#if they bring back tex too its all over

[ufonaut]

the stargirl lost children preview looks so good but seeing danny dunbar puts the fear of god in my heart knowing geoff is also a fellow golden age 1993 lover & enthusiast 

[johnwickb1tsch]

🌻Small Town Girl🌻 ~ Part 2

Tex Johnson thought he was just passing through…until he set his eyes on you. 

Part 2 of a little Tex x Reader fic for my beloved @treedaddymcpuffpuff. ILYSM!😘

Warnings: mentions of past spousal abuse, mentions of animal abuse, religious trauma...you know, the usual social problems of depressed rural america... I can say that because I live here. divider by saradika part 1

2. 

You’re a heavy sleeper, but this takes the cake.

When you stagger into your kitchen and look out the window Tex’s Chevelle is parked half in your gravel driveway, half in your yard. And tethered to your fence post munching green grass to his heart’s content is a certain miniature equine who you’d tried to acquire with cold hard cash the night before.

Fuck.

You march outside in your threadbare nightgown and your bare feet, finding Tex asleep in the driver’s seat. How the hell did he even get this horse here with that car?

If he put Ziggy in the trunk you are going to murder him.

You pound on the window, and he wakes with a violent start. “Popsicles!”

“What?”

He looks around, before fixing on you, and seems to relax a hair. “Mornin’, darlin’.”

“What. The fuck. Did you do?”

“Uh…funny story…”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“What? Didn’t you want this horse?”

“Yeah, but…” You pull at your hair, feeling a migraine coming on already. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”

You turn in the dew-wet grass to go check on Ziggy. You hear Tex exiting the car behind you. “Don’t be mad, baby.”

“I’m not mad,” you answer sadly, running your fingers through the little horse’s coarse blond mane. “I’m scared.”

Ziggy nibbles at your fingers with his meaty lips, wanting the treats he associates you with. He was going to need a whole lot more than molasses cookies though. You could already tell how your day was going to go.

“Don’t be scared either, darlin’,” Tex says behind you.

“Easy for you to say. You realize this is the first place Dale is gonna come look? And he’ll probably bring Donnie too.”

Nevermind the restraining order you have. It won’t stop him. He’s friends with half the sheriff’s deputies anyway. The Barksdales are damn near untouchable. You learned that the oh so hard way.

“Honey, I’m not going to let them hurt you.” 

For the sake of the horse you keep your temper in check, moderating your voice when all you want to do is yell. “What are you going to do? Watch over me every minute of the day?” He lifts his brows like he likes that idea–you do too, which is batshit insane, because you don’t actually know a goddamn thing about this man.

“Hold on. How did you even know where I live?”

He shrugs. “Not hard to find out, if you know where to look.”

“Well that’s not creepy at all.”

You guess all he’d have to do is ask at the gas station–your family’s been here long enough that it’s basically common knowledge.

You stand there in your faded floral muumuu and your bare feet, toe to toe with this tall dark man and if you had any sense you would be afraid…but you’re not. You’re not because you just don’t think he’ll hurt you. You feel it in your bones and you haven’t had that certainty about any man in so long you can’t remember, and it’s driving you a little wild inside.

“I need my boots,” you sigh, and brush past him to go back to the house.

***

You put Ziggy in the farthest back stall of your barn, where he’ll be out of sight should anyone come looking. With a flake of hay and some grains in his bucket, he seems perfectly content, the sweet sound of him munching filling the old oak building. You lean on a rough sawn post and watch him with a storm in your heart, wondering how long its been since he’d been able to eat his fill.

There will be a price to pay for this little horse’s well being, and you decide whatever it is will be worth it, even if you are afraid. Tex’s presence might deter vengeance for a little while, but he won’t be here forever. You know he won’t, no matter how nice it is to think it, so you’d better be ready.

You were going to have to think on this.

But first, you were going to have to call the ferrier. Luckily you had a friend who wouldn’t rat you out to the Barksdales. Angela was tough as nails and didn’t kowtow to their bullshit. 

It occurs to you that maybe the best thing for Ziggy, and the best thing for you, might be to get this horse far away from here. You wouldn’t put it past Dale or Donnie or one of his other heartless relatives to sneak into your barn in the dead of night and do something awful. There wouldn’t be a whole lot you could do about it either.

You’ve had this horse for about 5 seconds, and the thought of giving him up already breaks your heart.

Tex has been standing silently beside you. You feel his eyes on you, but in what you suspect is a rare occurrence, he’s not running his mouth, giving you space to think. But when you give a heavy sigh he finally breaks. “Come on, darlin’, I thought this would make you happy. It kills me to see you sad.” He opens his arms to you, but you eye them warily. It’s too tempting by far. The way this man is dangerous to you, is that you could get too used to his company too quick.

“You want breakfast?” you deflect.

He nods, those dark eyes taking the measure of you, looking through you, you’re afraid, right into your soul. “Sure.” But he doesn’t move, still just looking at you. 

“What?” you grouse.

Your annoyance only makes him grin.

“Did I mention you’re the cutest little thing in a muumuu and muck boots this side of the Mississippi?”

You roll your eyes, not believing him for a minute. Your hair is still in its bird’s nest of a sleeping braid and you haven’t had your coffee yet. With hands on your hips you look him over too. He’s still wearing the same shirt as last night, and his eyes are a little bloodshot.

“Did you tie one on last night and steal that horse?”

He scrubs at the back of his neck, looking all the while like a guilty schoolboy. “Well…about that…”

This is the thing that finally breaks through your black mood, lifting your sorrow like a blanket. The thought of this man committing grand theft pony–dare you think it, for you–brings a small smile to your lips, and a whole lot of sunshine to your heart.

“Tell me in the house. I’m hungry.” When he doesn’t immediately budge you turn him by the shoulders and give him a shove. Without really thinking about it, you smack his ass for good measure. That tight little behind is round, and firm, and you bite your lip without meaning to, wishing it was something else.

He makes a show of jumping with surprise, smirking at you knowingly over his shoulder. “Watch it, baby girl, or I’mma get myself a handful next,” he warns you with a wicked glint in his eye that makes your insides churn. 

You don’t know what insane notion possesses you, when you stick out your tongue at him– and run. 

You're smarter than this. You know you don't run from a predator. You face them down and smack them on the nose. 

His laughter from right behind you makes an electric thrill zip from your heart to your toes. Dear Lord. No man should be this much fun. 

He really is like a drug, and you don’t know what you were thinking running from him, because you are not fast, and you are clumsy, but somehow it’s him behind you who lets out a surprised yell.

You turn to find Tex with his foot in a hole up to his calf. “Oh my god. Are you ok?”

“I’m fine.” He extricates himself, and you both peer down into a tunnel running under the aisle of your dirt floor barn. You look at the direction, and follow it to an unoccupied stall. Throwing open the door, you find mounds and mounds of freshly disturbed earth.

“Motherfucker. That groundhog is back.”

Tex looks at the impressive damage with eyebrows raised high. “Goddam. You sure it ain’t a bear? Or a rogue bulldozer?”

“Yes. I can’t deal with this now. Come on.” You take his hand, pulling him towards the house, and he happily follows.

You pause at the front door. “Umm…it’s going to be chaos for a minute. Fair warning.” Then you lead him into the fray.

Chichi is a tiny black and tan tornado at your feet, yipping and screaming. You shake a treat can and hand one to Tex. “Give this to him if you want to live.”

Raising an eyebrow, Tex complies, crouching down to the little dog’s level to offer the morsel. Chichi gobbles it and quiets down, switching to sniffing and licking as Tex scratches his side. His hand is almost as big as your dog, and it touches your heart, how sweet he is to the little creature. Satisfied, Chichi runs back to you for a snuggle.

“We good now?” you ask the little chihuahua. He licks you fervently, and you laugh, setting him back down on the floor. Your bulldog reacts in the exact opposite manner, not even getting out of her bed, only deigning to open one eye to regard your visitor. Your conure has joined in the cacophony, and will not quiet until you give him a piece of apple.

“I hope you like fresh eggs and bacon, it’s all I got.”

“Alright.” He seems amused by you, and the happy mayhem of your home, looking around with a sparkle in his eye. “Can I use your bathroom?”

“Sure.” You point him in the right direction and go to the kitchen, lighting a burner under your cast iron skillet. You busy yourself with frying bacon and cracking eggs and filling the kettle for coffee. You are so concentrated on your task that it takes you a moment to notice Tex leaning on the door jam–sans shirt.

You blink, and nearly put your hand in the hot pan. “You forget something?” you ask, trying like hell not to stare at the broad expanse of muscled torso before you. Jesus fucking christ, that’s not fair.

“My clean shirts are back at the motel,” he defends. 

His hair is slightly damp from washing up, looking unfairly edible.

He sidles closer, and you notice the top button of his jeans is undone. A long scar runs down the center of his abdomen, leading your eye to a dark patch of hair that disappears into his waistband. 

Evil. This man is pure evil–and you want to taste every inch of him.

“My eyes are up here, darlin’,” he says with a smirk. 

“You are a menace,” you grouse, holding up a spatula in defense as he just keeps getting closer. He smirks, looking down at the implement.

“You gonna spank me, sweetheart?”

“I would, but I’m afraid you’d like it.”

You are warm all over, and it has nothing to do with slaving over a hot stove.

“Can I help?”

Like he hasn’t helped enough.

“Sure. Pour that hot water into that carafe.”

He looks between the french press, the kettle, and you. “Ever heard of a Mr. Coffee?”

“We don’t tolerate weak coffee in this house.”

He grins at you, doing as he’s told. He even knows to stir it with a wooden spoon, which makes you think he was just pulling your leg.

While you are flipping bacon you feel him zero in behind you, the line of warmth from his body like a heat lamp at your back. “Smells wonderful,” he says, daring to touch your waist.

“It’s meat candy, what do you expect?” You’re not sure if you’re talking about the bacon, or him. 

“Hmm.” His chuckle is a low rumble behind you. You feel it reverberate in your bones. The tips of his fingers press into your sides as he grips fistfuls of your nightgown–and you–as he nuzzles your hair. The sound you make as you wiggle in his arms is almost cartoonish. He takes no mercy, laughing and holding you closer. The warm, solid line of his body behind you is divine, so wonderful you can hardly stand it.

“You are going to make me burn the bacon!” you screech in an attempt at self-defense.

“That’s alright, I’ll just eat you for breakfast,” he tells you in that low growl that makes your knees weak, ducking to nibble at your ear. It’s possible you give in for a few seconds, your head rocking back against his shoulder as he holds you. Why does it have to feel like you fit together so well? When his long fingers bunch in your skirt, pulling it up as his other hand reaches for your breast you think you might combust. In a panic you smack his hand with the spatula with a little scream, trying not to giggle. 

“Go sit down!”

With a wicked chuckle he skips out of reach before you can smack him again, collapsing into one of the old wooden kitchen chairs. His smoldering gaze meets yours, and you feel unsettled. 

This man. Lord save you.

Or not. Maybe…you don’t want to be saved.

“I don’t know how you do things in Texas, but here you don’t get to feel a girl up just because you rustled a horse for her.”

He grins, baring his teeth like he means to eat you.

“Sorry, darlin’, blame the muumuu.”

You try to keep a straight face, but in the end you fail utterly. 

“You gonna tell me how all this happened?”

“You sure you want to know?”

“No, but I should.”

“Hmm. Well, after the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met abandoned me at the fair–”

“Oh save it, Mr. L.A. stuntman.”

He grins but goes on, “I had to do something to nurse my broken heart. So I went to the aforementioned TJ’s by the creek…”

“Ok, this is starting to make sense.”

You start setting dishes of food and plates on the table. Eggs, bacon, toast, butter and jam, and of course, coffee. “And I only had one drink, because I’m a cautious sort of fellow…”

“Yes, that has been made glaringly apparent in the short time I've known you.”

He nods in agreement with a fey glint in his eye all the while. “And who walks in, but our friend Dale…”

“Oh god. You didn’t pick a fight with him, did you?”

“I did not. I went out to the parking lot, to find his horse trailer still full of petting zoo employees conveniently two cars away from mine.”

You cover your mouth, so he can’t see the absolutely feral grin forming on your lips. “You didn’t.”

“I so did. Let the goats out to disperse in the woods there, and wouldn’t you know Ziggy fit right in my passenger seat?”

You are picturing this big tough man in his muscle car peeling out down the road with that cute little horse as a co-pilot. That must be the point when you officially lose your sanity, because you crawl into his lap, planting a big kiss right on his mouth. He lets out a low moan of appreciation, cupping your rear end in his two big hands.

“Tex?”

“Yeah, darlin’?”

“You’re a goddamned hero.”

“I know! I’ve been trying to tell you,” he says with a grin, stealing another kiss.

You try to extricate yourself to go sit in the opposite chair, but he will not let you. You eat breakfast together, sitting in his lap, his big warm hand on your thigh while you giggle and feed each other morsels and talk, and you can’t help but feel like things might turn out afterall.

***

Tex is helping you do the dishes, or maybe distracting you from doing the dishes, because he keeps plying you with toe curling kisses, when the two of you watch a battered red Chevy pickup pull down your driveway.

“Shit,” you say, recognizing it immediately.

“Here we go. Later than I expected.”

You look up at him open mouthed, an involuntary fear response coursing through your veins, turning your limbs ice cold. “You expected?”

“It’s alright, darlin’. Stay inside.” He kisses your forehead, cradling your cheek with a sweet assurance that you want to believe in, more than anything. It would be too good to be true, to have a man who could really protect you. Someone you could just…depend on. You want it with every fiber of your being, and rather than get your shotgun and run out to the porch on bare feet, you stand there in the kitchen and watch Tex go out the door, pulling a white t-shirt down over a blocky black object tucked into the back of his jeans.

Oh Lord. 

Predictably, Dale is driving, and your blood turns to ice as your piece-of-shit ex spills out of the passenger seat. And even though you know the very Devil is standing there in your driveway, your first thought, as ever when seeing Donnie Barksdale, is damn he looks good. 

There really is something wrong with you. 

He’s wearing a flannel with the sleeves cut off and his usual trucker hat advertising some manner of farm implement (as if he’s ever worked that hard). As always, the sight of Donnie feels like a sharp knife shoved up between your ribs. No matter what he did to you, a part of you will always love that man, or at least, the boy he was when he was your friend, your first love, before he became so hell bent on destroying you. To this day, you do not understand what you ever did to that man, to make him turn on you so violently. You offered him all the love in your heart, and in turn he made you feel worthless. For a time, you actually believed it was true. Now you know better, but it’s been a long, hard road.

“Who the hell are you?” barks Donnie up at the self-assured man standing sentry on your front porch. 

“That’s not what you should be worryin’ about right now,” answers Tex, leaning on the post. 

“That a fact?” 

“Yep. The thing you should be worryin’ about is that you’re trespassin’.” 

Dale exits his truck, leaning on the dented hood. “That’s the fucker that hit me last night, Donnie.” 

Donnie nods, sizing Tex up. The thing about Donnie is…he doesn’t like to get into a fight he doesn’t know he’s going to win. And Tex is a helluva wildcard. It’s possible your no-good wife-beatin’ ex finally met his match. 

“He’s leaving out the bit about askin’ for it. Is beatin’ on y/n y/l/n just a universal pastime in this county for you boys when you run outta pigs to fuck, or what?” drawls Tex, picking at his fingernails. 

Donnie bristles at this, taking a step forward. “Motherfucker–” 

“That’s as far as you go, son,” warns Tex, producing the object from the back of his jeans. You knew it was a gun. You did not know it was that big of a gun. Donnie is wearing his usual inscrutable aviators, but Dale’s eyes go wide. 

“We’re just here to get my stolen horse, mister,” says Dale, holding his hands up. 

“Aww, you boys missin’ your lil’ pony? Better check the lost and found then. It ain’t here.” 

“We’ll have a look for ourselves,” spits Donnie, stepping towards the barn. 

Boom!

The report of the pistol is deafening, and the bullet sends up an explosion of gravel right in front of Donnie’s feet. The dogs and the bird go crazy, starting up and barking and screeching. Donnie jumps backwards three feet, his glasses falling off into the dirt. The expression of fear on his face is as rare as it is priceless. 

“You crazy asshole!”

You scoop up Chichi, trying to comfort him. The little dog trembles like a leaf in your arms. You murmur nonsense to it, but your eyes are glued to the confrontation outside, adrenaline rolling through your veins like flash flood water. You realize you’re shaking almost as badly as the dog. 

“Guilty. Ever seen a Desert Eagle? Shoots a big fuckin’ bullet. A .50 caliber round will explode your kneecap like an apple.” Tex whistles with appreciation, and you’re pretty sure Donnie goes pale. “Wanna test my aim today? I might miss and hit you in the balls.” 

You shouldn’t be enjoying this the way you are, but God did that man have it coming. 

 “We should call the Sheriff on you!” 

“Please do. This is a ‘stand your ground’ state. We can tell him about how you’re trespassing, and I’m pretty sure you ain’t supposed to be within 300 yards of that pretty little thing watchin’ us from the kitchen.” 

Donnie’s attention zeroes in on the window, and you sense it like a laser sight fixed upon you. You hate it, how just that hateful look makes you flinch. 

“Y/n!” Donnie calls. “Come out here!” 

“She don’t need to come out here,” says Tex. “She ain’t gonna save you.” 

Donnie seems actually surprised, when you do not obey him, staying put in your spot in the kitchen. 

When the two men just stand there in the driveway, frozen and speechless, Tex cocks the pistol for show. “You need another demonstration? Git!”

“This ain’t over, fucker!” spits Donnie, pointing menacingly–from a safe distance. 

“You better hope it is. Don’t come back, and if either one of you ever touches her again I’ll kill you. That’s a promise. Now get the fuck out of here!” 

Spoiling for a fight but clearly outgunned, the two men back towards the truck, slowly climbing in. “There you go. See ya, bronies!” 

Tex waves the pistol in their direction, and you hear Donnie yell at Dale, “Fuck! Drive! Drive!”

Dale peels out, leaving ruts in your gravel and a dust cloud as they go.

Tex stays on the porch watching until their truck is good and gone. When he finally makes it back into the house you are a teary-eyed little mess. When he sees you the flint in his eyes immediately softens. “Aw, don’t cry honey, c’mere.” You do, and with your head resting on the solid warm wall that is this man’s chest you start to lose it. 

“You actually did it.” 

“Course I did. I told you I would,” he says, stroking your hair as he holds you.

“But…you actually did it,” you say again, because you still cannot believe what just happened. No man has managed to stand up to Donnie Barksdale since your Grandpa, at 80 years old, who stood between you and Donnie in the very same spot on the porch, with the same 12 gauge you still keep behind the hutch, and threatened to cut your then-husband in half if he took another step closer. 

It was the last night Donnie beat on you, and broke your orbital bone, two of your teeth, and your arm. You’d escaped into the dark woods that night, and even though you are not stealthy or fast you managed by some miracle to make it through the brush and thorns and barbed wire fences the two miles to your grandparents’ farm house. It was the last straw, and you finally set the wheel in motion to divorce him the next day. 

You are not a pretty crier, but Tex lets you soak his shirt with tears and snot, holding you and murmuring sweet nonsense. “That’s right, honey, get it out. It’s ok.”

For once, it doesn’t sound like an empty placation. Donnie seemed genuinely scared of Tex, and Dale is an even bigger coward than Donnie. Maybe…they really will just leave you alone. 

Stranger things have happened. 

“I’m sorry,” you wheeze, trying to pull away to get a tissue. “I’m a mess.” 

But Tex pulls you back, not seeming to care one bit, and when his lips touch yours it really does seem like everything in the world has turned right. 

Amusingly, Chichi has been sandwiched between all this in your arms, and only just begins to put up a grumble of protest. “Oh hush, lil buddy,” says Tex, not unkindly, scratching the little dog under the chin. He does nearly the same thing to you, brushing your hair out of your eyes. “You alright?”

You nod and offer a watery smile, setting the dog down on the ground. It’s not what Chichi wants, but he’ll live. “Yes. Thank you.” 

If Donnie believed what Tex said…you do too. There is something dangerous about this man. A wildness that makes his threat feel like a promise. You guess that when the law fails you, what you truly need is an outlaw who keeps his word. Yet you truly believe he’s not a danger to you. You feel safe with him, and maybe that’s the biggest miracle of all. 

“As silly as this sounds after the morning we’ve had…I really do have to go to work.” 

“Alright. I’ll drive you.” A part of you wants to say it’s not necessary. But the other half of you? Just wants to bask in this new found feeling of security while it lasts. You can’t expect Tex to stick around forever to babysit you. But for right now…god, it feels good, to not have to carry this weight all on your own shoulders. 

You kiss him again, and it is warm, and sweet as sugar cookies fresh from the oven. You melt into him, and with his strong arms around your waist, then lower, it is very hard to get up the motivation to go clean up and put on your uniform. 

“Honey, you keep kissin’ me like that and we’re not goin’ anywhere.” 

It’s embarrassing, but you know the sound you make in answer is something like a cat in heat, your fingers curling in the soft cotton of his t-shirt. You feel his words inside you–in the rhythm of your heart, and the throb of your loins. It’s damn near unbearable, this sudden restlessness you feel inside.

You don’t have anyone else to depend on, so you always have to do the responsible thing. Go to work. Get the money. Pay the bills. No one escapes the bullshit death march of Capitalism, except the fuckers who are running the game.

And yet. Maybe…just this once…you could call in sick. 

You stand on tiptoe to kiss him again, grabbing fistfuls of the fluffy waves of his now dried hair. “Tex?” 

“Yeah, baby.” His voice is pure honey dripping golden in the sun. 

“Let’s go upstairs.” His big hands flex against the soft curves of your hips, grabbing fistfuls of nightgown like he’s thinking about tearing it off of you. Incredibly, he says nothing glib, just nods. But when he looks down at you for a long, heated moment–you think he could burn down the world, with the fire in that dark gaze. 

“Lead the way, darlin’.” 

You take his big, beautiful hands in yours, and pull him towards the stairs.

[ember-owlet]

|| cg! verosika mayday headcanons ||

a/c : i love her so very dearly, one of my favorite HB characters. i hope we get to see more of her as the show progresses so she can become a character that is separate from her identity as blitz' ex, especially as a verbie shipper- please enjoy!! ˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

petnames used: kiddo, brat (in a lighthearted manner), honey, and baby

content warnings: mentions of verosika's fear of abandonment, mentions of hypersexuality to both regressor and caregiver in a non-sexual context, and mention of drugs and alcohol in a humorous context (THC gummies) ((stay safe little firelights, you can always come back to this when you're ready))

verosika is a caregiver that doesn't adhere to any set of rules or strict routine when it comes to her kiddo. what her baby wants, her baby gets.

however, due to her lack of emotional safety in relationships she prefers to keep her baby physically close to her whenever possible, regardless of whether you're in a big or smaller headspace.

if for any reason you need to leave for an extended period of time she'd like to be kept updated (nothing extensive but a simple text or picture would be the reassurance she needs to know you're not abandoning her.) she also likes to keep you included in her social circle, and would like if she received the same consideration.

its really hard for verosika to admit that she has needs someone or to be vulnerable since her relationship with blitz had left her defensive, so once trust is established she can't help but fear that one day you too may leave with no warning.

therefore, lots of reassurance and physical affection is a must in the mayday household; from small kisses to holding hands to cuddling, its her way to emotionally recharge and feel held after working on an enormous social pedestal every day.

would be one of the best caregivers in hell to sing you to sleep or sing a song with you to help you express your feelings.

tex is your go-to babysitter for any reason that she may be away, as she knows he would be the next safest person to watch over her kiddo.

can get carried away by the attention of her stardom, but honestly tries her best to bring herself back down to earth when needed. desite what people may think she also doesn't mind putting the attention on someone else, she loves the spotlight but doesn't mind sharing it.

can go from passive-aggressive to flat-out-aggressive to an almost unbearable degree. "you don't want to eat your veggies? fine, it's not like i worked all day to afford to make this plate for you. but if you want to eat something caked in sugar its not my fault if you gotta go to the dentist kiddo. why don't you skip brushing too while you're at it?"

swearing? always. there's never any rules against it and between her and her friends to her baby the whole room will always be full of potty mouths. /lh

playfully calls you her "brat." and mainly uses it as a term of affection in her personal and social life.

"what do you want, brat?" "you're such a brat." "you're an adorable little brat, you know that?"

has at least thought at one point you could still drink alcohol while regressed, not in any malicious context but its what she does to relax so surely its what her baby would need as well?

i fully believe that at some point she had gotten carried away and swapped a melatonin gummy for a THC gummy. her baby would snuggle up to her with a glazed expression and after a quick panic and debriefing with her fellow succubi she would try to explain that "WELL HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW?? THEY'RE ALL THE SAME SHAPE."

absolutely vicious when it comes to verbal insults in defense of her baby. she would do it all without the slightest tilt of her glasses in acknowledgement to your bully.

takes no shame in defending you to her last breath, even if you truly were in the wrong your caregiver is the definition of ride or die. no questions asked she is quick to defend you.

on the other hand she never says no to competition. board games? karaoke contest? she won't let you win but also it makes the victory against your mama that much sweeter. is she salty about her losses? of course, it doesn't matter that a "child" beat her she's still gonna find a way to win the next time.

one thing that i personally believe verosika would shine in is caregiving for a regressor that experiences hypersexuality. as a succubus she would be especially sensitive to when your body goes through the urges and does her best to help you through it.

she is really good at noticing subtle changes in body and facial expressions, and sometimes her advice may be unconventional or even violent, but she really tries to do it with your best interests in mind.

she knows to separate anything sexual in regards to your regression, and tells you that your thoughts are separate from who you are as a person and she loves you as you are.

she would reassure you about all the things she loves about you and does her best to support you from her own experiences.

"mama loves so much more than just your body honey, i love your mind and your heart and your adorable little giggles."

at the end of the day she would pinch your cheek or ruffle your hair with a kiss to your forehead as her way of acknowledging your efforts. you come to realize that your caregiver truly cares when it comes to supporting others, and with time you'll be grateful to be let into her world to know the real "ver."

[electricpurrs]

churchs obsession with wanting to sacrifice himself over and over, thinking of it as a noble cause, to do the right thing to protect the people he loves, but he has so little attachment to his life, so willing to martyr himself he never seems to consider that the ones he loves care about him too and dont want him gone and are hurt when he leaves, and their insistence in trying to save him is the one thing that keeps bringing him back. he sacrifices himself to destroy all the ai's, and alpha church effectively dies then. caboose nurtures the epsilon fragment until he takes a hold of himself again. church easily accepts that his time has come to die alone inside the memory unit if that meant tex could rest with him, and cant understand why his friends would work so hard to come save him when he wanted to die. he leaves with carolina without saying goodbye imagining if he doesnt say goodbye its like hes not really gone, but he IS gone and his friends are hurt and dont understand why he would leave them without saying anything. he sacrifices himself one last time in chorus accepting that it was the only thing that could make them win the fight even if he wouldnt even be there to see what happened to them. hes so selflessly ready to die for his friends and so selfishly self centered he doesnt think about what they feel. they dont want him to save them they just want him to be there by their side, which is not something he can ever grapple with. this goddamn webseries makes my head hurt

[script-a-world]

Submitted via Google Form:

Idea: Building a colony on a planet with very little in the way of water. So they siphon a portion of water from their home planet and bring it there via wormhole. Details: Siphoning off a potion of water means sea levels dropped 200m world wide on a planet that's 80% water now has 75%. The colony planet has no ocean but multiple lakes and rivers so they expanded them and created a whole bunch of new lakes and seas. The new planet has little in the way of native life - so marine life would pretty much be the same from home apart from a few areas they have not touched and mingled with the stuff from home. Questions: I might need a bit of help checking on the numbers? Also, what changes would happen to all the marine life and ecosystems as well as how are things going to work on the colony? Something I may be overlooking?

Tex: If they’re bringing water from Planet A to Planet B, where are they bringing the water from? You mention sea levels, so I’m going to make the assumption that you intend to have Planet B siphon seawater from Planet A. Is it the sum total of the seawater - inclusive of marine life, salinity, and trace minerals and metals - being ported over, or only water purified from the seawater, devoid of any other characteristics?

Is this also a one-to-one transfer ratio? How does the wormhole know when to stop transferring and what to transfer to the other end?

Wootzel: Your question of “What changes would happen to all the marine life and ecosystems as well as how are things going to work on the colony?” is a bit too broad-yet-detailed for us to be able to help you with it. One could write a novel-length speculative wiki on what kinds of environments might form in a situation like this, but a huge amount of it would be guesswork. The result might not fit what kind of story you’re trying to tell, and would probably be way more detailed than you would ever need. What I’m getting at is that we have no idea what you need from your world, what is or isn’t relevant, and what hypotheticals interest you from this kind of scenario.

What I can say is that there’s no realistic way they’re going to essentially copy+paste the marine life (or any ecosystem) from their home planet to this new one and have it settle into a similar, stable pattern. For every organism that can exist at a variety of pressure or gravity levels, there’s probably another that would die immediately, and a few might find an advantage and take over. SOME factor is going to hugely disrupt the biome, but it’s probably a bunch of factors all at once. 

Some compound found commonly in the rock that’s not on the home planet dissolved into the water? Lots of microorganisms just keeled over, and a few more adapted to eat that compound. 

Light level is different? Similar effect.

No ocean currents? Lots of stuff just went extinct within a generation.

The above extinctions created vacuums in the ecosystem, which a few thriving species took advantage of, causing population explosions, but they outcompeted something else. 

That something else’s specialist predator just went extinct because its food source is gone.

Here’s a past answer that’s tangentially related to what you’re asking, in that it goes into what would be needed for a bunch of species to go from a limited population to a thriving one, and some environmental and ecosystem factors that could make a population able to bounce back or be doomed.

If you’re interested in making a big, detailed worldbuilding project about this, and you want to go the semi-realistic-speculative-biology route, you’ve got a LOT of research ahead of you to learn about how environments and ecosystems work. If you just need a setting for a story, you can get away with picking whatever elements you want available, looking at them together to make sure they seem half-plausible, and refusing to worry too much about the how and why of it all. Terraforming is a common trope in sci-fi, so if you want to just say that this planet has bodies of water resembling smallish versions of the home planet’s oceans and ignore that being implausible, you can just do that.

Addy: I don't have much to add here, so I'm just going to throw some links at ya

[yayneloveart]

I suddenly feel like I need to record my initial reaction to RvB Restoration. We'll see how this goes

So that isn't Maine in the trailer, it's just a dude in his armor. I guess it makes sense since Tucker just ditched the armor after Epsilon died, anyone could have picked it up. I shouldn't assume someone in a Locus helmet must automatically be Locus.

Holy shit, did Grif start raising chickens like Geoff did in that long minecraft series?

Lol, Caboose could speak Spanish the whole time but he never spent time with Lopez so we never knew.

Caboose is literally R2D2.

WASH HAS A PICTURE OF A CAT IN HIS ROOM.

Okay, I like the direction so far. Doing some backtracking into some loose ends from previous seasons.

I guess the AI survived the EMP inside Maine's armor? I wonder if they got Elijah Wood again.

Okay, so Epsilon isn't alive, it's a smart recording that Church made before he fell apart. A little cheap... they kept killing him only to find that they wanted to bring him back one more time.

Uh... do I have voice blindness now, along with face blindness? That guy in the armor did not sound like Tucker. Unless he borrowed Tex's voice modulator. Or Epsilon is wrong and its not Tucker, it's some other fucker who ended up in the Meta's suit.

But... those were just memories of the AI, not the original ones. Epsilon was one slice of the whole Alpha, he couldn't have split himself further to recreate the AIs like they were before. They would have been a slice of a slice, and much smaller than the original ones. I can't imagine them having enough power to do the same amount of damage Maine took as the Meta. It's like the difference between being hit in the head with 6 rocks, and being hit with one rock split into 6 pebbles.

Hey wait, where's Donut?

Wow, they really shoehorned Felix in there. He never put on the armor as far as we know, and if Charon somehow obtained his intelligence, then they must have Locus' too.

But... they can't recreate the Alpha??? The Alpha was destroyed by the EMP along with the other original AIs? If they rejoin, they just recreate Epsilon. They went back to address old plot lines and erased a huge section of the story.

Interesting design choice, giving the Meta's armor Felix's color scheme. And I just realized that the Meta's helmet is the opposite of Locus', the entire thing is a visor while the Locus helmet doesn't have one at all.

Is Wash hallucinating Doc? That would be a first, instead of Doc being there and no one noticing, he's not there and Wash thinks he is.

Oh yeah, didn't Donut leave or something after season 17? To go soul searching? Maybe he's in Paris.

For 2 seconds I thought Sheila called Locus. My heart skipped a beat and I got so excited. Nope, season 19 breaking my heart- HOLY SHIT THATS 479ER. IT TOOK ME A SECOND BECAUSE I HAVENT THOUGHT ABOUT HER IN YEARS (beyond me selling merch with her face on it). I take it back, she might not be Locus, but she's still cool as fuck.

I guess they left Lopez behind to look after the base?

... if the Meta is still here... then what is Tucker/Meta wearing- oh, he's just hiding in there.

'Its okay Tucker, I forgive you' *weeps hysterically*

Sarge isn't dead... is he? They can't kill off the Red team leader, right? There's no dirt to throw over him. His armor is just going to do that locking thing like with Donut when Wash shot him?

Sarge?

Sarge..?

SAAAAAARGE!

They really killed him. They killed Sarge. Season 1 killed the blue team leader, the final season killed the red team leader.

They actually bothered to give him a headstone? The first time they thought he died they just threw some dirt on him and walked away.

Grif is literally asking Simmons to run away with him.

Press F to pay respects.

THERE WAS A SPARE THE ENTIRE TIME???? THERE WAS A WHOLE PLOT WHERE BLUE TEAM NEGOTIATED WITH RED TEAM TO BUILD NEW BODIES FOR CHURCH AND TEX.

So they killed Sarge and now they're resurrecting Church. I guess there can only be one team leader at a time between the Reds and Blues.

Doc couldn't save a life to save his life- Did Wash just jump off a cliff?

Oh hey, did Meta/Tucker just damage Simmon's cyborg arm? This is the first time they've ever shown him having one.

I know a lot of people were hoping Grif and Simmons on top of each other... but I don't think like this...

... what launched Caboose like that?

Oh wow, they brought back Tex AGAIN? Well, she was the best fighter in Project Freelancer, and doesn't have an organic body like Tucker.

Maybe they will use this opportunity to fix her story?

Oooooh, there's Carolina! I forgot about her.

Wait, is she and Tex going to team up to take down Meta/Tucker? FUCK YEAH BEST TEAM UP EVER.

You know, I had a hard time believing Tucker could be this good, but the AIs must be piloting the suit. Charon must have collected data on Felix's fighting skills and the AI downloaded it. Combine that with the enhancements and you have a pretty good killer.

ARE THEY GOING TO EXPLAIN HOW TUCKER GOT INTO THE ARMOR???

Oh, I guess Doc is real.

Okay, they are GONE. NO MORE RESURRECTIONS, NO MORE RETCONS.

HOLY SHIT WAIT DOC DIDNT SURVIVE CHORUS?????

IS HE FOR REAL DEAD???

Oh, hi North! And Wyoming! Hey, it's the whole gang!

I'm not crying, YOURE CRYING!

I don't believe Doc is dead, he's probably hidden out somewhere on Chorus tending to a garden with Donut.

Oh, this must be someone from the season I didnt watch.

I guess they didnt need Donut because he already had a good sendoff in season 17... oh wait didnt Doc show up post Chorus? He fought Donut in season 16 for that hammer thing.

Ah, they didnt get Elijah Wood back, they had Miles do Sigma. But they had Burnie's youngest do Theta, like how his older brother did it before! That's cool.

My final thoughts on season 19?

0/10, there was no Locus. Unwatchable.

[anony-man]

A Bit(e) of Assurance

(Part 3 of the Texaid Chubby series)

Word Count: 1,383

Pairing: First Aid/Vortex

Rating and warnings: T; belly kink, belly stuffing, safe words

It’s a sight Vortex enjoys, but isn’t sure he’ll ever get used to.

The Combaticon had lost count of the endless possible kinks and intimate positions he and the Autobot medic had tried over the past six months, but this one in particular had stuck out like a sore thumb. He wasn’t sure what about it got his engines so revved, but seeing First Aid stretched out across the couch, helm resting against a pile of cushions as he whimpered and groaned above the audible gurgles of his overly stuffed tanks was like nothing he’d ever experienced before. He’d never admit it, but the sight alone was nearly enough to bring him to climax.

“No more,” First Aid said, barely lifting his helm up off the cushions to stare up at Vortex with a pained, desperate look. “Please, ‘tex. No more, I’m—“ he was promptly cut off by a gurgling belch that dissolved into a painful, gut-jerking hiccup, and Vortex would’ve been lying if he said the very sight didn’t have him desperate to smother First Aid in kisses. “Ugh, I’m gonna burst.”

“You’re not,” Vortex said as he leaned in, one servo braced against First Aid’s thigh as the other delivered heaping spoonful of creamy, decadent energon sherbet. “We went over the specifics, remember? It would take, like… twice as much as I’ve fed you for you to actually burst.”

The blunt assurance didn’t seem to do much to convince First Aid, who merely let his helm fall back against the cushions with another moan. When Vortex lifted the spoonful to his mouth, though, he didn’t hesitate to take it all in one bite. Vortex gave the poor, rumbling belly a comforting pat, cooing soft words of praise as he leaned back to scoop up another spoonful of thick, creamy sherbet.

He’d saved it for last, mostly due to its filling nature. Well, that, and he liked to see First Aid squirm a little. The poor medic was practically writhing beneath him, his legs thrown over Vortex’s hips and the bloated mesh of his belly pushing outward into his lap. If it hadn’t been for slick lubricant building up behind his panels or the way his cooling fans whirred to life every time Vortex went on about how much he adored stuffing First Aid to the brim, the Combaticon would’ve worried that his partner didn’t actually enjoy the feeding session.

It was definitely a bit of a grey area for Vortex, given his past experiences with the medic. Relationship or no, he was still the Decepticon’s number one interrogator, and Vortex often found himself hesitant to involve tactics so similar to his interrogation style to their bedroom play. He wasn’t against it, of course—after all, he wouldn’t be here in this situation if that were the case—but it was most certainly an area of insecurity for him when it came to First Aid’s comfort and safety.

Primus, Vortex thought, shaking his helm as he buried the spoon into the sherbet. It was a miracle nobody had found out the extent of their relationship yet. He knew for a fact that should Megatron ever find out he was… urgh, starting to catch feelings, things between him and First Aid would have to end immediately.

“Hey,” came the soft voice, and Vortex glanced back to find First Aid staring at him with that sickeningly sweet expression. “You still doing okay?”

Uh-oh. First Aid was worried now.

“I’m fine,” he said, maybe a little too gruffly, and shoveled another spoonful into First Aid’s mouth. “But the sherbet’s melting. You wouldn’t want me to force you to drink it straight from the carton, would you?”

That got a response out of First Aid, albeit a startled one. As if the mere thought of having anything but slow, measured spoonfuls at a time was too much, his bloated belly gave a low, rumbling gurgle. First Aid grimaced at the sound and got to rubbing, his face contorted into a pained expression as he swallowed down the large mouthful of sherbet Vortex had fed him.

As much as he loved stuffing his medic silly, Vortex still struggled to determine what was consensual and what veered into the territory of uncomfortable. At any other time, the pained expression on First Aid’s face would’ve told him that the poor medic had had enough, and that he needed to back off a bit, but extensive planning and drilling the use of a safe-word into their processors removed the need for such worries.

It was still a learning process, of course, and Vortex found that he still paused every so often, spoon in the air as he awaited First Aid’s use of their safe word. Was this a “Pharma” situation, or was he reading too far in between the lines? Just like he’d done so many times before, Vortex paused, his optics locked on First Aid’s lips as the other worked through the large bite of sherbet.

He waited, and waited… and waited, but it never came. No Pharma. This was still enjoyable, still consensual. In the back of his mind, Vortex made a small mental note of it.

Vortex continued feeding First Aid bite after bite of the sherbet until he’d reached the very bottom of the container. As he’d expected, there was some melted sherbet leftover, but one look at First Aid’s overly large middle and pained, sick expression told him that he should probably pass on forcing his partner to finish it off. Instead, Vortex set all of the empty food containers aside and got comfortable alongside First Aid, shifting them both until their legs were intertwined and First Aid was resting his helm comfortably against Vortex’s chest.

It wasn’t a huge couch by any standards, but the lack of extra room made for better cuddling circumstances—at least, that’s what the shop sellers had said. Typically, Vortex found that he agreed.

“How’s the belly?” Vortex asked softly, his digits drifting over the swell of First Aid’s middle in gentle, soothing patterns. He kept his helm propped up with the other servo, giving himself plenty of space to study First Aid’s lax expression.

“Mmm,” First Aid hummed in response, his optics falling shut as Vortex’s fingers dug a little deeper. “Feels better when you rub it.”

“Oh yeah?” Vortex said, a small, smug smile stretching across his faceplates. “What if I… do this?”

Slowly, so as to avoid jostling First Aid’s already sensitive middle, Vortex sat up and scooted over until he was straddling First Aid’s lap, his frame propped up with both servos on either side of the ample belly he was faced with. First Aid peeked up from over the swell, somehow managing to look both adorable and curious at the same time, and Vortex couldn’t help but smile even wider.

“You did so well,” he said, leaning down to place gentle kisses in between the seams of First Aid’s strained plating. “You and your belly. Didn’t think you’d manage to keep it all in, to be honest with you.”

“I’m not a newbie, ‘tex,” First Aid scoffed. “You act like this is our first ever stuffing session.”

“Yeah, well—“ Vortex’s cheeks flushed with heat, and he fought the urge to shy away from First Aid, who’d sat up to join him. “I’m just—I’m just worried, is all.”

“About what?” First Aid asked. He pulled Vortex in until the Combaticon’s own frame was pressed flush against his own, his servos already trailing over tender plating and open seams. “Worried I’ll change my mind halfway through? We’ve been over this, Vortex. I trust you, alright?”

“I know,” Vortex huffed. He wanted to stay broody for a bit, if only to emphasize his concern, but he could do little against the gentle kisses First Aid placed against his cheeks, his neck, his nose. “I know, Aid.”

“Take it from me,” First Aid said. “You make a very good feeder. The best, even.”

Well… when he put it like that. Having no other choice in the matter, Vortex would just have to accept the praise and take First Aid’s word for it. Of course, that wasn’t hard to do at all. Not when it was kinks they were talking about, and not when it was First Aid.

[pxmun]

It was late into the night when Holly and the Jukebox band reached the station. With Lady’s help Holly was able to get onto the platform safely. Lady had dropped off the group near Ulfstead castle. The Earl was getting the estate decorated for the holidays and had just finished the lights. They shone brilliantly, lighting up from the castle to all the way down to the dinosaur park. Holly was immediately enchanted; it really did feel like she was transported into a fairytale storybook. While Holly was admiring the landscape, JJ and the others were trying to figure out the current timetable and which train would take them to Sir Topham Hatt’s office at Knapford station. Tex and Rex were arguing with each other over which route would get them to their destination faster, Grace was keeping an eye out for danger, while Didi was reading a dropped newspaper, Titto found a Sodor coin, and JJ was reminiscing about something, though he kept whatever it was to himself. Grace was keeping an eye on Holly, making sure the girl was okay and staying close to the group. However, the bass guitarist turned her back for a moment to deal with the twin cowboys and that was enough for trouble to start. Holly was in awe as a big silver engine pulled up to the station. It was Spencer, the private engine had arrived to pick up a case of apple cider for the Duke and Duchess. Holly greeted the silver engine, and Spencer greeted her back. Spencer had never seen Holly around Sodor and asked the girl where she is from. Holly tells Spencer that she is from the countryside on the border of Shining Time City in the normal realm. Spencer recalled that Shining Time City is where Darius, Romeo, and Cleo were from and ask the girl if she knew the Trainyard Trio. Holly doesn’t know the siblings, but she hoped she can meet them.

To Spencer it looks like Holly is all by herself. Not wanting to leave the girl unattended, Spencer invites Holly to the Duke and Duchesses summer home for a winter party. Holly is thrilled and accepts Spencer’s invitation, but she lets the silver engine know that she needs to be back at this specific station before sunrise. Spencer agrees to bring Holly back and with the aid of his crew, Holly is loaded into Spencer’s cab. It is here that the Jukebox band notice what is going on. They immediately dash for the silver engine, trying to grab Holly’s attention, but it is too late. With a wheesh of steam, Spencer speeds off for the Duke and Duchess’s summer home. The band freaks out as they don’t know how to find Holly. Grace takes a moment to calm down, and once she does Grace suggest that they go to Knapford as originally planned and seek out Sir Topham Hatt to help find Holly. The band agrees and with their combined effort, they find a train that will be stopping at their current destination while on its way to Knapford.  The band of puppets wait in hiding for the train to approach, when it makes a full stop, they make a break for the engine’s cabin and hide in the coal tender as they hear the engine’s crew approaching. Romeo steps into Gordon’s cab, he was looking forward to a hot cup of tea Patty had offered him once the teen and engine returned from the late- night express run. Gordon gives a big yawn, telling the teen he wants to head back to his berth as soon as possible, so he better take that tea to go. Romeo obliges and tells the big engine it shouldn’t be that much longer before they reach the sheds. The station master gives the signal for Gordon to leave and the two head out, unaware of their stowaway passengers.

[voidselfshipp]

Love comes in all shapes and sizes

Cw: ask to tag. Long post Ig? Ill add a read more soon (im in Mobile and the Read more doesnt work!). Sorry for the inconvenience

-> only mutuals allowed to reblog.

-> WARNING: this story contains a lot of oc things, including magic, so it deviates from the cannon a lot, still,hope you like it!

Summary: Donald is in love with his Co-Worker jerico, unbeknownst to him, jerico also feels things for him, and with the help of Reddington, he tries to court her, and Will soon discover things about her that May not make sense at first glance.

Lovely Taglist: @tex-treasures

A/n: LOOK!!! AT THAT!! SMIIIILE!!!!! **fangirl scream**

--Okay,what is it-- reddington asked leaning in besides jerico.

--No clue what youre talkin' about-- she replied playing with her lockett.

--c'mon, youre giving Mr. Straight white male over there the lovey dovey eyes

--Dont judge me-- jeri said, though it sounded slightly strained.

--not planning on it

--I think hes cute

--Knew it-- the Man said unimpressed.

--Emotionally unavailable men, they are my thing-- the woman replied hiding her face between her hands and screaming.

--Okay, let me help you out-- reddington said patting her back.

--no need to-

--he likes his coffee black, hes always working himself to the bone, you can worm your way into his heart by taking care of him, bring him a coffee tonight

--Red!--jerico exclaimed exhasperatedly-- you know what im not even going to ask-- she stood up from the park bench they were sitting, and Walked away.

--Kiddo?-- The Man called out--

She Turned around-- Yeah?

Then he said something in a language that sounded like nothing but mismatched noises to others, but jerico chuckled, rolled her eyes and Walked away.

--What were you two giggling about?--Elizabeth asked.

--Nothing that matters to the investigation-- she replied-- I think we are done here

--Good, lets go then

Some hours later, when the sun had set and night reached its late hours, jerico quietly Walked with a mug of black coffee to Ressler's Office.

--Come in-- the FBI agent said monotonely.

--Hey Ressler-- jeri said gently, in a quick moment, the Man looks up from his papers-- brought you coffee

--Thank you-- Donald thanked -- its late, you shouldnt be here

--Look whose talkin'-- she bit Back, setting the mug on the desk.

--How did you--

--I saw you make your coffee countless of time-- she lied, she was too distracted looking at him to care or notice his coffee.

But in Ressler's mind it made sense, so he drank from his coffee without much thought-- go rest --He ordered.

--You should go rest too-- jerico commented, crossing her arms.

--got paperwork to do-- and as if he needed to accentuate his point he lifted one of the paper sheets up.

--Thought you didnt like archiving stuff-- she teased raising a brow.

--Not for me, I wouldnt be doing this but orders are orders

She sighed loudly,looking away-- Just get at least six hours of sleep-- her hand patted his back and she offered him a big smile-- good night, Donald

And she Walked away.

Donald swallows hard, and looks away from the door, taking a sip from his coffee, cursing under his breath.

Next Day arrived in matter of hours, reddingon was casually talking with Ressler (one time the later was at the first one's throat)

--Shes not your type-- Raymond commented.

--Dont know what youre talking about-- the FBI agent replied,playing dumb

--Shes not your type-- he repeated-- fun, loves to read and excersice her mind, loves to dance, have a social life

--Im not into jerico

--Yet with few adjectives you recognized her-- Reddington bit back-- if you still want to pursue her,start small, she likes her tea with two sugar and a lemon peel, her favorite types of baked goods are croissants and she has a habit of stressing over details

--What are your Intentions?-- Donald asked turning to face the Man, slightly annoyed.

--Well im part of the people who are tired of your obvious stares at her, do something before intell her myself

--As if she would trust you

--She can tell when people are lying remember?-- Raymond pushed with his tone being more threatening than playfull-- shes not from here

--Where is she from, then?-- The other Man asked.

--She is not from here-- Reddington replied matter-if-factly.

Ressler sighs in exhasperation and walks closer to the evidence board.

That night, jerico was typing away when she hears a gentle knock on the door-- pase!-- (come in)she said cheerfully.

--uh, good evening-- Donald said entering the room with some tea and a paper bag of croissants-- you seem busy

--I am, but what do you-- she looks up from her computer-- oh Ressler you didnt need to-

--You brought me coffee last night, im returning the favor

Jerico giggled, and his heart skipped a beat. She was beautiful...

--Thank you-- she replied giving him a warm smile that made him forget his own name.

--N-no problem-- he stuttered Back-- uh-uhm have a good night, do-dont...dont stay up late, get back home at a reasonable hour..

--You too!--She said back, though Donald had sped out of the room while trying to not so subtly cover his face.

The Next day, jerico is walking with reddington through a park, supposedly to talk about their Next target, but really they are catching up.

--Did he like the coffee?--He asked.

--Yeah, yeah he did-- she replied looking at the birds resting on the tree branches.

--You seem distracted today--Raymond pointed out.

--Im homesick thats all-- jerico admitted.

--Well, i know your people are known to not like being away from family for a long time-- raymond said, patting her back.

--Yeah, i miss my mom's sun buns a lot, actually, I think I also miss how calm Terr-- she makes a pause-- my home is, never ending fields, beaches in every extreme of the continent, I mean you've been there

--Yes, your home is quite beautiful-- Raymond agreed-- how are your parents?

--Ozóz (mom) is alright, a lot of work in her hands, and she has four of 'em-- both shared a laugh) Kazkáz (dad) is okay actually, hes betting over what Soccer team is going to win Next match

--And who do you think Will win?-- Reddington asked.

--The sun lions for sure, they've been training for weeks,Aajab is going to be so dissapointed, Him and dad always make bets over it

--And agent Ressler?

Jeri made a pause, her cheeks warming up-- Well...,Hes alright, looks very stressed, and I really dont know how to talk with him

Reddington started thinking, looking at the woman besides him-- Well, im sure you'll figure it out..

She only pressed her head against his shoulder, and sighed loudly-- I dont have the best of luck with...getting partners y'know? Its been very hard lately

--Im sure its been hard-- Raymond agreed putting his arm around her shoulder-- whatever your brain has been saying, its not true

--Thanks Ray...

--Of course, kiddo

Between all the work on the New case, countless hours of probably not payed overtime, and a lot, a lot, of paperwork,Reddington and Jerico didnt have time to talk to eachother.

Now, she sat on her Office, face against her desk, her body felt sore from running around like a headless chicken, her head felt like she was going to explode.

--You dont look good-- Ressler said, entering her Office with a stack of paperwork.

--yeah no shit Sherlock-- jeri looks up-- oh no, no more paperwork

The Man chuckled, Setting the paperwork on a spare chair-- you should clock out, I already did, maybe...-- he cleared his throat trying to ignore the creeping warmth on his cheeks-- maybe you should come with

--I dont wanna bother--

--its not a bother if its you, c'mon-- Donald didnt think much about what he said, but he didnt complain when jerico followed him out of their workspace.

--Need a ride? Heard your car broke down-- the Man said opening the passenger's Seat.

--Look at you, being a gentleman-- jeri teased, entering the car.

--I try my best..-- he closed the door and quickly Walked towards the driver's Seat-- I know a café we can stop by, then I can drop you off at your house?

--Yeah, I could use something warm to drink-- she admitted, looking out the Window.

Now, Donald didnt want to get distracted while Driving,so he tried his best to look at the road.

--Mind if I turn on the radio?--She asked.

--Not at all..

Soon soft music invaded the car, and as he stopped for a red light, his eyes dart towards his companion.

Jerico looked peacefull, he could see the dark bags under her eyes, when did she let her hair down? It made her face look softer, she lets out a yawn, and makes herself comfortable in the Seat.

Then, the song changed.

"Heaven, I'm in heaven

And my heart beats so that I can hardly speak

And I seem to find the happiness I seek

When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek"

Her eyes lit up as she recognized the song, and she smiled, she looked so beautiful when she smiled.

Donald had to swallow hard and force himself to look at the road.

But then, she started singing.

--Yes, heaven, I'm in heaven

And the cares that hung around me through the week

Seem to vanish like a gambler's lucky streak

When we're out together dancing cheek to cheek-- Her voice, so nice to the ear, right on the timing of the song and all.

And then, he found himself drumming his hands against the steering wheel to the rythm of the song.

--Actually, why dont you stay at my place?-- Jeri asks-- its late, its getting cold, and its safer

--Are-- are you sure? I do-dont want to bother..

--Its never a bother if its you...--She replied, and he had to grip the wheel to try and calm himself down, his heart was beating hard against his chest.

--Alright, thank you..

--Of course!

Once they arrived at her home, he parked on the empty parking spot inside of her yard and Walked inside.

Her livingroom was cozy, he could see a set of stairs that Led to the second floor, the kitchen was some feet away from him,instead of a door there was an arch way, and one of the Windows in the kitchen showed the back yard.

--Make yourself comfortable-- jerico commented-- coffee or tea?

--Coffee, black, do you uh...have anything to eat?--He asked taking off his coat and hanging it on the coathanger.

--Yep, anything in particular?

--Not really, just hungry-- He admitted.

--Okay, be right back then-- she took off her own dark green coat and threw it on the sofa's Back rest, walking towards the kitchen

Now alone, Donald looked around, the walls were a warm shade of beige, there were hanging plants, paintings of nature, and photos.

What caught his attention was a photo on the coffee table, he sat on the brown sofá and grabbed the picture frame.

There he could see a black woman with a big afro, round glasses and a white dress with flowers, holding up a teenager, short brown hair, eyes closed while smiling, she was wearing a yellow shirt, a light blue shorts and sandals.

Besides them was a Man, Tawny colored skin, Brown eyes and black hair thrown back into a ponytail, the sides of his head shaved, he had freckles and was wearing a white t-shirt and black shorts.

He Turned the picture frame around and saw an inscription "Mamá y Papá".

" is she adopted?" He asked himself, settling the picture on the table.

Soon jeri came by with two cups.

--thank you-- he said as he grabbed the cup with coffee.

--Of course-- she sat down besides him.

He looked at the picture frame and then back at her-- Those are your parents?

--Yep, they are-- jerico said with nostalgia on her voice, grabbing the picture-- shes Eryz-- she pointed at the woman-- thats my mom, and hes Ray, My dad -- she looked at him and snorted-- we look nothing alike, I know

--Well, you do look happy-- Donald complimented.

--Yeah, that was my fifteenth birthday, it was very fun, my Friends and I had so much fun..., Man I miss my parents

--Where are they now?-- He asked drinking from his coffee.

--Back home, but I havent had the chance to spend time with them -- Jeri replied

--Hopefully youll get some soon

--Yeah, hopefully

And then silence fell between both of them, he looks at the picture on her hands.

"Shes not from here" Reddington had said.

"What does he meant by that?" He asks himself. He knew jeri was slightly odd, she barely got hurt during altercations, she always knew when someone was lying, and always seemed to know everybodies intentions.

One time he swore he could see flower buds blooming on her head when she felt strong emotions.

He had to ask, she looked human, but he also didnt want to loose her. He just couldnt, he was in love with her.

Since the first time he saw her, their first mission togheter.

Hes been pinning for her for years, And reddington was right, she didnt look like his type.

But she was so fun to be around, shes sunshine incarnate, she was always walking around helping people, comforting them, she was a great woman.

But he didnt know if he was worthy of her, how could he? He was her opposite.

She pulled him like a magnet, and he couldnt get enough.

--Don? Everything okay? --Jerico asked snapping him out of his trance.

--uh- uhm yeah, i zoned out-- Donald replied looking away.

--Hmm-- she mused, not really convinced.

Theres an awkward silence,neither of them look at eachother.

--Remember when we were undercover at a party, and you were wearing that beautiful golden dress?-- He asked, not caring if he was being obvious-- we had to dance...

--Yeah, I remember-- Jeri replied, trying to fight back the smile that was tugging at her lips, she had danced with her face on his chest, shes never felt more safe-- you were wearing that suit that looked great on you

Donald chuckled, his face turning pink-- that night was fun, we even catched the bad guy

--heh, we did, that was a good night

There was a short silence, Donald looked at the gramophone that was sitting besides the bed-- that thing works?

--The gramophone? Yeah, its a family heriloom, why?

--I never finished learning how to slowdance, and we have nothing better to do

--Dont you have to go to work tomorrow?-- She asked.

--Well, its pouring outside-- he pointed out the Window. How didnt she notice it was raining-- cant go to my car with this rain, can I?

She chuckled and nodded-- I only have old jazz songs

--itll do

Soon she grabbed the vynil on the gramophone, and music started playing.

--Will you Grant me this dance?-- Donald asked with a smirk, offering his hand.

--Of course-- She took his hand and both started to slow dance.

They moved slowly back and forth through the room, both never taking their eyes off of eachother.

Donald spun jerico around and the smile she gave him was enough to make him decide that tonight was the night he was going to tell her.

He Gently pulled her closer, their slow dance now only consisted in barely moving, her face was against his chest, and jeri felt like she could spend the rest of her life like that, the smell of his cologne soothing her.

Ressler lifted jericos face up by the chin,-- Theres something I've wanted to tell you... for a while now...--He took a deep breath-- I.. I have feelings for you..-- he braced for the worst, but it never came.

He felt her caress his cheek, and saw her warm smile-- I have feelings for you too...

Donald chuckled happily, pressing his forehead against hers-- Permission to kiss you?

--Permission granted, Agent -- she answered playfully.

He kissed her, and his body felt lighter, he pulled her closer by the waist,and her hands gripped his dress shirt, to then slowly wrap her arms around his waist.

As they parted lips, their eyes Open to look at eachother-- Stay the night?

--Of course..

She rested her head on his chest and both stayed in silence, the rain hitting against the Windows making the house feel cozy.

They dont know at what time they went to sleep, and they didnt care.

Donald hugged jerico from behind, laying in bed, protectively wrapping his arms around her.

His face buried in her hair, it smelled like green Apple shampoo.

Donald had finally told jeri how he felt, he was incredibly happy that she felt the same, and he vowed to Keep her safe.

The Next day, as they worked on the evidence board, Raymond came behind them and say-- congratulations

Both jumped back and looked at him-- What?!

His eyes looked down at how both were holding hands, And gave them a smug smile.

Donald told him to fuck off and he left them alone

Jeri pressed her face on his bicep and started laughing under her breath.

--Its not funny-- Ressler said with his cheeks flushing red.

--I think it is-- Jeri replied kissing his bicep.

--'s not...

At some point during the day, jericó went outside to take a breather, shes looking at the Sky, appreciating that there werent Many clouds, when a voice snapped her out of her trance.

--You should thank your cousin for the rain last night -- Reddington said, standing besides her.

--Xyxy always knows what shes doing

--She is the writer of destiny isnt she? And the goddess of the Sky and weather

--Yeah she is, a powerfull combo if you think about it

The Man besides her chuckles and leans on the handrail she was leaning on-- Will you tell him? Who you are, what you are?

--hes going to find out sooner or later -- Jeri said.

--You dont sound too enthusuastic about it

--Its just...-- what if he starts treating me differently? I dont want him to idolize me!

--Hes not going to, he knows you, and your past wont change that-- Raymond assured her patting her back.

--I hope youre right, if not I think ill cry for weeks

--I am right, and you wont need to cry for weeks, he loves you either way-- he hugged her tightly, and she could only hug back, body relaxing--Funny I share your dads name..

--Maybe he sent you to take care of me

--Maybe, if not its going to be a big coincidence

--Coincidences arent a thing where im from

--Hmm, I guess youre right...they arent , but I think ill know if I ever spoke to the literal god of war

--Ex god of war, thank you, and ex god of Providence-- She corrected.

--Well I think I'd know if I ever spoke to the ex god of war and Providence

She snorts-- ill head back inside

He nodded and let her go.

Some months passed by, and things only went uphill for Jerico and Donald.

But something kept tugging at her, he deserved to know.

So, she took him to a museum, the only museum that had Real relics of her home.

--This is called a wall of legacy-- jerico said-- it tells the story of the family tree of ancient gods

--The plaque reads Terran Gods, Terran? Never heard of them before

-- Some things are best kept hidden-- Jeri added, a bit too sure--At any rate, this is the main family of gods, the Von Terra, hence "Terran gods", that is Elementus Von Terra, creator of the world, that is Karuma Von Terra, god of war and providence -- she pointed at a Man, that had freckles that formed a constelation, and Ressler noticed he looked like his father in law.

--You share a last name with a family of old gods? -- he teased.

--Apparently yeah-- she said mildly nervously-- Thats Elementus' daughter, Valkiria Von Terra, Warrior goddess, Fire elemental, and that one-- she pointed at the drawing of a woman, short hair with dragon hirns growing from her forehead, heart shaped face and the fading paint in her eyes made it look like they were green-- and that is Draco Von Terra, goddes of hunting, earth elemental and its said she could controll a rare type if magic, a mix of all kinds of magic, Some even say its the very life force of this world. Anima magic, Anima means soul, so soul magic

--You sound so sure about it-- Donald pointed out-- whose draco's mother?

--Eryz, Goddess of life and mothers-- She almost sounded...sheepish?

--your mother shares Names with a goddess? --He made a pause-- why do you sound so sure about this?

He didnt notice how people around them left, or how the cameras in the museum looked away from them.

She looked away unsure of what to say.

--look, im going to be blunt. once, Reddington told me you "werent from here" and didnt want to specify where you are from exactly-- he said-- and then I started to remember weird things that ive seen you do, you always leave almost unscathed of any altercations, you always know when someone is lying, and I swear, and dont think im crazy, I swear Ive seen Rose buds Bloom on your hair when I make you blush

--I dont think youre crazy-- Jeri assured-- you are right, of all your suspicions about me, and Reddington is right, im not from here.., Von Terra means "of earth", or "of terra", as weird as it sounds, thats my family on the wall of legacy, and draco is what im supposed to look like

Donald stares at her, making sure she isnt lying, she would lie about something like this. Right?.

--Prove it -- he simply says.

She snorts, and extends her hands, a Rose Blooms from it, and puts it behind his ear--Gev zom or homon Keimon Komi lom wevlom zalhem

--What does that mean?-- He asked.

--i love you, my Sun, im sorry I didnt tell you sooner

He looks at her hands and then at her,-- after everything ive seen on the job, this is a nice change of pace-- he smiled-- im dating a goddess,then?

--Half, I was reborn as a human because I wanted to live like one, that picture you saw the night you confessed was this life's sweet fifteen, I was re born in an Argentine family, hence why I look so different from my parents, though I have to say I looked exactly the same in my past life, gods can shape shift, so our human looks arent exactly the same every day

--And you cant shape shift?-- he never thought he would be asking that. But then again, hes working with a famous criminal, so he has done weirder things.

Jerico shook her head-- Since I was born human, I cant use shapeshifting magic, but I dont want to, im happy with the way I look

--And your...original form?

--I can still transform into what im supposed to look like-- she pointed at the relic besides them-- but it takes a lot of work

He nodded and looked at the floor, still trying to wrap his head around this New Information-- regardless of who or what you are, I still love you, and you should know that-- He looked at her and hugged her-- it only makes you much more special, and it only makes me even more lucky to be with you

Jeri chuckles and hugs back tightly-- thank you..

--Ill always love you-- he said loud enough for only her to hear-- thank you for trusting me with this, now, should I give you an offering in the shape of inviting you lunch, my goddess?

--Shut up Donald!-- jeri pushed him playfully while hiding her face in her hands, roses blooming from her hair.

He laughed loudly, hugging her again, one hand Gently plucking the roses out of her hair-- you dont feel this?

--I dont-- she assured Him.

He tries his best to make a flower crown and Gently places it on her head-- jokes aside, let me treat you to lunch yeah?

She nodded-- Thank you, baby

--Of course-- Donald took her hand-- c'mon love

They walk out of the museum towards a nice place to eat lunch, And though Donald was a long way from understanding who or what his lover was, he Will make sure to understand as much as he could, he loved her regardless.

Ressler kissed jerico Gently while they waited for the cars to let them cross the street, just so she knew he meant what he said.

For Him, she still was the love of his life, his little Ray of sunshine, nothing would change that.

[iwantjobs]

7/6/2024: Trang at 51.22 years old. It was nice singing and dancing with the Internet lure prevent the humans from turning gay and stripping off their clothes listening to Satan's gay and sexually explicit melodies, but there are terrorist babies being bombed out in Gaza and dying of starvation and dehydration with American tax dollars defending the religious symbol of Judaism on Israeli flag even though then separation of church and state defense in the First Amendment said no religion using our American tex dollars while stealing the land of the terrorists children in last 76 years after Hitler's gas camps and stealing terrorist children's land in the West Bank right now because the West Bank is closer to the town where Jesus was born (the town of Jesus will never be in control by democracy, the West, the Christians, the Jews, Isrealis for they will bring in the gay flag into Jesus' town and humanity will deemed Jesus as gay because Jesus' people and Jesus' related people (Jewish family who adopted Jesus) bring in the equality values and equality values means gays coming out of their closets. Can you imagine the area where Jesus was born, next to it, there's a gay flag. Then every, therapy a pride march couple gay nakedness and clean gay orgy posted on social media doing it next to where Jesus was born or on the ground where Jesus was born. Then they are going to make Jesus gay porn next to tr building where Jesus was born and even inside the building where Jesus was born. Gross. Do you want humanity to question if Jesus was gay when Jesus' religion (Christianity and Jesus' adopted parenta religion, Judaism) bering the gays outs because of its democracy values? If you want it, then you ARE GAY--not the values of the Bibles or conservative America like you claim you are. Go to Satan's side and move to California where I live and in gay San Francisco, mecca of Satan: gay capital of the world. You don't belong in Kentucky, Alabama, Utah, etc. you belong in gay San Francisco. Under the Muslim's rule of Jesus' birth town, them gays will never turn jesus into a rainbow flag town, Pride parade celebration, and gay sex acts in Jesus' birth building posted on social media, and gay jesus porn film in Jesus' town with main gay porn actor looking like Jesus. Gross. There are gay flags all over Israel already. Jesus already looks gay with his vagina long hair and 50% of his crotch exposing like a male stripper to the horny eyes of the closet priests everyday 24-hour a day. Why do you think the priests in Catholicism molested our poor young boys in churches. Wouldn't you men as priests get horny if a 90% naked female is placed like where Jesus is placed, and off you go raping poor little girls and women after masses? All these years, and no humans other to cover poor Jesus' nakedness with a cloth while promoting a humanity of modesty dressed humans at church when Jesus is the only one nearly naked in church like a gay male stripper). Off I go to rest my old head to prepare for the Palestinian lawsuit to return from appeal court of 9th circuit and then US Supreme court later. As a hardcore heterosexual female, my HEAVEN is healthy, happy, and safe children; thus, this is my job before having my own child (children). Thanks for you time folks. And off I go figuring out how I can help reduce the homeless problem in Saint Joseph or San Jose, CA to get a job with the city's mayor when I move there in the ghetto where the fobby and poor Vietnamese live (the newer comers from Vietnam live there and hey represent more of the Vietnamese in Vietnam. I want to see if I am ok hanging with them before I decide to relinquish my genocide-gay-Spanish-as-2nd-language American citizenship eternally as a protest, plus the female Buddha belongs in Vietnam where she was born unless Vietnam is too gayor atleast Asia. America is Jesus' and gay Satan's territory ), and then back to Vietnam.

Oh, as a hardcore heterosexual female fashion designer and stylist, I re-designed the thrift-store suit after I dry-cleaned it: I folded in the shoulder area of this size-14 suit made in Japan (probably a Koret suit). I know the suit and hat are slightly wrinkles but this is the best I can do for the Palestinian lawsuit, the homeless, and children turning gay, cutting off their genitals and taking off their clothes problems are more important than the hardcore heterosexual fashion of humanity, gun violence to to be reduced by my suing techniques, and fentanyl to be reduced by saying, "God or heaven in a pill is not meant for every day fun for it will lead you to hell if you become greedy and shove it all down and into your body." Fashion is my armour as the female Buddha (Jesus' father living as a female names Trang) to fight against Satan and his new followers hiding behind the words of Jesus, Mohammed, Krishna, etc. who use violence to fight 3,000 year religious fight while destroying our already cancerous planet. Ok stop yapping and off I go. I'll be in other websites and I'll return if it's life and death. Take care folks. Again, I had a double-eye-lid plastic surgery at 19 years old which I regretted now because I can't have a complete picture studying my heart and soul as the female Buddha as I age because how you age in your collapsed skin in your eyelid represents how you are inside. That's why I use Vaseline around my eyes to prevent collapsing of the skin. Don't get Vaseline in your eyes or it will damage your eyes.

[worldume]

positive.

spotlight: hajime umemiya.

content: afab reader, pregnancy, anxiety, nsfw.

a cinnamon apple scented wax melter sits on the counter. its soft amber light steady as it casts shadows on the walls. the aroma is one of umemiya’s favorites— something gourmand and warm, it reminds him of something called home.

(name) is perched on the closed toilet lid, back hunched and shoulders trembling as she clutches a positive pregnancy test— the two pink lines stark and unforgiving against the white plastic as it stares back at her.

her breathing is shallow and rapid, chest rising and falling in erratic jerks. each inhale feels like it might be the last she can manage as the walls of the small bathroom seem to close in— the space becoming suffocatingly tight. her vision blurs with unshed tears, and she squeezes her eyes shut, as if.. she can make the reality disappear if she can't see it. but she knows that’s not the case. no matter how bad she wanted it to be.

her mind races with a whirlwind of thoughts.. fears.. every possible consequence, every worry about the future, every doubt about her own capabilities. it all floods her at once. her hands are clammy, fingers gripping the test so tightly her knuckles feel like the skin could peel away from them, leaving the skin broken and raw. the edges of her vision darken and a wave of dizziness washes over her.

(name) will admit.. umemiya and her have long since stopped using condoms early in their relationship, opting for the pull out method and birth control as their preferred method of contraception. but recently.. they’ve gotten a bit.. sloppy, a little more careless. (name) can’t remember the last.. successful time he’s pulled out of her— it seems like they wait until the last possible second and even then, there’s still a trail of his seed seeping out of her hole. umemiya can’t really bring himself to stop once he’s started. it feels too good. and it’s not like locking her legs around his waist while he’s telling her he’s about to cum helps the situation at all.

she leans forward with elbows on her knees, trying to ground herself— the cool porcelain of the sink to her left offers a small comfort against the rising heat of her skin. (name)’s breaths come in stuttering gasps now, tears spilling freely down her cheeks. the sound of her own heartbeat roars in her ears, loud and oppressive.. she feels like she's drowning, each gasp for air feeling more desperate than the last.

she forces herself to count her breaths, a shaky attempt to regain control. “one, two, three..” she whispers between gasps, voice barely audible over the sound of her own panic. her fingers loosen their grip on the test just a little and she clutches her (his) shirt instead, trying to anchor herself. she inhales the scent— his scent.

the bathroom around her seems both.. painfully real and unreal at the same time. she can feel the cold tiles beneath her feet, the weight of the test in her hand, but everything feels distant, as if she’s not really there. she focuses on the mundane details.. like the way the water droplets from her recent shower cling to the mirror, the pattern of the tiles, anything to distract her mind from her spiraling thoughts..

gradually the counting helps. her breaths slow, becoming a little deeper, a little steadier. the immediate threat of a full-blown panic attack begins to recede, leaving her exhausted.. still terrified, but a little more in control. she opens her eyes, staring at the positive test in her hand, and takes a deep, shuddering breath.

“shit..!” she cries out before shooting up from her spot. she reaches for her phone on the counter, fingers trembling as she types out a text to umemiya.

- hey, bubby.. are you still busy?

she erases it.

- i need you home right now please.

no.. no.

- hajime.. can you come home? its important..

she stares at the words for a long moment, heart pounding even harder. but she hesitates again, her thumb hovering over the send button. she erases the text completely for a third time and opts to call him.

the phone rings, and her heart races with each passing second. when he picks up, she can hear the chatter and laughter in the background, the sounds of him having fun.

“what's up, lovebug?” he asks, his voice warm and cheerful. “was just thinkin’ about you! you should have came tonight, the guys miss that pretty face— oh— sakura’s blushing.”

she swallows hard, tears threatening to spill again as a soft laugh escapes her lips. “oh yeah..? he’s so cute..” she coughs to clear her throat. “nothing.. i just wanted to tell you that i love you.. and miss you.”

there's a brief pause on the other end, the noise fading slightly. one the other end umemiya feels like there’s something off and he excuses himself to get to a quieter corner. “i love and miss you too, bug. always. is everything okay?”

she takes a deep breath, trying to keep her voice steady. “yeah, everything's fine. i just needed to hear your voice.”

“..i'm glad you called,” he says gently. “i'll be home soon, okay?”

“okay,” she whispers, managing a small smile despite the anxiety inside her. “i'll see you then.”

© all content belongs to worldume 2024. do not, translate, modify or repost to any other platforms.

[scentedchildnacho]

Its more that I consider development a lot more time then patience can tolerate and so behaviourists emphasize better social communications instead of house now

The French can explain that misunderstanding and mutual theft....it was Antoine's and Ruth mas killed women of starvation with herself with it

You can just watch your Ina times to see Harriet Jacobs the same....white beauty care isn't done by white chicks often.....so she does look dry and ho yes....

The UK wants me for work fried fries fried all the time

I explained to her it's very dangerous here because latin American were displaced in france or white people so no the same if indigenous people weren't actually agriculturalists white peoples are not actually euro centric hospitality sunni to them I practice blamed things

People like me find appetite reduction a very dense male that thinks the world is it and never say diet or weight or perception I have to publish dissertations

So no people should not ask you for too much money they aren't euro centric and do not socialize that way and is just worse then Europe here

Indigenous women like zitkala sa use to teach music and habits and politics so I don't understand tepid coffee and starve off biscuits is good and Godly women have to work here

He told me coffee goes right through him.....so I told him coffee here is awful for you till you get over your emigration phobia

I like Florida I just walked around there like it was willy wonkas chocolate factory and they showed me the oldest emigration tree from latin America and it's whole by nation hospitality company

The treatment of Mexican migrants to cross the border into Texas is not all free born NATO citizens....they have to go to very sick compounds and get that sun and color out of them

The coffee isn't dark enough and of living waters....and people who don't treat a stimulant like it's an organic grown plant use Botox or sarin and expect you to suicide with them or for them they won job placement and your out and victory is a tragic thing

If you stop with white this white that and believe in latin Americans a lot of harmful byproducts leave your stuff if you keep up get the colors out of em you didn't like life off rents no

I like bravo and Columbian food and Cuban stuff with Africans is always that attempt to bring proper to life instead of gross ass dope holes in the wall so

Anyway he had told me to not feel too bad for him he called them white men renters and he would go around forcing them to give money out of their paycheck to some lady landlord and so people make him live a white punishment

So first he had to go to the hostel and get kicked out for expired 🆔.....and now he has anti emigration problems

Then he had to live through renters giving him their old cancer stuff instead of black men have heart conditions your chick is some mental to niggers

And he had to live through white jesus of give your last blanket to a mean nigger out here and sleep with nothing.....so I admit eventually feeling like maybe they were a little too mean to him....

I get stalked by those mean hick nigger drunks like steal my cart so they can use my last blanket so he got told that he had to finally baby sit niggers

Their neo Nazis....so I had to have some creepy hick start screaming at me bitch bow down and suck dick.........for trying to go to the hare Krishnas about it......so eventually white men will have to actually control addiction and recidivism normally

A lot of natural product here is taken to European beauty factories so no people shouldnt have called my kind of scattered technology use chronicly mental they have these meds and wouldn't give them too me.....

Manchester thermodynamics.....the British get to go out to really positive clubs though

Figs.....

English boss gets mad at ho trying to binge eat my friends so he steals stuff back so she has manners lessons

I find Tex Dan to eva about bulimia too gross also and I'm told don't to eva that is my friend

Uhm I don't know about that situation if I at work was off company I could be murdered in situations like that for rationalizing gay.....but Dan can so I suspect that's why we never talked again....

I dont know what happened to......those people.....I found out they act nicer then their actually trained to be......so I get scared of people who know their life will have to fight that meanly and leave them alone or I would have to be some creep that enjoys revenge

I would have to turn into one of the freaks that suspects they can't love anyone.....if I had to live a grudge

A creep someone whose image obsessed and only shows up with their success day and racially correct children.....so I take advise from Germans who tell me my secret best friends have physical handicaps and God does love me

I found it too mean to him because he says mean stuff then turns around and gives his last blanket to someone else so his tone and mood isn't all that abnormal

[meanscarletdeceiver]

Grandpuff or crankybugs.

Oooh, what an interesting pair you've come up with (are these both favorites of yours?)

I guess I'll dive into the first one. I was tempted to go for "Crankybugs" (I'll always think of it as one word now, that's really cute) just to get a chance to dissect Season 5... which I think is currently way overrated.

But "Crankybugs" is in the top tier of S5—not too much to criticize without sounding nitpicky—if we can get over the head-scratchiness of Thomas being in it at all, it's a decent story. And the aesthetics of the stormy night harbor are very striking!

So let's all re-watch "Granpuff."

"One winter's night, when the cold wind blew, the engines found it hard to sleep."

I used to hate this framing device... but I'm starting to soften up.

For one thing, I saw how well it succeeded in its job of "bring the Thomas kids into the new set/characters" by watching it work its magic on one of my own kids. Walked away from Granpuff et. al. again and again, but also kept giving this a chance because Thomas. Eventually, it worked. Now she's a huge fan of all the narrow-gauge stories... but I don't think she would have gotten into them without the Thomas angle.

So, I'm biased. However, it is also cosy to see the standard-gauge gang tucked away in the sheds and deciding to have story night—I like that. The dialogue is all solid, too (the only clunker is James's "but please remind us of the story so far," which doesn't sound like him, but that's also next episode, so I won't take off points for this one). And I'm really getting into Thomas the Elder Statesengine. Do I think the big engines would take his moralizing seriously? No. Do I think they might listen to a good yarn? Yes. Do I think Thoms might actually have a few of them under his boiler bands? Yes.

'Course, there are a few things here that still grate. The "storm" itself is not filmed especially well—it all looks/sounds like a retread of the storm in "Henry's Forest." Also, while I don't mind this story by itself, that's because I can imagine Thomas telling it before Duke was found. Not after—by that point I imagine on Sodor it's big enough news that they would have all heard? (I like to imagine Thomas telling this all to post-1970 newbies, actually.) And then when subsequent episodes get into all that "Duke was the hero of all the engines" stuff? Yeah, Duke waves his cane and bitches at Gordon, James, and Henry every time they stop at Crovan's Gate and so all the rest think he's funny... maybe.

However. Again, I have some complaints about Season 4, but if you're asking me to talk about just this episode by, itself? It's all pretty fair, really. I can sit back and enjoy.

Which is good for me, because now we proceed to...

"Once upon a time, there were three little engines who lived in their own little shed on their own little railway."

(sidenote—more about RWS than TVS, but—for those who haven't realized yet, this is the line with which Duke the Lost Engine begins and it's a callback to the first line of the series: "Once upon a time there was a little engine called Edward." and it makes me pretty emotional from the creative PoV, because back in Three Railway Engines Awdry had originally wanted to make his stories take place over two railways and also have it be much darker than it wound up—his publishers told him to tie it all together and quite rightly, he barely had one setting, and didn't yet have the skill nor even the legwork to manage two—and now look! look how far he's come! in this book, he ties together four railways, eighty years of fictional world-building, and indeed leaves a naughty engine punished forever, but he has the chops to do all of this and so much more now, gah i'm such a sucker for people's creative development and Awdry came so far here, i have no choice but to love it!)

Starting here, and lasting through the entire flashback, the cinematography is flawless. The sets, the narration, the pacing, the edits made to the RWS text, the aesthetic, every single shot.

Just.

alafsdivicjakafkd;l sadfk;lasdfk; asd;kfl

FLAWLESS.

This is the best 3 and a half minutes in the series.

(Even the night-time Rusty scene, which is at a similar high level of cinematic perfection, clocks in at less than 2 minutes. The original "Flying Kipper" scene is also in this tier, but, again, it did not last nearly so long. 'Course, this is just splitting hairs—all of these sequences are Allcroft-Mitton triumphs. But there's something uniquely compelling about this three and a half minutes of storytelling in "Granpuff." You just get completely swept away by it...)

If there's any complaint to be made about "the flashback," it's that afterwards the old standard-gauge boys and set look downright stupid, in contrast.

A pretty good problem to have, all in all. But damn I do kinda hate when we cut back to Tidmouth sheds. Well, except for one classic bit...

"That's... not a happy ending!"

"Ah, it will be," murmured Thomas, utterly indifferent to his earlier promise. OMG Thomas you had one job. "But that will have to wait until next time..."

IN WHICH WE ARE PERCY AND PERCY IS WE

Anyway, I am so freakin delighted by how this episode ends on the "unhappy" note. This is what I'm always saying! Don't rush your story! Give your audience time to sit with it! Break it up! Don't be afraid to occasionally end on these downer notes—it makes the happy endings all the happier!

This episode is a be-a-u-ti-ful example of how to do it. <3

Six out of six tenders, even if I don't agree with the "framing device" strategy for S4 this opener is still a masterpiece

[houseofdabs]

It's Raining Cats and Dogs Out There

This isn't nothing serious, just wanted to write sumn, might not be too good, I haven't written nothing in years.

warnings: none

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

Bo had slept in, something that wasn't particularly rare, but something he wasn't too keen on. Maybe it was from the lack of sun in his face, or the comfortable cool that made it so easy to curl into the blankets on his bed, but it was more than likely from the exhaustion he accumulated from so many nights full of work and less of sleeping. Deep down he knew he needed the extra sleep but as quick as the thought came it was just as quickly replaced with the self-degradation that pushed him to work hours on end with little care for himself-- the fuel that worked him near death in order to prove himself. The wind outside began to pick up and Bo peaked out the window to watch the dead leaves that danced within it, the thought that the only movement in the desolate town being dead itself made him frown a little. Gray clouds above covered the usual harsh rays of the Louisiana sun, what was once a vibrant sky was now dull. The blanketed sky looked heavy and with every movement threatened to burst and unleash the gallons of water it held.

Bo weighed his options in his head: he could either hurry up and make his way to the station to work before the rain started or he could stay and spend his day inside. His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of rainfall outside the window, mother earth decided for him-- he was spending the day inside.

He made his way downstairs to the kitchen, the weather had him hankering for something warm to combat the chill that the elements brought with it, coffee sounded real good. Bo didn't realize how hungry he was until his stomach announced it's vacant state, he supposed some breakfast wouldn't hurt either, and it wasn't often he had the time or care in mind to make himself an early meal. He just hoped the eggs and bacon hadn't spoiled.

The storm outside had picked up significantly and he didn't hear the small taps from Jonesy coming in from the doggy door in the back, the dog nearly made him drop the egg he was about to crack as she shook the water from her coat, some hitting Bo.

"God damnit, Jonesy, you 'bout scared the mess outta me!" Bo hollered as he watched the dog dry off, "ah, quit that, yer gettin' water everywhere." He grabbed a stray washcloth and wiped her down a bit before he threw it on the ground, an attempt to pick up some of the puddle that accumulated at the pups feet. "What am I gonna do with you?"

After he dealt with Jonesy, Bo turned his attention back to the stove, more focused on his egg sunny side up than the dog at his feet. In the middle of moving the egg around there was a clap of thunder outside that caused him to jolt, the spatula breaking the yolk from Bo's harsh movement. A quick 'fuck' escaped his lips as he watched the runny liquid start to cook in the hot pan, he really wanted them sunny side up. He noticed Jonesy move and watch in interest as he plated the now 'ruined' egg.

"Quit yer beggin', got food in yer bowl, leave me alone." He grumbled as he cracked another egg in the pan before he made his way to start the coffee. Jonesy just sat and watched him before she headed over to lay under the kitchen table and out of Bo's way. Not long after the coffee machine was done rumbling, Bo had him a cup of the steaming liquid with the proper fixings, his plate at his space at the table, and a begging dog at his feet once again. As he brought a bite of egg to his mouth, he watched as Jonesy's interested peaked, she went from laying under the table to sitting upright beside him, her eyes followed the movement of his fork.

"Tsk," Bo sucked his teeth and narrowed his eyes, "now go on somewhere." In no mood to deal with the dog, he dropped his hand to swat her away but Jonesy stood her ground. Her head lolled to the side as she peered up at him with her big puppy dog eyes, a soft whimper leaving her muzzle.

"Nu uh, I'm fixin' to put you out if you don' hush up, don' give me none of that shit, what? Vincent don' feed you none?" He tried his best to ignore her eyes but he couldn't ignore the way she made a noise as he continued to eat. Bo sighed and his eyes fell to the egg that he had messed up earlier. He let out a huff as he fished the food off his plate and looked back at the pup.

"Alright, you wan' it? You gotta work fer it." He lifted the food to show her but as she went to lunge he held his hand up, halting her movements. "What I say? Now," he pointed his pointer and middle finger in the shape of a gun at Jonesy, "BANG!" She stared up at him, tilting her head again and Bo felt a little embarrassed that she didn't respond correctly.

"Damnit, girl," he attempted once more, "BANG! Jonesy play dead gosh-dangit!" Bo's lips curled up a bit as the dog did as told, although not with as much enthusiasm as she would with his other siblings, but he supposed it was enough. Bo plopped the egg down on the ground for her and Jonesy scrambled to eat it the second she heard it hit the ground.

"Actin' like we'on feed you, shameful." He shook his head and sucked his teeth before he finished his plate. He sipped from his mug and peered down at Jonesy from the rim as she stamped her front paws a little, her head jolted as she softly barked at him.

"I'on got nothin' for you, now g'on, get." Bo nudged her out of the way as he got up, piling his dishes in the sink before making his way to the living room, Jonesy followed at his heels.

Bo stood in the middle of room and scanned the contents it held, trying to decide if he wanted to read or watch a movie but he changed his mind the second his eyes fell on his parents old cassette player. His fingers skimmed the cassette holder and stopped on Marty Robbins' "Return of the Gunfighter", nothing too sad and he loved storytelling. The peaceful guitar contrasted the harsh snap of thunder outside; it calmed him.

The tape played as he settled into the couch, his fingers drummed along to 'San Angelo' as it played in the background. While he preferred the twangy sound of Johnny Cash telling the big guys to shove it, he couldn't help but feel something for the expressive guitar, the Tex-Mex style bewitched him. He enjoyed the songs of a lone cowboy who had no time for love, but his favorites were the ones in which an outlaw managed to find a companion despite their wrongs. Love was always described so sickly sweet, and while he was usually put off by it, he couldn't deny he yearned for it, the idea that someone could love a criminal like the outlaws that were sung about, maybe someone like himself.

The once warm cup in his hands was now cold, the liquid inside had cooled while he sat in thought but Bo couldn't bring himself to care. Jonesy stretched as she laid beside him, her head found its way in the man's lap as she nestled in the couch. He bought his hand down to scratch her side, chuckling a bit as her leg kicked before giving her a couple smacks on her side. Her tail drummed wildly against the sofa and she wiggled further into his lap, licking at his hands.

"Alright, now settle down, girl." He smiled and brought his hand up to rub her head, his cup now abandoned on the table beside him. He readjusted himself, careful not to disturb the animal in his lap as he got more comfortable. Bo allowed himself to further sink into the cushions, sighing contently as he laid his head back. He finally relaxed, his eyes closed as he listened to the rainfall's percussive taps as it landed on the earth around him, lulling him to sleep.

Vincent made his way to the house through the tunnels, having finally finished the wax sculpture that kept him up all night. As he made his way from his late father's office, he took notice of how quiet the house was aside from the quiet melody of Marty Robbins that played in the living room. He stopped walking when his gaze fell on his twin and his dog cuddled on the couch, Bo's chest rising in falling as he slept. Vincent watched for a while before he retreated back to the hall closet and retrieved a blanket for them. Carefully as not to wake them, the twin laid it over the two. He grabbed the coffee cup Bo ditched on the table and took it in the kitchen, noticing his brother managed to cook breakfast. Vincent picked up a covered plate that sat on the stove, smiling behind the mask when he realized that his brother fixed him some as well. He retreated to his room with the food, taking one last glance at Bo and Jonesy before ascending the stairs.

[belphesnore]

it’s not part of those question lists but i’ve been wanting to know how was your mcs relationship with belphie after chapter 16? i think you mentioned that they tried to get mammon to Get belphie?

OH GOD ITS BEEN SO LONG, I FORGOT ABOUT THAT, im rambling so i'll leave all this shit below the cut lol

the original idea was like. okay so she's pretty clever and makes a lot of snap decisions, right? she knows she's not going to be able to fight him herself, and the last thing she wants is to be within arms reach. Tex is way too caught up in her need for immediate retribution that she uses her pact with mammon, a significantly more powerful demon, to fuck him up for her. And i feel like this would crumble a lot of the relationships she'd built up over season one, like there should definitely be consequences to her trying to use mammon as a pawn against like. his own relative. i also just think its an interesting take on mammon's original mc bodyguard role.

etc etc the shitshow is shut down by diavolo and lucifer and shit's tense for a while after. i'm not 100% sure if i want to go with this!! it's fun but i also like the idea of tex just going absolutely apeshit herself so like. decisions decisions.

EITHER WAY, i think she'd blank belphie for the longest time. Just straight up treating him like a ghost, staring right through him at dinner, hardly acknowledges him. He escalates it w a really petty confrontation, Tex starts skipping mutual classes, and then lucifer is like Thats Enough and makes tex tutor belphegor for like. the entire 5 months of classes he missed and needs to catch up on. wacky hateboner hijinks ensue, she's being very obviously fake and customer service-y, still avoids him in every other situation at all costs until they're outside olone at one of diavolo's big ass parties

they're both avoiding the crowd in the same exact spot because of course they are, she makes a move to leave and he stops her to Actually Apologize For Realsies This Time, says some sappy shit like how he appreciates her or whatever and if she can trust him again for like just THIS once and go back to HOL w him, he can prove he's not dangerous and he's got a gift that was, like, a rly huge pain in the ass to get and its a secret so like pls dont b a bitch just trust me ok? ok.

tex drops the facade for the first time in 2 months and she's like FINE. but we're bringing beel as a chaperone in case u try and pull any shit. and he's like alright ok that's fair. and they go back to the attic and belph pulls out this trunk and its just a SHIT TON of human realm weed that he made solomon take him to get and he's like "youve been sleeping like shit and its exhausting ME and you definitely don't want MY help. and asmo said smth about you missing it. see? im SO NICE." and she gives him a very tentative "..ok i forgive you lmao" & now they're smoke buddies. beel is eating a couch and in the meantime they sit outside on whatever the HOL equivalent of shoddy deck furniture is and actually start talking all the attic shit and exchange program reservations and lilith bullshit out.

[moved-to-void-kissed]

Split of Twin Flowers

After being rescued from the realm of darkness, Aria seeks a way to give Ves a chance at living her own life, while also continuing to survive in her own right. Aqua brings her to the scientists at Radiant Garden to see if they have a solution, and for Aria to explain her situation, but the only option available may carry some worrying implications.. (3937 words)

Takes place after the ending of KH3. Content warning for mentions of battle scars, talk of a character being possessed, an event comparable to an exorcism (it’s kind of hard to explain in non-series-specific terms, sorry), and rather a lot of self-insert-focused exposition.

(Comments on and reblogs of my work are always okay, and appreciated, but are by no means required. I recommend reading this piece on the original document, but if that doesn't work, a transcript has been copied and pasted under the readmore.)

tag list: @thatslikesometaldude | @garchompp | @beeon | @tex-treasures | @catake | @tartaglialovemail | @catcao | @lilacslovers | @kissofthemoonrabbit | @vilehusband | @dragonsmooch | @childrenofmeyneth | @kalliopi-ships | @blackbirdcrime | @strawberryshipz (to be tagged in what I make, please click here!)

This is a piece I have been working on for a long time, and am very proud of, so I really appreciate anyone who takes the time to read it. I hope it isn’t quite as heavy as the content warnings may possibly indicate. I’m also using it as my post for the twenty-ninth day of sapphic September; there’s just one more to go!

Document transcript:

The door to the laboratory opened halfway, and a young woman tentatively poked her head around it. Upon seeing that she was not interrupting anything, she smiled and emerged more properly, brushing a lock of blue hair from her face.

“Oh, Master Aqua!” The lone scientist in the room smiled warmly as he noticed her. “Thank you for coming. I’m glad to see you’re alright.”

“Thank you, Ienzo.” Aqua replied, even if she did still in fact look rather tired. The long battle to defeat Master Xehanort and the true Organisation still felt fresh in her mind, and although it was a fight that the light had eventually won, it had still taken quite a toll on her. Not only that, but she hadn’t had the same chance to rest as the others - though thoughts of locating Sora still weighed on everyone’s minds, Aqua had been more concerned with finding a way back into the realm of darkness in order to rescue Aria, her partner who she had so unwillingly abandoned..

Now that Aria was finally free as well, Aqua could let herself relax a bit more, and with that lowering of her guard came much contemplation of everything she had gone through.

“Um.. Master Aqua?”

“Ah!”

She’d been staring off into space again, judging by Ienzo’s worried expression half-visible under his hair.

“Is everything alright?”

“Yes, don’t worry!” she replied, slightly embarrassed at her lapse in concentration. The young scientist did not look entirely convinced, but he seemed content enough to continue.

“I’m the only one here at the moment, but I should still be able to help with what we talked about over the Gummiphone. Did you happen to bring Aria with you?”

At this, the half-open door Aqua had come through continued to swing open as if of its own accord, only to reveal another young woman entering the laboratory with a somewhat nervous expression. She had clearly been through a lot, and the realm of darkness she had reportedly been trapped in for aeons had definitely left its mark on her; several large patches of darkness could be seen spanning her face and body, with one reaching down her left eye like a melting wound.

“Yes, I’m here..”

Her catlike eyes flickered nervously around the room, and it soon became apparent that what Ienzo had thought was a cape were in fact a pair of black feathered wings, both subconsciously curling around her shoulders. It was only upon recognising that Ienzo was the only one present, and that his initial reaction to seeing her was not as negative as she was expecting, that she was able to relax slightly and explain herself from behind a now-steeled facade.

“My name is Aria.” she said, looking up at the scientist from under her messy blonde hair. “Aqua said you might be able to help me achieve something. Has she already.. told you about, well-”

“We’ve already spoken a little bit using the Gummiphone I was given before, but he said it was best for us to come and talk in person to try and get everything clear.” Aqua stepped in after sensing Aria’s hesitation and took her hand to support her partner. “It’s alright - you can trust him,” she whispered close to her ear.

Trusting only in her love’s reassurance, Aria started to explain her intentions to Ienzo, who seemed content to listen even considering the clear presence of darkness she had; this silent gesture of tolerance was greatly appreciated. She appeared hesitant to reveal much of her true nature as a Heartless, but she did what she could to inquire whether the young scientist knew any way for a heart to be released from its current body and inhabit a different one, allowing the dormant self within the original body to reawaken. Unfortunately, Ienzo remained pensive, even after she had said her part.

“So, you’re looking for a way for a heart to enter a new body? I’m sorry, but.. I’m not sure we’ll be able to help you. Any of the resources we could have used - which is to say, the replicas, they would have been perfect for this - were taken by Roxas, Xion, and Naminé’s hearts.”

“Oh. So, there is nothing you can do?” Aria persisted, but Ienzo shook his head.

Then came a flash of hesitant inspiration.

“Unless..” He trailed off and turned to look down one of the corridors leading away from the main lab space. “Could you two come with me, please?”

“Of course!” said Aqua brightly, as Aria nodded in assent.

==========

The three left the main hub of the laboratory to walk down the corridor, which felt as though it was turning downwards into a basement level of sorts. Once there, they came to a tall door which Ienzo unlocked with some sort of biometric scanner, and this opened out into yet another laboratory space with a similar layout to the first - however, this one seemed in a less presentable condition than the other, and its lack of windows seemed to be what was giving it a more foreboding presence. There was a distinct sense that something bad had happened here, once upon a time.

“After you and the other Guardians of Light helped to defeat Master Xehanort,” Ienzo was saying to Aqua, “we went back to the Keyblade Graveyard to see if there was anything to salvage from the battlefield, and we were able to bring this back with us.”

He gestured to a container at the far wall, in which the two Keyblade wielders could now see a strange white figure suspended inside, resembling a featureless mannequin. It appeared to be dressed in some kind of dark robes, of a dull purple colour inlaid with sharp red motifs, worn over pieces of tarnished metal armour. A number of scuffs and dents littered the otherwise-smooth surface, and Aria could sense traces of a dark presence seeping from the container, despite the blank nature of the figure itself.

“What is this..?”

“This is one of the replicas that Even created, back when he was still Vexen, and a member of the first Organisation.” Ienzo explained. “The first twelve were prototypes, initially abandoned as failures, since they were made before his assistant provided the data needed to perfect them, but.. From what I understand, the real Organisation - which Vexen was also a part of at the beginning - repurposed those twelve into vessels for Xehanort’s heart, as backups in case the people they brought through time fell in battle again.”

“That’s right, I remember fighting these now.” muttered Aqua. “But, didn’t they fuse into one form, eventually?”

“That’s what I thought, too, from your accounts of the situation.” replied the scientist. “I’m not sure if Sora defeating the replicas in battle made them all separate out again, since they weren’t really designed to be fused, or if this one was already too damaged to combine with the others in the first place. Regardless, it was the only one we recovered.”

He now turned to face the blank figure with a concerned expression. “We’ve been running some experiments to see whether it can be repurposed for anything, but.. There’s a lot of darkness still lingering within it, so it wouldn’t be safe for a heart of light to inhabit without risking it also being afflicted by that darkness. And we haven’t found a good way of destroying that darkness without compromising the replica, either.”

“I could sense the dark power when I saw it, so corruption would seem a likely outcome.” Aria mused. “This would also be darkness from Xehanort, so.. it isn’t that surprising that some part of it stuck around. Persistence did seem to be his only worthwhile trait.”

She had crossed her arms in contempt at this last part, but seemed satisfied enough to relax after studying the replica further. “It shouldn’t matter any more than he did in the long run, though.”

“Hmm..” Aqua seemed concerned about the prospect, but was trying to keep an open mind. “What do you make of it, Aria?”

“Well..” She took a moment to examine the figure with an unchanging expression. “The replica body itself has sustained some damage from the fight, but I don’t see why that would affect my ability to inhabit it - it’s just possible that those injuries would reflect in my new appearance, which is.. nothing I’m not accustomed to. And, if the heart within a replica determines its appearance, then maybe what’s left of my heart - or, I suppose, the heart that I once was - would be able to smooth over those gaps. Though, if it’s the latter, that could mean my appearance ends up changing, which.. is not what I want.”

Aqua tentatively nodded, but Ienzo seemed more visibly confused.

“I’m sorry to interject, but- what do you mean by “the heart that you once were”? You’re saying that that’s different to your heart, somehow?”

“..In a sense, yes. How do I explain this..?” There was a slight pause as Aria tried to gather her thoughts, and it was clear she was still trying to think by the hesitant nature of her words that followed. She had seen right through to the heart of the man standing before her, which glowed with a newly-restored lustre. It was a heart that sought to help people, and sought knowledge in order to do that, though there were visible flickers of a long-seated regret present as well. Still, it was a heart that she judged would not judge her, so she decided to provide it with the truth she hoped would sate it.

“Though I look mostly human to you, this- isn’t technically my body, however much I treated it as such. If I were to let go of this vessel, or be driven out from her, you would see me as I really am - a Heartless, a flowering thing. However, Heartless are created when a heart is consumed by darkness, so.. surely the appearance I would take if I were to possess a blank replica would be that of the person this heart - my heart - used to belong to. Only, I don’t- I don’t really see myself as him, or as Ves. I am different, I am my own- well, person, if I can even call myself that. Yet, when I imagine my appearance outside of this vessel, I can only see myself as a Heartless. Does that make any sense?”

“I think I follow..” the scientist mumbled, though his still-furrowed brow seemed to indicate otherwise. “So, you kept your memories of who you were, even after turning into a Heartless? Kairi had implied that the same thing happened to Sora, but.. I’d just attributed that to him turning the Keyblade of heart on himself to free her, so it wouldn’t have happened to anyone else.”

This claim caused Aria to shake her head. “To my knowledge, the method is irrelevant; what matters is the intention. The more willingly a person opens their heart to the darkness, the more of their mind they keep when their heart is consumed, and they become a Heartless. I believe this is what happened with Ansem, though he actively sought after darkness so strongly that he retained a human appearance as well as mind. The emblem on his chest was the only way an onlooker could tell his true nature. When it comes to my original self, he was a Keyblade wielder, very similar to what I know of Sora, but… though he certainly did not willingly or deliberately let his heart be consumed, he was able to accept his fate in his final moments, and that is what allowed the Heartless formed at his demise - so, in other words, me - to retain some semblance of mind and self. Just.. not as much of it.”

“Oh. Yes, I think that makes more sense now. Thank you for the clarification.” said Ienzo. He was writing something furiously in a book that seemed to appear out of nowhere, then became startled when he realised his blunder. In an instant, he opened his mouth to ask something, but closed it with relief when Aria’s expression reassured him she did not mind him making notes about her.

It was Aqua’s turn to speak up now. “It’s so interesting to hear about this from you, Aria - but, I can’t say I’ve seen that kind of behaviour in any of the Heartless I’ve fought before. Had you noticed it at any point while we were in the realm of darkness?”

“Not that I can recall.” she replied. “It isn't exactly that common of an occurrence, considering most people’s disdain for the darkness. And, not only that, but..” She turned away from the other two here, and her next words came much more reluctantly again.

“Before I took over Ves, I remember feeling that I was losing myself - all I was driven by was this desire to be complete again, to be human again, but that was fading away over time. Then, when I found her, I didn’t necessarily feel more human, but what sense of humanity I did have was no longer fading away. So, if I hadn’t found her or someone like her in time, I probably would have lost my sense of self completely, and become just as mindless as most other Heartless are. It’s only thanks to the type of Heartless I became that I was even able to possess her in the first place, and.. I didn’t start to truly feel more like a person until I met other Keyblade wielders, and they interacted with me.”

“I see, I see.. So you’re saying that, in those Heartless that retain a sense of who they were before becoming Heartless, the remnants of normal heart behaviour - of humanity, if you will - have to be nurtured by others in order to be sustained, and will just be lost to the darkness if not actively encouraged?”

“Yes.”

Ienzo paused to finish hastily scribbling this knowledge down in his notebook, then lifted his head in realisation once he had had some time to think. “I think I might remember something of that from the old Organisation, actually.. Though, the memory is very hazy..”

To stop his mind from wandering as it wanted to, he returned to address the matter at hand.

“From what you’ve said, Aria, it does sound like you’d be able to make use of this replica - and you may well be the only one who could. I don’t think there’s any other solution here for you, and.. I say there’s no better way to find out than by experimenting. Give me a moment to get everything ready, and then we’ll be set to see if it works!”

Aria nodded, content with the proposal, but Aqua reached out to take her hand with a worried expression.

“Aria, are you sure you want to do this..?”

“Of course I am, Aqua. This is why I came here.” she replied. Then she hesitated again. “..Why, is there something wrong?”

“Well, no, it’s just-” Aqua took a moment to settle her whirling thoughts, holding both of Aria’s hands in her own now. “I don’t know what’s going to happen when I use my Keyblade on you. I don’t want to hurt you, or even destroy you. And, if something happened with the darkness infecting the replica, then..”

Aria couldn’t bring herself to meet Aqua’s gaze, but it was clear she appreciated the consideration, and did her best to reassure her love. “If I could leave of my own accord, I would have done so by now, but.. we’ve become too intertwined for me to do that myself. And Ves is not quite strong enough to drive me out from within - it’s enough of an effort for her to stay existing in the first place. So.. an outside force seems to be the only way to separate us. And there isn’t anyone I’d trust to wield that force, other than you.”

Despite herself, Aqua couldn’t help but smile at the last admission, and she felt her normal confidence returning. “..Alright then. If you’re sure about this, then.. I’m happy to be able to help.”

The two embraced for a moment, then there was a pause of silence as Aria took a few steps back to stand in the middle of the room. Once Ienzo had brought the replica out of its container, he carried it around to the other end of the laboratory, closer to the other two. Aqua summoned her Brightcrest Keyblade, then slowly raised its tip to be level with the X on Aria’s outfit. She took a deep breath, then pointed the Keyblade directly at her partner, echoing the movement used to open the paths to new worlds.

Aria instinctively flinched when a thin beam of bright light shot forward from the tip of Aqua’s Keyblade, striking her directly in the chest. She was then forced down into a kneel as an aura of pink-tinted darkness began to escape from her body. Her expression was grim, as if she was in pain, but Aqua caught sight of a hint of a smile before the darkness now emanating much more rapidly from her form started rising up to create something above her. It almost completely engulfed her body as if to pull it upwards too, seeming particularly concentrated around her head and wings, before disconnecting entirely to drop a drained figure to the floor. This left a dense collection of dark pink wisps, amalgamating in the air.

Ienzo was now well off to the side, looking rather alarmed, but his expression was replaced with complete surprise when the amorphous cluster of darkness coalesced, giving way to what looked like a floating mass of pink petals. Eventually, it turned around to reveal a large jagged mouth and piercing yellow eyes, staring with an expression he found difficult to interpret. The Heartless stayed floating in place for a moment, as if disoriented, then suddenly appeared to notice Aqua, staring at her curiously.

“Aria..?”

Her tentative call was clearly recognised by the flowering monster, which began to float cautiously towards her. She still had her Keyblade summoned, and her hand was trembling ever-so-slightly - whether with nervousness, uncertainty, or something else entirely, it was impossible to tell. Then, Ienzo stepped between the two and lifted up the replica body, hoping that Aria still remembered the plan.

“Here!”

It seemed the Heartless remained aware, as she moved forwards more purposefully after this, and collided directly with the empty vessel’s centre. A few petals scattered from the force, but it took only a few moments for the Heartless’ form to disappear entirely, appearing to be absorbed into the replica body. This caused another aura of darkness to manifest, enveloping the blank surface of the replica and making Ienzo recoil from the body - but it caught itself as it fell from his grasp to end up kneeling on all fours. A few more moments passed, as the darkness engulfed the entire body in a shell, before gradually dissipating after a few gold sparks were seen being forced out of the system.

The figure that stood up was slightly smaller than the replica had looked in the container, with catlike ears now poking upwards from a fluffy head of golden blonde hair. As she lifted her head, a cluster of cute freckles were seen scattered across her face, though in what Aqua thought was a slightly different arrangement than before. There were other little differences here and there, as well - the shape of her face, the way her hair fell at the back, how she stood dressed in the unfamiliar clothes from the replica in the middle of the silent laboratory.

But all of Aqua’s worries disappeared when the girl standing before her opened her eyes. Neither the bright, empty yellow of the lesser, mindless Heartless, nor a piercing orange like the seeker of darkness, nor even the harsh cold shade between the two that Aria’s eyes had been before, but a warm and resolute amber was the colour that met Aqua’s gaze, and regarded her with a renewed sense of gratitude and love.

“Aria!”

The Keyblade Master ran across the room towards her partner and nearly knocked her over with the energy of her emotions. Aria was nervous, but comfortably allowed herself to melt into Aqua’s embrace, now able to feel the connection between the pair even more strongly than before. Something felt so much more tangible about her presence now, and the relief coursing through her new body was enough to bring tears to her eyes.

“Aqua, it really worked..!” she smiled, speaking in a quiet voice filled with gratitude.

“I’m so glad you’re alright!” exclaimed Aqua, who also had a few tears in her eyes. “How do you feel? Is everything okay?”

“Yes, it’s all fine, I promise.” she asserted. “The replica’s darkness was not organised; it was just remnants that my presence has removed. I feel.. different, but in the best possible way. I could never have done this without you here with me - thank you, so much, for being here..”

She trailed off, still smiling at her partner, and another wonderful moment came and went. Then, a movement from behind Aqua caused Aria’s expression to take on a slightly fearful quality, and she turned her head to see what was happening. The cause of this movement was the figure left behind when Aqua set Aria free, who was slowly trying to get to her feet, her heart’s light flickering nervously. A bright green eye could be seen darting anxiously around the room from under her hair, but she was too weak to properly move, and quickly fell back to the ground again. Ienzo stepped in to support her, and his assistance was clearly welcomed as she was just about able to stand.

“Please take her somewhere she can recover.” Aria requested hurriedly. “After everything I put her through, she needs every opportunity she can to rest and adjust to being herself again..”

“Don’t worry. We have good facilities here.” Ienzo assured her. “Everything will be fine.”

This did little to ease Aria’s guilt, but the gesture was nevertheless appreciated. “Thank you, Ienzo.”

The scientist nodded, and then slowly helped the girl walk to the corridor. She appeared to be very shaken, and was glancing at everything with apprehension and unfamiliarity, but as she turned the corner of the corridor, she looked back at the couple still standing side-by-side, and met the eyes of both her saviour and her prison.

(For all that you have done to me, I know why you do not deserve forgiveness.

But, this is not the first time we have seen each other face-to-face since that day, thanks to that mirror you found in the darkness.

And ever since that moment, you have sought a way to free yourself from me. To let me live the life you once denied me. To break the hold that any other being you’d call your kind would do everything to strengthen.

You calculated the risks, but you still took them - the risk you would lose everything and the one person you cared for, for the sake of me getting to “get rid of you”.

So, who am I to judge a person - the person you have become - by the actions of the creature you once were..?)

A ghost of a smile flickered over her face, and the long-held vessel finally free again spoke of her own accord for the first time since the age of ancient fairytales.

“Thank you, Aria..”