspectives. Mikey has new mystic powers and a family that refuses to talk about what happened, Donnie has his tech to worry about, Raph is trying to be strong while processing what happened to him, Leo has a concussion and a stubborn refusal to be idle, and April has a family of shattered brothers and one Casey Jones to watch out for.]

Read on AO3.

After they got home, they slept for upwards of sixteen hours. All seven of them: Dad in his chair and the rest on the floor in a huge pile. It was a hard and dreamless sleep, and Mikey woke at one point with Leo’s elbow in his side and Donnie’s foot in his face. Raph was curled around them, and Mikey saw the hole in his shell up close for the first time. He closed his eyes to it and, when he slept again, it was just as dreamless, but, as he was dropping off, he heard cracking.

Before they passed out, there was the customary ribbing. Leo disappeared to take a long, indulgent shower, which had Raph shaking the door with the force of his fists, demanding he hurry up. Donnie scrubbed his face in the kitchen sink and, upon seeing Mikey sitting in the middle of the main room, aching down to his bones, with April already curled up, fast asleep on the hard floor, and Casey muttering with Dad in the corner, waved his hand, insisted he was fine, and took a few steps toward the lab. He didn’t get very far though, just dead dropped right there, as the day caught up with him, as the multiple falls, crashes, almost crushes, and attempted mind controls caught up with him, as his body gave in. He crumpled to the floor, and they left him there until Raph and Mikey had piled all their mattresses and blankets together. Then, Raph lifted April and Donnie into place, he and Mikey settled Leo down with two glares, and they crashed themselves, with Dad already snoring in his chair and Casey lying wide awake on the edge.

Mikey was the last to wake, a full sixteen earth hours later. The world was fuzzy and lit weird, and he realized a bit belatedly that he had the blanket pulled up over his head. When he poked his eyes out, he found everyone except Donnie sitting up around him. Leo and April were looking at their phones, Dad was sitting at the table, staring tersely at the wall with his hands folded in front of him, Casey was standing at an arcade cabinet, not playing but studying the animation of the start screen, and Raph was sitting close, watching the lump that was his youngest brother. When he realized that Mikey was awake, he grinned and called his name, which made everyone perk up and turn to him, large, strained grins crossing their faces.

It was incredibly fake, but Mikey appreciated the effort. He sat up, felt his head twinge, then his arms, then his whole body. Right. He probably shouldn’t move too fast.

Everyone else was hunched in pain, drawing their bodies into large swoops to accommodate the injuries they would no doubt have to take stock of over the coming days. Raph was closest and his eye was red and swollen, his shell jagged and raw above the left shoulder, cuts lacing up his arms and legs, but, other than the obvious, his shell was intact and without injury.

“How are you feeling, bud?” Raph asked, big hand coming out to help Mikey sit fully. He felt something crack in his neck, which sent a lance of pain up behind his eyes, and, for a second, all his saw was his own hands, disintegrating and peeling, as a power he could barely contain surged through him. He blinked once, hard, and came back to himself. His hands were resting in his lap, whole and intact, and he swallowed.

“Fine,” he answered, trying to sound chipper. It didn’t work, but everyone seemed to agree that, in context, fine with a touch of brokenness was as good as they could expect. Leo let out a long, hard breath, and fell back with his arm covering his eyes.

“Where’s Donnie?” Mikey continued when no one spoke.

Five heads turned in the direction of the lab. Just there, if he focused, Mikey realized he could hear the low sound of electronic bass thudding through the floor.

“You know how he gets,” Raph said.

Leo sighed and curled up on his side. He was bruised, with a large, bandaged cut across one arm, and a swollen lip. His shell was in one piece.

They sat in silence, and it occurred to Mikey that they had all been waiting for him. He was the last to wake, and now that he was up, they had no direction, no goal, no anything. All they had was their wounds and each other.

“Now what?” Casey asked, turning to lean backwards on the cabinet. Behind him, Pac-Man chased a few multicolored blobs back and forth.

They looked at each other again, and no one had an answer.

[Read the rest on AO3.]

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Taipei, Taiwan CNN — Rescuers in Taiwan scrambled to free dozens of people trapped in highway tunnels after the island was struck by its strongest earthquake in 25 years Wednesday, killing at least nine and injuring more than 900 others.

The powerful 7.4 magnitude tremor shook the island’s east coast, hitting at 7:58 a.m. local time, 18 kilometers (11 miles) south of Hualien city and at a depth of 34.8 kilometers (21 miles), according to the US Geological Survey.

It was followed by several strong aftershocks with tremors felt across the island, including by CNN staff in the capital Taipei.

Taiwan’s National Fire Agency (NFA) said in an update on Wednesday that the death toll had risen to nine, while 934 people have been injured.

The NFA did not indicate the severity of the injuries.

Meanwhile, 75 people stranded in various tunnels in Hualien County have been rescued by emergency responders.

As of 7 a.m. Eastern Time, 137 people remain trapped.

Among those trapped were 50 employees of the Silk’s Place Hotel Taroko, who were traveling in four minibuses.

Authorities have been unable to reach them by phone and have listed them as trapped for the time being.

Two German citizens that were caught up earlier in a tunnel in Hualien County have been rescued, the NFA added.

All the deaths were in Hualien County, among them three hikers killed by falling rocks in the tourist hotspot Taroko Gorge, the NFA said.

Falling rocks also killed a truck driver in front of a tunnel on the east coast’s Suhua Highway, it added.

Reports of extensive damage have also emerged, with collapsed buildings in Hualien County, thousands of homes left without power and a major highway closed due to landslides and rockfalls, according to Taiwanese officials.

Most of those trapped are in two road tunnels in northern Hualien County, the NFA said.

Two German nationals are stranded in a third tunnel in the county, it said.

The 400-meter Jinwen Tunnel, where 60 people are trapped, is one of more than a dozen that thread the Suhua Highway, a scenic but treacherous and narrow road that runs for 118 kilometers (73 miles) along the east coast.

Meanwhile, rescuers were en route to 12 people, including two Canadians, stuck on a trail in Taroko Gorge.

Taiwan’s Central Weather Administration spokesperson warned that powerful aftershocks as high as magnitude 7 are expected to occur until the end of the week.

“There was really strong shaking… We quickly turned off the gas and electricity and opened the door. It was really strong. It felt like the house would fall down,” Taipei resident Chang Yu-lin said on CNN affiliate Taiwan Plus.

Chen Nien-tzu, also in Taipei, said, “It was really wild.”

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had an earthquake so it felt really scary,” she said on Taiwan Plus.

The quake prompted initial tsunami warnings in Taiwan, southern Japan and the Philippines, with waves less than half a meter observed along some coasts and prompting airlines to suspend flights. All tsunami warnings were later lifted.

In Taiwan, military personnel were dispatched to help with disaster relief and schools and workplaces suspended operations as aftershocks hit the island, according to the Defense Ministry.

Taiwan’s outgoing President Tsai Ing-wen said Wednesday she had ordered her administration to “immediately” get “on top of the situation and understand local impacts as soon as possible.”

Tsai also told the administration to “provide necessary assistance and work together with local governments to minimize the impact of the disaster.”

Taiwan, a self-ruled island east of mainland China, is home to about 23 million people, most of whom live in the industrialized cities of its west coast, including the capital.

The island is regularly rocked by earthquakes due to its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, which runs around the edge of the Pacific Ocean and causes massive seismic and volcanic activity from Indonesia to Chile.

Wednesday’s quake is the strongest to hit Taiwan since 1999, according to the Central Weather Administration.

That year, a 7.7 magnitude quake hit south of Taipei, killing 2,400 people and injuring 10,000 others.

Hualien County, parts of which are mountainous and remote, is home to about 300,000 people on the island’s sparsely populated east coast.

A magnitude 6.2 quake hit near the area in 2018, killing at least 17 people and injuring more than 300 others.

Collapsed buildings, highway damaged

The full extent of the damage is still being assessed, with road and rail closures curtailing access to the quake’s epicenter in Hualien County.

More than 100 buildings were damaged across the island, the National Fire Agency said, with about half of those in Hualien County.

Search and rescue operations were ongoing Wednesday afternoon at the nine-story Uranus Building that had partially collapsed, trapping residents, Hualien County Magistrate Hsu Chen-wei told reporters.

So far, 22 people had been rescued from the building, according to the NFA.

More than 91,000 households are without electricity, according to Taiwan’s Central Emergency Command Center.

The government-operated Taipower Company is working to restore power, it added.

Footage posted on social media showed several collapsed buildings in Hualien and residents helping trapped people escape through the window of a damaged apartment complex.

The quake struck during the morning rush hour, with videos showing vehicles bouncing on a vigorously shaking highway, an overpass swaying in Taipei, and commuters struggling to stand inside a juddering Taipei metro train.

Meanwhile, video broadcast by CNN affiliate TVBS showed cellphone and security camera footage of the moment tremors struck homes and businesses across the island.

One clip showed power lines swaying violently above a street and another saw chandeliers shaking in a restaurant.

Large boulders could be seen strewn across the eastern Suhua Highway, with several tunnels broken — including one split in half, TVBS footage showed.

CNN affiliate SET News shows the front of a car smashed by fallen rocks.

Transport authorities recorded at least nine rockfalls and landslides on the highway, which has been closed to traffic.

Another highway connecting the west coast with eastern Taiwan was also damaged by falling rocks, with at least 12 cars hit and nine people injured, TVBS reported.

Tsunami waves

The quake sparked tsunami warnings across the region as authorities ordered evacuations.

In Taiwan’s Chenggong, about 100 kilometers (62 miles) south of the quake’s epicenter, waves reached almost half a meter.

The Central Weather Administration advised residents to evacuate to higher ground.

The Japan Meteorological Agency also issued a tsunami alert for the southern Miyakojima and Okinawa islands, warning of waves up to 3 meters (nearly 10 feet) high.

A 30-centimeter (nearly 1 foot) wave impacted Okinawa, the first tsunami observed there in 26 years, the agency said.

Several hours later, the US Tsunami Warning Center said the tsunami threat had “largely passed” but people in coastal areas should remain alert.

All flights from Okinawa and Kagoshima prefectures were suspended following the tsunami warnings in the area, Japan Airlines said.

Okinawa’s Naha airport resumed flights after the tsunami warning was downgraded to an advisory, airport spokesperson Hideaki Tsurudo told CNN.

[movietitlescollection]

[octolingkiera]

5, 15, 16, 29

hi!! thanks for your ask!! :3

(the list)

5. What work of yours got more feedback than you expected?

so on the one hand, my danny phantom fics always get a lot of attention and it always leaves me a little surprised, but on the other hand, that fandom is very fic focused, so at the same time it Doesn't really surprise me when i get a lot of kudos for them. what surprises me more is how much other fandoms DON'T comment or bookmark or follow fics lol. i was seriously spoiled with those lol

as for a fic that's gotten more feedback, uhhhh hm. a couple of my dp fics have done better than i thought they would, yeah, but i also have this bleach fic that's in second person that seems to have come across really well, so i guess that one's the most surprising lol

aftershocks has done really well, but that's not surprising considering the talent that went into it, the fact we updated every week, and the word count, but it still baffled me as we were updating it how well it was doing lol

15. What WIP are you taking into next year with you?

definitely my rottmnt separated au (chapter 1 is posted on ao3 as sunset hues, jetpack blues (SHJB)) lol. ive been putting a lot of effort into it, more than i give most of my fics, tho i'm realizing now as i'm working more on planning i may have jumped the gun a bit and posted it a biiit early?? but also i wanted to post it on my birthday so i'm not so concerned about that kdshbfhdsf

when i post chapter 2 (which is basically done except for the final revision i need to give it), i'm gonna reread chapter 1 as well and make sure it's up to date with the minor stuff i left out bc i hadn't nailed down some specifics yet (but dw, it'll be Very minor and won't effect the plot lol)

besides that, i have oneshot prompts i wanna fill out and i have a fic in the works i'm calling Fallout, which is inspired by fall out boy songs (which ive been thinking about since like february/march when "love from the other side" dropped lol)

i also lowkey wanna try to get a fic done for danny phantom's 20th anniversary in april but idk how that's gonna go lol. i'm still very focused on ninja turtles

16. What’s your most common “Additional Tags” tag?

of my 54 works on ao3 Fluff seems to be my most used tag with 10 times, which is. lowkey a surprise LOL. Hurt/Comfort comes in second with 7 (tied with "not beta read" and a tag for a danny phantom fic event) and Angst is in third with 6 (barring the two that i'm not counting lol)

going by just my rise fics, first place tag goes to Donatello and Leonardo are Twins (TMNT) with 6 of my 8 fics (ao3 says 9, but one of them is aftershocks, which i won't include bc it's a collab) and only reason it's not all 8 is bc i didn't tag it in fics where it's not a main focus lol

29. Favorite line/passage you wrote this year?

hmmmm let's see.... okay what have i written this year....

oh god that's a lot more than i thought, uhhhh

i have a lot of stuff i Really enjoyed tbh. there's a fun little action sequence i wrote for a later part of SHJB that i liked (that i'll prolly have to rework a little), there's a few Other parts of my prewritten SHJB stuff i enjoy, there's a bunch of stuff in my rise august fills i really liked...

but i think for a single line/passage, i'll go with this bit from the beginning of my fic what's in a name? (which is also posted here on tumblr!!)

Donnie, not bothering to look up from his phone, flaps a hand in the air dismissively. “I keep all my anger bottled up in here,” he taps his chest, “and hope one day it will just kill me. Like a normal person,” he adds, as if what he just described is unequivocally a universal experience.

this entire piece was a lot of fun to write and there's some more silly lines in this i really enjoyed but i think this is the one i think about the most, like the exchange directly after this lol

Leo purses his lips and steeples his hands, holding this fingers to his mouth. “So that’s a yes to the mad, then.” “Or it could be, like, the coo-coo for cocoa puffs type of mad!” Mikey chimes in, crossing his eyes and swirling a finger beside his ear. “Y’know, like British people say.” “Ew,” Leo says, because that’s all that needs to be said about that.

and this line a little bit down from that

Raph’s next exhale is heavy, the burden of Atlas in his eternal torment. “Pizza Supreme, I wish.”

thanks again for your ask!!! these were a lot of fun to answer. i love talking about my writing dfjghbdfg get me started and i'll never shut up lol

[knifemartin]

WHOA it took me a year to write these 4000 words??? eek how embarrassing....

[dunkalfredo]

Hello! I've been reading the Rottmnt fic Aftershocks, and I just wanted to say that your chapter with Donnie is incredibly accurate to how it feels to have OCD. Not sure If you meant it to be like that, but his cycle of intrusive thoughts, his need to have control, and him indulging in an activity that helps his take away the thoughts even though it's harmful, is all what someone like me wit OCD is like. It was very refreshing to see things that I've experience explained so well, so good job!!!!

This is really high praise, thank you!!! I'm really glad that it resonated with you. :) I didn't write the Donnie chapters with OCD in mind, but after you sent this ask, I went to reread some of them and I totally see what you mean. I have OCD too so I get how important it is to see it portrayed and explained well in fiction. Very glad I can provide, even if unintentionally lol

[the-navistar-carol]

New "Aftershocks" chapter, up now!

Kelly "Vacay" Savannah, Weapons Systems Officer, has been called back to Top Gun years after her graduation, about a mission she knows nothing whatsoever of. Luckily, she's not alone. Her frontseater Marisol "Floodgate" Carter, has been called back, too. OR: Two more people join the Dagger Squad. Not a lot changes, but nothing is the same.

Edited by @zee-has-commitment-issues, as always!! I'm so glad to talk to them after being in the wilderness. Compliment their hair today!!!

But they shot through the smoke, the flame, and the wreckage, and sailed right up alongside the shitty F-14, and Jake felt lighter than he had in years. He hadn’t been able to save Whitney. That was a fact. He couldn’t alter that any more than he could change the way the sun set over the sea. But. But, but, but – he’d saved Maverick and Rooster. Not his friends. Not his family. Not even his as-good-as sister.

But there was a cry of victory in the back of his head, and it was growing louder by the second. Mine, that voice sang, and behind it was the echo of piano keys. Mine, mine, mine. The scales had evened out. Finally, the scales had evened.

Read now on Ao3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/41581620/chapters/140900401

Taglist: @missezri

[alynnl]

Top 5 Ask Game! Top 5 sentences you've written that you can find! Favorites right now, don't be picky, just go through some of your works until you find five you like.

These are not so much sentences, as they are quotes! I hope you don't mind, anon!

“We’ve been over this. There are no such things as extraterrestrials! You don’t get little green men on flying saucers, picking up cows and making crop circles.” - Aftershocks Chapter 2

----

“It is said that knowing is half the battle,” replied Cyrus. “But the other half is passing down what you’ve learned to those who will come after you. I believe with my heart and soul that knowledge is something that must be shared freely between people. It’s not to be hoarded, or buried because there is no polite way to address our troubled history.” - A Reason to Fight Chapter 4

----

“She said to me, Cyrus Albright, you’ve got to listen. You and I, we’re only human, and we have such a short time in this world. So it’s up to us to choose the best way to spend it. I know you’re hurting and you feel like giving up. But if you did, who would preserve Hornburg’s legacy? Who else would care enough to keep its name alive? Along with its small number of survivors, that kingdom will need a scribe to tell its story. Without that, it’ll fade into obscurity.” - Legacy of the Lost

----

Their two lanterns weren’t the only things illuminating their path. As the two walked along the trail, groups of fireflies emitted a yellow glow a short distance away. Their lights went in and out, like the twinkling of hundreds of tiny stars scattered throughout the fields. - Your Pain Shall be Eased

----

“I can’t speak for anyone else, Mr. Edgeworth, but I don’t expect you to just move on from it,” Gumshoe replied thoughtfully. He reached over, and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You survived a tragedy no one should have to go through. Those sort of memories leave their mark on you, no matter how much time has passed.”

“You sound as though you’re speaking from experience, Detective Gumshoe.”

“Well, sir, you never forget your first day in court. We both know that much.” - You Never Forget

[wishiwerenexttonormal]

Sooo I kinda extracted the vocals from Light and placed them back onto a newer instrumental, basically an amateur 'remaster', if you will. It took a lot of work to get all the timing to line up perfectly.

I plan to do this with other tracks too, since I love the soundtrack so much but the 2009 sound quality is definitely noticeable.

Hoping someone else can enjoy this too! 💜