Some fanart I did for @yinnanyan's Camp Cretaceous fic on AO3. I discovered it a few months back and have been think about it a lot lately so I had to draw the Nublar Six as described in this fic. Link below to go read it for yourself!!!
if you clocked Yaz's profile pic for sammy at the beginning of episode 6, then you saw the beautiful render of the art I designed for that asset! I had a lot of dark scenes this episode (the beginning and the end bits) so getting to stretch my brain around something so sweet and lovely was super fun!
Top image is the one I settled on, middle two show side by side comparison of my boards and final look, bottom two depict various other icons I explored as alternate options.
!!! SOME JWCT / JURASSIC WORLD CHAOS THEORY SPOILERS AHEAD !!!
|||
|||
|||
|||
|||
|||
|||
|||
Anywho, Magma Studio art jam round 2 with some of the Chaos Theory story artists to celebrate Chaos Theory Release weekend! Thank you so much to everyone who's taken the time to watch and get invested in our show. :] - Contributors included @neunhofferart, @tio-trile, @kngstr, Fernando Caire, and myself
Scale of 1-10, 1 being not at all, 10 being holy shit what the fuck.
Yasammy: The classic ship. The high school sweethearts. The wives. They're a solid level 6. Above average level of freak, but nothing too crazy. I think that if one of them gets jealous, things get really intense, and every once and awhile they tie each other up and/or edge each other, but other than that its standard stuff. I think that 9 times out of 10 they like having really soft loving sex.
Benji: Level 4. Below average level of freak. I think that on occasion things get really heated, but most of the time they have the softest and sweetest moments of intimacy you can imagine. For these two, its honestly more about the aftercare.
Dinostar: Level 5. Right in the middle. To me, these two have a QPR dynamic, so there's a lack of traditional romance, but they do have a sexual relationship. I think that when they first established that they were in a committed QPR together, and opened the doors to being sexual partners, they probably went at it like crazy. However, I think that as the years go by its kinda a chill thing for them. Sometimes they go months without having sex, sometimes they fuck in the middle of the kitchen. Also, it should be noted that I personally believe that they'd have an open relationship.
Kenlynn: They were a level 3. I think Brooklynn likely wanted things to intensify, but that just wasn't Kenji's thing. I think that they probably really enjoyed each other for a long time, but after awhile Kenji stopped feeling connected during sex, and Brooklynn started feeling bored during sex.
Brokerlynn: These two had a freak level of 8. These two were insane when they were together. I'm talking Brooklynn was discovering new things about herself every night. Soyona had that girl bent over every surface in the penthouse.
Another Fic idea! The Camp Fam actually talks all together after everything happens, and everyone basically apologizing for things that they did, for example, Sammy and Yaz not listening to each other, Brooklynn running away, Kenji punching Darius, Darius ghosting everyone, and whatever else you can think of, perhaps. By the way, yes, I did in fact just copy and paste these from our convo because I was too lazy lmao
i still have faith in you
“I want us to be a normal family. As normal as we could be, after something like— like Nublar. A family that supports each other and argues sometimes but always loves each other at the end of the day... But we’re broken. We’re a broken family.”
“We’re— we’re not broken, Sammy.”
“Yeah, we are.”
“We’re just... hurting. We’re not broken.”
“We kind of are — but we can fix it though. Right?”
.o0o.
Alone and in jail for the Biosyn incident, the camp fam finally talk about everything and attempt to fix what’s badly broken between them all.
!!!! trigger warning for past suicidal ideation. this fic is very emotionally intense, please don’t read if it may upset you!
They hug like hurricanes, the camp fam. Wild and relentless, like they’re dangling in mid air off a cliff and trusting nothing but the others to catch them. Their hugs range from tender to desperate, the gentlest hold to cutting off circulation. A firestorm of love they throw themselves into, pure instinct melding with years of each other being the ones they run to.
Yet, they’ve never clung to each other, never with such a primal, frantic frenzy, as now. They’ve barely been dumped in the shared cell together for more than a second, before they pile on each other: Kenji tackles Darius, the two clutching each other tight, and Brooklynn, Yaz and Sammy all collapse into each other, heads lovingly tucked into shoulders, foreheads pressed together in something far more intimate than a kiss. The two little groups merge after a while, gasping for breath. They love with nails so frantic, they make tiny scratches on each other’s skin. They clutch each other until they press into the harsh jut of each other’s bones and joints, and they feel the exertion in their muscles. But they hold on tight.
Because nothing hurt more than being apart.
And when they finally break apart, Brooklynn grips Darius’s hand, her eyes wide and wild, and says, “Ben is alive! Ben is alive.”
Their reactions are mixed. Sammy gasps, and Yaz buries her face in her hands. Kenji nods ever so slightly, and Darius grips Brooklynn’s hand, his eyes locked on hers the entire time. “Are you... are you sure?” He gasps with someone who isn’t brave enough to believe her yet. “How— how do you know?”
“I—” but before Brooklynn can reply, Kenji says, his eyes welling up, “She’s right.” The cell falls silent, as everyone turns to him. “I... I was in the hospital long enough to— to know. He didn’t wake up, he was... I don’t know, but he’s... he’s okay. Made it out of surgery. Gia’s looking after him.”
They all breathe a shaky sigh of relief. Yaz’s face crumples into tears, and Sammy hugs her close. Kenji covers his face with both of his hands, and Brooklynn has the decency to look away.
It’s a minute before Kenji says, “Brooklynn... how did you know?”
Brooklynn drops her voice, whipping her head behind and checking for cameras, before whispering. “Ben’s girlfriend — Gia — posed as a reporter. She spoke to me, asked me questions. She’s gonna help us get out of here. I saw a camera around her neck in a pendant.”
“She... took a page out of your book, huh?” Yaz says with a watery grin. A twitch of her lips says what words can’t. Look at who you are. Look at where you’ve come from. I know you’ve messed up. But I love you. I don’t recognise you. I love you. What happened to you? I love you.
“Bad influences, the lot of us,” Kenji says, his tone suggesting an attempt at a joke, but it falls flat.
The conversation fizzles out, settling between them. It hits them one by one that they need to talk. And there are a million and one things they could talk about. An impossible web none of them would even begin to know where to start unpicking.
Darius makes the first move. It’s always him — the leader, the guidance, their rallying cry. There’s something always quietly, fantastically brave in him. Something that makes the camp fam believe things are going to be okay. He clears his throat. Adjusts his position so his spine is tugged a little straighter.
And announces, in a voice soft as a feather, “I’m scared.”
No one speaks; how could they? What do they even say, to their young, brave leader whose shoulders they let the world rest on?
Into the silence, Darius continues, “God, I’m so scared. We— we could’ve died. Really died this time. Ben... God, I—” A sob catches on a perilous nail in his throat “—I really thought...”
“He’s okay,” Kenji says, voice shaking like he can’t quite believe it himself. “He’s okay, Darius. We got him out.”
“We almost didn’t.”
The truth rings, hollow, around the room. No pillows, no carpets, no soft human comforts to cushion the blow of bitter truth. Ben could’ve died. Any of them could’ve died. If they were a little slower, a little more tired, a little more indecisive... they could be planning Ben’s funeral right now.
“Ohh my God,” Darius says, dragging his hand over his face. “This is a mess. This is such a mess. I— I— I mean, what are we even supposed to do? What do we tell mom, Kenji? That we— we just ran off, disappeared for the second time with no notice?”
Kenji, concealing a small smile at being officially included in the Bowman family, says, “Look, I think it would be easier if we just told her the truth.”
“We can’t tell her the truth, Kenj. What— that we broke into Biosyn? We destroyed international research? Bypassed security to, what, uncover some grand conspiracy?” Hurt flashes across Brooklynn’s face, and she buries it quick. “That our stupid decisions got Ben—”
The cell is shocked into silence. They all know what they did — the six of them, as a group. The trespassing. The stowing away. The property destruction. Running, lying, nearly dying... There’s far too much to deal with, possibly too much to even trace.
“We aren’t just kids anymore,” Brooklynn says, her voice low. “Everything has changed since Nublar. We weren’t just running for our lives anymore. We — me especially — we broke the law.”
Yaz frowns, her expression indecipherable. “What were we doing, if not running for our lives?”
“We—” Brooklynn splutters. “It wasn’t just running scared. I— I made a choice. I was sick to death of running from everything that scared me, so... I chose to get involved.”
“Is that why you did it?” Sammy asks, her voice pillow-soft. It’s the first time she’s spoken this whole time, and the hurt wounding her face like a bruise is undeniable. “I just... want to know why.”
“I’m not sure myself,” Brooklynn says, her face half-honest — but even that is starting to lose credibility. Sammy’s eyebrows twist into a frown.
When Kenji next speaks, his voice is heavy. “If we really are going to do this — we have to be honest with each other. So that means we tell each other the truth, and nothing but the truth.” The legal wording doesn’t slip past them. They know they won’t escape the court appearances, the legal trials, the endless stream of lawyers.
“That starts with you, Brooklynn,” he says, voice hard and cold. “Why did you do it?”
Brooklynn sighs, her shoulders riding up and down. “Will you believe me if I say I don’t exactly know?”
“Not exactly,” Sammy says bluntly.
Brooklynn nods. “That’s fair. So... if I can’t tell you that, is there anything I can tell you?”
“How about when you first got involved. What happened there?”
Brooklynn chews on her lip, lost in thought. “Since the Lockwood incident, I’d been investigating on Dark Jurassic. I knew bad things were happening to those dinosaurs — and I thought that, since I had all the skills to investigate and all, I needed to help. At first, I just wanted to help the dinosaurs. I swear.”
“But then...?” Sammy’s eyebrows raise.
“Then... I began learning things. Just who was involved in this dinosaur trafficking ring. It wasn’t just a few bad eggs. It was every other rich and powerful person who’d had dealings with dinosaur trafficking — either for their ownership, or to commercialise and sell. It was so much bigger than I could even understand. And I knew I needed a way in: someone rich who I could extract intel from.”
Kenji’s eyes are grim. “My father.”
Brooklynn shuffles to face him. “I shouldn’t have spoken to him behind your back, and I never should’ve let him get in the way of our relationship. I... wasn’t a good girlfriend to you. I used you because you were close to him, and I was scared that, if we broke up, I’d lose that access. And I know that hurts. I truly can’t imagine.”
“Yeah. It kind of does hurt.” Kenji’s voice is cutting, slicing her heart to ribbons.
“I’m so sorry, Kenji.” Brooklynn bows her head. “I really am. And it’s okay if you aren’t ready to forgive me.”
“The thing is,” Kenji says, air rushing out of him like a deflating balloon, “I understand why you did it. Sort of. I— I mean, didn’t you just want to be done with dinosaurs? Didn’t you want to put it all behind you, and just get to be normal?”
“Sort of. For me, I thought that... after everything I’d been through — being Brooklynn The Nublar Survivor, rather than Brooklynn The Person — how could I look away? Obviously there were times I wanted to stop, but mostly, I was in too deep.”
“Right— you wanted to stop. But you didn’t. And I kind of understand that. You wanted to do what you thought was right. But still... faking your death? I— we all grieved you. You know that? Losing you drove a rift between me and Darius — and I’m not blaming you, cos I was a shitty person to Darius and that’s my fault. But it still happened. We still fell apart. Cos we were grieving you.”
Brooklynn shakes her head, tears pricking her eyes as she covers her mouth with her hand. “I’m sorry,” comes her muffled voice. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“I was a shitty person to you too, Kenj,” Darius says.
“No— no, don’t do that.” Kenji shakes his head. “I was way worse. I— fuck, I cut off the only support system I had to, what, be closer to my— abusive father?” The word strangles out of him. “You’re my brother.” Kenji’s eyes pierce straight into Darius’s with a clash of deep, pained brown. “And I treated you like dirt. All because I blamed you for something that wasn’t your fault.”
“I should’ve been there,” Darius says. The words are old and creaking, an ancient truth built deep into the depths of his brain with every nightmare culminating in the horrible truth. They can tell, just from the certainty of each syllable, it’s a mistake he’ll spend the rest of his life regretting.
“It’s better you weren’t,” Brooklynn says. “You would’ve just got attacked yourself. Or worse...” She shudders, and the rest can’t help but feel the same. In spite of everything — every near death experience their fried nervous systems have endured over the years — the camp fam cannot fathom a world where any one of them is dead. Like— forever-dead-buried-in-the-ground dead. “I got lucky.”
“Brooklynn...” Darius’s voice comes, slow and heavy with a million words deciding what should be said. “This wasn’t another stunt for the cameras. You got seriously hurt.”
“I know that!” Brooklynn snaps, a flare of anger colouring her words bright red. Her fingers protectively circle her stump, and she says, voice clouding with sombre grey, “You don’t have to remind me. I knew the risks.”
“And you got involved anyway,” Sammy says.
Brooklynn looks at the four, all refusing to look at her. She searches in vain for a pair of understanding eyes — but everyone looks some variant of hurt. Hurt that she caused. Hurt she doesn’t know how to make right.
“I understand if you hate me,” Brooklynn says eventually. “If you need to be away from me, to be mad at me... I get it.”
“Don’t you see, Brooklynn?!” Sammy bursts, with such surprising volume it crashes across the stone cell right back in their ears with a flinch. “That’s just it! You— you shut yourself off from us, you think you know best, and you go off with these grand old dreams of saving everyone without thinking about what your actions might mean for us. And— and just assuming we’d still be there on the other side. Did you think about seeing us once, when you were pretending to be dead?”
“I thought about it every day, Sammy!” Brooklynn shouts. “It killed me to be apart from you guys — but I was being hunted. And I didn’t want you guys to be next.”
“Since when do we face anything alone?” Sammy cries. “We’re— we’re the camp fam, damn it!” But even her conviction wavers on the words. “We do everything together. I just... Why didn’t you ask for help, Brooklynn? Why did you go with Santos? Why did you choose her instead of us?”
Sammy is crying hard now, tears running down her cheeks in streams that pool on her jeans. She takes a big sniff, coughing on phlegm. Yaz rubs her back, but she half-heartedly flinches away, curling in on herself until her tangled black hair curtains her face away from everyone else.
They sit and listen to her, all four knowing they have to stomach those awful, awful sounds.
Eventually, she re-emerges, wiping her wet face with her sleeve. And it shatters Brooklynn’s soul to say, “I... I don’t have a reason. For why I went with Santos. I put my mission above you guys, and even though we stopped a dinosaur trafficking criminal, I still hurt you with that choice. A choice I never should’ve made in the first place.”
Sincerity hangs heavily in Brooklynn’s heart as she finally has the courage to look Sammy in the eye. “Sammy, I’m so sorry. I... am so sorry. You deserve a million times better than this. I— I was a shitty friend to you, and a shitty boyfriend to you, Kenji — and it’s the biggest regret of my life.”
“But would you change it?” Sammy asks suddenly.
Brooklynn blinks. “What— what do you mean?”
“Would you change the fact that you did it? If you could turn back time, and erase all of this — the investigation, the faking death, all of it — from existence, would you?”
“I— of course I would,” Brooklynn says, but she doesn’t sound sure.
“You’d really?”
“Yes! Yes, I would, okay! I— I don’t know if you’re asking me to regret putting Santos behind bars, or saving all those dinosaurs — but I can’t honestly say I wish I didn’t do that. If there was another way—”
“It isn’t about them,” Sammy explodes, a fresh wave of tears springing to her eyes. “It’s about us! The six of us, and the friendship you ruined!”
A gasp snatches from the air, and Yaz hisses, “That’s a little harsh, Sammy.”
Sammy’s eyes narrow. “You’re taking her side? Again?”
“I— I’m not taking sides,” Yaz splutters. “I’m just saying, it wasn’t just Brooklynn who made things bad between us. Her... not-death impacted us all. I let myself drift away from everyone, before and after that. That’s on me, okay?”
“I— I know that, Yaz,” Sammy says softly. “It’s just that— you all have your other things. Darius has his speeches, and the DPW—”
“Not anymore,” Darius interjects, “I quit.”
“Yeah— but you still had something. And Kenji has his rock climbing—”
“Which I honestly might quit after that tree nightmare.”
“Let me finish you guys!” Sammy exclaims. “And Ben has college, Yaz has her studies in Wyoming, Brooklynn had— has her journalism — and I get we might not have these things anymore, but you guys were all I had!”
“What about the farm?” Yaz asks, eyebrows raised.
“Yeah, sure— but it wasn’t enough to make me forget my own family had abandoned me.”
“We never meant to...” Darius trails off — because they had meant to and they all knew it. They’d never intend to hurt Sammy, but they did want to get away from everything that was hurting them.
“I can’t hate you for it,” Sammy says. “God, sometimes I really wanted to — but I couldn’t. I just love you so much, and it hurts like fucking hell. I want us to be a normal family. As normal as we could be, after something like— like Nublar. A family that supports each other and argues sometimes but always loves each other at the end of the day.” Her eyes cloud over with sorrow; it’s like watching something die right before their eyes. “But we’re broken. We’re a broken family.”
“We’re— we’re not broken, Sammy,” Darius says, taken aback.
“Yeah, we are.”
“We’re just... hurting.” Darius chooses his words carefully. “We’re not broken.”
“We kind of are — but we can fix it though. Right?” Brooklynn says, eyebrows raised and hopeful, but something in her eyes doesn’t want the answer. “We can fix broken things.”
“Even... this?” Sammy’s voice echoes through the cell. “Us?”
“We’ve done harder things,” Brooklynn tries to smile.
Kenji looks at her darkly. “Have we? On Nublar it was us against the dinosaurs. And now...”
“It’s us against the problem,” Yaz finishes. “Not us against each other. Trick I learned in my psychology studies. It’s never gonna be us against each other. Yeah it’s difficult, but who says it’s above us?”
“Well— Brooklynn had her chance.” Sammy’s eyes are dark. “She chose Santos.”
“I was trying to keep you all safe!” Brooklynn cries. “The further Santos was from you guys, the better.”
“But we could’ve helped!” A sob snags on her throat.
“Sammy, I was in too deep, and there wasn’t much I could let on without endangering you guys too.”
“Just ask!” Sammy shrieks. “All you had to do was ask. Just— tell us something. Fucking communicate, Brooklynn! Don’t fuck off to Malta and make us wonder if you’re going to be alive the next time we try to call you.”
“Sammy, I—” couldn’t. She couldn’t. It’s a truth all of them know. Countless things held her back until she couldn’t do it alone anymore.
“Can one of you — any one of you — just communicate for once?!” Sammy is hysterical now, awful sounds of despair wrenching from her throat as she screams her throat hoarse. “I tried, okay? I tried! I tried to keep us together, and you all just... didn’t. None of you stayed, not one of you! All I wanted was for you to stay, Brooklynn—”
“I don’t know how to stay, okay?!”
The words crash around the cell like lightning. They echo all the way down the corridor and back, hitting them all a second later. The final piece of the puzzle slots into place.
“I— I don’t know how to stay,” she sobs. “Ever since I was a kid, I was going back and forth, for— for filming— an— and I didn’t make friends because they never stayed. I thought my— my fans were my friends, but— but they weren’t! They just came when I was useful and left when I wasn’t. A bunch of them were fucking creeps! My managers were fucking creeps! I was... I was thirteen!” A howl of pain erupts from her throat, making them all flinch. They share everything, the camp fam — almost everything. This was one of those things where none of them genuinely had any idea.
“An— and— then, we were on Nublar, and we got off, and I couldn’t hold still. Nowhere felt safe. Nothing felt steady. And with just me, and my dads pretending to suddenly have a relationship with me, I... I was lonely! And scared, and hurt, and... I thought that journalism would make me feel better — and it did, for a bit. But I got sucked in. I loved the adrenaline rush of it, the excitement, feeling like I was finally doing something — like I wasn’t just some pretty face, some brand name. Like I was helping someone. Like— if I couldn’t save myself, and I couldn’t save any of you, at least... I could save the dinosaurs. But everywhere I stayed, I got restless. And I ran, and ran until I tripped on my feet and had my arm ripped off.”
The cell is silent. Breathing in a synchronised song of horror, sorrow— but understanding. Like things finally begin to make sense.
“I was hooked on the adrenaline. That power— I mean, we were just kids, right? On Nublar. But now, I wasn’t just powerless. I could do something. I could make people afraid. I could protect you guys, instead of watching you run from dinosaurs, or— or almost get poisoned—” her eyes meet Sammy’s “—or wake up screaming—” she looks at Yaz “—I wanted to save you. I wanted to save everyone. I became someone with a mission. I forgot how to—” Shame sinks onto her face, covering it with a heavy blanket of regret. “I forgot— how to be a person. How to be real.”
“Do you want to be?” Darius asks, his voice stone cold.
“Be what?”
“Real. A real person. Who knows how to stay.”
“Of course I do!” Brooklynn’s voice loses all substance. Her voice is gasps, breaths, consonants punctuating a sad rush of air. “I tried— I did try. Back in Biosyn. But I thought none of you would accept me anymore. Cos I was different. I wasn’t the Brooklynn you wanted. You looked at me like a package you ordered that had come back wrong. I got all up in my head about how you deserved better, how you shouldn’t be stuck with someone like me ruining your life. If I couldn’t be with you, then I could at least finally save you.”
Brooklynn says six words that change everything.
“Then, there was the dinosaur stampede.”
Realisation sinks onto Yaz’s face, painting it with horror. “You... you weren’t going to—”
Her lips jam together, crumple into a grimace, and Brooklynn lets out a sob.
And shakes her head.
“Oh, Brooklynn,” Sammy gasps.
“I’m sorry. I swear— I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” She lets out a strangled sound midway between a hiccup and a sob, and buries her head in her knees. Her apologies fall into her jeans, muffled, but equally as heart-wrenching. Darius rubs her shoulder, letting her cry until she’s drained dry and mumbles something about “needing to conserve what little hydration we have.” The reminder of their current circumstances is bitter, grating on them like a thorn ripping their skin apart.
“We would’ve stopped you, if we were fast enough,” Kenji says remorsefully. “By the time I realised, Ben already had you.”
“Brooklynn, I swear, if we knew you were... if that’s what you were about to... I— we would’ve pushed you out of the way. All of us,” Darius says eventually.
“I really don’t want to die.” She sniffles, wiping her nose on the cuff of the drab, grey shirt the police gave her. “I just— hic!” she grabs Sammy’s hand “—I wanted to make things right. I really, really do — and I didn’t know what else I could do to prove how sorry I am, cos I am! I really am!”
“I know you wanted to make things right,” Sammy says, “But suicide isn’t the answer. Be honest, do you think we would’ve wanted to lose you — for real, this time — after thinking you were dead for months?”
Brooklynn shakes her head, tears and snot flying sideways across her face. “I— hic! wasn’t really thinking. I just... I wanted to save you.” Her face shifts, something awakening in her. “I think that’s why I did it. All of it. I just wanted to keep you guys safe.”
“Thank you,” Yaz says. “It means a lot that you tried to protect us.”
Brooklynn’s face falls. “Tried?”
“You did protect us,” Yaz corrects. “You kept Santos away in Malta, you saved our asses in Senegal with the crate and the Baryonyx — not to mention, that trick with the dino stampede did work, kinda.”
“It didn’t work!” Brooklynn howls. “It got Ben almost killed!”
“And if you hadn’t done that, one of us might’ve actually died. No point playing with what-if’s, B. We all saved each other in some way. Especially you.”
“And Ben,” Kenji adds, his face downcast.
“And you, Kenji.” Sammy earnestly squeezes his hand. “You got us out of that tree safe and sound.”
“And Darius saved us from the really big one.”
“Quetzalcoatlus,” Darius corrects Brooklynn, his dino-nerd reflexes showing more than ever. “But yeah... I guess so. And you and Sammy saved Bumpy, Yaz. You took him home.”
Yaz gives something of a smile that slides off her face in a second. “Now all that’s left is for us to get home.”
The gravity of that mission feels akin to climbing a mountain. They have to get out safe. And soon. Their crimes weren’t that bad— just... breaking and entering into Biosyn, destroying Wu’s research, espionage, Brooklynn’s eco terrorism she still hasn’t really told them about...
“Ohhhh, we’re so fucked,” Darius groans. “Guys— we’re going to prison.” None of them would make it out of prison unscathed. Not without their already slashed-up brains bearing even more psychological scars. They cannot go to prison.
“Not if we play our cards right,” says Brooklynn.
“And how do we do that?” Sammy demands, her tone edged with ice. “Another elaborate Brooklynn scheme?”
“I— I don’t know!” Brooklynn exclaims. Her face twists into one of concentration. “I’ll think of something, okay? We did stop an illegal dinosaur trafficking ring, and shut down the raptor murder weapons training thing... Maybe the courts will take it easy on us.”
“And Wu did tell us to destroy his research,” adds Yaz hopefully. “Maybe he’ll vouch for us in court.”
“Yeah, okay— say we get out of here, somehow legally unscathed,” Sammy says, her face still gloomy. “We still have to deal with the repercussions of... everything. Past and present.” No one misses how her eyes ghost over Yaz’s.
Yaz meets Sammy’s gaze with a soft look. “Sam... I was a bad girlfriend. My PTSD doesn’t excuse that. But— would you let me at least explain myself? Please?”
Sammy gives a tiny nod.
“I... When you’re an athlete,” Yaz begins, “There is so much God damn pressure not to struggle. You don’t— show you are having a hard time. You just knuckle down and get on with it. And I guess some of that bled into my PTSD. I didn’t want anyone to see me struggle, because I was the strong one. Not on Nublar. Not on Mantah Corp Island. Not when everyone was looking at me and seeing Yaz Fadoula, the girl who has nightmares. And when I got off, and I got diagnosed with PTSD... I got tired of that being everything people saw. Even...” Her ribs squeeze her lungs until they puff into her throat. “Even you, Sammy. I’m sorry to say. I just— I know you meant well, but as my PTSD got worse, I feel like that became all you saw of me. You wanted to take care of me instead of be a girlfriend. And taking care of each other is part of it, sure, but so is trusting each other. Trusting that I’m going to be okay. And I can look after myself.”
“But you— you didn’t ask!” Sammy exclaims. “You cut me off, you barely texted — of course I worried!”
“I stopped texting because you were overbearing!” Yaz cries. “I— I was exhausted by how much you were worrying and— and I couldn’t deal with it! I had to go somewhere where someone believed I was strong. And capable. And someone who’s healing, because that’s... what’s what I was. What I am.”
Sammy’s face is splintered, cracked at the seams by countless creases of sorrow. If she weren’t so exhausted, so dehydrated, everyone is certain she would be crying.
“Yaz, I—” Her voice flakes, peels, crumbles. “I was so worried. I watched you fall apart. I had to put you back together. I... I don’t know what to say except could you really blame me?”
“I know, Sammy,” Yaz says, tears sliding down her cheeks, dripping onto her trousers. What little patches of warmth they might’ve breathed into her skin shrivels up with the biting chill. “It was a bad situation, and we both went wrong. But I should never have called you a coward. And I should’ve been more understanding about your family.”
Sammy flinches at the mention of them — but shakes it off her face. “I forgive you.” She beams at Yaz. “None of us were our best at that point.”
“Or at any point in the last... God, month?” Kenji interjects.
Grinning softly, Sammy says, “And I think things were said that none of us meant — myself included. And I wanna be the first to say... I forgive y’all for that.”
“And I’d like to be the first to say sorry. For... a lot of things,” Darius says, grimacing at the ground.
“What for?” Kenji’s face twists into a genuine frown.
“I... Well— I disappeared. I vanished to my cabin and barely talked to anyone — heck, I don’t remember the last time I called my mom. I don’t—...” His voice catches, then trails off. A single tear slides quietly down his cheek. A few more chase after it, like kids reaching for a dove that soars hopelessly out of reach.
“I don’t know how to deal with grief,” and in the last sentence, he sounds ten years younger. “I don’t know how to deal with anything— I just shut myself off. I didn’t make it easy for any of us to stay together. I was hurting, but that doesn’t excuse it.”
“You deserve not to hurt, Darius,” Yaz says softly, looking at him like a sister would look at her younger brother, still seeing a scared, fascinated twelve year old stuck inside his own head.
“And while we’re talking about that,” Kenji says, face sombre, “Darius... I am so sorry for how I treated you. And your family.”
“Our family.”
“I don’t deserve that,” Kenji says — and the sheer resignation in his eyes makes them realise he believes it. “Mom— Simone treated me with nothing but kindness, and what did I do? I fucked off to live in fucking... Colorado— and I treated you terribly. I was grieving, but that isn’t an excuse. You were grieving too, and you deserved better from me, Darius.”
“Hey.” Darius scooches closer, bumping Kenji with his arm as he swipes his tears with his wrist. “We’re still brothers, ‘kay? I forgive you. I forgave you a long time ago.”
Kenji swipes at his eyes, a wobbly grin stretching across his face. “Thanks, D. ‘Preciate it.” A beat of silence later, he says, “I love you.”
Darius brings his arms around Kenji, and he moves to cradle him in return. “Love you too.”
“And I’m really sorry I hit you at Brooklynn’s funeral,” Kenji adds.
“You did what?” Brooklynn exclaims.
“Oh! Uh...” Kenji fidgets, looking away, his face burning.
“At your funeral, we did have... a bit of an argument,” Darius says, heavily mincing his words.
“Completely my fault, by the way,” Kenji says graciously.
“I shoved you.”
“Well I shoved you first.”
“Who cares who did what; that’s all in the past now,” says Yaz. “You’re both sorry, so that’s the end of it.”
A tiny portion of the room unwinds. It’s not over-over — but it’s at the final few minutes of an episode, the last few pages of a book. They can feel the threads tying together — and with that, they’re able to breathe a little easier.
“Sammy, I am so sorry,” Yaz says, turning to her. “I wasn’t a good girlfriend to you, and you deserved worlds better. I understand if you— if you need some space, but... if you’re willing, I want to be with you. I love you. So much.”
The sorrow seems to melt off her face. Sammy’s lips break into a smile, she moves forward, and says, “I love you too, Yaz.”
Eyes only for each other, they move to kiss, but hesitate at the last second, slowly turning to the others. “Do you guys mind if...?”
“If we—”
“Nahh!” Kenji teases, playfully punching Sammy in the arm. “You two deserve it.”
“Go for it,” says Darius.
“Lay ‘em on each other,” Brooklynn says enthusiastically, her chin on her hand. “I might even watch you.”
“Ew, Brooklynn!” Sammy laughs.
Yaz gives Brookylnn a playful kick. “You freak.”
Yaz turns back to Sammy, and they kiss, long and deep, their hands encircling each other’s faces with a desperation only months of being apart could engrave into their muscles. It’s beautiful, and when they let go, Yaz lets out a gasp and says, “Shit, I’m not missing out on kissing you ever again.”
The cell laughs — the tension loosening — and they lapse into a somewhat-comfortable silence.
A while later, Brooklynn clears her throat, and says, “I still don’t feel like I’ve really said sorry.”
“Was, hm...” Kenji frowns, pretending to be lost in thought, before he says, “Five times not enough?”
Brooklynn chuckles softly, and she shakes her head. “Let’s make it six, then. One for each of us.” She clears her throat, before she says, seriously, “I am honestly, truly, incredibly sorry for what I put all of you through. None of you deserved a day of the hurt I put you through, and... I just don’t know how to make it right.”
She rolls her head against the wall of the cell, her chin craned to the ceiling. Her eyes slide shut, deep in thought. “I’m gonna be honest, I am so tired. There’s been a million things on my mind for, like, ten years, and it’s fucking exhausting.”
“Then tell us,” Yaz says, quiet, firm. Room for her to back out if she wants. “What’s been on your mind?”
“When I was in Malta,” Brooklynn begins, “I said to Santos that I didn’t need the prosthesis she gave me to make me whole — or her. I even said—” shame clouds her face “—I didn’t need you guys. But then, we were all in Biosyn. Saving each others’ lives. And then, Ben got... hurt, and he never would’ve made it out without us. And I realised... we do need each other. I... need you guys. I want to need you. I want to fall back into you whenever things get too hard, and I want to be someone you can fall back into when you need me. I want you to be the ones I run to... I just... I don’t know how.”
“You choose us,” Yaz says, making it sound so gloriously simple. “Over and over, you choose us. And we choose each other.”
“Then I choose you guys.” A smile slowly, surely, beams across Brooklynn’s face. “I choose you any day of the week. And I know it’s killing Darius not to make a Pokémon reference right now—”
“Hey!” Darius says, but he can’t hold back from laughing. None of them can — and suddenly the air around them feels a lot less heavy. They rock with laughter until it drains out of them (occuring, somewhere along the way, that none of them have laughed together — properly laughed — in years), and they settle along the wall in something of a line, shoulder-to-shoulder like kids in primary school lining up for assembly. Darius’s head nestles on Kenji’s shoulder, as Yaz’s does on Sammy’s. Brooklynn curls her legs into her chest, and shuffles closer to the rest of them. They’re all probably crying, and none of them find it in each other to care that much.
“We’re codependent,” Kenji eventually says, giggling. “We’re so fucking codependent.”
“I mean... you’re not wrong, but is there a reason you’re laughing your head off about it?” Sammy says lightly.
“Oh I’ve lost it,” Kenji says, the smile not leaving his face. “I’ve finally fucking lost it. Kudos to that tree,” Kenji raises an imaginary glass in a mock-salute, “You’re the bitch that broke me.”
“And me,” Brooklynn echoes. “That tree was my third-to-last straw.”
“What was the last?” Asks Darius.
Brooklynn gestures broadly around the room. “This, I guess. No— actually, it was the fire.”
Kenji nods thoughtfully. “It’s a fitting metaphor: you can’t throw us into the fire and expect us not to burn.”
“How profound of you, Kenji,” Sammy says.
“Hey, no need to sound so surprised about it!” Kenji laughs, before the mood settles, warms, and wraps its arms around the five of them. There’s a glaring gap where a sixth should be — but it’s not the kind of gap that rots cold and hollow. It’s the cool space in a bed someone used to lie in, still lingering with the brush of warmth that promises to be back soon.
Darius lets the thought linger in his mind, mulling it all over. The conversation feels like an enormous weight’s been lifted off their chests, and breathing comes so giddily light and easy, it’s almost funny. He can’t stop the smile from spreading across his face.
And he has nothing but faith, when he says, “We’ll be okay, right?”
“Course we will,” says Brooklynn. “We’re the camp fam... Right?”
Sammy, Yaz, and Kenji beam. “Right.”
.o0o.
They hug like they’re in a hurricane, the camp fam. Clinging on tight, spines hunched, heads buried in each others’ shoulders like graves. Collectively bracing themselves for the winds about to batter them to the core, and spike icicles through their bones until they’re soaking wet and shivering through the cold Nublar nights. Hugs — huddling, more like — became survival. A ritual that kept the cold out and their hope warm and their hearts beating slightly closer together, six thump-thumps communicating a rhythm of its own that said: calm down. You’re okay. I’m here. Over and over, until the storm cleared, and so began the arduous, skin-splitting process of letting go, waiting for the next storm, until they just held on, rain or shine.
It’s cold in their jail cell. But they hold on tight, praying they survive, and when morning comes, they find none of them are quite ready to let go.
I feel like the Yasammy twins would be such Chaos Goblins but in ways Yaz and Sammy cannot predict. Like Yaz has to go pick them up from School once after the principal calls and shes worried they were bullied or something so shes ready to completely advocate for her daughters' rights until she gets there and the principal explains that her two girls were trying to start a business collecting teeth on the playground.
Like they have an entire system of buying teeth kids loose on the playground at 50 cents a pop with the idea to put the teeth under their pillows to collect the $5 tooth fairy money and split the profits.
Yaz was not mentally prepared for that meeting and had to drive home with the girls justifying their costs and their plans to expand before they were caught. Yaz considered only allowing Aunt Brooklynn supervised visits because this is somehow her fault.
The second instance was when the twins offered to sweep the barn while Yaz was body clipping some of the horses, specifically Yaz's Grey horse. The two run off with the white fur clippings and Yaz has to prepare Sammy for another principle call because she can sense the scheming...
Turns out they were selling the horse hair as unicorn hair at school promising that the fur was good luck and magic. Yaz makes Sammy come with her to THAT meeting. But hey, at least it wasnt teeth this time. The girls had been putting the hair in tiny bottles to sell.
Yaz and Sammy have to talk to them about false advertising in the car on their way home... they were 8.
More Jwcc & Jwct prompts/headcannons. Lots of Yaz and Yasammy ones cause I love them.
Yaz tends to wear oversized hoodies and jackets so Sammy can steal them. She will also always shrug off her own jacket to give to Sammy to wear even if she’s cold too.
Yaz walks along the side closest to the road when walking in a city/town. If Sammy starts out closer to the road, Yaz will grab her by the waist and spin her around until she’s on the other side of her. It makes Sammy giggle every time.
Sammy gets asked to prom by a boy in her grade (she says no obviously because she’s already asked Yaz to go with her) and she tells Yaz thinking it’s going to get a laugh out of her. She doesn’t expect it to make Yaz jealous. She also doesn’t anticipate how clingy Yaz gets at the dance.
Speaking of dances, whenever they go to eachother’s school dances, Yaz shyly requests for them to have something matching. Whether that’d be the color of her tie and Sammy’s dress, them having the same color shoes, or matching jewelry.
After the events of CT, Yaz helps Ben decorate his wheelchair so it helps him feel more like himself.
Yaz takes up swimming after jwcc since it’s easier on her ankle and she ends up qualifying for several important events. The camp fam show up to every one wearing jersey’s with Yaz’s name on the back. (Yaz rolls her eyes every time but gets teary eyed from their support)
Kenji and Yaz are everybody’s guard dogs when the camp fam go out to bars/clubs. Yaz doesn’t drink so she keeps a close eye on everyone’s drinks instead, especially Brooklyn and Sammy’s.
Sammy goes through a brief insecure phase of thinking that Yaz can do better than her when they’re separated after jwcc. When Yaz finds out about Sammy’s doubts, she flies to Texas and smothers her in dates and presents for a week straight.
After CT, Kenji takes the camp fam indoor rock climbing and teaches them the basics, even Ben is given a lecture on how to navigate the side of a mountain (Kenji still has nightmares of Sammy slipping off the jeep in the tree, he never wants her to feel that afraid again about something he can teach her).
Yaz is touching Sammy every opportunity she has. Holding her hand when walking, arms around her waist when waiting in a line, grabbing her hand across the table at a restaurant, playing with Sammy’s fingers when her anxiety spikes, pulling her onto her lap any time she can, etc. They’re that annoying overly affectionate couple.
Ben has managed to get himself out of a potential assault charge after punching a man who made gross comments about Yaz & Sammy in public.
Sammy makes an offhanded joke about how Yaz probably can’t “throw her around like the male love interests do in the movies” and Yaz takes that personally and starts weightlifting.
Which comes in handy when Sammy gets bucked off a new horse she was trying to break in and fractures her leg. Yaz refuses to let her do any of the farm work and carries her EVERYWHERE.
When they attend fancier get togethers with Yaz’s colleagues as they get older, if Sammy starts to get too much attention from interested eyes, Yaz will take off her blazer and drape it around her wife’s shoulders. (“Yaz, I’m wearing my wedding ring.” “Well now you’re also wearing my blazer.”)
Yaz is the most protective wife/mom ever when Sammy’s pregnant. Do NOT try and touch Sammy’s pregnant belly without asking first cause Yaz will snarl at you.
While they both use nicknames for eachother, Yaz will almost always throw ‘my’ in front of her nickname for Sammy (literally cannon with ‘my girl’).
After CC, every year around the day Darius’s dad passed away, the camp fam have a weekend hangout to cheer Darius and his mom up. Darius’s mom loves it, she loves seeing her youngest son get showered in care and affection from his friends. The camp fam start doing something small for Kenji as well after CT to help him process his grief about his dad.
Yasammy adopt a dog after CT and Yaz unintentionally teaches it to stand directly between Sammy and anyone unfamiliar.
Sammy intentionally teaches it to grab Yaz’s pants/shorts when it’s late at night and she’s still at her work desk to bring her to bed.
Sammy loves to play with Yaz’s hair, she’s always asking if she can braid and style it for her.
Their first child inherits Yaz’s reluctance to share Sammy’s attention with anyone. If anyone comes too close to her mama she’ll hold out her little hands and tell them no.
Yasammy have the first baby of the group and the camp fam fight over being the baby’s favorite. Brooklyn tries to bribe the baby with her prosthetic arm (“Look! Look! Isn’t it shiny?” “Please don’t tell me you’re waving your detached arm in front of my daughter’s face.”) Darius tries to bribe her with snacks (“Darius she cannot have canned cheese yet put that down.”) Kenji tries to make her laugh (“Nice funny face dingus, you scared her!”) Ben tried to take her on a ride with Bumpy and got an earful from Sammy about it.
The camp fam have a yearly check in FaceTime with Dave & Roxie so they can check in on the kids. After Brooklyn ‘dies’ the following check in is short and bittersweet. Roxie tries to get a hold of the camp fam during the events of CT to ask them how they’re handling Brooklyn’s ‘death’ and when she can’t get a hold of any of them (they literally have no phones), she and Dave panic.
Mae becomes a very well known scientist after her published findings from her time on Manta Corp studying dinosaurs and she teaches a couple of classes that Darius attends.
That’s about it for right now, I have so much fun thinking about these. If anyone wants anymore let me know.
Pet names I think the jwct couples call each other:
Benji: I think they have a bunch of really bizarre inside joke terms of endearment. Mostly food related, but there is some variety. Ofc, Kenji calls Ben Benny Boy. Kenji also calls Ben baby and love. Ben calls Kenji "dearest" in a British accent as a joke, but he mainly just calls Kenji Kenj and Babe.
Both Kenji and Ben call Gia Princess and Angel.
Yasammy: Ok we KNOW they both call each other babe. I think they're THE babe couple. Like they probs say it so much that the others feel a sense of dread when they hear one of them say it because they know Yaz and Sammy are either about to get really disgustingly affectionate, or they're about to argue for thirty minutes straight.
I think Yaz calls Sammy "sweetheart", but mainly in bedroom settings. Now when Sammy hears Yaz call her sweetheart 9 times out of 10 its a turn on. But also during really emotional moments where Sammy needs to be comforted I think Yaz calls her sweetheart.
Sammy's favorite pet name for Yaz is honey, but she's also fond of baby. Sammy also frequently calls Yaz darlin'
I think that after they get married they teasingly call each other "Mrs. Fadoula"
Dinostar: I don't think they use pet names. Like at all. Not even during sex really, and I do headcanon them to have somewhat of a sexual relationship.
Of course, dinonerd and superstar don't count. Those are basically secondary names for them.
However, Brooklynn teasingly calls Darius princess all the time. ESEPCIALLY if he's annoying her. But also as a term of endearment.
Brokerlynn: LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING
I think that in a hypothetical au/post canon where Brooklynn and Soyona are actually together and not just fucking, Brooklynn would call Soyona babe. Not baby, babe. Because Brooklynn's baby of course, not Soyona.
But I think Brooklynn almost only ever calls Soyona by her name. Or her last name. Sometimes when they're working she'll pull out "ma'am" (which does in fact turn Soyona on)
I think there maybe possibly only sometimes (im def not implying ANYTHING) are some things Brooklynn calls Soyona (not even really consciously, the first time it happened Brook def wasn't even like aware she was saying it) in the bedroom and no where else.
Soyona however calls Brooklynn every term of endearment under the sun. I (as I'm sure most brokerlynn shippers have noticed) am a big fan of Soyona calling her "sweet girl". I think baby is Soyona's second most used pet name for her. Lots of Darlings, some dears, a couple instances of love being used.
My gut tells me its Sammy that's wearing the strap most of the time. I do think that they switch for the most part, but when it comes to the strap I think that 80% of the time Sammy is strapping Yaz.
(because @emberphoenixisgoingtolivee opened my eyes...)
Ronnie x Mae:
At first I was like "it would be Ronnie" but then I thought about it and I think Dr. Mae Turner has some tricks up her sleeve.
Raptor moms: It was a fight for dominance every time.
But also, Soyona was wearing the strap. Missionary, so they could glare at each other in hatred simmering with lust.
Brokerlynn:
Brooklynn can sit her ass down. I am of FIRM belief that she's as pillow princess as she can get when she's with Soyona. I think Ms. Santos had that girl doing missionary, taking it from the back, taking it in the car, taking it on the couch, etc etc. As I've said before....
Tumblr is the place you go to be yourself on the internet. No performance, no perfection. Just you, and the people who get it.
ChaosTheoryFerret @chaostheoryferret - Tumblr Blog | Tumgag
origamiaround
blakekathryn
romaincrisis
yousharknotpass
gummygunk
jimmyeatworldofficial
