#(I’m mostly being dramatic lol if I’m not sure I just ask my team lead it’s fine 😭)

[dragon-spaghetti]

I fear I am the absolutely useless person you get through to on a helpline 😔

[thegreatestofheck]

Only One [S. Snape]

part two of “The Other Her” 

warnings - mentions of death, angst mostly pairings - severus snape x reader synopsis - You return to Hogwarts years later to watch your son’s Quidditch match, only to find yourself a little bit in over your head.  a/n - So, this really didn’t end up the way I expected it. But, I had one (1) person ask for this, so I delivered. Thank you to @palegoopbearlight for being so encouraging. It really inspired me to work hard and produce something good, so I hope this is sufficient! It’s long lol. Also, not a song fic so I hope that isn’t too big of a deal? 

***

You never expected to find yourself back at Hogwarts after you graduated. But, there you were, standing in the courtyard and staring up at the large doors that would lead you back into the place of memories. They weighed in your shoulders like pounds of brick and you couldn’t shake them off.

A red haired girl ran past you and you found yourself almost calling out Lily’s name before you stopped yourself. Her name rested on the tip of your tongue like poison. 14 years ago, Lily Evans and James Potter were murdered by Voldemort, leaving their son behind. You heart still ached thinking about it. He was here, the boy that Lily loved so deeply. Part of you wanted to see him, just to see her one last time. Another part hoped you could avoid him completely so you wouldn’t feel the guilt of hating her for so long.

“Mama!” A boy cried out from beside you. Putting off your memories to greet your son, you turned to him with a smile. Perfectly painted lips pulled into a grin, you ran to meet him.

“I’m so glad you came,” he said, burying his face in your robes. You pulled back and ruffled his hair with your hand.

“I wouldn’t miss your first Quidditch match for the world,” you told him, making him grin wider. “Your father would be so proud.”

His smile wavered but he straightened his back and lifted his chin to show you that he would make the both of you proud today.

“I have to go,” he said. Already dressed in his blue and bronze quidditch gear, you could see the excitement in his eyes. “Catch you out there?”

“Of course, love.”

You watched him run away, not thinking you could possibly be any prouder.

“y/n,” an woman’s voice said near you. You turned to find Minerva McGonagall standing there. “It’s nice to see you again.”

“You as well, Professor.” You stepped forward to embrace her with a smile.

“It’s been too long. Are you hear for the game?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“There is no need for such formalities,” McGonagall said with a simple wave of her hand. “Have you eaten?”

“Not yet. I’ve only just arrived.”

“Come. I’ll get you some food from the kitchens.”

You tried to protest, but if your seven years at Hogwarts had taught you anything, it was that McGonagall was not one argue with.

“Your son is exceptional at Transfiguration,” McGonagall told you as you walked beside her. “And Flitwick often boasts about him.”

You tried to cover a smile.

“He takes after his father.”

McGonagall fell silent.

“y/n, I wanted to say-“

You turned the corner and found yourself face first in the dark cloaks of a man.

“Pardon!” You said, stepping back before seeing who it was.

“Severus,” McGonagall said, her lips flattening into a thin line. Your heart sky rocketed into your chest at the sight of your old friend. It took him a few moments to recognize you. It was true that you had grown up a lot since graduating and you had seen him very little so you weren’t surprised.

“y/n.” His voice was deeper than you remembered, more monotone. There used to be a certain way he said your name that gave you butterflies. His eyes widened at the sight of you and you felt yourself smile.

“Sev,” you said, the old nickname coming to you so easily.

“What are you doing here?” His eyes narrowed again as he donned the mask that you could tell he worked so hard to build. All the confidence you had gained in the 13 years since you graduated evaporated and you found yourself back in the body of the timid student who wanted nothing more than to make her feel friends happy.

“I’m here to see my son play his first Quidditch match,” you said, feeling that blossom of pride burst again in your chest. Severus looked taken aback by your mention of your son, though you were unsure why. He talked about his “Professor Snape” (which was still a struggle for you to get used to) all the time in his letters.

“It’s against Slytherin today,” he drawled. You nodded your head, the air around you turning stale.

“I hear you’re the head of Slytherin house.”

“Yes.”

“I never saw that one coming when we were kids.”

Severus stiffened at the mention of your childhood, even though you had hoped that it would make him relax. He screwed his mouth shut and there was an awkward moment of silence.

“We’ll see you at the game, Severus,” McGonagall said, trying to move you forward.

“Yes,” was all he said in response.

“It was, uh, good to see you,” you told him and he nodded his head once. With a flourish of his cloak, he walked on.

“You two were close once,” McGonagall said.

“Once,” you replied simply.

“Whatever happened?” It was strange, this almost friendly relationship that had developed between you and your former teacher. Part of you felt like there was something she was hiding up her sleeve. Still, you had been aching to talk about it for years. Long buried emotions came to the forefront of your mind and your mouth started speaking before you could stop yourself. 

“It’s...it’s a long story.”

***

You remembered the fight that Sev and Lily had in your fifth year. You remembered hearing that cruel word cross his lips, spat like venom in her direction as she tried to defend him. It played like one of those moving pictures in your mind as you lay in bed that night. 

Everything was about to change once again. 

There had been some semblance of normalcy after you told Sev you loved him and you reveled in it. But after what he said to Lily, you knew there was no hope for going back. 

And you were right. 

Lily wouldn’t even look at him. No one else would either. Whispers followed to two of you wherever you went. Rumors started to spread, no doubt started by the self proclaimed “Marauders”. The more time you spent with Sev, the more you were at the center of these rumors. 

What little popularity you had before was gone and soon Sev was the only person who would even look in your direction. 

But then he left you too. 

He started to pull away, slowly and then all at once. Where you would once spend meals with him, he was now sitting with his own new friends, a certain group of Slytherins who were well known for their love of the Dark Arts and bullying others. 

It hurt you to the core to watch Sev make new friends that weren’t you. He smiled less, laughed less, and you couldn’t help but wander why he would be happier with them than with you. Then you didn’t even care about his love romantically, you only just missed the warmth of his friendship. 

As he drifted away, you found yourself alone. At one point, you tried to wave at Lily in the halls but her friends hurried away. Still, you couldn’t help but think that you saw a small smile creep up her lips. 

Then you met him. The boy who would steal your heart and refuse to give it back. His name was Cygnus Halcyon.

It was strange, how you and became friends. He found you in a corner of a hidden corridor one day, trying desperately to keep your crying to a minimum. He talked to you, quietly trying to reassure you that everything would be okay, even if he couldn’t really understand what was wrong through your incoherent sobs. 

And from that day on, he was your friend. You were suspicious of him at first, wondering why he even cared to talk to you in the first place. But he was persistent. No matter how hard you tried to push him away, he kept coming back. Even when he ditched the others to come sit with you at meals, part of you hoped that Sev would see and get so unbearably jealous like you had been of him and Lily that he would come over, but he never did. 

Eventually, you stopped thinking about Severus and started to actually see Cygnus sitting there in front of you. 

You weren’t entirely sure how it happened, but you found yourself in love with him one day. It wasn’t anything big or uncomfortable or dramatic. One day, you just felt it, out of the blue and completely comfortable. You kept it to yourself. You had been in this position before and you refused to let history repeat itself. 

He kissed you first, one day just sitting out by the Black Lake. 

“Why did you do that?” You asked him, eyes wide with shock. He laughed, but not in a mean way. 

“You know I love you, right?” 

You didn’t actually know that. You hadn’t even considered it a possibility. 

“I...I didn’t think...you can’t-” 

And then he kissed you again, just so that you would be sure that he was telling you the truth. 

It wasn’t until after graduation that you found out you were pregnant. You knew it was his, of course, there was no one else. 

You had your son at 18, too young, your parents said. But neither you or Cygnus cared as you stared down at the face of the baby boy the two of you loved so deeply. 

***

“He died not shortly after that,” you said, scowling to yourself ever so slightly as you watched a few of the students chase each other through the halls right past you and McGonagall. 

“I heard about Mister Halcyon’s death. I am sorry for your loss,” she said and you turned to look at her with the best smile you could muster. “Ah! It looks like we’ve finally arrived at the kitchens.” 

“Wonderful,” you said with a wider smile. “I’m starved.” 

***

Your cheers of joy could have been heard from the castle as the golden snitch was caught and Ravenclaw won the game. Allyn, who served as one of the chasers, turned to look at you with the widest grin on his face that you had ever seen. If you could snatch him right out of the air and envelope him in the biggest hug, you would have. Unfortunately, he had to go meet with his team first. 

“Your son is good,” McGonagall said from beside you with a smile. “Wish he was in Gryffindor.” 

“Oh, please, from what I’ve heard, your team is going rather well with Harry Potter as the Seeker.” 

You could have sworn you saw the tips of her cheeks tint pink. 

“It is true, he is exceptional. I am afraid, however, with the new Inquisitor, he may very well get himself kicked off of the team before we even get to play our first game.” 

Of course, you had heard all about Dolores Umbridge from Allyn, who sent you a letter almost as soon as the opening feast had begun. You sighed at the mention of her name. 

“I was actually wondering if you wouldn’t mind coming back to the school to take up a teaching position for a while,” McGonagall said as everyone in the stands started to rise. You were taken aback, but not totally surprised. McGonagall had been spending an awful amount of time talking to you today, especially for a teacher you had barely interacted with during school. 

“What do you mean?” 

“Well, it’s not a teaching position exactly. Madam Pince has been having some troubles in the library keeping everything under control. You spent so much of your time in the library during your time here I was hoping-” 

“I’ll do it,” you said quickly, starting to smile. “I’ll take the position.” 

McGonagall gave a wiry smile. 

“Thank you. How soon can you move in?” 

***

“Mama!” 

You raced forward as Allyn ran out from the Quidditch tent. Even at 14, he didn’t seem to care that the others were watching him run into the arms of his mama. Some of them snickered as she brought him into a tight hug. 

“Did you see all the goals I made?” He asked excitedly. You nodded your head as quickly as you could. 

“Of course! You were killer out there, little man.” 

“Do you think Dad was watching?” His grin was unsurpassable. You nodded your head as your throat ran dry. 

“Yes, of course he was,” you told him, trying to keep your voice from breaking. You leaned down just enough to look Allyn in the eyes. “And you is so proud of you. Almost as proud as I am.” 

Allyn hugged you one more time, his squeeze a little more firm than before. 

“Hey, Halcyon!” One of the players from the tent called. “You coming?” 

“Yeah, hold on!” Allyn turned back to you with the widest grin. “Everyone’s going out to eat at Hogsmeade.” 

“Go, have fun. I’ll be here when you get back.” 

Allyn tilted his head to the side. 

“What do you mean?” 

“McGonagall has asked me to take up a position working here,” you told your son with a sly smile. The grin on his face grew even wider, if that was possible. “You’re going to be seeing a lot more of me.” 

***

You somehow managed to stay out of Severus’ path long for the first few weeks while working at Hogwarts. You fell into the same pattern and rhythm that you had in your last two years of school, practically hiding from him so you wouldn’t have to look him in the eyes. It seemed like nothing had changed. 

You were surprised to find him in the library one day. Your first instinct was to hide behind one of the bookshelves. 

“Are you hiding from Professor Snape?” A student next to you asked. You turned quickly to find yourself staring down at Neville Longbottom. “I used to be afraid of him too.” 

You wanted to tell the fifteen year old boy that you weren’t afraid of Professor Snape, that you just had no desire to talk to him at that given time. Instead, you swallowed your pride and looked back over at your old friend. 

“How did you overcome it, Mister Longbottom?” You asked him. He looked up at you and almost smiled.

“I’ve spent too much of my life being afraid. I’m trying to make my parents proud.” 

You smiled and a warmth blossomed in your chest. 

“I’m sure they are very proud of you, Mister Longbottom.” There was a glassiness to his eyes as he glanced back down at his Herbology textbook. “And if it means anything at all, I’m very proud of you, too.” 

He smiled up at you then. 

“It means a great deal. Thank you.” 

Walking back to your chambers that night, you knew that you couldn’t avoid Severus any longer. He was your coworker now, your fellow employee. You weren’t sure that Dumbledore would take all too kindly to two members of his staff refusing to communicate. 

You sought him out the next morning, bristling with courage. You saw a lot of yourself in Neville. If he could overcome his fears, then so could you. 

“y/n,” Severus said when you walked into the dungeon where his potions class was. It was clear by the few remaining students that a class had just ended. You felt a twinge of fear strike your heart, but you pushed past it. 

“Hello, Severus,” you said. The last few students walked around you and you stepped forward to meet your old friend. He stiffened as you approached and you took that to mean you had gone far enough. 

“What do you want?” He asked. You cleared your throat. 

“We work together now,” you said and then shook your head. “I should say, I know we have a past...erm...we were friends once....I mean, we are still friends if you want to be friends still, but I just wanted to say....”

Pausing, you closed your eyes and tried to imagine Cygnus there beside you, whispering words of comfort in your ear. He was a steady ground and some place stable to stand. He never judged you for stumbling over your words or starting a sentence over three times in a row. If he was there beside you, you could do anything. 

When you opened your eyes again, Severus’ face was just as unreadable as it had been before. But you were no longer afraid. 

“I don’t want there to be any ill will or bad blood between us. We’re working together now and I would like that work relationship to be one of mutual respect. You’ve lived your life and I’ve lived mine. But we’re here now and it’s nothing like when we were kids. I would appreciate a having a professional relationship with you, Professor Snape.” When you finished, you could almost hear Cygnus mutter a congratulations. 

You almost smiled to yourself. Severus’ face never even twitched. 

“You don’t have to call me Professor Snape,” was all he said in response. “Severus is fine.” 

That sense of pride that had burned in your chest twisted and became like a heavy weight. Severus...almost like you were friends again. You were partially grateful that it seemed as if he had forgotten how to smile. You always loved his smile. 

All you could do was nod your head before turning to leave swiftly. 

You barely made it back to your chambers before you started to cry. Maybe it was the relief from the weight you had been carrying around your shoulders for the last few weeks that made you break down, but you had a feeling that it was standing in front of Severus again and feeling like you barely knew him. 

You tried to remind yourself as your tears continued to run from your eyes that Severus had long ago stopped being your friend and it had been his choice, not yours. He was the one who walked away, not you. 

And he would have to live with it.

***

Severus got his dream job the next year. You had spent almost your entire first year on the job trying very hard not to punch Dolores Umbridge in the throat that you had almost forgotten that it was always DADA that Snape had wanted to teach. But there was something off that year, a chill in the air. 

“You’ve gotta be careful, Allyn,” you told your son one day while the two of you were picnicking by the Black Lake. “You can feel the shifts in the wind, right?” 

Allyn nodded his head. 

“It feels...darker than last year,” he said, looking up at the sky. You nodded slowly. 

“But everything will be alright,” you told him with a smile. 

“How can you be so sure?” 

“I can be so sure because everything will be fine as long as I have you with me and nothing bad is ever going to happen to you.”

Allyn smiled up at you, a twinkle in his eye. He shifted his gaze out to the water. 

“Did you come here with Dad?” he asked. You breathed in deeply through your nose and followed his line of sight. 

“Yes. We came out here often.” 

“I miss him.” 

“I do, too.” Leaning over, you pressed a kiss to the top of Allyn’s head. 

The two of you sat blissfully in silence, both picturing Cygnus there with you. It was a happy thought. 

Later that day, you were in your chambers getting ready for bed when a hurried knock came to your door. 

Scowling, you walked over, part of you fearing that it was Allyn. But when you threw your door wide open, you were more than surprised to see who was on the other side. 

“Severus.” 

He looked a mess. Dishelved, paler than usual, his eyes wide with fear. He breathed heavily, leaning one hand up against your doorframe as if it was the only thing keeping him upright. 

“Severus, what’s-” 

“Can I come in?” He asked. His monotonous façade was dropped and you heard the fear in his voice, fear and worry. 

“Of course.” You stepped out of the way and let him inside. He crossed the room before you even had the chance to close your door, leaning his back up against your far wall. “Please, tell me what’s happened.” 

He pressed his lips together, as if physically keeping a secret inside his mouth. Your heart thrummed in your chest. Only once before had you ever seen him so out of state and that was the night Lily died. He came to your house to deliver the news, but he ended up crying on your bathroom floor instead. That had been the last time you saw him before coming to work at Hogwarts and here you were again in a similar situation. 

“I can’t,” he said finally, shaking his head. “No, I can’t.”

“Okay. That’s okay.” You stepped toward him with one raised hand. As slow as your movements were, he still flinched away. “You’re okay, Sev. You’re safe in here.” 

He shut his eyes, squeezing them as tight as he could as he leaned his head against the wall. He slowly slid to the ground, knees pressed up against his chest as he rested his face in his arms. 

You were frozen where you were. A thousand questions rattled through your brain that you knew would never be answered. You looked at him more carefully and on one of his arms you could see a series of scars that were unmistakable. The Unbreakable Vow. 

“Oh, Sev,” you breathed, your heart going suddenly still. What have you done? 

At the sound of your voice, he started to cry. It was such a shocking sound that for a few moments, you didn’t even realize that was what was happening. And the few moments after that, you weren’t entirely sure what to do. 

But then you reminded yourself that the crying man before you was your friend. And maybe you weren’t great with talking to people and maybe your social skills weren’t the best, but if there was one thing you were good at, it was taking care of the few friends you had. 

Pushing past whatever roadblock kept you from comforting him, you stepped forward, quiet on your toes so not to startle him. He flinched again as you slowly lowered yourself to the ground next to him. Moving as slowly as you could so you didn’t startle him away, you slowly put your arms around him. One arm behind his neck and the other wrapped around his front so you could rest your palm against the side of his head. 

He tensed against your touch for the first couple of seconds, but the he softened and then he collapsed, turning in toward you. He grabbed your arm for dear life, his fists stuffed full of your long sleeves. His tear stricken face was pressed to your chest, your chin resting on the top of his head as he cried. It broke your heart to hear such a closed down man cry the way he was. Even more so, it killed you to know that your best friend was suffering and there wasn’t a single thing you could do about it. 

“Shh,” you whispered gently, holding him as tight as you could. “You are safe, Sev. I’m here. I’m here.” 

Dumbledore was killed two months later. 

He had never been your favorite person, but seeing his lifeless body lay motionless on the hard stone ground sent chills down your spine. It didn’t help that there had just been Death Eaters storming the castle, Severus as their head. 

You weren’t sure what broke your heart more; the fact that he had been working with the Death Eaters all this time and put your son in danger or the fact that he had the chance to kill you but he didn’t. 

Allyn was sobbing as you held onto him from behind. Almost the entire school stood around their headmaster’s body, a painful silence hung over all of them. Without Dumbledore, it seemed like the fight against Voldemort would be a vain one. 

The world was no longer safe and there was no where to take your son away. Either Voldemort had to die or Allyn could never live in peace again. And for you, only one of those was an option. 

***

You gasped, jumping to the side as a spell flew overhead. Taking barely any time to recover from your fall, you fired a return spell at the Death Eater in front of you. 

You breathed in deeply through your nose, hoping to stifle the burning fear in your chest. This was a different kind of fear than you were used to. This was deeper, immediate, like gliding over a smooth surface. You were mortified, but there was absolutely no time to waste in being afraid. 

Out of the corner of your eye, you caught sight of the three children who had done the most for this school in the past seven years. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were scurrying across the grounds, heading toward to boat dock. You glanced back at the castle, knowing full well that the battle was raging heavily there and they could use every wand they could get. But you also knew that if those three were going somewhere, it was important. 

And you weren’t going to leave them alone. 

You supposed you were a bit braver knowing that Allyn was safe and far from here. He had protested wildly when you demanded that he go home, but you didn’t care how loudly he screamed. There was no way you were going to lose him to the same people who killed his father. As long as he was safe from here, you would die fighting Voldemort’s army if that was what it took. 

You hurried after the kids, keeping yourself at a safe distance away so you didn’t startle them. When they reached the boat house, you ducked behind a tree. There were voices inside the building. One was definitely the raspy voice of Voldemort. The other was just as easy to place. 

“Severus,” you whispered to yourself. Your heart panged painfully. If this past year with him as headmaster had taught you anything, it was that he was no longer the boy you once loved. He had grown up and made all the wrong choices. But you had grown up too. 

And then your heard the hiss of a snake and the sickening sound of a body hitting loose glass window panes. You covered your mouth with your hand to keep yourself from gasping too loudly. You knew before you even came from out behind the tree what had happened. 

Almost instantly, hot tears started to slide down your cheeks. You could hear Voldemort disapparate and as soon as he was gone, you pushed yourself out from behind the tree and ran toward the children. They snapped their heads toward you, wands raised, and you put your hands up. 

It took them a few seconds to recognize you, but once they did, they relaxed. 

“Professor Snape-” Miss Granger started, her face blanched from fear. You nodded your head. 

Mister Potter was the first one to move. He stood from where he was, his legs shaking as he rose. He moved toward the door like he was walking on glass. You supposed, as the adult, you should be the first to go inside, but you couldn’t bring yourself to move. Not until Harry was all the way inside. 

The boathouse smelled like algae. That stench was the only thing you could think about when you first entered. Staring down at Severus as he lay bleeding on the ground, all you could do was wonder why, with all the magic in the world, they couldn’t make the boathouse smell better. 

Ron kept a tight arm wrapped around Hermione by the door while you and Harry walked toward Severus on the ground. 

“Professor,” Harry said. Severus head lolled to the side and you could see the wide, bleeding gash on his neck. Your lips trembled as you lowered yourself slowly to the ground on the other side. The stone floor was cold, even through your pants. Severus didn’t even look at you. 

Silver tears rolled from his eyes, but it was nothing like that night the year before. These were tears of a tired man in pain, ready to let go. 

“Take them,” he said to Harry, his voice hoarse. “Take them!”

“Hermione, a vial?” Harry turned back toward his friend. 

“Here,” you said, pulling a vial out the pocket of your cloak. You couldn’t remember why you had put it there, but you were glad you did. Harry took it, his hands shaking, and dipped the rim underneath Severus’ tears, collecting them at the bottom. 

You were lost. The tears of a dying man meant nothing to you, but Severus seemed to relax once Harry had them in his possession. He took in a shuddering breath and you reached out to grab his hand. Still, he looked at Harry, who held his gaze. 

“You have your mother’s eyes,” Severus said. You pushed down a sob. Even with his dying breath, he still thought of her. You hung your head so the children wouldn’t see you crying. 

Severus breathed in another shaking breath and squeezed your hand as he let it out. You looked back up at him, but that was it. 

He was gone. 

***

You were still numb when the battle was over. It was all a blur to you, what happened after Severus died. Harry died but then he wasn’t dead, more fighting. You could barely hear the screams over the buzzing in your ears. Your mind was a blank, banking completely on muscle memory to keep you alive. 

But once it was all over, that numbness didn’t fade. You sat with Madam Pince in the Great Hall. It seemed smaller now. You weren’t sure why. 

Across from you, Remus Lupin and his new wife lay with their hands clasped together. That made you the last one. You were the only one left. Not even that thought produced a single tear. 

“Miss Halcyon?” 

You looked up to find Neville Longbottom standing in front of you and you somehow managed to smile. He had cut the head off the snake that sat on Voldemort’s shoulders. it was quite the spectacle. 

“Harry’s looking for you,” he said. Your smile turned into a scowl and you pushed yourself onto your feet. 

“For me?” 

“Yeah.” 

“Why?”

“Won’t say, but he’s in Dumbledore’s Office.” 

You nodded your head and took a step forward. Before you walked past the boy, you placed your hand on his shoulder. 

“You have made your parents very proud, Mister Longbottom,” you told him. His cheeks turned red, but he nodded anyway. 

“And you’ve made your son proud, Miss Halcyon.” You were going to ask him what he meant, but he gave you no time to do so. “Harry. Dumbledore’s Office.” 

“Right. Be safe, Neville.” 

“The war’s over.” 

“Still. Be safe.” 

“Will do, Miss H.” 

He turned away from you then, sitting in the place you had just been. That left you to go find Harry. 

It was a horrible thing, to walk through the castle when it was full of so much destruction. Nearly every corridor was destroyed to some degree. Large slabs of cement littered the ground. Blood splattered here and there. It was impossible to determine if the blood was from someone on your side or someone on Voldemort’s. Either way, you felt your stomach curdle at the sight of it. 

Most of the bodies had been cleared at that point, but some still lay around here and there. You tried to ignore them. 

You weren’t sure if you should knock on the door to Dumbledore’s office or if you should just go in. You decided that you were an adult and knocking wasn’t required when both men who once worked in that office were now dead. 

You pushed your way inside. 

Harry was just sitting there on the stairs, the same look of numbness on his face that you imagined was on yours. When he saw you, he looked up and stood. 

“Neville said you wanted to see me,” you said, pulling on the edges of your sleeves. The edges were singed and still hot from someone setting your cloak on fire. 

“I need to show you something,” he said, taking a few steps toward you. “Or, I guess, Professor Snape does.” 

You tilted your head to the side, eyebrows pinched together. 

“I don’t understand.” 

“You will.” 

He beckoned you over to a round bowl floating in the middle of the room. 

“What is this?” 

“A pensive. It shows you memories.” 

You remembered the tears that Harry had collected. They hadn’t been tears at all. They were Severus’ memories. 

“He showed me what I needed to see to defeat Voldemort, but I think he left something for you, too.” 

You shook your head slowly, tears gathering in your eyes like a storm. 

“I don’t want to see his memories.” 

“I think you need to.” 

You look at the water bowl, rolling your lower lip between your teeth. You looked back at Harry then and finally saw what Severus was talking about. He really did have Lily’s eyes. 

“Your mother and I, we were friends, you know,” you said. Harry almost smiled. 

“Yeah, I know.” 

“I miss her very much,” you told him. “Very much.”

Harry said nothing and you took that to mean that you had better get to surfing through Severus’ memories. 

When you placed your face in the bowl, you saw all the same things Harry did. You saw how Severus met Lily, all the time they spent together. You watched how he fell in love with her and how she fell in love with James. You watched yourself on the sidelines of these memories, never speaking, only there in passing. You watched him find her body, watched him as he went pleading with Dumbledore. You watched his horror as he discovered what Dumbledore’s plan for Harry was. 

You thought that was it. But then it seemed to start over. 

All the memories that had been so full of Lily were now full of you. You watched him laugh beside you at the Black Lake. You watched his little smile at you while you slept on one of your books. You had been studying for OWLs. You remembered that. You watched the two of you dancing horribly in one of the spare classrooms while the rest of the school was partying in the Great Hall one Halloween night. You watched as he held you in the darkness of your room, your parents screaming at each other downstairs. You watched as you stood between him and a spell shot his way by James Potter in third year. 

And then you saw him pull away from you at the end of fifth year. He watched on as you and Cygnus grew closer and anger bubbled in your chest. It wasn’t your anger though, it was his. 

“Why did you do it?” You wondered as you watched on. “Why did you push me away?” 

He seemed to have the answer for you. 

Those friends he had, the ones who all turned out to be Death Eaters. You watched them mock you and so many others, joking about how they would torture and hurt you. How, as Voldemort grew more powerful, people like you would be rid of. 

But once he had separated ties with you completely, your name was no longer brought up. They mocked and made fun of and threatened others, but not you, never you. 

As long as Severus was away from you, you were safe. 

You watched the night he came to your house after Lily died. Cygnus was still alive at that point, he was the one who opened the door. Hearing those heart wrenching sobs from Severus broke your heart all over again. 

You watched the day you first came back to Hogwarts. You saw yourself through his eyes. 

You watched the scene that sent him to your door crying. How the poor Malfoy boy was being forced to kill Dumbledore, but Severus knew he wouldn’t have the strength to do it. Severus knew that he would have to kill one of the only people he had ever trusted. 

The last thing you saw was Severus standing in front of the mirror. He was staring at himself, but he was looking at you. 

“If something happens to me, y/n, know that I...I am sorry. For everything.” 

For everything. Everything that he had just showed you. Everything that he had done. Everything that he was going to do. 

“Not all of this was for her,” he said. “Some of it was for you. You were the only one...the only one who stayed after it all. There is so much I wish to tell you, but I can’t. So, I just have one thing to say to you. Thank you.” 

There wasn’t even a lingering second before the memory disappeared. Your vision darkened, the murky water returning. 

You straightened your back, lifting your face from the bowl. Water trickled down your cheeks, but it wasn’t the water from the bowl. It was your tears. 

You ran your sleeve underneath your nose once before turning to face the empty room. Harry had left sometime while you were in the memories. Well enough, you thought. Better than him seeing you in such a mess. 

You left the office, leaving behind the last memories of your best friend. It was time to move on. He was gone. He had been gone for a very, very long time. 

“It’s time to move on.” 

“Mama!” 

You snapped your head to the side at the sound of Allyn’s voice. 

“Allyn?” Your voice broke. 

He was bolting toward you through one of the destroyed corridors, grinning. His face was covered in soot and dust and dirt, but he never looked so happy. His clothes were torn and singed like yours were. It didn’t take long for you to put two and two together. He had never left the battle. He had been here the whole time. 

But you had no time to be angry with him. Just at the sight of your son, your heart started to soar back to life. The numbness faded and you took one step forward and then another and another until you were running toward him just as quickly as he was running toward you. 

The two of you collided, holding onto each other for dear life. 

“You’re okay, you’re okay,” you whispered, more to yourself than to him. 

“It’s over,” he said when he pulled away. The sixteen year old boy in front of you was all you needed, you realized. Cygnus was gone, Severus was gone, Lily was gone, but you still had your son. As long as he was there, nothing else mattered. 

[tanoraqui]

tanoraqui

Still thinking about an au in which for some reason WWX and the Wens are left to just live peacefully on the creepy death mountain - some detente wherein they don’t leave the mountain ever and in exchange no one tries to visit ever. Borders patrolled by corpses and sect disciples. So A-Yuan grows up raised kind of collectively but mostly by WWX and Wen Qing (the one most likely to tell WWX that he’s doing it wrong), and learns healing-focused spiritual cultivation AND demonic cultivation, and then at some point starts sneaking out to be the terrifying force of righteous kindness he was always going to be

tanoraqui

Righteous kindness but also, like, having picked up WWX’s cavalier confidence (or at least some of the ability to fake it) and Wen Qing’s general attitude of Do No Harm But Take No Shit

Like IMAGINE

tanoraqui

In this au, despite the strict border-by-mutual-agreement that’s the only reason somehow no ones tried to attack, LWJ sneaks in like one a year so he and WWX can make eyes at one another but not actually say anything ever, and Wen Qing and LXC are both EXHAUSTED bc both their dumb little brothers (WWX is a sibling by adoption now don’t @ me) mope for like a week after EVERY SINGLE TIME THIS HAPPENS, and it’s been /over ten years/.

tanoraqui

Meanwhile Jiang YanLi and JZX are FINE, and JYL somehow keeps up some sort of correspondence with WWX - or at least, he’s faithfully managed to send a birthday present for Jin Ling every single year, and every time, JYL makes her son write a thank-you note and bribes some series of people to get it smuggled back to Yiling

tanoraqui

...which means, honestly, that Jin Ling is probably wildly curious about his uncle the evil demonic cultivator kept trapped within the terrible ghost mountain by the forces of Good and Right, and WILL sneak out one day to try to visit. Optimally, obviously, at the same time Wen Yuan is sneaking out to see the non-mountain world

tanoraqui

The optimal plot is that Wen Yuan ropes Jin Ling into helping him set up WWX and LWJ, because he, too, is exasperated at this point, and Jin Ling ropes Wen Yuan into arranging like a parent trap reunion for the Jiang siblings, and obviously there are monsters and undead to complicate it all

tanoraqui

They kind of acquire Lan Jingyi somewhere, somehow. He’s having a blast

There is a 100% chance that the first Adult(TM) to find them is Wen Ning and they just kind of rope him into whatever the hell is going on at the time

...you know what, I think this is just a good au where JGY fucking died at some point

tanoraqui

Maybe someone threw him down the stairs again and he just broke his fucking neck. WWX is still vilified but between Jiang Cheng not really wanting to attack and Jiang (Jin?) Yanli being AGGRESSIVELY against it, and dragging JZX along with her, they’re left in peace.

tanoraqui

Oh man and Jin Ling has YOUNGER SIBLINGS in this...

Hey for u: Jiang Cheng/Wen Qing can accidentally happen while the Teens are trying to get everyone else to meet

Today at 8:42 AM

@professorsparklepants

I love this it's so goddamn wacky

tanoraqui

I just want teenager-based shenanigans ft. surprisingly competent teenagers and all the adults running around like chickens with their heads chopped off

professorsparklepants

Jingyi: why are you two more calm about this than the literal adults

Wen Yuan: have you met my dad?

tanoraqui

Also to be clear it is not at all hard to convince Wen Ning to join Team: Teenage Shenanigans, bc literally ANYONE in the Burial Mountain village would probably be down if you were like, “we’re engaged in a conspiracy to make Wei Wuxian fucking admit that he’s in love with that Lan guy who visits a couple times a year”

professorsparklepants

"This is my father, and this is his sugar daddy."

tanoraqui

I kinda wanna say he goes by “Wen Yuan” more often bc he’s 100% the baby of the entire remaining Wen clan there, but his adult name or w/e it’s called IS Wen Sizhui, because WWX asked LWJ if he had any suggestions and LWJ said this while maintaining eye contact

professorsparklepants

OH MY GOOOOOOD

tanoraqui

They meet LXC and he figures out what’s going on in like 4 minutes, despite the teens’ best attempts at obfuscation, and instead of calling anyone’s parents is like, “okay, I’m in”

professorsparklepants

#1 wingman...

tanoraqui

Jin Ling and Wen Yuan are definitely both traveling under false names, too? Wen Yuan obviously can’t admit to being a Wen and Jin Ling is making a privileged but slightly helicoptered teen’s rebellious bid for freedom

professorsparklepants

His dad is panicking at home and Yanli is like "boys need their freedom :)"

I saw a post forever ago about how Yanli would be the most hands off parent & Zixuan is an only child who would panic every time his kid fell down

tanoraqui

With a side order of “my mother is the only one who’ll say nice things about the Yiling Patriarch and she always looks sad when she does so I’m going to sneak into the Burial Mountain and either drag him out to see her or force my parents to come get me”

professorsparklepants

"I'm gonna beat up the Yiling Patriarch" "why" "he made my mom sad" "okay proceed"

tanoraqui

^ actual real conversation with WenYuan

professorsparklepants

A-Yuan then repeats the same thing to Wen Qing and she has the exact same answer, verbatim

tanoraqui

Side note: Wen Yuan has never been scared of the undead in his entire life, and probably this will lead to getting into severely life-threatening situations when he doesn’t have more backup than 2 other teenagers

professorsparklepants

Oh absolutely

professorsparklepants

He's so used to tuning out the sound of sentry corpses that one jumps on him and almost punches his lungs out

tanoraqui

Also what if he took WWX’s sword, so he looks like a proper normal cultivator - honestly, what if WWX gave him the sword when he turned 12, or whenever one customarily gives a child a sword in this world. He also has a flute stashed in his robe somewhere but he does know how to use both

tanoraqui

But also, while obviously it’s very important that this is the sword he inherited from his father, it’s never OCCURRED to him to, like, strongly associate it with WWX, in terms of “this would be a recognizable weapon”? Chenqing the flute, obviously, but WWX just left the sword on a shelf all the time

professorsparklepants

He's very good at fooling people into thinking he's a normal rogue cultivator until he busts out the flute

LOL YES

tanoraqui

So the first time someone looks at him and is like, “That is WWX’s sword” he achieves, like, “Who’s Morales? [NOT THAT DUMB]” levels of blank-brained

professorsparklepants

It like, doesn't even occur to him that this stick named whatever will be recognizable to people until it actually happens

"this is the Yiling Patriarch's sword!" "... I've never heard of him"

tanoraqui

“What sword?”

professorsparklepants

KDJAKSNJS

tanoraqui

“Oh, THIS sword? I...found it. In a stream.”

tanoraqui

Also...at some point...once the teens have admitted their identities to one another...and possibly gotten into a couple other increasingly public shenanigans...they run into a bunch of concerned people searching from the Jin or even Jiang sect - JC being there would be PERFECT - and Jin Ling is like, “aaahh, no, I don’t want to be dragged home... kidnap me.”

WY: what?

JL: pull out the flute, summon a couple corpses, shout that you’re the dread son of the Yiling Patriarch, and pretend to kidnap me

WY: ...yeah okay

AND THEN THEY DO THAT

professorsparklepants

The dumbass energy...... off the CHARTS

tanoraqui

They’re 15 and neither of them has ever faced consequences but in...actually not too different ways

They’re 15 and neither of them as ever faced consequences nor most of the real world

Oh my god is Lan Jingyi the most sensible person here

They’re going to DIE

professorsparklepants

JXHAKAJAKKQHSJA

JC and Yanli immediately see through this probably

"dumbass kid just doesn't want to go home. I'll break his legs."

tanoraqui

I think Yanli does but I have minimal faith in JC’s ability to think logically at any time

He’s still angry at WWX for leaving

professorsparklepants

Stomps to Yiling to demand his nephew back & wwx's like "lol, A-Yuan left two months ago"

Okay my shift is starting later

tanoraqui

/snort

Though, bold of you to assume that WWX isn’t also running around anxiously somewhere like “oh god, oh no, my son is missing; I must find him”

professorsparklepants

Sizhui is a responsible boy, I don't think he would leave without telling at least ONE person where he was going

tanoraqui

Ok but it was Wen Qing who thinks it’s good for WWX’s health to stop brooding and go run around like a headless chicken instead, optimally if he runs into his totally-not-a-boyfriend-Hahahaha-why-would-you-say-that

Alternately it was, like, Granny, which, ditto

No one on this mountain is going to stop WWX from going out to cause trouble and hopefully get laid, is my point

tanoraqui

Also, the cultivation world has been basically at peace for 13 years and the reason is that this is an ideal AU where JGY is dead and whenever trouble starts to stir politically, NHS and JYL meet eyes across the room and mentally Rock Paper Scissors over who has to manipulate everyone into calming the fuck down

Neither of them actually wants this job; they’re just good at it and recognize both those aspects in each other

professorsparklepants

LOLOLOL

That is.... so goddamn in character

tanoraqui

concept: JYL and NHS are friends and no one else understands it, or attributes it to JYL just being that nice, bc NHS still generally acts useless

professorsparklepants

Nhs actively wants to be useless and life is conspiring to make sure he can't

tanoraqui

a little less dramatically useless, but why ruin a good thing when you're having fun and it's useful

professorsparklepants

Lol

tanoraqui

but JYL fucking identified him as Actually Competent one time when he couldn't hide it, so now sometimes they get tea together and bitch about politics and stupid people

professorsparklepants

He's the only person who can correctly identify when she's talking shit about people, because it's VERY subtle and her brothers & husband are too busy thinking she hung the moon to notice

tanoraqui

JYL striding into Nie sect HQ (whatever it's called) and tossing her coat over a chair. "You would not BELIEVE what my brothers are doing now."

NHS: *probably knows, because he's found that the minor investment of effort in maintaining a very good spy network pays major dividends in helping him avoid greater work* *immediately sits up and pours her a cup of very expensive tea* Oh, girl, dish.

professorsparklepants

Question: are they also friends with lwj...

tanoraqui

yes but he's obviously not invited to hte political gossip sessions

professorsparklepants

I'm trying to imagine lwj making eye contact with them at some meeting his brother dragged him to and both of them struggling not to break into hysterics

tanoraqui

but they both know that he sneaks into Yiling to visit WWX a few times a year, and every single time, JYL sits him down within a couple weeks and aggressively debriefs him as to her brother's condition

professorsparklepants

I'm sure she tried to get him to take treats in

tanoraqui

for sure

it's hopeless, though, bc there's no really predicting WHEN he'll go? It's basically just "every 4-6 months when LWJ's resolve breaks"

professorsparklepants

Too bad she's not a stress quilter instead of a stress baker

tanoraqui

she gets him to go at an actual arranged time, bearing pork soup, like once, for WWX's 30th birthday or something

professorsparklepants

:)

tanoraqui

omg lit brain: LWJ of course is hte WORST for getting gossip, but JYL has pieced together a reasonable amount about the people her idiot baby brother (#2) is now living with. And she's mildly despairing as to idiot baby brother #1's ongoing refusal to get married and have an heir or three. So she, if not actively connives, then certainly siezes the first available opportunity to set Jiang Cheng up with Wen Qing

tanoraqui

basically, this au is PEAK romcom

tanoraqui

...also, for max happiness, i'd like to think that WWX made some strategic raids to rescue additional Wen refugees and bring them back, so there's a properly populated village and they didn't all just die

professorsparklepants

!!!

Good... Good thoughts

Good because 1. more people die and 2. The Yiling Patriarch will attack your village and steal your people away!

tanoraqui

(romcom being exclusively adults-focussed; the teens initiate it all but Jin Ling and Wen Yuan are both so delighted to have an Additional (But Cooler) Family Member that they comfortably cousinzone each other instantly)

professorsparklepants

*nice*

tanoraqui

...i feel like i keep characterizing Jin Ling as an only child, when really he ought to have a small horde of siblings

maybe they just...couldn't conceive more. shit happens. pregnancy is hard.

professorsparklepants

That happens sometimes

[m0e-ru]

eight months in somebody actually asked me abt visualive instead of me immediately annoying ppl about it without former notice. I might actually write properly for once 😳😳😳

OK OK!!!!! In this essay I will.... I will.... Visualive Adachi.... Visu/BURSTS INTO TEARS/

OKAY OKAY for real I just care Visualive so much (as someone who can’t fully understand Japanese AHAHA)

First I’ll add some foundation about what Visualive really is, then I talk abt Adachi in the latter parts of it because this is technically the first time I’m properly talking about this hehe 🐿

T....table of contents???

Visualive

Visualive the Evolution

Masami Itou

Visualive Adachi

Visualive the Evolution Adachi

Terms and Legend

VL - Visualive

VLE - Visualive the Evolution

stage - shortened for “stageplay”

面白い - omoshiroi (it’s just that specific)

Yuuya - VL Hero name

Hayato - VLE Hero name

Baba - Hero

Masami - Adachi

Taniguchi - Dojima

Saotome - Daisuke

Mamiya - Izanami

I add honorifics but sometimes I forget the hyphen intentionally or unintentionally I’m sorry if it makes it hard to read lol

all links have automatic timestamps for easy viewing. i mean. i hope the timestamps work

VISUALIVE “Persona 4.” A stage adaptation of SMT: Persona 4 by Atlus. It adapts the first part of the story, from the hero’s arrival to after recovering Mitsuo Kubo from the TV world. It also ends on a cliff hanger, showing a teaser of Shadow Naoto being projected on the screen.

It takes up a speedy recapitulation of the hero’s spring life, before slowing down and showing in depth his school life in summer. A day before Morooka-sensei’s death, there is a little skit with Kou, Daisuke and Adachi. The hero walks into the conversation before the two other boys leaving, and Morooka-sensei walking in on the student and detective. The next day follow’s the teacher’s death and the Investigation Team (IT) begin investigating their new lead.

From the words “visual” and “alive,” the niche of this stage was meant to be the fusion of live acting and visual digital projections. All seen from the stageplay with the colorful cast of actors and CG animations being projected on the screen. This offers an opportunity for characters to summon their personas, perform cool visual effects, change the backdrop, or even confront their own Shadows.

Performed in Sunshine Theater from the 15th to the 20th of March 2012. The screenplay was written and directed by Shintaro Asanuma from the theatrical group “bpm.” The video production produced by Shutaro Oku, a film director and visual planner. He later takes over as director for VISUALIVE THE EVOLUTION, the sequel stage. The stage music was produced by Shunsuke Wada, with a special show exclusive vocal track sung by Shihoko Hirata.

On this note, I haven’t seen any sort of original soundtrack released for any of the stages and I’m SO SAD. The last song in Mitsuo’s boss fight was such a BANGER and literally EVERYTHING ELSE Marvelous, Wadasan please take my MONEY

Regarding the cast, there were some special accommodations for Teddie, Rise, and Nanako, all of which did not have live actors at the time. During the casting, actors for the three characters could not be found or simply left the directors unsatisfied they couldn’t cast anybody. An exception for Rise, who was able to have a live actor in the sequel stage. It has been stated that there weren’t any “pretty boy” actors that fit the “Teddie Criteria.” While there weren’t any child actors that were believed to portray Nanako well.

Teddie was only ever seen in his bear costume while Rise was busy talking through a call, all voiced by their video game cast. Nanako has never appeared on stage, only being scarcely mentioned in the script. Again, this is different in the sequel stage where her role was extremely important and was shown as a screen projection.

VISUALIVE “Persona 4” THE EVOLUTION. A sequel stage. Beginning abruptly in the middle of Shadow Naoto’s boss fight, the story continues from there until the “true end” of the game’s original story. *Certain characters are introduced while others have been reintroduced. And on a personal note, when it’s all comedic in the beginning, it’s all for what’s coming right after.

I don’t know if I’m salty or just find it really funny AHAHA I might go talk abt it some other day with more context ehehe

Performed in The Galaxy Theater from the 3rd to the 9th of October 2012, only a few months after the PSVITA Persona 4 Golden release, which is July 2012. The screenplay was now written by Jun Kumagi while directed by Shutaro Oku. And music production finally taken over by Shoji Meguro himself.

---

HAHAHA this is starting to look like a wiki page. moving on. I might start rambling rn

(warning LONG !!!! aaa,,)

My thoughts on the stage adaptations. For the first Visualive (VL) I believe it’s pretty close to canon! I enjoy the characterization and how much love and care was present when handling the entire production.

Actors were busy playing the game itself, wherein a PS2 was present in the practice room. Along with magazines and game guides explaining the game’s story and the characters itself. Actors performing together and even improv acting together to get a grasp of their characters. All of them knowing well of Persona 4 as a well loved game, delicately handling their characters and hopefully performing them right while making the audience happy.

The staff taking care of each other while the director and video producer, Asanuma-san and Oku-san, working together well to make their vision into a reality.

The same thing happened with VL the Evolution (VLE) and literally every other good stage. Except... I feel the script kinda got out of hand with too much liberty where it feels a bit more disconnected from canon. But! It makes up for it in its content, whether comedic or (INCREDIBLY) dramatic! It’s great as its own story at that point. So in this case, I like to take the first VL and get to connect it canon, while I don’t know what the hell happened in VLE to the point I’ll just enjoy it as its own content.

These opinions deserve its own essay, post whatever bc I have SO much to say abt this. ANYWAY. VL ADACHI

---

Tohru Adachi is portrayed by Masami Itou (伊藤マサミ), a screenplay writer, director and an stage actor himself. He does have a single character voice role along with a fellow troupe member in the same franchise, but mostly works as the former three. He is part of Asanuma-san’s entertainment group “bpm.” On a similar note, Masashi Taniguchi, Dojima’s actor, was also part of their group from 2011 to 2016, which may explain their good synergy as the boss and the bumbling fool dynamic. I mean, somebody’s gotta get hit in the head every few skits.

With Masami-san being an important part of the cast, he doesn’t appear as often as Taniguchi-san in backstage content like the VL bonus disk or the official blog. Mentioned in his own personal blog, he had been busy with his roles as assistant director (I am assuming also for VL).

Also fun to note, because his role is mainly comic relief, he has been using his liberty to change up the material almost everyday making each performance exciting. This also leaves some other actors jealous of his freedom in his role, such as Saotome-san, Daisuke’s actor.

---

VL Adachi really has a... how do I say this? an adorable speech pattern (THE SAME SPEECH PATTERN THAT DROVE ME MAD TRYING TO DECIPHER I THOUGHT YOU WERE A CITY BOY OSSU OSSU MY ASS /shakes you violently/). Overall, he really fits the loose lipped bumbling fool, and his accent really makes him seem more casual and invested. What I’m saying is... VL Adachi either actually has genuine empathy or he actually has more energy to fake it (compared to some other edgelord. i mean you saw my p4ga analysis. I’m sick of him lol ahaha).

One of my favorite ways to explain this (OTHER THAN CHAIR CAR ADVENTURE MY BELOVED WE’LL GET TO THAT LATER) is the rice field scene with him and Dojima. It’s overanalyzation time 🎉

(43:04)

While investigating, Adachi whines about being tired while Dojima smacks him in the head. In this case, it’s established that Adachi doesn’t want to be there, yes? It’s the country, it’s hot and it smells like green.

"Ah... Dojima-san..! Why don't we take a break? (...) There really is nothing out here... Is the criminal still even here at all? (...) I wonder if I've passed being a rookie yet. Haha, but this city doesn't even have convenient transportation. I can't go to leisure lands (recreation, amusement parks, arcades, ect.) and head home at all."

Adachi then tries to tell Dojima a story. “when I got to this city after being newly assigned, I met an interesting guy (...) Yeah, I remember that the cherry blossoms haven't bloomed yet. So, I was driving my car and got near the station and--” Dojima gets a phone call.

Adachi politely puts his hands down waiting for his boss to finish so he can finish the story. Again and again, Adachi attempts to talk to Dojima about a story he’s so persistent trying to tell someone about. It was so 面白い that he would find someone to talk to about it. Even being polite and patient enough to wait for a chance to speak. He even gets fed up with it and blows up in front of his boss, clearly irritated he’s not given a chance to talk.

Sure, it could be Adachi feeling fed up like a normal person where someone agreed he to listen to him, before being constantly ignored. Or Adachi trying to be a more annoying whiny brat, depending on where you look at it.

If the story wasn’t too “interesting” to Adachi, he would’ve just brushed it off and stopped talking to Dojima entirely, or start up new small talk, or even complain some more. But no, he had a story he wanted to voice out so bad that he got irritated that the one person in the vicinity couldn’t listen to him.

Only after Dojima told him to continue their investigation elsewhere did Adachi finally stop and focus on something else. Maybe that story was for another day, or maybe it was never meant to be told.

What if it was just original (game) Adachi? He’d find a way to squirrel out of the investigation as usual, or push Dojima to “investigate” elsewhere. “Hey boss, don’t you think it’s hot? Why don’t we go elsewhere? We’ve seen this place too many times to count and I doubt anything new’ll turn up. How about we take a break at Junes, y’know? Where it’s cool? C’mon boss,” something like that.

og Adachi is just really annoying and silly to me. Some grown man thinking he can freeload because he never gets anything out of putting in more energy and effort? I don’t care how tall he is, I will smack him in the head.

Yeah VL Adachi whines, too, but at least it doesn’t look like he’s going to escape and waste his time somewhere else. He just sucks it up stops trying to leave the situation.

Or maybe I’m getting this all wrong and VL is exactly the same and my rage just gets dampened because of Masamisan’s execution of character hmm...

SO. What was his story about anyway? The one he really wanted to share to Dojima?

I mean... it’s obvious enough

First day in town? Spring? Actually mentioned driving a car when literally out of every single persona 4 media at the time was there not a SINGLE mention of Adachi having a car OTHER THAN the same stageplay it’s being mentioned in?

A story, from somewhere around uhh four? five months ago? was something that he remembered so dearly and was willing to share despite it obviously embarrassing him even if he puts the blame on a certain somebody in the same story?

Or maybe it’s because he really had nothing to talk about ever since he realized all his stories from the city weren’t actually that funny or interesting in the first place.

BUT then that would mean out of all the things he could talk about—more whining, complaining, complimenting, small talk—he insisted about talking about this story in particular.

Okay, look. I’m just. Just. As someone who talks too much, of course I have things I actually want people to hear out of all the bullshit that comes out of my mouth. And if the thing I actually want people to listen to doesn’t even get heard, I’d go mad.

Sure, Adachi’d be fine when his complaints or intentionally unfunny jokes get brushed off. But a story of a guy that he thought was so funny, interesting, 面白い gets ignored, he really blew up, even just for a split second, maybe.

And ALL the things that happened in that story—on his first day in Inaba! His car got dented, he had to deal with a weirdo dumbass employee that knew zero personal space, yelled in his ear, who didn’t know how to do their job, got his station reputation messed up on the first day, got his ass grabbed, got (unintentionally?) mocked for his lame stories, and got his car dented for the SECOND time. Probably MORE

And he STILL wanted to talk about it /punches through concrete wall/

yes I’m overthinking about this of course i am

This little tidbit of VL Adachi kinda makes me go insane sometimes—his entire characterization in VL in particular. It was really refreshing to see and how they included both of his characters in it, his facade and how irritated he is of a lot of things underneath. And how flexible his character is immediately working with other characters when there’s sudden improv to balance the situation. Like him and Dojima, Morooka, the attendant, or even Yuuya (hero) himself.

I’ll take Taniguchi-san’s messing around in the VL bonus backstage disc in place of Masami-san being so busy he couldn’t appear in it as often as other characters.

For stagetime that lasted for fifteen minutes or less, my appreciation for VL Adachi, even if he was just comic relief, really rocketed. I say VL, bc Adachi the edgelord he’s supposed to be in literally every other media is something I analyze separately.

I haven’t even gotten to VLE oh my GODDDDD

Like I said, I don’t really regard VLE close to canon but as something to be appreciated for what it is by itself. But the way Adachi was characterized there, in or out of character, still struck me.

---

Yes, there was his strange fan-agreed-canon which is,,, now canon obsession with cabbages (not that that’s a bad thing lmao). There was also him being a lot more jumpy and intimate in a clowny way, patting people on the shoulder or even downright hugging them just to mess around. Even FORGETTING who the same goddam loser who grabbed his ass almost a year ago is. But like, can’t blame him they literally changed their actor (and screenplay writer) AHAHAHA

ha... no more comedy, only dorky sword fights now

(speaking of sword fights I think it’s a fun thought how Mamiya-san [Izanami, also one of the youngest in the cast] admitted it was his first time doing sword fight choreography and even thanked Masami-san and other staff members for guiding him)

One thing unintentionally in character was Adachi accidentally nabbing the sushi overdosed in wasabi. Masami-san didn’t actually account for a joke sushi and didn’t immediately eat it—until Taniguchi-san (who also made Dojima go off his shits compared to VL) jokingly yelled at him and even riled up the audience for him to eat it. He even went off stage to get water just for him to eat the goddam sushi.

And Masami-san did! (kinda choked, but he’s fine).

Continuing from the same scene, while being overly giddy about sushi dinner (and I mean overly--he was singing about it while hopping to the Dojima residence), he tried to remind the two, Dojima and Hayato (hero), that Nanako was sleeping. Probably where she was sick if the scene was translated from the game.

(30:07)

And... the dramatic parts of VLE

Adachi was the one who reported to the IT that Dojima was chasing Namatame in the rain. While Naoto was discussing Namatame’s journal entries, Adachi, as giddy as he is, took it from Naoto’s hands and reveled in the discovery of evidence so childishly(?). He even ran to Dojima when he began regaining consciousness and immediately called the nurses to help him wheel Dojima to the ER.

Then, The Hospital Scene™️, right after Nanako flatlines.

(1:02:02)

Adachi, who recently walked into the scene, immediately worries about Dojima and IT who were ALL crying. He looks down, devastated—before yelling how Dojima’s heading to Namatame’s room.

He yells in terror and the same grief at his injured boss, all while running past and even jumping over children, who fell to the ground sobbing, to get to him. He continues yelling in a pained fashion while immediately reprimanding Dojima to stop. He gets carried by the collar before being tossed to the ground at Hayato’s feet, all while being pat by the same boy.

Dojima makes his speech about how unfair it is for the ‘killer’ to be alive when his daughter isn’t. When he finally falls to his knees, Adachi rises from the ground, humbly saying he’ll do his best to take care of Dojima (or something like that I’m in tears I literally can’t do VLE’s hospital scene i h8 this). He finally starts crying along with everyone else, being pushed away again but still tries again, trying to usher his boss away from the door.

With the help of the guard in front of the door, they all disappear off stage

please... I know this scene doesn’t need that much translation because of how important this scene is in the entire story. and I know my narratives aren’t enough so just,,,, just watch it please it’s so much more than this. everyone’s acting was just spectacular

(1:08:47)

So, after the IT (YOSUKE. JUST YOSUKE. good job Mae-chan) stop themselves from k wording Namatame, it was ADACHI who reported Nanako’s miracle recovery. He ran to the same corridor where they all cried in, even panting and falling to the ground in relief trying to report the good news. Then he pats Hayato on the shoulder and says he’s going to Dojima.

With this... /slaps roof of half of VLE/ ALL of this....adachi.... adachisan.... he Cares™️..... holy shit.....

now. comparing to the game. do you even remember what og Adachi did? did he.. even do anything?????

(56:39)

NO!!! he just stood there!!!! being a bumbling fool but.... inappropriately!!! man. he didn’t act concerned enough.

adachi: /walks into a bunch of kids crying outside a hospital room/ “lmao why tf are y’all crying? did uhhh what’s her face uhhh nanako. did she d word or something? rip, I guess lol” LIKE????? CAN YOU IMPLY FASTER

and then he’s like “wgat hmm Where’s Dojima-san Heading Because That’s Not The Way To His Room 🤔” and only when he’s asked he actually mentions he’s heading to Namatame’s room and still needs to get choked by a first year for the room number like..... zero consideration

and his boss??? where his daughter he loves so much just??? di*s???? and he’s so devastated he’s doing what he can that very moment while he’s so numbed of thinking of the consequences???? And adachi goes “uhh boss that’s illegal” LIKE. BITCH. /punches through a concrete wall but harder/

---

And??? His confrontation scene??? Like, I know they mashed it up w his tv confession scene to save stagetime for other scenes BUT IT WAS SO MMBMBMBMMGN /gestures in a good way/

(1:15:56)

UM?? guy behind everything??? in a vulnerable area where he could easily get physically assaulted bc hes not in the tv world w his persona?? Trash talks women like he absolute misogynist he is??? getting yelled at by a bunch of kids and YELLING BACK IN THE SAME AGITATED MANNER even TAUNTING THEM then and there to GET HIS ASS?????

og Adachi was such a pussy he got caught and just scurried off into the TV world where he ended up having powers like...ok....scared of getting beat down by a bunch of highschoolers unless you have powers...ok....

he only taunted them to get him when he was in the tv world too.....he rlly couldn’t say shit in the real world huh... lol

(yeah yeah this shows how VLE Adachi knew abt his TV world powers which would make you think if he ever went into the tv world and came back out alive. Or he’s really just a badass who doesnt give a shit abt anyone’s opinions and CAN beat anyone’s ass. i have a separate thing abt this but bc i like to laught at vle rather than overthink its own lore i might. not. idk lol)

and ??? VLE Adachi can??? He can swordfight??? he doesn’t even NEED a gun—he even reflects bullets w his blade (but apparently he can still get slapped by a flying fan more often than any other attack). His fight choreo was just...so poggers. He’s like short villains done good—like??? he’s short compared to everyone else!!! but he makes up for it for stuffing all the energy inside him while is bursts out making him him the over energetic gremlin he is!!! go VL adachi!!!!

(am I low key making fun of Madono-san in the TUUSH stageplay I’ve seen four minutes of? maybe)

OK!!! Yes I was gushing abt Masami-san again back to Adachi.

It’s portrayed that while not being afraid to admit his crimes, he also goes out of his way to be a bastard and have the gall to get a bunch of kids to fight him, one on eight. He can use a katana, probably a narrative dark reflection of the hero, Hayato which I thought was nice—and he can fight!!! It also shows his persona, yes, but...it doesn’t make it clear if he’s overwhelmed by his Shadow like in the game, where his eyes were yellow and he was emitting a dark aura.

But it gets interesting how he sees he’s getting overwhelmed and starting to lose his edge towards a bunch of kids. He falls to the ground even banging the floor like a whiny brat while literally the IT tries to tell him to turn himself in. Again, like a brat he tells everyone to shut up—before getting incapacitated. While some of the IT rejoice, he bolts up unaccepting of his defeat—before getting hit in the stomach.

(1:23:54)

And his words from when he drops his katana, “Why..?” He grabs the foldable chair against his stomach, and with a remorseful look in his eyes, he says “I’m sorry..!”

THEN HE BACKFLIPS—then Hayato slashes him.

In a tone of disbelief, he goes “no way...” and collapses to the ground, being possessed by Ame-no-Sagiri.

Blah blah blah then Teddie rockets himself into the eyeball spy cam and then they both explode aaaaa

Teddie survives but I really don’t know where Adachi went. Not even a mention by Dojima if he turned himself in or was ever found—or I need to review VLE for the 48274827482nd time hehe

WHOO then the whole cast appears for the dance number at the end of show YAHOO

[stilesssolo]

I would love to see a Drabble about Marge having Jon/Ghost try out something odd - like a pet line or WTWTA Halloween Drabble with the kids and Ghost in costume.

I’m a lil late to this one so it’s KIND of Halloween but mostly fall themed lol. I went with the first one, hope that’s okay! Once again insta post available on ao3 :) 

“Okay, okay, I think this is the one.” 

Jon bites back a laugh, sharing a look with Dany next to him. Margaery’s been deliberating over bandanas for the past ten minutes, Sansa keeping Ghost and Lady occupied while she considers her options. 

“You sure?” Dany teases, Margaery glaring at her. 

“Don’t make fun,” Margaery says. “We’re announcing the launch of Ghost’s new line that Jon’s been working on for a year. Don’t you want the photos to be perfect?” 

“I trust you completely, Margaery,” Jon assures her. “Whatever you think is best.” 

“Thank you,” Margaery says, grinning victoriously at Dany again. He doesn’t exactly see how what color bandana Ghost is wearing matters, but he knows this is what Margaery is best at, so he’s ready to listen to whatever she says. 

“Is it strange that it’s finally coming out?” Sansa asks, still stroking Ghost’s ears in an attempt from keeping him and Lady distracted from any urges they might have to go running through the dirt before their photoshoot. “Everything you put into it, all the work and research and testing-- and now people are going to be able to buy it all.” 

“It is sort of strange,” Jon admits. When it had all been conceptual, talking to Margaery and the product design team, working to come up with ideas for things that would help pet owners go explore the world together, it hadn’t quite seemed real. And then the samples had come in, leads and traffic handles, outdoor pet blankets and dog water bottles, bandanas and collars and nametags-- all the things they’d come up with during development. It had been otherworldly to hold those tangible things in his hands, see Ghost’s name embossed on them next to the Tyrell logo. 

“I hope it makes peoples’ lives better,” Jon says. “Inspires them to get out there. Maybe gives them the tools they need to take that leap.” 

Dany smiles softly, tucking herself into his side. “I think it will,” she says, and he grins at her, kissing her forehead quickly. (He’d properly kiss her, but he doesn’t really want to deal with his sister’s teasing.) 

“Alright, yes, my mind is made up,” Margaery says, holding up a black and red checked bandana. “This one. And then the thin tawny lead, with the traffic handle. It’ll look good with the orange of the pumpkins.” 

“After we take these pictures, we do get to pick out pumpkins for real, right?” Sansa asks her girlfriend. Margaery nods. 

“Of course. Why do you think I requested the entire afternoon off for Daenerys and me?” 

“I’ll take it,” Dany says with a grin. “This is way better than dealing with whatever meltdown Loras is having about the quarter financials.” 

“He’s being dramatic, I guarantee it,” Margaery says. “He’s just bitter because he and Renly are back at the off-again part of on-again, off-again.” She holds out the bandana she’d selected, eyes falling to Jon. “Can you...?” 

“Aye,” he says. “Ghost, c’mere.” 

His dog bounds over to him, licking his face when he kneels in front of him. “You ready for another photoshoot?” Jon asks him, grinning at Ghost’s wide smile as he takes the bandana from Margaery. Ghost offers him a paw, making Jon chuckle. “No, boy, just stay still.” 

“Jon doesn’t have to be in this one, right?” Dany asks Margaery, who shakes her head. 

“Nope, this is just Ghost. Why I said I’d do it myself, instead of bringing in a crew.” 

“Well, that’s good,” Dany says, Jon looking back at her now that Ghost’s bandana is secured. “I didn’t do my makeup this morning with the intentions of being in a photoshoot.” 

“Y’know, I’ve gotten a lot better,” he says defensively, clipping on Ghost’s leash. Sansa laughs, Margaery trying to fight back a smile as well. 

“Sure you have, Jon,” Sansa says, scratching Lady’s ears as they start off towards the pumpkin patch. Dany falls into step next to him, taking the hand that isn’t holding Ghost. 

“I was just kidding, you know,” she says. “You have gotten... a little better.” 

Jon laughs, squeezing her hand. “Mm. That sounds very convincing.” 

She looks up at him, her eyes shining, that little grin pulling at her lips. “I love you?” she says, and Jon tries not to laugh. 

“Alright, you’re forgiven,” he jokes, Dany grinning wider as she leans closer into his side. Margaery and Sansa are ahead of them, eyes on Lady and the sprawling pumpkin patch before them, so this time, when Jon ducks his head down to hers, he doesn’t feel guilty for kissing her properly. 

[litttle-annie-adderall]

A Halloween Special (WinterSpider AU)

Summary: It's Halloween at the Avengers Tower, and the team plans a very special group costume. Peter is thrilled and can't wait for the event. Bucky, however, is decidedly not participating in the costume. Peter comes up with a plan to get his boyfriend to dress up in a costume and go to Tony's Halloween party.

Pairing: Peter Parker x Bucky Barnes

Word Count: 5.0k

Warnings: None really...lots of fluff... an excessive amount of smirking and blushing...

A/N: Here’s my self-indulgent Peter x Bucky Halloween fanfiction in July lol. It’s been up on my AO3 (@lynnnieee) for about a week now but I thought I might post it here as well! Thanks for reading!!!

Also, here’s a gif that has nothing to do with the story just brighten your day😊😊

Peter is more excited about this year's Halloween than he has been about any other in years. Usually, Ned came over, Aunt May ordered pizza, and they'd binge Halloween horror movie classics all night until they finally crashed on the couch in the early hours of the morning. Even last year, when Peter turned 18 and moved into the Avenger's tower, everyone decided not to do anything special. Most of them were just arriving home from a mission cleaning up some of the remnants of Thanos' visit to Earth and were too exhausted to carry out any sort of plans. But this year, things have been calm for more than a month now, the longest period of time in a while, and Steve had managed to convince Tony to throw a party in the tower on one of the multipurpose floors.

And for Peter, this Halloween only kept getting better and better. All of the Avengers planning on attending the party made a deal to dress up in costumes of each other. When Natasha had jokingly teased Sam with the idea, Peter was instantly excited. Though some were more reluctant than others, Peter and Clint managed to get everyone on board. Well, almost everyone, that is.

Bucky had sat back on the couch, drinking coffee from one of Tony's oversized mugs, watching his boyfriend and Clint try to rally the team together into a group costume. He had a smug look plastered on his face the entire time until Peter turned to him and Bucky realized he was expected to "join in on the fun" as well.

"No."

Peter frowned, "But Buck,-"

"No."

"It'll be fun-"

"No."

"Maybe you'll get somebody with a really cool suit, like Thor-"

Sam chuckled, "Or maybe you'll get an outfit like Nat's."

Peter bit his lip, imagining Bucky in a skin-tight, all-leather pantsuit, "Even better," His eyes gleamed bashfully.

Bucky smirked when Tony cringed from his spot behind Peter and muttered, "Eww."

Peter walked over to Bucky and plopped down in his lap, wrapping his arms around the man's neck. Bucky set his mug down on the side table so he could rest his metal hand on the small of Peter's back as Peter gave him the puppy dog eyes he knows Bucky has a hard time resisting. "Please, for me?"

Bucky smiled and brought his other hand to cup Peter's cheek, a small blush forming on the boy's cheeks. Bucky leaned in and pressed a quick kiss to Peter's lips, but then pulled away and still said: "Not a chance."

Peter pouted, "You're so mean to me," Causing a small laugh from the group.

Bucky chuckled and wrapped his arms around Peter's waist. "Come find me after the party, and I promise I'll buy all the Halloween candy I can find so that we still have our own after-party of watching horror movies all night."

Peter's cheeks turned even redder, knowing that Bucky's idea of an after-party will definitely include more than just candy and movies. He dramatically sighs but can't help the grin on his face, "Okay, fine."

"Good." Peter turns back around to face the group, who was in the midst of discussing the best way to go about deciding who gets to be who, when Bucky placed a soft kiss to the back of his neck. Peter doesn't think he could ever get sick of this, even when Bucky is being stubborn.

But Peter thinks that Bucky must've forgotten one thing, he can be equally as stubborn as the solider when he wants to be. So by the next morning, Peter had come up with a plan he believes to be pretty foolproof. The rest of the gang decided to draw names from a hat to determine who'll they'll come dressed as, but Peter requested his name be taken out of the drawing because, as he told Tony and Steve, he has a fantastic idea that he guarantees will get Bucky to cave on Halloween. He tells them not to mention anything to Bucky and refuses to disclose the details of his plan, saying it will just have to be a surprise.

Steve had smirked at him, telling Peter that he's hasn't seen Bucky in a Halloween costume since they were six years old, so if Peter needs anything at all, just let him know and he'll be happy to be of any assistance. Peter didn't realize Captain America could be so mischievous, but he liked it.

So today, on Halloween, Peter is fully ready to enact his plan, hopefully causing Bucky to laugh and come to the Avengers' party in a costume. The secret costume he picked out for Bucky is tucked away in the corner of the closet in Peter's room where he knows Bucky won't find it. He managed to put both of their outfits together for a pretty cheap price as they already had most of what he needed. Although Peter knows Mr. Stark has told him dozens of times to just ask if he needs money for anything, especially now that he's living in the tower, he always declines. It doesn't feel right to mooch money off of his mentor when he's already living in the luxurious Manhattan tower free of charge.

Peter's just about to pull his own costume for the night out of the closet when Bucky pokes his head in, knocking twice on the door. Peter looks up at him with a bright smile as Bucky walks in. "You getting ready for the party?" The man asks, shutting the door behind him.

"Mhm," Peter hums, pulling the bag out of the closet but leaving handles tied shut, "But you can't see my costume yet."

"And why's that, doll?" Bucky teases, sitting down on Peter's bed.

Peter sits down beside him, tossing his legs over Bucky's lap, "Because it's a surprise, so you have to wait just like everyone else." He responds playfully, knowing Bucky's already aware of that because he's asked Peter only about a thousand times over the past few weeks.

Bucky chuckles, shaking his head, "I still couldn't believe it when Stevie told me you decided not to take part in the name drawing when the whole thing was your crazy idea."

Peter smiles, "Hey, it was Clint's idea too!" Bucky laughs again, tucking his hand under the collar of Peter's shirt on the back of his boy's neck, running his fingers through the ends of his curly, brown hair. Peter leans his head back against the cool metal on his neck, his eyes falling shut for a moment as he makes a small purring sound that always brings a soft smile to Bucky's face. "And anyway, I know you're going to like my new costume a lot better." Peter opens his eyes, a troublesome glint reflecting in them, "But I made sure to stay in line with the theme!"

Bucky raises an eyebrow lightheartedly, "And you're really not gonna tell me?"

"Nope," Peter shuffles off of his bed and gently pulls Bucky up at the same time, "And you gotta go so I can change cause the party starts in less than half an hour."

"Alright, alright, I'm going," Bucky raises his hands in mock surrender with a smirk playing on his lips.

"You sure you don't want to come with us?" Peter asks yet again.

Bucky smiles, then leans over and pecks Peter on the forehead, "I'll see you out there, doll." Peter flushes at the soft touch and resists the urge to pull Bucky back and keep him here a little bit longer. Peter shoots the man one last grin before shutting the door behind him.

Although he is absolutely not going to partake in the costume swap, Bucky is a little excited to see everyone dressed up as each other. He wanders into the living room, planning on watching TV while waiting for everyone to meet up in their costumes, but mostly so he can laugh at whoever has to dress up in Nat's combat suit.

Not even five minutes after sitting down, he sees Sam coming walking into the common room from the small hall leading to the few bedrooms on this floor. "Even in a random draw, I'm still a damn bird," Sam says, throwing a bow over his shoulder on top of the arrow quiver.

Bucky snorts, eyeing Sam in Clint's Hawkeye uniform. He's dressed in all black, except for the underneath his vest, where a dark blue shirt with one short sleeve and one long sleeve sits with its collar popped. A quiver of arrows is hooked across the middle of his chest with a leather strap lacing over the bulletproof vest. But the bow and arrows aren't the only weapons Sam wears, though, as a gun is holstered on his left thigh and a knife is attached to his right boot. Sam completed the outfit with a black cuff on his right wrist, black combat boots, and a wristbow fastened to his left wrist.

Before Bucky can even say anything, another voice carries in from the hallway, "Woah, you look awesome!" Clint rushes into the room, "Right down to the details," He points to the knife on Sam's boot, "Great job, man! Now we'll just have to see if you can use that thing as well as I can." He nods to the wristbow.

Sam snickers, "I can't wait to see Steve's face when he gets a look at you." Bucky honestly could not agree more. Clint arrived in a full spandex Captain America suit, the colors notably much brighter and costume-like than Steve's battle suit. Clint obviously put muscle padding under the sleeves on his biceps and one of Steve's cowls adorns his head, as well as a tall pair of black combat boots, but the standout of the outfit is undoubtedly the blazing shield on his arm.

"Is that actually Steve's shield?" Bucky asks, looking at the reflective metal shield resting on Clint's right arm.

"You bet it is," Clint smirks, "I'm not one to half-ass it on Halloween!"

Bucky laughs harder as Sam raises an eyebrow, "Does he know you have that?"

Clint's smirk turns sheepish, "I may have asked Tony to get it for me as a favor." Sam rolls his eyes but chuckles nonetheless.

"Somebody say my name?" Tony opens the door from the main hallway, marching into the room in what Bucky automatically knows will take the cake for the most extra costume of the bunch.

Clint's eyes go wide, "Oh. My. God." Tony recreated The Falcon suit down to a T, even some slight smudges of dark dust and dirt litter knees and boots to resemble wear. Tony put on a maroon and gray military-grade suit identical to Sam's, a weapons' belts with a holster on one side and an array of knives on the other, slick metal boots with knee pads clicked onto the shoe rims, and automated gloves with red accents and tech lining the cuffs to control the wings. His eyes are covered by sleek goggles with red lenses and a gray strap.

Sam approaches Tony slowly, his eyes continuously flicking over the suit as if looking for any sign of flaw, "Do the wings work?" He eyes the red and gray harness resting over Tony's shoulders.

"Please, what do you think?" Tony smirks, pressing a button on one of the wrist cuffs. In a split second, maroon and silver wings shoot out from the pack on Tony's back, which begins emitting three soft, red lights. "I know your wingspan can go up to 50 feet at full stretch, but I figured a twelve-foot wingspan was good enough for a party."

"This is incredible, man," Sam slowly shakes his head, "How long did it take you?"

Tony shrugs, "Not long, Peter helped when I had to be in meetings."

"As much as I hate to say it, I'm impressed," Bucky says to Tony, although he usually hates to stroke the man's ego.

Tony's self-satisfied expression only grows, "Thanks, I know," He stares at Bucky's plain black henley and jeans, "Still not coming to the party?"

"Well, I can't now, how am I supposed to beat that?" Bucky says as if he had any plans to go in the first place, gesturing to Tony's extremely high tech costume.

Tony rolls his eyes but smiles, "Oh, I ran into someone pacing in the hall that I think definitely has this and everyone else beat." He turns his head to the door, "C'mon Capsicle, I think it's your turn to come in now!"

Bucky raises an eyebrow when Steve calls out from behind the hall doors, "No, thanks, I'm good out here!"

"Don't be shy, Steve, you look fantastic!" Tony yells back, his amused grin never slipping.

Steve groans loudly enough to be heard in the common room, but he pushes the door open anyway. "You know, I knew there was a chance of this, but I guess I thought my one out of six odds were good enough," He mutters, and, well... Bucky can't help the chortle that immediately leaves his mouth.

Clint doubles over, laughing so hard Bucky thinks he might cry, "This is the best thing I've ever seen in my whole entire life!" Steve growls slightly, but his face showers with embarrassment.

Sam pats Steve on the shoulder. "Don't worry, you look great, man!" He says, though clearly holding back cackles of his own.

Steve's face goes even redder, if that's possible, as he stands in front of half of his team in a one-piece, tightfitting, black leather pantsuit. The outfit is fitted with two belts, one around his waist for various weapons, and the other around his middle with a small red hourglass buckle pulling the suit even snugger than it already was. The top is unzipped down past his pecs, only inches above the hourglass. Black, fingerless gloves and tall combat boots (Bucky never noticed until now how many of them wear those) put the finishing touches on his costume.

Bucky tries to control his laughter, "How did you- Where did you-... Stevie?"

"Tony helped me out a little bit," Steve replies, still avoiding eye contact with everything but the floor.

"Did you end up figuring out who everyone drew?" Sam knowingly asks Tony.

Tony shrugs, "What can I say, there was a high demand and I'm the only supplier you all know, apparently. And not quite everyone, Nat and Thor both kept theirs very close to their chests, though I know they each have to one of the only two remaining on my list of unknowns." Tony suddenly rolls his eyes, "And don't even get me started on Peter. Since he's come up with his costume idea he won't spare a single detail except that it's still 'on our theme'. It's incredibly irritating." Bucky only smirks to himself, all the more intrigued at what or who his boy is going to show up dressed as.

"Yeah, I'm sure-" Steve starts to say, but stops when he gets a good look at Clint, "Wait, is that my shield?"

Clint puts the shield behind his back sheepishly, "Uh... no."

Steve gives Tony a stern look that is met with a one-shoulder raise from the inventor, "I owed him a small favor, now we're even."

Steve sighs and shakes his head, trying to keep back his grin, "I expect it to be returned without a scratch, Barton."

"Aye, aye, captain," Clint salutes him. Heels clicking echo out of the main hallway into the room and Clint's smirk widens, "And here she comes, ladies and gentleman."

"Well, hello boys," Natasha dryly smiles as she enters the room dressed completely in metallic red and gold.

"Natasha!" Tony blanches, "What have you done to my glorious armor! While you look undeniably stunning, that does not do my infamous technology any justice!"

Steve and Bucky roll their eyes dismissively at Tony's over-eccentric outburst, while Natasha's lip twitches in a way suggesting that this was the exact reaction she was aiming for. Her rendition of the Iron Man suit was powerfully feminine and she somehow manages to exude the same intimidation she always does while wearing a one-piece, bright, metallic, vinyl outfit. Her costume includes red knee-high, high-heel boots with golden tights pulled on underneath and matching red, metallic shorts layered on top of those. The shiny red top matching the boots has a high-neck collar and long sleeves, but with a slit over her chest emphasizing the shoulder pads to provide some of the bulk of Tony's armor. She pulled on gold, fingerless gloves and let her ginger hair fall down over her shoulders, a gold headband tied around her forehead.

"Your suit was a little bulky for me," Natasha smiles innocently, "I had to improvise."

"You look fantastic, Nat," Clint cheers from the kitchen as he grabs a bag of chips from the basket on the counter.

Natasha cracks and her smile turns genuine toward her best friend before she looks over the rest of the team and her lips titter, "Well, Steve, I think you pull off my suit even better than I do." Steve's cheeks enflame once more, inciting another laugh out of Bucky.

The door flings open again beside the group. Thor marches into the room completely covered in green body paint. "It looks as though everyone has outdone themselves tonight!"

"That's got to be some kind of fate that the most overly bulked out person here gets to be the Hulk, right?" Sam points out. Thor's costume is relatively simple and straight to the point. Aside from a pair of purple shorts with ripped bottoms, he painted his entire body in shamrock green paint.

"I hope you used actual body paint and not some kind of crap from an art store, Point Break." Tony grimaces.

Thor beams at Natasha, "Ah, yes, I had some help picking out the right kind of thing from tonight's Woman of Iron."

"Yeah, well, didn't want you turning green for a week."

"Yeah cause that wouldn't have been epic." Clint scoffs and mutters sarcastically, earning himself a glare from Natasha. She puts her hands on her hips and he slouches down in his seat, finishing off the bag of chips in his hand to keep his mouth closed.

"Am I the last to get here?" Everyone turns to see Bruce dressed in a replica of Thor's Asgardian armor with a long red cape flowing down his back and a foam Mjolnir in his left hand.

"Bruce!" Thor quickly stalks over to the scientist.

"Nope, we're still waiting on the kid too," Tony cuts in.

"This is sensational! We have switched roles!" Thor pats Bruce's shoulder a few times while asking, "How did you get my clothing so realistic looking?"

"Oh, um," Bruce nods his head towards Tony, "I had some help."

Sam shakes his head as Tony gives a shit-eating grin, "Like I said, supply and demand, folks, the making of a billionaire."

Bruce raises an eyebrow, "Did I miss something?"

"Of Tony's egotistical rambling?" Bucky snarks, "Consider yourself lucky."

Bruce ignores him, instead opting to ask Tony, "Did you end up getting anything out of Peter about his costume fro the night?"

Tony playfully pouts, "No, kid's keeping his lips sealed tight on this one."

Bruce chuckles and Steve smiles, "I guess you're due to find out any minute now then."

Speaking of Peter, Bucky glances back at the hallway leading to his bedroom door, looking for any sign of the boy. "Hey kid, you almost ready?" Tony calls out, "Heavy metal over here is getting anxious for your arrival." Bucky rolls his eyes to himself at the nickname, but tries to school his face, not wanting to show the slight truth to the inventor's statement.

Peter hollers back, "Yeah, just a second, Mr. Stark!" The door slams and then a thud is heard from Peter's direction along with a shout of, "I'm okay!" Bucky can't force down the smile that creeps onto his face as he catches a glimpse of Peter running down the hall towards the team. When Peter comes into his full view, Bucky freezes, taking in exactly what it is he's looking at.

Peter stands in front of him in an all too familiar outfit. The navy bulletproof vest, the dark long-sleeve shirt hiding underneath it, the brown pants with various sized pockets on the sides, the belt of empty knife holders around the boy's waist, the empty gun holster strapped to his thigh, the black lace-up boots, leather gloves, and not to mention the black mask currently unclasped and hanging off his boy's left ear. The shirt gives Peter sweater paws and the pants are so baggy around his legs that Bucky knows he must have pulled them from Bucky's closet. Heat rolls under Bucky's skin all through his body as he stares at Peter in front of him dressed like a smaller, cuter, and less-violent Winter Soldier.

Peter bites his lip, a soft flush rising onto his cheeks. Most of the team is smiling at him, while Tony's draw is dropped open a bit and Bucky just stares at him. "I couldn't quite solve how to do the metal arm justice but I figured this would be good enough," Peter gestures to the small red star patch sewn on into the left shirt sleeve.

Tony loses his stunned expression and lets out a loud guffaw, "I don't know why I'm surprised, seriously. I had a lot of ideas of what you might come dressed as, including the horrific possibility of a sexy Spider-Man, but admittedly this was not one of them." Peter's a little happy to have been able to shock Tony, honestly.

"Well, I think you did an excellent job, Peter," Steve says from across the room, looking knowingly between Bucky and the spiderling.

"Thank you," Peter cracks a small smile when he looks at Steve's costume and tries to hold his giggles in, "Wow, that's... quite the outfit, Captain."

Steve's face reddens into a blush matching Peter's. "It's already eight o'clock, I guess we should head on down to the party," Steve says to the group.

"Probably a good idea," Natasha shoots Peter a sly smile. She nudges Tony towards and pushes him towards the door when he tries to stay to see what's going to happen considering Bucky is still frozen in his spot.

"Just because you're me for the night doesn't mean you get to be the boss now," Tony mutters as the team exits the common room, Clint sending Bucky a suggestive look on his way out, but the soldier barely even registers it.

As the door slams closed, Peter looks back at Bucky with a shy smile. He anxiously begins to the wind his fingers through the dog tags around his neck - the only thing Peter was wearing that was not a part of his costume. Bucky had gifted him the tags for their one year anniversary, and he hasn't taken them off since. The sound of the metal clinking together snaps Bucky out of his Peter-daze and he instantly makes his way toward his boy.

Once he's mere inches away from Peter, he allows his eyes drag up and down the boy's body again, struggling to hold back his urge to drag Peter back to his bedroom as he ogles him. Bucky definitely has a thing for Peter in his clothes, and he knows Peter knows it too if Bucky's constant stream of missing shirts and jackets is any indication, but he never thought he would be this enticed at the sight of Peter in his combat uniform.

"So, what do ya think?" Peter says quietly, peering up at Bucky through his eyelashes with a kittenish smile.

Bucky shakes his head, unable to push back pleased smirk any longer, "I think I know exactly what you're doing." His hands fall to Peter's upper arms, moving slowly up and down.

"And what am I doing?" Peter steps even closer, their shoes bumping together, as he leans up on his toes to nudge his face closer to Bucky's, pressing a soft kiss on the man's jawbone.

"Peter," Bucky's voice drops warningly, only sparking more excitement in Peter. "I'm not going to the party." Bucky's hands trail down Peter's forearms to the tips of his fingers and rest on his hips.

Peter cuts him off with another kiss, this one beneath Bucky's chin, "Who said anything about the party? I'm just showing you my costume before I leave," A kiss below his ear, "I spent a while putting it together," Another low on Bucky's neck, "and I wanted you to be able to get a glimpse of it before I show it off to everyone else at the party." A kiss gently on his collarbone.

The sensical part of Bucky knows Peter is toying with him, but apparently his body didn't get the memo as he clenches his teeth, struggling to resist giving in, "I think everyone's really gonna like it," Peter stares at him with his big, innocent doe eyes, whispering, "don't you like me like this?"

A growl escapes Bucky's throat and he presses his thumbs into Peter's hipbone, but as he tries to move the final inch to press his lips to Peter's, the boy moves his head away. "Sorry," Peter grins coyly, "I should be getting to that party now. Don't want to be late."

He tries to step away, but Bucky's grip tightens on his hips, just above the empty weapons holster. "You really are a little menace, aren't you?" Bucky puts a hand under Peter's jaw, his fingers trailing over the boy's cheek.

"You really gonna make me go to the party alone?" Peter whimpers gently as Bucky moves his leg in between Peter's thighs.

Bucky huffs a sigh, and places a kiss on the top of Peter's head, "I can't believe I'm saying this..."

"But...?" Peter beams at him.

"We're going to leave early," Bucky tries to sound serious, but the ecstatic look taking over Peter's expression overpowers him.

"Deal!" Peter jumps up to press his lips to Bucky's before he whispers a soft, "Thank you."

Bucky just nods in defeat, "Alright, let's go."

Peter frowns, grabbing onto Bucky's hand before he can walk away, "You can't go to the party without a costume, Bucky."

"Afraid I don't have a costume, doll." Peter grins mischievously and Bucky stops, "You got me a costume, didn't you?"

Peter laughs and nods, pulling the man towards his room. "It's actually what triggered my costume idea too! I promise it's simple!"

Bucky chuckles as he watches Peter pull a plastic bag out of his closet, "I considered getting a suit fit for you, but no matter how perfect I know you would look, I also knew you never, ever wear it in front of other people, so I tried to do something basic instead."

Bucky raises an eyebrow but his silent question is immediately answered when Peter pulls out a hanger holding a long sleeve blue Henley shirt underneath a sleeveless, red zip-up hoodie with a black spider decal in the middle. "You can just wear blue jeans with it and your army boots, the red ones, to match." Peter hurries to say, "Oh, and one more thing," He leans over to pulls the last object out of the bag and hands it Bucky. "I don't use that one much anymore. It's the one from the first Spider-Man suit Mr. Stark made for me."

Bucky glances from the mask in his hand to Peter's hopeful face in front of him. For some reason, this party obviously means a lot to Peter, so he sighs, resigning himself to endless teasing from Steve and Sam for the next hundred years, "Only because I love you so damn much."

Peter bites his lip, "Really? You'll wear it?"

Bucky smiles teasingly, "What? Me giving in wasn't a part of your master plan? What tricks were you planning on using next?" Bucky wraps his arm around Peter's waist, laying their foreheads on each other, "Cause I'll bet I'd be open to more persuasion."

Peter flushes beet red but still grins softly at Bucky, "Of course it was part of my plan, but I wasn't- I just wasn't actually sure that you would do it in the end. I know Halloween isn't your thing and although I really, really wanted you to go I'd never make you do something you definitely did not want to do in the end, because you had to do that for too long and I love you too, and-" Bucky cuts off Peter's flustered rambles with a small kiss to the boy's lips.

Peter is still the color of tomato when Bucky pulls away, "There isn't anything in this world that I wouldn't do for you, doll." He smirks at Peter's outfit once more, "Especially when you're all dressed up for me."

"Bucky," Peter whines, dropping his head into his soldier's chest. Bucky laughs and Peter feels the rumbling on his temple.

"C'mon, let's get me all ready for the party." Bucky pulls back, "Sooner we go the sooner we can come back here, eat a shit ton of candy, and maybe," Bucky nods toward the mask, "we can put some of this webbing to good use." Peter bites back a moan and slowly hands Bucky the costume, trying not to fumble under the lustful gaze from Bucky that he's grown so in love with.

>>><<<

"Steve!" Sam says, pointing to the elevator that just let off.

Steves glances over only to find Bucky entering the room, all dressed up in a makeshift Spider-Man costume, with Peter at his side pulling him over towards Tony and Pepper. Steve chuckles and turns to Natasha, "Bucky in a costume at a Halloween party, I can't believe the kid actually managed to do it."

"I'm not surprised," Her lip quirks up, "He always goes soft when it comes to Peter."

Steve clinks his glass against Sam's and Natasha's in agreement as he watches Bucky stare at Peter's rambling with fond, loving eyes.

[qreektraqedy]

HEY  BESTIES  <333  i’m  veronica  (  she/they  ,  21  ,  pst  )   and  here  is  my  super  late  intro  ...  idk  what  to  say  abt  myself  lol  ...  pls  read  on  and  consider  listening  to  the fine sounds of rowan’s brain  while  perusing  this  bad  intro  .  also  everyone  say  thank  u  j  bc  otherwise  i  would  not  still  have  my  intro  omgg  

*   𝑩𝑨𝑺𝑰𝑪𝑺 

𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞  :  rowan  priam  davis   /   𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬   :  ro  /  row  ,  tbd .   /   𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫  +  𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐬  :  demiguy  ,  he  /  they   /    𝐝𝐨𝐛  :   7  june   /   𝐚𝐠𝐞  +  𝐳𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐜  :  twenty - two  +  gemini   /   𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧  :   new  york .   /    𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐧 + 𝐠𝐨𝐝𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭  :  12  + dionysus   /   𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞  :  brass knuckles   /   𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐮𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 :   english  +  greek  +  latin  +  french  +  spanish   /   𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭  :  5'10   /   𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐬  :  irresponsible  ,  reticent  ,  disorganized  ,  impatient ,  stubborn  ,  selfish  ,  aloof    +    observant  ,  clever  ,   independent  ,  affable  ,  resourceful  ,  empathetic  ,  cooperative   /     𝐦𝐛𝐭𝐢  :  entp  /  possible  estp .     /      𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐩  :  any “bad boy” who is also the life of the party  ,  characters with similar mbti’s  / those who will push your buttons but you can never fully hate them  somehow  ...  tony stark of the marvel cinematic universe ,   jeff winger  of  community  ,  severus  snape  of  harry potter  ,  daniel desario of freaks and geeks  ,  etc .

*   𝑩𝑨𝑪𝑲𝑮𝑹𝑶𝑼𝑵𝑫 

rowan grew up in new york city where his mother worked on broadway and off - broadway shows for most of his life , though a few times he was dragged on nations tours .

rowan was brought to camp at fourteen where he was almost immediately claimed by dionysus . he wasn’t all that surprised, though, given who his mother is .  rowan, surprisingly, didn’t get the acting gift, or rather, not the love for the stage. rowan is nothing if not dramatic and theatrical , though if you’d ask them , they would probably blame it all on the madness trait, which isnt’t true at all, but you don’t have to know that. 

TW MENTIONS OF ALCOHOL ADDICTION , END AT NEXT BULLET POINT  ...  rowan’s special talent of alcokinesis often makes him the life of the party , though other than the social aspect of being a walking keg , it’s caused him nothing but trouble in the past as he’s grown a sort of dependency on and addiction to it in the past  , though that’s something he keeps mostly secret and is trying to work past .  connection idea ... someone pls help him 

ANYWAYS ... rowan sticks to themself for the most part , unless they have some benefit of letting someone in usually . which leads us to the present . rowan is currently neutral . they know deep down what the right thing to do is , but their self destructive nature and reputation they’ve made for themself make that choice a difficult one that needs no immediate care . they’re waiting to see which side needs him more and why he should agree to join .

also  ...  rowan uses he and they pronouns and has openly for about five years  .  they aren’t a permanent year-rounder but has spent several years entirely on camp , especially in recent years . rowan secretly likes to sing and if he had to be in any show , it would be rent and as roger since they share a last name and are both moody . rowan likes to wear glitter eyeshadow a lot and paints his nails sometimes . his favourite genre of music is probably anything 90s . his mom has a strawberry allergy so rowan hardly gets to use his chlorokinesis for those . prefers red grapes over green .

*    𝑪𝑶𝑵𝑵𝑬𝑪𝑻𝑰𝑶𝑵𝑺  ..  rowan identifies as pansexual so all of these are open to anyone  . 

𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬  :  best friend   ...    the ride or die   ,  the one person rowan is closest to in the entire world    +     frenemies   ...   they hate each other until it rly counts  ,  they'll have each other's backs when they need to    +     sibling - like friendship   /   without getting into the family tree of it all , someone who he can look up to or someone who for some reason looks up to him  ,  a confidant  +     flirtationship or will they , won't they   /   close friends or even enemies with romantic potential or tension , whether or not they realize it or have tried   +   party  friends  ...   u know the deal    +   idk how to descibe this one i’m dumb  ...  they just use each other for stuff like .. sneaking stuff in or training but don’t talk much outside of that  ,  they have each others backs but aren’t very close outside of when it benefits them despite their similarities   +   literally anything   /   also the aforementioned thing in the bullet points above lol

BELOW  is  literally  just  my  app . 

PART ONE.   /   ⟨  alex fitzalan , demiguy , he/they , twenty-two ⟩ there goes ROWAN DAVIS after the opposing team’s flag , the child of DIONYSUS who was claimed to CABIN 12 eight years ago . wielding their BRASS KNUCKLES , and their inherited ALCOKINESIS at the ready , they’re sure to lead their team to victory . after all , it was their demigod prowess that proved to be vital during the arduous and decisive QUEST FOR THE GOLDEN FLEECE ( demigod slot 8 ) they ventured on in the past . don’t let their feat fool you though , it was during this quest that they were challenged by their SELF-RELIANCE AND RECKLESSNESS. perhaps that is the reason they’ve chosen to be neutral . 

PART TWO.   /   whether or not rowan was helpful on their quest is something he finds subjective , his perception vs everyone else’s. he feels he was helpful in the broader sense , simply being a part of the little rescue team and confrontation of luke being the extent of his helpfulness. others might argue his quick thinking skills or boldness and courage pulled them out of certain stickier situations. though no one is likely to disagree that rowan’s alcokineses is useless around 90% of the time , 99% on quests, probably. like his current stance, and apparent attitude towards most things, rowan’s usefulness was neutral at best. if they’d had forced transformation instead, however, maybe things would’ve been different . 

PART THREE.  /  rowan, at the moment, is neutral, though leaning towards the olympians, morally. morals don’t mean a lot though , since right now they don’t see any rush or severity to the situation and picking a side and is mostly waiting to play their cards right , wants to know what each side has to offer that will benefit them the most. they knows it’s wrong, deep down, but can’t help it. 

PART FOUR.  /   ok hey guys here’s some messy headcanons taken from my app . 

rowan was brought to the camp at fourteen  …  prefers to stick to himself mostly and not get close to people or let them in very often  …  lives by keep ur friends close , enemies closer sort of , more like he just doesn’t let anyone super close unless he benefits in some way , it’s easier for him to not care than to get attached , self destructive sort of  …  not a bad person necessarily , but got that reputation and leans into it  …  very fake it til you make it , pretends to be confident but has no idea what he’s doing ever  …  reckless and refuses to analyze his mistakes to be better  …  feels useless a lot but hardly shows it , will sit and play it cool instead of moping  …  moved around a lot with his mother who is an actress – sometimes on broadway , sometimes in touring shows which she did whenever she worried about rowan’s safety  ...  when he tastes ambrosia he tastes the blueberry muffins his mom used to make him for breakfast to take to school

[makingoutinthemojave]

This is something i thought of a few days ago, but fo4 companions reacting to the sole survivor taking off their prosthetic leg/arm and hitting someone ( maybe one of the othet companions lol) with it after being annoying.

I wrote a few of these! Feel free to message me if you’d like other companions!

—

Deacon-

“All I’m saying is that if Aliens exist- then why is it so hard to believe there are microscopic robots in all of our food?”

“Ok- Tom- that’s a lot to unpack,” Tinker Tom was in one of his rants again that he would go into while everyone was trying to sleep. However, his ramblings normally got everyone up and talking. Sole always tried to argue with him, which was hilarious to Deacon. “First of all, Aliens aren’t real.”

“Hey now- that ain’t true!” Tom interrupted them, “I saw that UFO the other day!”

“And we’re supposed to believe in everything you see?” Glory takes Sole’s side, lifting her brow at Tom.

“Hey, if the man says he saw a UFO- then who are we to say he didn’t! I believe ya, Tinker.” Deacon scooted from his mattress to Tom’s, patting his back. He loved to side with Tom in these fights- mostly because he reveled in the chance to tease Sole.

“Thanks, Deeks, at least you know the truth.” Tom puts his arm around Deacon, glaring at the other, less believing crew. 

“Whatever, ok, Second of all, how did you go from Aliens to microscopic robots?” Sole ignores the idiots arm-in-arm in front of them and brings up their second point.

“That’s obvious! The Aliens make the tiny robots!” Deacon declares in a dramatic voice, and Tom gasps.

“Do you think so? Maybe that’s why they’re flying over the earth- they’ve been experimenting on us!” Tom sounded like he was on the cusp of revelation- and Glory groaned.

“Come on, Tom, you can’t be serious.”

“I’m sorry that you can’t open your mind to the possibilities, Glory. I’m just trying to be safe!” Tom takes a condescending tone, and Deacon anticipates a shitshow.

“Oh, and being safe means being an idiot?” Glory snaps, and Deacon ‘ooh’s.

“Being safe means suspecting everything! And you don’t suspect enough!” Tom spits back.

“I don’t, do I? Well, Tom, I ‘suspect’ you’re about to get your ass whooped-” Glory starts getting up, and Sole grabs her arm.

“Wait, beat him with this-” Sole grabs at their hip, feeling for something.

“You’re not actually gonna beat me up, Glory-” Tom begins to nervously ask, Deacon recoiling from his friend to prevent suffering the same fate. He’s interrupted by a loud POP.

“WhAT THE FUCK-” Glory yells, jumping back from Sole. Sole then lifts their whole leg into the air.

“Get ‘em with this!” Sole offers the leg over to Glory, and she backs up.

“Woah, Woah- hold on, you can’t just hand your leg over to someone!”

“Yeah, you need to take them to dinner first- at least.” Deacon quips, making Sole laugh. He’s known about Sole’s prosthetic leg for some time and especially knows their tendency to use it as a disciplinary weapon. He’s just glad he’s not the one to receive their calf of wrath at the moment.

“What, do you not know about my leg, Glory?” Sole gestures with the leg while talking, “Damn, I knew I forgot to tell someone. Well, you can still use it to beat up Tom. Here.” They continue to hold the leg to Glory.

Glory thinks for a moment, still trying to take in what had happened. Then she nods. “Ah, fuck it, gimme the leg.” She takes the leg from Sole and turns with a vicious look towards Tom. “I’ll show you just how safe you are-”

Deacon learned a lesson that night. Don’t give a prosthetic limb to Glory when she’s angry. Also, don’t wake Desdemona up in the middle of the night. Both things produce terrible, terrible consequences.

Nick Valentine-

It ended up being a late night in the office and Nick said he’d make up for it by buying drinks for Ellie and Sole. The trio went to the Dugout inn, preceding to the bar.

“Hello, Detectives! What will I be getting for you?” Vadim greeted them in the same, loud way he always did. Nick began to fish the money out of his trench coat pocket.

“Hi, Vadim. It’s gonna be a round for these two. My treat.” Nick pulled out his caps, sliding them across the bar to Vadim.

“Oh, I see…cruising, huh, Valentine?” Vadim graciously took the money, chuckling to himself.

“Excuse me?” What is that supposed to mean? Nick sure didn’t know, but based on the way they scoffed- Sole did. Ellie started giggling as well.

“Oh, come on, Nick…I always knew you were a smooth operator. But shouldn’t you be keeping it professional with these two?” Vadim laughed, turning to grab their beers. Nick thinks he was starting to understand.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Bobrov.” Nick’s internal fans were working in overdrive to keep him cool, and Ellie kept laughing at his sake.

“Oh-hoh, that’s how it is! Well, good luck in your-” Vadim hoots, turning to put the beers on the counter. His remark is cut off by Sole.

“Alright, that’s enough of that.” Sole suddenly tears their right arm off, whacking Vadim on the back of the head.

Wait. They what.

Ellie squeals, jumping and standing back from the now armless Sole. It takes her and Nick one more second to register the straps and cords coming out of the detached arm.

“You have a fake arm??” Ellie declares, more in relief than anything else.

“You didn’t know?” Sole seems surprised just the same as they were.

“How would we have found out?” Nick defends, staring at them in confusion. He still wasn’t quite sure what had happened, 

“That’s one way to shut him up.” Yedim chimes up, interrupting their bickering, and making Vadim laugh.

“Yes, yes, sorry for teasing you guys! Enjoy your drinks!” Vadim apologizes and pushing the beers over to the three. Sole puts their arm back on, and they and Ellie grab the drinks.

“Thank you, Vadim. And sorry about the arm.” Sole apologizes, and they walk to find their seats.

“Well, kid, good to know you’re armed at all times.” Nick quips, watching the anguish wash over Sole and Ellie’s faces.

“Oh god- was that a pun? I thought you were better than that, Nick.” Sole cringes and Nick grins victoriously.

“Okay, now you have to tell us what happened…” Ellie nudges Sole, ignoring Nick’s dad jokes.

“Fine, I lost it when…”

Paladin Danse- 

“No wayyy!” Haylen shoves sole on the shoulder with her bottle hand, nudging them gently as they put their hands up in defense.

“I swear! I was out of the vault for like, less than an hour and already killing deathclaws!” Sole tries to convince their crowd, shrugging with their beer.

Sole and few other brotherhood members were drinking together on the lower levels of the prydwen, something Danse was completely unaccustomed to. He wasn’t one to do anything out of protocol and wasn’t interested in activities that could lead to said behavior. But Sole, the ever-inviting harpy they could be, convinced him the initiates would benefit from seeing a Paladin more relaxed. “Show them you’re a person like the rest of us,” they said. Sure.

“That would explain your pre-existing combat prowess, charging into that ghoul onslaught when we met.” Danse joins the conversation, taking a sip of his Gwinnett Ale. Everyone looks to him quickly, surprise in the initiate’s eyes. True, he hasn’t spoken at all yet, but they don’t need to treat it like a big deal. Danse tucked his head down a bit.

“Would you call that ‘prowess’ or ‘reckless abandon’?” Rhys, charming as always, chimes up before Sole could accept the compliment. He was always thorny towards newcomers, but he seemed especially so to this pre-war Vault dweller. Danse has handled in-team conflicts before, but when they involved Rhys, it was always more complicated.

“I would call it bravery.” Haylen says, glaring a moment at Rhys and then smiling back at Sole. She was always the compassionate one.

“What’s so brave about almost killing yourself?” Rhys continues to bicker, waving his beer in the air.

“Killing myself? I think I was doing most of the killing there!” Sole teases, always loving to mess with Rhys. Danse wishes they wouldn’t.

“Oh really? I think you ought to remember your place here.” Rhys frowned.

“Should I? Who got the instant promotion? Who’s working directly with the Elder to defeat the institute?” Sole continues to poke his buttons, making the initiates watching “ooh”.

“That’s it-” Rhys gets to his feet, and then does Sole.

“Wait a minute, Soldiers,” Danse quickly hops to his feet to stop the fight, but is interrupted by Sole swiftly yanking their arm off and wielding it like a weapon.

Haylen doesn’t hesitate to scream at the sight, and even Rhys seems spooked.

“What?? Y’all didn’t know I have a fake arm?” Sole reacts with just as much surprise, waving the arm around like it was nothing.

“We had no idea, Soldier, I-I-” Danse awkwardly stares.

“Well, I can tell you how I lost it if Rhys will just shut his mouth.” Sole glares and Rhys does the same.

“Settle down you two.” Danse crosses his arms and gets them to back down, going back to their seated positions. “So, tell us about the arm.”

“Okay, so way back before the war….”

X6-88- 

X6 would probably walk in on Sole knocking one of the institute directors on the head with their prosthetic arm and instantly become over-interested. He’d start inquiring about the technical abilities of their prosthetic, what weapons it was equipped with, how it could be improved.

“It doesn’t really have any abilities, other than functioning as an arm,” Sole sheepishly responded to the questions, embarrassed by the sudden attention.

“That doesn’t do at all, Sir/M’am. You should see the Robotics branch to get an upgrade. The face of the Institute deserves the best limb enhancers.” And so, through X6’s urging, Sole would end up with a wicked arm. Robotics would hook them up with like…inspector gadget style tricks all in the prosthetic. They’d honestly look part synth, which shortly became Sole’s new favorite thing to trick wastelanders into thinking. Thanks, X6!

[krysyuy]

hi! i'm currently shoved in the world of cdrama (😭)and would like to ask what's your most recommended cdrama? current or finished drama will do! thanks!! <3

First off, anon, I’m shocked that you would come to my inbox to ask me this, lmao. I don’t think I’ve posted very much cdrama content, which is actually quite strange, since I’m watching them almost exclusively at the moment (and I went through a cdrama phase earlier this year and last year too). I haven’t touched a kdrama since Flower of Evil, though Tale of the Nine-Tailed is supposed to be next on my list. The timing just hasn’t been right on my end…

Anyways! Enough about kdramas, you asked about cdramas. Now I’m not sure what genre you’re looking for, so I’ll just throw out my personal recommendations across the map. I’m incapable of recommending just one, lol.

Please note that while I’m watching cdramas currently, my pool of cdramas actually isn’t particularly deep compared to others. I may not have watched any of the classics or what would be considered top-tier dramas that other blogs may recommend (e.g. Nirvana in Fire, etc).

I’ll “spoil” whether the endings are happy or not, but I won’t go into detail.

- General’s Lady (2020) !!!!! - I’m watching it on YouTube, but I just found out Viki has it too, lol. The subs are up to Episode 15 (out of 30). This is currently airing. I adore it and am absolutely obsessed. I plan to gif this series eventually. The story isn’t complicated, but this drama hits all my fluff kinks. The OTP has great chemistry, and the sweet moments (the kisses! the skinship!) are off the charts. Cheesy? Yes. 110% down my alley? Absolutely, lmao. Caesar Wu has managed to capture my heart with this role (an icy general who ends up head over heels for his lady), and he’s been added to my list of favorite c-actors to look out for. The female lead is smart and spunky, and she’s very proactive which is refreshing. She can also be very cute without it getting annoying. I couldn’t resist watching raws ahead and - to no one’s surprise, I imagine - it’s a happy ending. There’s also a mystifying scene at the end, which I hope subs will provide context for. A strange but not unwelcome surprise. I’m also kind of hoping this means the team is open to a Season 2, lmao.

- The Rise of Phoenixes (2018) - Completed. Watched it on Netflix. This was actually my first cdrama. It set the bar quite high in terms of the fantastic overall quality with the actors, production value, etc etc. Unfortunately, while this drama is very well-done, it did not escape the clutches of the censors and it got a bit chopped up towards the end, iirc. And a happy ending, this does not have. But I still think it’s worth the watch! Heartbreaking OTP and all.

- Gank Your Heart (2019) - Completed. Watched it… elsewhere. E-sports drama. Romance! I had no idea “gank” was an actual word before this drama, lmao. Anyways, the characters are great, the OTP is sweet, and it’s just fun all around. Happy ending~ Give us a season 2!

- The King’s Avatar (2019) - Completed. Watched it on Netflix. E-sports drama. No romance. The novel this is based on is massive but fantastic. I actually just spent the last couple weeks of October finally binge-reading it, lol. The drama doesn’t remain true to the novel, which can’t be helped since the novel mostly focuses on stuff that happens in the game. The drama instead chooses to focus a lot on what happens outside of it, fleshing out the characters and building on what the novel gave us. (Or, for better or worse, going in a different direction for dramatization.) We see how our protagonist team comes together and develops, and their relationships with each other. I actually watched this while it was airing, and I remember eagerly waiting for each episode weekly. I didn’t realize until later that novel readers weren’t happy with it since it deviates so much. I think you just have to treat it as its own thing. Happy ending! Hopefully there’s a Season 2.

- Love O2O (2016) - Completed. Watched it on Netflix. I didn’t recall until afterwards that this was a pretty big hit while it was airing, lol. I watched this after The King’s Avatar because of the male lead, Yang Yang. Solidified my love for him, which was already pretty strong after TKA. A romcom set against the gaming world, it hits all the right spots. Happy ending ofc ♥

- Eternal Love (2017) - Completed. Watched it on Netflix (see a pattern? lmao). This one I actually remembered people loving, lol. Again, I was late to the game on this one, but I definitely got the hype. Epic OTP with an epic storyline, it’s responsible for my love of the xianxia genre with story elements like cultivation, immortal/heavenly characters, love trials, etc etc. Happy ending, which the OTP deserved after all their struggles.

- The Untamed (2019) - Completed. Watched on a variety of platforms while it was airing, but it’s on Netflix now, lol. Based on a BL novel. While it couldn’t be stated explicitly, it’s there as much as it can be without the censors coming after them. I actually almost forgot to recommend this? lmao You must’ve heard of it or have already watched it, but its popularity is well-deserved. Another epic OTP with an epic storyline. I’m not too up to date with the cdrama world, but I’m hoping the other works from this author get adapted to live action as well. I consider it a happy ending; it was as good as we were gonna get without the censors touching it.

- Love the Way You Are (2019) - Completed. Watched it on YouTube. Romcom. This kind of has a wacky premise, at least in regards to the female lead’s “disease”. It takes suspension of disbelief, but I was somehow charmed by both her and the male lead. Try to give it a chance, and the OTP’s chemistry may capture you too. Happy ending!

- The Prince of Tennis (2019) - Completed. Watched it on Netflix.  Not sure if you’re into sports dramas, but if you like the original Japanese manga this is based on or just the shounen genre in general, this is for you! The adaptation is fantastic and pretty true to the source material, physics-defying tennis and all. The characters and their relationships are a lot of fun, and my friends and I had a great time watching them. Netflix has 40 episodes, while MyDramaList lists 42 episodes. I personally think Netflix just re-edited the episodes for length (making each episode 45min instead of 35min) instead of it being a typo or there being a mysterious missing two eps. They’ve actually done this with a Taiwanese drama I was watching back in the day (can’t recall which one), so it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s the case here. Ofc a happy ending with hopefully a Season 2.

Anon, I’m not sure if you’ve watched or are currently watching some of these, but I hope this list helps! Enjoy!!! ♡✧( ु•⌄• )

[izzy-b-hands]

Headlong Through The Years

Inspired by that wonderful moment in the Headlong music video (or behind the scenes, my currently not feeling well mind may be failing me lol) when Freddie tossed a CD at Brian who wasn’t expecting it (and still caught it but Freddie very adorably acted like he nearly took Brian’s head off.) 

Basically the idea that this is a running theme, and that ever since the start they’ve been doing this: Freddie enthusiastically tossing something to Brian thinking he’s ready to catch it, Brian with his brain off in another world (see what I did there lmao sorry) but with decent hand-eye coordination and reflexes to save him.

My love to all who read/like/reblog!

1975

“I thought you were going to catch it!” 

“It’s okay; I mostly did,” Brian giggled, an arm outstretched, Freddie’s mic and the upper section of the stand just barely caught in his fingers. “Your mic is safe!” 

“I’m not worried about that,” Freddie sighed. “It nearly hit your face; I’m worried about you!” 

“Aw, he’s alright,” Roger smiled, and walked over to pluck the mic and stand from Brian’s hand. “Look at him; not a scuff on that pretty face!” 

Brian blushed. “I don’t know about that, but I am fine. Trust me, if you’d really nailed me with that, you’d know it.” 

“He’d have thrown it back, in other words,” John smirked. “You were looking right at Fred, where were you, Brian?” 

Brian shrugged. “Thinking.” 

“About what?” 

“Can’t a man just think?” Brian scoffed.

“Dangerous line of questioning you’re leading us into there,” Roger laughed. “Might have to think about that. Thinking about thoughts, might end up-” 

“Overwrought?” John suggested. 

“I was gonna say talking out of our asses, but sure, that too,” Roger replied. “Maybe call out a warning next time, Freddie.” 

“I will be,” Freddie said. “Can’t take out our guitarist!” 

---

1977

“Got it!” 

“I told you I was tossing it over!” Freddie stressed, staring at Brian.

Who was leaned back, arms pressed into his chest, to catch one of the master tapes that Freddie had, in fact, called out that he was throwing gently to Brian. 

“Didn’t you hear him?” John laughed. “Here, let me take it.” 

“Least I didn’t drop it,” Brian grinned. 

“Yeah, but you used up all your athletic ability for the year,” Roger teased. “No one throw him anything else!” 

“As if you could talk,” Brian teased back. “Could you have saved that tape from a near demise, being smashed to the floor?” 

“I mean, probably,” Roger replied. “I heard Freddie yell ‘catch this’, so I would have...caught it.” 

“I did catch it!” 

“Barely,” John said. “Again, off in the stars, somewhere far away...” 

“I was thinking of what I want to eat, since we skipped lunch to record more, actually,” Brian said briskly.

“Okay, off in the stars of a takeaway bag, somewhere in the depths of a sandwich...” John amended. 

“Are you okay?” Freddie asked, pointedly ignoring the ribbing from the other two. 

“I’m okay,” Brian smiled. “You can’t take me out that easily, Mercury. Keep trying.” 

“Don’t even joke; I feel terrible,” Freddie sighed. “I should just hand things to you from now on, for safety’s sake.” 

“Ah, but where’s the fun and danger in that?” Roger offered. “It’s good for his coordination anyway, keep it up.” 

---

1982

“Now I really did barely throw that,” Freddie sighed, marching over to help untwine Brian’s hair from the headstock of the guitar. “And you looked at me! You met my eyes!” 

“Still caught it,” Brian said weakly, wincing as Freddie untangled his curls from under the strings. “Just didn’t catch it very well, but that’s alright.” 

“And it’s not his old lady, so he doesn’t really care that he nearly didn’t catch it at all,” Roger smirked. “That is the implication, isn’t it Brian?” 

“Don’t put words in my mouth,” Brian replied, but glanced over to Freddie worriedly.

“Oh, I would never so much as think to roughly handle her, let alone throw her,” Freddie murmured, fighting with Brian’s hair still. “How did you do this? It’s like they’re attracted to it or something.” 

“He’s just that good,” John joked. “Next, he’ll become the guitar.” 

Brian looked at the model in his hand, and winced. “Can I hold a different one, if that’s to happen? I don’t mean to be picky-” 

“Ah, but you are!” Roger interrupted. “Let me help; we can’t leave him like that.” 

“Could I suggest you stop tossing him things?” John asked Freddie as he watched him and Roger work. “We are getting older you know, reflexes going...” 

“I’m thirty-five!” Brian spat.

“I’ll buy you a cane for your next birthday,” John said. “Thank you for the reminder.” 

“Aside from that, he makes a good point,” Freddie said. “Obviously, we don’t have good luck with this, and one of these times you’re going to miss catching something expensive, or I’ll hurt you by tossing something I really probably should hand to you instead.” 

“Poor old men,” Roger sighed dramatically, only to dodge away as the headstock swung his way. “Careful with that, Bri! No need to get me more into this mess.” 

“Your eyes must be going if you didn’t see it coming, old man,” Brian muttered. 

“Both of you stop that,” Freddie instructed. “It’s not helping things.” 

“We aren’t cutting my hair to get me out of this,” Brian mumbled. 

“Just...don’t move, and we’ll see,” Freddie sighed. 

---

1986

“Okay, that one was my fault,” Roger winced. “Good show, you two.” 

The set of cymbals weren’t overly heavy, but they were awkward. And, as discovered, while airborne and tumbling into arms, had a bit of bounce. In this case, right out of Freddie’s arms as he had dived for them, and into Brian’s. 

“What were you doing?” Freddie asked with a scoff. “What was the game plan?” 

“To move them!” Roger protested. “Gently, but they slipped! They can be slippery!” 

“Don’t blame the cymbals for your short-comings,” John tsked dramatically. “You can’t keep doing that, Rog. You blame them for this, what’ll it be next?” 

“You’re hilarious,” Roger replied dryly. “Sorry, again...” 

“Least it wasn’t all on Fred this time,” Brian smiled, and carefully handed the cymbals to Roger. “A team effort now, to test my reflexes! Should we start scheduling this yearly? I can tell my doctor, send the results to him, very official.” 

“I did try to keep them with me,” Freddie said. “Didn’t work, but I tried.” 

“I’m teasing,” Brian chuckled. “Honestly! You lot acting like you nearly ran me over or something. Was only cymbals; all is well!” 

“Suppose you’re right,” Roger sighed. “Still, I am sorry.” 

“If it will help, apology accepted,” Brian smiled. “You two work on your aim for next year, really make it a challenge.” 

“I ought to get in on this,” John mused. “Don’t want to be left out, after all.” 

“I think the peanuts you toss during my solos are quite enough,” Brian said. 

“What, me? I would never,” John grinned. “How long are you finding those in your hair after a show? Be honest!” 

“Maybe I should start throwing them back as I find them,” Brian playfully sneered. “And you can get in on trying to catch things you’re only half-expecting to ever need to catch!” 

“If you’re going to throw those at anyone, should be Freddie,” John protested. “He’s thrown far more things at you than I have.” 

“Yeah, but he’s never done it during a show!” 

“Well, there’s something for next year then,” John laughed. “Taking notes, Fred?” 

---

1990

“Still trying to take me out, eh Fred?” Brian grasped the CD in his hands, up near his face. “Nice try, but you’re going to have to keep at it.” 

“I didn’t think-” Freddie started, then smiled. “Alright. I’ll keep trying. Any suggestions for what I toss at you next?” 

“Whatever you like,” Brian laughed. “I’m relying on this now, you know. It’s the only thing keeping my reflexes up!” 

“And he’s even older, so you know they’ll be going soon,” John mused. “Still need to get you that cane...” 

“All the better to trip you with,” Brian smirked. 

“I’d like to see you try,” John smiled. “Ah, there it is! Freddie can trip me, and we’ll see if you catch me. That’s the logical level up, for next year.” 

“No one is tripping anyone,” Freddie said. “Besides, you lot aren’t going to be needing things like that for years yet, don’t be so silly.” 

“You don’t know that,” Roger said. “Might be us stumbling round, trying to keep our feet under us, and you running circles around us on stage.” 

“Sure,” Freddie shook his head and laughed. “And I’ll put on the leotards again too!” 

“You know there are fans who would be delighted to see that, don’t tease something you won’t do,” Brian scolded playfully. “But I think Roger might be right. We’ll be shuffling along, and you’ll bounce out like you always have; we’ll slow you down!” 

“Oh shut up,” Freddie joked. “Why don’t we take it day by day and see from there? Maybe we’ll all be too old and tired; four queens finally retired from the stage.” 

“We’ll see,” Brian smiled softly. 

“Yeah,” Roger added. “Day by day sounds fine to me.” 

“I agree with the wait and see,” John said. “Though Brian’s track record with seeing isn’t so strong, so as long as the coming days don’t physically toss themselves at him, we should be fine.” 

“I could toss you,” Brian suggested sarcastically.

“Do what you like; Freddie will catch me,” John responded assuredly. 

Roger nodded, but his eyes were on Freddie. “Yeah. That’s our Fred, always here to catch us.” 

[to-write-ornah]

Thanks, Idiots

Word Count: 3104

A/N: fluff. Lots of fluff. Hella fluffy Sweet Pea just adorableness okay? (Readers personality is lowkey inspired by me cause I’d rather be at my gym than a party any night. Well, unless Sweet Pea was actually there then I might make an exception lol 😂)

Warnings: swearing, alcohol, Fangs being a sneaky boi

———

~~

_

To put it simply, you hated parties. People were loud and got drunk and did stupid shit, and the only way you could forget it was if you drank. Unfortunately, drinking to forget results in a massive hangover, which is almost worse than the party itself.

Your best friend Fangs, on the other hand, loves parties. It was one of the only things you both disagreed about; he saw them as a fun way to get drunk for free and have a good time. And you, well, you’d rather be at your gym, pounding a punching bag or sparring with one of the coaches.

That being said, tonight Fangs had managed to drag you out of the gym and to Toni’s trailer to get ready for a party. You were friends with Toni, but you hadn’t known her since birth like Fangs, so you were slightly uncomfortable when she told you to strip and tossed you an outfit.

‘Damn,’ you thought as you looked yourself over. You fingered the black suede skirt Toni had lent you. She’d paired it with a black brallete and a sheer long sleeved crop top, black ankle boots, and she’d let you keep your leather jacket.

Toni pushed you into a chair and fussed with your hair and makeup for a good fifteen minutes before declaring you party ready. She already looked great in thigh high boots and a tight red dress.

Looking in the mirror, you couldn’t help but gasp. Your hair looked fantastic and your makeup was on point.

“Thanks Toni,” you said, grinning. She offered you a smirk.

“You look great, girl. Let’s go kill it.”

______

“Damn, what happened to my tomboy best friend?” Fangs teased, reaching out to ruffle your hair. Toni grabbed his wrist and gave him a death glare.

“I spent forever doing her hair. Touch it, and you’re dead.”

You giggled at Toni’s dramatics and straddled your bike. “What rich Northsiders house are we invading?”

“Reggie Mantles’.” Fangs nodded as your jaw dropped. “Apparently he’s cool with the Southsiders now that Sweet Pea’s on the basketball team.”

“I still haven’t met Sweet Pea,” you remarked as you fastened your helmet.

“Ooh, I’ve gotta introduce you,” Toni gave you a look you couldn’t quite read before starting up her bike. You and Fangs followed suit, and Fangs took the lead, you and Toni following him to the Mantles’ house.

________

Several other bikes were already there when you pulled up. Fangs led the way again, parking next to a brat style cb550. You parked next to him, and Toni beside you. You let out a low whistle.

“Nice bike.”

Toni and Fangs shared a smirk.

“They’re gonna get along great.” Toni said easily as she dismounted her bike. You got off yours as well, taking a moment to adjust your skirt as you stared in wonder at the huge house in front of you. Well, house was hardly the word for it. It was practically a mansion.

“Hey,” you snapped at Fangs, “you’re not ditching me tonight.” He smirked.

“I won’t leave you alone. Promise.”

You rolled your eyes, following Toni up the steps toward the noise of the house. She pulled the door open and the noise hit you hard. Music, people, yelling, laughing. Loud would be an understatement.

The smell of cheep alcohol invaded your nose as you followed your friends to the kitchen. Although you knew other Southside students would be there, the amount of Serpents in the house surprised you. And the amount of leather.

Fangs grabbed your hand as he dragged you through the crowd, Toni breaking away from your group when she saw someone she knew. Fangs led you around the island, which was loaded up with cans of beer, red solo cups and a punch bowl that was probably spiked. He pressed a cup into your free hand.

“Drink up!” He called.

The kitchen was crowded and the lights had been lowered. The space was instead illuminated by a disco ball on top of a cabinet and a LightIn The Box, which was currently blue. You wrinkled your nose as you narrowly escaped collision with a drunk boy who reeked of beer.

“Fangs, where are we going?” You shouted, trying to be heard over the noise and music. You doubted he heard you until he looked back and flashed you a grin.

“Almost there!”

You followed along blindly as you were led down a staircase at the back of the kitchen, doing your best to drink without spilling red punch everywhere. The downstairs was a giant den with a tv and several couches. Over the crowd of people you could see open double doors on the far side of the room, leading to the pool and backyard.

Fangs stopped next to a small kitchenette you hadn’t noticed, which a group of Serpents seemed to have claimed. A short blonde girl was pouring drinks and handing them out; a dark haired boy was slamming back jello shots as his friends cheered him on.

“See. Fun, right?” Fangs asked, pulling you to stand next to the counter. You gave him a disapproving look as you finished the rest of your drink.

Fangs squinted as he glanced around the room, looking between you and the counter before motioning for you to sit on it. You quirked a brow but did as he asked.

“This way I won’t lose you. Shorty.” He said, smirking. You glared at him.

“I’m not short. You’re just tall.”

“Whatever you say, munchkin.” He pressed a kiss to your cheek. “I’m gonna go grab more drinks from upstairs and find somebody. I’ll be back.”

“No,” you whined. “I don’t wanna be alone.” He held up two fingers, your silent way of letting each other know how long you’d be gone. You pouted as he grinned and turned, starting toward the stairs. You lost sight of him only a moment later when a moving wall blocked your view. Okay, maybe not a wall. A person. An extremely tall person.

Your eyes moved up, and up, and up, taking in a leather jacket, dog tags and a Serpent tattoo. You finally found the face of the person in front of you and you had to remind yourself not to let your jaw fall open. Dark messy hair, dark eyes and high cheekbones.

‘Hot damn,’ you thought. His mouth curled up into a smirk and you almost wondered if you’d said it aloud.

“Can I help you?” You asked. He moved to lean on the counter, crossing his arms.

“You must be Fangs’ girlfriend.” His voice was gruff and had a slight tone of annoyance to it. You blinked a few times in confusion.

“Excuse me?”

“Yeah, just saw him kiss you then go upstairs. You’re not together?” If he didn’t stop looking at you like that you weren’t going to be able to control your blush. His words finally registered and you let out a laugh.

“No, we’re not together. He’s my best friend though.”

“Well that’s good. I didn’t wanna have to fight my friend for your attention.”

This time you couldn’t control it, and you felt your face heat up, which made the boy chuckle.

“So, you’re a Serpent?” You asked, desperate to move the conversation in a different direction. He tilted his head to the side, exposing his tattoo even more. You forced yourself to look away from his neck and keep talking.

“So one of those bikes out front is yours?”

“Yeah, it’s a Honda.” Your eyes lit up.

“It wouldn’t happen to be the cb550, would it?”

His yes widened in surprise as an impressed look took over his face.

“Yeah, actually. It is. So I take it you know a thing or two about motorcycles?”

You laughed. “You could say that. I’ve got a ‘72 Harley, and I work at my brothers shop on the Southside. We mostly fix bikes.”

“Well then, my respect has doubled. That’s not an easy job.” He said as his gaze took you in. “Imagine that. A beautiful mechanic who cleans up pretty damn good.”

Your face flushed again, but before you had to say anything, Fangs appeared with a drink in each hand. You gratefully took one, gulping the alcohol as Fangs greeted the other boy.

“Hey, Sweet Pea! You met Y/n.”

You choked a little. “Wait, this is Sweet Pea?”

Fangs gave you a half confused half smug look. “Yeah, why? Did he not introduce himself?”

“He didn’t, actually.” You gave Sweet Pea a pointed look. He held his hands up.

“Hey, don’t blame me. I didn’t know I was that important.” Fangs scoffed.

“Sure. Well, you both seem to be getting along great. I’m gonna go...find...someone.”

Fangs turned to leave again but your hand flew out and caught his arm.

“Excuse us for a second, Sweet Pea.” You set your drink down and hopped off the counter, dragging Fangs a few feet away. The noise of the party covered your conversation well enough that no one would be able to hear you.

“You said you weren’t going to ditch me!” You accused, smacking his arm.

“No.” The smug look was back. “I said I wouldn’t leave you alone. You’re not alone, you’ve got Sweet Pea!”

You groaned. “Fangs, I barely know him. And besides, I think he was hitting on me,” you pouted.

“Yeah, well look at yourself, Y/n! You look hot. I’d be more worried if he wasn’t hitting on you. That might be a sign of a concussion.” He said seriously. You groaned and hit him again.

“Not helping!”

Fangs rolled his eyes. “Well I’m gonna go hit on someone, so if you wanna be around for that you’re welcome to come with me.”

You screwed up your face. “Gross. No thanks.”

“That’s what I thought.” He squished your face with one hand before rushing off, leaving you there with Sweet Pea. You rolled your eyes at your best friends retreating figure, grabbing a drink from the island and walking back to Sweet Pea. His eyes were still on you as you returned, but he now had a drink in his hand.

“Sorry about him.” You both said together. You both began laughing, and you had to put your drink down to avoid spilling it.

“No really, he’s being weird tonight,” you said between laughs. Sweet Pea nodded, a grin still in his face.

“Yeah, he was acting weird yesterday too. I wonder what’s up with him.”

You shrugged. ”I have no idea. He never tries to make me come to parties, but he was insistent on this one.”

Sweet Pea wet his lips. “Well I’m glad he was.”

You took a step back and looked up at him in surprise. A soft smile formed on your lips. “I am too.”

Conversation flowed easily after that. You were now, more or less, pretty tipsy. Sweet Pea caught on once you started to take a little longer to answer him.

“Okay,” he chuckled. “I think you’ve had enough alcohol.” He grabbed your cup from you and put it on top of the cabinet, barley having to stretch to reach it.

“Hey!” You protested, laughing. Your face heated up as you caught yourself staring at his chest and arms.

‘Dammit,’ you thought. ‘What is wrong with me?’

You snapped back to reality just as Sweets turned back to you.

“Hey, do you wanna go dance?” He asked, gesturing you toward upstairs where the music was coming from. You smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

Sweet Pea grabbed your hand and led you upstairs, past groups of drunk teenagers and around piles of empty solo cups. The music got loud as you approached what you assumed was normally the living room. Another string of lights was the only thing lighting up the room. The lights flickered and changed with the beat of the music, going from blue to purple to red. The effect threw shadows across the crowd of sweaty teenagers dancing in time with the music.

Sweet Pea pulled you into the middle of the dance floor, letting go of you as you turned around, pressing your back against his chest. His hands settled on your hips as your body moved with the music. He whispered a stupid joke in your ear and you laughed loudly, turning to face him as you danced.

By the third song, you were both breathing hard, and Sweet Pea suggested you go get drinks. You gratefully agreed, following him into the kitchen. You hadn’t even made it out of the living room when you got separated in the crowd. You could see Sweet Pea but you couldn’t get to him; too many people were pushing against you as you found yourself back in the living room. You groaned in frustration, ready to try and push your way into the kitchen again when someone’s large hand slipped into yours. You looked up to see Sweet Pea with a soft smile on his face. He held up your intertwined hands.

“Now I won’t loose you,” he said. With your hands laced together, Sweet Pea led you to the kitchen again. This time you made it without getting separated.

Sweet Pea poured you a drink from the punch bowl before making one for himself and taking your hand again. He brought you out to the deck, and you were surprised to find it empty.

Someone had left a few picnic blankets folded on top of the covered hot tub in the corner. Sweet Pea set his drink on the rail of the deck and quickly made a pallet on the floor. He grabbed his drink and took your hand, helping you sit down before joining you. Even sitting up with his back against the house, Sweet Pea’s legs were still longer than the blankets and his feet hung off the pallet, which made you giggle.

“What’s so funny princess?” His words were finally becoming a bit slurred, which made you laugh more.

“You’re so tall, Sweets,” you laughed. “And you’re getting drunk.”

“I’m not as drunk as you are,” he countered, taking a sip of his drink. “But I am a little tipsy.”

“Well I think you’re cute when you’re drunk.” You took a sip of your drink, completely missing the blush that was covering Sweet Pea’s face.

“Well then I’d happily be drunk anytime.” He murmured softly.

_______

You weren’t sure what time it was. You and Sweet Pea had finished your drinks and laid down a long time ago. First you had looked at the stars and pointed out constellations, Sweet Pea finding some kind of snake nearly every time. But now you were just talking. About anything and everything. And you were impressed. Sweet Pea was insanely smart, and pretty much any topic you could think of, Sweet Pea could talk to you about.

All the drinks you’d had had died down to a faint buzz; just enough to make you think all of Sweet Pea’s jokes were funny. (Although you were sure you’d think he was funny even without the alcohol.)

The night had cooled off since you had gotten to the party, so Sweet Pea insisted that you snuggle him. For warmth, of course.

So there you were; curled up against the giant Serpent boy, with your head on his chest and his jacket draped over your legs. (He has worn a long sleeved shirt, so he insisted you take his jacket when you started to shiver.)

You breathed deeply, taking in his scent. He smelled a little like your shop, leather, and an earthy smell you couldn’t place. You curled in a bit closer to him. Damn, you could get used to this.

“What are you thinking about?” He asked quietly, fingers tracing patterns on your shoulder. You tilted your head up at him and your lips curved into a smile.

“Just that I really like you. And how I could get used to this cuddling thing.”

He chuckled. “Well I really like you too, princess. And the cuddling. This is nice.”

You snuggled into his side again. “I agree.”

He was silent for a moment, and you looked back up at him to see his brows drawn together, deep in thought.

“What are you thinking about?” You asked his question back to him, putting an emphasis on the word ‘you’.

A smile crossed his face as he looked down at you.

“Just that...well...okay this is gonna sound kinda dumb,” he looked at you hesitantly and you sat up. Sweet Pea sat up too, ad you took his hand, giving him an encouraging nod.

“It won’t.”

“Okay,” he sighed. “So...shit, this sounds so cheesy. Okay, I know we just met, but I really like you, Y/n. And, I’m not the kind of guy who’s good with casual hook ups whenever it’s convenient to be in each other’s lives. I want a real relationship. And I don’t mean to scare you,” his eyes searched yours quickly, and your heart hurt from the amount of fear they held. “But, I’d like to ask you out. If you’d like to.”

You gave him a gentle smile, cupping his cheek with your hand. He immediately leaned into your touch.

“Sweet Pea, I’d love that.”

He grinned. “Really?”

You nodded, leaning forward and pressing a quick kiss to his lips. You pulled away quickly leaving a dazed smile on his face. He laughed.

“Wait a second. That definitely wasn’t long enough.” He said, grinning. You smiled, brushing your thumb along his cheek.

“Well you’re in luck, Sweets. I agree with you.”

————-

“I knew it. You owe me five bucks.”

“No way, we both called this. Let me see?”

Toni handed Fangs the binoculars and stepped back as Fangs pushed through the bushes to get closer.

“Damn,” he said after a minute. “We’re great at this. High five!”

He and Toni laughed as they high fived one another.

“Get outta here, you two!” Sweet Peas deep voice called from the balcony, making Toni and Fangs jump before taking off, running toward their bikes.

“Next time, we’re doing a stealth operation!” Fangs called to Toni.

“How about there isn’t a next time!” She retorted as they both hopped on their bikes, starting them up and racing out of Reggie’s driveway.

Up on the balcony, you and Sweet Pea were still laughing.

“We should send them a thank you card,” you mused, leaning into Sweet Pea’s side.

“Yeah,” he pressed a kiss to the top of your head. “Maybe we should.”

~~~

_______

[bluieeeee]

You Stole Her

“That’s because you’re here if you want to know” Jonah snaps out with quite possibly the most emotion Cyrus had ever seen from him. Jonah quickly moves toward the stairs as Cyrus asks, now worried, “what is it?” “Ask him!” He says whipping around to point at TJ before storming up the stairs and out the door. Cyrus turns on TJ who looks as confused as Cyrus feels “what did you do?”

TJ asks Jonah what he did wrong and it leads to secrets coming out. Ao3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16973295

TJ was looking down at his phone smiling to himself as he thought back to the events of his time at the park. Cyrus had left not long before, moments later texting TJ that he unblocked him(Which TJ had to teasingly act offended about) which led to exchanging more insults back and forth.

He didn’t notice the girl walking towards him until it was too late, they bumped shoulders causing his phone to fall from his hands onto the grass. “I’m so sorry” He started as he leaned down to grab his phone, luckily unmarked by the fall. When he straightened up the girl made a fist and circled her chest. For a moment TJ was confused before it clicked.

“Oh!” TJ racked his brain for a moment trying to remember the minimal sign language he learned in grade school. He semi-awkwardly places a hand in a thumbs up position on top of his other flattened hand and brings it toward himself before repeating the motion she had done. “My fault, I’m sorry,” he says as he signs it.

She looks surprised for a moment before pointing to TJ, tapping the side of her forehead with a bent hand, and spinning two fingers around one another, “You know sign?” TJ understood it as.

TJ smiled and held up his hand pinching his fingers close together, “a little.” He pushed a hand out towards her before stacking his middle and pointer fingers of both hands and moving the top ones up and down them.

The girl looked confused and moves her hands forward and to the sides in front of her. TJ repeats the motion of moving his fingers. When the girls confused expression does not change he pulls out his phone and types the question “What’s your name?”

The girl laughs and mouths “Oh” before spelling out L-I-B-B-Y with her hands in front of her. She pulls her own phone out of her pocket then and types before showing TJ the screen that reads “You asked my weight lol”

TJ mouth opens as he realizes and does the sign for ‘I’m sorry’ again. Apparently, TJ just can’t get enough of apologizing today, he thinks to himself. She smiles and shakes her head indicating it’s okay before doing the same as TJ had but bouncing the top set of fingers on the bottom instead of moving them up and down, TJ takes note of this as something to remember in the future.

T-J he signs as he says it and is momentarily thankful for his short and easy name.

A little while away Jonah and Andi sit at a bench “So?” Jonah says to her. “Did she say anything about me?” he asks eagerly.

Andi shrugged and looked off to the side, “We mostly talked about crafting.” which wasn't entirely a lie, they did mostly talk about crafting… and how boring Jonah can be.

Jonah gives her an exasperated look “Worst wingman ever,” he says causing her to laugh. He has no idea, Andi thought guiltily. Jonah looked over to the path looking for Libby, Andi guessed. “Are they friends?” he asked, causing Andi to follow his gaze to where Libby stood laughing with… TJ?

Andi scrunched her eyebrows together, “I hope not,” she said, still holding a grudge against him for the gun.

Cyrus had not been expecting to have Jonah over that day but when he texted the group chat sadly that morning announcing that Libby had broken up with him Cyrus offered to hang out as a distraction, so that is how Cyrus was playing Ping-Pong against Jonah in his basement on a random Sunday afternoon.

It hadn’t been until around three in the afternoon when Cyrus received a message from TJ asking if they were still alright to hang out at The Spoon a half hour later. Cyrus had completely forgotten that at the swings the day prior he had made plans to continue catching up the next day over Baby Taters and milkshakes.

‘I totally forgot! I have Jonah over.’ he sent, feeling guilty before having an idea. ‘Want to just come over here instead?’ he added.

‘Sure, when?’

‘Now is fine. We’re in the basement’ Cyrus types out before putting down his phone and meeting eyes with Jonah, ready to hit the ball to start another round.

Cyrus forgot to let Jonah know that TJ was on his way until he heard the door to his basement close. As the door clicked Jonah hit the ball a bit to low, giving Cyrus another point. “Three, Zero!” Cyrus says, “it’s a massacre!”

TJ is now down the stairs and next to Cyrus, putting his hand out for a high five which they pull to bump shoulders. When Cyrus looks back to Jonah though he looks, disappointed? Upset? Cyrus could never read his expressions but he knew this wasn’t a good one.

“I just remembered,” he says nodding a bit too quick, “I’m supposed to be somewhere.”

“Are you upset that I’m winning?” Cyrus asks gleefully. It’s rare that he wins, gotta bask in the glory of it.

“Ooh, I think he is upset!” TJ teases along with Cyrus. Cyrus looks to him smiling before Jonah makes them both look at him when he speaks.

“That’s because you’re here if you want to know” Jonah snaps out with quite possibly the most emotion Cyrus had ever seen from him.

Jonah quickly moves toward the stairs as Cyrus asks, now worried, “what is it?”

“Ask him!” He says whipping around to point at TJ before storming up the stairs and out the door.

Cyrus turns on TJ who looks as confused as Cyrus feels “what did you do?”

TJ shakes his head slightly, “nothing! I don’t know.”

“Well, clearly you did something.”

“If I did, I don’t remember it!”

“Then go ask him!” Cyrus says gesturing toward the stairs. TJ sighs dramatically before walking up the stairs quickly.

Jonah is just getting out the door when TJ gets to the top of the stairs and calls after him, rushing to catch up. Once outside TJ sees Jonah walking hurriedly down the street, hands stuffed in his pockets and shoulders drawn up. Even from this distance, TJ can tell Jonah is upset and tense.

Jonah hadn’t seemed to realized he was being followed so closely behind and was walking at a slower pace, not normal but not as close to running as before. TJ managed to catch up to him about half a block away from Cyrus’s house.

“Jonah!” TJ said as he grabbed Jonah's shoulder causing the other boy to spin around and move away from the touch.

“What do you want?” Jonah asked with an edge to his voice. TJ had never really imagined that Jonah’s voice could sound so angry. He had only ever really heard Jonah’s voice in a light happy tone, other than the one time he had been gasping, asking for help at Cyrus’s Bar mitzvah months prior.

“I want to know what I did wrong this time,” TJ said. Usually, in the past few months everytime someone had been angry at him he at least knew what he did wrong. But this time there was this nagging anxiety that came along with not knowing what was going on or what he did.

“Like you don’t already know,” Jonah said, not harsh but not his regular tone either. TJ’s eyebrows went up and he shook his head conveying I really don’t know. “Libby.”

TJ was even more confused than before. Of course, he remembered the sweet girl from the day prior at the park, but what did that have to do with Jonah? “What about Libby?” TJ asked, sounding as confused as he felt.

“You stole her from me!” Jonah yelled.

“What?” TJ said.

“I saw the two of you talking and laughing yesterday,” Jonah explained, his words coming out quick. “And then she broke up with me the day after. You made her.”

TJ heard the patter of footsteps behind him, Cyrus he guessed. “Why would I do that?” TJ questioned.

“Because you like her?” Jonah said, sounding more like an obvious question than a statement.

“What? I--” TJ said. He, much louder than intended, burst out with “Dude, I don’t even like girls!”

TJ realized what he had said just as he said it. It felt strange saying it so outwardly and loudly, to Jonah Beck of all people at that. It hadn’t even really been a secret. Reed and Lester knew at least, and some boys from the basketball team, but they had figured it out for themselves when the realized the way he talked about and smiled about a certain muffin loving friend of his. But this felt like a bigger statement than that. Maybe this was what “Coming out” was usually like. TJ didn’t really know.

“TJ..” he heard a shocked and soft voice come from behind him, which was when he remembered the patter of feet he had heard moments before. TJ turned from a confused looking Jonah and looked at Cyrus, he was a few feet behind him. His mouth was slightly agape from the surprise but otherwise looked normal. After collecting his senses he gave TJ a reassuring smile that TJ returned before looking back to Jonah.

“What do you mean you don't like girls?” Jonah asked, clearly oblivious. TJ resisted the urge to press a palm to his own forehead.

“Boys.” He said. After noticing that was not a complete sentence he added: “I like boys.”

“Oh!” Jonah exclaimed as it clicked in place. “Oh. Oh okay… so you… don’t like Libby?” He sounded relieved.

“No,” TJ said through a laugh. “But clearly you really do. So maybe you should go talk to her instead of making assumptions on why she broke it off.” TJ suggested.

“I-- Yeah. I’m gonna--” Jonah stumbled. “I’ll do that.” He started to turn and talk away before turning back to TJ to say: “Thanks for the advice. And uh, Thanks for telling me, man.”

TJ smiled at him and nodded as a goodbye before they both turned away. Jonah to head home or to wherever Libby was, TJ to face Cyrus.

Cyrus had a smile on his face “I can’t believe he ditched us for his girlfriend,” He said still smiling up at TJ.

“Ex-girlfriend.” TJ and Cyrus started walking back toward the house side by side. “And who’s fault is that?” Cyrus teased.

“Not mine!” TJ put his hands up as if in surrender. “I’m innocent for once.”

Cyrus laughed and it was music to TJ’s ears. They continued walking back to the house as though nothing had happened, as if TJ hadn’t just loudly proclaimed his sexuality right in front of him and TJ felt a great gratefulness for the other boy. That Cyrus seemed to somehow know that all TJ wanted right now was that reassuring smile and normality. That he didn’t try to force TJ to talk about his feelings.

It was a relief.

[tango-uniformed]

Attica! Attica!

This sucks but I like Attica as a neurotic republican politician. Idk how to write Leon being mute or whatever I just gave him a stutter bc...communication. Also I dearly wanted Serena to have a solid place in the cast so I was like, what the hell, she can be on Attica’s staff. Idk if she should have an important position like campaign manager or something but rn she’s just an assistant. Also since this is Attica’s POV Serena is less funny and Leon is idk more caring than he actually is bc she perceives them that way (Serena is actually funny and Leon is actually a dick)

Its funny because I’m pretty sure Attica is going to be the “good guy” on the protagonists side and help them and Milo is going to end up being a terrifying source of trouble for everyone. Also I was like ok and rolled the ethnicity dice and was like the Kings can be Chinese and the surname King was changed by their grandfather from Qing when their family really started grabbing power, and then was like ok Serena’s adopted but she’s of Iranian origin (guess that means Danny is too)

$$$$$

Attica King averaged 4 hours of sleep a night. And that was if she was lucky.

Looking at twitter was giving her heart palpitations, but what was she supposed to do, 5 weeks before the Midterm elections? Her numbers guy said that her district would re-elect her by a large margin-- it was red. It had always been red. It wasn’t like that hippie freak who was running against her had a chance in hell. People in Indiana loved her. People in DC though, where she spent considerably more of her time, hated her guts. The vitriol and fake news that journalists were spewing about her online proved that much.

“I’m gonna kill somebody,” Attica said. It was 7 am. She had already been to the gym, showered, sensibly done her hair and make-up, and put on the kind of suit that said ‘listen to me you dummy’. She brandished her phone at her Chief of Staff. “Do you see what they’re saying about me, Leon? They act like I’m some kind of younger, smarter, Chinese female version of Stalin all because they can’t bully me into voting for their stupid gun regulations. People are out there blowing each other up with their minds! What the fuck am I supposed to do, help get rid of guns and leave every sucker who can’t do magic defenseless?”

Leonard, Attica’s Chief of Staff and younger brother, shrugged helplessly. She liked to think of him as the RFK to her JFK. Without the whole getting shot in the head thing. “G-get off twitter,” he said. He was not partaking in the breakfast that Attica’s assistant picked up for the team. Something about the breakfast pastries and espresso made him bitch about how unhealthy it all was. Leon opted to bring a protein shake instead, which worked out for him. At 6 feet tall and weighing over 200 pounds of muscle, he was often mistaken for her bodyguard if he wasn’t dressed up. He kept his black hair shorn close to his head, which didn’t help either. It made him look like he was the type to rip people apart with his bare hands. “You’re obsessing.”

“Where the fuck is Myers?” she asked. “He’s my communications director. Shouldn’t he be out here, I don’t know, directing? Putting an end to all this fake bullshit.” Attica looked at her phone again, pulling up a particularly offensive tweet. “‘ King is unhinged and desperate, putting the needs of lobbyists in front of the needs of her constituents.’--and this is posted with that terrible picture of me, that unflattering close-up where I had pollen in my eyes so they looked red.” She was gripping her phone so tightly that her knuckles went white. “Now whose fault was that? I didn’t have my eye-drops.”

The only other staff member present, Attica’s personal assistant of 3 years, went bug eyed. This was magnified by her thick lensed glasses. She put up her hands defensively and almost dropped the armful of manila folders she was holding. “That’s not my fault, that picture was from when I took some personal time off.”

“That was when you were vacationing in the mental hospital again and I had to rely on a temp for two weeks and was completely up shit creek without you, Serena, so yes it was completely your fault.”

Serena was in her mid 20’s and pretty in a frazzled, underfed, nerdy way. She had only been hired because she was Iranian or something and Attica had been afraid she looked racist after making some allegedly offensive comments while supporting the President’s drone strikes in the Middle East. As it turned out, Serena was brilliant and had graduated from Notre Dame with a degree in Political Science, an inexplicable Chemistry minor, and a desire to work on the Hill. The only reason Attica hadn’t appointed her to a more important position at this point was due to her unfortunate tendency to eat handfuls of pills whenever life got too stressful.

Attica quickly cycled back to the matter at hand. She poured some coffee, which she knew would only make her keep vibrating. It was her 3rd cup of the day. She felt like a hummingbird. “What am I going to do about these people degrading me online?”

From where he sat on the couch, Leon leaned over to out his face in his hands. Dramatic bitch. “For the last time, remember the first amendment.”

“R-r-remember the f-f-first amendment,” Attica repeated in a high pitched child’s voice, mocking him. She chugged the rest of her coffee and caught Serena staring at her like she had lost her mind. At this rate she was going to going to have a heart attack before she turned 40. “Grandfather would have sent someone after those motherfuckers with a crowbar.”

“G-Grandfather was a monster.”

He was right. But being monstrous was just more effective. Who was that old dead guy who said it was better to be feared than loved? Napoleon?

Attica kept looking at her phone. Too bad people didn’t seem to fear her yet. She could feel the blood pounding in her face. When she was angry, her skin turned very red, blotchy and unattractive. It couldn’t be helped. And what she was reading made her angry. Half of what she was mentioned in was negative. And half of those were violent, threats against her. “Here,” she said, landing on an egregious one. “‘King’s giant tits once again distracting everyone from her cloven hooves lol’. I want this person dragged into the street and shot.”

“Jesus C-Christ, c-c-calm down.” The muscles in Leon’s face tightened. He was gritting his teeth.

“Ma’am, maybe you should put your phone away,” said Serena.

Attica kept reading. “‘The NRA owns King but how would she like it if she got used as target practice’. ‘If I saw (pretend this is an at sign)AtticaKingIN in real life I would punch that bitch in the face.’” She began to breathe faster. Were these people from Indiana? Would they vote? Did they actually hate her? Who were these people? “‘King is part of the GOP gestapo’. ‘(at)AtticaKingIN doesn’t care about gun violence in her own state, vote her out!’ ‘I hate that dumb cunt (at)AtticaKingIN she needs to shut her mouth or suck my dick’. ‘I--”

Leon stood up, snatched Attica’s phone out of her hands, then held it above her head where she couldn’t reach it. Attica punched him in the chest but her brother was a wall of muscle and didn’t seem to feel it.

“Seriously, A, you need to c-calm down,” he told her. Attica punched him again. “I don’t want to know about the threats anyone’s making towards you, it’s upsetting. At 9, that lobbyist who works for Madeline C-Caligaris--”

“Do you want some xanax?” Serena interrupted.

Attica spun around to glare at her. She was aware of how flushed she must look. It was just...she cared so much about what people thought about her. “No,” she said coldly, but breathing heavily. She brushed a strand of hair away from her face. Imagine if Grandfather could see her now. After all, he had wanted Leon to head the family business. Hell, before he died, the old man had even expressed regret for treating their youngest..brother, Milo, like a stray dog. But never her. And Attica had tried so hard for all those years and slaved away just to get his validation… “Do you need a xanax, Serena?”

“I do now,” muttered Serena.

Attica tried to grab her phone one more time, then gave up and sat down.

It wasn’t even 7:15.

She took a deep breath to clear her head. “Ok. Tell me about this lobbyist. Calligaris-- that’s the Proverge exec, right?”

Leon nodded curtly. He put his sister’s phone in his breast pocket and sat down next to her. With a sudden rush of urgency, Attica realized that all he had wanted to do was protect her. How had their roles switched like that? When they were little she constantly made herself torment the kids who picked on him for the way he talked. After 30 years he barely even stuttered anymore. “C-can I get those files from Foster v Proverge, please?” Serena leafed through her armful of papers and presented him with the relevant ones. “Thanks. You read this, A?”

“Let’s work under the assumption that I didn’t.” She had been too busy talking to her numbers guy about the polls the previous night to actually look into anything that would affect her policies.

“Proverge wants to build a factory in your district. Magic distillation for use in their products. 200 new jobs. They c-can’t get approval in Indiana anymore-- they c-can’t get approval from most places these days because of all the lawsuits. People protest.”

Attica rolled her eyes. Liberals. “What lawsuits?”

“From the early 2000’s. Proverge distillation factories in Georgia, Tennessee, and Michigan all attempted to c-cover up widespread negative variant medical symptoms that affected workers who were exposed to thauma-slurry being distilled unsafely.” Leon flipped a few pages of the file. “Mostly c-cosmetic. But there were c-claims that the exposure to the slurry also lead to violent psychological problems and some c-clearly unsafe environmental effects.”

People were so whiny. Attica shrugged. “200 new jobs is more important than a couple honest mistakes the company made. I want to make this happen-- an announcement about job creation could really push my numbers in the polls. If protests become a problem, I’ll just send in the cops to clean them up.” She paused. “Or, I’ll send in Milo.”

Leon looked at her like he was trying to peerinto her soul or something. His broad, honest face was genuinely concerned. What did he see in her face? Did he see the will to do whatever she had to? “He’s g-g-getting worse. You c-can’t keep doing that.”

“The fuck I can.”

“He’s not listening to me anymore.” Leon’s face twisted up. Out of the whole family, he was the only one who treated Milo as more than he was. He allowed their deviant half brother to terrorize everyone as he pleased, just because he felt sorry for the bastard. “He’s go-g-going to screw up.”

The thing about Milo, was that someone had to be holding his leash.

“He’s fine,” Attica said with finality. “Maybe if he fucks up bad enough, he’ll actually learn his lesson.”

Leon stood up, handed her phone back, and walked out of the room without saying another word.

“Are you talking about your creepy little brother again?” asked Serena. She was scurrying around, straightening up the breakfast pastries and exuding her nervous energy. “He makes me uncomfortable.”

Attica massaged her forehead. “Me too,” she said. “Can you get in touch with the Proverge people and make sure they’re on their way?”

“On it.”

She could feel a headache coming on. But getting the credit for creating 200 new jobs... it was worth it. It was even worth dealing with Milo. It was worth it. She could be proud of herself. It was worth it. It would all be worth it.

Wouldn’t it?

[evenstevensranked]

#25: Season 1, Episode 12 - “Deep Chocolate”

LET THE TOP 25 COMMENCE!!! 

Louis and Twitty’s friendship is put to the test when they end up competing against each other in the school chocolate sale. Meanwhile, Ren has made a deal with her parents to be nice to Louis for a week in order to get her own phone line. 

This one opens with Ren giving a presentation to Steve and Eileen on why she deserves her own phone line. Yes, phone line. As in... a LANDLINE. Crazy how today she probably would’ve already had her own iPhone since the ripe ‘ol age of 8! But, yes. It’s 2000 and Ren wants her own landline in her bedroom. 

Louis interrupts the presentation by running through the kitchen like a tornado and Ren naturally starts complaining about him. That’s when Eileen gets the smart idea to give Ren some incentive “If you can not put your brother down for a whole week, we will give you your own phone line.” Good idea, tbh. 

Cut to school where Louis, Twitty and Tawny are in the auditorium for a chocolate sale assembly. This is one of my favorite bits ever omg. A rip-off of the 20th Century Fox jingle plays as this scam artist with a rats tail hairdo(n’t) named Wallace Randall from Real Good Chocolate Industries walks out on stage. He tries way too hard to motivate the kids -- telling bold-faced lies like “Zeus sold chocolate!” Sounds legit. He announces that the grand prize is this fancy motorized scooter with a cheetah print butt seat. Snazzy. Mr. Randall says the person who believes they were put on planet earth to sell chocolate is the person who’ll be the top seller and win the prize. Louis' mind is so clouded by the scooter, he feels the spirit. 

I always crack up when Louis dramatically mumbles “that’s why I’m here...” to himself. I also love how Mr. Randall uses Shaq in “KAZAAM” -- a cinematic classic that boasts a 6% rating on Rotten Tomatoes -- as an impressive example.  

Louis really, really wants that scooter. So he decides that he and Twitty should team up to sell 400 freakin’ boxes, ensuring that they’ll be the top sellers. Yeah, I don’t remember chocolate sales working like that? I remember every student was given a suitcase-size box of assorted chocolates and that’s it. What the hell is this 400 boxes nonsense?! Then again, I mostly remember doing the Hershey’s Fundraising sale. Obviously, this episode is a spoof on the “World’s Finest Chocolate” brand -- which I definitely remember selling at one point, too. I checked their website and it seems like they cap it at 25 boxes, although you CAN order more than that if you want. But, who would??? 400 IS SUCH A STRETCH. 

I tried to check out with 400 boxes, and it said “TOO MANY ITEMS IN CART” ..........ya don’t say. Imagine paying $12,000 for chocolate. 

Ren struggles to be nice to Louis throughout the week. It’s pretty funny. She’s constantly yelling at him, and then following it up with an awkward compliment lol. She also thinks selling 400 boxes is asinine “You actually think you’re going to sell 400 boxes? You are a total and complete........ i...nspiration to all of us.” Good save, Ren. 

The next day Louis and Twitty are at the Stevens house trying to come up with creative (and insincere) ways to sell their 400 boxes, trying make the product seem amazing to prospective buyers. I think this is freaking hilarious. Louis says “I hand you the chocolate, you eat it, and then you say...” Twitty looks at his hand for the words “It’s a miracle. I can see again” which he repeats super robotically. Louis kills me here. “No... that’s not what ya say. ‘Cause you were blind -- and now you can see. That’s a miracle!!! YOU CAN SEE NOW.” He says that Mr. Randall said you have to make people feel that chocolate has changed your life. So Twitty dramatically falls to the ground shouting “IT’S A MIRACLEEEEE! I CAN SEE AGAINNNNNN AHHHHH!” and I die every time.

I’m pretty sure if one bite of chocolate could restore your eyesight, it would cost a little more than $1 per bar. 

Just then, Mr. Randall unexpectedly visits to personally deliver and congratulate them for setting out to sell an ambitious 800 BOXES. Yeah. Turns out Louis ordered 400 boxes and Twitty also ordered 400 boxes. So now they’re stuck with 800 boxes they obviously will never be able to sell. This is where the drama really strikes. I love Louis’ face when he realizes the problem: 

That zoom in, lol. It needed to be gif’d. 

Mr. Randall goes on to tell them they’re financially responsible for every box they ordered. Are you kidding me? That’s roughly $24k according to the World’s Finest prices. They’re 13. I love how Twitty says the title of the episode here! “Louis, we’re in deep...... chocolate” haha. Louis gets super angry at Twitty for ordering 400 boxes without consulting him because that’s how all the great duos work according to Louis Stevens: “Batman, he rescues people. And Robin... Robin... checks with Batman before he orders 400 boxes of chocolate!!!” I love that line. This leads to an all out war between Louis and Twitty. Louis takes his 400 boxes, and Twitty takes his. They’re officially competing against each other now. Twitty even says “this friendship is over!” Yikes. Let’s take a moment to appreciate Twitty’s face as he tries to talk while carrying large boxes tho:

The next day, Louis wakes up to find his family tap dancing in the living room. The usual. He’s up at 6am ready to start selling some chocolate, but Twitty is way ahead of him. Eileen already bought 6 bars from Twitty not knowing that they’re no longer working as a team! I love two things about this scene. Louis says “Me and Twitty had creative differences -- Because I’m creative and he’s different,” which is incredible. I’ve used this line irl before. And the second is Steve tap dancing while passive aggressively telling Louis to get his 400 boxes of chocolate out of the garage so he can have his parking space back. 

“I’m not gonna ask you again... *jazz hands* GET THEM OUTTA THERE!” Tom Virtue is hilarious. 

Louis then sets out on his chocolate selling mission and he’s absolutely terrible at it. He’s breaking into people’s homes, jumping on their beds... I can’t. Meanwhile, Twitty is THRIVING and coming up with much more creative ideas than Louis. Which is ironic because Louis just said HE’S the creative one, lol. Twitty’s ideas include a tricycle cart shop and a “Chocopalooza” performance -- a spoof on Lollapalooza obviously. 

Not sure how his fake Jamaican accent and hat with mock-dreads would go over today though. 

Twitty’s raking it in, and Louis has yet to sell one bar. He goes to Tawny for help but she refuses to buy from either of them because 1. The chocolate tastes like dirt and 2. they’re ruining their friendship over nothing basically. 

I love how Louis has a girl take a bite of the chocolate and asks her “Is that the best chocolate bar you’ve ever eaten?” and she says “That’s NOT the best chocolate bar I’ve ever eaten.” World’s Finest happens to be quite nasty tasting too apparently. Well, according to their Amazon reviews at least. So this episode is pretty much true-to-life all around, lol. 

Back at home, Donnie has turned their bathroom into a steaming hot sauna. This ain’t good because he blasted the hot water heater to do so. Which happens to be located in the garage.......... where 400 boxes of chocolate are stashed. 

It’s like that trope where someone puts too much soap in the washing machine and then leaves it unattended... except with chocolate, because this is Even Stevens. 

Louis and Ren notice some chocolate leaking into the driveway and panic. I mean, how do you stop 400 boxes of melting chocolate? “WE GOTTA EAT IT!!!!” is Louis’ suggestion, which is so funny omg. The chocolate leaks EVERYWHERE and we get this terrible CGI aerial shot to prove it: 

Mr. Randall decides to conveniently show up here and demands money for the chocolate. Of course, Louis doesn’t have the money. Steve comes waltzing over as well and both he and Mr. Randall start slippin and slidin all over the place. It’s a little annoying but... hey. Steve, being an attorney, threatens to shut down Real Good Chocolate for being a scam. One thing I do not understand: Steve says that Mr. Randall will get his money back. (WHY?! I’d refuse.) And he also tells Louis that he’ll be doing chores for the next few months to pay for the chocolate. Does he mean he’ll be doing chores for the entire neighborhood? No amount of chores would raise the $1,000s of dollars Louis needs, lol. (Again, I’m overthinking this. I know.) 

Naturally, everything works out in the end though. Louis and Twitty make up. Twitty ends up winning the sale and gets the fancy scooter, which Louis is cool with because he at least gets to ride it now. 

The last minute of the episode is Ren talking on her ~new private phone line~! Except it ain’t so private. Louis has rigged her conversations to be broadcast through two megaphones outside. 

I love how everyone and their cousin decided to walk through this residential neighborhood right as Ren declares she has a “major crush on Bobby Deaver.”

And that’s it! I just really like this episode. I always have. Idk what it is about it! There are quite a few things I find hilarious, which I’ve mentioned here. This one went by lightening fast when I was re-watching it, which can only mean one thing to me: It’s entertaining! I like how this episode actually deals with Louis and Twitty’s friendship as well as a bit of the sibling rivalry between Louis and Ren. I just think this one is solid all around and a good one to kick off the Top 25! Ayyyyy! Can’t believe we’re at the Top 25. Wow. 

Thanks for reading!!

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[neth-dugan]

Nine Worlds 2017

This is a slightly lengthy report but meh. Tumblr has a ‘skip to next post’ function so what the heck.

I managed to get a pre-con cold rather than the traditional post-con one, which I’ve managed to give to @knittedace​ as well, oops. I did have hand gel on me and tissues to minimise the spread. If I gave anybody else my cold I’m sorry!

I met up with @knittedace​ on the Thursday. We were meant to go to the Natural History Museum but I’d been off work sick the previous day and just couldn’t do it. No energy. Instead we met up at the hotel itself and as soon as we could get into the room we unpacked and I took a nice and much needed nap.

We went to the ‘Cheese and Cheese’ evening event, one of two events to welcome people to the convention. There was cheese of both the literal and literary variety to be enjoyed. I read out a riveting and very cheesy Power Rangers VHS tape description, but the best was a very cracky, rather explicit Doctor Who one that had the entire room in hysterics. I was laughing so much I was coughing up a lung.

FRIDAY

I was initiated into the Order of the Dalek! Learnt how to put on @knittedace​‘s knitted Dalek costume - something I got better at as the weekend went on. I also came across some great cosplays, and @knittedace​ got to pose with a Missy and Thirteenth Doctor. She’ll post the pic if she wants to. 

In the morning I decided to go for something different from what I usually go to. We’d met the woman running some of the kids panels and she invited us along. So I went. It was pretty cute, gave the parents some adults to be around too and just played some simple games. Don’t really get to do that ever. And then there was a fun story that was like some kind of Dinosaur version of Planet of the Apes but about environmental issues and written a few decades back.

Then I went to a crafty thing in which we all made hair bands! Met some great teens, two of whom had made their own cosplays. For one it was her fourteenth birthday and she ended up having to help me out because I’m rubbish at this stuff. We had some good talks fandom but also human orientations and labels and just being happy with who you are.  Oddly we all also ended up in the next thing which was basically free tea and cake with tables to chat at. 

I came across this same group of teens at this con, all through the weekend. They’re all smart and for all that they’re still growing up and maturing they’re great people already.

I was given the green tea left ofter after. Yay free tea!

Toxicity in Fandom was my next stop. Nothing particularly surprising but still a good talk that had someone who had once been a part of those hostile groups though they’ve grown up and are better now. It also touched on how the toxicity doesn’t just come from the traditional bigots and gamergate type folk, but also people from those who use the language of social justice to bully rather than for good. The folk who live up to all the bad things people throw at the ‘sjw’ name.

Nine at Nine Worlds: Nine Tropes which was about, well, tropes in fan fic. Nine of us presenting five minutes on our favourite trope. It had the return of Nina - Lady of the Puppets - and then I did mine on ‘Time Travel Fix It Fics’. Went well. People laughed. Someone the next day pulled me aside to have a chat about it. Apparently I accidentally made them read loads of fic with the trope. Oooops. There was also a dramatic 007/Q power point fic reading that I helped out with, to lots of laughter.

There was also a late night game of Slash, with my home made deck, with other members of that panel including Tanya who had lead it. Tanya, for those who don’t know, was co-head of the Fan Fiction track back when tracks were organised differently and there was a specific Fan Fiction track. She’s still a big part of the fan works type stuff and is pretty damn awesome. She’s been there to help me out when I needed it and is pretty brilliant. There were also others who just came and joined in and that’s the beauty of these things. But then it was time for bed.

SATURDAY

Before any panels started, me and @knittedace​ met up with the person who’d be our third in Sunday’s Redemption round table to have a real world chat over breakfast which was fun. I’ve no idea if he has a tumblr ID to tag him in however. I’d wanted to have someone who knew about anime on there because neither me or @knittedace​ know anything about it. I know about Yuri on Ice but not much else. And though it’s mostly a workshop it is a bit panel so yeah. We had a great talk. And food.

We found the infamous ‘TARDIS full of Bras’ cosplayer. For those who don’t know there was a comment on a British newspaper site that is our version of Fox saying that the new Doctor couldn’t be a woman because then the TARDIS would be full of bras. So some brilliant soul went and turned this into a cosplay and just…. love. Again the pic I have is of Helen too so it’s up to her to post it. But seriously, OMG LOVE.

Time Travel and Film was our first panel of the day. We both got there in time for the hall to be mostly empty. I had on my TNG uniform hoodie thing with my comms badge pin so we get this photo:

The talk itself was also fun. Presented by an actual university lecturer on Philosophy, and turns out she was also the woman on a panel I’d be running later in the day. I looked at her name on the power point, down at the names I had for the panel and up again and went ‘huh’. Seriously though, good lecture about time travel from the perspective of philosophy rather than physics and its different possible models.

I was talking to some folk and the lecturer after, @knittedace​ having already left when I got a text from her saying there was a Londo cosplayer outside. I sped out there as fast as I could to find this fantastic person:

I have no idea their name or anything other than they were determined to remain in character and had a wife who sounded a bit bemused and long suffering of it all. Kinda reminded me of my mom trying to deal with my dad actually.  He was really fun though. (ETA: I am told that he is @TheWarLlama on twitter) (ETA2: Apparently the woman wasn’t his wife. I just assumed because the dynamic going on reminded me of my mom lol. Oops. )

Queer Coding in Disney was my next stop. The person doing it did a good job. Made sure they explained what queer coding was in the first place for those who didn’t know and then went through Disney. Talked about films I didn’t know much about, and there was some talk about how some of this also intersected with other minorities and representation of various people.

After that I went upstairs for a nap. I was tired, still had that damnable cold, and wanted to be my best for my panel. I missed a panel slot with content but self care is important so up I went.

But then I was back! With my Hufflepuff scarf and wand! And still in my Starfleet uniform hoodie!

I think on the way into the panel hall someone said something like ‘hello Commander’ and I was a bit confused. Mostly because I didn’t have any pips so couldn’t be an officer but that’s a small thing and I think I smiled back?

In any case, next up was my panel. Which upon arriving at the convention I discovered was to be held in the largest room at the convention. Eeeep!

Dumbledore: Good or Evil? Went pretty well. At least one member of my panel was surprised it was ever even a debate, but she none the less stood up and argued for good. She was the above mentioned philosophy lecturer so debating is kind of her thing. She comes at it very much from a philosophical theory perspective though which I think caught out one or two people in the audience going from twitter. A person took a picture and stuck it on their twitter. You can find that here. I’m in the middle.

There was a lot of talk about how Dumbles does or doesn’t use his power for people, abandoning Harry, the things that go on in his school under his responsibility, and at one point he was compared to Boris Johnson. How he seems to be about consequences more than the actions themselves. Is it intent or your actions that make you good or evil? Does the era that the man grew up in excuse things? Does the fact that there was a war coming/going on excuse things or not?

There was a question at the end about him being a slave owner due to house elves. That…. I had red sirens screaming in my head there. Thankfully it was with hardly any time to go. It’s a very good question. Something worth looking at. But nobody on the panel had any real place speaking on it. The philosopher took it, but she took it from literally a philosophical perspective rather than a moral one which probably came off wrong to some. Because yeah, that wasn’t a moral stance. I didn’t really know what to do there other than internally panic a bit and try to move on as fast as I could with a ‘this could be a whole other panel and should be’ thing.

I was so worried about not being neutral that I didn’t step in to point things out or ask things when looking back I wish I had. There are things about that I’d have liked to improve but largely the response seemed to be good. I learnt from it. We had a vote at the end on of the audience thought Dumbledore was ‘good, ‘evil or bad leaning’ or ‘it’s complicated guys leave us alone’. The result was a mixed bag with lots of complicated so I guess that wins. People did come up to chat to us when we were still on stage after it ended to thank us for this or that. I’d warded off a comment from team Evil that was about cheating but could also have come across as anti-poly and so someone thanked me for that.

Druids, Deities and Daemons: Archeological Horrors in ‘Doctor Who’ was my next thing. It wasn’t particularly exciting but it was an interesting look at how the show portrays archeology from an Egyptologist who had a delightful manner of presentation. You can tell he’s upper middle or upper class but he isn’t snooty and he’s just really cheerful and into his thing. Which is always a joy to see. He wasn’t fond of Ten saying that as a time traveller he laughed at archaeologists. Fair.

Ageism in fanworks/fandom was a panel Tanya had asked me to be on last minute when playing Slash the night before. So I had no prep time and possibly a few people were confused as to why an extra person was sat up there. I was probably the youngest person on there, no worries. But interestingly also the only person who had actually grown up in fandom rather than finding it as an adult. It was interesting, throwing up different experiences with fandom and how it sees age, how it changes. But also how media sees us. How it expects women to age out of fandom but for male fans to be the sad lonely people in the basement forever. 

Space Opera! SF&F in Musicals was a unique panel, for me anyway. Held in the lower levels with half the room covered by bean bags. By this point I could barely walk. I don’t know why, something happened to my legs and I found it increasingly hard to walk through the day. @knittedace​ said I should grab a priority access sticker but I’d have felt like a fraud even as I slowly limped my way around the place so i didn’t. But I managed to get a chair anyway so yay!

The person presenting it was drunk. I thought they were just mellow. It had originally been designed as an academic thing but given when it was scheduled it became a kind of guided tour of musical SF/F complete with YouTube clips, sarcastic comments from the audience and much fun. Also singing along sometimes.  I lost the key to my room. It later turned out I’d left it there when I awoke from my nap but I couldn’t find @knittedace​ so I got reception to invalidate the old ones and issue new ones. With slightly disturbing ease come to think of it. And that was that.

SUNDAY

Marvel v DC Fanworks was the first panel of the morning. Chaired by a very very very tired Tanya who was having a hard time of it I think. It was a good conversation but you could tell she didn’t have the energy to chair it as she might want to. I was sat next to the birthday girl from Friday who is smart and knows her stuff and was very very excited. So excited she frequently interrupted and spoke over others. I don’t blame her. She was excited and we’ve all been there. I’ve been there. And ideally it is the chair’s job to gently deal with that but as I said, tired. In the end a person left the room when they got talked over once too often. I don’t blame either. It sucks to be talked over, especially for some people who find that really hard. And though I’m sad she left I understand it.

But I’ve been a very excited teenager, in fandom at that, before. It’s also hard to pull that in when you don’t have the experience and you’re having so much fun and you have so so so many things you want to say and nobody is telling you no. I’ve been her as I said. The things she wanted to say were all good things. Just a convergence of multiple things that didn’t mix well is all. I think she noticed too as she got a sad look with the woman left the room. Felt bad for both of them really. All three of them.

Queer Dax was my next panel, and one I was running. I’d decided that there was no way joined Trill weren’t queer, and wanted to talk about that, so here we are. I’d made sure that the panel had people on it who were queer in various ways and though one person couldn’t make it due to passport issues we held on. 

The room started to fill up well before the start time. So we were chatting at everything from pets in the different series with someone insisting that Neelix was the pet on Voyager. Gasp! To how Mourn maybe talks a lot in ways we don’t get to Garak/Bashir slash to anything. The place was pretty full by the time we started.

It was a good discussion. I later found out that the person who’d manned the convention’s front desk really wanted to go but couldn’t and so was following a person’s live tweet of it as it went on. 

We talked about the identity of the symbionts themselves, what it may be like to suddenly be flooded with all these humanoid identities. How maybe they’re like drag (at the start anyway). How we never hear them talk for themselves, as themselves, just the hosts. We’ve even had former hosts separated from the whole and able to talk in the singular. But never a symbiont. We asked how memory worked, to what degree were the hosts individuals or now and how that may work. How there were ‘very special episode’ moments but how they kinda also played out like every other Dax romance and was pretty good for the era. How Trek at least had a framework where this discussion was possible.

I framed lots of things  as ‘for Paramount in the 90s’ or similar because yeah. The studios. Boy. And the times.

There was also a good deal of talk about the parallels between the way joined Trill are treated, and how Trill are screened to trans gatekeeping and queer separatism. How Dax seems to get away with literally everything and does Jadzia Dax at least have privilege? Lots of stuff I haven’t mentioned.

Someone in the audience asked about things within Trek that called to us as queer people and I got to go on about my asexual headcanon for Seven of Nine.

A Study in Redemption: Character Arcs in our Fandoms aka ‘Redemption’. And oh boy this has a long history. Originally this was a proper panel but stuff happened behind the scenes, messages got mixed and instead of it being a panel full of fandomy meta people it was proper Named authors and I got anxious and didn’t know what the hell to do and internally screamed some. I reached out to Tanya for help, and she and a person above her in the Nine Worlds team really did help. I am so thankful to the both of them. We ended up splitting it into two with the authors keeping the proper panel thing and doing it from their perspective and I’d do a kind of panel/round table discussion thing. Mostly round table. I heard some not so great things about the ‘Redemption in Sci-FI’ panel aka the parent one. I couldn’t be there so I don’t know the details.

This one was awesome though. @knittedace​ was on it with me, as well as our third the anime guy. Who did have things to contribute even to western stuff that coming from another perspective and tradition was pretty cool.

Again it filled up fast. We were chatting about various stuff before the panel time started. And by the official start time arrived we had to put a sign on the door outside saying we were full except for a couple priority access seats. And it truly was only two priority access seats. One woman came in, and then left as she didn’t have a priority access sticker when there was still a ‘open to all’ seat left. Oh well.

In this one I brought all of my experience charing over the weekend. What I’d seen and liked, seen and didn’t like, as well as stuff I knew already. I knew this could be a tricky topic for some so I made sure rules were set out first.

Like, obviously we are talking about characters who have done bad things. And this will be mentioned. We can talk about Anakin Skywalker but not go into graphic detail over what he did. Use trigger warnings. If someone is talking about something you find hard raise both hands or otherwise make yourself known in a way other than ‘I want to talk next’ and we will stop. Let you get out. And send someone to let you in again. That people know the protocol for spoiler warnings in their own media types and fandoms and to use them. And again if you need to stop someone because you’re behind the bell curve in catching up, let us know and leave and we’ll bring you back in after. Someone did take advantage of this which was awesome.

I also made sure people knew talking over others wasn’t what I wanted, that they were to respect others and let them finish and that sometimes the three of us on the mini panel thing would pull things back to us to raise new points or add new questions etc.

It went really well. Orderly. One person had to leave for a minute and did so, no fuss was made, and came back in after, People respected others, good discussion was had, the topics moved forward rather than spiral deeper and deeper on things, nothing got graphic. Somehow there was humour even given the topic but not inappropriate humour. 

Lots of good points including how some characters are seeking redemption even if probably they don’t need it. How for many people who had either been raised in a toxic/evil environment or who had been through crap otherwise, redemption was also often a story of gaining or regaining agency. How doing a good thing and then dying to save a person for selfish reasons wasn’t really redemption. Or how someone forcing you to be good by putting a soul in your body or other magic or something making you good is also not really redemption. Redemption, proper redemption, required choice and consequences and owning what you had did and overcoming. How sometimes there is an aspect of white saviour going on. 

I loved that panel. I really really did.

What gets me most is that at the end of the night, someone who I really respect (not Tanya to be clear) came up and told me that my Dax and Redemption panels had been her two favourite of the entire convention. I was so so touched, and honoured and it meant a lot. I had a couple other people say they’d loved Dax but this one person was… it blew me away. 

Geeky Cupcake Decorating was just pure fun. Me and @knittedace​ went to this just as a fun thing to do. Also being asexual we figured it was our duty. Speaking of, I made this lovely delight:

I had to mix the grey fondant myself. I think it’s fondant? Terms confuse me. @knittedace​ Made this brilliant set of Doctor Who cakes that she can show off later but where much admired. And the table near by made a truly adorable set of Yuri on Ice cakes. Some seriously talented folks. Also plenty of kids having a lot of fun. One little girl was running around showing off the cake she’d made and that her dad had made with real pride. So cute.

We went for dinner after that, sad that things were ending, and came back in time to go to the end of convention quiz. 

End of the Con Quiz is hosed by Ash every year. And much to my delight we were once again visited by the infamous No Face. This isn’t a cosplay, this is like a visitation from the real thing. Last year they were slowly chasing Ash all over the place. This time they were menacing him from the corner whilst people gave it tribute (and it ate the dire wolf) to making Ash dance.

I knew almost none of the answers. I never do. But they did ask a question about my panel!

Our team decided to call ourselves ‘Quiz Master Ash/No Face OTP’. Not much of a reaction from Ash to that when he read it out. We came fourth. There was joint last which mean they had to battle it out to get (or not get if they so chose) the last place prize.

Never have you seen such a tense and dramatic game of Jenga. There was Star Trek fight music (Kirk edition) on repeat several times, there was the Benny Hill chase music, there was the Crystal Maze music, there was the Tetris theme. There were people at the back standing up to watch, everyone was tense. Even No Face got in on the action intimidating people/paying attention.

No Face got way closer than that. Scary.

I mean seriously. Though it has since been revealed, nobody knew who the person doing No Face was for two years. And they were fantastically in character. It was genius. And people treat them with the respect and caution as though they were actually a malevolent spirit. So this was fun for everyone up there lol.

Eventually that ended and we retreated to the mini bar in the games rom. Played more Slash for a bit until we all had to leave.

And then it was the end of the con. And all is sad.

Me and @knittedace​ had to share a bed as the room was one large bed rather than two singles. And I was joking that if we were inside a fan fic this would so be the ‘forced to share a bed’ trope. Followed by some joking about waking up to bumps in unexpected places. Like lower legs. Or something. But we got to sleep eventually.

I’m sad to be home. I have ideas for panels next year already. I miss it. @knittedace​ described getting home sick when she got home and I hadn’t framed it that way before but it is. We both grew up in fandom. Spending time here, talking here, learning here. Fandom is a culture we spent our formative years in and are still a part of. And conventions are like temporary pop up real world manifestations of that. So it kinda makes sense. But what makes them so special, in many ways, is that they are temporary. Even if it’s always sad to leave.

Also, and importantly, at the bottom of the back page of the program was this very touching easter egg that will make you feel the feels if you decode it:

–. -. ..- / - . .-. .-. -.– / .–. .-. .- - -.-. …. . - -

Nine Worlds Staff and Volunteers

They are brilliant. They work tirelessly before, during, and after the con to make things work. From the techies making sure all the equipment works to those running the front desk and twitter so people know what is going on to those making sure things go to plan or even have a plan, to everyone else who makes everything work. To those who do the nitty gritty stuff like finances and talking to hotels or sponsors to get stuff done to those who organise tracks and content to those who book entertainment to everyone who volunteers for a few hours. 

They work so hard. And need so much thanks. None of this would work if not for them. It doesn’t matter how many of us are willing to sit at behind a mic and babble at you for an hour, if none of them are there nothing would happen at all.

So thanks to them for all they have done, and all they continue to do.

[mmmmbop]

songs that would have been really big while jack + kent were in juniors -- or at least in high school -- and that make me feel way too emo:

you and me by lifehouse (there’s a 100% chance that kent hardcore associated this song with jack)

beverly hills by weezer...... PLEASE.....

my humps. like. if you don’t think that kent dedicated this song to jack’s ass, idk what to tell u.

jack might pretend to be completely unaware of pop culture, but he also sang the entirety of jesse mccartney’s beautiful soul to kent one time. he just wanted to see kent blush, but he kind of meant every word.

one of the first times they kissed was after a party where they’d been looking at each other with gut-churning levels of sexual tension as rihanna’s sos blared around them

lips of an angel by hinder 😞 😞

when stickwitu by the pussycat dolls comes on the car radio, kent turns the volume WAY up but says nothing

speaking of car radios, jack will always hate the song jesus take the wheel bc every time it came on when kent was driving, kent would close his eyes, put his hands in the air, and dramatically sing along for 5 seconds or so while jack had to steer from the passenger seat. [kent: lmao u should have seen your face. jack: we could have died kenny. also jack: and your eyes were closed how could you even see my face..]

kent flirts so hard with jack at parties whenever beep by the pussycat dolls is playing. totally as a “””joke.””” jack really likes that song.

when kent remembers that he should probably flirt with girls once in a while (he’s gay as hell so sometimes he forgets) there’s something about the song buy u a drank that gives him that extra push. jack really hates that song.

GIRLFRIEND BY AVRIL LAVIGNE 🙌🙌

kent trying to teach jack the soulja boy dance.......

kent LOVES miley’s see you again; he’s always singing it with this dorky flirtatious energy that jack thinks is really cute. (after he beats jack at one-on-one, kent makes up his own lyrics, leading up to: “i can’t wait... to beat you again” and that actually really pisses jack off, oops)

don’t talk to me ever about how cheesy kent gets when he listens to avril’s keep holding on, esp. when he’s worried about jack’s anxiety/using but doesn’t really Get It

jack never told kent this, but the great escape by boys like girls always made him think about running away together, at least for the weekend

speaking of jack being cheesy, it’s 7 AM and they’re spooning in kent’s bed; kent’s phone starts playing music for his alarm but it’s actually the weekend, so kent falls back asleep and lets the music keep playing. when the song switches to love story, jack feels indescribably soft, and he stares at kent’s face, nuzzling his nose into kent’s shoulder and smelling him even though he knows it’s weird.

kent is ready to go (in BED) when shut up and drive is playing. jack doesn’t really understand why, but he’s not gonna complain or anything.

on that note..... justin timberlake’s lovestoned 🔥🔥🔥 (fire here representing jack when kent gets going)

jack will always feel an irritated fondness for bleeding love; kent would always purposely annoy him by singing it in a wispy high-pitched voice

kent knows all the words to no air by jordin sparks. (cries to it later, but that’s a different story)

jack really does fall in love when kent’s dancing to forever by chris br*wn at a party

OKAY so kent “seriously” (lol) promises jack that he’ll learn to play guitar just so he can play jason mraz’s i’m yours for him, and he borrows a teammate’s guitar and just starts strumming with the most ridiculously bad, random chords; jack joins in by supplying the vocals, except he only knows 1/5 of the words. they both remain completely straight-faced the whole time & their teammates die laughing

sometimes kent gets really mad at jack and is too angry to even say anything when jack acts like he doesn’t care, so he just blasts hot n cold to make a Point

jack really doesn’t get it.... “oh there’s that song kent likes. he sure likes that song”

once in awhile kent changes jack’s morning alarm to the numa numa song. kent wakes up early JUST so he can watch jack’s face when he’s woken to the sound of “my a-hee, my a-ha, my a-hoo, my a-ha-ha” and he CACKLES

i can’t even put into words how obnoxious they are when got money comes on

one time when kent falls down during practice and takes a little longer than usual to get up, jack skates over. kent looks up and says, “do - do - do you got a first aid kit handy?” and jack just gives him a Disgusted Look but damaged becomes a meme for sure

jack thinks in the ayer is the stupidest song in the world (kent loves it, obviously; he thinks flo rida is a “musical genius”) and sometimes when a completely different song comes on in the car, he taps kent on the shoulder, gets his attention, and says, “oh hot damn, this is my jam” in a conversational tone. little shit.

kent feels warm and soft when he hears one step at a time.

i will literally cry if i think too hard about crush by david archuleta and the Feelings it inspired in both kent AND jack before they got together (although lets be real, jack only knew this song in the first place bc of kent)

the first time kent hears teardrops on my guitar, before he and jack were together, he briefly considers feeling sad about jack, but decides that’s too pathetic. (unfortunately, this resolution doesn’t stay in place after the draft.)

kent thinks it’s funny to make the gasping/sexual sounds from britney’s piece of me when he’s alone with jack -- like, plopping down on his lap, leaning in, and just making those noises in his ear. jack thinks it’s funny until kent starts trying this during sex. (jack: ....oh hot damn, this is my jam. kent: ok truce)

sometimes when jack keeps talking to kent and asking him to hang out, kent starts singing “why you so obsessed with me??” to make their friends laugh, and it’s a joke, but it hurts jack’s feelings

jack unironically loves gavin degraw...... the 10th time kent walks in on him listening to in love with a girl, he needs to lie down and do some serious thinking about his taste in guys

poker face..... POKER FACE... i can’t even begin to describe how much kent loves this song, or how much jack loves the way it makes kent get a lil frisky

jack can never tell kent that he likes the song right round, because he’s already too committed to disliking flo rida

gives you hell........... ouch

jack always smiles when he hears down by jay sean, mostly because he’ll never be able to hear the lil wayne rap without remembering kent rapping along in the locker room

kent is always listening to britney’s circus. jack hates it unreasonably and glares at him until kent changes the song. (this only works half the time. the other half, kent just turns it up)

jack has probably heard kent yell “TELL YOUR BOYFRIEND, IF HE SAYS HE’S GOT BEEF, THAT I’M A VEGETARIAN AND I AIN’T FUCKING SCARED OF HIM” like 93 times

fire burning is playing at a party. the whole team is dancing & kent manages to get jack on the dance floor. his dancing is atrocious and he knows it, but he can see that kent is trying to hide how turned on he is, and that’s all that really matters.

jack actually knows every word to taylor swift’s you belong with me, just because kent was OBSESSED with it for 2 months straight. he will literally never be able to hear the song without seeing kent’s smiles and stupid fake drum solos in the car.

kent tries to get jack to have sex with him to the song lovegame, but jack can’t stop laughing every time he hears “disco stick” so that’s a no-go

(kent likes the song waking up in vegas even though it makes him feel kinda sad for no particular reason)

they have an ongoing “debate” about how kent hates country and jack likes it. when kent earnestly makes a case for tswift’s our song being THEIR song, jack makes fun of him for liking a country song instead of taking him seriously, and while kent might roll his eyes and play it off as no big deal, that hurts his feelings more than he will ever admit.

in their hotel room at 1:30 AM. one time by justin bieber is playing. kent is lying on his back, singing along and doing a stupid lil dance where he moves his arms and legs around in the air without sitting up. jack is staring at him and feels like he’ll just fall over, so he interrupts kent’s singing by kneeling over him and pressing their lips together. (this is actually their first kiss and it’s not like they’d be able to tell anyone about it in the first place, but they REALLY won’t tell anyone it was to a justin bieber song)