#but yeah this ship definitely isn’t for everyone and that’s cool

[buddiebitch]

WHY are BT shippers so vehemently against actually analyzing the symbolism and choices made for this show?

i mean i saw multiple people saying we were overthinking the vertigo poster. they were saying that it was weird to assume that Buck would fill the pining best friend role that Midge did in the original movie??? (haven’t seen the movie, i just read a few synopses)

i’m sorry, so you agree that he put Ryan Guzman in the main character and Devin Kelley as the love interest because they’ll fill those roles in the storyline, but we’re overthinking when we point out what role he put Oliver Stark in?

or when i bring up the possible symbolism of Tommy always calling him Evan, the only response i get from BT stans is “well he would tell him if he didn’t like it” or “i think it’s because he was introduced that way and that’s why” or even “i think he probably likes that Tommy calls him Evan” (all real responses i saw) and it’s like, yeah that’s cool, those are great headcanons for you, but that actually isn’t what i was talking about. nothing wrong with having a headcanon, but it doesn’t explain anything about the show or answer any of my questions.

i mean in s4 he corrected his PARENTS and told them his name was Buck, and in s6 it was used to emphasize the strangeness of his coma dream, how everyone was calling him Evan, the whole show him being called Evan has almost always been used to emphasize that someone doesn’t know him very well, how are y’all convinced that it’ll mean something different this time? i get that some people think it’s supposed to be growth, that he’s cool with being called his first name, but if that’s the goal it definitely isn’t reading that way to me.

like i wish i could see things through the same lens as these people so it could make sense to me, i just don’t get how you can willfully ignore SO many hints just so you can ship what you want.

no hate to the ship or the shippers obviously, i’m just baffled by the lengths they’ll go to in order to convince themselves that plot device man is endgame for Buck.

[dismas-n-dismay]

Please I need to see the ship kids? Is Laios a good uncle? Do they have scales/feathers or sharp teeth? Horns? Claws? (This series has me in a chokehold rn)

*SQUEEZES YOU IN MY GRASP*

I had to put everything under the cut because this is a hella long post so everyone else just look at these cute farcille babies and rock on

HI HOWDY!! Laios is obsessed with these little freaks (he would never call them that though cause he would literally die for them if needed) He’s essentially been right by Falin and Marcille’s side since day one when it came to the babies! He’s a surprisingly good uncle but definitely that one where he gives the kids gifts that the parents are like “YEAH NO- he’s 8 he doesn’t need a crossbow”

He definitely gives the kids little trinkets he gets from foreign dignitaries since I don’t picture Laios really liking all the gifts and gold and money people will give him to butter him up when he catches onto it. The cool monster stuff stays with him though, but he’ll let the kids look at anything cool he gets that he decides to keep for his personal collection. I like to imagine that when he holds them he always keeps them to the side of his hip, real mom type stance when he’s holding them.

Secondly, GREAT QUESTION!! They have a little bit of both! Haru (the cream colored baby) has feathery down covering his ears, chest, and wings as well as basically anywhere else that he isn’t scaly or covered in soon to be thought flesh. He’s more of a dragon from the waist down but bird from the waist up like Falin was.

His sister Haize (the apple red one) has the most scales! (But the least feathers out of the pair) Haize has more of that traditional dragon look and unlike Haru, she’s dragon basically to the neck up. She has scrawny little forearms that aren’t quite attuned to walking yet but once she grows they’ll become a lot more useful for the crawling around stage of her infancy! Haru will often try to climb on her back because he wants to be fast too- he’s only a little guy but he still hates that she got the extra limb genes where he didn’t.

Both have wings though the down that Haru has makes it a bit difficult for him to fly, though he really grows to enjoy flapping and the flutter of his wings! Haize has more sleek featherless dragon wings which make her flight process a bit easier, though her longer body means that her flying is quite silly (it’s like when you pick a cat up by their middle and they just dangle, imagine that but with flight and her trying to tuck her limbs in to have less weight pulling her down). Both have claws on their dragon halves as well as spikes/spines on their backs though only Haize has been born with the making for clawed hands, Haru grows into his later in life!

Really Falin and Marcille are glad that the kids are in relative captivity, Haru’s inherited the “head empty, no thoughts, tee hee” touden genes and they’re like 75 percent certain that he would get eaten if natural selection had its way - assuming Haize didn’t protect him ofc. Haru is very sleepy as a baby while Haize is very cranky. She likes to sleep on her back but her itty bitty dragon wings get cramped when she does and sleeping on her side isn’t as a comfy. Aside from that she just likes attention and being with her parents which is tough due to their jobs.

Haru has colic due to the light magic that manifests in his stomach pouch organ! He was born with an organ similar to the one red dragons have that allows them to breathe fire! It allows him to conjure and manifest light and can be weaponized if a dragon knows what they’re doing. Really it’s much more useful as bioluminescence for dragons who dwell in darker dungeons as it allows them to lure in prey and the pouch’s brightness grows as a dragon approaches somewhere stacked with mana and magic which is an easy way to find enemies or food! Typically light dragons are very powerful but a rare find as they’re often incredibly soft and unable to protect themselves as babies as well as their newly born pouches which let off a lot of glow due to basically incubating for a year or so and refuse to dampen until they learn to properly dispel their magic via spells. Not to mention how easy of a target it is for their obvious weak spot, one bad slash to the tummy and ur done.

Most dragon babies learn early as having that much magic in you hurts a LOT but Haru takes a lot while to learn it, though Falin soon learns that pressing on his stomach and conjuring her own light magic to siphon Haru’s own eases a lot of his tummy aches and pains.

(I got way more facts about these guys so if you wanna know more just send another ask!! :]!! /gen)

[hana-no-seiiki]

Are you familiar with Ms Marvel (Kamala Khan)? What about Yandere Platonic Batfamily with a reader who is basically like Kamala (Comics ver).

Just imagine how hilarious to find that their Fangirl knows their identities and made a few fanfics about them. Like for example-

Red Hood vs The Monster truck possessed demon!

Batman and Robin vs Evil Sewer lizard's from another world!

Nightwing and the Smog-Breather!

Y'know just Fanfic writer who's also a superhero.

Also I love your content. Make sure to take breaks!

YANDERE BATFAM W/ MS MARVEL! READER

“Just to make sure. . . You’re totally Damian Wayne right?”

“What-“

“Cool! That means Batman has to be Bruce. And the robins…”

You may or may not have been knocked out during your first encounter with one of your favorite heroes. By Robin himself.

Look, Damian doesn’t usually knock out innocent civilians like they murdered his cat or anything but you were a liability and a half.

Yeah, maybe revealing that you knew everyone’s identities wasn’t a good idea.

Besides Damian was kind of iffy about you since you were feeling up his body when he swooped in to save you.

(Turns out you were just confirming your theories but still)

Now the surveillance started mostly due to your uncanny encyclopedic knowledge of the Batfam and basically every other hero and villain out there.

Once they figured out you were basically harmless and just needed to get a better filter when it comes to things you say, you were mostly home free.

The thing is, the Batsons might have formed an obsession with you. Since you’re asking a yandere blog here, it was definitely not healthy.

They liked the idea of someone knowing them in and out. You’ve had competitions with Tim to figure out who knew the other better while Bruce and Damian just deadpanned in the background.

Dick loved entertaining your ships and headcannon questions. Bruce was more reluctant but found it to be a great way to incentivize you to behave and work with him better.

Jason just adores you. You’re the only younger sibling that isn’t stuck up or reminds him of his low self esteem and struggle to be a good vigilante. He was definitely weirded out at first but grew to be like Dick and definitely fuels your fan habits. Both guys definitely not so subtly strip in front of you sometimes so you can get more “reference” material.

Which brings me to the next point, who you choose to write or draw on your blog definitely gets discussed. Your blog’s every post is actively monitored at all moments. I wouldn’t be surprised if Bruce installed a large monitor in the Batcave just to watch over it.

Him and Tim definitely analyze your stats and help you with growing your blog. Watch Bruce spend thousands of dollars to get your page everywhere (subtly cause the first time he did it, you were so embarrassed you refused to talk to him for a week). Alfred works as your personal assistant when it comes to timing/scheduling your posts and making sure you tag them properly + have the most aesthetic formats.

Anyways, back to the discussing your posts thing, you learnt to make sure your posts, heck even your drafts, are all equal when it comes to who it features. Otherwise prepare to get overwhelmed with love bombing.

It took Damian the longest to warm up to you, but when he realizes how much you mean to him there’s no turning back. It starts from him unconsciously humoring your questions to full blown out debates over how he’d definitely win in whatever battle you pit him in your fanfics.

Speaking of fanfics, Damian loves to blackmail you about them. He’s the type of brother to love tormenting you about your totally ‘weird hobbies’ while simultaneously reading every piece of literature/art piece in your blog as if you’re bringing out the modern bible and he’s a staunch believer in the God that is you.

He then proceeds to critique your art and written works if not outright bash them.

You’d have been in tears from the essays he writes about you if you didn’t already know it was him.

(Tim told you.)

Now when your powers awakened, you went from that one sibling that knew way too much to almost an essential part of their team.

Almost because every time you were allowed to go out, someone had to be on “mouth guard duty” for when you accidentally spill what you know.

(It’s usually Tim or Bruce)

You worked a lot with Bruce during those times. Who definitely flexes the hours you two spend in comparison to the batsons.

He doesn’t mind it if you get distracted by the boys, though.

Really, he’s glad you haven’t asked how your family has been doing or when you’re going home.

‘Cause he’d have a lot of explaining to do.

General Batfam Taglist: @the-sander-fander

[tamamatango]

Friendship Power Scaling (normal thing to do)

Hello space frog fans, how’s everyone? Take another random off-the-cuff analysis post while I procrastinate on the more significant things I’m supposed to be doing (including the Project I plan to reveal when I put up the next part of said project) because I feel like my brain is melting like candle wax these days.

Here’s a topic I’m sure people have thought about but not really put a quantification to: I will be ranking the Keroro Platoon and their partners by their mutual closeness, as in which have the most believable Platonic Soulmates dynamic. (Read: strictly platonic we do not ship any of these in this house.) Why? Idk do I look like I know why I do anything?

So first place is Keroro and Fuyuki. Duh. Literal world-saving levels of bestest best besties forever, would be completely devastated without each other, needs very little explanation really. I guess it is sort of funny that in terms of demeanor they are maybe the least similar out of the duos but they adore each other so much it just doesn’t even matter.

Second I would say is Dororo and Koyuki. Koyuki rescued Dororo both physically and emotionally and completely changed his outlook on everything pretty much, and Dororo is Koyuki’s only real constant in her life from the village. Dororo is pretty overtly more loyal to her and their shared duty to the Earth than he is to the platoon lmao. More pronounced in the manga but still. It’s kinda hard to pinpoint their exact relationship (siblings? Dororo is her dad? Koyuki is his emotional support human?) but their bond is definitely Very Special. Even in the new project trailer Koyuki is holding him, they are so friggin sweet dude.

For third I’m gonna be spicy and say it’s Kururu and Saburo yes I am very biased but hear me out. Despite being the only pair that doesn’t live together it is heavily implied that they are near perfectly in sync but just have a really weird indirect communication system that’s sort of obscured from the audience and even more so the rest of the cast. They act nonchalant about it but they will drop whatever they’re doing immediately if the other needs a solid no questions asked. In the manga they’re even more openly buddy-buddy with all the 親友 and マブダチ talk (anime Kururu is tsun af and pretends he’s too cool for friendship) but they get even less screen time together so rip. I’ve spent more than enough time on these two before but yeah they have extreme best bro energy everyone else just isn’t big-brained enough to Get It.

Fourth is Tamama and Momoka. They’re very much cut from the same cloth and are definitely like siblings, helps that they’re the closest in age out of all the pairs (Tamama might even be a little younger than Momoka depending on what exact Keronian age theory you subscribe to). Momoka pampers Tamama like a pet, they occasionally boost each other via training, and Tamama helps with Momoka’s Love Schemes. But despite the fact that they are kindred spirits in several ways I think they put their pursuits of Keroro and Fuyuki a little above their friendship. And Momoka is not afraid to just kinda kick Tama’s ass, sometimes for good reason sometimes for no reason lol. They still love each other they’re just not as deep in each other’s heads as the higher duos.

And finally the take that would get me tarred and feathered in earlier Keroro fandom days which is putting Giroro and Natsumi last. Okay, so we know Giroro is for better or worse extremely dedicated to Natsumi in an arguably unhealthy way (well, it’s not rly arguable lol, but it’s more innocuous if you headcanon father figure theory and not The Other Thing). But does Giroro have the same level of importance to Natsumi? Eh, I mean she sees him as a close family friend and she obviously really cares about him plus certainly favors hanging out with him well over the other little guys (though she is closer with Keroro than it seems), but I think the affection is very lopsided on one end here. They both have a warrior-like disposition and a soft side but idk how much they relate outside that. And they’re not really each other’s clear BFF in the same way the other duos are since Natsumi has Koyuki and Giroro has Keroro (and Dororo as part of the RGB trio but it’s Keroro who is specifically stated to be his Best Friend in the manga). Their friendship is very cute but they just don’t have the same Unbreakable Bond Sauce that the others have yknow. And sadly they kinda Have to be a little less good at reading each other for the Giroro pining over her jokes to land. Sadly.

Well that’s it, kind of ironic the explanations got longer the lower down the list but that’s more where I felt I had to justify my positions. Like nobody is going to argue me about Keroro and Fuyuki right. At least I hope not because then I think we might have watched a different show? I mean I guess they win a bit less overwhelmingly in Sgt Frog Abridged maybe you watched that. Fuyuki gives Keroro a speech about how fucked up he is in that one that was surprisingly metal

[rose-tea-and-strawberries]

House of Mouse AU: Yuu and the Princess and the Frog Characters

*bangs fists on table* Mum Tiana! Mum Tiana! Mum Tiana!

I always see Tiana as the mum friend of the princesses and that is absolutely correct. She sees Yuu and is like: is anyone going to mother her? *Minnie and several other characters are about to raise their hands* No? Okay! Here sweetie, have some gumbo and beignets 😊

She just sees how hard Yuu works in a world where all odds seem to be against her and she’s still  smiling and making due with what she has when all she has is literally nothing just so touched. Besides she knows a thing or two about the restaurant business - if Yuu looks like she needs a hand, Tiana will be there to help and to remind her to take a break. And nobody is going to interrupt that break if they don’t want to answer to her.

Yuu definitely has a job offer for Tiana’s Place 

She’s not going to let Yuu get bullied by anyone either. When she first found out about Sam and his friends from the other side, alarm bells started ringing but Yuu was quick to comfort her by saying how Sam is like a cool protective older brother and how he gives her discounts and stuff and would never let harm come to her so she reluctantly lets it go. But don’t worry, she’s friends with an alligator and is a master at knife-wielding (and she has many knives) and as Ralph Breaks the Internet has taught us, she is not afraid to use a rolling pin.

Dr Facilier literally gave Yuu a grin and before he could open his mouth, Tiana had gently taken Yuu’s hand and guided her away whilst giving the shadow man a deathly glare.

Charlotte adores Yuu. She’s like the fun aunt that always brings super expensive presents every time she visits. Every time Yuu stops at her table, she’s just bursting with happy energy, ready to hear about all of the boys at NRC.

Also, side note: 

Prince Naveen/Charlotte La Bouff 🤝 Kalim Al Asim

*Willing to buy a country for Tiana/Yuu’s happiness*

When Naveen isn’t busy giving his wife the biggest heart eyes ever, being chaotic with Aladdin and Eugene or getting too invested in the Yuu ship war, he’s just ready to give Yuu all of the appreciation in the world because damn, he was worried when his parents cut him off as a grown man but Yuu is literally a penniless teenager living in a dangerous, broken down, abandoned building with no way of contacting her friends/family/loved ones and she has no magic in a world where literally everyone else has magic and she’s an only girl in an all boys school (and yeah, Naveen might have been an ignorant, carefree party boy who flirted with literally everyone but he knows that there are guys out there who are dangerous. Just because he’s very big on consent doesn’t mean the rest of the world is).

Like he literally sees this sweet, kind girl and he and Charlotte are already making kidnapping adoption plans.

Tiana: *right when she and her husband are about to enter the club* Now honey, I know that you think that Yuu would be happier with us but remember she has her friends and sort-of adoptive father back at her school and kidnapping is illegal here. And yes, it is still considered kidnapping even if she comes willingly.

Louis and Ray love Yuu. They work with Naveen to compose the most incredible song for when it’s time for her and her suitor to dance together (the PatF gang all ship KalimYuu by the way)

Dr Facilier thinks Yuu is cool. Both of them are living with disadvantages and don’t really have that much control over their lives - only instead of living with resentment like he does, she just marches on. She knows better than to make a deal with him though *Azul memories intensify* but he’s a really charming and charismatic guy. He’s fun to hang around with when you watch out for him trying to swindle you. Yuu always talks about Sam and how cool she finds him and his shadows and the two of them talk about voodoo and hoodoo and yay *new friend unlocked*

He teaches her card tricks so that she can show off to Ace

@adrianasunderworld

[brokubroo]

more bokuroo fic recs by your friendly neighborhood bokuroo shipper

i'm back and i have more fic recommendations! here are a handful of bokuroo fics that i think some of you might enjoy, so let's get into it!:

please make sure to mind any ratings and tags associated with the fics that might not be listed here! they're suggestions so you can make informed decisions on your comfortability, so please keep tags and age ratings in mind!

☆ this is how it starts (this is what it means) by eurydicees

Kuroo isn’t quite sure how he got here.  Here, being: stuffed in the backseat of Iwaizumi's car, listening to a combination of Suga’s music and Asahi’s nervous rambling that makes Kuroo want to claw his ears out, skipping out on his chemistry lab, and on a four hour drive to an MSBY Black Jackals game, getting ready to break his own heart. He just knows that, probably, it started with Bokuto.

rated: t (13+)

word count: 14k

tropes: friends to lovers, road trip, post-canon

why i'm recommending it: this is one of those cornerstone fics i just can't get out of my head. not only does it take place from kuroo's point of view as he navigates the nervousness of confessing to bokuto, but it's just so heartwarming and fulfilling in the end. if you haven't already, i definitely recommend putting this on your read-immediately-because-it's-bokuroo-being-bokuroo list!

☆ Belonging by notallballs

"Okay, look," Kuroo said, releasing him and rubbing at his temples wearily. "You wanna come share my bed? You don't have to sleep, but just lie down for a few hours, that cool?" Bokuto made a face. "Your room is so quiet."  "I'll put some music on." Bokuto said nothing. "Kou. That okay? Will you try?" "...Yeah, okay." Bokuto's been having trouble sleeping, but when Kuroo invites him to share his bed, the careful balance of their friendship tips over.

rated: e (18+)

word count: 2k

tropes: friends to lovers, friends with benefits, roommates, sharing a bed, background college au

why i'm recommending it: it's sweet and simple! a common factor that many bokuroo enjoyers like myself love is the roommates trope (aka, THEY WERE ROOMMATES!) and it all comes around to a spicy but also comforting fic where they share a bed...and then they share a bed. what more could you want from a one-shot? bonus: kuroo calls bokuto "kou" and bokuto sleepily calls kuroo "k'ro" in this fic. how cute is that?!

☆ Fly Me To The Moon by Tearsaresalty

Kuroo might have fallen for the silver-haired singer of the jazz café he goes to study. No wait -- he's actually very much in love; he just doesn't realize it at first.

rated: g (everyone) word count: 5k tropes: coffee shop setting, college au, first date, fluff why i'm recommending it: first of all, musician!bokuto and pharmacy student!kuroo is the combination no one thought they needed but definitely deserved. it's cute, lighthearted, features a lineup of seijou characters working in a coffee shop, a well-made chemistry joke, and fluff! it's an all-around enjoyable fic if you want to read about kuroo and bokuto falling in love at first sight.

☆ Betting on Emotions by holdontoyourhulahoops

Kuroo agrees to pretend to be Bokuto's boyfriend for a few weeks so they can win a bet. It shouldn't be that big of a deal, if only his annoying feelings would stop getting in the way.

rated: t (13+) word count: 10k tropes: friends to lovers, fake dating, pining, canon compliant why i'm recommending it: bokuroo and fake dating basically go hand-in-hand when it comes to common tropes with this ship, and honestly? it totally works for them! this is a really nice fic that features some of the best tropes with canon compliant bokuroo: friends to lovers (of course), fake dating (who doesn't love a good pretend boyfriend situation?), pining (majorly), and some good ol' cute moments! it's a pretty enjoyable, down-to-earth fic that i think is worth a read.

☆ #KurooStealsPants2K20 by kuidore

Kuroo was a good person. He was a good person, and he didn't deserve this. He could almost hear Kenma’s disbelieving scoff, and he resisted the urge to mentally tell his best friend to shut his damn mouth (as if it would actually do anything). He didn’t need imaginary Kenma’s judgment at the moment. He’d deal with enough of that from real Kenma later. "I need to borrow your pants." AKA Kuroo needs pants for a lab, Bokuto has the best (or worst) timing, and Kuroo can't catch a fucking break.

rated: e (18+)

word count: 89k

tropes: strangers to friends to lovers, different first meeting, college au, mutual pining, slow burn/build

why i'm recommending it: you might be thinking to yourself, wow, there's been a lot of pining and college fics, i wonder if this one will be different. well, i have good news and more good news: this fic has all of that and more! because, really, how can those things be overused when it comes to bokuroo? not only is this fic longer and more of a slow burn than most other fics i've recommended, but it's full of group chat funnies, angsty moments, and so much more! it's a really fun read, even if you think you're over the college au with mutual pining and friends to lovers, because this one starts out with kuroo stealing bokuto's pants...cue a knowing smirking face here. (there's also a wonderful meet-the-parents one-shot sequel that's also a funny and great follow-up!)

anddd that's a wrap! i hope some of you all were able to find something new to read for bokuroo and have a wonderful lovely amazing bokuroo day!

[roxannarambles]

title: tesoro

ship: nemona x juliana (fluff, pre-romance)

summary: mr. jacq’s students give their final reports on their treasure hunt

notes: edited the story, tweaked a few things, I like it better now! (also, it’s in second-person POV now. apologies if second person isn’t your thing. but I kept accidentally slipping into that pov a zillion times so I just went with it)

It was time for the class to give their oral reports on the Treasure Hunt, and you were nervous as heck.

Yes, the time spent during your independent study had been incredible, but it did come with one downside. It was still technically part of your class curriculum, so every student was expected to write and submit a paper about their experiences, as well as deliver an oral report to the class. Honestly, it wasn't particularly difficult. Most students simply went up there and rambled a bit about whatever they spent the past six months doing.

A lot of students talked about trying out the gym circuit, or about the different towns they'd visited, or about a really cool and rare pokemon they'd stumbled across while out hiking, or what-have-you. One student loved fishing so they talked about all the different places they'd fished, another student was obsessed with hunting shiny pokemon, another student had researched the historical ruins scattered throughout Paldea. It was actually kind of fun hearing about everyone's experiences.

Or at least, it would have been, if you could have focused at all. But you were too busy feeling anxious about your own presentation. Giving talks in front of a class had never been one of your strong suits. Your stomach was tied up in knots, and you were trying very hard to ignore your nausea. Beside you, Nemona gave a sympathetic smile and patted your shoulder. In a quiet voice, she said,

"It's gonna be fine, Jules. Just imagine it's like a pokemon battle! You don't get nervous when everyone's watching you battle, right?"

You gave her a weak smile.

"Actually, that makes me kinda nervous too."

Nemona's eyes widened a little.

"Wait, seriously? No way. I had no idea. You always seem so calm and collected."

"Mmm," you mumbled, closing your eyes. Nemona patted you again, reassuring you,

"You'll do maravillosa, I know it."

You hadn't been paying any attention to the student currently talking, but they must have finished their report, because the class abruptly launched into polite applause. You snapped your eyes open and politely applauded along with everyone else, watching the student return to their seat as Mr. Jacq praised their efforts.

"Thanks again, Lorenzo, for such an engaging review of the restaurants of the west province. I definitely learned of some new places to try when I'm in the area! Now, let's see . . ."

The professor glanced down briefly at the clipboard in his hand.

"Ah! Yes, it looks like it's Juliana's turn next. Wonderful!"

You felt her heart give a sudden lurch and you swallowed, feeling the eyes of the class drawn to you. Ok, well, at least you're finally getting this over with, right? Timidly, you stood from your seat and brought over the little flash drive that had the slides for your presentation. It only took you a minute or so to plug into the computer and launch the file, but you had to focus to try and keep your hands from looking jittery.

Once the first slide appeared on the overhead projector, you turned and gave the class a nervous smile. You forced out,

"H-hi everybody . . . my name's Juliana. As. Most of you already know."

Well, yeah. You'd all spent the entire semester together by now. Not to mention you were the youngest Champion in all of Paldea, too, that kinda had been announced to the whole school.

You coughed, stammering out,

"A-anyway! Eheheh, this, is my report on my Treasure Hunt!"

From the middle of the room, Nemona gave a spirited,

"Whoo!"

There was an awkward silence. You laughed nervously before changing the slide.

"R-right, anyway . . ."

You did your best to just focus on your notes and get through the material you'd prepared. You started by talking about all the gyms you had visited and challenged, and the things you'd learned from your successive battles, each of the gym leaders offering interesting new perspectives on pokemon battling and on life in general. The same was true of the Elite Four and the Top Champion. Then you delved a little into your adventures with Arven, tracking down and battling the massive Titan pokemon and locating their secret dens with rare, exotic herbs. The battles themselves were noteworthy, but you also talked about the stuff you learned about backpacking across the wilderness and roughing it in the wild, as well as getting to know Arven better. You dedicated a portion of your talk to Koraidon, as well, because he was your precious baby boy and you loved him more than anything (well, your whole team was dear to you, too, of course). You also talked about the experience of finding and helping out the members of Team Star. It took time to earn their trust, but eventually you learned about them and about the history of Naranja Academy, both the good and the unpleasant. Eventually, you were able to help the members of Team Star gather the courage to face their pasts and return to school, mending the bridges they had thought had been burned and unmendable.

The events that had transpired in Area Zero had to be omitted from your talk, of course, but even glossing over all that, there was plenty to talk about. It had been a very, very busy six months, packed to the brim with adventure and excitement. And to your relief, the report went fairly smoothly. Once you'd gotten into things, it had become much easier to just focus on what you wanted to say and get through the talk you'd carefully practiced.

However, the main portion of the talk wasn't really the thing that had caused you the most anxiety. It was the ending of the speech that truly worried you. The ending that was now rapidly approaching.

You flipped the slide, struggling to keep your cool. You glanced at the bullet points on your slide and continued talking.

"So, ah, as I've been explaining, a lot happened during my independent study! And there are a lot of things I found that I would call my treasure. Like, for instance, my friends. I met so many new friends on this journey and they've all been so amazing. Also, my pokemon. I've raised these little guys from the itty bitty babies I found toddling around in the wild and . . . honestly, I'd do anything for them. We've been through so much. And, of course, all the experiences I had. The big exciting moments, but also all the calm, soft ones. Just having picnics out in the South Province, or walking on the beach, or seeing the sunsets from Levincia, all that stuff. I treasure all of those things. I've been really lucky."

All right, here it comes. You pulled in a nervous breath and hesitated, glancing around at your audience. Were you really doing this? Truthfully, it was probably gonna be fine. You were probably worried about nothing. It's not like there was anything weird about what you wanted to say or anything. But, well, part of you was still scared it might come off as too . . . too sappy or something.

Urgh. You just needed to quit second-guessing yourself and just do it.

Clearing your throat, you say,

"B-but, uhm, when I asked myself what my greatest treasure was, uh, there was something that . . . did come to mind. That's not to devalue any of the other things I've mentioned, of course! They are all deeply important to me. But there is something that makes me feel the most excited, that feels . . . that feels the most precious to me."

Ah, jeez. As the students watched you with intent curiosity, you could feel your heart picking up speed and a blush began to creep onto your face. Okay yeah maybe this was too sappy, but it was too late now, oh god.

You forced yourself to reach over to the laptop and hit the button, changing the slide, and a large photo of Nemona appeared, her auburn eyes bright and her grin positively jubilant, as usual. Doing your very best to speak in a normal voice, you squeaked,

"A-and t-that's my friend Nemona!"

You tried very hard to not make eye contact with anyone in the classroom and just stay focused on your report, although you couldn't help but hear a startled little gasp from somewhere in the middle of the room, which definitely sounded exactly like Nemona.

Okayjustfocusjustkeeptalking

You opened your mouth and forged ahead, the words tumbling out.

"T-the truth is, I've had a lot of difficulties in my life with anxiety and, other mental health issues. Most people don't know that, probably none of you do, I don't really talk about it. But yeah, when I first moved here, Nemona was so welcoming the moment I arrived, and she, she was . . . willing to get to know me and see me for who I am, I guess is the best way of putting it. And she actually liked that person she found? And it meant so much to me, and she became my best friend, but to be honest, she was also my first friend, the first one I was close to,  I mean-- like, truly close to. And I can't even begin to say how special that is to me."

You paused to suck in a breath, the thoughts swirling in your head, and continued ardently,

"And she's such a wonderful person. She's full of so much love for life, so much contagious energy, you know? She reminds me of the important things in life, of the stuff that matters most-- which is going after the things that you love, the stuff that makes you feel alive, and pursuing it no matter what! I feel like I'm a better person around her, like she brings out the best in me. And I admire her so much."

You had no idea if your thoughts were coming out coherently or not, but you could only hope so.

"That's not even going over how she re-ignited my interest in pokemon battles and a bunch of other stuff, but I don't wanna ramble or anything, heh . . . I just, uh . . . well, knowing that we're always gonna be there for each other, it's . . . it's the best feeling in the whole world."

You cleared your throat and glanced to the floor, adding quietly,

"S-so, um, yeah. She's. My greatest treasure."

There was a pause, the room completely silent, and you felt like you could hardly breathe. You turned and smacked the button on the computer, flipping to your end slide, and blurted quickly,

"Anyway that's my presentation, the end, thanks everyone, okay bye!"

You were about to just bail, but a smiling Mr. Jacq stepped in the way before you could, so you remained rooted to the spot.

"Thank you, Juliana! That was wonderful! Such an insightful and heartfelt report. Wouldn't you agree, class?"

There was an enthusiastic smattering of applause from the class, and you ducked her head, embarrassed but relieved at the same time. Your teacher continued to praise you for a bit, and you took the first opportunity to quickly return to your seat and exit the spotlight.

Although, returning to your seat was certainly a little awkward, considering you were returning to sit beside Nemona. You didn't have the guts to look at her during the presentation, but you could now see Nemona was blushing quite the intense shade of pink, her eyes glued to her desk, while the students around you casted glances and giggled. You sat down, feeling terrified you may have upset your friend. Did you embarrass her too much? Or . . . god, you should have asked her first if she'd be okay with this, damn it, damn it. Feeling awful, you turned to Nemona and stammered quietly,

"S-sorry if that was embarrassing, I uhh I was just, well, I was trying not to ramble or anything but I just, w-wanted to-- I'm sorry, I should have asked if you--"

Nemona's eyes darted up to yours, wide and disbelieving, and she quickly cut you off.

"Don't say sorry, Jules, that was, it was-- so sweet, I-I-- nobody's ever said anything that nice about me before! Don't you dare apologize for that, that was incredible!"

Nemona's voice had sounded so raw, and she looked nearly on the verge of tears. The fear gripping you immediately evaporated, and you released a breath. With a shy smile, you stammered,

"Oh, o-okay, good! I'm-- I'm glad you liked it . . ."

Nemona huffed, grabbing your arm and leaning in close, muttering so the class couldn't overhear;

"You're lucky I have the self-restraint to not make a big ole' scene in the middle of class, cos I am going to hug the stuffing out of you the second I get the chance, you know that? I'll be sobbing and it's gonna be sooo embarrassing."

You felt a grin edging onto your face.

"I mean, if you wanna make a scene right here, I wouldn't exactly mind . . ."

You hesitated, and then the words slipped out softly,

". . . mi tesoro."

Nemona's pretty auburn eyes went completely wide, her fingers tightening around your arm, and her entire being seemed to positively shake from the force of trying to keep quiet. Her voice was rough and squeaky when she uttered,

"Wh-what-- Jules, I-I--"

You felt worried Nemona was going to break down right then and there; her eyes were watering and she looked as though she was seriously considering picking you up and carrying you right out of the classroom, but a voice suddenly interrupted the moment, causing you both to jump.

"A-hem, now, class, I know you're excited to talk about these wonderful presentations, but I'll need to remind you to save most of that for the end of class, okay?"

You turned to see Mr. Jacq was side-eyeing you both with an amused expression.

"Y-yessir," you say, while Nemona nodded mutely. Slowly, as if it was physically painful to do so, Nemona detached herself from you. She looked so sad, like an excitable puppy that had been scolded for jumping up on someone.

Mr. Jacq had already moved on, checking his clipboard.

"I believe that Isabella is next? Do you have everything ready to go, Isabella?"

"The second after class, Jules," Nemona's whisper in your ear was so terse it practically sounded like a threat, although with the way she was struggling to maintain composure, it was a very emotional one. You suddenly felt very bad for flustering her so much, but the truth was you hadn't really intended to. Unfortunately, there were still like ten or so students left to give their reports, so you both had to keep quiet and behave for just a while longer.

Although you weren't gonna lie, you couldn't focus much. Nemona maintained a facade of listening to your fellow classmates, but she kept shooting you lingering glances, her warm eyes full of such soft adoration, and it was honestly really distracting, because you felt like your heart was melting into goo. You were pretty sure you did not absorb a single thing the presenters were saying, and boy it felt like they were taking forever.

The funniest part was, Nemona had yet to give her presentation. Which you had completely forgot. Until Mr. Jacq checked his clipboard and announced,

"And it's finally time for our last student! Nemona, are you ready?"

Nemona bounced up from her seat faster than you'd ever seen her move, as if struck by a live wire. She gave an exuberant,

"You bet I am!"

Some of the class laughed and you struggled to quash your startled expression, because how in the heck did you forget Nemona hadn't gone yet? You'd been the one to help her work on her rough drafts for weeks, jeez!

Now you felt especially bad for distracting Nemona so much before her big talk. However, as it turned out, it didn't seem to be a problem. As Nemona bounded to the front of the class, she seemed perfectly focused on giving her report. She quickly fired up her slideshow, eyes gleaming.

You felt a flash of admiration at her ability to focus so sharply. Perhaps it was all of her experience with pokemon battles. It would make sense, honestly.

Nemona proceeded to launch into her talk, positively brimming with energy.

"All right, class, time to strap in! Because we're about to take a trip on the Nemona Roller Coaster, guaranteed to be full of the biggest ups and downs and shocking turnabouts you've ever seen on a Pokemon Gym circuit since 2021! (That was my first time to complete the gym challenge) It all started when I met Jules and Director Clavell gave me Sprigatito, to build a new team from scratch! As you'll see from this slide, here are little Spriggy's stats, and here's his nature, which is Jolly. Now, Jolly's a great nature for this pokemon, especially if you take a look at these IVs. . ."

You glanced around at the rest of class, amused by their mixed responses. Some students looked excited and interested while others were clearly mentally checking out already. Nemona had a reputation of getting down into the nitty-gritty details of pokemon battling, including some rather lengthy blow-by-blows of her battles and strategies, which some students found to be intensely boring. However, she also was very good at making the battles seem very dramatic and exciting, so plenty of other students seemed to really enjoy it when she had the spotlight. You didn't care whether Nemona was recounting an especially pivotal moment of a match or presenting spreadsheets on her EV training; whatever she was discussing, she did with a passion that was peerless, and you could listen to her for hours. And even though you'd already seen most of this presentation content while helping her out, you still enjoyed seeing her recite it for the class, covering an incredible amount of material packed into such a short timeframe. Nemona's focus was her journey re-challenging all the gyms, although she highlighted other significant battles along the way, too, including especially feisty trainers she'd met at random or her battles with you, of course.

You knew what the pièce de résistance, the crowning jewel of Nemona's talk was. She had built her presentation's narrative carefully, to climax with the battle that the two of you had shared in the middle of the Mesagoza square; the very first time Nemona had gone at you with everything she had. During this portion of the talk, Nemona dropped most of her technical analyses, opting instead to focus more on the drama and the feelings elicited by the battle, which managed to draw in even the most bored of students in class. Nemona was practically vibrating as she recounted things, and you couldn't help feeling swept up again in the memories, the way your heart pounded, the way your hands shook when you took the pokeballs from your belt, the way your chest squeezed when you saw the fire burning in Nemona's eyes as bright as a Volcarona from across the battlefield.

When the last pokemon in Nemona's story had been felled, she rolled into her final slide, providing a conclusion that was short but sweet.

"And that's when I realized; I'd found my greatest treasure. A true rival. I'd gotten so used to holding back whenever I battled, because I was so worried about making sure people were having fun, and making sure people actually wanted to keep battling me. But it was never really satisfying, deep down. And now, I've finally found someone who can meet me exactly at where I am, an equal. Someone who really gets me!"

She looked across the classroom at you, beaming. With absolute convinction, she said,

"A battle partner for life. Mi tesorita. That's Juliana."

You blushed at her words, glancing away from her intensity. Aughhh, she was trying to kill you, you should have seen this coming.

The students began to clap enthusiastically at the report's completion, but Nemona's voice piped up over the applause.

"But wait wait wait, that's what I put in my report, that's how I ended it, but Juliana's talk, she made me realize my report isn't entirely complete!"

The class quieted down again and you watched as Nemona stepped forward, ignoring her slides and speaking off the cuff.

"Yes, I'd finally found my rival, that's true, and that's fantastic! But it's more then that. Juliana's not just an amazing rival, she's someone I trust more than anything and someone who makes me stronger, makes me better! And she always keeps me on my toes and is always surprising me, no matter how much I get to know her! And she's someone who shares my burning passion, and she makes me laugh, and she makes my heart race, even when we're not battling! Heck, just being around her is exciting, it kind of reminds me of that one time I was exploring the Alfornada cave and I had a team of like level 20's but I accidentally ran into a level SIXTY Garchomp, and it terastallized and I was shaking and--"

At this point, quite a number of students where giggling and whispering, shooting you glances, and you were quietly trying to sink into the desk, face hot and cheeks red, but Nemona kind of had a hard time noticing social cues, so she remained blissfully ignorant of her classmates. Fortunately, Professor Jacq was more perceptive in that area and coughed, stepping in.

"R-right, well, we're running a bit short on time, but thank you, Nemona, for such a beautiful talk! Class, let's thank Nemona for her incredible effort and the perfect conclusion to our Treasure Hunt reports!"

You kept your head down as the class dissolved into applause; a few moments later, the school bell chimed. Shouting over the suddenly rowdy noise of the students eager to leave, Mr. Jacq called,

"All right, class, that'll be it for today, but don't forget Monday's reflection paper, due at the start of class! Check the website if you need a reminder of the guidelines. And have a great weekend!"

Nemona returned to her desk like a streak of light, grabbing up her backpack and then seizing your hand.

"You're coming with me, tesorita. I think if I gotta wait any longer to hug you I'm gonna actually die."

You grab your backpack as she pulls you along, your heart fluttering, and you answer,

"O-okay, haha, Nemona, I'm coming, I'm coming!" Your classmates kept shooting you both glances as Nemona hauled you quickly down the halls, and you knew they were gossiping, but you couldn't seem to bring yourself to really care.

The moment you step outside, she swings you into the promised hug with such force she actually lifts you into the air a bit, and you can't help but dissolve into laughter. She squeezes you tight, so tight it almost hurt, but it's lovely and it's fierce and you don't want it to stop, but eventually you have to beg her to let you breathe again.

She released her death-grip, but switched to kissing the top of your head, over and over, and you squirmed and laughed. She eventually paused to say,

"That's for using the most adorable nickname on me in the history of ever in the middle of class! You're terrible, you know that?"

You grin up at her, and it's like gazing into the sun, her energy always filling you entirely whenever she was around, almost too bright to handle. You answer,

"To be fair, I think you managed to get pretty decent revenge during your report."

Nemona laughed, shifting into a satisfied smirk.

"True! I think I did a pretty good job, considering how hard you were trying to distract me."

Your mind echoed back the tangent that Nemona had gone on at the end of her report, and you felt a blush threatening to return at the thought of it. Before you could think the better of it, you blurt,

"U-uh, about that . . . stuff you said at the end, about the Garchomp and everything . . ."

She lit up with a smile.

"Oh, you wanna hear more about it, yeah? Of course! So, it all started when I was visiting Alfornada, and I heard people talking about a nearby cave with really strong pokemon--"

"N-no, not that," you interrupt, feeling mildly exasperated, because of course that's the part she'd focus on.

"I meant, um, the part when you said that . . . uh . . . being around me felt like facing down the level 60 Garchomp?"

You felt embarrassed repeating it, because maybe you misunderstood, maybe you were just making a fool of yourself-- but her expression shifted, just a little bit, and she hesitated for a half-second.

"Y-yeah! Well, you know! It's always an adventure with you around. You and me, we can take anything on when we work together, and it makes me so jazzed. You know what I mean, right?"

And then she was back to normal. It had been so subtle, just the briefest of hesitations, the slightest waver in her voice, it was entirely possible you'd just imagined it.

You nodded,

"Yeah, of course."

You had a funny, prickly feeling, then, like someone was watching you, and you glanced around. Almost immediately, you spotted some of your classmates, who had probably exited the building around the same time as you. They were loitering suspiciously nearby and looking kinda entertained.

Oh, right. Forgot about them. It seemed Nemona's efforts to not make a scene may not have entirely worked out. To be fair, she did tackle you the second you left the building, pretty much right in the central path everyone took, so. Um.

You quickly suggest,

"Maybe we could continue this conversation somewhere else?"

Nemona was unconcerned with your classmates (or perhaps unaware), but still seemed to love the idea.

"Sure! Y'wanna grab some ice cream? We can go hang out on the rooftops!"

That sounded perfect, so you agreed. 

She grabbed your hand and you were off, to enjoy the rest of your Friday afternoon, and to make some more treasured memories.

[cutepastelstarsalior]

Clone high season 3!!!!!! Let’s goooooo!!!!!

Episode 1

Joan is being exulted from the group :( also Jesus is here!!! I miss him..

Omg roll call song!!! Joan pls let them sing. Jackie the ripper….. Grell Sutcliff vibes. Ohg Vincent!!!!! The blorbo…

Oh yeah, the new teacher is definitely suspicious, and that new guy and Harriet are totally gonna be a thing. For some reason Abe and JFK feel a bit off? Also the husbands…I love them.

His I forgot what it’s like to laugh at jokes in a show…

😔 rip to jfgosh….maybe…

Honest to god I too would also try to pick a color before graffiti it…I now love the bench creatures

The eyeball scene….gross.

Random person in the hat, I love you.

Why do people think Joan try to kill them? Like yeah, she throw everyone in a pit, but then they were led to a room to be brainwashed??? I can understand them think the pit would kill them or something but???? Murder?????

Episode 2

Cinnamon being a rising star of snorkeling but flailing, Mr b a sex worker who ran away from home…….the elements for a hurt/comfort fanfic are here…..👀👀

Maybe it’s just me, but this painting reminds me of Saint Sebastian. It might be the arrows?….

Marie….NooOOOOOOOO. (I literally screamed seeing her knees) tho it make me wonder, marries can fully speak with her head off. Can clone just, not die? Is this just silly cartoon logic, or can clone can lose body parts and keep going? If that’s the case then thats a major reason why Joan’s mom want to clones to be leaders, they could be physically be un-killable.

Everyone wanting to get out of their small rural/supern town….Mood. Pls pls pls let there be an indie type coming of age romance or friendship episode!!! Pls pls.

Abe going a sport team!! Again!!! JFK doing more sports!!! It’s cool to see Abe, JFK, and Confusious as a trio. And to see Abe not being romance focused, JFK too.

Vince trying out for cheerleading, Genghis too <3

It’s kind of weird to see Harriet as the cheer leader captain? I thought it would be Cleo since that more of a mean girl/popular stereotype? Harriet taking the mean girl role feels weird? Like last season she was a nervous theater kid who wants friends? Now she the cheer captain??? But also snappy. She the mean smart girl??

Cleo charter moment!!!!!!! Her caring about Frieda’s art and respect it!!!!

I love this episode

Episode 3

:( did JFK not have an accent anymore? It goes and goes..

Catherine the great x Anna Boleyn 👀 👀 oh that a cute ship!!! Also LGBT background characters let’s gooo!!!!!!

“I’ll happy let you take my virginity” Abe…ABE.

JFK not like the label “slut” :(

Oh my god is bi/pan jfk going be canon??? Also hella Abe x jfk vibes, nice

Christian rock…..do you think Jesus clone would be weird out by this music or like it?

Side note, Vincent isn’t an active Blecher Creature. So if he’s not that, not popular, is he middle ground? Are all the background characters just….middle ground?? (I’m thinking to much of the logic here)

Abe x JFK…:..boyfriends/QPR real <3

The whole “jfk didn’t want to do sex/be seen as a slut/want to do more things in life” is like, a good premise but the execution on this episode???? :/ idk.

Clone Cleo x 2 and cloe Frida x 3. 👀 👀

Oh neat, my thoughts about how other schools/people outside of Exclamation Point don’t know that clones exist!!!!

Abe did you puke that ring out or something else???

Episode 4

Oh neato, that how Harriet texts!!! It’s always cool to find out how fictional characters text and talk to people!! (That and it makes chat fic more realistic if you cope the canon way characters text)

The husbands have sex dolls of each other….👀👀

HE IS NOT THAT BUFF I REFUSE to believe that’s canon

Confucius breaking up with Harriet. I mean, I don’t think looking at another man is cheating? But it’s nice to know that is isn’t in the wrong or did anything bad, well beside the whole bear thing.

Episode 5

Oh, so Confucius and Jain are fake dating…

Oh my god there doing a manic pixie dream girl…

JFK and Abe nothing seeing and hearing the shoulder angels and demons…..👀👀

Mr B acting more human <3

SKUNKY POO IS A GIRL?????

Harriet’s dance outfit is cute.

Ok, Joan and Confusious talking by the water, then then dancing was super cute. Also Abe and Mary? They seems like a cute couple. Also skinny poo and cinnamon dancing in the rain was nice (wish it was Mr b tho… :( )

Oh nice, Harriet and what’s his name ended on good terms! I was afraid they were going to fight.

Ennui = a feeling of weariness and dissatisfaction. 👀 JFK having these feelings because the shoulder angel and devil aren’t there, representing inner conflict. 👀 👀

I really like Confusious’s character growth, he’s not into technology to find praise and company. He’s friends with Abe and JFK and him and Joan dating seems….healthy? Tho I do wish Joan stay single, 2 out of 3 seasons she’s been dating someone and it would be cool to see her be herself and do things she likes to do.

[inukag]

Hello, so I'm not heterosexual (I'm ace) and as you can tell I do like one of those ships in the poll. I thought your language was very harmful. Now, I'm not here to say those characters are nice people but that doesn't mean their fans like them because they are "hetero" and just like a hot guy. They are good characters and had cool dynamics with Kagome (yes that's subjective and you might disagree with it but some people did enjoy it). I do agree that Sango should have been on the poll but there are legit reasons people enjoy darker ships or enemies to lovers trope, they can be engaging to some. So to dismiss it as just "hetero girls liking a hot guy" is very bad. The reason I'm sending you this ask is because I think you are a good person and might recieve well my comment. I considered sending an anon but I wanted you to "see" me as we talk and I hope I don't get any harassment over this from others. Anyway, thank you for reading.

First of all thank you for sending this message non-anonymously! I know it can be stressful but it is definitely better for discussions. If I see anyone sending you hate over this I will fight them personally.

When I said “this fandom is painfully straight” I did not mean “every single person who likes these ships is straight”, that would be ridiculous. But it IS a straight ship. My point is that gay ships are almost never taken seriously in this fandom, as shown by the fact that people ship Kagome with all the male characters she canonically doesn’t like before shipping her with girls that she actually likes. I find that sad. Literally the only gay ship in this fandom that has a sizable fanbase is Inu/sess, but that’s another can of worms.

I’m not here to change anyone’s mind about sess/kag or kog/kag, I’m very much a ‘ship and let ship’ person. Those ships have existed for years so I know very well that me saying “Kagome Higurashi would never canonically love these guys” is not going to change anyone’s mind. So I’ll spare you the whole rant but I’ll say that I’ve read some sess/kag stuff (Raindrops and other fanfics I found years ago) and I’ve never seen Sesshomaru portrayed as anything other than a kind, suave, gentleman who saves Kagome from Inuyasha the toxic, two timer. His canonical racism and lack of empathy for others is gone. So I have a hard time believing people when they tell me they love the ship because it’s a “sexy villain/heroine, enemies to lovers ships” lol. Anyway like I said, I’m not going to change your mind and you won’t change mine, so no need to argue about this.

Also for added context regarding the “gay ships aren’t taken seriously” issue, a couple weeks ago a bunch of people on Twitter (inukag shippers) made tweets saying they were “disgusted” by the fact that many people headcanon Moroha to be a lesbian. That her blushing at and complimenting girls is “not evidence that she’s gay” and that the “real canon” is that she will end up with Koga’s son (who doesn’t even exists in any Inuyasha media!!!). It’s not an isolated issue with Sesshomaru or Koga fans, as I pointed out the people doing this were inukag shippers and they were called out by other inukag shippers. This fandom as a whole is just not the most friendly when it comes to lgbt+ stuff.

So yeah, I have nothing else to add. I don’t see how my language was harmful if I’m being honest. Regardless of people’s own sexual/romantic orientations this fandom mostly talk about and support straight ships. This isn’t really a call to action either, I’m not telling people what to ship, I was just jokingly pointing that out and hoping that next time people would just consider the fact that gay ships exists as well.

Thanks again for the message and I’ll take this time to remind everyone following me that I use the tag #<ship/character>-critical tag when I criticize stuff, so you can blacklist that if you follow me and don’t want to see negativity about characters or ships that you love. I didn’t tag my first reblog of the poll so that’s my bad, I’ll go back and fix that.

[quietwingsinthesky]

To Break a Fever

(Other Links: Dreamwidth - FFNet - Pillowfort - SquidgeWorld)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Archive Warning: N/A Fandom: Supernatural Ship: Gen (Gabriel & Lucifer & Michael & Raphael) Additional Tags: She/Her Pronouns for Gabriel (Supernatural), Sick Lucifer (Supernatural), Sick Gabriel (Supernatural), Sickfic, Healer Raphael (Supernatural), Depowered Gabriel (Supernatural), Depowered Lucifer (Supernatural), Depowered Raphael (Supernatural), Alternate Universe, Vomiting, Fever, Gabriel and Raphael are Twins (Supernatural) Wordcount: 4152 Summary:

Lucifer is sick, and Gabriel is so wrapped up in that that she doesn't see the fever creeping up on her until it's too late. It's a good thing Raphael knows what they're doing, even without grace to take care of their siblings.

Lucifer always takes a while to show up in the mornings. There hasn’t yet been a morning he doesn’t show his face, even if it’s only for a few minutes that end with whatever new fight with Michael he can pick and him stalking off to cool down again. There’s a sort of rhythm here that Gabriel’s tentatively falling into. She wakes up, usually from Fen trying to sit on her head, and goes to eat breakfast. Detours halfway there to the bathroom because she gets bodily signals loud and clear, a rarity in the apartment and really annoying when they clash between hungry-eat something-eat a bagel-eat twenty bagels and hey, it’s me, your bladder, and if you don’t go piss right now, I’m making it everyone’s problem.

And once that’s taken care of, she’ll always find Raphael already awake. Their eyes track her the minute she steps into the room. Sometimes Michael’s also there, which means he didn’t actually sleep that night, and sometimes he’s not, which means Gabriel can glance over and see him passed out on the couch, sleeping like he read how to in a manual. Fen needs feeding before Gabriel does, no matter how much her stomach is growling.

(“Why do you even keep a dog?” Michael asked, in that tone he used when he was trying to hide how judgmental he was being. But not trying that hard.

“I’m a good mom,” Gabriel snapped. Michael just blinked at him and didn’t ask any more questions.)

And then it’s a waiting game as Gabriel makes breakfast, and Raphael doesn’t eat it, and Michael either snoozes on or paces around the kitchen with nothing to do. It doesn’t matter how much he stares at the utensils cabinet, Gabriel is not letting him spend a day reorganizing the kitchen. Everything, or what little there is, is right where Gabriel wants it.

Lucifer’s record for not coming up is about two hours and seventeen minutes. Not that Gabriel is counting.

It’s been three. The sun is well over the horizon. Gabriel might have had too much coffee. Her fingers are all jittery over this week’s bills, and for once, it isn’t because they might not be able to pay them. (Most of Gabriel’s money is... not gone. It’s definitely still floating around out there, locked up tight, but she can’t get at it. She got access to one or two accounts, plus what Lucifer could pull with some vessel identity fraud. Michael couldn’t do much on that front, and Raphael... Whatever they could have contributed was all tangled up in the account their vessel shared with her husband, and it had been unanimously agreed that they not touch that situation.

Someone out there is waiting for Raphael- for the face Raphael wears to come home.

Yeah. Not with a ten-foot pole.)

Gabriel glances over at the key bowl. The minivan key is laying there, easily picked out from the rest because of the metal yellow smiley face attached to it. A little keepsake from the 70s, older than the minivan it now heralded but not the bowl it lived in. If it’s there, Lucifer can’t have gone anywhere. The van is unlocked for him to sleep in, but he doesn’t know how to hotwire a car. He didn’t even know how to load a dishwasher.

Gabriel looks back at Michael and Raphael. Neither of them are making any move to go find out what the hold up is. They don’t even look worried that Lucifer isn’t here.

There’s a very cruel part of Gabriel that goes of course they don’t. They’re used to it.

They wouldn’t notice if you took off either.

It’s a lie and an obvious one. Raphael’s first panic attack happened after Gabriel went to the grocery store without leaving a note. Gabriel presses her fingers into where Raphael had bruised her arm by holding on too tight. The ache is gone. She misses it, not for the pain, but the easy reminder. Maybe it doesn’t occur to Raphael and Michael the way it does Gabriel. That Lucifer can leave. For centuries, they’ve all known exactly where he was, even if he was out of reach. Locked up in his tower, singing to the demons that pass by, until Sam Winchester called out for Lucifer to let down his hair. (Or threw his own up? It was long enough.) Lucifer’s got both feet on the ground now, and boots made for walking, and why the hell does he stick around?

It’s not even his apartment. Which is the only reason Gabriel stays.

She rubs the unbruised spot on her arm. “I’m going to go fetch Lucifer,” she announces.

Gabriel throws on a shirt and pants. She’s 80% sure they’re both hers. She takes the stairs. The elevator might be mandated by law, but apparently its care and keeping isn’t as strongly regulated. On a good day, six floors up and down isn’t a problem (and Gabriel doesn’t think about bad days. If she can’t see them, they can’t see her.) There’s no one around, but she’d slide down the banister the last few flights even if there was. Her butt stings from a bump in the rail. The brief rush is worth it. The parking under the building is dark and damp, all enclosed in rusted bars that the daylight hardly peeks through and stone. Gabriel shivers when she steps out. Her foot goes right into a puddle left from last night’s rainstorm, and she jumps.

“Fuck!” That makes her feel better. Shoes! She forgot about shoes again. She doesn’t want to go all the way back up to get them. She pays more attention to where she’s walking instead, sidestepping puddles and loose rocks and weird stains on the floor, leaving one wet footprint in the wake of her stride. Thankfully, the minivan is parked close to the stairs. She braces herself, grabs the backdoor, and yanks it up, stepping out of the way so that the right corner of the car is between her and Lucifer. “Rise and shine, Luci!” She’s expecting a snarl and at least one arm or leg flailing out at her. Instead, Lucifer grunts and tugs his blanket further around himself.

“Go away,” he says into one of his... four pillows, now. One of those is probably the one Michael said had gone missing.

“It’s a beautiful day, and you’re going to waste it sleeping in?” Above them, the sky grumbles its disagreement and reminds them all that it can always shit out another few gallons on their roofs. Lucifer makes a very similar noise as he tries to curl away from Gabriel. Gabriel yanks on his blanket. It shouldn’t give. It does. Gabriel drops it in surprise, and it flutters to the ground and gets wet. She grimaces. Lucifer lets out a heavy, frustrated breath, but he doesn’t do anything. “Seriously, get up,” Gabriel says. “What’s wrong with you?”

Lucifer rolls over and glares blearily at the ceiling of the minivan. He looks like shit.

“I’m dying,” he says.

Gabriel’s heart stops for a moment. Then, she leans over and puts her palm against his forehead.

“You have a fever,” she tells him. Lucifer nods.

“I’m dying.”

“Shut up.” She needs him to stop saying that. Even if he’s just being dramatic, there’s a uncomfortable twist in her gut. She grabs him to haul him up, and Lucifer makes his first attempt at resistance. He pushes back against Gabriel, weakly, with hands that are far too warm wherever they settle on Gabriel’s skin. He’s exactly as heavy as he looks, but Gabriel can match that with stubbornness. She gets Lucifer on his feet, both of them stepping on the blanket resting in the dirty water, making it worse. “Hang on.” Gabriel makes sure he’s mostly steady and turns to close the backdoor of the minivan, vowing to come back for their stolen pillows later. As the door clicks closed, Lucifer makes an awful sound, and before Gabriel can fully turn around, he doubles over and starts retching.

This blanket isn’t going to be salvageable.

When Lucifer’s finished throwing up, (and Gabriel’s finished running her hand up and down his back, muttering, "Okay, fuck, you’re fine, you’re gonna be fine," without thinking about it) she pulls him back up. He’s leaning even more weight on her. Gabriel helps him across empty parking spaces to where the elevator is and hopes it’s at least functional today. She hits the button — It doesn’t light up, so she has no idea if the elevator is actually coming. — and waits. Lucifer doesn’t throw up again, if he has anything left in him. Did he eat dinner last night? Gabriel can’t remember.

The elevator comes. For one brief moment, Gabriel considers thanking their Father for that small mercy before Lucifer wobbles and nearly falls over and the urge disappears completely. Mercy would be Lucifer not having an immune system to compromise. Mercy would be Gabriel not having to worry about him, not like this. Fuck thanking Him for an elevator, especially one that doesn’t work on days when Gabriel’s bones all feel misaligned and her skin doesn’t fit right.

They stand side by side as the elevator rattles up the six floors towards their apartment. Lucifer can lean back against the wall rather than against Gabriel, tilting his head to the side to press his temple to cool glass. The walls of the elevator are mirrored on both sides, which Gabriel has heard other residents complain about for making them nauseous. She likes it. It makes the enclosed space seem expansive. Lucifer would appreciate it, too, if he wasn’t about to pass out.

“Just a little further,” Gabriel says, and she’s not sure which of them she’s reassuring. Lucifer manages it, barely.

“Welcome-” Raphael’s voice calls, distracted, but sharp with attention when they see Gabriel dragging Lucifer through the door. “What happened?”

“He’s sick. It’s not serious.” Lucifer does everything he can to prove Gabriel wrong by nearly falling over. “Shit!” Gabriel balances him at the last second. Lucifer’s eyes blink open, unfocused. Raphael stands, but they don’t move, only watching as Gabriel walks Lucifer over to the couch and drops him. Lucifer whimpers. It’s a horrible sound that Gabriel feels wrong hearing. She turns her head. Raphael is digging out the first aid kit. “Raphael, he’s being dramatic. He’ll be back on his feet tomorrow. It’s a cold.” Raphael does not believe her, carefully digging out supplies and laying them across the kitchen counter. Gabriel rolls her eyes. She can hear them filling something with water as she turns back to their brother.

Lucifer’s going to be fine. He rolls over and tries to hide his eyes from the lights, burying his face into the couch cushions. Gabriel’s stomach feels twisted up, and she jumps when Fen comes padding over and presses his cold nose to her leg. Lucifer flinches when Fen barks. Gabriel leans down and scoops him up, earning herself half a dozen doggy kisses.

“Move,” Raphael tells her brusquely. Gabriel does without thinking. Thousands of years, and she still knows when Raphael’s tone means life or death.

They’re overreacting, too. Lucifer’s-

Lucifer is easily rolled over onto his back again. He covers his eyes.

“What are-” Gabriel hears Michael’s voice from behind him, and she glances back over her shoulder.

“Hit the switch,” she says. Michael frowns, but he does. The window near the couch keeps the room lit, but Lucifer seems to relax. Raphael rests their hand over his forehead where Gabriel had earlier.

“Open your mouth,” they order Lucifer. Lucifer blinks at them and doesn’t. Undeterred, Raphael opens it for him, pinching his lips apart and pushing the tip of the thermometer in. They wiggle it under his tongue, made more difficult by Lucifer grimacing at the taste of the metallic tip and trying to push it away. Raphael slides their hand down to his jaw and holds his mouth closed, eyes fixed on the thermometer. Gabriel lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding as the number stops on 100.1 degrees.

“I told you, he’s being dramatic. That’s barely a fever.” Michael steps up behind Raphael, his hand folding over their shoulder as he peers down at Lucifer. Raphael pulls the thermometer from his mouth, thumb gently petting along his jaw before they stop touching him.

“I’m dying,” Lucifer mumbles, again. Michael’s alarmed expression is only soothed by Raphael shaking their head.

“He’s not in any danger.” Raphael lifts another component from the kit, something wrapped in a towel. They lay it across Lucifer’s forehead. He exhales in relief. They try to feed him a pill next, but he refuses it, stubbornly turning his head and clutching the cold compress against himself. Raphael gets even more frustrated when he won’t drink anything they offer him either. Fen has leapt up onto the couch, sensing that Lucifer is too weak to shove him off and cuddling against his legs. His tail wags weakly, clearly able to read the tension in the room as Lucifer turns away from the offered cold water a third time.

“Try it later,” Gabriel suggests. Raphael has this handled, as they always have, but she can’t bring herself to leave Lucifer alone.

“He needs fluids now,” Raphael snaps. There was a time once when no one, not even Lucifer, would have fought them when they were trying to heal. They aren’t used to resistant patients. Angels aren’t made that way. Humans, on the other hand, only seem able to make their situations worse.

“Raphael,” Michael says. Gabriel sees him squeeze Raphael’s shoulders. Their face screws up stubbornly before breaking. “It’s alright. He’ll-”

“Michael?” Lucifer interrupts.

He stares up at their oldest brother. Neither Gabriel or Raphael plan it, but the moment Lucifer looks to Michael, they do as well. Gabriel forces herself to look away first. Michael moves to kneel down beside Raphael instead of hovering over them and Lucifer. Lucifer squirms to the edge of the couch to be closer to him. Michael touches his cheek, fingers pulling back momentarily like he’s surprised by the heat before he lets them rest there. Gabriel’s cheek tingles and rubs her thumb against it roughly so that it’ll stop. “Raphael,” Michael whispers, “let me see the bottle.” Raphael hands it over, fists falling into their lap. “Sit up, Lucifer.” Michael’s voice has softened into one Gabriel hasn’t heard him use for Lucifer once in their whole stay in her apartment. Lucifer whines protest, but Michael insists, “up, little brother,” and Lucifer finally drinks when it’s Michael holding the lip of the bottle to his mouth.

Raphael has to leave the room. Gabriel watches them go, sighs, and goes to make lunch. It’s something she’s able to do, and eventually, the sound of her making dough lures Raphael back out to help. They fall into their clumsy still-learning rhythm, both of them ignoring what’s happening by the couch.

Gabriel takes something for the headache that develops as she sits in front of the oven and waits for the timer to ring, the dough rising for the second time on the stovetop above. Raphael washes their hands thoroughly. Michael comes to fill the water bottle back up. “He’s asleep,” Michael says. His voice is so quiet it makes Gabriel want to bang the oven door as loud as she can to wake Lucifer back up. Only that would probably make her own headache worse. She rubs her ankle as it aches. Damn bones. Damn her for getting lazy enough with making this vessel that she couldn’t spend a few extra minutes making sure all of it fit together right. All she did was take a tibia from one guy and a try to line it up with tarsals from a girl a century earlier. It wasn’t supposed to hurt, wouldn’t if she still had her grace. At least everything holds together. Some parts dislocate easier than they should, but she hasn’t had to pop anything back into place for the past few weeks at least.

The timer rings, and she heaves herself to her feet. At least she can still make flatbread. Small luxuries. Raphael pokes at the one they’re handed, breaking off a small piece before the look Gabriel is giving them makes them take a bite. Bigger luxuries come in seeing Raphael’s eyes light up when they find food they can enjoy. Gabriel packs at least quarter of the flatbread into a container and puts it in a cupboard. Definitely not for Lucifer. She’s storing it for someone who isn’t sick. If he happens to get better and eat it, then that’s just a coincidence.

She glances over at her brother. Fen is watching him closely. Good boy.

Lucifer sleeps for most of the day, intermittently woken by Michael to drink more water or by Raphael when they take his temperature. Gabriel takes another pill before the day’s over, her head aching as she watches Michael bring up the pillows from the van she told him about. He props Lucifer up on one, and Lucifer murmurs something in response tiredly. It has the shape of Enochian, but what Lucifer says is incomprehensible through the haze of his own exhaustion, the limitations of human vocal cords, and his loose grasp on his own language. (They don’t speak in Enochian often, mostly to avoid straining their throats, but when they do, sometimes Lucifer gets completely lost, unable to follow what should be basic conversation, and when he speaks back, it never comes out right.)

“Michael is going to sleep on the floor if it’s his choice,” Raphael says. Gabriel hadn’t heard them sidle up next to her. She jolts hard, and it makes her chest and shoulders hurt.

“Then let him?” Gabriel says. She doesn’t see how it’s their problem if Michael wants to suffer. He’s tucking a blanket around Lucifer. Gabriel’s hand curls into a fist, and she waves it out. She can see Raphael watching her from the corner of her eye, and they’re easier to look at than Michael.

“We have a spare bed,” Raphael says.

“You have a spare bed,” Gabriel corrects, though calling the air mattress a bed is a stretch. “I’m not letting you sleep on the floor.” Raphael narrows their eyes, and Gabriel almost says, I’m older, I have to look out for you. She thinks better of it. It’s not really true, anyway. She just likes to imagine it is, sometimes. (And other times, selfishly, she wants Raphael to be older.)

“I’m trying to ask if I can sleep in your bed.” Gabriel’s mouth drops open a little. She shuts it quickly, licks her dry lips, and answers,

“Of course you can,” before she can talk herself out of it. Raphael looks a little surprised themself.

More difficult is convincing Michael to take the air mattress. He protests about taking Raphael’s space, but Lucifer isn’t moving from the couch and Gabriel’s pretty sure none of them would let him go back down to the van even if he could. In the end, they leave him in the other room, snoring off his fever, and the three of them try to make their nightly routines fit around each other when there’s even less space. Gabriel doesn’t do most of hers. Between finally passing out in bed and brushing her teeth, sleep wins by a landslide. She’s out before Raphael even has time to crawl under the covers with her.

Raphael is definitely there when Gabriel wakes up. She knows that because of the metal poking into her mouth. She tries to spit it out to no avail, and instead she whines. Her throat aches around the noise. Raphael’s hand smooths over her forehead, brushing back sweaty hair and then becoming an insistent press as Gabriel tries to sit up. She doubts she would have gotten anywhere even if Raphael didn’t make her stay still. Everything hurts, from head to toe, like someone took a hammer to her muscles and beat them to death. She makes a face around the thermometer again as Raphael draws it out.

Gabriel glimpses the numbers. They look blurry, but she knows they’re higher than Lucifer’s temperature. The worry on Raphael’s face does nothing to reassure her.

And then, worse, Raphael leaves.

Gabriel can’t help the noise she makes, pitiful and high like a wounded animal. She wriggles to get the covers off of her. She’s too hot, everything is too hot, and her clothes and her hair stick to her skin. The sheets under her back are uncomfortably damp. She shakes her head and makes herself nauseously dizzy in the process. The whole world spins over her head, but squeezing her eyes shut again doesn’t help. She wants to go back to sleep. Nothing hurt when she was asleep.

The thought makes her panic and flail, knocking the covers completely off the bed.

“Gabriel,” it’s Michael’s voice, and then Michael’s hand gripping her arm, forcing her back to stillness. She curls into him. He doesn’t react to her pressing her sweaty body against his, keeping his voice calm. “That’s better. Don’t move so much. You’re very sick.” Michael’s hand smooths over her hair.

“I don’t want to go back,” she tells him. He’s Michael. He’s the oldest, the strongest, and if anyone can keep her here and not- “Don’t let me go back. I can’t do it again.” The darkness behind her eyelids is too much like that empty place, and she keeps them forced open, staring up at Michael. The light above his head makes an odd halo. He frowns.

“I don’t-”

“She needs to-” Raphael starts. The moment they’re in Gabriel’s line of sight again, Gabriel squirms towards them. “To drink,” Raphael finishes, once Gabriel has completely invaded her space. Gabriel presses her forehead into the cold plastic of the water bottle Raphael is holding and sighs.

“I can take care of it,” Michael offers. Raphael doesn’t hand over the bottle. Instead, Gabriel allows them to help her.

“You should check on Lucifer,” Raphael says, but there’s something more relaxed about their tone. Gabriel smiles. She can be a good patient.

The next few days are torture. Gabriel can’t sleep, but she’s never really awake either. She’s always drifting in the nauseous in-between, interrupted every once in a while by Raphael prompting her to drink or helping her to the bathroom. They take Gabriel’s temperature religiously, and Gabriel watches as the number creeps further and further up, the furrow in Raphael’s brow growing deeper.

Lucifer and Michael flit in and out of her world, too. Michael takes it upon himself to readjust her pillows and pull the sheets out from under her to wash when they get too gross. Lucifer recovers quicker than she did, and more than a few times, she finds him sitting beside her on the bed, pressing his cool hand against his forehead.

(She hears the three of them discussing whether or not to take her to a hospital, and yells as loud as she can - which isn’t very loud when her throat is so sore - for them to not do that. They can’t afford a hospital bill. Or random doctors seeing whatever horror show is going on inside Gabriel’s vessel. It must work, since she ends that night sweating in her own bed again and not in the ER.)

Finally, her fever breaks. Raphael hauls her out of bed and into a cold bath. Gabriel doesn’t have the energy to stand in the shower for long enough. She tugs on Raphael until they give in and join her. Gabriel rests her head against the wall beside the tub and lets Raphael wash out her hair. Gabriel’s muscles are still aching, and her throat isn’t much better, but her body isn’t actively trying to boil her alive anymore. She’ll take it.

“Why the long face?” she asks Raphael, catching her expression in the bathwater before it shatters into a dozen ripples.

“What?” Raphael massages Gabriel’s scalp. She sighs, sinking back into them, despite the annoyed noise they make at how much harder it is to wash her hair like that.

“I’m not dying anymore-”

“You were never dying,” Raphael says.

“-so why aren’t you happy? You don’t have to take care of me anymore.” Raphael’s quiet for a minute.

“But I knew how to,” Raphael answers

Gabriel stares down at the broken reflection.

“Well,” she says, “we could always start poisoning Michael, if you need someone sickly to look after.” She thinks it’s a cough at first, but then Raphael gets louder, and it’s laughter, caught off-guard and unable to be restrained, flavored by exhaustion. Gabriel smiles and snuggles back into them, smearing shampoo all of their shoulder until they get annoyed again.

(Enjoyed it? Any interaction is welcomed. You can even support me on Ko-Fi <3)

[quietwings-fics]

To Break a Fever

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply Fandom: Supernatural Ship: Gen (Gabriel & Lucifer & Michael & Raphael) Additional Tags: She/Her Pronouns for Gabriel (Supernatural), Sick Lucifer (Supernatural), Sick Gabriel (Supernatural), Sickfic, Healer Raphael (Supernatural), Depowered Gabriel (Supernatural), Depowered Lucifer (Supernatural), Depowered Raphael (Supernatural), Alternate Universe, Vomiting, Fever, Gabriel and Raphael are Twins (Supernatural) Wordcount: 4148 Summary:

Lucifer is sick, and Gabriel is so wrapped up in that that she doesn't see the fever creeping up on her until it's too late. It's a good thing Raphael knows what they're doing, even without grace to take care of their siblings.

Notes:

For day 2's prompt: thermometer

Lucifer always takes a while to show up in the mornings. There hasn’t yet been a morning he doesn’t show his face, even if it’s only for a few minutes that end with whatever new fight with Michael he can pick and him stalking off to cool down again. There’s a sort of rhythm here that Gabriel’s tentatively falling into. She wakes up, usually from Fen trying to sit on her head, and goes to eat breakfast. Detours halfway there to the bathroom because she gets bodily signals loud and clear, a rarity in the apartment and really annoying when they clash between hungry-eat something-eat a bagel-eat twenty bagels and hey, it’s me, your bladder, and if you don’t go piss right now, I’m making it everyone’s problem.

And once that’s taken care of, she’ll always find Raphael already awake. Their eyes track her the minute she steps into the room. Sometimes Michael’s also there, which means he didn’t actually sleep that night, and sometimes he’s not, which means Gabriel can glance over and see him passed out on the couch, sleeping like he read how to in a manual. Fen needs feeding before Gabriel does, no matter how much her stomach is growling.

(“Why do you even keep a dog?” Michael asked, in that tone he used when he was trying to hide how judgmental he was being. But not trying that hard.

“I’m a good mom,” Gabriel snapped. Michael just blinked at him and didn’t ask any more questions.)

And then it’s a waiting game as Gabriel makes breakfast, and Raphael doesn’t eat it, and Michael either snoozes on or paces around the kitchen with nothing to do. It doesn’t matter how much he stares at the utensils cabinet, Gabriel is not letting him spend a day reorganizing the kitchen. Everything, or what little there is, is right where Gabriel wants it.

Lucifer’s record for not coming up is about two hours and seventeen minutes. Not that Gabriel is counting.

It’s been three. The sun is well over the horizon. Gabriel might have had too much coffee. Her fingers are all jittery over this week’s bills, and for once, it isn’t because they might not be able to pay them. (Most of Gabriel’s money is... not gone. It’s definitely still floating around out there, locked up tight, but she can’t get at it. She got access to one or two accounts, plus what Lucifer could pull with some vessel identity fraud. Michael couldn’t do much on that front, and Raphael... Whatever they could have contributed was all tangled up in the account their vessel shared with her husband, and it had been unanimously agreed that they not touch that situation.

Someone out there is waiting for Raphael- for the face Raphael wears to come home.

Yeah. Not with a ten-foot pole.)

Gabriel glances over at the key bowl. The minivan key is laying there, easily picked out from the rest because of the metal yellow smiley face attached to it. A little keepsake from the 70s, older than the minivan it now heralded but not the bowl it lived in. If it’s there, Lucifer can’t have gone anywhere. The van is unlocked for him to sleep in, but he doesn’t know how to hotwire a car. He didn’t even know how to load a dishwasher.

Gabriel looks back at Michael and Raphael. Neither of them are making any move to go find out what the hold up is. They don’t even look worried that Lucifer isn’t here.

There’s a very cruel part of Gabriel that goes of course they don’t. They’re used to it.

They wouldn’t notice if you took off either.

It’s a lie and an obvious one. Raphael’s first panic attack happened after Gabriel went to the grocery store without leaving a note. Gabriel presses her fingers into where Raphael had bruised her arm by holding on too tight. The ache is gone. She misses it, not for the pain, but the easy reminder. Maybe it doesn’t occur to Raphael and Michael the way it does Gabriel. That Lucifer can leave. For centuries, they’ve all known exactly where he was, even if he was out of reach. Locked up in his tower, singing to the demons that pass by, until Sam Winchester called out for Lucifer to let down his hair. (Or threw his own up? It was long enough.) Lucifer’s got both feet on the ground now, and boots made for walking, and why the hell does he stick around?

It’s not even his apartment. Which is the only reason Gabriel stays.

She rubs the unbruised spot on her arm. “I’m going to go fetch Lucifer,” she announces.

Gabriel throws on a shirt and pants. She’s 80% sure they’re both hers. She takes the stairs. The elevator might be mandated by law, but apparently its care and keeping isn’t as strongly regulated. On a good day, six floors up and down isn’t a problem (and Gabriel doesn’t think about bad days. If she can’t see them, they can’t see her.) There’s no one around, but she’d slide down the banister the last few flights even if there was. Her butt stings from a bump in the rail. The brief rush is worth it. The parking under the building is dark and damp, all enclosed in rusted bars that the daylight hardly peeks through and stone. Gabriel shivers when she steps out. Her foot goes right into a puddle left from last night’s rainstorm, and she jumps.

“Fuck!” That makes her feel better. Shoes! She forgot about shoes again. She doesn’t want to go all the way back up to get them. She pays more attention to where she’s walking instead, sidestepping puddles and loose rocks and weird stains on the floor, leaving one wet footprint in the wake of her stride. Thankfully, the minivan is parked close to the stairs. She braces herself, grabs the backdoor, and yanks it up, stepping out of the way so that the right corner of the car is between her and Lucifer. “Rise and shine, Luci!” She’s expecting a snarl and at least one arm or leg flailing out at her. Instead, Lucifer grunts and tugs his blanket further around himself.

“Go away,” he says into one of his... four pillows, now. One of those is probably the one Michael said had gone missing.

“It’s a beautiful day, and you’re going to waste it sleeping in?” Above them, the sky grumbles its disagreement and reminds them all that it can always shit out another few gallons on their roofs. Lucifer makes a very similar noise as he tries to curl away from Gabriel. Gabriel yanks on his blanket. It shouldn’t give. It does. Gabriel drops it in surprise, and it flutters to the ground and gets wet. She grimaces. Lucifer lets out a heavy, frustrated breath, but he doesn’t do anything. “Seriously, get up,” Gabriel says. “What’s wrong with you?”

Lucifer rolls over and glares blearily at the ceiling of the minivan. He looks like shit.

“I’m dying,” he says.

Gabriel’s heart stops for a moment. Then, she leans over and puts her palm against his forehead.

“You have a fever,” she tells him. Lucifer nods.

“I’m dying.”

“Shut up.” She needs him to stop saying that. Even if he’s just being dramatic, there’s a uncomfortable twist in her gut. She grabs him to haul him up, and Lucifer makes his first attempt at resistance. He pushes back against Gabriel, weakly, with hands that are far too warm wherever they settle on Gabriel’s skin. He’s exactly as heavy as he looks, but Gabriel can match that with stubbornness. She gets Lucifer on his feet, both of them stepping on the blanket resting in the dirty water, making it worse. “Hang on.” Gabriel makes sure he’s mostly steady and turns to close the backdoor of the minivan, vowing to come back for their stolen pillows later. As the door clicks closed, Lucifer makes an awful sound, and before Gabriel can fully turn around, he doubles over and starts retching.

This blanket isn’t going to be salvageable.

When Lucifer’s finished throwing up, (and Gabriel’s finished running her hand up and down his back, muttering, "Okay, fuck, you’re fine, you’re gonna be fine," without thinking about it) she pulls him back up. He’s leaning even more weight on her. Gabriel helps him across empty parking spaces to where the elevator is and hopes it’s at least functional today. She hits the button — It doesn’t light up, so she has no idea if the elevator is actually coming. — and waits. Lucifer doesn’t throw up again, if he has anything left in him. Did he eat dinner last night? Gabriel can’t remember.

The elevator comes. For one brief moment, Gabriel considers thanking their Father for that small mercy before Lucifer wobbles and nearly falls over and the urge disappears completely. Mercy would be Lucifer not having an immune system to compromise. Mercy would be Gabriel not having to worry about him, not like this. Fuck thanking Him for an elevator, especially one that doesn’t work on days when Gabriel’s bones all feel misaligned and her skin doesn’t fit right.

They stand side by side as the elevator rattles up the six floors towards their apartment. Lucifer can lean back against the wall rather than against Gabriel, tilting his head to the side to press his temple to cool glass. The walls of the elevator are mirrored on both sides, which Gabriel has heard other residents complain about for making them nauseous. She likes it. It makes the enclosed space seem expansive. Lucifer would appreciate it, too, if he wasn’t about to pass out.

“Just a little further,” Gabriel says, and she’s not sure which of them she’s reassuring. Lucifer manages it, barely.

“Welcome-” Raphael’s voice calls, distracted, but sharp with attention when they see Gabriel dragging Lucifer through the door. “What happened?”

“He’s sick. It’s not serious.” Lucifer does everything he can to prove Gabriel wrong by nearly falling over. “Shit!” Gabriel balances him at the last second. Lucifer’s eyes blink open, unfocused. Raphael stands, but they don’t move, only watching as Gabriel walks Lucifer over to the couch and drops him. Lucifer whimpers. It’s a horrible sound that Gabriel feels wrong hearing. She turns her head. Raphael is digging out the first aid kit. “Raphael, he’s being dramatic. He’ll be back on his feet tomorrow. It’s a cold.” Raphael does not believe her, carefully digging out supplies and laying them across the kitchen counter. Gabriel rolls her eyes. She can hear them filling something with water as she turns back to their brother.

Lucifer’s going to be fine. He rolls over and tries to hide his eyes from the lights, burying his face into the couch cushions. Gabriel’s stomach feels twisted up, and she jumps when Fen comes padding over and presses his cold nose to her leg. Lucifer flinches when Fen barks. Gabriel leans down and scoops him up, earning herself half a dozen doggy kisses.

“Move,” Raphael tells her brusquely. Gabriel does without thinking. Thousands of years, and she still knows when Raphael’s tone means life or death.

They’re overreacting, too. Lucifer’s-

Lucifer is easily rolled over onto his back again. He covers his eyes.

“What are-” Gabriel hears Michael’s voice from behind him, and she glances back over her shoulder.

“Hit the switch,” she says. Michael frowns, but he does. The window near the couch keeps the room lit, but Lucifer seems to relax. Raphael rests their hand over his forehead where Gabriel had earlier.

“Open your mouth,” they order Lucifer. Lucifer blinks at them and doesn’t. Undeterred, Raphael opens it for him, pinching his lips apart and pushing the tip of the thermometer in. They wiggle it under his tongue, made more difficult by Lucifer grimacing at the taste of the metallic tip and trying to push it away. Raphael slides their hand down to his jaw and holds his mouth closed, eyes fixed on the thermometer. Gabriel lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding as the number stops on 100.1 degrees.

“I told you, he’s being dramatic. That’s barely a fever.” Michael steps up behind Raphael, his hand folding over their shoulder as he peers down at Lucifer. Raphael pulls the thermometer from his mouth, thumb gently petting along his jaw before they stop touching him.

“I’m dying,” Lucifer mumbles, again. Michael’s alarmed expression is only soothed by Raphael shaking their head.

“He’s not in any danger.” Raphael lifts another component from the kit, something wrapped in a towel. They lay it across Lucifer’s forehead. He exhales in relief. They try to feed him a pill next, but he refuses it, stubbornly turning his head and clutching the cold compress against himself. Raphael gets even more frustrated when he won’t drink anything they offer him either. Fen has leapt up onto the couch, sensing that Lucifer is too weak to shove him off and cuddling against his legs. His tail wags weakly, clearly able to read the tension in the room as Lucifer turns away from the offered cold water a third time.

“Try it later,” Gabriel suggests. Raphael has this handled, as they always have, but she can’t bring herself to leave Lucifer alone.

“He needs fluids now,” Raphael snaps. There was a time once when no one, not even Lucifer, would have fought them when they were trying to heal. They aren’t used to resistant patients. Angels aren’t made that way. Humans, on the other hand, only seem able to make their situations worse.

“Raphael,” Michael says. Gabriel sees him squeeze Raphael’s shoulders. Their face screws up stubbornly before breaking. “It’s alright. He’ll-”

“Michael?” Lucifer interrupts.

He stares up at their oldest brother. Neither Gabriel or Raphael plan it, but the moment Lucifer looks to Michael, they do as well. Gabriel forces herself to look away first. Michael moves to kneel down beside Raphael instead of hovering over them and Lucifer. Lucifer squirms to the edge of the couch to be closer to him. Michael touches his cheek, fingers pulling back momentarily like he’s surprised by the heat before he lets them rest there. Gabriel’s cheek tingles and rubs her thumb against it roughly so that it’ll stop. “Raphael,” Michael whispers, “let me see the bottle.” Raphael hands it over, fists falling into their lap. “Sit up, Lucifer.” Michael’s voice has softened into one Gabriel hasn’t heard him use for Lucifer once in their whole stay in her apartment. Lucifer whines protest, but Michael insists, “up, little brother,” and Lucifer finally drinks when it’s Michael holding the lip of the bottle to his mouth.

Raphael has to leave the room. Gabriel watches them go, sighs, and goes to make lunch. It’s something she’s able to do, and eventually, the sound of her making dough lures Raphael back out to help. They fall into their clumsy still-learning rhythm, both of them ignoring what’s happening by the couch.

Gabriel takes something for the headache that develops as she sits in front of the oven and waits for the timer to ring, the dough rising for the second time on the stovetop above. Raphael washes their hands thoroughly. Michael comes to fill the water bottle back up. “He’s asleep,” Michael says. His voice is so quiet it makes Gabriel want to bang the oven door as loud as she can to wake Lucifer back up. Only that would probably make her own headache worse. She rubs her ankle as it aches. Damn bones. Damn her for getting lazy enough with making this vessel that she couldn’t spend a few extra minutes making sure all of it fit together right. All she did was take a tibia from one guy and a try to line it up with tarsals from a girl a century earlier. It wasn’t supposed to hurt, wouldn’t if she still had her grace. At least everything holds together. Some parts dislocate easier than they should, but she hasn’t had to pop anything back into place for the past few weeks at least.

The timer rings, and she heaves herself to her feet. At least she can still make flatbread. Small luxuries. Raphael pokes at the one they’re handed, breaking off a small piece before the look Gabriel is giving them makes them take a bite. Bigger luxuries come in seeing Raphael’s eyes light up when they find food they can enjoy. Gabriel packs at least quarter of the flatbread into a container and puts it in a cupboard. Definitely not for Lucifer. She’s storing it for someone who isn’t sick. If he happens to get better and eat it, then that’s just a coincidence.

She glances over at her brother. Fen is watching him closely. Good boy.

Lucifer sleeps for most of the day, intermittently woken by Michael to drink more water or by Raphael when they take his temperature. Gabriel takes another pill before the day’s over, her head aching as she watches Michael bring up the pillows from the van she told him about. He props Lucifer up on one, and Lucifer murmurs something in response tiredly. It has the shape of Enochian, but what Lucifer says is incomprehensible through the haze of his own exhaustion, the limitations of human vocal cords, and his loose grasp on his own language. (They don’t speak in Enochian often, mostly to avoid straining their throats, but when they do, sometimes Lucifer gets completely lost, unable to follow what should be basic conversation, and when he speaks back, it never comes out right.)

“Michael is going to sleep on the floor if it’s his choice,” Raphael says. Gabriel hadn’t heard them sidle up next to her. She jolts hard, and it makes her chest and shoulders hurt.

“Then let him?” Gabriel says. She doesn’t see how it’s their problem if Michael wants to suffer. He’s tucking a blanket around Lucifer. Gabriel’s hand curls into a fist, and she waves it out. She can see Raphael watching her from the corner of her eye, and they’re easier to look at than Michael.

“We have a spare bed,” Raphael says.

“You have a spare bed,” Gabriel corrects, though calling the air mattress a bed is a stretch. “I’m not letting you sleep on the floor.” Raphael narrows their eyes, and Gabriel almost says, I’m older, I have to look out for you. She thinks better of it. It’s not really true, anyway. She just likes to imagine it is, sometimes. (And other times, selfishly, she wants Raphael to be older.)

“I’m trying to ask if I can sleep in your bed.” Gabriel’s mouth drops open a little. She shuts it quickly, licks her dry lips, and answers,

“Of course you can,” before she can talk herself out of it. Raphael looks a little surprised themself.

More difficult is convincing Michael to take the air mattress. He protests about taking Raphael’s space, but Lucifer isn’t moving from the couch and Gabriel’s pretty sure none of them would let him go back down to the van even if he could. In the end, they leave him in the other room, snoring off his fever, and the three of them try to make their nightly routines fit around each other when there’s even less space. Gabriel doesn’t do most of hers. Between finally passing out in bed and brushing her teeth, sleep wins by a landslide. She’s out before Raphael even has time to crawl under the covers with her.

Raphael is definitely there when Gabriel wakes up. She knows that because of the metal poking into her mouth. She tries to spit it out to no avail, and instead she whines. Her throat aches around the noise. Raphael’s hand smooths over her forehead, brushing back sweaty hair and then becoming an insistent press as Gabriel tries to sit up. She doubts she would have gotten anywhere even if Raphael didn’t make her stay still. Everything hurts, from head to toe, like someone took a hammer to her muscles and beat them to death. She makes a face around the thermometer again as Raphael draws it out.

Gabriel glimpses the numbers. They look blurry, but she knows they’re higher than Lucifer’s temperature. The worry on Raphael’s face does nothing to reassure her.

And then, worse, Raphael leaves.

Gabriel can’t help the noise she makes, pitiful and high like a wounded animal. She wriggles to get the covers off of her. She’s too hot, everything is too hot, and her clothes and her hair stick to her skin. The sheets under her back are uncomfortably damp. She shakes her head and makes herself nauseously dizzy in the process. The whole world spins over her head, but squeezing her eyes shut again doesn’t help. She wants to go back to sleep. Nothing hurt when she was asleep.

The thought makes her panic and flail, knocking the covers completely off the bed.

“Gabriel,” it’s Michael’s voice, and then Michael’s hand gripping her arm, forcing her back to stillness. She curls into him. He doesn’t react to her pressing her sweaty body against his, keeping his voice calm. “That’s better. Don’t move so much. You’re very sick.” Michael’s hand smooths over her hair.

“I don’t want to go back,” she tells him. He’s Michael. He’s the oldest, the strongest, and if anyone can keep her here and not- “Don’t let me go back. I can’t do it again.” The darkness behind her eyelids is too much like that empty place, and she keeps them forced open, staring up at Michael. The light above his head makes an odd halo. He frowns.

“I don’t-”

“She needs to-” Raphael starts. The moment they’re in Gabriel’s line of sight again, Gabriel squirms towards them. “To drink,” Raphael finishes, once Gabriel has completely invaded her space. Gabriel presses her forehead into the cold plastic of the water bottle Raphael is holding and sighs.

“I can take care of it,” Michael offers. Raphael doesn’t hand over the bottle. Instead, Gabriel allows them to help her.

“You should check on Lucifer,” Raphael says, but there’s something more relaxed about their tone. Gabriel smiles. She can be a good patient.

The next few days are torture. Gabriel can’t sleep, but she’s never really awake either. She’s always drifting in the nauseous in-between, interrupted every once in a while by Raphael prompting her to drink or helping her to the bathroom. They take Gabriel’s temperature religiously, and Gabriel watches as the number creeps further and further up, the furrow in Raphael’s brow growing deeper.

Lucifer and Michael flit in and out of her world, too. Michael takes it upon himself to readjust her pillows and pull the sheets out from under her to wash when they get too gross. Lucifer recovers quicker than she did, and more than a few times, she finds him sitting beside her on the bed, pressing his cool hand against his forehead.

(She hears the three of them discussing whether or not to take her to a hospital, and yells as loud as she can - which isn’t very loud when her throat is so sore - for them to not do that. They can’t afford a hospital bill. Or random doctors seeing whatever horror show is going on inside Gabriel’s vessel. It must work, since she ends that night sweating in her own bed again and not in the ER.)

Finally, her fever breaks. Raphael hauls her out of bed and into a cold shower. Gabriel doesn’t have the energy to stand on her own in the shower for long. Raphael joins her. Gabriel rests her head against the shower's wall and lets Raphael wash out her hair. Gabriel’s muscles are still aching, and her throat isn’t much better, but her body isn’t actively trying to boil her alive anymore. She’ll take it.

“Why the long face?” she asks Raphael, catching her expression out of the corner of her eye before Raphael moves away again.

“What?” Raphael massages Gabriel’s scalp. She sighs, leaning back into them, despite the annoyed noise they make at how much harder it is to wash her hair like that.

“I’m not dying now-”

“You were never dying,” Raphael says.

“-so why aren’t you happy? You don’t have to take care of me anymore.” Raphael’s quiet for a minute.

“But I knew how to,” Raphael answers

Gabriel stares down at the dim reflection of her face in the wet shower tiles.

“Well,” she says, “we could always start poisoning Michael, if you need someone sickly to look after.” She thinks it’s a cough at first, but then Raphael gets louder, and it’s laughter, caught off-guard and unable to be restrained, flavored by exhaustion. Gabriel smiles and snuggles back into them, smearing shampoo all of their shoulder until they get annoyed again.

(Enjoyed it? Any interaction is welcomed. You can even support me on Ko-Fi <3)

[lilolilyr]

@viharistenno answering your comment on this ask here because apparently there’s a text limit to replies and I wrote too much!

SIOC stands for self-insert original character. As in, you end up in the world (in this case twilight), either stuck in the body of the main character or as yourself… and I’ve seen too many twilight memes around and ended up reading fic again and I think being stuck in the twilight world would be an unholy mix of hilarious, fucked up, cool, deeply sad (bc it’d also mean being forever away from everyone and everything I’ve known here - sth lots of SIOC fic tend to ignore but I think it’d be interesting to explore) and also I can’t decide whether, if I ended up in the twilight world forrealsies, I’d try to meet vampires and get vampireimmortalized immediately or try to stay the Fuck away from them and their idiotic conflicts and problems. Also do I want to be a TwiPire? I mean I definitely don’t want to be a classic vampire but twilight vampires are also all levels of fucked up and canon doesn’t really make it clear How many levels of fucked up and I guess if I was a twilight SIOC I’d not know that either until it was too late… anyway, interesting thought experiment :D but I probably won’t write any of it into an actual fic

Ohhh you also like Milippa? I didn’t know! You’re not in the discord are you? I think I’ve only seen you in the B&W one before but maybe this is my bad memory at it again o.o

Anyway yeah I’m writing the dream sci-fi dystopia as Milippa but more just because out of the ships I ship, they fit the characters I dreamt up best? I mean in my dream I saw Rosamund Pike and Jean Smart take that as you will lmao, but I’m changing stuff to turn it into a proper Milippa fanfic anyway. Probably mostly prime/mirror Milippa vibes, but some mirror Michael ish backstory and Philippa character wise bit of both? They’re both AU anyway so who cares, but idk how to character- tag it on Ao3 yet xD haven’t gotten around to write more to it yet anyway bc I was busy writing 2k for one of the Bering and wells advents ficlets yet, and it isn’t even finished yet!

Dreams definitely can do weird stuff! Yesterday I dreamt I was in a forest and poisoned chocolate grew on trees or something xD but usually it’s just weird shit like that, not whole damn storylines!

Yeassss same! It’s so great that it’s coming together so nicely, I can’t believe we have writers through to day 10 without any gap days, we might actually manage to have a full advent calendars without skipping over some days! When I made the first post only two days before December started I expected to get sign up for maybe half the days max!

Re:target audience for weird fanfic ideas, Yeah that’s also true :D but I already told myself the story didn’t I? I don’t need to write it down for that! I mean, most of the fic I write is still very very self indulgent, but it’s really more that all the stories I tell myself are for me, and out of those self indulgent story ideas I write down the ones I want to share with the world and think I might have a nice audience for! Stories that would need 50k backstory on how the Fuck I ended up with this crossover AU headcanon bullshittery don’t really make the list xD

[psiimaid]

okay so first time visiting on desk top and can i just say <3<3<3 ship cursor. anyway onto what icame to ask: do you think doc made mai do punitive academic work? what do you think her literacy level is? im imagining her having to write out words a bunch of times or lookup definitions and write them untill a 'perfect' replication. vicious spelling tests.

OH BOY OH BOY OH BOY buzzing and rubbing my hands together like a fly

under the cut bc while it’s not incredibly lengthy it might be annoying to scroll past

that’s something i think about a lot, and even more so in recent days so this is like. perfect. the ancestors fans hivemind is real

anyways little mai’s case is. strange. but the most analogous situations to a childhood spent growing up on the moon + not being around anyone Like Her + being locked in a room + abused and deprived of care do not typically yield. someone useful for what lord english/doc scratch need. however mai seems very intellectually developed! which means doc scratch is. doing something for her.

scratch said his lessons emphasized obedience, mastery of the clockwork majyyks, and (of course) being locked in a room. but these lessons (aside from the locked in the room part obvi) would have been the only socialization little mai ever got, and there is no world for her to explore and learn about through experience so literally almost everything about anything that she knew would’ve had to have been taught to her by scratch. so those lessons probably included a bunch of other stuff as well

okay sorry i think i started a little far off my b >.< but to answer your first question: yeah sure! it would be a good chance to stretch her brain muscles while also being unfun. seems very on brand

only communicating (or being talked at by, there doesn’t seem to be much real communication between the two) with doc scratch probably lends her a nicely well rounded vocabulary in that tongue, or at least a knack for deciphering meaning from context clues. i’ve most likely said this somewhere before but i tend to think mai had trouble learning to speak but that’s only tangentially related lol!!

as for literacy. i guess the question is what language? probably the one doc scratch speaks but what language IS that lol. like everyone in hs speaks english despite there apparently being an alternian language? urghh anyway considering mai’s job takes her everywhere and everywhen, realistically literacy probably. doesn’t help with her work. but neither does doc scratch’s language so. maybe she is literate and doc scratch sometimes lets her read any books that might be in the apartment?

homestuck logic probably says different and that’s fair tbh ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

i can’t say i have a real opinion on her literacy level. if she can read and write, it’s probably not her strong suit? if she can’t, cool. she’s jared, 1900, never learned how to read. literacy, while helpful, isn’t necessary for the aforementioned intellectual development. but it would be really, really helpful since, again, there’s no way for her to learn things through experience. but then again if there’s nothing/very little for her to read.. the spiral

re: work her role doesn’t require strategic manipulation or a delicate touch (that’s doc scratch) so how much would really benefit her jobwise beyond those obedience and majyyks lessons ?? that’s why they were emphasized ig..?

but mai did have an ENTIRE childhood so i’d say anything is fair game!! there’s a lot to think about when trying to reconcile an at least mostly normally developed girl with her being raised in a very small world that would grow stale quickly, especially without anything new/stimulating. there must have been SOME enrichment in her enclosure and your ideas are a fun way to go about that!! pls don’t let anything i’ve said here make you think otherwise lol bc the things you mentioned are the Worst in a very mundane way that fit extremely well into what we already know

cutting myself off here ✌️ tysm for sharing!!!!

[imagineitdearies-old]

Why the fuck did you like those posts? You're a shitty fucking person if you think that omega or fem Luke is homophobic and then write omega Aemond like it's not feminization in the same way. People defended your fic from the discourse and those same authors that are being critiqued in those posts read and supported your work but I guess its a one way street for you. I'm glad they took screenshots of your shit and posted it on twitter

Oooo the girlies are talking about me! Twitter really sounds wild.

I personally don’t think authors who write fem!Luke are inherently harmful or homophobic. I enjoy many of those fanfics, and might write one, who knows! And I don't know that any of the OPs were calling out specific authors, but if they do in other posts that'd definitely not be cool. Writing fanfic is hard and I'm not here to hate on any author for doing something they enjoy and others love. General critique in a fandom does interest me once I get in deep with it, like I have with lucemond, but in the end it’s all fiction!

If anyone's wanting further explanation and an opinion from me on this matter of fem!Luke, buckle in! Lol.

Everyone is allowed to have their own opinion, but I casually read a lot of lucemond so at this point I have a lot of casual OpinionsTM on the pairing lol. Most of which I keep to myself, because we're all just here trying to find things we like, not get nasty about the things we don't.

But yeah, ngl my favorite omega/bottom/fem!Luke fics involve him having some personality beyond being submissive and salivating for Aemond-dick. I'll rec a few: omega!Luke a/b/o paint me in your colours is a great one, modern!au a losing game is getting SO good, and just started a very fem cam!boy Luke fic you can be the boss that's been fun so far!

Also, I admit it, I appreciate when I find fics where he isn’t constantly referred to like he’s a girl in all but pronouns.

There’s nothing wrong with trans characters of course, that can be a great thing to explore—but I think it’s concerning when I open up this tag on ao3 and the “Luke has a pussy” fics are dominating over anything else that's posted, don’t even tag him as trans, and almost always involve him acting very submissive and still looking like a prepubescent boy. And yes, fem!trans men exist, can be subs, and can look young!! Fuck gender roles! But hey, trans men can also look masculine, be doms, and look like adults too, and I have seen zero representation of any of that with Luke. Please somebody point me towards any that I've missed, would love to read!

(Maybe I’ll have to write a one-shot of Luke being trans!masc 🤔 seeing the lack of diversity in the a/b/o tag is what prompted D&S after all 😂)

So after enough of these flooding the ao3 tag, it starts to feel less like trans!rep and more like a trend we could analyze as a fandom whole. After all, if we’re just really cool and shooting for more gender diversity, it should make no less sense to make Aemond trans, you get me? Why are we so hung up on Luke as someone with a vagina?

Again, I don't as a blanket statement agree with the OPs of those posts in saying it's always sexist/homophobic to write Luke this way, or that there's inherent harm, but I did appreciate the discourse especially in the first post that addresses the trend as something to watch out for and think more critically about to avoid perpetuating stereotypes. Nothing wrong with portraying top/bottom and dom/sub couples, but it’s just as common with irl homosexual relationships for that dynamic to switch or even the one who through a 'hereto lens' seems more fem to be the top/dom. When a fandom as a whole is constantly putting a queer ship in gendered boxes (and the feminized one always seems to be very younger/an actual child, like Luke in canon), and also hates on any opposing portrayal, it’s just cause for reflection, ya know?

This ship is already problematic with one being underage and then also being portrayed by an underage actor—honestly when some of the more-nsfw art looks too much like a 12 year old next to an adult Aemond I really squick out—so I’m personally more cautious of how I portray his character just for that reason alone and appreciate when others are too.

Of course, I always stick with the “Don’t like don’t read” mantra of the olden days. Any harm in stereotyping/assigning heterosexual roles to lucemond is SO much less important than real-life stereotyping it's silly, and I’m personally never going to go hate on a story I don’t enjoy, just move on to something I do.

I'm also not going to pretend that I don't enjoy something! I literally just commented on a dead dove fic (derailed by theglitteringdark, the surprise CNC and babytrapping at the end really did it for me haha) with Luke as a trans!femboy because I enjoyed it. If you're looking through my likes, check ao3 too, okay? 😂

Last thing, but I have to add—writing someone unlikely as an omega is fun for me simply because I can then deconstruct the idea of it and, sort of like gender in real life, show that we are more than what is and isn’t between our legs. Idk if you’ve read D&S, but Aemond isn’t exactly a very feminine person in it. And this call-out is such funny timing, I have to spoil—in the very next chapter I'm working on, Aemond (an omega! gasp!) tops Luke! I've alluded to it in many previous chapters so some of you probably aren't surprised, lol.

Alright alright please cherry pick and tell me how I'm awful and wrong now 😂 I don't mind, like I said this is my opinion and it's all just fiction in the end.

[roxannarambles]

Title: The Bloodmoon Graves (Part 1/7)

Ship: Juliana/Nemona

Rating: T/PG-13 (for Spooky Scary)

Summary: Nemona learns about the rumors of a fabled "Bloodmoon Beast" and decides they should all go for a camping trip out in the Timeless Woods to search for it. They end up finding a bit more than they bargained for.

Tags: Action/Adventure, Horror, Romance, Established Relationship, Halloween Special

Warning Tags: Blood/Injury, Body Horror, Claustrophobia, Pokemon attacking humans/humans attacking pokemon

Chapters: Ch 1 - Ch 2 - Ch 3 - Ch 4 - Ch 5 - Ch 6 - Epilogue

Notes: Okay look. I know it's December but look. I just really wanted to try writing a horror story, so here's your Halloween special. 🎃There's a bit of Julinemo fluff in here too as a treat but this is mostly a horror story. So. I hope somebody reads it despite it not being super ship-focused lol

This is technically a sequel to my Teal Mask fix-it fic but that's not required reading. Just know the Paldean Pals joined Juliana on her trip to Kitakami. As it should be.

“Penny! Hey, Penny! You gotta hear this!”

Penny glanced up from her laptop, sighing. She had been hiding out in the Community Center, playing games, but seemed she’d been discovered. Nemona and Juliana bounded up to her.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding. You been avoiding us?” Juliana teased. Penny answered,

“No. Not avoiding. Just . . . taking a break.”

“From what?”

Penny shrugged,

“I dunno, all the majestic nature and junk, I guess. Some of us aren’t as outdoorsey as others, you know.”

“Oh, okay, I thought you were gonna say you were taking a break from us.”

“Well, that too.”

Juliana opened her mouth to protest, but Nemona impatiently cut her off, waving her hands,

“Nevermind all that! Penny, Jules and I just heard something awesome! There’s rumors of this super-powerful, super-rare Pokemon that lives in Kitakami, and we’ve been talking to the townspeople about it, and it’s been living out in the Timeless Woods for like ages and everyone’s scared of it but it’s really reclusive and mysterious and only shows up on really foggy late nights when it’s all spooky, isn’t that cool?!”

Nemona had her hands curled into fists, her eyes sparkling with excitement. Penny blinked at her.

“Uh . . . I . . . guess so?”

“And get this– it’s an Ursaluna! That’s already a super rare Pokemon, but this one’s a special Ursaluna, it doesn’t look like the others at all!”

Juliana cut in,

“Tell her what the townspeople call it.”

“Oh right, right! Hehehe, get this Penny, the townspeople call it– The Bloodmoon Beast! Isn’t that awesome?!”

“They say the mark on its head glows blood-red like the moon during an eclipse!” Juliana added, pointing at her forehead. Nemona agreed,

“Yeah! And on those nights, the Beast’s blood boils and it goes mad with fury, seeking to avenge its fallen fellow Ursaluna!! Or that’s what some kid told me, anyway.”

“Uh-huh. If you guys say so,” Penny said flatly, looking back at her laptop.

“Hey, it’s real! Probably,” Juliana replied.

“Yeah, it’s definitely real! Some famous photographer got some photos of it not too long ago. Gimme a sec,” Nemona said, flicking through her phone. She pulled up the photos posted to some website and angled the phone at Penny, cycling through them. Most were very blurry, depicting a hulking figure in the fog, but the bright-red mark on the blurry figure’s forehead was very noticeable.

“I guess that’s probably a pokemon,” Penny conceded. Nemona nodded,

“Yeah, this photographer lady is legit, I think her name was Perrin? She posted a firsthand account, so we know it’s real! She went out camping in the Timeless Woods to spot it. She only had her Growlithe though, so she barely escaped with her life, apparently, after she took those pictures.”

Penny had pulled up an article on her laptop with impressive speed and hummed,

“Mmm-hmm . . . Perrin Kongōseki, 26, multi-award-winning photographer of international fame, recently has released controversial photos about the folklegend ‘Bloodmoon Beast’ from rural Kitakami. While locals have hailed her as a hero, critics have argued it to be a transparent grab for media attention, as the once highly-popular photographer’s reputation has slipped in recent years . . .”

Juliana scowled and crossed her arms. “Oh, c’mon Penny, why do you gotta try and suck the fun outta this?”

“I’m not, I was just curious! Sorry. I agree it’s probably a real Pokemon, though maybe not anywhere near as impressive as these stories claim . . .”

“Well that’s why we’re gonna go find out!” Nemona said, beaming. In a tone that suggested mild concern, Penny asked,

“And how’re you planning on doing that?”

Nemona grinned,

“We’re all gonna go camp out in the Timeless Woods tonight and look for it!”

Her concern quickly increasing, Penny said,

“Wait, all of us? I don’t recall volunteering for this–”

“Weren’t you just doubting the Beast is even all that scary?” Juliana asked her quickly. Penny frowned, grumbling,

“Well I– it’s not that, it’s just– l-look, I’m not real big on camping out, you guys–”

Nemona said,

“Aww, it’ll be fun, Penny! When’s the next time you’ll get a chance like this? The Caretaker said we’re supposed to explore Kitakami while we’re here, remember?”

“Yeah. I was hoping he wouldn’t notice I wasn’t doing that,” Penny mumbled. 

Juliana chuckled. She said,

“I know camping isn’t your favorite, Penny, but one night of camping can’t be too bad, right? Arven’s got everything planned out for us, and we’d hate for you not to be included.”

Penny’s brows lifted.

“He does? I’m kinda surprised he wanted in on this too.”

“Well, I think mostly he wants to do it because he enjoys hiking and camping, he’s a bit indifferent about the Bloodmoon Beast, but still. Even if we don’t find a super rare pokemon, it should be a fun time.”

“Yeah! And if we DO find the Beast, we can fight it and maybe even catch it! It’s a win-win,” Nemona agreed with enthusiasm. Both girls looked at Penny expectantly.

Penny sighed.

“All right, fine . . . I guess I’ll go.”

Nemona cheered,

“All right! This is gonna be the best!”

“You should get packed and ready, then. We’re leaving in an hour.”

“But it’s only like, two o’clock. I thought you wanted to look for this ‘beast’ at night?”

Juliana nodded.

“Yep. But the Timeless Woods is a three-hour hike, plus we wanna do some exploring before it gets dark, y’know?”

“Three hours?”

“Eh, three, three-and-a-half, something like that. We’ll meet you in front of Peachy’s, okay?”

“Wait, wait–”

Penny groaned as her friends bounded away from her, too excited about the trip to notice Penny’s protests. She was regretting this already.

~

The hike out to the Timeless Woods was indeed a long one. There actually were two different routes they could have taken, and the path through Fellhorn Gorge was technically much shorter, but it was also far more rugged. Thus, they opted for the longer but flatter path through the Wistful Fields, then past the Paradise Barrens, and on through the Kitakami Wilds. Arven and Juliana carried the heavier packs that included the tents, as they both had more experience with backpacking. Of course, things would have been much easier if they had brought Koraidon along, but the oversized lizard had been particularly lazy that day; besides, Arven had encouraged them all to not rely on their ride pokemon too much when it came to hiking. Juliana eventually let Nemona and Penny switch off riding her Tauros anyway once they were tired enough.

Their trek took a little longer than expected due to the number of breaks they took– it was summer and the weather was pretty sweltering during the day– but once they arrived at the gorgeous old-growth forest that was tucked away in a valley like a special little secret, it was far, far more comfortable. They took a little time to dip their feet and splash around the idyllic little pond there, just relaxing and unwinding from the hike. However, before long, Arven was up and telling everyone it was time to set their campsite up.

“Arven, we just got here! Sunset’s still a few hours from now, what’s the rush?”

Arven put his hands on his hips.

“Yeah, and we need to get everything set up well before it starts getting dark. C’mon guys, work first, play later.”

“Unnnghh,” Nemona groaned, leaning against Juliana where they lay in the grass, making no move to get up. Her feet dangling in the water, Penny stared at her cellphone and pretended she didn’t hear Arven.

“Guys, c’mon, I’m serious.”

When still nobody moved, he scowled and said,

“All right, if nobody helps then I won’t be making dinner or setting the tents up. Or building a campfire. Did I mention it cools down a lot at night? Enjoy your cold trail mix and sleeping in 4 degree weather without shelter.”

Everyone grumbled and reluctantly got up.

“That’s more like it. All right, we’re starting with the tents. Everyone help me scope out a nice flat spot over on the high ground this way.”

Once they chose a good site, they cleared the ground, unpacked and pitched the two tents, while Arven explained to the camping novices how to put things together. When Juliana and Nemona finished, they tried to leave, but Arven stopped them.

“Where are you two going? You need to finish your tent.”

“It’s finished! See?”

Arven shook his head,

“You haven’t put the rainfly up yet.”

“Arven, it’s not going to rain!”

“There’s a 20% chance of precipitation tonight.”

“Oh my god Arven–”

“Better safe than sorry. Put it up.”

“You’re being ridiculous.”

“It doesn’t take that long, and it’s good practice. Just do it.”

Juliana grumbled and they returned to the tent.

“Is he always this bossy about camping?” Nemona asked.

Juliana sighed.

“Yeah, unfortunately. Let’s just get this finished, he gets bent out of shape if things aren’t done right.”

After they futzed about with the rainfly and eventually got it into place, Arven doled out more tasks to help prepare the campfire and cooking equipment. Everyone dutifully did their chores, unpacking equipment and arranging some seating. Penny was then sent out into the woods with the joyous task of establishing a bathroom site, and Nemona and Juliana were tasked with clearing an area for a campfire.

The moment Arven turned his back, though, Juliana grabbed Nemona’s hand, holding a finger to her lips and grinning. They snuck away quickly before he noticed; eventually Arven realized what was going on and he shouted after them, so they broke into a run, laughing.

~

It seemed Arven soon gave up on pursuing them, and the two were able to wander the forest in peace. Juliana let Ogerpon out of her ball; the pokemon was thrilled to be back in the Timeless Woods, hopping up and down in excitement and trilling happily. They spent the time just meandering and exploring, letting Ogerpon choose the direction. When they spotted a little pink Gligar skulking through the underbrush, they gave chase for a while, trying to catch it. Alas, the pokemon proved to be too illusive for them, somehow sneaking off and giving them the slip. However, the sting of disappointment was soon forgotten when the two girls stumbled across a cave entrance they’d never seen before. Hopeful for some excitement, they ducked low and poked inside. Ogerpon followed after, chirping curiously.

“Oof. It’s dark. Dunno what I expected though, I guess that makes sense,” Nemona giggled.

“Yeah. I wish we had a . . . oh wait sec, we do. Where is that . . .”

Juliana fiddled around with her bag until she located the headlamp Arven had given her. Sticking the strap to her head, she flicked it on.

“Oh, much better!”

Juliana aimed the light around. The cave was rather bare, a few Spinarak on a web in one corner, and a dozing Munchlax in another. It didn’t take them long to walk the length of the little cave, which sadly didn’t turn up much beyond rocks, dirt, more cobwebs and a lone Dunsparce.

“Aw, man. I was hoping for something really cool,” Nemona sighed, sitting down on a large rock. Juliana nodded.

“Yeah . . . me too. I guess Kitakami caves aren’t as exciting as Paldean ones.”

Ogerpon had been wandering about the cave, apparently very much at ease in such a setting– likely due to how much time she’d spent in one. Nemona and Juliana took a few minutes to rest, sipping from their canteens and chatting about one of Juliana’s camping trips with Arven when they’d been hunting the Titan pokemon.

“. . . and he sounds like a Snorlax when he sleeps! I could hear him half a mile away, I swear.”

Ogerpon began to chatter excitedly, but the girls didn’t notice at first.

“Ahahah, oh my god! How did you deal with it?”

“Well I got my own tent, but I still could hear him, so I had to pitch my tent further and further away from him– Ogerpon, what’s up?”

The excited pokemon had vanished from sight, which worried Juliana. Both girls got up and went to the corner of the cave.

“Oh, Ogerpon, be careful– I don’t think you should go in there!”

The little pokemon had located a small gap, very well hidden, near the floor in the darkest corner of the cave. She had crawled inside and was climbing deeper and deeper into the secret tunnel.

“Ogerpon! Come back, wait! Ugh. Well . . . there she goes.”

They could no longer see her, but they could hear her further in the cave, making her excited, happy cries. At least they knew she was all right for the moment. 

“Right, well, better give me that light, Jules, I’ll go after her.”

Juliana frowned as Nemona plucked the headlamp off her.

“We could just call for her to come back? She’s bound to get bored in a few minutes.”

“No, no, we gotta follow. She could be in danger! Lost and scared!”

Opergon’s giggles echoed from deeper in the cave. Juliana raised a brow.

“. . . if you wanna explore the creepy secret tunnel you could just say so.”

Sticking the light’s strap to her head, Nemona clasped her hands together and said excitedly,

“Okay, yeah, I really wanna explore the creepy secret tunnel!”

Juliana laughed.

“I mean, I do too, honestly.”

“I thought you were claustrophobic?”

Juliana took a moment to consider the gap Ogerpon had disappeared into; it was definitely pretty small and would probably require a human to get down on their hands and knees, a thought that made Juliana’s chest squeeze a little. It wasn’t so much the tight space itself as the thought of it caving in and burying them alive. Which was admittedly unlikely.

She answered,

“Y-yeah, I am a little bit, but sometimes my curiosity wins out over that.”

“Well, okay, but I don’t want you doing anything that makes you too uncomfortable . . .”

Juliana was poking into Nemona’s bag.

“Nah, it’s okay. If I start feeling too anxious I’ll back out. I think there’s– yeah, here it is.”

She took the second light from her friend’s bag.

“Oh, I had one too? I didn’t even realize.”

“Arven passes them out right away before camping. Safety and all that. He can be kinda annoying but I admit it does come in handy sometimes, too.”

After getting their headlamps properly attached, they squatted by the tiny tunnel entrance.

“You want me to go first or you?”

“Take point, my fearless leader!”

Nemona laughed.

“All right then. Let’s go!”

Nemona began to crawl into the tunnel, Juliana watching her progress for a bit. It actually didn’t look so bad; yes, she was on her hands and knees but it still looked pretty roomy, as far as creepy secret tunnels went. Juliana got down and started climbing in after her. The ground was a bit damp and muddy and it was a little hard on her knees but she felt okay. Of course, it helped that she had Nemona with her.

“Ooh, I can see the cave gets bigger just a little further ahead! Almost there!”

After a pretty short crawl, they both emerged into a larger cave, one that dropped in elevation at a fairly steep angle but was still easily walkable. They looked around the space, casting their lights about and taking it all in. Nemona said,

“Yeah, there’s a whole hidden section to the cave here! That’s so cool. And look, I think it opens up even more that way!”

“Yeah, looks like it.”

They stepped along the declined ground, careful not to slip, daring to explore further and further into the cavern. After ducking under an especially low portion, the two girls gasped at what they came upon.

The pocket of cave they had found opened up before them, and it was full of shimmering, glittering light– the light of their flashlights being bounced back at them by hundreds and thousands of crystal formations. They were the same exact rainbow-colored crystals of the Area Zero caverns.

Nemona turned to Juliana, saying,

“Oh my god, Jules!!”

She squealed back,

“I know!!”

They rushed in to explore the crystal-encrusted cave, admiring all the formations, in awe of their discovery. Nemona exclaimed,

“It’s exactly like Area Zero! You think this is why the pokemon in the Kitakami region can terastallize? I mean, this looks even more concentrated than the crystal pool’s formations are, there’s gotta be a ton of energy here.”

“Probably! Although the water from the crystal pool feeds down into the river, and I noticed the water was all glowy from the tera energy, so that probably does a lot too! One thing’s for sure, Paldea isn’t the only place on the planet to have this phenomenon. Kitakami is loaded with this energy.”

Nemona nodded.

“Definitely. This is so wild.”

The cave also appeared home to some Pokemon; mainly Carbink, although the girls woke up some Noibat snoozing from the ceiling and a few Geodude rolled about underfoot. Juliana watched the Carbink slowly drifting their way over to them, their glittering eyes curious. She then realized that there were some Glimmets floating among them. That made sense; Juliana had really only seen Glimmets and Glimmora in the presence of these tera crystals. 

Outloud, Juliana mused,

“So . . . I always thought maybe the reason for the tera crystals in Area Zero was because the meteorite that caused the crater was carrying something special. But there’s no craters here. I bet there’s nothing special about that crater after all– it just happened to expose the deep caverns where the crystals were already growing! And some caves just grow them naturally, ya know? Like here and the crystal pool. Carmine told me the crystal pool has a cave attached to it, and the water itself seeps up from an underground cavern.”

Nemona angled her headlamp away so it wouldn’t blind her friend and enthused,

“Ooh, I didn’t know that! That makes sense, though. You should totally tell Mrs. Briar your ideas, I bet she’d love them. Oh man, if you could help her figure out how tera energy works, we could bring tera battles to other regions! Imagine!”

Juliana grinned at the thought. 

“That would be pretty incredible.”

Nemona bounced a little and said,

“Oh, oh, and we should go explore the crystal pool’s cave too! We gotta remember to do that!”

Juliana laughed,

“Okay, but we should probably finish exploring this one first, don’t you think?”

Nemona grabbed onto her and giggled,

“I knowwwww, I’m just excited and planning ahead!”

Juliana felt a wave of affection for the wonderfully silly girl holding onto her. She tilted her head back and nuzzled against Nemona a moment, then placed a soft little kiss to her lips. 

“You’re cute.”

Their relationship still brand-new, Nemona was flustered by the casual compliment. She squirmed and glanced away, mumbling with a smile,

“No’m not.”

Juliana grinned at how easily she was flustered. She leaned in again and pressed her lips against Nemona’s ear and murmured to her,

“You are unbearably adorable.”

Nemona squirmed harder and made a delightfully embarassed noise that only confirmed the truth of Juliana’s statement; Juliana squeezed her and they both giggled.

The familiar cry of Ogerpon brought them out of their antics, reminding them of why they were there.

“Whoops. We better go find her.”

“Right.”

Once they ventured a little further in, they easily located Ogerpon, who had been busy chasing the Carbink and Glimmets with a gleeful smile. Apparently she liked how they sparkled. It was a relief to see that Ogerpon was fine, although they hadn’t been too concerned to begin with– Ogerpon had proven she was very good at taking care of herself. Albeit, she did have a tendency to wander. Juliana leaned down.

“Try not to wander off without telling us, Ogerpon, okay? We don’t want you getting hurt. I admit you did lead us to a pretty awesome cave, though.”

“Jules, look! I think there’s an underground pool here!”

Juliana glanced to where Nemona was headed– the ground slanted downwards as the cave continued deeper into the earth. Quickly, Juliana and Ogerpon followed her.

When they’d gone deeper, they found it was indeed an underground pool . . . just not the sort they’d expected. Juliana had envisioned crystal-clear, cool waters, bathed in the light of beautiful columns of tera crystals. 

Instead, the pool contained a thick, goopy, pitch-black substance. Steam was rising from the pool, and sticky, viscous bubbles slowly formed and popped in the pool.

“What the heck?”

Nemona ventured closer, staring down into the strange mess.

“What is this stuff?”

Juliana hazarded a guess.

“It looks like . . . tar?”

As she came up beside Nemona, her face wrinkled.

“Euugh. Smells like tar, too.”

“Tar? Why the heck would there be a pool of tar here? Who’d do that??”

Juliana shook her head,

“No, I think– well, it’s naturally occurring sometimes. Uncommon, but not unheard of. There’s some pretty famous tar pits back in Unova. They study them because lots of ancient pokemon fell inside so there’s lots of fossils in there.”

Nemona looked thoughtful.

“Huh. That’s wild. So this could be an important scientific discovery?”

“Yeah, it might be, if nobody else knows about this!”

Nemona laughed and patted Ogerpon’s head.

“You could be famous, Ogerpon! If they discover any new pokemon fossils here, they’ll have to name them after you!”

Ogerpon chirped, not understanding but happy for the attention. Juliana stared down into the dark bog. She mused,

“It looks like it’s pretty hot, too. I wonder how hot it is? And how deep it is?”

“Hey, I think I see something poking out in the middle there.”

“Where?”

Nemona leaned against a large column of crystal growing from the ground along the pool’s edge, pointing towards the pool’s center.

“There, sorta around the middle but a bit further back, it looks like–”

“Careful, Nemona.”

“--might just be a stick but it could be a bone–”

There was a cracking sound and the crystal Nemona had leaned against started to fracture. Eyes wide, Juliana grabbed onto Nemona and pulled her back, the huge column of crystal giving way soon after and tumbling down into the tar pit, making a huge ‘gloppp’ noise and splashing tar about before slowly sinking into the black. They watched it vanish into nothing, the foul stench of tar the only thing remaining.

The girls looked at each other. Nemona laughed nervously.

“Ahahaha . . . maybe we should stop messing around near the tar pit.”

“Yyyyeah . . . why don’t we head back to camp?”

“Sounds good.”

The three quickly retraced their steps and exited the cave. Had they remained just a little while longer, they might have heard a strange rumble coming from the tar pit, bubbles forming much more rapidly than before and the surface of the pool roiling in strange shapes . . .

[literaryspinster]

The thing is with ships like Melvika Melco or whatever else is that...they're such tiny ships. Apart from a few popular fanarts, I've only seen a small handful people on here *actually* "shipping" Melvika and most people who do are just lesbians who think they're hot. It's never going to be canon and it's just a fun thing that a small group of people are doing. It's just a crackship and in no way threatens the canon-ness of Meljay. It's cool to not enjoy it or the characters but the reasons like "They're not good for each other" or "doesn't do anything for her story" or whatever is a nonissue as it's not canon and never will be. Shipping Mel and Jayce with other people isn't always a malicious act of trying to separate them. You don't need to believe a crackship make a good couple because...that's the point of a crackship, sometimes they don't make sense and some people enjoy that. If you don't, that's absolutely fine, but the thought that you need to be convinced if you're not interested in a ship anyway is like...why bother? Let people have their fun and you have yours. And to be honest, people know these ships are never going to be canon. Genuinely! sorry if this comes off as a rant, not my intention to offend and this is not in bad faith, just a responce. It's just I think people in fandoms, in general, should focus more on things they enjoy instead of things they don't, especially if it's small and essentially harmless.

I get all that, and I am a pretty big proponent of focusing on things that I enjoy over things that I don’t, or at least not letting my negativity reach much further than my little corner. You’ll never see me butting into a M*lvika post to hate on them, you’ll never see me spreading negativity in their tag, and this is likely the last I’ll really say about them as I’m truly not trying to be a fan cop or anything of the sort. But I got the ask and wanted to explain my feelings on the matter, even though I knew they probably wouldn’t be taken all that well.

I do get rather frustrated with seeing so much toxicity under Mel and Meljay posts for all sorts of reasons (it seems to stem from the fandom accepting it as canon that she was up to no good with very little pushback) I never want to replicate that energy, that’s not the sort of fan I want to be. My thing isn’t that I think Meljay is being threatened, it’s me not wanting to constantly see hate directed at them in spaces that should be free of that. I can’t control what happens in the show, but I can attempt to curate my fandom experience as best as I can.

As for needing to be convinced that a ship is good actually, again, that’s just… kind of the way I am. If I don’t understand something or see the logic in it then I want to try to understand it, I want metas and breakdowns that find the depth in something that I can’t quite see. If I’m going to ship a pair, it has to be because I think those two people would get along and enrich each other’s stories. And yeah, I was open to shipping them at first, which is why I was initially seeking a good analysis, as I don’t really have a canon interaction to go on.

Lastly, and this is a big one, if I have to see comment after comment about why this character I like’s canon relationship sucks and why this other one would be better, even when I am not at all seeking content about that alternate pair, then it’s natural for me to get curious about why.

That’s me, that’s always been me. But it’s definitely not the way I expect everyone else to be or need everyone else to be.

And I don’t think you’re ranting, I’m glad you came to me with this, and I hope I’ve made my feelings clear.