#i also might try further out of the city like northwest

[irishbreakfst]

Saw 4 SEPARATE SPECIES OF BUG IN MY STUPID APARTMENT TODAY (none of them were bed bugs at least but they were some of the other bug species I loathe and fear the most) I know the fact that its really hot is probably the main reason they're being so active and getting in here, but God damn I'm already crawling through zillow to find my next apartment and I've still got 11 months in this lease. If I ever see a cave cricket in this house with my own two eyes I'm breaking the fuckin lease tho I can promise you that

[scitties-enjoyer]

ESMP S1 Worldbuilding thoughts

Okay so I might be overthinking things a little (I'm very normal about my ESMP S1 worldbuilding and I'd more-or-less let it fade into the background for a while but I'm afraid it's back with a vengance)

So. My biggest headcanon is that the continent it takes place on is in the southern hemisphere of the planet. I know the second you travel outside the actual empires that theory falls apart because minecraft terrain generation however. If you look at the Empires alone and their geographical locations, we have Mezalea and Pixandria as the northern-most empires and Rivendell and Crystal Cliffs as the southern-most empires.

One problem: House Blossom is actually further south than Rivendell.

Now I had a crisis over that this morning (I had somehow got it in my head that House Blossom was northwest of Rivendell rather than southwest) but then I remembered my headcanon that House Blossom is a particular kind of Faerie settlement which is always built on magical convergence points. Belatedly, afterwards, I also remembered that the Overgrown is a thing.

If all that paragraph is a bit much to parse: House Blossom is very magical. It can be warm if it wants.

Now. I am not (currently who knows what the future holds) trying to work out the size of the planet this is on, the specific tilt the planet has, or anything like that, so I don't have accurate teperature bands here, but if I overlay a gradient where blue is cold and yellow/red is hot....

It's not perfect. There's a badlands biome in the southwest, and ideally the jungle wouldn't be so far south. But I'm not looking for the whole seed to have perfect geography. The thing we care about is roughly correct.

I could just extrapolate the size from this small one but you know what would be more fun?

Thus step one of mapping each empire is complete. We know sort of what's going on climate wise in each empire. (Did I mention that's what the end goal is here?)

Step 2: I'd like the rivers to make sense. But for that I need a good idea of like. The size of the land. And real life countries aren't just one town or city. So I need a big world map.

Making a large biomes world with the original ESMP seed and getting the whole map to trace over by flying around. I don't remember what I said in this video but here's where I started doing a perimeter of Mezalea.

Unfortunately this is taking a while.

Perhaps I will continue this

[the-firebird69]

TROPICAL DEPRESSION TEN

They feel the second storm will change direction right now it's not hitting North it's heading north west almost exactly it's going along the east coast of the Yucatan peninsula and it is further along than shown but not much but that's the direction it's going in. For some reason they feel that it's going to change direction and it might be a bit of spy work in the warning everybody this can be a storm and that storm is going to they say come here and it's because they say the second ship will turn the engines on that's the one they say it's in Canada and what we say is you might be right so the intakes I might be up near northern Maine and that's why they go up there and they stick the current will change what we say is it will change but it will also come downwards in a similar way and it will suck upwards from one side and I think it's the east coast and exhaust out the West Coast which is not how it really works it's going to intake on the east it'll have an exhaust on the west which is in this hemisphere and it will force down in a cycle which will go and blow wind northwards right up the East Coast and will blow downwards just to the west of Florida and it's because of the position of Maine and where the old opening is and they feel that it is in a different location for some reason and we feel it's just in northwest of Maine don't push the storm that's coming from Yucatan to the West it will also have an effect on any storms and form in the Atlantic whereas it's pushing air downwards in the Gulf but pulling it upwards to the east of Florida as you see it's happening now and the confusion is that it will be in a much different spot but right now the air that's going upwards is well offshore it's about 800 miles to the east of Florida this is going to be about 50 or 70 miles to the east of Florida and their calculations are wrong and Florida will be protected for another 3 days and if they launched at that time it would be for 2 days or 3 days after on both of them and totally until they plug the holes by then these ships will be out of here but people want them out before and the other ships are starting their engines yes there's nothing to do with time zones and they told to push it there's two more than a huge one in Russia now there's two in Russia and one that's in the Bering sea. And it is going to make a big difference because there won't be a storm and these people will get aggressive with Tony f Tommy f and people want DJ to cut the crap and you need him out of the CIA that'll slow down and that's what he's going to use to try and get elected he's using it on Trump..

And we expect the launch to be probably 4 days from now that's what we anticipated Wednesday or Thursday I'm thinking maybe Friday but they don't have to run the engines for 3 days they're told that too. They do have to break them in so he says probably 3 days cuz the other a****** did it. I didn't know that s*** it's fat this bubble butted f****** nobody you know you f****** f****..

-got a couple more things but this is an important time frame to understand important process too. We do anticipate them starting the other one shortly what a pain who are you people dumb but once those engines start in Canada they're going to head up there and big drills the one that started now is Greenland and it's hardly anybody going up there..

-he says we should try for Harley-Davidson black Black widow I understand why and we should try and take the land and we said we bought it but we didn't and we're going to try and fight for it and then try and grab it from the city next door I do know why and Jason's probably under there again

-it's a huge number of them down underground there and a bunch of pigs going after Trump he says thank you and we say why don't you like put a known haunting thing up so he will

-there's a number of people out there at times but not many I just see what his point is let's get them all out so we are going to do that and we're also going to beat the s*** out of Tommy Allen if he goes to the sports park every time I'm tired of hearing from that piece of crap with this stupid bobcat who the hell cares about yours our son could probably lift it up.

-is a huge huge fight going on about what he's saying and stuff and they're all bickering with b****** yelling at each other like homos it's a lot of fun then they hit each other and we think wow you're doing great the women love it knives out ladies for protection.

We're going to publish because it's important and hilarious

Thor Freya

Zues Hera

Olympus

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Crisis Redo #2

Kara shakes her head dumbly, covering her sudden nausea with a faint smile. "Sorry, no. I guess not."

"Oh. Okay." Lena stands there stiffly, and the moment soon grows uncomfortable.

Realizing she's in the way, Kara steps further onto the sidewalk. "Sorry."

"That's okay," Lena says obligingly. She hesitates before stepping through the door. "Well, have a nice day."

"You too."

But Lena's already inside, heading for the end of the line, the door swinging shut behind her.

---

She couldn't do it. She couldn't drag an unknowing Lena back into the mess their world had become. Not when in those few fleeting moments, Kara could see how much lighter Lena was, how unburdened she was.

It doesn't mean that Kara doesn't continue looking for her, though. That night she opens up Facebook and looks at every Lena she finds listed there, going down the list for days and days until she finally sees Lena's face in a profile picture.

Her name is Lena Walsh.

The account is set to private, but Kara is still able to see a series of profile pictures, one including a middle aged woman who looks strikingly like Lena. Her mother.

Lena is an adult in the picture, happily grinning with her cheek pressed against her mother's. Their arms are wrapped around each other and their stance is so easy, so comfortable, that Kara knows that this is the Lena that might have been, if her mother had survived. If Lena had never been taken by the Luthors.

This is Lena. Without the heartache, without the manipulation, and the lifetime of trauma that had hardened every inch of Lena's emotional exterior.

Kara is also able to glean a hometown from Lena's account, readily available despite the privacy setting. Now armed with a name and location, Kara is able to tease out the rest of Lena's new life.

A childhood in Newfoundland, then her teenaged years in the suburbs of Metropolis. Lena was valedictorian of her high school class, and won a full ride to a prestigious university, where she studied a plethora of subjects and eventually graduated with full honors and a degree in... medicine.

Lena is a doctor-- a small town doctor in the pacific northwest, where she lives with her mother in a quaint home registered as a wildlife sanctuary. Kara finds news clippings from local newspapers recognizing Lena's work rebuilding her communities local bee population, about her delivering a baby in a barn when a nearby trainwreck had tied up the local emergency services.

Kara notes that she finds no wedding or birth announcements. As far as she can tell, it's just Lena and her mother, living peacefully out of sight.

So Kara leaves her be. As hard as it is to be without Lena, shattering Lena's tranquility would be even more devastating.

Months more pass, until one day the Superfriends learn that Lex is trying to revive Project Non Nocere. There's only one person on Earth who might be able to stop him. Only then does Kara reveal that she knows where Lena is.

Desperation and the insistence of the group drives Kara to fly out to the small PNW town where Lena's home and practice is. When she walks into Lena's practice, she finds her long lost friend in the middle of freshening up the single exam room after a patient.

Lena freezes at the sight of her.

Kara takes a deep breath. "Lena, I'm--"

"Supergirl," Lena breathes.

Surprised for a moment, Kara looks down at herself, forgetting that she hasn't changed out of her costume. She grimaces internally, but keeps her features fixed in a neutral expression. She looks back up at Lena.

"Sorry," Lena continues quickly, "but I don't think there's a single person on the West Coast who doesn't know who you are."

Kara nods solemnly. "That's all right."

Lena swallows audibly, her eyebrows drawing together in hesitation. "Um... why are you here, exactly?"

Taking a deep breath, Kara steps forward. "There is a great threat facing National City," she delivers with a calm she doesn't quite feel. "And I need your help to stop it."

Lena blinks. "My help?"

"Yes. I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to discuss the matter any further here. If you'd come with me, I can explain everything back in National City."

Lena's face shifts from confusion to shock to disbelief, then finally settles into a dismissal. "Look, I don't know what kind of joke you're playing, but regardless, I can't just leave. I have patients--"

"You won't have any patients to treat if you don't come with me, now."

It's a half truth. The threat Lex poses is quite real, and could very well result in a disruption even in this small town. But it isn't as urgent as Kara makes it sound. She could sit down and wait, explore the town and come back when Lena is done for the day, but she can't. She can't sit here and watch this Lena treat her patients with gentle hands, or bear witness to the life she's made here.

It would be... unbearable.

Lena senses the truth in Kara's voice, or perhaps her desperation. After a long moment, she exhales. "Let me inform my nurse she'll need to reschedule the rest of my appointments."

It doesn't take long. Lena sheds her white doctor's coat, revealing a cozy turtleneck sweater and plaid slacks that hug her legs and tuck into sensible boots. She reaches for her keys, then hesitates.

"Oh. I suppose you don't intend to drive to National City."

Kara gives a soft smile. "No."

Carrying Lena is both intimate and not. She can smell the pine in Lena's hair, hear the thundering of her heart, but Lena's arms are desperately tight with fear, without the trust of knowing Kara won't drop her.

Lena looks a little green around the edges when they land on the Tower balcony, but regains her footing quickly. Kara ushers her inside, to where the others all way. It's quiet as Lena descends the stairs, all eyes wide and fixed on her. Lena sense the attention when she reaches the main floor and pauses, uncomfortable under there focus, before looking back up at Kara.

"Everyone, this is Lena Walsh. Lena, this is... everyone."

Alex is stiff with distrust, but Nia has no such qualms. In moments Dreamer is stepping forward, wrapping her arms firmly around Lena. "We've missed you," Nia murmurs.

Lena hugs her back awkwardly, confused and nervous. Brainy then steps forward.

"I, too, am glad to see that you exist," he delivers plainly. "It has been most vexing working without a comparable mind to commiserate with."

Lena blinks. "I... don't understand."

Kara steps up to stand beside her. "I know." Then, "I'm sorry."

J'onn steps forward, his features solemn. "Allow me to show you."

He doesn't wait for Lena's permission before reaching out and pressing his fingers to her temple. Kara shifts uncomfortably, taking Lena's hand in hers. She argued against this. For days, she'd proposed other options, anything that would allow them to preserve Lena's world. But none worked.

Whether Lena wanted to or not, she had to remember the reality before.

Jonn's process is quick and effective. When he finishes, Lena stands there, eyes wide and filled with tears. Then she blinks, and her next breath shudders her entire body. Her hand yanks free of Kara, then quickly lifts to stem the flow of tears that spill down her cheeks.

Kara swallows nervously. "You... you remember?"

Lena doesn't respond. For a long moment, she buries her face in her hands, her shaking shoulders the only sign of outward emotion. When she finally straightens, Lena's tears are mostly dry and she glances at Kara with a sharp gaze.

She remembers.

"Take me to my mother."

Kara nods. Moments later Lena is in her arms again, and this time she's stiff with a clear desire to be anywhere else in the world. But she endures the flight back to the country, to the quaint cottage tucked behind a yard filled with wildflowers. As soon as Kara's boots touch the ground Lena scrambles free, stumbling through the painted white gate with patent desperation.

"Mom? Mom!" Lena calls sharply. She all but runs through the twisting path towards the porch. The screen door opens, and a diminutive woman steps out.

"Lena, honey? What's--"

Her concern is swallowed up when Lena all but barrels into her, enveloping her in a desperate hug. Elizabeth Walsh jolts in surprise, but soon melts to return the embrace.

"What are you doing home so early?" Kara hears Elizabeth ask. "Did something happen at the practice?"

Lena shakes her head no, but doesn't speak. She can't-- not unless she wants to betray the tears coursing down her cheeks. Elizabeth doesn't pull away, not even when concern creases her features.

"Lena, sweetheart..."

Finally, Lena straightens, composing herself with a quick swipe at her cheeks. "Nothing. Everything's fine. I just.... needed to see you."

Kara looks away. Thinking of the hologram she once had of her mother, she suddenly feels like she's intruding.

"Do you and your friend want to come inside? I can make some tea..."

Lena shakes her head, clearing her throat. "No, mom. Sorry, but-- that's part of the reason I'm here. I have to go to National City for a few days. A friend of mine needs help."

Kara tries to ignore the way her heart lifts hopefully at being called a friend.

"I'll be out of touch for a while, so I-- I just wanted you to know."

Elizabeth smiles, but her concern lingers. She senses something is wrong, but doesn't give voice to her doubts.

"Okay. Just be safe, sweetheart. Let me know if you need anything."

Lena nods, her chin quivering. "I will. I promise."

She retreats then, her lips pressed tight together against further tears as she leaves her mother on the porch and returns to Kara. For a long moment, Lena doesn't say anything. Then, her chin lifts and anger shines up at Kara from shining green eyes.

"I'll never forgive you."

Kara understands that this time, Lena doesn't mean the secret that drove them apart, or her treatment following Kara's discovery of Non Nocere. She means this-- the loss of a life untouched by heartache.

Kara nods.

"I know."

[xsugarysweetsx]

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 5

A/N: I may have made a twilight reference but I do like their concept of vampire abilities

Warnings; language; Levi having feelings??;

Previous     Next

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“Ugh..no..p..please no..No..NO!“ you spring up in bed panting in a sweat. Just a nightmare, another nightmare. This was only the 3rd day you had been there but the nightmares never gave you a break. The next thing that happened was footsteps running into your room. Your door swings open with Hanji holding a book in hand, Levi was in a fighting stance. They only saw you disheveled from your previous nightmare

“S-sorry guys it was just a stupid nightmare...I’m okay“ you reassure them moving the hair from your face

“The hell were you going to do with a book?“ Levi asks looking at Hanji

“You know maybe, knock some sense into them“ she looked around the room hoping for a laugh from her corny joke. You had to give it to her, she always tried to lighten things up “Hehe, anyway enough bad jokes we need you for something really quick”

“Oh sure“ getting up from the bed you grab a sweater and throw it on over your tank top. Following them you realize it was about 2 am, the forest was quiet and the house’s atmosphere was cool against your skin.

“So what do you need me to do?“ you ask as Hanji opens the front door

“Well, Levi here is our spy and we need to know the exact location of where Zeke can be. You’ll also need some info from the underground” grabbing a coat from the hall closet she gives it to you “Only you know where it is so you’ll have to go with Levi.“

“Only problem is the bastard’s got a couple of goons and the last thing we need is for them or him to pick up your scent. So throw the jacket on“ taking your sweater off you put on the black jacket. It smelled of lemon and detergent, it was nice. Next thing you knew Levi squatted slightly in front of you “Come on we don’t have all night, the sun will come up soon and that’s the last thing I need“

“Right“ hesitantly you take a hold of his shoulders. His hands find the back of your knees and hoist you up on to his back

“Alright, you both have 4 hours to locate and try and get any information you can. Good luck” and just like that, you were off. For someone who was his height, he was strong. He swiftly jumps onto lower tree branches, as to not be too far from the ground. Being up so high and on his back made you hold on to him tighter

“Relax I won’t drop you,” he said hoisting you a bit higher on his hips “now which direction did you run from?”

“I...think it was that way” you point to the northwest of where you stood. Jumping from one tee to the next he barely made a sound. With the occasional rustle of leaves, he was a quiet as a bird. Soon a broken-down roof comes into view. Going into a tree with more leaves he sets you down for a moment. You still hold on to his shoulder for balance

“This shit place it?” He asked

“Yeah this is it...” you confirm

“For the most part, we know where the monkey lives.” Facing you he looks you dead in the eyes “We have to go somewhere and I need you to stay close to me and try not to draw attention. Got it?”

You give him a sharp nod, getting back on his back you hold on tight as you fall back to the ground. He continues his way on the ground, you so happened to have gotten a whiff of his scent which was exact to the one on the jacket. That’s when you had started to notice the way he was built. There wasn’t much skin to see but you could tell he was well built just by the feel of his shoulders.

You would be lying if you said he unattractive, you could feel your cheeks heating at the thoughts, but right now wasn’t the time. It was a bit awkward so you struck up a conversation

“So um, what’s this underground place anyway?“ you ask

“Think of it as a place where vampires can roam around during the day. They can get their blood fills, party, gamble, anything a human can do aside from being in the sun.“ coming to what looked like a cave entrance he puts you down “Remember what I said, keep a low profile, and stay close to me. We’re going to see someone who might know the answers to all this shit.“

Upon entering the cave it was almost like a whole city in there. Buzzing with chatter and the smell of blood filled the air, it almost made you nauseous. Your hand stayed locked in his elbow as you let him lead you through the crowd.

Looking around vampires were much closer to humans than how they were always described as. Not all of them were pale, or mysterious or walked around in capes and dressed like goths. Huh, maybe you should make the next vampire film.

“We’re almost there“ he makes a turn to an alleyway and came to a lonely door “Listen this old man has some screws missing, just stay close.“ knocking on the door there was silence then some low cursing as the door swung open. A tall man with a bit of stubble on his chin, and with the same sharp grey eyes.  

“Well look who came, and you brought a little lady with you too“ he smirked and looked your way

“Shut it old man I just need some information“ Levi sneered. They seemed to know each other well

“The hell would I know about humans mixing in with vampires, “ he said leaning against the doorway “I’ve been around for a while runt, I can spot a human in any crowd.“

“That’s exactly why we need to talk, Kenny.“ damn was he that good that he could tell you were human? Moving aside he lets you both into his small home, it was mostly covered in alcohol bottles, and much dirtier than it should be. Nonetheless, he pulls out a chair and sits down ready for questions.

“What do you know about hybrids?” he said trying not to touch anything in the home

“What? Thinking about having kids with the lady here“ he motioned to you

“No, some bastard wants to make them by force and we don’t know what he’s planning, “ he said crossing his arms

“Ah Levi, always playing the hero huh?“ he chuckles and leans further back into the chair “Well, we Ackermans used to part of hybrids some of the family were hybrids themselves. Having the ability to walk in daylight gave them the up hand. They fed anytime they wanted, healed easily, on top of that they had fewer weaknesses. But people started abusing power, women died..“

“Abusing power?“ you questioned and he nodded

“Some people wanted to dominate any other race, just a world of vampires and hybrids. It came to a point only certain women with a certain blood type could bear the kids and live after it.“ he explains further “So now it’s a bit taboo to have or be a hybrid, knowing the history.“ the beeping of Levi’s watch started going off. Sunrise was coming soon, you had to leave before it was too late.

Nudging through the crowd he’s practically carrying you just to be faster. Emerging from the cave the smallest specks of light could be seen lighting up the sky. It was honestly beautiful, but it was deadly for him, so no time to stop and admire. Luckily Levi was as fast as he was strong and you made it in no time. As soon as he stepped inside you waited just a moment to see the sunrise

“Hey Levi?“ you called

“What is it?“ he asked from the inside out

“You wanna see the sunset?“ you ask him. Walking inside you find some lose cardboard and take him outside

“The hell are you doing?!” he asked not trusting your idea for a damn minute

“Just trust me, I won’t let you burn” you reassure him. He rolls his eyes but still takes your hand and you lead him outside. You set the board up at a certain angle to give him shade and for him to see. As soon as the sun came up he was almost hypnotized.

“Beautiful huh?” You ask as you watch his face in amusement. You didn’t have to know much about him to know, he’s had a rough life. The sun rose higher into the sky which was your cue to get him inside. Covering him with the jacket you take him inside, unharmed.

There was a bit of silence between you both. As you took your shoes off and made your way to the stairs he speaks up

“Thank you.” He said bluntly “....for coming with me..” he sounded almost strained. Maybe he was thanking you for the little sunrise show, you just smile and respond

“Of course Levi,” you said with a smile “I’m um...going to go and shower real quick alright, you should rest up” you leave making your way up the stairs leaving him in the hall.

“I see you’re warming up to her“ Erwin says coming from a different room “that’s good, you’ve needed the interaction for some time now“

“Tch, I don’t have any time for that“ he scoffed as he made his way to the stairs

“you did at one point“ he mumbled to the raven-haired man, making him stop for a moment. Without turning he said

“...maybe I did...but not anymore“ and continued on his way up. Walking down the hallway he could hear your conversation with Hanji. The door was slightly open and he saw you sitting on a chair fresh out of the shower. Your hair was still wet, and your skin dewy. You may have been giving her information but at the same time, you had a gentle smile on your face.

For the past 3 days, this was the first time he saw a genuine smile.

“Hanji...do you..will Zeke find me here? Will he..“ even with all the hope in the world you were still afraid

“Y/N“ Hanji took your hand “I know it’s a lot to take in right now but, with Levi here I’m pretty sure Zeke won’t even step foot in here.“ she smiles with a yawn

“Thanks, Hanji...you should rest“ before you could spot him, Levi leaves to his room. Closing the door he huffs as he leans against the door and stares at the ceiling. He pushes himself off and walks over to the small nightstand and opens the first drawer, pulling out something. He gazes at the picture in hand, not wanting to look at it much longer he outs it back and closes the drawer.

He falls with a sigh on to his bed and says to himself

“The hell is happening to me?”

...

You cleaned up around the house while everyone else slept. Your friends crossed your mind. Sasha taking you out to restaurants, Eren telling you some weird stories, Christa just being the sweetheart that she was. It made you chuckle a bit, but you wondered what they thought of you being gone. You missed Mochi too, his adorable face waking you up every morning.

But, this was better for you and the people you cared for. The less they were involved the fewer people will get hurt. For whatever reason Levi popped in your head. The way he was looking at the sunset, almost like a child looking at stars for the first time. It made you just a bit sad that he never saw something so simple yet so amazing. Next thing you knew a giggle escapes your lips along with a smile

“...oh god Y/N, no.” You murmur to yourself “you shouldn’t now, especially him, he could never...” your head and heart were saying two different things. Yet, you couldn’t at least not in this situation.

<><><><>

“I’m telling you he’s gone insane!“ one man whispered

“I have to agree with you...at first it was a good idea abut now I think he’s going too far-“

“Too far huh?“ a deeper voice enters making the two previous men jump

“N-no it’s nothing like that we-we were-“

“patience is virtue “ Zeke simply says “but so is madness. Without it, can I achieve what I am after?“ he said as he lit a cigarette and took a puff. “you both can wait for your reward right? Unless you want to be one of my labrats. Understand?“

“Y-yes, sir.......”

“Besides, what's one sacrifice for our goal huh?” He chuckled looking at a picture of a certain brunette in his hand. Just how much worse can things get?

<><><><>

Taglist: @mysteriousmagicx @kameko-ko @jin-mowi @mystic-starlove @chronic-claire-universe​ @shrimp1026​ @captainchrisstan @givemea-dam-break @actual-trash-goblin @leiaausmus @sugarysweets-appreciation-blog @levisfilm @kingdoms--night--star @leviiiiiiiii @dilirx @super-peace-fangirl @ultimateelitepenguin @happygalaxymilkshake @lola2001 @sillykawa @queenofcurse @fanfictionreaderholic @notgoodforlife @deludedimagines @xcityretro

[musings-from-mars]

@nuts-and-dolts-week - Day 4: Fireflies

Thank goodness for Atlas’ climate control. As Ruby walked along a pathway towards her rendezvous point with Penny, she could see the nighttime snow falling in the distance. And yet, even on this outdoor hallway at Atlas Academy, she felt comfortable in her Atlas-branded nighttime attire.

Ruby wondered what Penny had to show her. She had described it as important, but didn’t let on about anything further. All she had said was to meet her at the northwest corner balcony on the fifth dormitory floor. She had something to show her.

Ruby turned a corner and saw her, still dressed in her (admittedly very cute) green and white attire. Ruby wondered humorously if Penny even owned any other clothes as she neared. Penny was sitting on the stone balcony railing, her back to the glittering city in the distance, swinging her rocket legs to and fro. When she spotted Ruby approaching, she beamed and hopped to the floor. “Salutations, Ruby!” She called, waving to her.

Ruby winced and hurried over awkwardly. “Keep it down, I don’t want to get caught outside my dorm after curfew.”

Penny held her hands behind her back bashfully. “My apologies, I am just so excited to show you what I have for you.”

“You have a present for me?” Ruby asked, smiling. “That’s so sweet of you, Penny.”

She grinned with pride. “I do hope it lights up your life!”

Ruby tilted her head to the side at her curious word choice, then became even more confused when Penny turned her face upward, and her neon green eyes lit up, flashing a couple times. Ruby stepped back and looked around, trying to figure out what Penny was signaling to.

Then she saw it... A firefly?

Ruby couldn’t believe it, but she recognized the unmistakable insect as it fluttered down toward them. Ruby was speechless as the bug landed in Penny’s outstretched hand. “Tada!” Penny said proudly. “Your very own firefly!”

Ruby had so many questions, like how Penny managed to train a firefly to fly to her hand on command, and also how she managed to get her hands on a firefly in the frigid Atlas climate. But she only managed to get one question out at the moment: “How?”

Penny raised her hand to Ruby’s face. “Look closer.”

Not knowing what else to do or say, Ruby leaned closer to study the insect. Or...was it an insect at all? “Is it...robotic?”

“Indeed!” Penny said with excitement. “Fireflies are not native to Atlas, but I remembered how much you loved them, so I had the idea to make you one.” She then took Ruby’s hand with her free one, opening it with her palm facing up. “Here, you can hold it.” Penny tilted her hand to the side, and as if by command, the robo-bug crawled from Penny to Ruby. It felt so light and realistic, its tiny legs tickling Ruby’s skin. “Do you like it?” Penny asked hopefully.

Ruby was astonished as she stared at the tiny robot. “How did... Did you build this?”

“I did!” Penny said with a nod. “Quite a long time ago, in fact.” She looked down, holding her hands behind her back. “I missed you, and...fireflies always remind me of you, because of that picnic we went on together back at Beacon...”

Ruby turned her attention away from the firefly for the first time since Penny had handed it to her. Was Penny...blushing? “You missed me?”

Penny nodded, keeping her head turned downward, but she peeked up at Ruby and smiled bashfully. “I did. Very much. And so I started constructing a little firefly. Having it around always made me feel a little better.”

Ruby’s mouth hung open as she glanced back down at the bug, still sitting in her hand, content.

“I always promised myself that if I ever got to see you again,” Penny continued, “I would give it to you.”

“But...” Ruby shook her head, her voice trembling. “Penny, this is your firefly. You don’t have to give it to me.”

“I told you it helped me feel better when I missed you. But now you are here.” She smiled, and it was clear to see now that she was blushing, a faint lime green tinge in her freckled cheeks. “Being able to give it to you means my hopes came true. I regret having not caught a real one during our picnic. But...I thought this would be a suitable alternative. I caught one for you, in a way. I spent so long looking forward to getting to share it with you, so we could relive that...date...”

Her voice faded when she noticed how close Ruby was to her now, and her eyes went wide when she felt Ruby’s hand gently touch her cheek. She closed her eyes as the distance between them closed.

“My firefly...” Ruby whispered, and she kissed her.

The firefly took off as Ruby’s other hand moved to hug Penny by the neck. As it was trained to do, it flew to Penny’s bow and landed on top of it, blinking slowly in the night. It might have been a synthetic creation, but holding it in her hand had granted Ruby’s wish all the same.

[hanawrites404]

Wynne's Diary - Journey With Asra

(@sweetalnazar HAPPY BIRTHDAY SWEETHEART)

"Gosh.......how long is it?" I groaned and threw my hands hysterically.

"Just a few miles more, Honey. We are almost there" The whitehead held the map of the city in front of him and steered the paper around to find the right direction of the path. We were touring, since today was the day Asra wasn't being too cautious about my health and neither did I need to dispute against him for not ever bringing me to one of his journeys. But who told me that it was going to be this boring and exhausting?!!

We were walking during midnight on the lonely streets of a hamlet far away from Vesuvia for leisure. We were supposed to reach before evening, but due to some extreme weather, we had to stay back. It was only after five hours the sandstorm had settled down, but when we did reach our destination without any further problems, here we were irrationally strolling just anywhere, Asra being the slowest and worst navigator ever.

"Ugh, are you sure your broken compass is working?" I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.

"Hey, it's not broken. It's just taking its time. Be patient, will you?" He blew onto the compass to remove the dust and shook it for the needle to gain some movement. He then kept it flat on his palm, but just as I already expected, it didn't work. The pointer fell back dead as before.

"bE pAtIeNt WiLl YoU?" I repeated after him. Asra sighed and kept the compass back into his pocket. He focused on the map instead, trying to find out which road we were on and where would the next milestone be. It had only been twenty-five minutes of us walking from the inn, but because of his sluggish navigation skills, we were sure lagging.

"Ugggh why don't you give me the map instead?" I suggested him.

"Wynne, you have never been in this town before. And the map has branched roads and connected at different spots, which makes it difficult to search for the right route. Give me some time to figure out" he dismissed me. But I didn't take it well as I scoffed and snatched the map from his hands.

"Was twenty-five minutes not enough for you???" I angrily stated with a pout on my lips.

"U-Uhhh....." Asra stammered. He didn't have anything to assert against me, so he just looked down and rubbed his neck. I didn't want to shame him, but damn I loathed his obstinacy and wanted him to just shut up and listen to me for once.

I sighed again and took a look at the map myself. I glanced at the entrance and remembered every turn we took to conform with the illustrations on the map. I noticed the pattern, thanks to the landmarks and me paying attention to the pathways unlike one stupid guy and dragged Asra by his sleeve to show him what I found.

"You see this here?" I pointed at the entry gates. "This is how we came in, after some kilometres, we reached the inn and from here, we went straight down and turned to our left, then we continued on that line at that's when we took a right, walked over that, and again right, and through the roundabout, we made our way to the left, then straight, again straight, and finally, to the right.

So according to me, we should be at least five miles away from the rocky beaches. Also, there must be a brothel somewhere like......" I looked up from the map and scanned around.

"no....no...no........no.....Ah! There" I pointed to our northwest where a grey and tall construction made its place at the corner.

"Oh! I....I never noticed that before" Asra rubbed the back of his head.

"Of course you didn't. If only you had brains like me, we wouldn't have been wandering around in the middle of the night looking like passive thieves!" I pouted again and flicked his forehead, earning a short yelp from him.

I adjusted the scarf around my head and closed the map. I We had figured out the whole passage so I we didn't need it anymore. I handed the map back to Asra and stretched my body for a bit. Seriously, walking continuously for twenty-five minutes may sound like a short interval, but you try it once, you will start feeling like weeping in the middle, especially when you realise that you don't know where you are going and how you are going to make your way back.

And people say that the journey is more beautiful than the destination. Heh, fucking bullshit. Let me hear someone say this when they almost died in the way and I'll fucking slap the morals out of them. I dare you.

"Now then, let's continue on our journey, shall we, My Beloved?" I swear I wasn't being sarcastic. Trust me.

"O-Of course. Sorry for earlier" he apologized timidly. I scowled at him for a moment but let it slip away. It was useless getting furious over him anyway.

"It's alright, at least we know our way now and we aren't lost. That would have been a waste" I snorted and carried forward on our steps, Asra following me shortly.

"Heh...I can't believe our time was saved by an unknown brothel" I kidded.

"Yeah... funny indeed" Asra snickered. I nudged him with my elbow playfully as we walked beside each other, my resentment finally melting away and being replaced with solace and comfort, with him and the starry night.

"So this is how you travel all the time? With no sense of direction and a broken compass??" I mockingly asked him.

"Well, not always. Sometimes I do get lost, not going to lie. But Faust helps me find my track back. Too bad she is not here with me since she wanted to stay back with Ichigo at the inn" I stuffed his hands into his pockets, his bright coat and the black hat he always wears during treks lightly fluttering in the subtle wind.

"And I know this local city well, yet I have no idea why my mind went blank so badly today. I'm sorry for the inconveniences I caused you, Wynne. I wanted you to show you the wonderful places this town has, but I only ended up making it worse for both of us" He held his forehead in his hand, his fingers mushing against his hair.

"Hey" I placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "This is not your fault, you have been travelling for hours barely with any rest. I can understand why you suddenly couldn't think of the path. Your mind must have gotten tired too, and there is no one to blame for that. And so, you shouldn't blame yourself too" I comforted him.

"But, I did waste your time. I know how particular you are about time, yet I consumed everything of yours so mindlessly" he shook his head again.

"Oh well, you are right on that" I truthfully agreed. Asra shot his eyes onto me. His expression of disbelief and bafflement.

I raised my eyebrow. "What? You thought I was going to say, no you didn't consume any of my time and then hug you tight and strangle you with kisses? Really, Alnazar??" I cocked. Asra's cheeks flared with ruddy as he looked down at his feet again. My smirk got wider, and I heckled him again.

"Ahhh so you were looking forward to it huh, Asra?? You naughty, wicked boy" I pinched his bronze cheek and laughed. He didn't reply to me and continued shying away and trying to escape from my tease. Looks like I embarrassed him this time. And I don't admit guilt of it as always. It was fun bantering him. But I think I have had too much fun because he was feeling awful, and I cannot just ridicule him anymore. That might just be plain rude, and I didn't want to be an asshole to my only husband.

"Fine, listen to me" I began. "Yes, I agree you did 'consume' my time" I specifically added quotations marks.

"But, you didn't waste it. That's absurd! You would do anything with my time than fritter it. Because.....every minute I spend with you is like magic. I get to learn more, experience more with you. And I discover my interests with you, Dear. You have never wasted my time. And neither did I ever said that to you, but you always assume wrong things and make me worry along with you" I raised my shoulders.

Asra stopped in his tracks, making me imitate him and stop walking too. He turned to face me again, his tanzanite orbs connecting with my golden ones. I peered closely into them, only to find myself in there. There was nothing else in him and that was very odd. Because usually his eyes were the real door to his true emotions and feelings, deeply hidden in like a prize of a maze, so I always stare into them when I want to know what he truly conceals into his deep irises, and I never cared how much time would it need to find them all because it was always worth it.

But.....I saw nothing in them. Just me. Me and my stupid face. Now, why would his eyes show me myself? What did he want to convey?? Was he feeling.....me?? Was he hiding.....me??? Was he............

Looking inside me????

I really had no clue. Asra though being more hospitable and extroverted than I was, always was the one to be more mysterious and secretive than the two of us. Maybe because he had more enigmas than I had?? I guess so. Or maybe he wants to wait for revealing them the right time comes for both of us. But because of never finding such a chance, he ends up being solitary though he never intended to be one.

But who knows. If Asra doesn't open up to me, I would be both courteous and disappointed with his boundaries. Complicated right? But that's how I am. A nasty unsatisfied bitch.

"Look" I held his cheek and stroked him. "If you don't believe me, that's fine. But remember one thing, Alnazar. You are my husband. We are bound together, and I'll never break apart from you, you hear that? And you have never, ever, let my time to waste. Because you are too sweet and cherishing for that, Asra. I adore you, and I'm willing to spend my whole life with you. And I had decided to since the day I yelled at you in the Lazaret for sacrificing your heart"

I sighed bitterly. That Lazaret occurrence had to be one of our bitterest times because we both impaired each other without acknowledging how we both felt at that time. But to be very honest, I never want to forget this. Because I want to remember how we were before and how far we have reached now. And I think that's plausible, and I guess Asra would approve with me on this.

"But back to the topic, you will never be a waste of time, My Love, Never. Mark my words, all this time I have spent roaming around with you and following that cursed compass which never helped had to be one of the stories I would remember and laugh about it every time. And you know why I would laugh at it? Because you were being nuts of course. But also because you were in it" I gently jabbed his nose.

"Every moment with you is like my treasure, Asra. And I don't want to lose it. I want to be greedy about it, and never let you get out of my sight. And I'll stick with you no matter what happens, and whether you like it or not" I tittered.

"I......" He opened his mouth.

"Yes, sweetie?" I tilted my head and innocently yet lovingly peeped at him.

But he ignored me again. He just pulled me closer, grabbed my waist to lift me to his height, and smashed his lips onto mine.

"Mmm!!" My voice became faint and my cloak dropped from my head, but I didn't protest against him and kissed back. My arms snaking around his shoulders and embracing his warm body closer. I was looming over him, and my hands slithered from his shoulders to his cheek, my lips working and pulling onto him.

Asra was a tremendous kisser, by the way. And how do I know? And is that even a question?

Both of our faces were red hot as we pulled back, my lips quivered from incitation and we both were panting away.

"I believe you...." He answered me and roughly kissed me for one last time. I moaned against his lips, wallowing in the pleasure I received from him, my hands curling around his hair and tugging it gently. He then pulled away and hugged me back as he breathed against my neck.

I exhaled with him, enjoying his sweet lips on me. But then I gently patted his shoulder to get his attention.

"hmm?" He replied.

"Hey....take me to the beaches....we came this far now" I told him.

"Ah....sure, Milady. Let's not keep you waiting" he sneered at me, but I was worried, to be honest.

Because I knew very well that it was a sneer of mischief he had on him.

I expected him to keep me down on my feet, but he abruptly let go of my waist and swung me up into his arms to hold me and carry me to the beach like a bride.

"You scared the fucking shit out of me there!" I caught my gust on time. The way I cried out as he took hold of me was the moment I want to shirk so badly. Meanwhile this white fucker was laughing away to glory at me! How fucking dare he?! Ugh I hate him when he does that!

"Tit for tit, sweetheart. I didn't forget the way you pinched my cheek" he winked. Blush swelled around my cheeks and I hid my face in his chest, Asra lightly giggling and resting a small peck on my head.

"Whatever" I muffled.

"Sure, suit yourself" he shrugged.

"Now let's show you the rock beaches" and there he was, holding his beloved wife close to him, never letting her go, never letting her feel alone. Because he was always there for her, and he valued every second with her like golden coins.

And they say, journey is more beautiful than the destination.

Heh, I guess they were right. But to me, both the journey and destination were marvellous when he was around.

And damn, I deserve a fucking slap for disagreeing with such a truth. Honestly.

[zuzuslastbraincell]

fun world-building facts about the eyeliner incident:

so the main canon divergence is that roku killed sozin, instead of just chilling in his cottage for ~50 years. he ended up leading a coalition force against him, in prep for civil war, although was able to bait him out to an erupting volcano and kill him at the age of 40 or 50 or so. roku then lived for another 100 years (hardly out of character for an avatar to do so).

roku went further, though, and after killing sozin, declared there would be no more fire lords in the avatar state. this split the fire nation into monarchists and anti-monarchists, essentially, and there was still a fair bit of civil unrest/war after sozin’s death because not everyone agreed.

a lot of monarchists ran off to the colonies after sozin was killed, to protect their assets, to protect their lives, as a place to hide out until the storm blew over (it did not blow over) and to regroup for a next assault (which did not succeed).

this was fine, until a second phase: roku wanted to give the radicals in his coalition a leading voice in the next government to be. a lot of people disagreed. in the colonies (many of which had officially been handed back to the earth kingdom), there were riots, lots of dissent, etc. amongst fire nationals.

when the north western earth kingdom became the site of resistance against radicals in the fire nation (as roku’s opposition to sozin was based on a coalition of liberal nobles and bureaucrats & emerging radical workers syndicates), a lot of monarchists & ultranationalists ended up emigrating with the initial wave of noble émigrés, and eventually, some of the more liberal nobles supporting roku turned against them as well. (this is also how roku’s youngest daughter, rina, who was married off to a sozin loyalist in a hostage situation organised by sozin, ends up in the earth kingdom - she and her husband defect, and initially support roku, but seeing the radicals that he is genuinely helping and supporting, they move to the earth kingdom). the reputation of this second wave depends on province - ex-soldiers are always hated, and the north west & regions in close proximity despise the fire nation, but the east & ba sing se has always been quite hospitable, & many have dual bases in ba sing se and the northwest. the ba sing se nobility, over time, mingle more and more with high profile fire nation émigrés who have property.

fire nationals in the earth kingdom are thus culturally different, usually, to fire nation citizens in the modern fire nation. more likely to be monarchists, more likely to hold sympathetic sentiment to azulon etc. (though most agree - publically - that sozin went too far, even if they think azulon should have his crown in private), and a lot of their styles of fashion, music, art, dance etc. is based on a lot of “antiquated” “old fashioned” fire nation traditions with some earth kingdom ideas mixed in. to fire nation residents, they just look at least 80 years out of date.

fire nation descendants in the earth kingdom are more likely to be involved with particular organised crime syndicates (the triads, as opposed to ones with other names). this is because after the war ended abruptly with sozin’s death, a lot ex-mercenaries and ex-soldiers stationed in the colonies/northwest began to find work/business through protection racketeering (in absence of organised govt. in the north-western earth kingdom). even in the modern day, the north west has problems with corruption, control, and is economically quite deprived despite having massive resources and that’s an after-effect of colonialism and attempts by the national government to ‘penalise’ the officials in that region for colluding with fire nation nationals/ex-colonists (very exasperating for genuine earth kingdom officials, and earth kingdom locals). roku did try and help the region but he’s generally disliked for lots of reasons & was trying to stop the fire nation from collapsing after supporting the radicals (a controversial decision!) and facing counter-revolutionary violence. i think roku felt like he neglected the fire nation for the earth kingdom in his youth and that’s why sozin was able to get as far as he did, so i think he made the very difficult decision to prioritise trying to sort out the fire nation. hence why yu dao is in a bit of a state. i imagine yu dao (republic city) is a big buzzing city but has those same problems with organised crime we see in lok.

the sozin dynasty, as azulon & his descendants are called, aren’t an exception to this involvement in organised crime. a lot of people were actually quite sympathetic to a young azulon after his father was killed at around the age of fifty or so, including fire nationals in the earth kingdom, but also the nobility in the earth kingdom, themselves staunch monarchists, who saw sozin as the problem and not the system of monarchy itself. all of this allowed azulon & his family to flee the caldera & manage to transfer a number of their assets with relative ease; they were never penniless, despite the sob story you might here.

azulon set up links with local businesses who were run by sympathisers, as well as organised crime syndicates, and through wise purchases, good advisors, & some savvy of his own, shifted from aristocracy to bourgeoisie with relative ease, & bought/negotiated their place at the negotiating table, to eventually come to be considered the lead stakeholder in those crime syndicates (with enough distance, though, as not to be suspicious). very much saved his name from being a laughing stock through his own ability there, but if you’d hear the story told, people who say that folks were deferential to him in part because of his lineage (sometimes, but not always true - the revolution had caused people to doubt).

regarding his sons, iroh had far more involved in organised crime and illegitimate business than ozai, who essentially looked after the more boring legitimate side of things (but took that role seriously and expanded it beyond being a simple front). iroh actually had a worse reputation up until azulon died, and was just considered a very competent but cut-throat political/business leader/general player with a lot of very very shady links that couldn’t quite be proven, but also like, was famously quite charming and well-liked in the high society ba sing se network. like, i want to be honest to show iroh here - he was bad! in the show, he was a war criminal! i mentioned he was a war profiteer (largely because ‘war criminal’ doesn’t make as much sense imo), and that was almost definitely regarding civil wars/coups that have been attempted in the fire nation & earth kingdom. this stopped when lu ten ended up being shot in the crossfire during a turf war and rather than pursuing a violent vendetta, iroh stepped out of the spotlight and let ozai take over the reigns more.

anyway, after zuko was burned for attempting to stand up to ozai, iroh basically faked his own death and completely ditched anything left of what he’d spent his life building in order to whisk zuko away and invent new identities for themselves in the fire nation (ironically) where they worked as tea shop workers (yes. li and mushi, still canon). i don’t think they live in the caldera, since cameras/photos mean it’s easier to be tracked, and zuko probably lives somewhere quiet-ish like ember island. zuko has a decent adolescence, considering, after he’s estranged. no “find the avatar” in this universe, for fairly obvious reasons.

i’m not an expert in organised crime by any means but hopefully this all makes sense. a lot of what azulon/iroh/ozai is doing, through the purchase of land, the control of business, the use of organised crime as an illicit form of govt. essentially is a form of colonisation, where the region is deprived due to fire nation business interests and in earth kingdom control in name only. corruption and close ties between ba sing se and fire nation émigrés mean that centralised govt is underfunding & turning a blind eye to it (which, in canon, ba sing se does, ‘no war in ba sing se’ etc.). most of the colonisation efforts are centred in the north-west, but azula is brought up in ba sing se given it’s far more reputable/prestigious, though she’s undoubtedly been to both places.

as for what’s happening in the fire nation, i feel like aesthetically it’s a little different - ba sing se is ancient buildings with sky trains, lots of urban sprawl & a very wide and endless city, whereas i imagine the caldera is a very tall city due to limited space available, more skyscrapers in the fire nation due to limits in islands. also, the fire nation has sea trains and submarine trains/tunnels, because. politically? haven’t quite decided but they’re some flavour of anarchist-communist (was reluctant to use that word in the fic itself because people have all kinds of interpretations of it, often very negative knee-jerk responses to it, but essentially: community-owned services and businesses and spaces instead of privately-owned ones, with egalitarian principles enshrined into the culture & identity now) over there if i’m honest, with lots of democratic councils. obviously i don’t think it’ll be perfect and i imagine ‘the national question’ is something that comes up a lot, with some difficulties between national & regional identity (imo the fire nation is very diverse, we see the sun warriors and then the sages who help korra in s2 are from different groups/cultures than the militaristic one that rose to prominence in the 100 year war and i hc a lot of that regional diversity was steamrolled for sozin’s imperialist project).

ANYWAY

there’s a reason i made this post on my main last week:

this is getting very long but hopefully this is some insight into what i’ve been thinking about when i made this AU

[astudyinimagination]

So... I was inspired to write a Sherbeth fake-dating-for-Christmas fic and @wellmanneredthief and @lost-without-my-detective were my enablers. :D I don’t know how often I’m going to be able to post and this is going to be way more ramble-y and fluffy than I usually do but here it goes.

Also playing a bit fast and loose with SH22 canon; if you know the show, you’ll know it when you see it. ;)

And sorry for the horribly unoriginal title. If I come up with a better one, I will change it!

Holmes for the Holidays

1. White the Fading Forests Grow

“I still don’t understand why we’re doing this, Inspector.”

Beth Lestrade sighed but didn’t look away from the road, gripping the steering wheel of her rental as she turned north onto U.S.-31 from the South Bend International Airport. “Watson, what’s not to understand? My family wants me to be set up with some nice guy, so I’m giving them that. For this Christmas, anyway.”

She felt rather than saw Sherlock’s look of amusement. “And next Christmas?”

“I will cross that bridge when I come to it. Live in the moment!”

“Yes, please do.”

“Relax.” Beth signaled and moved left to pass a semi truck. “This isn’t as bad as New London.”

“Yes, but it’s on the ground. I would have thought this city was big enough to warrant air traffic.”

“Nope, that’s just the big cities and their urban sprawls, and South Bend is still too small and too far outside of Chicago. You’ve just spent too much time in New London, that’s all. Relax.”

“I will when we’re clear of the urban traffic.”

She risked a quick glance at Sherlock Holmes — he was clutching his armrests. “It’s the side of the road throwing you off, isn’t it.”

“...it might be.”

“Okay, it’s okay. We’ll be in the countryside soon, all right?”

“But, Inspector,” Watson piped from the backseat, “the most direct route is to take this freeway straight up to South Haven.”

“Yes, the most direct route, but not the prettiest. I’m taking you guys the scenic route, just as soon as I can hit a Michigan road I know. And then Sherlock can relax, too.”

“Too kind.” His tone was bone-dry.

“Relaaaax. Traffic is thinning out already and also we’re in Michigan now.”

“I’m still not sure why we didn’t use a Michigan airport,” said Watson. “There are two closer to your parents than South Bend is.”

“Mm, a little bit closer but not as direct. The flight to South Bend was the shortest and most direct, and now we have a little time to kill to enjoy the scenery.”

“I must say, the scenery is already quite pretty.”

Beth smiled. The scenery was pretty. Most of the land surrounding U.S.-31 in Southwest Michigan was either farmland or woodland, and it was all liberally coated with snow. The snow wasn’t necessarily a given for seven days before Christmas, and Beth was grateful for it.

“Okay,” she said aloud after a few minutes, “here we go.” She turned off the freeway and headed northeast. “We’re hooking up with M-139, and that’ll take us basically all the way to St. Joe, turn on to M-63, and then take that north until it meets with the Blue Star Highway and that rides us all the way up to South Haven.” She glanced at Sherlock. “You’ll get to see the lake along the way.”

He arched an eyebrow. “Saint Joe?”

She sighed. “That river we just passed? The Saint Joseph River. Look, a lot of Catholics settled in this area.”

“Irish, Germans, and Poles, from what I’ve read, followed by African and Latin Americans.”

She raised both eyebrows at him. “You researched the area?”

He shrugged. “I was curious.”

She shook her head. “Just look out your window and let me know if you spot any deer.”

“Is that a danger?” Watson sounded concerned.

“Eh, a little bit. Not as much now as in the fall, but I do remember I almost wrecked on time on a little gaggle of does on a country road.”

“Perhaps the freeway would have been safer,” Sherlock muttered.

Beth sighed. “Just wait till we get to the lake. I promise you it’ll be worth it.”

❄️❄️❄️

Less than an hour and no deer later, Holmes had to admit that Lake Michigan was worth the detour. Beth’s own hometown was also on the shoreline, but he could understand her impatience to show off her Great Lake. The water was green-grey beneath a pale grey sky, and the waves were choppy enough that for a moment, he felt disoriented, thinking that he should have been able to smell salt in the air. But there was no salt in this particular inland body of water, no tang to the air above it, just the bite of winter.

“Beth, it’s magnificent,” he murmured. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” Although it did remind him achingly of the English Channel, and his little cottage on the South Downs.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her beaming. “Isn’t it great? Technically, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are a single body of water, and as such, they’re the biggest body of freshwater in the world, and on its own, it’s still the fifth-biggest.”

“It’s very impressive, Inspector.” Watson had a camera out, and was snapping pictures. “I imagine it’s calmer during the summer?”

“It depends. While you guys are here, though, you should definitely see a Great Lakes sunset if the sun shows. It’s beautiful.” Beth’s eyes were distant, her smile dreamy, and the wind off the lake whipping her hair around her, and Holmes realized he had never seen her looking quite like this. What are we doing, performing this little charade? It had seemed an innocent-enough idea at the time...

“Yes, well…” He cleared his throat and turned away from the view. “I imagine your parents are wondering what became of us.”

Beth waved a dismissive hand. “I told them I was gonna do a little sight-seeing with you guys. It’ll be fine.”

They both blinked the next moment as a light flashed, and Watson smiled innocently at them, his camera pointed in their direction. “Sorry.”

❄️❄️❄️

The drive northwest to the lakeside had been mostly fields, quiet and white, the very image of “a picture print by Currier and Ives.” The drive north along the lake was more wooded and less peaceful, the road often running close to the shoreline. “A hundred years ago, the lake was further back,” Beth explained, “but erosion has always been a problem and, early 21st century, it was helped along by climate change. A lot of homes were lost — their foundations crumbled right out from underneath them.”

“That’s horrifying.” Watson sounded aghast.

Beth nodded. “No matter how far we advance, we can never manage to control nature.”

“And that’s probably just as well,” Sherlock said quietly.

Soon enough, they were entering South Haven, and Beth was always hit with a wave of nostalgia as she returned to her hometown. She had eventually adjusted to living and working in New London, but at heart she was still a small town girl, and she was pretty sure she would come home when she retired.

“What a charming little town,” Watson remarked.

Beth smiled. “It is pretty, isn’t it?”

“Festive,” was Sherlock’s comment. “Not as overdone as some parts of New London I could name.”

“I actually like the huge displays.”

“Of course you do. You put up an artificial tree in my sitting room in the middle of November — of course you like the ostentatious light shows.”

“Oh, c’mon, you like the tree, you know you do.” She glanced over at him, and he was trying not to smile. “Ha.”

“Your parents aren’t in town, Inspector?” Watson asked as they drove further from the downtown area.

“Nope, they’re on the other side of the highway, in the country. Just a few more minutes.”

❄️❄️❄️

The Lestrades’ home ended up being a few miles east of the highway, sitting a respectable distance from the road: a renovated old farmhouse, pale yellow with white trim and surrounded by trees. Old… but Holmes had a notion that the house had been built decades after he’d been born. At least the place looked homely. An enormous Christmas wreath graced the front door, and smaller ones decorated the windows.

This scheme is insane.

But it was far too late to back out now. As Beth parked the car, a woman in her fifties emerged from the house, her hair dark, her skin pale olive… but those brilliant blue eyes were Beth’s.

Beth grinned and sprang out of the car, hurrying towards the woman. “Mom!”

Definitely no backing out now.

[lifeisdabubbles-undersalmondean]

La Pomme ~ Chapter Eight

Pairing: Sam x OC (eventual Dean x OC and Dean x Castiel. And I mean eventual.)

Series summary: George is a casual French-Mistake-universe Supernatural fan living in no-COVID 2020, who's life is upended when she's suddenly launched between realities, two years into the boys' past (S13E22). What begins as an insane, immersive fan experience turns into more when Jack goes missing and George offers up her AU information to help track him down. Soon it's discovered that she and Sam may actually have history. But that's impossible, right?

Word Count: 3,900

Warnings: {smut, fluff, angst, show level violence, swearing, mentions of suicide} ***Detailed warnings will be tagged for specific chapters.

A/N: Following the events of my prequel Paradise and second story From My Eyes Off. Reading those first gives context but isn’t necessary to start this one.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Collapsing into one of the comfier library chairs set between some stacks, George took a sip of the small glass of whiskey she figured she'd earned. She'd just scolded a fucking demon from hell. What was she thinking?! It had been pretty cool, but pissing off an evil, powerful being was maybe not the smartest. She could have gotten herself killed!

It had been unavoidable though; upon realizing that Demon Tim must have been the reason they suspected her of being involved in Jack's disappearance, she had been furious. Not only was it not true, it was insulting, humiliating, and just plain rude. It was also simply a bad plan. So, she took it upon herself to enlighten him and to correct his offensive insinuations. Hopefully, it wouldn't come back to bite her in the ass.

Her focus shifted then to Jack. Reflecting over her time there, there were things she remembered having happened on the show. The refugees in the bunker, AU Michael attacking, Jack losing his powers, Lucifer dude being just a regular human dude now; all of it was familiar, even when it terrified her (see: AU Michael attack). But, when they told her Jack was missing, she was thrown off at first. It wasn't something she remembered seeing on the show. Then again, she'd only just finished binging from season 10 to the end of 13 a couple weeks ago and hadn't started 14 yet. So, maybe she was past the point of being able to tell when things were part of their prescribed timeline or not? Therefore, even if Jack had been kidnapped on the show, she wouldn't have any info for them, right?

The problem was, the more she thought about it the more she began to believe she had seen something about this storyline. Jack being missing, the three of them going to save him-

Was it Ryan telling you about some episode where they rescued Jack in the redwoods? They had filmed it on location at some tourist spot you went to as a kid all the time and she thought you'd think it was cool… where was that?

She couldn't remember, and it frustrated her. She was also worried that she was making this all up just to be helpful.

Taking another sip, she allowed her thoughts to wander between episode scenes like an internal microfiche as she tried to nail down her recollection, No, I can definitely picture all four of them in the woods and fighting. Someone had kidnapped Jack, wanting his powers for something… was it the angels?

"Well, that was interesting," Dean stated, startling her out of her thoughts. The three of them were walking into the library a surprisingly short while after she left them with Tim.

Looking up at them, she set the glass down on a nearby shelf and stood up. Dean didn't elaborate further while he poured his own glass. The expressions each one wore were indiscernible and she grew nervous.

"Oh?" George raised a brow and looked between them, "Did he talk? Because you know, I've actually been sitting here thinking about this whole situation and something about Jack going missing is very familiar. Now, unfortunately, I am a few seasons behind, and-""

Dean took a sip, looking at her with curious amusement, and interrupted, "I was talking about you."

George looked surprised and then grimaced, "No, no. I'm not interesting, not at all. I'm the exact opposite of interesting. I'm-I'm… I'm…"

"Uninteresting?" Castiel offered helpfully as she struggled to find the words. Sam and Dean rolled their eyes in unison.

"Right! Thank you, Castiel. I'm highly uninteresting." She gulped a bit and wrung her hands as the three of them kept watching her. In the silence, she nervously looked in Castiels direction and blurted quickly, "I'm also George! Hi! Really nice to meet you! Big fan!"

"Nice to meet you," Castiel smiled awkwardly and nodded a greeting, looking at the other two with a confused expression, "...fan of what?"

"Right, positively boring," Sam interjected sarcastically before he could stop himself. He definitely thought she was interesting. First she's just a beautiful woman, then she's a beautiful woman he may or may not have had a life altering dream about ten years ago, and now she was a beautiful woman from an alternate reality where his life was a prime time television show… who he may or may not have had a life altering dream about ten years ago. 'Uninteresting' was definitely not an adjective he'd use for her.

Dean snorted, "Yea, boring is the last word I would use to describe that scene earlier. You caused Tim to sing like a canary, by the way."

Her jaw dropped in disbelief, "Say what?"

"I almost say we hire her to be our monster torture hypeman," He joked, looking at Sam with a raised eyebrow.

Sam ignored him and addressed Geroge's question, "After you left, Tim-"

"Cleetus," Dean interjected sarcastically.

"Cleetus… well, he sort of... started crying? He said he'd tell us everything we wanted to know if we promised to keep you away from him." Sam looked strangely apologetic and she let a few nervous chuckles escape, unsure whether to believe what they were saying.

"We think you hurt his feelings," Castiel explained further. "Which fortunately seemed to motivate him to talk, so thank you."

"I guess his demon mommy didn't teach him about sticks and stones," Dean cracked, taking another swig.

"Huh. OK. Neat!" George didn't know what to say; she was confused and strangely proud of herself. But she didn't want them to think she wasn't chill, so she shrugged nonchalantly, "You're welcome, I guess. Anyway, as I was saying, I'm not caught up to the current season of my timeline but I think I remember this whole Jack-gone-missing thing a little bit. I want to say you all track him down somewhere in… Oregon? Washington? I'm getting a Northwest-ish feeling." She began unconsciously pacing around the room, gesturing energetically with her hands. "I can picture a battle taking place in the woods...Jack being in danger, you all being in danger, too...some fighting...maybe someone losing the fight? Or getting really hurt," She glanced worriedly at Castiel. He'd be the only actor they'd axe of the three of them, so it stood to reason he'd be the most likely to die if she was right.

Dean and Sam shared a look before Dean asked, "Fine, I'll bite. Do you know a city? A time-frame? Who we're fighting? Anything specific?"

George paused and then slumped a bit in defeat, "No. I've only really watched up through, like, literally now. Other than random things I've heard or seen in passing, I don't know anything that's happened since ya'll got back from the apocalypse world. Been purposefully trying to avoid spoilers, too, which is a decision I now regret, obviously."

"OK, well look, sweetheart, it's OK," Dean began, in an embarrassingly condescending, douchey tone, "We don't expect you to help us. I mean, we're grateful about the assist with Cleetus, obviously but this-" Dean vaguely motioned in her direction and she raised an offended eyebrow, "-was obviously just a weird magical mess that Rowena left for us to clean up yet again. So, you just sit back and relax, and once we find Jack we'll figure out how to get you back home in a jiff, OK?" He winked and finger gunned at her, adding, "Don't you worry your pretty little head about it." In his way, Dean was trying to convey to her a sense of ease and comfort that they would take care of things. But, unsurprisingly, he came off incredibly dismissive and patronizing. Her cheeks flushed an angry red; she'd had it up to here with him by now.

Sam and Castiel exchanged nervous glances at the look on her face and Sam tried to stop it before the inevitable happened, "Uh, Dean, mayb-"

Cutting him off, George slowly walked toward Dean, eyes blazing, "Listen sweet cheeks." She had a polite smile on her face as she tried her hardest to muster up the same condescending, silky, sweet Dean-tone, "I'm sympathetic to the fact that you can't help but be an insufferably arrogant ass most of the time-that's just how you were written," for a split second she saw Dean's cool-guy-smug-face falter and she relished it. She could tell she landed a blow, even if it was a small one, "but maybe you could do us all a favor and try to ignore your cro-magnon dated natural urges and attempt to be open minded for once in your life? Just try to consider the fact that, like it or not, I might not be a total useless red-shirt? That maybe I-once again the lone female in the entire world according to Supernatural-might actually be useful? Hmm? Might actually have useful-albeit vague-information for you? Or would taking your lead from a woman be too threatening to you overbearing, uber-macho, 'we-get-it-you're-totally-straight' masculinity?"

Dean's head jerked back in offense, "Now, wait a minute! What's that supposed to mean?"

"Don't worry your pretty little head about it," She mocked him in a deep, goofy tone, high-fiving herself internally. Nailed it! She'd always hated how damn smug his character was. Yes, fine, he was hot and charming and smart as fuck and right at least like 75% of the time, but he didn't have to be so fucking arrogant about it all the time. She preferred a man with some humility.

Sam was smirking at the look on Dean's face and muttered teasingly, "How does it feel, Cleetus?"

"Except, you actually don't." Cas interjected begrudgingly, as he thoroughly enjoyed watching Dean get verbally bitch-slapped. In fact, he could watch it all day, but they needed to focus on Jack.

"Scuse me?" She said, maintaining her sweet tone while staring daggers at Dean. "Don't what?"

"Have useful information for us," the angel said begrudgingly matter-of-fact.

"Er," Sam interjected seeing the look on her face, "Uh, well, it's just according to Tim-Cleetus-whatever, Jack is being held captive inside an old church in a small ghost town outside Butte."

Dean slapped his hands over his mouth in mock surprise and then, taking a few steps toward George, he mimed a balloon being popped by an impractically large needle. He had an impossibly large grin spread across his face.

"She still has a point, Dean," Sam sighed in an annoyed, if not slightly embarrassed, tone at his brother's display.

Cas nodded in agreement, "Yes, you were incredibly condescending and unfriendly in your attempt at being friendly earlier. Even though she's wrong about Jack, she's right about your inability to relinquish control-to anyone, though, not specifically women."

"You all suck." Dean said flatly.

George ignored him and shook her head. She was more and more sure about her information by the second; despite her doubts she could feel she was right. "Listen, I'm telling you, Jack is not in some bullshit church in Montana. He's…" She struggled to remember. "Erg, somewhere rainy and wooded!"

"Rainy and wooded, you say?" She cringed angrily at the sound of Dean's voice. "That's really great, very helpful. Say, maybe we should look up your little murder buddy-OwnsHisOwnAxe69, was it?-and ask if he's got Jack stashed in the Marin Headlands?" Dean's voice dripped with sarcasm.

George shook her head at him and closed her eyes tight in an effort to block out his negativity. Walking slowly away from him and into the map room, she started talking to herself, in a pointedly loud voice. Her focus bounced between episodes from the show and conversations with her friend, Ryan, a Supernatural Encyclopedia. She was hoping she could piece together something useful.

"OK, hang on, Jack is born, gets sucked into Apocalypse World, comes back, has his grace stolen but he's safely with you guys, he's happy, he's great-albeit, moody and not the best at video games. Then he disappears and you can't find him, yadda yadda."

While she rambled, her mind's eye began conjuring images of what she assumed were scenes from the episode she was trying to think of. While helpful, it was also disconcerting since she'd never actually seen it. She thought perhaps she'd seen clips on youtube while watching bloopers? She never could stay away from them, even if she hadn't seen the episode yet; they were just too funny. Maybe her overactive imagination was just creating scenes around what little knowledge she did have, "...and there's an epic-potentially deadly-fight scene at the end of one of the last episodes of the season. An episode that was, oh so noteworthily filmed on location iiiiinnn…" She tried to demand that her memories behave for her but it was challenging, considering she shouldn't have any memories of having watched the damn thing at all. "...where? Fuck me!" She snarled, chasing desperately after her murky visions as they swirled too abstractly for her to discern.

In a sudden moment of unusual clarity she could see the words displayed behind her eyelids. '...False Klamath? Where the fuck… why does that sound familiar? She flashed to the location in her memories and saw big wooden statues towering outside the scenic little tourist trap

Her eyes popped open with a gasp, "Johnny Appleseed!"

"Johnny Appleseed?" Dean teased, mock exasperatedly, "We're trying to find JACK."

"The Johnny Appleseed statue at The Trees of Enigma! Just outside False Klamath, Oregon!" She slammed both her hands down on the table in front of her in uncontrollably jubilant victory. "HA! Take THAT!" She jumped up excitedly and punched her fist in the air. "I did it! I remembered!"

"Sam, can you translate any of this?" Dean asked, annoyed.

"On the show," She started smugly, before Sam could say anything, "the battle that you two get into when you find Jack, takes place at a tourist spot called The Trees of Enigma. The episode was filmed on location at said tourist spot, in-say it with me now-False Klamath, Oregon. Oregon, Dean. A place that is known for being both rainy and wooded." Her finger was placed on the map table in the general area of Oregon, "that's where you'll find Jack. I'm sure of it." Her adrenaline was pumping and she was so stoked. It felt really good to be useful; like she was part of the show!

"Yea, that's great, sounds fun," Dean started dismissively, though toned down a bit, "but we're not risking Jack's life to follow your hunch."

"Excuse me. Why is my so-called hunch less believable than a demon's word? Especially a demon named Cleetus. Rude," George looked particularly offended now.

"Tim gave us real, solid intel and we've never had a problem when we've relied on our trusted resources in the past," He answered confidently. George's head jerked toward him like she hadn't heard correctly and she gave Sam and Castiel some crazy eyebrows.

"Sorry, you understand that I do watch the show, right?" She asked rhetorically, with a doubtful expression. When he rolled his eyes, she let out a frustrated huff. "Dean, think about this! He's a demon! He lies! Look, I know you have no reason in the world to trust me but you've got to; just think about it. Even IF it is demons that have Jack, don't you think it's possible that the prisoner demon you're threatening to torture might give you a false lead? Especially if he's naive enough to think he'll be able to escape and doesn't want to get in trouble with his bosses? C'mon, this is not-the-sharpest-tack-Tim we're talking about!"

Sam and Castiel had agreeably expressions but Dean's was stubbornly disagreeable, though she could tell he knew she was right. The thought of them going to Montana gave her a dreadful, suffocating feeling, like death.

So, she tried one more tactic and held her hands up in prayer, "Dean please, I don't know what and I don't know how I know, but I know in my gut that if you go to Montana, something terrible will happen. And Jack's not there, I promise you." She dropped all the bullshit and gave him her best seriously-just-listen-to-me face but Dean still wasn't budging.

"Christ, I knew you were stubborn but this is ridiculous, ugh. OK, fine!" She threw her hands up and turned on her heel, heading toward the dungeon.

"Wait, where are you going?" Sam asked quickly.

"Obviously I didn't hurt his feelings badly enough the first time, so I'm going to go have another chat with Cleetus and get him to admit that he's a liar, liar, pant-"

"Er-you... can't do that," Sam cut her off apologetically.

"Sam, he's handcuffed to a chair. I appreciate the concern but-"

"He means you really can't," Dean added. George looked toward him annoyed and Dean continued, "After he gave us everything we needed we pretty much, chk," he finished, slicing a finger across his throat in demonstration. When she looked like she wanted to strangle him, he shrugged and offered, "RIP Cleetus."

George rolled her eyes in exasperation, "But he was lying! Don't you confirm the information before you cut off the source?! Oh my god, why am I even asking? You're the Winchesters, of course you don't." The three of men looked between each other guiltily and she placed her hand on her hip, "What if that was just an act and Tim saw an opportunity. Feeding you some bullshit so that you couldn't actually find Jack? Or, maybe Tim has nothing to do with Jack at all, and sending you to Montana is just a good old fashioned ambush?!" She paused for a moment and gave a surprised, appreciative nod, "Hmm, maybe I underestimated ole' Cleetus a bit. Could have been smarter than I thought."

"She does have a point, Dean. The chances that he was lying are incredibly high," Cas conceded slightly, giving Dean a questioning look. "We have no proof that his lead is any better than hers. Demon's lie."

"Damnit, alright, fine," Dean said, sighing angrily. "Sam and I will go to Oregon to look for Jack; Cas, check out Butte-carefully, strictly recon, do not engage-and call us if you find any trace of him." He shot a quick warning look at George. "We'll turn around and come right to you. Sound like a plan? Great, let's go."

"Wait, no! Don't send him to Butte! Didn't you hear me? If it's an ambush, he'll get his ass kicked!"

"Hey." Cas looked hurt and George softened her face at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry Castiel. You're a total badass when the plot calls for it, otherwise, getting beat up is just kind of your MO." Ignoring the confused look on the angel's face, She turned back to Dean, "and besides you need Castiel in Oregon, Dean. I've seen it!"

"Oh? I thought you hadn't 'seen this episode yet'?" Dean said sarcastically.

"I-I… Well, OK, I haven't, but I've seen the three of you and Jack all together for this fight. Just trust me, you need him there. What if Jack is hurt when you find him? Cas can heal him, right?" She made a questioning face to Castiel; at the moment she couldn't remember the extent of his powers on the show and he was always losing one or another for whatever reason, anyway. But if she was right, she figured that even if Dean wouldn't trust her gut, he might trust that having a healing angel on their journey would be a benefit. "Is that a power you have? I feel like I've seen you do that."

"She's right, Dean. I can heal him if we find him injured," Cas offered her helpfully and she shot him a grateful expression, actually looking him in the eyes for the first time, albeit fleetingly.

"Have you seen Jack get hurt?" Sam asked her, trying to help, too. He remained a neutral party at this point, but if he was honest with himself, he believed her. Maybe a little too much, which is why he was trying to stay impartial. If he was being blinded by his confusing memories and the undeniable-yet-currently-being-denied feelings he was developing for her and ended up wrong, Jack could be killed.

"Uh… I mean, no… not definitively, but it's pretty standard for the show. You're all constantly getting hurt during fights and when it's close to a season finale the danger factor is skyhigh for anyone who isn't you two…" After motioning to the brothers, she trailed off, afraid that this reasoning was going to hurt her more than help her.

Sam gave her a long, contemplative look before finally offering, "I can have a small team go check out Butte. Maybe Garth can join? Last time I talked to him he was near there."

Dean's teeth and fists were clenched as he took a deep, exaggerated breath, "Fine. We'll send a group to Butte and call Garth from the road-No arguments!" He held up his hand to her as she opened her mouth to speak. "The three of us are going to Oregon, just as you demand, but I'm not leaving anything to chance on some alien's hunch. Garth can handle himself."

She made an indignant face at him-she wasn't an alien, she was from an alternate reality! Get it right. But, while she was afraid of someone getting hurt in the obvious trap that had been set for them in Montana, the thought of Garth going instead didn't give her the same full-body fear shudder. So, she figured she'd take what she could get and not push the issue further. Besides, she knew Dean wasn't going to be happy about her next move and she had to pick her battles.

[solomon-kyla]

The Eruption of Mount Pinatubo

Mount Pinatubo, a volcano, located in western Luzon, Philippines, erupted in 1991 (for the first time in 600 years) and caused widespread devastation. Mount Pinatubo is located about 55 miles (90 km) northwest of Manila and rose to a height of about 4,800 feet (1,460 m) before its eruption.

After two months of emissions and small explosions, a series of major explosions began on June 12. These explosions reached a peak on June 14-16, producing a column of ash and smoke more than 19 miles (30 km) high, with rock debris falling the same distance from the volcano. The resulting heavy ashfalls left about 100,000 people homeless, forced thousands more to flee the area, and caused 300 deaths.

Effects on agriculture:

Many reforestation projects were destroyed in the eruption, with a total area of 150 km2 (58 sq. mi; 37,000 acres) valued at 125 million pesos destroyed. Agriculture was heavily disrupted, with 800 km2 (310 sq. mi; 200,000 acres) of rice-growing farmland destroyed, and almost 800,000 head of livestock and poultry killed, destroying the livelihoods of thousands of farmers. The cost to the agriculture of eruption effects was estimated to be 1.5 billion pesos.

Many farmers near Pinatubo began growing crops such as peanuts, cassava, and sweet potatoes, which are quick-ripening and could be harvested before the threat of lahar floods during the late summer rainy season.

Local economic and social effects:

In total, 364 communities and 2.1 million people were affected by the eruption, with livelihoods and houses being damaged and destroyed. More than 8,000 houses were destroyed, and a further 73,000 were damaged. In addition to the severe damage sustained by these communities, roads and communications were damaged or destroyed by pyroclastic surges and lahar floods throughout the areas surrounding the volcano. Total losses in 1991 and 1992 alone were estimated at 10.6 and 1.2 billion pesos respectively, including damage to public infrastructure estimated at 3.8 billion pesos (c. US$92 million, or $173 million today, adjusted for inflation). School classes for thousands of children were temporarily suspended by the destruction of schools in the eruption.

The eruption of Pinatubo severely hampered the economic development of the surrounding areas. The gross regional domestic product of the Pinatubo area accounted for about 10% of the total Philippine gross domestic product. The GRDP had been growing at 5% annually before the eruption but fell by more than 3% from 1990 to 1991. In 1991, damage to crops and property was estimated at $374 million (or $702 million today), to which continuing lahar floods added a further $69 million (or $126 million today) in 1992. In total, 42 percent of the cropland around the volcano was affected by more lahar floods, dealing a severe blow to the agricultural economy in the region.

What To Do Before, During, And After Volcanic Eruption:

BEFORE THE EXPLOSION:

Evacuate immediately if you live or are staying within the radius of affected areas. Long before the explosion, affected areas would have been given a warning to evacuate the premises by local government units.

Stay tuned to national news and your local community’s channels to be on top of the situation and stay informed with local safety plans and evacuation areas. Whether it’s through local radio, TV news, or official social channels of news outlets, make sure that you’re getting reliable information from trusted sources and not potentially dangerous misinformation from hoax accounts.

Charge your electronics. Keep your mobile devices and power banks charged in case of power interruptions.

Prepare a go-bag in case of evacuation. This should include:

A mask per person (N95 or makeshift)

Copies of personal documents

Phone and powerbank

Flashlights and batteries or candles and matches

3 gallons of potable water per person

3 days worth of non-perishable food

Hygiene and sanitation items

First aid kit and maintenance medication

Extra cash

     5. Know disaster hotlines and other emergency hotlines

National Emergency Hotline: 911

Philippine National Police: 117

PHIVOLCs – (02) 8426-1468 to 79

Philippine Red Cross – 143 or (02) 8790-2300

Bureau of Fire Protection – (02) 8426-0246

National Disaster Risk Reduction And Management Council (NDRRMC) – (02) 8911-5061 to 65 local 100

DURING A VOLCANIC ERUPTION

Use an N95 dust mask to protect yourself from pulmo-respiratory injuries and diseases. If these are unavailable, use a damp handkerchief or makeshift one from an old t-shirt.

Protect your skin and eyes with proper clothing and glasses or goggles. Ashfall is sharp and abrasive, so don't rub if any comes into contact with your skin or eyes.

Secure your pets inside your home. Fine, volcanic ash is harmful for them too.

If you are outside, seek cover immediately in case of rock or ash falls.

If you are inside, stay tuned to the news to keep informed of recent developments. Close all doors and windows. Dampen curtains to keep fine particles from coming through.

If you are driving a vehicle, pull over and stop if there is a heavy ashfall.

Cover food and water containers to avoid contamination with ash.

Wash all utensils thoroughly before eating. Fine ash particles may have settled on them.

Stay away from rivers or streams to avoid lahar flow.

AFTER THE ERUPTION

Do not leave your home or indoor shelters until notified by the local government that it is safe to do so. Evacuate to safer grounds only when notified.

Keep a watchful eye on your kids or loved ones who may be tempted to go out to see what's going on outside.

Wear protection. Use masks, glasses/goggles, long sleeves, pants, and shoes when clearing out ash to protect your lungs, skin and eyes.

Clean your gutters and roof with water after clearing out the ash to prevent corrosion.

Wait for further announcements from LGUs or national news related to the volcanic eruption.

Stay safe everyone!

People’s Memories During the Eruption:

It was the birthday of my wife when Mt. Pinatubo erupted in 1991. We were busy preparing for the scheduled dinner party. We had just begun preparations when darkness came, making us think it was already 6 pm, causing us great worry. I turned on the TV to check out the PBA game. Only then did we find that it was only around 11 am. The party started on time. The men were at the open terrace with wine and pulutan, kilawin, roasted pig, and chicken, among others. By almost 9 pm, we were wondering why all the parked cars were now painted white? We found out that all the cars were covered with ashfall. When we went back to our table, all the pulutan was also covered with ashfall. We had to finish the party early. Twenty years have passed and I still have my ashfall collection, taken from the rooftop of my car. - Joe Nacilla

I would say that the Mt. Pinatubo eruption was the closest Manila ever was to having snowfall, but instead of snow, we experienced volcanic ash. I remember coming that night from my date with my ex-girlfriend, now my wife, when I felt something in my hair. It had ash, as in large amounts of ash, turning my hair literally gray. The next day, I picked her up at UST after her nursing board exam, and commuted around Manila (which looked like a desert covered with volcanic ash) to what we call our “Ash Day Date”. We celebrate that day every year, up to now, as it happens to be our engagement day. To many, the eruption might have been tragic, but for me and my wife, it was the start of a relationship now sealed in marriage for 20 long years. -  Bong Nebrija

As long as I see remnants of our house in Bacolor, Pampanga with only the second floor and the attic showing, the bad memories of Pinatubo will forever be etched in my mind. What once was a very beautiful house with a wide garden full of ornamental plants, and an orchard is now old and neglected. It is where I spent my childhood days. Nowadays, the people of Bacolor live elsewhere in different parts, many in resettlement areas, others in nearby provinces, and some abroad, but on some occasions, many still try to visit their roots. The Pinatubo eruption erased our town from the map. -  Rose Leobrera

It has been 20 years since Mount Pinatubo erupted. Time sure flies. Everyone woke up one morning surprised to see everything covered by fine white sand, which was difficult to wash off. For a time, there was panic-buying in the supermarkets. Then, news of the devastation trickled in through the media. The eruption was so extensive that the dust from Pinatubo caused the world temperature to drop. Thousands perished, and the government continues to waste billions on dikes and dredging, despite recommendations from experts to just move the affected residents to another place. -  Robert Young Jr.

It was a Saturday and I was at the office till 3 in the afternoon. When I got out of the building, it was almost dark. People on the street were covering their heads with handkerchieves. When I got to the street, I felt wet sand hitting me. The following days, we watched over television the devastating effect of lahar, burying some Zambales and Pampanga towns, with many people with their livestock and homes being carried away by lahar flood. Soon, many natives (Aetas) were lining up city streets, begging for food and shelter. -  Germi Sison

What I’ve learned:

The thing that I've learned from this eruption is we should always be aware and prepared at all times. We don't have an idea of what will happen in the future. At least if we are aware and prepare, we can get through to all calamities.

Resources and References:

https://www.britannica.com/science/volcanism

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1991_eruption_of_Mount_Pinatubo

https://coins.ph/blog/what-to-do-volcanic-eruption-tips/

https://www.philstar.com/inbox-world/2011/06/23/698683/what-are-your-memories-1991-mt-pinatubo-eruption

[true-neutral-earth-elf]

Duren and the War on Xadia

(Both of the above images were created and posted by @yeehawsoren , this was originally supposed to be a repost but became too extensive.)

@madou-dilou , It’s not defending the border she’s against, but joining an offensive war against Xadia. I’m sure the Duren-Xadian border is militarized; but from the lack of complaint concerning the elves during the Summit, I think it’s safe to say that they are not as interested in attacking Duren as they are exacting revenge on Katolis. If this assumption is correct, then it would make no sense for Duren to join the war effort; especially with their vulnerability and strategic location.

Duren doesn’t just border Xadia, it’s also connected to three out of four of the other human kingdoms -Neolandia in the northwest, Del Bar in the West, and Katolis in the South- and has several waterways that can be easily navigated in an effort to reach Evenere. At the moment, Duren acts as a buffer zone between Neolandia, Del Bar, Evenere, and the majority of Katolis. This means that Duren has the most experience with elves, dragons, and anything else that might cross over the breach; this is likely the reason why the other monarchs were initially supportive of Viren’s proposal, because they’re used to Duren and Katolis safeguarding the border. I’m actually surprised this wasn’t brought up during the Summit, as this is a clear indicator of how naive the adult monarchs really are in regards to the consequences of conflict with Xadia; Aanya could have played that card like a champ, no one would have the ethos to counter her argument!

To further explain how detrimental it would be if Duren entered the war effort, let’s venture into an alternative universe in which Viren was successful in convincing the pentarchy to declare war on Xadia. For its prime geological location, Duren would become the most active warzone. Troops would have to be shipped in from the other kingdoms and locals would need to be evacuated from the cities closest to the border; I’d bet good money that the richest families would relocate to Evenere, the southernmost reaches of Katolis, or the far west of Del Bar and Neolandia -depending on the price of land and preferred weather. Farmering communities would be forced into handing over their crop and offer housing to foreign soldiers; they would be occupied in their own homes. All able bodied humans would be drafted into a war they never wanted, and the rest would practically be forced into slavery once supplies became scarce. Then, finally, the Elves would invade. They’d likely aim to occupy mining towns, ports, and farming communities first, in order to cut off supplies to the major cities. The Xadian armies would then lay siege on the capital. That’s when Duren would fall under Xadian occupation.

Here’s a rough visual image of how the elves would establish their forces after the fall of Duren.

Without knowing where major resources, cities, and ports are located along with the sort of terrain in each region, it is difficult to say for certain where Xadian troops would establish their outposts. This is just an estimated guess based off of the rivers, mountains, and guesstimated border lines. The rest is purely assumption based.

Outposts in Duren would likely be established in human townships, cities, and fortresses. Elven blacksmiths, leatherworkers, and anyone else specializing in a trade that contributes to the war effort -along with their families- would likely be relocated from Xadia to the outposts with the least risk of being attacked; this would be the beginning of elf colonizations in the human kingdoms. If elves are anything like people irl, then the resident humans will either be forced from their homes, enslaved, be allowed to go about their daily lives while under elven supervision, or a mixture of the three scenarios. War is not kind to those who never asked for it.

Supply roads and ports would be established between Occupied Duren and Xadia for safety and ease of travel. I’d suspect that the elves would require many of the magic rich resources only available in their homeland. This could, potentially, lead to the reintroduction of magic flora and fauna that has been lost in the human kingdoms for centuries. The trade routes could also be beneficial for curious humans, as elven merchants might be willing to hire them for such work (you know, eventually).

From the Outpost along Duren’s other borders, both supplies and soldiers would be sent to the war front, where the military outposts are located. Military outposts would be more like campsites, at least until a town is captured. Just as in Duren, the elves would focus on capturing the resources of the individual nations along with their ports, eventually starving the humans into submission. I can’t see them focusing too much on the mountainous areas, but that’s only assuming they’re of little interest to the Xadian tactictions. Evenere would likely be the last to succumb.

Admittedly, this scenario does not take the affects of the human armies' actions into account. There is a chance that humans could make enough of an effort to halt the Xadian progression into their kingdoms; an exceedingly small chance. But what can one expect of a war in which one opponent has an excess of magical resources and practiced users; while in the other, only those with the ability to access ancient records, valuable knowledge, and rare materials can utilize even the most fundamental spells. Yeah. Humans are at a horrid disadvantage.

Anya’s decision to avoid war with Xadia, and call out her fellow monarchs on their gullibility, saved the Human Kingdoms.

Meanwhile, Viren is still trying to destroy them. Yay.

@random-fandom-ramble , @beautifulterriblequeen , @moonshadow-memes , @feral-anarchy , @thebestdragonprince , and all my other fellow theorists: Any thoughts?

[vagabcnds]

i have tossed around making this post for months now, gone back and forth with myself and my friends about if it would even be worth posting this. honestly, i don’t know if telling my side of this is going to do any good, but i think it’s time that i added some more information to this whole situation so that even more people can see that our friends (and i use that term with as much sarcasm as possible) @seattlehqrpg​ , as well as her other rp @canterlotislandhq​​ , have not changed, and will not change. this is indeed another psa about this woman, but with some more information and one on one conversations with the woman. 

hey hi, hello, so, my name is maig, i’ve been around the rpc for over a decade, and right now you might recognize my multifandom : @hiddenwashington​ . we’re an appless multifandom that i started up two years ago. and over those two years, we have dealt with jasmine, jazzy, jackie, jacqueline, whatever j name she wants to call herself this time, on and off, for that duration. 

and just to clear up some information from other psas, i do not believe this is the same nova/jazzy that was terrorizing groups last year with attacking and fighting admins. we’ve spoken with j multiple times, as well as jazzy/nova, and honestly i can tell for sure these are not the same people. unfortunately, there is more than one bad egg in the rpc.

i have a ton of screenshots, so forgive me for not using them all. a link to a google drive will be at the end of this, for all of the screenshots i have of stolen asks, interactions, etc. but i’ll just be using key information for this specific post. or else we’ll be here all day.

when we first encountered j (we’ll just use “j” for now since she focuses on whatever name we call her more than the content of the psas. and all her aliases start with it idk), we thought she was just another person who wanted to join but sort of went about it the wrong way. we first got an anon on the main, asking if our current ginny (that being me) would be willing to give her up. because j wanted to play her. 

we had gotten an anon asking about if we were welcoming towards people with social anxiety (or something like that. it’s been two years now since this all happened so specifics are a little fuzzy. like i said we’ve been dealing with her for so long.) i pretty much hit her with “i’m not willing to drop her because i still want to play her but hmu on my character account and we can chat about other characters for you to play”. i had no idea that answering it would lead us down this rabbit hole i’m writing about today. we sorta chatted, she kinda just rambled to me about how she wanted to write someone not like her so she could have a challenge. valid. i tried helping out, i didn’t really know what fandoms she was into so i said what i could and then went onto the main. when i got back onto my account, she had taken it upon herself to critique my portrayal of ginny, asking if she would ever say ‘dick’. she kept messaging me, sandwiching that comment between other questions. i told her i didn’t appreciate unsolicited critiques. i tried to move past it but she kept at me about it. telling me she hadn’t read the books in 10 years. and only read one. the last one, in 3 hours. idk overall it was a weird conversation and i sort of thought that was the end of it. 

honestly, i’m not gonna spend a TON of time on this already too long psa going on about every interaction we had with her, every crazy thing she said. most importantly, we accepted her in, thinking she was just a little wild but us talking to her covered it. she ended up going in active over easter or spring break or something, wanted to take up another character, we told her to wait to pick her activity up. ya know, standard admin business. and then she started attacking us. telling us we didn’t care about her, about what she went through not having a computer or whatever. she started sending us anons about how her friend stole her money and we don’t care about her and we all hate her so why should she stay. it was kinda insane. again, check the google doc for all that. she ended up leaving, we got some anons about how she never joined other rps because of admins like us. just random things here and there, some anons about how dare we talk to people like we did. just random shit that really only she could come up with. but we had an rp to run, lives to get on with, tv shows to binge, idk fam. life goes on. 

honestly, we sort of forgot about this whole mess for like close to a year? that was when we started getting ims. from her. we knew bc it was the same accounts as before. she uses the same ones over and over, it’s easy to keep track of her. it’s sort of why we never felt the need to bring anything up, we always thought she was just stealing from us and we knew when it was her and when to refuse to accept the questions. this is where we enter phase two of hidden’s journey with “j” : the thief. 

this is one of our earliest encounters. before she started sending them on anon. 

(for some quick context, she would send us questions for fcs, ask if a character was open and then go around trying to poach our members for her group)

tw suicidal thoughts for this next picture 

honestly this goes on for like 10 more pictures, so instead of spamming here, the full conversation is in the google drive under the folder : a fight that almost was

she eventually goes on to call me out as the admin talking to her, i tell her again to message me off the main so that we could get back to actually admining our group. she hits me up, calls me “a cute ginny mun”, and then proceeds to ask me to help her fill out Her Own Application for ginny for her own group!! 

the tiktok video of “did a full one eightyyy” is all that is going through my head from this specific encounter. 

anyways. this is when the stealing really amped up, for not just us, but for the entire rpc. around this time, we had stupidly let her back into the group, i had wanted to keep my eye on her personally. see what she was stealing from the inside. idk i was dumb. this is also around the time the first psa about her came around. 

enter, phase three. it’s similar to phase two, but this time, “j” must tell everyone she is in fact Not A Thief™

so, during this time, it was around may of last year? while she was in the group, she started stealing more, we were catching her in the act, and we eventually had to kick her out of hidden. it’s not really a shock but ya know. gotta do what you gotta do. 

she was going by jasmine at the time. anyways. this is also before her current group @seattlehqrpg​ , when she still had @manilahq and @forgottenfriendshiphq or whatever she changed that too. she was getting a ton of “hate” over there. mainly anons telling her to stop stealing from other creators. valid. 

anyways, she would blame us for all of the stealing, that we were the true thieves. idk we were her scapegoats for a long time. i can confirm to you all now, i have never, nor have any of my admins, sent her any messages to steal fcs or anything to “attack” her. honestly we try to forget she exists but she just makes it so hard to ignore her with all of this. 

anyways, this has been our song and dance with “j” for a while now. we get an anon, we answer, she steals from us in a matter of hours. i’m sure everyone can attest to that similar situation. i mean, here’s just like a couple instances. i have hundreds in the google docs, dating back years. this behavior doesn’t change.

i mean, she has even gone as far as to steal our plot. sure, it’s not exactly original. every multifandom somehow brings all these characters to a city by magic or something. but the mention of the witch, the alternate universe city, the memories. it just all around reads plagiarism. 

so, check the google doc for more evidence i guess if you really need to! 

but, some things we’ve noticed, beyond her just stealing asks and plots and EVENTS ??? AND NOW TASKS ??? check out this post for the tasks, and this other psa for the event. because that shit is so fucked. 

she has also straight up stolen replies and claimed them as her own. my friend and fellow admin, was in her rp for a hot minute, and played pacifica northwest. (some information is crossed out for privacy) this was from us talking about the plagiarism, of her stealing from my friend while “j” was in hidden, which we both admin.

this is her post

and this is "j”’s, while she was in hidden.

i mean, same gif and everything friends. 

she constantly goes on about how she doesn’t look at other rps, how she doesn’t have time, that she’s running five other groups, but honey, we’re running those groups for you with all the stealing!! i mean, just as further proof that she is constantly looking at other groups, including hidden, to an obsessive amount. a member left her group (who then went and joined us we believe), and this was her unfollow for them. (i feel so sorry for that member to be called out like this?? how uncomfortable do you have to make your former and current members???)

and hidden’s character count that same day ??? coincidence, i think not.

listen, this isn’t meant to stir up more drama, i know it will and that’s kinda why i put this off. everyone had sort of said what needed to be said? it didn’t feel necessary to repeat the same shit we all knew. but with more of this happening, with her stealing plots, tasks and events. it felt like this was the time to strike, to get this awareness back up. she needs to stop, and if we all ban together, maybe we can stop it? i don’t know. but i have hope that this can all change if we have each other’s backs. 

this has been hiddenwashington’s side of the story, i’m sure there are still more groups out there with stories or stolen asks. and i am sorry to anyone who has had to deal with her. but just, do yourselves a favor and look out for anyone with a j alias, 21+. she/her, from pst. who also uses “RPG” a lot. 

a lot of this stuff is old, but she’s still doing this in @seattlehqrpg​​ i just grabbed these screenshots because it’s what i had on hand. but anyways. here is the link to the google drive with all of our screenshots we have complied.

if you have any questions, comments, concerns, what have you: my inbox (including anons), ims and everything are open and i am more than happy to chat!! please come talk with me about anything!!!

stay safe, and thanks for joining me on this season of To Catch a Plagiarizer. 

[thesesoftregrets]

The Following Of The Star

If I were wise, I would have brought frankincense to this horse pasture and stinking creek; it would have, at least, helped with the smell. As it is, I am roughly one hundred and twelve miles southeast of Bethlehem, Kentucky. It is the night of the great conjunction, but I’m in over my head. 

Last night fog took everything it left us guessing what was the moon and what was electric light in photographs. Tonight I have only one small picture, a screenshot on my phone of the place in the sky, but the roads leading into this place were all winding switchbacks, so I will spend half the night looking north to what I firmly believe to be the southwestern sky. Directions will not matter anyway. The conjunction will only be visible for a few hours after the sun has set, so wherever I do here at ten p.m. is irrelevant, I’m already late to the party. The saving grace of this night is the meteors; they are infrequent but huge, burning across the night sky. 

 My best friend's son (7) asks me to take photos of these for him. I say that I’ll try, even though I know that I won’t. Things get crazy in the night sky; it will all happen too quickly.

 Meteors

According to the America Meteor Society, the meteors I observed were the Ursid Meteors.  The Ursid meteors are the least observed major meteor shower, overshadowed by cold temperatures and the Christmas holiday. As I read on about the Ursids, the article highlights certain times when the shower might be more active. The increased activity will be due to the earth passing through areas of debris from past year's showers.  

 Trash has never looked so good; I am a collection of debris from past years.  

 Fog

When I moved inland from the Pacific northwest I became interested in fog, something I had taken for granted now provided loose lines of connectivity between my old life and my new one. I have only now come to learn that the weather service classifies fogs differently. Near the Great Lakes, we are more likely to see a Steam Fog, while someone in the mountains might encounter any number of fogs. After some consideration, I think that what I saw, out in the horse pasture the first night, was valley fog. 

The recipe for valley fog is a simple one; the ground gets wet, then the skies clear, this allows temperatures sink to near the dew point. This fog is sometimes so thick that it gets referred to as tule fog.  

Walking along the little country road it is hard to recognize my own hand in front of my face, hard to separate the scattered lights from cabins and barns from the distant lights of the stars and moon. Why have I become so obsessed with being lost in the fog? What is it that fog has come to represent for me? I think about it as I retreat back down the road to the pasture; fog does not make me feel lost. Fog does not make me feel lost because it reminds me of other places and other fogs, the specifics of this landscape fade away; I could be anywhere right now, you could be anyone. We are all fumbling around searching for clues here in the valley fog.

 Bethlehem

There are at least twenty-eight cities in the world named Bethlehem. If I were a Biblical Wiseman following this “star” and I was close to the end of my journey, I would likely be looking for Bethlehem, Kentucky, or Bethlehem, Indiana. The two are both unincorporated communities with few residents whose only claim to fame is the flood of traffic that their regional post offices both receive every Christmas from folks wanting a Bethlehem postmark on their Christmas cards. It makes sense, I guess. Bethlehem is arguably more synonymous with Christmas and more accessible than the North Pole. Still, the idea of naming a tiny town this way seems a little presumptuous. It feels a little bit like naming your child after a movie star in hopes they will get famous one day. When, the reality is, all you are doing is setting them up to get bullied in school.

       But you, Bethlehem Ephratah, though you be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall he come forth to me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting. 

 But, I am not going on to Bethlehem; I will stay down here in the fog, down here in the debris. I will stay one more night and wait for the thing to happen.

           Let us go over to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened

  Grand Conjunction

When it finally came to pass, I was worse for the wear, slightly hangover from red wine and s’mores and reeking of campfire from the half damp bundles of pine I had burned to stay warm. Tuesday, December 22 was bright and sunny in rural Kentucky. I was exhausted but full of renewed hope from having just made it through the longest night of the year.  I drove to the Shell station for crackers and Ale 8.  

While I was there my phone switched back on, I reconnected with the world. The conjunction would be visible in the southwest, near Aquarius, and directly under Capricornus. Also, the best time to view this thing was going to be right after sunset. So, with a new resolve, I set out on the third day to see this thing.

      And the evening and the morning were the third day

 By the end of the day, I was the last car at the last parking lot on Sky Bridge Road. From the car I continued on foot one-quarter mile to a photo viewpoint forgotten by time; here I would wait for it. By this time everything was dying, my phone was dying, my camera was dying, and I was in desperate need of a warm meal and a hot cup of coffee, but I waited. As the sun went down I pointed my camera to the southwest. “Is this it?” a friend asks across a weak connection “I don’t know, I think we’ll know it when we see it” I replied. As the sunset, the only thing I could see across the southwestern sky was the chemtrails from airplanes, all smoke, all fog, all debris.

Then it happened. 6:03 pm it became clear that the body of light in the southwestern sky was not messing around. The sun fell further and further below Pine Ridge, as the light weakened the light from the star, the thing, the conjunction, began to show itself. I had been right, I knew this was it when I saw it;  this was the thing.

 This was a loose line of connectivity through a thick tuel fog of history. This was something astronomers and wise men had seen and pondered on centuries before. As it came to be more prominent I stared at it with all the air knocked out of my body.  I began feeling the immense weight of something so much bigger than myself; this was it, this is what I came looking for.  

 The rest was just fog and debris.

[anneapocalypse]

A Chorus World Map

Note: This is not a definitive map! With the exception of two locations, this is not canon. This is just a working model I came up with based on environmental and contextual clues, to have a reference for writing fic.

If you're curious how I came up with this, keep reading!

Map description: A world map of Chorus built on the blue map base shown at the Temple of Arms. The Purge Temple is located on an island left of center, set between the three main continents but closes to the top left continent. Radio Jammer 1C is on a smaller island north and slightly east of the Purge. The rest of the locations are place on the planet's largest continent, taking up most of the right half of the map. Federal Army Outpost 37 is placed at the tip of a long peninsula extending from the northern side of the continent. Crash Site Alpha is on the coast at the northwest corner of the continent, with Crash Site Bravo to the southwest. The Temple of Trials is on the west coast about midway down. The Temple of Arms and Charon Research Complex C-2 are at the southern tip of the continent. Armonia is inland, north and a little east of the Temple of Arms. New Republic Headquarters is just west of the center of the continent, with the Abandoned Fueling station immediately to the northeast. Federal Army Outpost 22 is a ways north and east of New Republic HQ, a little east of the base of the peninsula. The Temple of the Key is inland on the eastern side of the continent. The Temple of Communications is to the south of the Temple of the Key.

Adventures in Cartography

I began by overlaying the two temple maps we're given in season 13. The first (blue) shows the coordinates Tucker is given at the Temple of Arms. These coordinates are where the True Warrior test takes place. I call it the Temple of Trials. (That's not canon, it's just easier to say and it sounds cool.)

The second (red) shows the coordinates given by Santa at the Temple of Trials. Based on his dialogue, it is slightly confusing whether he's talking about the location of the Purge or the Key:

Santa: (to Tucker) As its bearer, the Great Key will remain bonded to you and you alone, until the time of your death. If you believe the inhabitants of this planet are not ready for my creators' gifts, activating the Purge will cleanse them.

Carolina: And by "cleanse" you mean...?

Santa: All sentient life on Chorus will be exterminated.

Tucker: Dude. Buzzkill.

Epsilon: And... where exactly is this thing?

Santa: Here. (a red holographic map lights up with a dot pointing at the Purge's location, east of the Jungle Temple) I will also update all previously sent maps with temple locations.

I believe that map marker is the Key, because that is where everyone goes next. In particular, it's the map marker the mercs see at one of the other temples, right before they head for the Temple of the Key. It fits Carolina's description of "the mountains east of our location."

So these are our touchstones: the Temple of Trials and the Temple of the Key.

Biomes

The next thing I did was attempt to sort the Chorus locations into climate groups based on their environments.

Jungle/yellow sky

Crash Site Alpha

Crash Site Bravo (canyon)

Temple of Trials (on the water)

Temple of Gravity (near Crash Site Alpha and the Purge)

Remote Research Facility (established to study wildlife)

Tropical?

Radio Jammer Station 1C (island off the coast, sky half blue half stormy)

Desert

Abandoned Fueling Station

New Republic HQ (right on the edge of the jungle)

Temple of Communication (debatable, but rocky and not a lot of foliage)

Snowy/Mountainous

Federal Army Outpost 22 (on the edge of the mountains, not snowy)

Federal Army Outpost 37 (on the water, amid mountains but at sea level)

Temple of the Key (high in the mountains)

Grassy/Deciduous

Temple of Arms & Charon Excavation site (on the water, visible from Complex C-2)

Charon Research Complex C-2 (near the Temple of Arms, within visibility)

Unsettled Territory

Who Fucking Knows

Armonia (but it seems warm)

The Purge (red crystal hell)

Directionality

Armonia -> unsettled territory -> Temple of Trials

Armonia -> Fueling Station -> Crash Site Alpha

The Temple of Trials is a shorter trip from Armonia than Crash Site Alpha, thought probably not by more than an hour or so.

New Republic HQ -> Fueling Station -> Federal Army Outpost 37

Crash Site Alpha is relatively close to the Temple of the Purge.

The Communication Temple is to the east of Crash Site Bravo. It seem to be night at the Comm Temple while it is still daylight at Crash Site Alpha.

Why I put almost everything on one continent

The two canon locations are both on that continent, and while characters sometimes have access to air vehicles and teleportation grenades, in both seasons 12 and 13 there is a lot of ground travel happening. (Also, all the grenades detonate early in season 13 and all travel from there on has to be done the long way.) In particular:

Felix leads the Reds and Blues from Crash Site Bravo to New Republic Headquarters by ground, via caves.

Tucker, Grif, Simmons, and Caboose travel from New Republic Headquarters to Federal Army Outpost 37 by Warthog, stopping at the gas station in between.

Carolina and her away team travel from Armonia to the Temple of Trials by ground, passing through unsettled territory.

Kimball leads the troops from Armonia to Crash Site Alpha by ground, also through unsettled territory.

While many of the locations are located by water, we don't have any instances of characters crossing a large body of water.

We're already kind of handwaving how quickly characters can move across the continent in land vehicles, without adding intercontinental travel to the mix.

Doyle claims in season 12 that the rebels were given opportunity to move to a different part of the planet and build their own society. This suggests that a fair amount of Chorus still remains unsettled.

While we don't know the population of Chorus at the time of canon events, if we take a bit of Sarge's dialogue, he refers to "thousands." Even if we estimate generously and say this could be hundreds of thousands, we're still looking a severely contracted population. For comparison, 100,000 to 300,000 people is considered a medium-sized city in the US. With the population so depleted and the war still raging, it makes sense that the populated area of Chorus would have shrunk considerably even if it was once larger.

Keep in mind that this doesn't mean there is nothing of interest on the other continents. There might be more alien towers, settlements, other cities. For this map I’m only working with locations relevant to the Chorus Trilogy storyline, not the entire world.

Other Considerations

As this is a flattened map of a globe, it is not to scale and landmasses distort more the further they are toward the corners. It is probably best, therefore, not to get too hung up on distances. For visibility's sake the map markers are misleadingly large, and appear a lot closer to one another than they actually would be on the ground.

For my purposes I consider any Chorus canon post-season 13 to be entirely optional, but for what it's worth, the brief view we get of Chorus from space during the blockade lines up pretty well with this map, with that main continent being the one most clearly in view—and also the one at which the fleet have pointed their cannons. It is also worth nothing from this image that the bifurcated continent in the upper left corner of the map actually appears to come quite close to the central continent where it wraps around the globe. For that reason, while I'm thinking of this central continent in terms of north and south, it's probably a bit misleading to look at the whole map that way.

We can see where the sun strikes the planet in that image, but without knowing the planet's axial tilt or where the poles are, it's impossible to determine exactly where the equator is, so again, not getting hung up on it. I'm also taking the appearance of the land itself as a very general suggestion, as the area where the Temple of the Key would be doesn't show any snow. Nevertheless, we can see that central continent divided into three distinct regions: green, tan, and a darker brown. Or: jungle (with some grassy and deciduous area to the south), desert, and mountains.

It makes sense to me that the Temple of the Purge would be located somewhere remote and difficult to access, so I played it off the mainland, on an island.

It's hard to tell in the show, but the Halo map representing the radio jammer is an island, and I thought that made sense as somewhere Charon would place one. They wouldn't put the jammers too close to populated areas, in case the Chorusans got the bright idea to try to shoot them down.

Federal Outpost 37 (the outpost where Wash, Sarge, Donut, and Lopez are taken and where they meet Doyle) is snowy and cold, but it's also right on the water, at sea level, so the cold can't be due to elevation. It made sense to put it further north. According to the Fan Guide, this outpost became the Feds' primary base of ops after they pulled out of Armonia, and while highly defensible due to an "enormous frozen wall," it's also a difficult position from which to mount an offensive. For all these reasons it made sense to me to put it at the end of the northern peninsula.

I probably debated the most where to place Armonia, as it could go pretty much anywhere warm. The scene where Carolina goes out to the city limits is probably the most indicative of Armonia's climate, and I think it would most likely sit right on the edge between desert and the deciduous area south of the jungle, and that's where I've placed it. (I entertained the idea of putting it on that big south central island, but the channel separating it from the mainland would be a lot bigger than it looks on the map, and in the end it just didn't really fit.)

Though I didn't include it on this map, I like to think Chorus might have rebuilt their new capital near the Temple of Communication, in the bones of a city that survived the war abandoned but mostly intact.

I hope you enjoy this map, and perhaps find it useful! Please credit if using, as there is a whole lot of my own headcanon and analysis going into this. 

As with all meta, nothing is set in stone. I will almost certainly find something I don’t like about it five minutes after I hit “post.” :P But it’s a working model! which is more than we had before.

[3d10fire-damage]

red sun summary 6/4/2020

the party returned to Etaqu and approached the guards, saying that they’d brought Amata for Kissare to question. one of them went to check with their superiors about that, meanwhile calypso held Amata above her head like a prized fish or something. Amata started some serious wiggling and actually caused calypso to fall down. calypso told her to stop her wiggling or she’d bop her one, and phosphorra said that that was mean. calypso countered that Amata was a jerk anyway, so whatever. once the party was allowed to bring her into Zabu (and Kissare)’s office, Kissare greeted the party cheerfully. she told zoroe she appreciated the cleric’s allegedly “saucy” response to Sending, and zoroe got flustered. the party collectively teased zoroe about this (”were you sending spice to her, square?”) for a bit before everyone got a little more serious about the situation at hand. (Amata was not pleased to realize she had apparently been kidnapped by the gay circus.)

zoroe explained what the party had done since the last time they had been in Etaqu, how they had fought cultists and infiltrated the tomb hideout to get Amata. phosphorra also revealed that, based off of a feeling she got while Amata was speaking with him, the King might very well be a dragon, or at least something that can fly. Amata seemed to tense up at this. Kissare told the party they could keep anything Amata was carrying on her person, so calypso set about taking those things from her. phosphorra asked if doing this in front of Amata was rude, to which calypso argued that Amata had shot cold magic air at the party and so she could stand a little rudeness. what calypso found was some gold, a Bag of Holding(!), and a Wand of the War Mage. phosphorra took the wand and calypso held onto the Bag of Holding, once it had been emptied of its contents (trinkets and some books, including diaries in code). it was revealed that the King had declared himself the ruler of what is now called the Kingdom of Thorns, which consists of the area surrounding and including Susanbal, Mahiru, Melu, and Bet Tabti.

moving on to the party’s next steps, Kissare (shoving Zabu out of the way) retrieved some scrolls for the party, intended for noting information about the King’s highest ranked troops. she offered a few options; trailing some King’s caravans to see where they were travelling to and from, finding where the King might be, hunting down A, L, or the tiefling mercenaries, or finding information by acting as bandits. phosphorra asked if she looked at all like a bandit, to which the party and Kissare were like “yes, actually.” phosphorra insisted she was too soft and quiet to be a bandit. calypso said that she also didn’t look like a powerful sorcerer that can fling Fire Balls, and yet here she was. the others assured her it was a more of an attitude thing, confidence. “well, i don’t have much of that.” calypso insisted that she had enough confidence for both of them, so by proxy, phosphorra could be a bandit. the conversation diverged back to plans, and phosphorra mumbled more about being soft and friendly-looking. she startled when calypso responded to her, but smiled a little when calypso did the classic >:P maneuver.

Kissare also mentioned that she was planning on maybe starting a riot in Melu after smuggling some weapons and setting a network of contacts over there. calypso was Very into the idea of joining in on that... and surprisingly, zoroe was also into it. the group settled on the plan of locating the King and his subordinates, then heading back to Melu to help with Kissare’s mission there. zoroe, still flustered by Kissare’s demeanor and muscles hurried the party out of the office, claiming that time was of the essence. once outside, there was some debate over whether zoroe was simply embarrassed for being accused of flirting with Kissare via Sending or if she was flustered by Kissare like in a gay way (also phosphorra being uncertain of calypso’s use of the word “spice”). zoroe didn’t give a particularly straightforward (haha) answer. calypso pulled zoroe aside and asked if she shouldn’t make jokes about zoroe re: Kissare (as per a very personal conversation zoroe and calypso had while on the road). she even offered to tell the others to step off if need be. zoroe said that it was okay as long it wasn’t in front of Kissare.

the group then did a little shopping for some new armor and brewer’s supplies. cluk briefly entertained the idea of starting a business. the party then set out on the road, headed north to trail some caravans. passing through Melu, it appeared that there were many more King’s troops than before, a result of an incident at the parade. eventually, the party set up another stakeout, and spotted a caravan with various stuff on it, pulled by donkeys. 

trailing behind the caravan, the party discovered the roads that simply end on the map actually continue, and lead to a branching path... and to a large fort of some kind. no one was sure what the purpose of this fort was; calypso suggested it was maybe a place for King’s troops to go be assholes. they continued following the path to a very large city. the city looked like it was very old and in ruins, but parts of it showed clear signs of restoration and activity. there was a very large palace, where the party suspected the King might be. there was a discussion of what the move was, to just gather information, or bust up the place. zoroe suggested they stay subdued for now, to which calypso sarcastically said that that was no problem. zoroe very nicely thanked her and ruffled her hair, which made calypso happy.

upon entering the city, guards stopped the group and demanded to question cluk. she had been spotted at one of the King’s outposts, putting on some kind of performance. cluk agreed to the questioning. the party waited outside anxiously, wondering how they would bust her out if they needed to. the guards said that cluk had apparently gone down into Amata’s scrying chambers around the time that Amata went missing. cluk was like “do i really need to explain what i was doing?” the guard insisted that she did, so cluk explained that she had a friend there that she took down into the chamber for intimate relations. the guard flustered and let cluk go free (nat 20 on Deception, god is real).

moving into the city proper, the group walked right into a party, which Davke discovered eventually was a wedding reception, for an orc and an aarakocra. it became clear that this city had much more food and drink than any other city in the area the party had seen. heading further into the city, they discovered a huge circular arena, which many people were filing into. phosphorra didn’t want to go inside, but the others wanted to go in to see, maybe find out some important information. calypso said that since she was confident enough for both of them, phosphorra didn’t need to worry about anything inside. but phosphorra kinda tuned her out (to calypso slight disappointment) and was ultimately convinced to enter the arena by zoroe, who insisted the party shouldn’t be split. the main event within the arena was a fight between the twin tiefling mercenaries, Sudabeh and Siyavash, and a group of aarakocra soldiers, who had apparently been apprehended during the disturbance at the Melu parade. if the aarakocra could win, they would be set free, and if they lost, there would apparently be some use for them.

at this point phosphorra became distressed, saying that the party couldn’t just sit there. calypso was confused, since phosphorra had specifically asked her not to get too excited or try to join in the fighting. zoroe told phosphorra to keep her voice down, and that their hands were tied right now. cluk asked what phosphorra had been expecting, seeing as this was an arena. phosphorra said that this is why she didn’t want to come in here, it wasn’t her fault. calypso said that the party had just been curious, and maybe they could’ve seen the King here. zoroe told phosphorra that they couldn’t just look away from things like this, and that witnessing what the King had wrought was part of bringing him down. “if anything, let this fuel you.” but phosphorra argued that watching this happen was just being complicit and that they should be helping. calypso asked if she wanted to jump in, but phosphorra said that she just wanted to leave. despite their advantage in numbers, the aarakocra were soundly defeated by the tieflings, and were led away as the crowd cheered for the tieflings.

once the party had exited the arena, zoroe began speaking very sternly to phosphorra. it was perhaps the first time anyone had seen zoroe angry. she said that she refused to be called complicit as she and the party were trying to stop the King, and that phosphorra needed to step up and look at what was happening rather than keep trying to run away from it. calypso tried to stop zoroe, saying that she should be gentle with phosphorra, but zoroe wasn’t having it and kept going. cluk agreed with zoroe, and calypso just frowned and remained silent. phosphorra wasn’t looking at anyone, just sulking and staring at the ground, so zoroe took her face in her hands and said that phosphorra needed to grow up and treat this situation seriously. phosphorra turned from her grasp and still didn’t say anything. calypso tried to move past the now resounding silence by asking what the next move was, but nobody seemed to be suggesting much. zoroe apologized for getting so angry. (it was such RP yall omg.)

phosphorra, still caught up in her feelings, suddenly felt this weird compulsion to go into some ruins in the northwest. she tugged on calypso’s sleeve and told her this, and calypso kinda glanced at the others before asking if she wanted to go with the others as well. phosphorra said that they should all travel together, so calypso told the others that they needed to head that way.

next time... well, who knows. great session tho