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holylulusworld · 6 years ago

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Golden Boy meets grey girl

Summary: Dating Captain America was a dream until it wasn’t…

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanoff, Sam Wilson, James Bucky Barnes, Wanda Maximoff

Warnings: angst, a hint of fluff, breakup, heartbreak, pregnant reader

You are dating Steve Rogers, Captain America, the golden boy, so nothing can go wrong…right? False...everything can go wrong, and this is where our story ends…or rather begins?

“How can you be pregnant?” Steve asks raising his voice.

“Seriously? Well, when a boy and a girl Steve; aren’t you too old to ask me this kind of question?” You retort.

“I mean you are on the pill.”

“Yes, and I told you my doctor gave me the advice to not do it with you without condoms as your freaking genetic…whatever could trick the pill and obviously it did exactly what I said. You fucked me bare after the party Rogers! Don’t blame me…I thought you would be happy…”

“Happy? We are working for the Avengers. Risking our life and you want to have a baby?”

“What? Since when am I an Avenger? I’m always in my office, Steve. I’m not in danger and you are almost indestructible. So, what’s the real problem? Months ago, you told me you want to have a family. You looked after every child and now I’m pregnant you want what – an abortion?” You sniff.

“I never said this.”

“But you thought about it. I can see it all over your face. I wish I never listened to Tony or Nat…I knew…Forget it!” Running out of your shared room you want nothing more than have a break.

How could your surprise end like this? Hours ago, you were so happy and now he doesn’t want the baby.

----

“You can stay as long as you want to,” Wanda says but you shake your head.

“Wand, I can’t stay any longer. I have to talk to Steve about…”

“The baby?” She asks.

“You know?”

“I can sense a new life inside of you.”

“I see. Can you keep it to yourself for a while, till Steve and I talked things out? And please tell no one we had a fight.”

“I swear.”

----

“I’m sorry, Y/N. Please let me tell you how sorry.” Steve says and you sit down onto the bed.

“I didn’t want to yell either. I was just so disappointed. I thought you would be happy, obviously, I was wrong. You don’t want this, me…our baby.”

“I want you, okay. Just let me get used to the thought I’m going to be a father. In a few days, I’ll tell everyone about the baby.” Steve says and you want to believe his words.

----

Three months later…

“Y/N, can we talk?” Tony asks standing in front of your and Steve’s room.

“Sure. Is it because I was sick the last week? I already made progress in catching up with my paperwork.

“Honestly, you don’t have to worry about this any longer. You see we do not need your help anymore.” Tony says and you feel like someone slapped your face.

“Wait, what? You mean I’m fired? Why…? Does Steve know?”

“Look...god that’s hard to tell you…it was his idea. You should move into an apartment or house too. The Avengers Tower is kinda not a safe place for a civilian like you.”

“You never said this before. None of you ever called me like that! I saved all of your asses more than once with my knowledge now you are telling me you not just fired me you want me to leave my home and the man I love too?”

“Sorry. It’s for the best…”

“Is it because of the baby? Is Steve afraid something could happen to our child?” You ask and Tony’s eyes widen.

“Baby? You are pregnant?”

“OH…he didn’t tell anyone…right?”

“Shit, I’m so sorry. He said you two want to part ways and that you need a new job…house. I already prepared everything. I didn’t know a thing about a baby, Y/N.”

“Part ways…I see. He wasn’t even man enough to break up with me on his own. Captain America sends his Daddy to kick me out. Tell me is she prettier than me?”

“Prettier?”

“Don’t act like he doesn’t find someone better. I knew it was a mistake listening to you and Nat. Go out with Steve he’s so into you. He only talks about you. Steve is a gentleman…Gentleman my ass! He fucked me like an animal that night and knocked me up, now he’s getting me fired and kicks me out of my home. Gentleman, huh? I got no money, no home and on top of all, I’m pregnant by Captain America. Means every evil creep will try to go after me but moving out of the save Avengers headquarter will keep me safe for sure, Tony.” You spat.

“Y/N, I really didn’t know you’re pregnant. Don’t worry about money or a safe home. I’ll arrange everything for you, and I’ll have a serious conversation with Captain Asshole for sure!”

“Don’t waste your time, Tony. I believe you, okay. I was never good enough, I guess. He was my first everything you know…I thought he appreciated that I was only his…I was wrong. I’m going to pack my things right now. Can someone help me and order a cab? I got no car, so I need to get my stuff to my aunt this way.”

“I’ll drive you. Bucky and Sam can help you with your things. I’ll ask Wanda and Nat to help you with packing. I’m truly sorry, of course, you will keep your job.”

“No. Thanks…I don’t want it anymore. I’ll just go back to my old job at the FBI headquarter. They are calling me for months by now. My old boss will be happy to have me back.”

“Steve got no clue what he lost today…” Tony curses.

“He knows and he doesn’t care, obviously I’m not even worth it to break up with me personally.”

----

“Steve didn’t say a word?” Nat asks.

“Not a single word. I know he wasn’t too happy about my pregnancy, but this is cruel.”

“I should smash him into a wall and break all his bones.” Wanda curses. “I’m losing my best friend!”

“Don’t do that…you are a team…the Avengers…I’m no one to none of you. Just a grey office mouse running around with papers…”

“Papers which saved our asses more than once!” Bucky mutters.

“You will find someone for my job soon. I’m replaceable James.”

“James? Not Bucky?” He asks.

“Bucky is for friends…I’m just…I was just Steve’s girl.”

“Don’t be silly. You are a friend.” Sam says and you shrug.

“Thanks for the try, boys. I appreciate your effort but just drop the act. When I’m out of this door I’m long forgotten.” You say taking your purse and jacket to leave the tower.

----

Around three months later…

“He never called or came around?” Wanda asks.

Shaking your head, you place one hand onto your swollen belly. “I’m no one…told you all so.”

“But we all come around and he’s not able to visit his pregnant girl? That’s low, man. Fuck that’s more than low…this is bullshit!” Sam curses and you chuckle.

“Don’t worry…I’ll live. Made it three months without him. Will make it eighteen years to raise my kids.”

“Kids? Wait…more than one?” Bucky asks.

“Twins. Didn’t Wanda tell you so?”

“You said I shall not tell anyone!”

“Right…I forgot about it. Yeah, Bucky I��m having twins. A Boy and a girl.”

“Doubled the luck! But also doubled diapers to get changed.” Nat chuckles.

“Hmm…My aunt will help me. She had five kids so she’s good in stuff like this…”

“We can help too…not with the diapers…eek…but babysitting and stuff.”

“That’s nice, Nat. Thanks but I do not need a babysitter. I’m working from home and all my friends are here right now…”

“What about dating?” Sam asks.

“You think anyone wants the ex of Captain America? Every guy will ask why I was not good enough for the golden boy.”

“Nonsense!” Bucky says.

“It’s true…two weeks ago a guy flirted with me even seeing I’m pregnant. We talked for a while. He was nice, I was not really interested but talking to him didn’t hurt anyone. After some time, he started staring at me and then his eyes widen.”

“He acknowledged you as Cap’s ex?” Nat asks.

“Yep. The next question was why Steve broke up with me. As I couldn’t answer his question, because I got no clue he excused himself to the restrooms and never came back.”

“So, Cap plays cock-block even after breaking up with you?” Sam mutters.

“I didn’t intend on having sex with that guy, Sam.”

“Still this is shit…and unfair! You didn’t do anything wrong. We heard you telling him to use a condom.” Nat blurs out and your eyes widen.

“You heard?” You gasp turning crimson.

“Babe, the whole tower heard you two going at it…” Nat chuckles and you hide your face in your hands.

“Nothing to be ashamed of, doll. What about coming to Tony’s party next weekend?” Bucky suggests.

“I don’t want to see him.”

“Tony?” Sam asks.

“She means Steve, you idiot!” Nat snarls.

“I know that just tried to lighten the mood with some Stark hate…”

“That’s not Tony’s fault…you all know that. He didn’t know about the baby. Tony offered me a room and to keep my job, but I just had to leave.”

“He didn’t tell us so.”

“Sam, he is not the enemy…culprit…whatever. Tony is a good man, a playboy, and a perv sometimes but deep down inside a good guy, with a good heart. He installed Jarvis in my aunt’s house and helped us renovate it…well he sent someone to do it. The house is saver than a fortress thanks to Tony.

----

Watching you and his friends from afar Steve’s heart aches. He wishes he could just run to you and hold you in his arms but right now it would mean death to you…

----

“You sure it’s safe now?” Steve asks.

“Rogers, I told you we found everyone thanks to your great undercover work but at what cost.” Tony sighs.

“I had no other choice. They threatened her. I had to stop them to protect my child and the woman I love.”

“The woman you love suffers for three months thanks to your lies! You should’ve told us about the Hydra cell within the FBI! Hell, she wanted to start working for them again. You would’ve pushed her right into their arms!”

“Do you think I don’t know that Tony! My heart missed a beat after you told me so! I took down her former boss to make sure she can’t seduce Y/N to come back. If you excuse me now I’m going to go to my girl and beg for forgiveness…”

“Go down on your knees. Don’t forget flowers…but no cactus! If she throws it at you roses or tulips won’t hurt.” Tony chuckles shaking his head. ”How about chocolate or a good fuck?”

“No, swear words, Tony,” Steve warns and Tony starts cackling.

“Seriously? This concerns you the most. Get the girl or I’ll get her. She’s one hell of a woman!”

“I know…and she’s mine…”

----

Sitting on your front porch you close your eyes to enjoy the warm sun on your face. When someone steals your sun by towering over you your eyes snap open.

“What do you want?” You snap.

“Let me explain…you see…I love you.” Steve stammers.

“Sure, that’s the reason you kicked me out of our home and your life. You were not man enough to tell me I’m not good enough for you or that you don’t want my babies. I’m just the grey girl no one wants. Why should the golden boy want me?”

“Baby?”

“Go and leave me alone. Do whatever you did for the last three months, with whomever you did it…” You sob.

“I was on a mission…alone. I took down a Hydra cell within the FBI. They threatened you and my baby. They had some spies within the tower too. I had to take them down, but those monsters had to believe I broke up with you, that you mean nothing to me. The guy in the café was one of them. When you started to cry he knew it was true.”

“He was one of them…he was so close…he had his hand on my bump…” You sob.

“You’re safe now. I took them down with Buck and Vision.”

“Did Bucky know?”

“He was the only one. I told Tony last week. I swear the others had no clue. Bucky visited you all the time to make sure you are save and to report to me on the babies.”

“Your hair is longer…” You say.

“Had to look a bit more…dangerous.” Steve chuckles.

“I like the beard too…”

“I’m so sorry for not telling you but I tried to protect you. I was always close by, just like Buck. Can I touch the bump?”

Sniffing you lift your shirt so Steve can gently place one hand onto your belly. A tear slips down his cheek when one of the babies kicks him.

“Strong little guy.”

“Both are more than strong…I guess their daddy gave them some special gene’s.”

“Will you come home with me?”

“First you need to survive my aunt, she’s a human lie detector. Also, you have to explain why you weren’t happy after I told you I’m pregnant.”

“I was happy, beyond happy but I already started my mission and I knew they would go after you even more. I tried to fake a breakup, but they saw us together, so I had to make it looks real…I’m sorry…Look I have flowers.”

Looking at the dead flowers in his hands you start laughing. “Did you strangle the poor tulips?”

“I guess my grip was too tight…I should’ve bought the cactus.”

“Nah…it’s fine…god…I haven’t laughed like that for a while.”

Helping you get up Steve looks down at you. Blue eyes focused on your lips he tilts his head. Taking too long for your taste you stand on tiptoes to press your lips to his. Giggling you feel his beard scratching your skin while you move fingers through his long hair.

“Am I forgiven?”

“No…but I think we make progress. You will have to make up a lot to me, Rogers.”

“I’ll do anything. I have chocolate too and Tony suggested something else…”

“Tony did? What could…oh…that pervert!” You mutter but Steve's eyes darken, and you feel your heart beating faster.

“My aunt ain’t home for at least two more hours…”

“Then let your golden boy make it up to you…Do you want me to shave the bear first?”

“No way! You will keep it just like the hair!” You mutter dragging him into your house.

“I guess this means you like my new style…”

Pressing your lips to his answers Steve’s question. His arms move around you to hold you tight as he wanted for the last three months.

He finally has his grey girl back…

#steve x reader #steve rogers #captain america #angst #marvel fanfiction #pregnant reader #wanda maximoff #natasha romanoff #bucky barnes #sam wilson #tony stark #avengers #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers x you #captain america fanfic #fluff

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yakumtsaki · 5 years ago

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I taste just like ice cream, bitch I am so icy, heart cold like an ice queen, that's why they don't like me 🎵

-What the hell was that.

Traditionally I start Union updates with semi-relevant song lyrics.

-Why did you start an update at all.

Because it’s time, Shajar! I took a holy oath in my 2020 simming goals post to update Unions once a month, and I’m already a month late.

-But nothing interesting is happening.

That’s never stopped me before. Now listen to Rico Nasty, cry some more about Sophie blowing you off, and shut up.

-Ugh please, I couldn’t be more over Sonia if I tried. I hardly ever texted her links to wedding pinterest boards and quizzes to determine if our parenting styles are compatible.

Did she ever reply?

-She did once and said ‘who dis’. Of course the letters unscrambled spell out ‘do wish’, meaning she did wish me to keep messaging her. I just don’t know where it all went wrong.

-Hey there, 17 year old girl, maybe you’ve had enough neat whiskey for the night? We’re actually running out of bottles.

-Beat it, ponytail, I need to dull my pain. I’ve just been stabbed right in the gut by the love of my life. Just like my style idol and general role model, space opera fascist Kylo Ren.

Shaj I really hate seeing you like this, and not just because the red neon light is super unflattering on your complexion.

-You can fuck right off too, I was perfectly happy with my dads who hate me and my imbecile sister and my brother who might as well not exist, noogie-ing people all day AND night long, but you had to be all ‘OMG IT’S SOPHIE MIGUEL SHAJAR GO TALK TO HER’. Life-ruining-moron.

But I was totally right about you two hitting it off, I mean look how sad you are now that she dumped- yea never mind, that’s not a good argument.

-Look what I can do even though I’ve had 46 whiskeys!! How you like me now, Sophie???

-You’re paying for all these broken glasses, I’m going to need your name and a credit card.

-Yes, fair enough, my name is Cyneswith Union-

-I LOOK GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT

Yea, you really should eat something to soak up all the alcohol. And not to kick you when you’re down, but you should also disregard all those cliches about ~a smile being the most beautiful thing you can wear~ because MAN. Watch out Joaquin, there’s a new Joker on the prowl.

-So.. 20 lobsters thermidor and our most expensive appetizers?

-Aha.

-Would you mind settling your bill now?

-Of course not! My name is Cyneswith Union and this is the credit card my parents got me when I was 6 because we’re super duper best friends! I love my parents! They don’t care about their other daughter at all, even when their other daughter is going through a really hard time because she got the emotional equivalent of a lightsaber wound in the gut. You know what, let me also get 20 bottles of your most overpriced champagne to go with the lobsters.

Feeling better?

-Well it’s hard to feel bad when you’re spending your parents’ money recklessly and with malice aforethought.

It sure is. Alright well, the sun is coming up, maybe we should head home.

-What’s the rush? What is going to happen if I don’t go home, my parents will get worried? LOL

God your life sucks. Ok let’s hit a couple more places.

-Greetings. Welcome to our establishment. I am a human employee from this planet.

Great, nice to meet you.

-I just want there to be no doubt that I am indeed an earthling, born and raised under the earth’s exosphere and not above it.

Leave us alone.

-And I’m the resident community lot sim with that one face template you hate! There must be one of us on every lot you visit!

-And I am here in my revealing outfit to use the dance sphere and make everyone uncomfortable!

You’re actually pretty, I need to keep you in mind for after Don Oates takes a wrecking ball to our genetics, but yea, let’s bounce, Shajar.

Time to visit the happiest place on earth, Deh'Javu Modern Art Museum, home to my favorite piece of art in any medium, The Toilet of Fire. Shove that Fountain up your ass, Duchamp. How we feeling, Shaj?

-This trash can reminds of Sophie :( She used to go around town throwing money she stole from charities in trash cans and then send them riddles for where to find them :(

Enough with Sophie, we’ll find you someone better! Like..

..your aunt! Get the hell out of here Brit Brit, you’re taking up townie space.

-I won’t be long, Gunther’s amazing close-up portrait of my hair was rejected by the museum so I’m here to set this shithole on fire.

In other words Gunther just painted a canvas black and called it a day?

-His art doesn’t cater to plebs. Yes, offense.

Our old friend Ugly Teen Townie is here so finally we can have some fun. Shajar had gone almost 12 hours(!) without noogieing someone and I was starting to worry for her health.

-Yes, yes, I’m starting to feel like myself again..

Good for you, Shaj!

-Hope you’ve made peace with your God, Ugly Teen Townie, this water balloon is filled with horse feces!

-WHERE DID YOU EVEN GET HORSE SHIT

-I ordered it from some guy named Leod McGreggor.

-How about a another joke, MuRRAY?

-What?!

-Now you say, ‘no, I think we’ve had enough of your jokes’. Say it!

-No, I think we’ve had enough of your jokes.

-What do you get when you cross a mentally-ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash? Now you say ‘call the police, Gene!’

-Call the police, Gene!

-I'll tell you what you get..

-YOU GET WHAT YOU FUCKING DESERVE. HAHA oh man! Good stuff.

Alright I’m starting to feel bad for Ugly Teen Townie, first he had to come to all the toddler birthday parties during the Victoria/Komei era and now this, he has suffered enough at this family’s hands. Time to go home, Shaj.

-Not so fast!

Wow, the Countess and Mrs. Crumplebottom on the same lot, top 10 anime crossovers.

-I have been sent here by the Limp Dick Vamps United organization to recruit Shajar Union.

Ugh you people are still around? Haven’t heard of you losers since the Count wouldn’t let Victoria bang him, which I’m still annoyed about.

-Indeed we are, and it’s clear Shajar is ready to join us, dedicating her life to evil deeds without romantic distractions. I have no idea what Crumplebottom is doing here.

-I’m here to recruit Shajar to my own organization, Bitter Sims Worldwide Alliance. We’re always on the lookout for new members who want to spread their misery to their fellow Sim.

It sounds like it’d be more effective if you guys just merged your organizations.

-I will NEVER merge my organization with someone who displays her bosom like a common whore.

-Eat a dick, Crumplebottom!

-MAKE ME, FANGTOOTH

-Alright here I am, what the fuck do you want?

-Shajar, it is a pleasure to meet you! Ardent admirer of your work.

-What work, freakshow?

-Torturing everyone around you, what else!

-What? I don’t torture people around me, if anything they torture me.

-Why don’t you talk to me about it?

-I’d rather not, you look like a bejeweled snowman.

-Look deep into my eyes, Shajar..

-And now look deep into my razor sharp teeth..

-Ugh fine, let’s talk.

-Is that Victoria and Komei’s teen granddaughter hanging out with a vampire?

Yes it is Kennedy, keep it moving.

-God, wtf is wrong with this family.

Nothing now that you’ve been removed from our social circle, go away! Just kidding, you’re an icon and I’m marrying you in at some point.

-Hard pass.

Your loss, hombre.

-It definitely isn’t.

-If I had known your turn on was vampires I would had set you two up!

STOP SETTING UP TEENS WITH ADULTS, LAKSHMI. And Shajar’s turn ons isn’t vampires, it’s fitness/fatness. Body positive queen.

-Well, Shajar, you alphabetically listing all the people who have wronged you while I was trying to kill Crumplebottom telepathically has made for a very productive conversation. We’ll be in touch.

-Thanks, Countess, it’s been real.

Shajar!!! Who cares about Sophie when you might bag a hot, rich vamp??

-Meh.

I’m gonna need you to be more excited about this prospect because a vampire spouse might just be enough of a draw to beat the comedic factor of fucking Don Oates turning us into an unintentional uglacy and I’m doing whatever I can to avoid my fate.

Ugh.

UGH

UGHHHHHHH

LMAOOOOOOOOOOOOO VICTORIA

-GET FUCKED, BROKEN FACED WEIRDO

God I miss you Vic 💔

-Donnie-bear, not to be not-nice, but mopping your pee off my front lawn is not exactly what I pictured doing during this date.

This guy won’t even mop up his own piss, what a catch.

Wow, manipulative much?? You are a piss piece of work, Donaldo.

-Don’t think we forgot about you, you 10-nice-point disgrace!

-VICTOR NO

-GET THAT MOP READY

-Finally, some peace and quiet.. Just me, alone with my broken heart, pondering my hopeless, loveless future..

-💗💗💗OMG SIS THERE YOU ARE. DONNIE AND I MADE OUT!!! 💗💗💗 But then grandma’s ghost scared him into soiling himself.

-Good for grandma, hopefully next time she gives him a stroke. Now shut up and let’s eat in silence while I ponder my hopeless, loveless future.

-Okie dokie! 💗💗💗

-Um, I think mine has vomit in it.

-Yea I did that, but it’s just whiskey and lobster, if anything it increased in value.

-Awww thanks sis! 💗💗💗

-Stop patronizing me, you little bitch. God I want to poke your eye out with this chopstick so badly.

-I love you too Shaj! 💗💗💗

And I hate both of you. Where’s your brother, I haven’t paid attention to him in 3 days.

-He went upstairs, I think he’s pusshurt we forgot his birthday LOL

IT’S HIS BIRTHDAY????

-Don’t feel bad, I forgot it too! 💗💗💗

GODDAMMIT. WULF! WULF WHERE ARE YOU

-I’m here, I just grew up and dare I say it could not have gone better!

Really?? Finally some good news! Let me look upon you-

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA

WULF WHAT THE FUCK

-I was Mozart musical genius boy but now I’m a sk8ter boi! Character development!

Ok this is the most iconic birthday look since Gunther grew up in the pirate costume, we’re obviously keeping it.

-Great! And as if the fact I’m a Wyatt face template with 0 Jojo genes wasn’t enough to make me unelectable, I also rolled family! :D I’m doing everything I can to ensure I live that sweet motherlode spare life!

Honestly you should had picked another outfit cause now that you’re dressed like this I unironically want you to win. Hoisted with your own petard.

#gen 2

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blaperile · 5 years ago

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Homestuck Meat Epilogue - Reactions Page 40-43

Page 40:

Hopy shit!!!

THAT was not what I was expecting Jade to say!

I was getting so worried when Dirk was describing Jade's state, that she was going to overexert herself and that her body would immediately collapse or that she'd accidentally hurt someone.

It seems like the experience she had has triggered something within her. I wonder though, seeing as the description is deliberately vague... is it just the Game Over Jade whose memories she's accessed, or also her other selves? As in, has she begun tapping into her ultimate self, similarly to what Rose has been going through?

It was exactly for that latter reason that I feared her body was going to collapse and not be capable of handling it.

Oh man though, so she REALIZES what's going on with Dirk. That's spectacular!!! But how come she realizes it? Does she hear his narration now? Or is it because of being used as a vessel by Alternate Calliope that the latter passed on some information to her (or just the awareness)?

I definitely didn't expect this first move against Dirk to originate with her though, my shortlist was basically Dave, Roxy, Kanaya and Terezi. Because Roxy seems to tbe invulnerable to his messing, Dave realized SOMEONE was toying with him, Kanaya just lost Rose because of Dirk, and Terezi knows Dirk has the power of narration now.

So, it wasn't any of them, but Jade instead! Very interesting.

But still, she IS in the room right now with 2 of those 4 people, AKA Roxy and Kanaya, so that's really really good! The only thing I'm afraid of is, Dirk pulled quite the number on Kanaya's state of mind so it might be hard to get her along in the resistance against Dirk? And who even knows if Roxy will believe that her dear old friend needs to be stopped and will be willing to assist in it.

Hopefully they'll get in touch with Dave soon.

And then, as for Terezi, we'll first have to wait and see what Dirk's got planned for her.

Page 41:

......WOOOAAAAH!!!

Okay, even though that was a short page and we've basically been listening to Dirk talk almost this ENTIRE Epilogue, this is EXACTLY the kind of info dump we needed.

I'm still trying to process what he just said here...

So he KNOWS he can be seen as a villain here, and basically EXPECTS to be stopped at some point. But along the way, he'll try to execute his plans anyway and try to get done what he believes needs to be done?

Holy shit.

That's... so like Dirk, and also... so much like Doc Scratch / Lord English?

I mean, think about it, the masterminds taking control of the narration and/or the events that take place, ensuring that over a long timespan their plans will be executed and while at the same time basically seeding the opposition that will eventually stop them!

Woah, now we know for sure where THAT part of their genetics came from!

I mean, obviously Caliborn is no fool himself, but this is exactly the kind of mastermind thing that fits Dirk most.

Also, the part of the text here where Dirk claims that he's afraid of not existing, that fits so well with his conversation with the Auto-Responder just prior to becoming Arquiusprite, where the latter claimed that he was afraid to not exist.

And... did Dirk just confirm exactly how he's going to be stopped by the end of this Epilogue? That Dave will cut off his head and cause a Just death?

Dang.

So the entire time in this Epilogue, where Dirk had a running gag with Dave telling him that the solution to every problem to decapitate him wasn't just a morbid joke referring to what happened in [S] Collide, no... he was giving him hints how to stop him for good.

Fucking hell!

Talking it over with plainWonder here, we were debating if further up in this Epilogue there are going to be some more callbacks to earlier moments from Homestuck, that will turn out to have been (retroactive?) foreshadowing for stuff that's yet to happen, similarly to how Dave(peta)sprite flew up to the sun like a piece of garbage.

And let's not forget, Terezi listening to John bleed while she smells him die! Holy shit I can't believe I forgot to react to that part on that earlier page, because god DAMN that was an insane callback I can't believe actually came true after all this time.

Anyway, I really needed this page. It helps to at least get a better grasp on, yes, this is still Dirk and this fits with his personality, and he knows exactly what he's doing and that he will be stopped.

And actually, it also fits very much with what happened with [S] Dirk: Synchronize and [S] Dirk: Unite where he pulled of a great masterful plan to "fix" everything, and didn't even hesitate to sacrifice his own real self to accomplish it. And now again, he's doing the same thing, though in how far what he's doing is actually needed to "fix" things this time around will remain to be seen...

And yet, there's still so much unclear. Like, what the heck is Dirk actually planning to do here?? And if he's leaving Earth behind, how will anyone follow him? Is he "just" going into space with that ship o Jake's, or is he actually leaving the reality behind (because how would he even do that first of all, and how would anyone even be capable of following without John's retconning powers?)?

Lastly, I just want to mention that I really like he gave a sneaky compliment to Dave there: "Who could wield such control over people’s choices and the course of events without ultimately becoming the enemy of anyone who notices? Maybe only a stronger person than I could manage to pull it off. Someone like Dave."

Page 42:

Holy SHIT this is an epic series of pages!

God you wouldn't BELIEVE how hard I was cheering here when Kanaya regained her sanity and started thinking clearly again. I'm so happy that she truly realizes now what's going on, and Roxy as well.

It's unfortunate that Jade couldn't give all the information in time. I mean, she did manage to give some hints that Dirk was feeding Kanaya thoughts, but she couldn't explain that he was actually controlling their every action.

But this is good, this is a really good start.

And okay, it's unfortunate that Jade has fallen away again. But at least I do trust Alternate Calliope much more as a narrator now than I trust Dirk.

In general, she doesn't actually seem to influence anyone into doing something they wouldn't want to do anyway. Okay, maybe she let herself go with Jane's obsession with the Sucker, I'll give you that. But other than that, she seems to be doing fine?

And being the very definition of passive, she probably won't directly address Roxy or Kanaya here and tell them exactly what's going on or what they should do. They'll unfortunately have to find out for themselves and do something about it.

So, we did get a bit more of a hint as to what Dirk is going to do exactly:

"Who’s doing the thinking, and who’s having the thoughts?

The more you study the question, the more it seems all concrete forms of accountability go up in smoke. Her original thoughts were never that important, and the significance of the idea that she was the one authoring them was always a bit overrated. My mission is to someday clear this all up for everyone. Remove the ambiguity, suck the mud out of the water. It’ll be a lot better that way, trust me."

Does that mean he's going to look for Andrew Hussie??? The guy who wrote Homestuck and was controlling the narration for so long?

I mean, CAN he even do that? Is that guy even still around? Last we saw of him he was in the Furthest Ring, right where Lord English was wreaking havoc.

To go back to my earlier theory, did Aradia round up a bunch of survivors in the Furthest Ring, and is Andrew among them? Is Dirk going THERE? And how is he going to reach it from Earth?

For that matter, how did Terezi reach it in the first place? Did John zap her there? Or can they actually "exit" the Genesis Frog into the Incipisphere by going to the very boundaries of the universe, and can Dirk go to the Furthest Ring that way?

Or, like plainWonder is suggesting to me here, was Andrew's original home on some weird ass planet in Universe C? And that Dirk's headed to there now?

Okay, there should be nobody left there anymore seeing as Andrew's dead and probably still lying around there somewhere, Spades Slick, The Felt, Authour II, and Ms. Paint all went through those Fenestrated Walls into Doc Scratch's appartment and then the clock to go into the Furthest Ring.

...

Hmmm

There's a bunch of possibilities here.

Maybe Dirk's going to look for Andrew's typewriter and/or computer in his castle, that we saw him use sometimes during Homestuck.

Or he's going to retrieve Andrew's corpse for whatever reason.

Or he's going to take those Fenestrated Walls into Doc Scratch's appartment... which should now be inside the Black Hole??? Is he going to take it to Alternate Calliope or something? Or maybe the appartment still exists within the Green Sun due to spacetime shenanigans, and he's going to take the same route that Spades Slick took into the Furthest Ring and go to Aradia that way?

Or Dirk is planning something else entirely of course and I could be entirely wrong!

I'm getting more and more excited to find out!

It's interesting how Dirk mentioned that "a bunch of them" will be leaving the planet to go after him. So, definitely not everyone. Just Kanaya, Roxy, Dave and...????

Also, Dirk states he's already gone. What does that mean then for the offer he gave Terezi to come along with him? Did she accept or refuse off-screen then?

Page 43:

God DAMN the awesome string of pages continues!!!!

First of all, I'm so glad that Roxy and Kanaya went to Dave and Karkat, those were exactly the right persons to contact for this.

There were a lot of really precious good moments on this page: Dave and Karkat's adorable interaction with each other, Roxy being "his dad" now, DAVE SLIPPING INTO HIS OEDIPUS AGAIN, Dave being so worried about John, and Karkat assuming the role of leader again!!!

This page is such a goldmine.

I'm so glad Karkat's taking up the role of leader again, by himself and without any urging. It makes sense, all other people who have assumed leader-like roles before are on the other ship (Dirk, John, Rose, Terezi sorta)

And so if I read correctly, it seems like starting from the next page we'll be going back to more regular narration? So Alternate Calliope will completely omit her "personality", to make the narration as objective as possible.

What I don't entirely understand is the things she said about swapping "speaker". First I thought she meant she'd leave Jade's body and take over someone else's, but perhaps instead it means she will attribute the "you-ness" to other characters?

So that we'll "be" Dave, Roxy, Karkat, or Kanaya at different points, or not?

And the implications from the narration seem to be that John's corpse, and by extension Terezi, are indeed on Dirk's ship, alas. :(

I wonder if we're now going to continue from solely their perspective and their chase of Dirk, or if we're still going to see some things from Dirk's perspective.

Plus, is anyone else going to join this crew? Jane's probably going to stay behind seeing as she's now the president, but what about Jake and the other Calliope?

Also, I wonder, did Squarewave go along with Dirk or did he merely bring some stuff on board and then leave again?

I'm worried about what Alternate Calliope's implying here, that John's role seems to be done. Are we really going to see nothing more of him in this entire Epilogue?

It's so hard to believe, kind of, with how crucial he's always been to the plot of Homestuck.

On the other hand, perhaps it's now truly the time for his friends to shine. Maybe at the very end of the Epilogue he'll turn out to be capable of being revived by Jane after all? That would be nice.

And else, well, I'm already curious what the Candy Epilogue will have in store for him. :P

Man, these pages really were a breath of fresh air after the last few heavy ones. Finally a bit of clarity to Dirk's actions, and finally some signs of hope! :D

#Homestuck #The Homestuck Epilogues #Meat #reaction #Dirk #Alternate Calliope #Jade #Kanaya #Roxy #Dave #Karkat

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wiggly-blue-shite · 6 years ago

Text

Chapter 31 From the Top!

(Prof H X Ted)

Hello Professor.

Hopefully we can discuss it in person soon

Henry woke up to Theodore still hugging him. Ted was still asleep so Henry didn't move. Don't want to wake him up before he has too. Everyone will be stressed enough as it is.

For a second Henry forgot everything that happened almost as if it was a dream. A really fucking shitty dream. Henry thought he had woken in Ted's arms after a very pleasant yet foggy day together. Perhaps that's what his dream was. He never did remember his dreams.

Henry loved Theodore. In that moment Henry had hope. He believed in Theodore. And he knew that Theodore believed in him. They got this.

Ted began to stir. He was waking up. Ted opened his eyes.

"Good morning." Henry smiled. Ted looked very messy having just woke up. Then again who looks good after waking up?

"Good morning." Ted yawned and rubbed his eye. He smiled back at Henry. Ted sat himself up in bed after letting go of Henry. Henry sat up as well.

"I love you." Henry needed him to know. They were in a situation where Henry didn't want a moment where Theodore didn't know his feelings. They might not make it out alive so it's important.

"I know." Ted chuckled a little bit.

"Rude! Really pulling a fucking Han Solo." Henry faked offended. He wanted to maintain this blissful mood because he knew it would be ruined really soon.

"I'm kidding. I love you more." Theodore smiled. He grabbed Henry's hand. Henry wanted this to be the rest of his life this moment. Nothing else. Not the infected. Not the media. Not biology. Just music and Theodore.

"Impossible." Henry kissed Theodore. Some of the pain had gone away. God that was cheesy wasn't it. I guess cheesy is nice.

"I'm scared." Ted's face dropped. Henry knew that they were in a serious situation but he just didn't want to focus on it.

"Me too." Henry has hope but not a lot of hope.

Paul came out of his bedroom. Emma following behind him. They looked in much better shape than they were last night.

"You guys can borrow some of my clothes." Paul offered as he walked into the kitchen.

"Well Henry's place is on the way. They can get clothes there." Emma sounded very tired. Henry guessed that she didn't sleep at all. Henry didn't blame her. He wouldn't have fallen asleep without Theodore there.

"Ok." Paul started pouring coffee.

The morning was very quiet. Everyone was freaking out silently to themselves. Paul and Emma were basically attached at the hip. Theodore and Henry were the same. None of them ate breakfast, just coffee.

Paul and Emma went back into their room to change.

Henry kissed Theodore's forehead. Henry was going to have to give him something to wear. It might be a little big but Ted will survive.

"Are you ready?" Ted asked.

"No."

"Me neither." Ted smiled sadly.

Emma and paul bolted out of their room clearly wearing whatever the first thing they touched was.

And they were off to Henry apartment. Henry held Ted's hand tightly.

When they got to his apartment Henry quickly rushed into his room to get dressed. He didn't want to hold everyone up. Ted followed behind.

"Here take this." Henry threw an old sweater at Theodore.

"A black turtleneck..." Theodore's voice trailed off.

It struck Henry. He had been wearing almost the exact same sweater that day 4 months ago. It's sweet that Ted remembers that.

Henry shook himself out if the sentimental stage of mind. They didn't have the time for this. The two men got dressed quickly. Henry tried not to stare at Ted changing.

With that they were in there way to the news station. Henry didn't know how this was going to work. He didn't know protocol for news shows. But he tried to maintain hope.

When they got to the studio where they filmed the show. Henry didn't know how this was going to work.

They walked inside. There was a secretary who barely gave them any attention when they walked in. There were a whole bunch of other people all probably with there own stories they want to put on the news.

Henry walked up to the front desk. He was still holding Ted's hand. He saw a couple of men jeering out of the corner of his eye. Henry presumed that they were homophobic assholes but they could also be jeering at the gaudy clothing they were wearing. Henry wanted to flip them off or to kiss Ted in front of them to get the point across but that would probably lower there chances of being put on air.

"What's you pitch?" The woman behind the desk did not look up from her computer.

"We are from hatchetfield. We were there that day." Henry squeezed Ted's hand as he said it. They were actually doing this.

The woman looked up from her computer screen. She looked skeptical.

"Everyone died from the hatchetfield incident." Her voice was serious.

"We didn't." Emma met the receptionist with a passive bitchiness.

"So then what happened?" That's exactly what Henry was fearing she'd ask. There's no way to not sound insane.

"We'll sound crazy but you need to here us out." Theodore replied. Henry was beyond nervous.

"We fear what happened in hatchetfield could spread if we don't raise any awareness." Henry tried to sound professional. Make her see them in a more serious light.

"You're lucky the producers want more hatchetfield news. Wait here." The receptionist gestured to the bench near her desk. She picked up her phone.

The four of them sat down on the bench. Across the room were the men who sneered at Henry and Ted. Henry didn't let go of Theodore's hand. The world might fucking end he can't let a couple homophobes ruin his love for Theodore.

Henry turned and kissed Ted in the cheek. Fuck you possible homophobes.

"What was that for?" Ted looked back at Henry and smiled.

"Nothing." He had obviously not noticed the asshole across the room. There was no need to point them out.

They sat there for a good twenty minutes. Every second was agony knowing the infected could be drawing ever closer. Ted's arm had moved around Henry's shoulder. This was a comfortable position to rest in. Henry kept his eyes on the other three and no one else in the room.

"Hatchetfielders." The receptionist called out. Everyone in the room looked up. Everyone's eyes were on them as they walked up to the front desk.

"Yes?" Paul was in front of the pack.

"The producers want to talk with you. Go through that door." The receptionist pointed to a door to her right. Ok wow they were doing this.

When they walked through the door they were met by a sharply dressed man and woman. They had note pads. They appeared surprisingly approachable, which Henry was not expecting.

"Hello my name's Raffael." The male producer stuck out his hand for someone to shake. They just kinda all took turns shaking his hand.

"And I'm Louise." The woman smiled not sticking her hand out after seeing the catastrophe of a handshake that happened previously.

"I'm Henry."

"I'm paul."

"Emma."

"Ted."

All of the introductions felt uncomfortable.

"So you're from hatchetfield." Louise sat back in her chair. Henry couldn't read her expression. He was too nervous. Ahhh

Henry nodded. He was a little tongue tied. This is a stressful fucking situation.

"So let's cut to the chase. What happened?" Raffael took a pen out and put in to the page.

Henry had to not sound insane. If they didn't believe them they're fucked. The whole plan rides on getting other people to fight.

"Before I start we are not insane. I have a doctorate in biology. I know what I am talking about." Henry took a deep breath. If they didn't believe him, what could they do? "The asteroid that hit did not rupture a gas line. The asteroid carried an organism, a pathogen really. It infected the people of hatchetfield, rearranging their genetic structure, functionally rewiring their brain. The infected had a certain bloodlust to kill, and spread the pathogen. You may recall the claims of sailors near the island, claiming to hear music coming from the island. Well, I did studies on the organism briefly, and it has an attraction to music, singing specifically." The producers looked confused but they don't look skeptical.

"We think that the music that can be heard are the remaining infected." Ted took a breath, "sooner or later they will find a way off the island. Once they get off the island, we're fucked. Excuse my language."

The four of them sat in silence waiting for them to say something.

"We're are going to need you to say exactly that on air. Same inflection and everything." Louise pointed her pen at Henry. Oh god. Ok they did it holy shit.

Henry turned to the other four. They looked hopeful.

"I'm sorry Mr. Hidgens but there was nothing we could have done to save them." The doctor had a remorseful tone. He's probably had to say that at least 5 other times today alone.

"Thank you for trying." They're gone. Steve had left the hospital. Probably to go out to a bar. Henry contemplated going to stop him but he would do the same. Leighton was sitting there stunned.

Henry say down next to him. They could make it out of this, together.

Henry got off the set and the other three ambushed him with a group hug. It must have gone well.

Henry was completely dazed. He really tried to remember what happened but he just blacked out. Henry's brain was just slowly giving up on him really.

The four of them walked back to Emma and Paul's apartment. On the way Henry asked what happened but the other three insisted it went well and didn't say anything else.

"What do we do now?" Henry looked to Ted. Henry grabbed Theodore's hand. It felt like the quiet in the middle of the storm.

"We prepare." Ted kissed Henry's hand. It didn't really matter what happened. If the other three are this hopeful it couldn't have been that bad. Henry's confidence grew.

"I think I'm going to stay in my apartment tonight." They were already on Henry's block. He didn't need to be around everyone for comfort. He wants to spend some time in his own apartment before whatever happens when the infected get there.

"Oh ok." Emma smiled at Henry, "see you tomorrow."

"Take care of yourself, man." Paul patted Henry's shoulder awkwardly.

"I'll make sure of that." Theodore smiled. Of course Theodore was going to stay with Henry. He wouldn't have it any other way.

Emma and paul headed off to their apartment. Henry walked up to his apartment Ted following behind him.

"I'm really proud of you." Ted was too sweet sometimes, "You did great." They walked into the apartment. Henry was glad that Ted decided to stay with him. He got to think of something other than what's going to happen. He just had to think about Theodore.

"Thank you." Henry intertwined his hand with Theodore's.

"You give me hope." Ted smiled softly. Henry let the world fall away while looking in Theodore's eyes. Henry knew that nothing could go wrong, nothing. Ted kissed Henry.

"I haven't eaten all day." Henry dragged Ted into the kitchen. It's not like Henry has any food. Theodore wants Henry to take care of himself and eating is pretty important in self care.

"I'll cook you something." Ted leaned on the counter and smiled. Henry doesn't really have ingredients to anything.

"You don't have to do that." Henry leaned up against the same counter.

"I want to." They were very close to each other. Henry maintained eye contact with Theodore.

They kissed once again.

"Today has been too long." Henry chuckled a little bit. Henry was very tired. Really fucking tired.

Henry was glad that Theodore was with him. Life would really be insufferable right now without him.

Everything will be alright.

~~~

Ohh long ass messy chapter! Idk what the fuck this really.

#starkid #tgwdlm #tedgens #from the top!#fanfic

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88thparallel · 7 years ago

Text

After the Storm

(A quick fluffy ficlet. More and tags under the cut)

A quiet rumble of thunder sounded far off as John fished out his keys, switching his umbrella to his right hand and unlocking the door to 221 with his left. Just his luck that it would pour his whole walk home, showers only slowing now that he’d reached his destination.

He shook out his brolly and put it in the holder by the door, hung his coat on the hook at the base of the stairs, and shook himself off to dispel the few water droplets clinging to his legs.

Giggles and answering murmurs floated down from the first storey, and John couldn’t help but smile as he climbed the steps. He never knew what to expect when he got home from work — just yesterday he’d arrived to find an unlikely concert, with Sherlock playing “Redwing” on his violin fiddle-style, while Rosie shook tambourines in each hand while blowing full force into a neon pink plastic kazoo.

Some days it was near silence, Sherlock buried in a book while Rosie colored in her My First Science Activity Book. John had found them in the middle of tea parties and plush toy interrogations (attempting to ferret out the location of a lost princess Elsa crown), and even curled up, fast asleep on the couch once.

So what would it be today?

He paused on the landing, listening to the conversation in the kitchen. He never felt guilty about this kind of eavesdropping, treasuring the little moments between Sherlock and Rosie he happened to witness unnoticed.

Sherlock’s voice, soft and calm: “Alright, Petal, let’s get those safety goggles on.”

“Safety gobbles on,” Rosie affirmed cheerfully.

Ah. An experiment, then.

“Good. I’m going to do this part, because the water is very hot. Sit back a little. Alright, we’ll fill this up just a bit … okay. Quickly, let’s take a look — see how the water is so hot it’s turning to gas? Do you remember what that gas is called?”

“Steam!” she announced triumphantly.

“Very good!” Sherlock praised. “And what is the steam doing?”

“Uh… going up in the air?”

“That’s right, the steam is rising. Now, I need you to be my helper. Can you put that plate on top here?”

“Like this?”

“Yes, that’s perfect.”

“Can I put the ice on now?”

“Not yet, we need to give it a few moments first. The steam still wants to rise, but we just blocked it with the plate. Now the hot steam is going to collect on the bottom of the plate. That’s called condensation.”

“Conversation?”

“Con-den-sation,” Sherlock enunciated patiently.

“Con-den-sation.”

“Spot on. So we have hot steam — condensation — on the bottom of the plate. What do you think will happen when we put the cold ice cubes on the top of the plate? It’s alright if you aren’t sure, that’s why we’re doing the experiment. But with everything you already know, you can make an educated guess. That’s called a hypothesis.”

John could practically see Rosie thinking, her little eyebrows pulled together in concentration beneath her tiny safety glasses.

After a few moments she began hesitantly, “I hy-poth-esis that —”

“You hypothesize that… ” Sherlock gently corrected.

“Oh. I hy-pothe-size the ice will melt.”

“Ah, a very good hypothesis, indeed, Rosie. Very smart.” Although John couldn’t see Sherlock, he could hear the grin in his voice. “Now this is my favorite part, we get to find out together.”

John shook his head in amazement, affection washing over him. The person Sherlock had once been, aloof and cold, defending himself with a façade of disinterest and hostility, seemed surreal now. Hre in the cozy confines of their home, the madman John had agreed to share a flat with a decade ago had practically turned into a teddy bear, especially when it came to his step-daughter.

There had been a time John thought he’d never have this, that they’d never have this: that he and Sherlock would never be more than just friends, that he’d never allow himself to love and be loved again, that Rosie would never have two wonderful, doting parents.

Now, he came home every day to a flat full of love and a family he’d once only dreamed of.

There was the sound of ice cubes being dropped gently onto ceramic and an almost-whispered, “look.”

“Papa!” Rosie gasped. “It’s raining! It’s raining in the jar!”

Sherlock laughed warmly at her genuine wonder, and John’s heart filled with overwhelming love. He couldn’t hold back any longer. “What have we here?” he said, stepping into the kitchen with a smile.

“Daddy!” Rosie exclaimed, and she pushed back from the table quickly.

“Careful, Petal,” Sherlock gently chided, his hand hovering over her back, ready to steady her as she jumped down off her chair. Riotous blonde curls in a tiny lab apron and goggles launched into John’s arms.

“Daddy, we’re making rain!”

“Rain?” John chuckled, kissing the top of her head before setting her down. “Don’t we have enough of that outside?” He leaned down to steal a kiss from Sherlock as well, forehead bumping the top edge of his safety glasses as their lips met.

Sherlock smiled and helped Rosie back into her seat. The table was spread with wide-mouth glass jars, shaving cream, food coloring, ice cubes, and pitchers of water.

“We’ve been doing ‘speriments, Daddy!”

“Thought it was an appropriate day to learn a bit more about the weather,” Sherlock said, shuffling aside some child-friendly diagrams depicting cloud-types to retrieve some art Rosie had done.

“That’s wonderful, Darling,” John said, smiling at the crayon drawing of the three of them in stick-figure form beneath a big sun and blue sky. He turned and affixed it to the fridge with a magnet.

“Papa, can we do the cloud ‘speriment one more time? To show Daddy?”

“Absolutely,” Sherlock agreed, grabbing a clean jar. “But I think I forgot how it goes… can you tell me?”

John watched as Rosie helped Sherlock to collect the items they needed. They filled the jar with water first, then Sherlock guided Rosie to hold the can of shaving cream, his large, well-manicured fingers covering Rosie’s tiny purple sparkly ones as they squirted a big “cloud” on top of the water. Then, hand-over-hand in the same fashion, Sherlock helped her gently drop dots of blue food coloring on the foam.

“You won’t believe this, Daddy!” Rosie said with a grin, then looked to Sherlock knowingly, delighted they shared a secret that John was only just going to learn.

John pursed his lips to stop himself from smiling, trying to school his expression so she’d know he was taking it seriously. He raised his eyebrows and let his jaw drop in surprise as the color percolated down through the shaving cream, streaking through the water like rain.

“That’s amazing!” John exclaimed, and Rosie’s face lit up.

“Be right back!” she announced, then climbed back down off of her chair and ran upstairs to her room.

John looked at Sherlock in awe. “You really are amazing. Absolutely amazing.”

“It’s just primary school science,” Sherlock said dismissively, removing his safety glasses and standing to move the jars to the sink.

“That’s not what I mean, and you know it.” John wrapped his arms around Sherlock, pressed his chest into Sherlock’s back, and tenderly placed a kiss below his ear.

“By the end she was practically running it all without me.” He murmured, turning his head to nuzzle into John. “Your daughter is brilliant, John.”

“Your daughter is brilliant,” John whispered in Sherlock’s ear, squeezing him tighter to emphasize the point. “Despite her genetics,” he laughed, “so it’s obviously nurture, not nature on this one.”

The sound of running feet above them made John pull away. “No running on the stairs!” he called authoritatively.

Rosie skidded to a halt in the middle of the sitting room, then spun to face them.

“But the sun is out, Daddy! I have one more ‘speriment to show you!”

John blinked and let go of Sherlock, and they both turned to see. Indeed, warm beams of light now shone in through the tall windows, and birds sang cheerfully outside.

“Papa says this is what happens after a storm.”

John looked at Sherlock inquisitively, but his only answer was a small half-smile Sherlock couldn’t keep from tugging at his lips.

Rosie placed a small prism down on the desk, directly in a bright beam of light, and the room was instantly washed in stripes of color.

If ever there was a better metaphor for his life, John could not fathom it. Here in this flat, with the two people he loved more than life itself… Dreams truly were found at the end of rainbows after all, and there could be no rainbow without a storm first.

Sherlock’s arm looped around John’s waist, drawing him close, as if he knew what John was thinking. Of course he did, he always did. The kiss they shared was chaste but full of emotion, mindful of the small person who giggled and covered her eyes with her hands.

“Well come on, then,” John said rolling his eyes in mock exasperation before a grin broke out over his face, and they bent together to lift her into a hug when she ran into their waiting arms.

Tagging a few of you who might care:

@may-shepard @fellshish @asleepatlast @jbaillier @lockedinjohnlock @prettyrealisticjohnlockfanart @iamme-whatcanisay @notjustamumj @elldotsee @disaronnus @discordantwords @shylockgnomes @almosttomorocco @masterofhounds @fangirl-says @hotshoeagain @holmezyan @steadymentalityengineer @mandapanda8 @coopsbird @twelvebrightducks @parentlocked @freethemfrom1895 @sherlohomora @mandysimo13 @gelos @consultingdads

#my writing #ficlets #parentlock #scenes from 221b #adorbs #fluff

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bffhreprise · 4 years ago

Text

Entry 361

“Aaliyah?” I called, finding my breakfast on the warming-thingy my daughter had built. She was obviously up already, but I couldn’t come close to keeping up with her. My tiny daughter had boundless energy and a mind that somehow outpaced her body in its zest. “Aaliyah, are you around?” I asked, staring across our strange, wonderful household.

She didn’t reply.

“Mila, where’s your mother?” I asked, knowing she’d have an answer. Mila was better at tracking her mother than I was. I still struggled thinking of MIla as a granddaughter. I wasn’t old enough for a granddaughter, especially not one that was fully electronic and grown! Only my daughter would do such things to someone… “Hmm?” I asked when I realized I had missed the reply while thinking to myself.

“Mother went into work early, Grandfather.” came the prompt reply.

“Oh.” I dumbly replied. Our colorful home was always more lively when Aaliyah was home, but I did have a pile of work to do today. I loved my job, but translating documents wasn’t the enjoyable part. I much preferred going places in person, seeing the sights with my daughter when she could come along, and translating directly for people. Sighing, I started my breakfast.

Barely a few bites into my breakfast, my thoughts were interrupted by a very loud, clanging noise. I ignored that noise and the occasional clanking for another few bites, then I got up to investigate. Back inside my daughter’s castle sat the very large, strange machine she had built without telling me anything about it. Nothing was smoking or looking wrong in any other way I could understand. She had told me something to do with it if there was a problem, but I couldn’t remember what.

After returning to my breakfast, I managed to finish my meal, but my alarm was growing with the sounds from the machine. Something was wrong. “Mila, do you know what’s happening?” I asked, motioning to the noise.

“Sorry, but no. Mother failed to share that design with me, so I’m at a loss as to what the machine does and what’s happening.” she replied, clearly worried as well.

“Is James busy? Your mother forgot her phone again.” I explained after hearing her ringtone upstairs.

“He has time for you. Would you like me to connect you to him?” she asked.

I nodded as I said, “Yes, please! Thank you, Mila.” I really liked James and was overjoyed that Aaliyah had found a place for herself at his strange company. She rambled on and on about the things they did there to me, but I never could follow half of the things my daughter said. Her explanations were always overly detailed and extremely technical no matter the language she was speaking. I hoped she understood how proud of her I was, but she really did need to tone down the explanations if she wanted anyone to understand.

Barely one ring into the call tone, James greeted me.

“Is Aaliyah with you?” I asked, not even trying to keep my panic from my voice.

“Oh, yes. Is something wrong?” questioned James with obvious concern.

“A month ago, she built this large machine in her castle. The thing is making a racket, we don't have a clue what to do.”

“We'll be right over.” he assured me before hanging up.

I would have preferred staying on the phone with him. James was a very calm person, and being around him, even just on the phone with him, was nice. Putting my phone back in my pocket, I hurried over to the machine, looking for any sign of what I could do to help it. There were panicked-sounding beeps now. Something was very wrong.

The minutes seemed to stretch on and on as the machine’s beeping plea became more and more panicked. I tried a few buttons, but they didn’t seem to help.

“Chad, we're here.” came James’ voice over the racket. “Aaliyah's grabbing something.”

I hurried out of the castle area as fast as I could past all my daughter’s tools and toys. She hated cleaning. Spotting James, I said, “I was scared that I somehow broke it.”

James wasn’t worried. He never was these days. The boy had grown a great deal since the first time I had hired him. “What is it?” he asked, easily seeing over the castle wall with his height once he had approached.

“No idea. I've caught her feeding it cake though.” I admitted.

“Cake?” asked James, surprise plain on his face.

“Yep! Cake!” exclaimed Aaliyah, coming up from behind us. She easily stepped around us, maneuvering a plate of cake on her hand as she tiptoed around her mess.

“Why does your machine need cake?” asked James flatly. His expression seemed darker than normal now.

“It doesn't!” exclaimed Aaliyah quite giddily.

“Then why would you waste cake?” I asked in complete shock. There was little my daughter loved more than cake.

“She wouldn't.” stated James, his voice grave. “Aaliyah, what is this?”

“An artificial womb!” she exclaimed enthusiastically.

The words hit me like a Mack truck. My mind was reeling. Something living was inside of that machine. I knew there was laws regarding such things, but Aaliyah knew them better than I did. Still, what was she making? A dog? I liked dogs. “I don't suppose a litter of puppies are going to come out in a basket…” I asked hopefully.

“No, silly. I'm having a baby!” she replied, her enthusiasm unabated by my concern.

“What? How?” asked James, sounding just as concerned as I felt.

“You and Alma are having a baby, so why can't I, boss-man, sir?” she asked him, staring up at him in confusion.

“Aaliyah… you're twelve.” I reminded her.

“Thirteen next month!” she exclaimed with a grin.

“I think your father feels that's a bit young.” stated James, his eyes looking into mine with commiseration. Then his head rapidly swiveled back to my daughter as he demanded “You're feeding an unborn baby cake!?”

Seeming to ignore him, Aaliyah called out “Health report!” The banging, clanging, beeping, and whirring had settled down again. A screen on the machine instantly lit up, displaying all sorts of numbers, and Aaliyah started rambling on about what they all meant.

I didn’t know medicine and had no idea what most of it meant, though even I knew the part about the cells being perfectly healthy was good.

“Congratulations in advance on being a grandfather.” stated James as he gently patted my back. He understood how shocking this was, though my daughter never would.

Aaliyah did things at her own pace no matter who tried getting in her way. I had taken her to visit other lawyers—my daughter was already an exceptionally capable one herself, judges, doctors, and sat in on some lectures she had given for local colleges, though I doubted anyone really could follow everything she had said.

Still, there was one thing I had to ask. “Aaliyah, I understand that to have a baby you need… uh… genetic material from two individuals, so… Who’s the father?”

She grinned at me as if I asked a billion dollar question, which couldn’t mean anything good for me. “Didn’t need one!” she happily exclaimed before going straight into how she artificially created something sufficient.

As she rambled, I put concerns about broken laws and the child’s health out of my mind. My daughter would be too far ahead of any concerned parties for them to cause much ruckus, and more than one of her doctorates from that school she attended would probably cover any medical concerns. This was happening, so I needed to prepare for a flesh and blood granddaughter now.

#Best Friend For Hire Reprise #Best #Friend #For #Hire #Reprise #Jovial Times #Jovial #Times #Fantasy #Fiction #Story

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freudensteins-monster · 7 years ago

Text

Winter’s Bite

Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Also on AO3

Sorry about the time between updates. I kind of... forgot. And I’m possibly avoiding finishing the next chapter... :/

The blackness began to spin around her. She could feel his hands upon her waist, his sharp stubble grazing against her cheek ever so lightly. The darkness was chased away by flickering candlelight and Darcy found herself in the middle of a crowded ballroom, her mysterious lover leading her in a waltz. Couples in ornate costumes danced and laughed as they spun around them but Darcy paid them no mind, captivated by her lover’s ice blue eyes. His arms tighten around her, pulling her close, his cold body leaching the warmth from hers as his eyes drifted to her lips. He pressed a single chaste kiss upon her plump lips before taking her chin in his hand, metal wrapped in black silk, and turned her head to expose her throat. Darcy’s chest heaved in anticipation, her ample bosom threatening to spill from the scandalous neckline of her blood-red gown as his lips chased her veins down the smooth column of her neck. She braced herself for the pain, her fingers digging into his shoulders, before losing herself in the ecstasy of his embrace...

“Bucky,” Darcy sighed, rousing from sleep. She blinked in the bright fluorescent lights until her eyes settled on the smirking visage of Bruce Banner. “I’m not dead,” she posited, though currently wished she was - bullets would have been so much faster than mortification.

“You’re not dead,” he agreed as he watched her take in her surroundings, though there wasn’t much of note in the sterile recovery room. Her brow creased in confusion as she took stock of her injuries and Bruce mentally prepared the answers to her questions.

“I’m not in pain,” she mused, staring at the IV in her arm. “But I don’t feel loopy or anything. Stark really must have the good shit, huh?”

“Those are just fluids,” Bruce said, pointing at the clear liquid in the drip. “You’re, uh…. You’re not actually on any pain meds.”

“Why not? I mean, I should be in pain, right? I didn’t imagine getting shot,” she rambled, her hands frantically pulling on her hospital gown.

“Easy,” Bruce cooed, taking her trembling hands in his as he took a seat on the edge of her bed.

“What happened?” Darcy demanded anxiously.

“What do you remember?” Bruce countered.

Darcy huffed with irritation but humoured her doctor. “I was at the observatory in Chile. These assholes came in looking for Jane. I called Tony for help. The calvary turned up and the lead asshole got super pissed with me and he… and he shot me,” Darcy winced at the memory.

“You took three bullets to the stomach,” Bruce continued for her, squeezing her hands in what he hoped was a comforting gesture. “We got you out of there and were on our way to the nearest hospital when some military jets pulled up alongside us and demanded we get out of their airspace. You, uh, you were in a real bad way and we didn’t like your chances if we had to find a different hospital. So we removed the bullets and gave you a blood transfusion in the air. That was about four hours ago.”

“What? I don’t…” Darcy faltered as she tried to make sense of what Bruce was telling her, and what he wasn’t. “Bucky?”

Bruce nodded. Darcy’s pulled her hands away and Bruce helped her hitch up her hospital gown. Her stomach had three patches of gauze taped over it and one by one Bruce pulled them aside to reveal her life threatening injuries were now nothing more than angry red scars.

“I gave you a blood transfusion in the air - Bucky was the donor,” Bruce clarified. “Your body absorbed the serum and after a few minutes began to heal itself, just as we’d hoped, though we’re not sure how else it might affect you. You’ve retained some regenerative capabilities, obviously, and I wouldn’t rule out the possibility of enhanced strength and agility, especially if you were to push your limits in the gym.”

“So, that’s a big fat “no” on super strength,” Darcy smirked much to Bruce’s amusement. “But what about the other thing?”

“Well, so far I’m not seeing any indication that your genetic code has been mutated, but we’ll monitor you for any signs that you’ve inherited Sergeant Barnes’ more, uh, animalistic tendencies. Regardless, I’m hoping now that you have the same super serum in your blood it will improve the efficacy of his weekly injections.”

“He’s still affected?”

��Yes, Darcy, he’s… your blood’s always going to have an affect on him. I’m still not sure why but I’m going to keep looking for a permanent solution, but you don’t have to worry, okay? We’re going to do everything we can to make sure he doesn’t hurt you.”

“But I can’t get hurt.”

“...what?”

“I’ve got regenerative capabilities,” she reminded him.

“So…?”

“So, you’re saying that because of our compatibility on some gross genetic, bodily fluid level I am literally Bucky’s ‘own personal brand of heroin’. And because of my newly acquired regenerative capabilities I am pretty much a spoonful of heroin that is never going to run out, right?”

“Uh, well… that’s a really strange way to put it, but uh, yes, that’s right.”

“In that case, how soon can I get out of here?”

“What? Darcy, you’re recovering from a serious medical procedure – we need to keep you under observation for at least 48hrs.”

“Aw, Bruce, can’t you just rubber stamp me?” Darcy whined.

“Why are you in such a hurry to get out of here?”

“Because there’s a really cute super soldier out there who’s been avoiding me, and I was really looking forward to showing him that he doesn’t have to anymore.”

“Are you sure that a smart idea? Just because you can’t see any sharks in the water doesn’t mean you should get out of the shark cage.”

“That’s a terrible analogy, doc.”

“Like yours was any better,” Bruce sassed.

“Mine was a literary reference. It’s not my fault you didn’t get it.”

“Darcy,” Bruce groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I really don’t think you should be taking such a risk, or that Sergeant Barnes would appreciate you testing the limits of his control.”

“He saved my life, Bruce, but I guarantee he still considers himself a monster. And he’s really, really cute.”

Bruce was sympathetic, really he was, but in the end he kept Darcy the full 48hrs, checking her blood work and running a variety of tests every 12hrs. All of the Avengers stopped by at some point, except Bucky. Steve brought her a book and an apologetic smile. Tony gave her a raise and filled her room with expensive floral arrangements. Clint, her favourite, managed to sneak in her favourite iced coffee concoction and a large pizza. Natasha, her true favourite, brought an overnight bag full of comfy clothes, essential toiletries, and a pack of cards. She stayed for an hour or so, ruthlessly destroying her at Go Fish, pointedly not talking about Bucky until it was time for her to leave.

“I think that’s enough suffering for one night,” Natasha smirked, “You need your rest.”

“I need to get out of here.”

“Are you going to see Barnes?”

“If he hasn’t already disappeared back upstate,” she grumbled.

“He hasn’t. Steve’s told him they’re not leaving until he grows a pair and talks to you. Barnes, the stubborn bastard, thinks he can wait him out. At least until Hill calls them back upstate. I’ll make sure Hill doesn’t make that call for another twelve hours after Bruce clears you.”

“Thanks Nat,” Darcy smiled.

“You’re welcome, milaya,” Natasha smiled back, kissing the top of her head before making off with her gummy candy winnings.

Darcy dimmed the lights but sleep wouldn’t come; she couldn’t stop thinking about Bucky. She held an arm in front of her face, tracing the veins visible through her pale skin.

Bucky was probably disappointed she hadn’t become a better version of herself the way Steve had when he’d gotten the serum, Darcy thought morosely. She recalled Dr Banner’s thoughts on her potential and tried to picture herself kicking ass and taking names and snorted. Call her a pessimist but she believed the best she could hope to accomplish would be being able to lug Jane’s heavy equipment around without hurting herself.

Maybe if the transfusion had infected me with vampirism too, she sighed, maybe then Bucky wouldn’t be so scared to be around me.

“Whatever,” she huffed, rolling over in her uncomfortable hospital bed. She was still going to talk to him, to thank him at least.

My tag list is hilariously outdated, and I’m sure a lot of you are more interested in Loki fics, so please let me know if you want on or off.

@storylover92 @marveil @dreamdancer19 @thefangirl33 @anonanonfrances @contains-cinnamon @jackiattacki @sarabeth72 @hiddlestoncentral @annamegatron @angelus80 @dearmisterhiddles @writernotwaiting @ishoutmarcoandyoushout @hallotom @mrshiddelston @lolomonster @bellafagoaga1812 @stormieandateacup @beautifullydamned16 @hardtopickausername @lorrmorr @antyc67 @ladyninasayers-ish @ladymirtilla @marvelousmissfit @yoursophiebelle @xunconquerableheartx @tinaferraldo @larouau12 @hiddles-is-a-fallen-angel @lokilockedcougar @pollution-brown-eyes @loveshiddles4everme @mrsmalcontent @just-call-me-your-darling @inkededucatednnerdy @vampire-marie @whenweareallalone @captain-biryani @larouau12 @sweetsigyn @scarlettsoldier @mypreciousmind1 @wonderinthewoods @lucetheding @ohbvcks @echantedbytwh @omninocte @yw84fun

#winter's bite #wintershock #freudensteins-fics #darcy lewis x bucky barnes #darcy lewis #bucky barnes #vampire!bucky

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sad-trash-writing · 7 years ago

Text

Who’s The Hero Of Your Story?, Ch. 9

AO3 Link

“I’m really getting tired of Quake showing up everywhere we go,” Raina whined. The thorns all over her body had shifted away and been replaced by smooth skin and silky hair and Raina was holding an ice pack to her temple.

“You and me both, sister,” Garrett grumbled. He seemed to still be having some difficulties getting his robotic leg to detach and was angrily jabbing the flickering appendage with a screwdriver and wincing.

Quinn paced around his office, where they had all gathered to get out of their super villain attire and regroup, with a drink in his hand and scowled out the window. “Just once, it would be nice to not have to worry about getting knocked out of the sky. Helicopter repairs aren’t cheap or discreet, you know.”

Jemma just sat there silently. She had pulled a hoodie and sweatpants on over her bodysuit, just until she could get home and change like she desperately wanted to.

Raina sighed. “Yes, because that’s the most important take-away here. Not the fact that if Quake managed to capture even one of us and turn us over to the police, they would have reasonable cause to investigate everything we’ve done over the years, no matter how much money you throw at them.”

“I think you underestimate what money can do,” Quinn replied.

“And I think you overestimate it,” Raina snapped. “Look, we just need to start thinking about solutions. There’s only one superhero in this city and four of us. I may be overstating the rest of your abilities, but I think all of us can come up with something.”

“Well, we could start with her fixation on Bulbasaur over there,” Garrett suggested.

It took Jemma a few moments of silence to realize Garrett was talking about her. She shot him a glare at the nickname.

Raina hummed. “That’s true. She does seem to give Simmons more leeway than the rest of us. She can probably tell you’re still fresh out of the gate. No offense.”

“Um…none taken,” Jemma muttered. She fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. She didn’t enjoy the fact that all three sets of eyes in the room were trained on her.

Raina tossed her melted ice pack on the desk and leaned forward. Even though it was Quinn’s office, she commanded the space like she owned it.

“Simmons,” she started sweetly, “How would you like to help us with our little superhero problem? Permanently.”

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

Jemma propped up her head on the coffee shop table and stared at the door. Every time it opened and the little bell dinged she perked up a bit, but when it wasn’t who she was hoping for, she relaxed and let her eyes drift closed.

She had been spending basically every hour she didn’t have to be in class in the lab growing new plants. Her advisors were starting to push even harder to get results. Since 2.0 shriveled up and died and 1.0 was inseparable from her spinal cord, she had to start from scratch again. At least the most recent ones hadn’t died yet.

The door dinged again and Jemma cracked open an eye to see just the person she was waiting for.

Fitz hustled through the throng of people standing in the morning rush line. His hair was standing up on end like he had been running his hands through it for hours, his shirt was wrinkled, and he was already clutching a very large cup of coffee.

“Morning,” Jemma muttered.

“You say 'morning' like I slept. I’ve been in the lab since you left last night,” Fitz grumbled, taking a long swig of coffee.

“I left at 5 this morning.”

“I know. I had to get a design done for class this afternoon that I barely even started on because suddenly, I have to fix Garrett’s leg and design Raina a new outfit,” Fitz complained.

“I’m sorry, Fitz. I didn’t mean to drag you into this,” Jemma said.

“It’s fine. I just don’t think your advisors realize the extra stress that they put on us.” Fitz shrugged. “Mostly you, I mean, I just get to sit in the lab and get yelled at about deadlines.”

Jemma sighed. “You don’t know the half of it.”

“I’ve been so busy complaining that I forgot you wanted to talk about something,” Fitz exclaimed. “Though, I’m curious as to why you want to talk here, where there’s a ton of people who could overhear us, instead of the unmonitored lab.”

“I don’t fully trust that it is unmonitored, honestly,” Jemma replied. “There’s always a chance that there’s some listening devices that we haven’t found that lead straight to Raina’s office. Also, I need to show you something first. I can’t be the only one to know.”

Fitz glowered over his coffee. “I have 4 hours to finish the calculations on a cloaking device for class. If you dragged me out of the lab to tell me that your new favorite place has gluten-free biscuits—“

“Caramel latte with soy milk for Jemma,” a familiar voice interrupted. Jemma saw her heading this way, she wasn’t surprised. Watching Fitz choke on his coffee in shock almost made her laugh out loud.

Daisy stood at the corner of their booth with a coffee in one hand and a plate holding a bagel in the other. Her dark makeup had more hints of blue in it than normal today, but the straight, black wig was still very much the same. Despite the goth-y look and chain jewelry, she had a friendly smile on her face directed towards Jemma. The only evidence of their meeting a few days before was the two, thin scratches trailing down her cheek with small butterfly bandages across them.

“Thank you, Daisy. I didn’t order the bagel, though,” Jemma replied.

Daisy just shrugged. “It’s on me. It’s gluten-free and comes with organic cream cheese, since I know you like that kind of stuff.”

Jemma smiled, in spite of knowing Daisy was technically her enemy. “Thank you. You really don’t have to give me free food all the time.”

“It’s not like anyone’s actually buying it,” Daisy smirked.

Daisy lingered for a moment longer, as if she wanted to say something else, but noticed Fitz and stopped herself. Fitz finally got over his initial shock and spoke up.

“What happened to your face?” he asked, tactfully, gesturing to Daisy’s cheek.

“Oh—I, uh, was petsitting for a friend whose cat hates me,” she replied nonchalantly. “I should probably get back to work. See you around?”

“See you around,” Jemma agreed.

Fitz gaped at Daisy’s back as she jogged back to the counter.

“Was that—“ Fitz whispered across the booth.

“Yep.”

“And was she—”

“Hitting on me? Yes.”

“Does she—“

“Know that I know? No.”

“Do your advisors—“

“No, and they aren’t going to.”

Fitz leaned back with his eyes wide and took another sip of his coffee. “This is insane.”

“Yes, and what’s more insane is that my advisors want me to kill her,” Jemma hissed across the table.

Fitz choked on his coffee again. “What?!”

Jemma nodded. “After our…project the other day, they were talking about 'permanent solutions' to getting rid of Quake and because, apparently, she’s nicer to me, it became my job to take care of it.” Jemma flopped her head into her hands and groaned. “What am I going to do?”

“Obviously, you’re not going to kill a person,” Fitz whispered and looked at Jemma like she had grown a second head.

“How can I not? We’ve established that they don’t have any qualms about murder. I don’t think me refusing to do what they want me to is just going to result in the loss of my scholarships at this point,” Jemma snapped. “But…” She trailed off and glanced the direction where Daisy just walked.

Fitz paused. “So, what are you planning to do?”

“I have no idea.”

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

Raina dropped by the lab unexpectedly the next day. Jemma was typing up her report on her latest test subjects, which were doing quite well, when Raina appeared in the doorway.

“Hope this isn’t a bad time,” she drawled.

“Raina! No, it’s not really. Um, how can I help you?” Jemma rambled.

“I’m actually here to help you today,” Raina said. “Where’s Fitz?”

“He’s in class.”

“Good. I’d like to keep this between as few people as possible,” Raina replied. “I’m sure you remember our little talk the other day about your next job.”

Jemma nodded. How could she forget?

“I thought of something that might help you accomplish that mission. Our friend Quake and I share a certain…quality that gave us our abilities.”

“What is it?” Jemma asked.

“That’s not important.” Raina waved her off. “What is important is that there’s a genetic marker involved that needs to be activated to give someone like us powers. My thought is that if you have a sample, you might be able to isolate the genetic component and whip something up to help you solve our problem.”

“O-Oh.”

Raina set herself down in one of the lab chairs, crossed her legs, and held out her arm. “Do your thing, doc.”

Jemma didn’t feel the need to remind her that she wasn’t quite a doctor yet, and fumbled through gathering the necessary supplies. Normally, she would just let her vines do all the reaching and grabbing to save herself a bit of effort. With Raina’s eyes boring into her, she felt too self-conscious and just used her hands like a normal person, while her vines stayed tucked in her sleeves. While Jemma snapped on a tourniquet and searched for a vein to take some blood from, Raina glanced around the office.

“It looks like you’re having some more success with this batch,” she commented, nodding to the two plants growing on a nearby counter.

Jemma nodded. “Yes, these are cooperating much more than the last few. I cross-pollinated them with the spores from the one—well, the first experiment—and they’ve fared rather well. I’m almost to the point where I can attach some electrodes and see if any sort of control is possible.”

“Fascinating,” Raina muttered. “I assume we’ll be getting a full report of these developments?”

“Of course.”

“Good.” Jemma finished taking her sample and pressed a cotton ball to the area. “Well, if you have what you need, I’ll be off. Papers to grade, plans to hatch and all that.”

Raina breezed out of the room, leaving Jemma alone with a vial of blood and a thousand more questions. She could stop and consider all the ramifications of the material she was just handed, but her scientific side kicked in instead and she got to work.

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

Jemma spent hours staring at samples of Raina’s blood under a microscope. There was something just slightly off in the chemicals flowing through her veins, though otherwise, everything looked human.

She isolated Raina’s DNA and ran it through numerous tests to analyze every component she could. At first, she thought that the machines in the new lab weren’t properly calibrated, since she kept getting strange results. Then, she realized it wasn’t the machines: it was the DNA.

Somehow, there were extra molecules interspersed in Raina’s DNA that didn’t appear in normal DNA. In fact, it looked entirely different than any human DNA Jemma had ever seen. It was completely inhuman.

Raina (and apparently Daisy) were practically an entirely different species. Jemma pondered this revelation, while jumping into further tests.

Eventually, she found an enzyme that appeared to be produced by the extra molecules in the DNA and was able to extract them and mix up a solution that might have some effectiveness for blocking Daisy’s powers. In the back of her mind, Jemma thought it could be just as effective against Raina, if she ever needed it. She shook off that thought and glanced around, as if somehow there was a mind-reader in this room that could tell on her.

She ran some computer simulations on the compound and they all turned up positive, so Jemma was confident that it would be effective. Having made some progress, Jemma decided to take a break. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jemma headed to the coffee shop for the fifth time this week. She only could justify coming here so often because she had a bit of expendable income from her weekend exploits. Also, she could consider it 'enemy reconnaissance' if she really had to.

Not surprisingly, Daisy was working today. She had on a red plaid shirt and matching red accents around the black on her eyes. The dark color scheme and the scowl on her face at the guy mansplaining customer service to her made Jemma think that Daisy could make a really good super villain if she wanted to. The man finally got out of her way and Jemma approached the counter. Daisy’s face shifted completely from the annoyed scowl to a bright grin when she saw Jemma.

“Hey Jemma, what can I get you today?” she asked.

Jemma perused the menu while also glancing over Daisy. The red in her outfit today brought out the red tones in her brown eyes, which Jemma was having a hard time looking away from. It also brought out the red in the scratches on her cheek that were looking angrier than the day before.

Jemma frowned. “Your…cat scratches aren’t looking so great. Have you put anything on them?”

Daisy huffed. “I’ve tried everything. Apparently that cat got into some evil stuff before it got to me.”

Jemma suddenly had a thought. “Hm. I might have something that’ll work for that. I can bring it in tomorrow if you’d like?” Jemma offered. She couldn’t have some infection ruining her barista/nemesis’s face.

“If you have something, I’ll definitely try it. Thanks.” Daisy smiled. “Now did you want to order something, or just talk about my face all day?”

Jemma chuckled. She could definitely talk about Daisy’s face all day. “Just one of those gluten-free bagels, please.”

Daisy smirked slightly to herself as she punched in the order.

When her bagel came up in a small paper bag, Daisy dangled it over the pick-up counter and wiggled it a bit to get Jemma’s attention.

“Thank you, Daisy. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Jemma called on her way to the door.

“It’s a date!” was the reply.

Jemma scurried out the door and back toward her lab. She tried not to think about Daisy’s words. She liked Daisy (and her alter-ego Quake, for that matter), but she didn’t want to encourage her advances. Jemma was completely sure that Daisy wouldn’t approve of Jemma’s side job if she found out.

Jemma pushed thoughts of Daisy out of her mind as she returned to the lab. She finished typing up her report on her new plants to Raina and sent it off. They had been coming along quite well and had shown some preliminary reactions to electric impulses. Because of this she was able to isolate the exact genetic code in the plant that allowed it to be controlled (which was absent in all other attempts, except the one that was on her back), so she included this information in her report as well.

Satisfied that her progress would get Raina off her back for at least a few weeks, Jemma grabbed her things and headed back to her apartment for the first time in days.

#skimmons #bioquake #jemma simmons/daisy johnson #Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.#who's the hero of your story fic #superhero au #supervillain au

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inawickedlittletown · 7 years ago

Text

Whatever It Takes (3/?)

Summary: It isn’t easy being Spider-Man, but having Tony Stark in his corner makes it that much easier. Or, Tony didn’t know he could be parental or care that much and Peter really needs a father figure.

Note: Meant to put this here yesterday and forgot even though I posted it on AO3. Oops.

On AO3

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Tony arrived at Peter and May’s apartment almost exactly at six. He had timed everything perfectly because he’d only been back in New York for about twenty minutes before he was headed to there. The long week in D.C. had finally come to an end and Tony was glad that Vision was actually taking point with a lot of the stuff to do with the Accords. He was better suited than Tony exactly for two reasons. He was one logical, and two not prone to acting on emotion alone. It discomfited the politicians who liked to think that they could act without feeling. Not to mention of course that Vision could fact check all of them right on the spot because everything he read he retained. So the UN and the U.S. Government were getting the best that Tony could offer in terms of someone suited to negotiate the new terms.

Peter opened the door when he knocked and let him in with a smile. “Hi, Mr. Stark,” he said.

Peter didn’t look different than he had a week ago and Tony couldn’t even tell that he had been injured mere days earlier but that didn’t mean that he didn’t let the relief to finding him alright settle into him.

“Hey, kid,” Tony said as he stepped inside and actually reached over to ruffle his hair.

Peter grumbled something and tried to fix it with his fingers. Tony smirked at him.

Tony had been in Peter’s apartment all of two times and neither time had given him time to look around so Tony took it all in. It was small and homey.

“Hello, Mr. Stark,” May said. She was wiping her hands on her apron as she opened the fridge door.

Tony smiled. “Hello, thanks for inviting me over.”

“Well, it was only necessary,” May said, “dinner will be ready soon. Make yourself at home.”

Tony took that to mean that he could wander. Peter watched him as he walked over to a bookshelf that contained both books and picture frames. He found one of Peter with May that must not have been too old in one corner next to one of a much younger May with a man that had a slight resemblance to Peter except that he was blond and his eyes were a striking blue. That must have been Ben.

Other pictures featured the three of them. In some Peter wasn’t more than a toddler and in others he was just a few years younger than now. Then, Tony found one of a different couple and he knew at once who they were. Richard and Mary Parker. Tony hadn’t connected the dots, not even after Friday had told him all about Peter back when he was about to recruit him. Maybe he hadn’t paid it any attention or it was because back then Mary hadn’t gone by Parker but Fitzpatrick. She had been brilliant in the vein of how Bruce Banner was brilliant and had, if Tony remembered correctly, published some fantastic articles in the field of genetics.

Then, she had disappeared or Tony hadn’t noticed she changed her name but he knew almost with 99% surety that Mary Parker hadn’t done anything of any notoriety. Neither had Richard for that matter.

“Those are my parents,” Peter said and Tony looked away from the picture.

“I figured,” Tony said and then glanced at Peter. “Your mother was a genius,” he added before he could stop himself.

Peter stared at him and Tony knew that May had stopped chopping vegetables in the kitchen. “I – you knew her,” Peter said, “why didn’t you tell me? How did you know her?”

“I didn’t know I knew her until just now,” Tony admitted. “She published a lot of papers in her youth under her maiden name. I guess it was before she got married. I met her once at a conference and I think I probably tried to recruit her for SI to work with the bio engineering division that we were starting out but she turned me down.”

Peter gapped at him. “I didn’t know she was published,” Peter said and then looked towards May who just shrugged her shoulders. Tony could tell that he was itching to try and find his mother’s work so Tony pulled out his phone.

“Friday, download anything Mary Fitzpatrick published into Peter’s computer,” he said into the phone.

“Friday has access to my computer,” Peter said.

Tony walked away from the shelf. “Friday has access to anything with internet, kid.”

They went into Peter’s room mostly because Tony could tell that Peter wanted to look at the articles immediately. It made Tony wonder about how much Peter actually knew about his parents. Obviously he had been raised by his father’s brother so he probably knew a lot more about Richard than Mary, but he couldn’t help but feel like there was something else there.

He texted Friday to look into it and have information ready for him when he left the Parkers.

Tony leaned on the doorway to Peter’s room and kept a watch on him. He had gotten to the articles already and was looking through them. Tony knew he would understand some of the material but certainly not all.

“They, um, they died in a plane crash,” Peter said after a while.

Tony knew. Friday had told him just that while Tony drove over to the apartment all those months ago.

“I don’t remember them much. I was so little when it happened and according to May their work was so time consuming that most of the time I was with her anyway even before it happened but they tried to keep their memory in tact. Mostly I was just always curious about what they were like but either way I didn’t have a bad childhood. It’s always just a question. A what if.”

Peter shook his head and let out a breath. “Anyway,” he said and got up, “that wasn’t the point of dinner tonight.”

Watching him, Tony could tell that May and Ben were his parents far more than Richard and Mary had been and that it was likely that Ben’s death had hit Peter harder than that of the two people that were biologically his parents.

“No,” Tony agreed, “but part of it was to ask about that fire you decided to run into.”

Peter dropped his head back. “It was nothing I couldn’t handle.”

Tony stared him down. “I saw the medical notes after they checked you out. It was dangerous and reckless and I don’t care that you have a healing factor. You need to be more careful.”

“So did Pepper call you herself to tell you about it?” Peter asked.

Tony nodded. It had been an interesting call especially because Pepper had been worrying about someone other than him. But mostly it had made Tony want to just get in a suit and fly directly to the compound and Peter.

“She was the one that Friday alerted when your breathing became irregular,” Tony said, “and if you didn’t heal the way you did, who knows what might have happened.”

“But I do heal faster,” Peter pressed.

Tony knew he needed to let it go. It was going to keep happening and as long as Peter continued to be Spider-Man he would get injured and hurt. Tony didn’t know if it was because Peter was young or because Tony felt directly responsible, but he couldn’t bear the thought of him truly getting hurt or injured because of his antics as Spider-Man.

“You do,” Tony said, “but you are going on instinct rather than proper training and you just rush into things without thought. So, starting this weekend we’re going to start training you.”

Peter didn’t seem annoyed by it like Tony knew he would have been in his stead but then again Tony had never been as well adjusted as Peter.

“Okay,” Peter said.

“Good,” Tony said.

“Dinner’s ready,” May called.

Peter was impressed by how well May and Mr. Stark got along despite everything. He knew that May wasn’t exactly a big fan of Tony Stark, but she could also respect him and respect that he was Peter’s mentor and friend.

“A fantastic cook and a pretty face,” Tony said after dinner was over.

May rolled her eyes. “I hear you’re engaged, Mr. Stark,” she said.

Tony didn’t correct her so Peter didn’t either but Peter noticed the blush on her cheeks. He got up to clear the table and May smiled at him in the affectionate way that she always did. It made Peter feel like things really were going to be okay even if there were changes in the horizon.

“So, you knew Peter’s mother,” May said while Peter started the dishes. Peter paused and listened.

“Barely,” Mr. Stark said, “we must have rubbed elbows at a bunch of different conferences but I only met her the one time. SI had been looking into expanding our bio engineering fields and I knew about Mary because she had written some really intriguing articles about genetics and in particular how little human DNA differs from that of other animals. Of course she turned me down when I asked her to be the head of our research department and it’s not something that really took off with SI anyway. We didn’t attract the right people because everyone knew we were more about the weapon development. Truth is, I turned a blind eye to a lot of what my company was doing to focus on my own projects and my own work.”

Peter scrubbed the dishes with a sponge and he waited for May to respond.

“I don’t know what Mary or Richard did for a living,” she admitted, “but we knew it was classified and important and they felt that it was important enough to be away from Peter for long periods of time. It was – it was a tragedy how that ended for them.”

“Yes,” Mr. Stark said.

Peter kept washing and listening to them as they went from that topic to another until May was telling Mr. Stark that being Spider-Man wouldn’t interfere with Peter’s dreams of going to college and beyond.

“Of course it won’t,” Mr. Stark had said at once. “If Peter had the time, an internship at SI would be his in a heartbeat. I think he will get into any school he wants and that he will have a bright future in any field.”

“Good,” May said.

“I’ll pay his tuition,” Mr. Stark said then and they were all silent until a cup slipped out of Peter’s fingers and fell into the sink, splashing water on the front of his shirt.

May spoke before Peter could. “Mr. Stark, I am not insinuating that this situation we are in means that you have to compensate by paying for Peter’s education. That is an insane amount of money and—”

“And I have it,” Mr. Stark said, “and I have never met anyone like Peter. He is the kind of kid that wants to learn and yearns to prove that they can be the best and he can and we are both aware of the doors that I can open for him. They would not be undeserved. I want to take this off his shoulders because I can and because he deserves it. He has the potential to do great things.”

They seemed to be staring each other down and Peter couldn’t predict who would win. He cleaned up the broken cup and kept washing the rest until the whole kitchen was clean. Only then did he pay them any mind and May had finally shrugged.

“Okay,” she said, “if you’re insisting.”

“I am,” Mr. Stark said.

“I feel like I just keep accumulating spiders,” Tony said as he entered the compound and let the Iron Man suit be put away.

“He’s an interesting kid,” Natasha said and she came out of the shadows.

Peter was right and she had gone blond. It didn’t look bad on her, just odd. She wasn’t the Nat that he was used to.

“And he spotted you,” Tony said as he walked towards the kitchen. The lights turned on as he walked and he heard Natasha follow him.

“You remodeled,” Natasha said and came into step with him.

Tony could remember his anger in the aftermath of Natasha letting them go. Then again he had been angry about Rhodey getting hurt too and it had all been jumbled up together. Even still, Tony had let her go and had known that she would be left to operate from the shadows. It was exactly what she had been trying to avoid but ultimately she had made her choices and in a way Natasha had been right because Barnes was being framed. In the end, it hadn’t been about that at all.

“It wasn’t built with me living here in mind originally,” Tony said and he got a cup for the coffee that Friday had already begun brewing for him.

“Right,” she said and sat down at the island. She watched him as she always had and Tony always felt a little like she could see everything he was hiding. “For the record,” Nat said, and when Tony looked at her she looked resigned, “I thought he told you.”

Tony stopped short of bringing the coffee carafe out and he moved to stand directly across from her with only the island between them. “So you assumed instead of thinking that you might want to be sure I got informed about how my parents died.”

Natasha hung her head. “Tony,” she said, “I thought you’d take it better from Steve.”

He probably would have if Steve had told him as soon as he could after finding out. Tony had even called him while he was still at the hospital in D.C. and it hadn’t just been to offer him a place to stay in New York but to ask after him and Steve hadn’t told him. Come to think of it, Steve hadn’t even asked Tony for help in locating Bucky. It had been months and a bit of prodding before Steve even told Tony that The Winter Soldier was his childhood best friend.

“Well,” Tony said, “all of that happened and maybe I would have come home from Siberia without a giant bruise across my chest and not as much emotional baggage.”

“He feels horrible about it,” Natasha said.

Tony turned away to get his coffee and then he joined her at the island and sighed. “What are you doing back here, anyway? Did Fury send you?”

She shook her head. “Cap did,” she said, “he wanted me to check up on you and make sure you’re doing okay.”

“Ah,” Tony said, “I did wonder if your loyalties were still with him.”

Natasha threw up her hands. “We are all on the same side. I am your friend and I am his. I care about both of you and I am not reporting on your every move to him. This isn’t like—”

“Like Natalie Rushman,” Tony said and couldn’t help but grin because they really did go way back.

“I haven’t even told him that you and Pepper aren’t really engaged,” Natasha said and smiled at him in a knowing way, “nor have I told him about how close you and the kid have gotten. He’s pretty young, Tony, he shouldn’t be involved in this.”

Tony drank a huge gulp of his coffee. “No, he shouldn’t. Hey, actually, since you are around and I hope sticking around, how do you feel about proper introductions and also training him? He has amazing instincts which I think come with his abilities and he’s good about trusting them. That and the suit I made him help him out a lot but there’s so much about himself that he doesn’t get yet and he’s lacking in technique. I think – well, from what I’ve gathered watching him – that he can even sense things before they happen. Sometimes from the way he turns or knows just where to be.”

It had been one of those things that Tony didn’t pick up on at first until he was seeing all the data and video from Germany. It had been a hard one to watch but Tony had wanted to see the progress that Peter had made since Tony had given him the suit and he had noticed it when Peter would actually act almost in tandem with whatever was coming his way as if he had known it was coming.

“How did you know I planned to stay?”

“Friday told me you brought luggage,” Tony informed her and smirked because he knew that Nat had been trying to catch him unawares. “Not to mention that I know Fury wants you here to make sure that I manage to bring the others home.”

Peter felt a little bit bad about cancelling plans with Ned, but Ned had to know that it was almost inevitable. Peter just had to remind himself that he would have to make it up to him. He even mentioned it to Karen to remind him just in case. It was just that on top of all the homework that he needed to get done, Mr. Stark had called to tell him that he needed to be at the compound for training on Saturday and then called again to tell him that Happy would pick him up on Friday after school instead and that he had already cleared it with May for him to spend the weekend there.

So, Peter made sure that he had all of his homework and textbooks with him on Friday and then told Ned the bad news. Then, he and Ned walked out of school and Happy was waiting for him with a stoic look on his face.

“Have a good day at school?” Happy asked when Peter had gotten inside the car.

“Yup,” Peter responded and pulled out his copy of The Great Gatsby and flipped to the first page. Even though they had been reading the book for the past month or so, Peter hadn’t even opened it. Now he was right on the cusp of a test on the book on Monday and he knew that it wouldn’t just do to watch the movie.

Happy didn’t bother him as he read and Peter got through a few chapters before they arrived at the compound. Mr. Stark was actually waiting outside for them and Peter was sure that it was due to Friday informing him when they were pulling in.

“Hey, kid, lets get you settled in before training,” Mr. Stark said and placed an arm around his shoulders to steer him inside.

Peter pushed his backpack strap up his shoulder. “What does training entail exactly?” he asked.

Mr. Stark just smirked. “You’ll see,” he said.

He left his stuff in the bedroom he’d used last time and was surprised to see that someone had put a Spider-Man sticker on the door as if to mark it as his.

“You haven’t actually seen the whole facility,” Mr. Stark said as he led him away from his room.

They walked out of the living areas to a hall that bridged that building onto another. There were more people in that building and Peter was surprised to see them. He looked to Mr. Stark with the question.

“There are lots of things that need doing,” Mr. Stark said and they kept walking.

Mr. Stark showed him some of the training rooms from the regular looking gym with things like treadmills and weights to a room that was all padded and then one that was clearly meant for aim practice.

“This place is really cool,” Peter said as he and Mr. Stark walked past a punching bag.

“I kind of figured you’d think so,” Mr. Stark said and then motioned for him to keep walking.

They went into the locker room and Peter got a look around. It was clean and looked relatively unused.

“Get into your suit,” Mr. Stark said, “it’s probably for the best you train in that.”

Peter couldn’t help but notice, then, that Mr. Stark was in one of his usual expensive suits. He opened his mouth to ask about it, but Mr. Stark walked out of the locked room and left Peter to change.

He had gotten better about changing quickly so it was less than a minute before he walked out sans mask. Mr. Stark stood right outside waiting, phone in hand.

“Come on, I have to introduce you to your instructor.”

“Instructor?” Peter repeated.

Mr. Stark just smiled and Peter couldn’t ask because someone was approaching them. It took Peter a moment to realize that it was Black Widow. She really had gone blond which meant that Peter had definitely spotted her those two times.

She wasn’t wearing her Black Widow uniform but instead yoga pants and a tank top. Had Peter not known her from the fight in Germany, he didn’t think he could have differentiated between her and any other gym going woman in New York. He supposed that that was the whole point of the blond hair.

“Peter, this is Natasha. Nat, this is Peter.”

Peter remembered sort of meeting her in Germany. At some point Mr. Stark had introduced him to his team but there hadn’t really been time for proper introductions and in the aftermath too much had been going on for Peter to really get a chance to talk to any of them not to mention that he was a sore and bruised mess and Happy had taken him directly back to the hotel room and there had just been so much going on.

“It’s good to finally meet you,” Natasha said.

“You too,” Peter mumbled out and her lips quirked up a little at his nerves.

“I figured since Natasha was available she would be the perfect person to get you some hand to hand training,” Mr. Stark said, “she’s the best there is.”

She rolled her eyes and shook her head a little but didn’t correct him and Peter knew that Mr. Stark was right. Peter had seen her in action first hand and she was amazing. It was impressive how much she could do without having any kind of mutation or enhanced abilities. The Black Widow really was the real deal and Peter couldn’t believe that she was going to train him.

“I tried to train this one a long time ago,” she said and motioned towards Mr. Stark, “he didn’t really take to it.”

Mr. Stark let out a laugh. “I can defend myself just fine,” he said, “in and out of the suit.”

“Well,” Natasha said, “how about we see what you can do, Peter.”

“Oh, uh, alright,” Peter said and swallowed.

Mr. Stark motioned for him to move forward and he could tell that Natasha was watching him. He heard Mr. Stark step back towards a few chairs that had been set up out of the way of the mats but turned when he heard Natasha come at him with a kick. He dodged her leg and moved to the side but she moved quickly and Peter found himself on the ground and when he jumped back to his feet he only just managed to catch her fist. He pulled her in and raised a knee to hit her on the abdomen but Natasha recovered quickly and in a move that happened in seconds she literally wrapped one of her legs around his shoulder and then brought him down to the ground and rolled away to her feet. Peter could just lay there.

“He’s better than you told me, Tones,” she said, “but there’s room for improvement.”

“That was so cool,” Peter said, “you have to show me that last move.”

Natasha laughed and she helped him up.

Tony had always been notorious for not sleeping every night so it didn’t surprise Natasha when she heard him in the kitchen arguing with Friday over his need for coffee. She had been back a little over a week and it was nice but different in a way that Natasha didn’t like. The compound felt too big and less like home. On the days when Peter Parker showed up things were better. Tony would drop anything to spend time with the kid and Natasha could watch them fondly because Peter was just sweet and enthusiastic and innocent in a way that Natasha hadn’t expected and he was also smart. Sometimes watching Tony and Peter together left her with the impression that she was watching a father and son because they were so similar and because they were so fond of each other.

“Sir, I must advice you against drinking more caffeine,” Friday was saying, “you have been awake for over thirty six hours.”

“That’s a lot even for you,” Natasha said and leaned against the kitchen island.

He threw his hands up in the air. “I’ve been dealing with a lot,” he said.

Natasha was well aware of how the week had gone. Peter had faced off against some jewel thieves and broken his arm in the process. Vision had shown up for about half a day with a new version of the Accords that Natasha could tell were already more favorable. He had also brought good news. The UN and the US government wanted to pardon Cap and the others, but they also wanted them to sign the new Accords and Natasha and Tony both knew it would be a long shot. Then, something had happened at SI that had finally been resolved earlier that day.

“The kid’s arm is already fixed. That healing factor of his could rival Steve’s. Vision and Rhodes are dealing with the amendments to the Accords. Pepper will take care of anything that comes up and the UN wanting to inspect this place doesn’t mean that you have to get it ready alone.”

Natasha watched him. His eyes were bloodshot and there were prominent bags under his eyes. As he tried to turn on the coffee machine his hands even shook.

“Tony please go to bed. Peter’s coming in the morning and I don’t think you want him seeing you like this.”

Tony let out a groan and he hung his head. “Fine,” he said.

Natasha followed him all the way to his bedroom.

“Although, it makes me question why you are up at this hour,” Tony said.

“I’m heading to DC today, remember? I’m signing the new Accords and getting reinstated.”

It was going to be a very public affair and Natasha knew that Steve wouldn’t like it, but someone needed to take the plunge and sign this new version and also fight for the provisions that needed to be made in order to get Steve, Clint, Sam, Wanda, and Scott back.

“It’s that day already,” Tony mumbled.

Natasha watched him until he had crawled into bed and then she closed his bedroom door and hoped that he actually did get more than just a couple of hours of sleep.

“Friday don’t let anything wake him for at least five hours.”

“Will do,” Friday said.

Natasha gathered the few things she was bringing with her and headed over to the hangar. The new quinjets courtesy of Tony and T’Challa were ready for use and Natasha was a bit excited about taking one out finally. Tony had really gone out of his way to update everything in the compound and it made Natasha feel like Tony either expected the old team to come back or was trying to form a new one.

Part Four

#spider-man fic #tony stark #peter parker #mcu #fanfic #tony is basically Peter's dad #mine

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jujubieberbae · 8 years ago

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MISSING YOU - PT 1

This imagine is super different to any imagine I’ve written. It’s inspired by an old movie that really had this idea going through my head. bet you can’t guess what the movie was.

Comment and Reblog if you know what movie this is inspired by.

There he was. As perfect and prideful as I remembered. As majestic as a horse could get. Hind legs positioned in a stance that radiated with a sense of dignity too great for me to forget.

He may be just a horse, but I grew up with this horse, and I remembered teaching it pride, riding around together with a self-confidence as high as the sun.

It had been years since I actually stood on front of him, so long, that i hadn’t even remembered who the beauty was until my father announced who it was. The little pest had nipped at my hair while I was caught off guard, causing me to whip around and release an incoherent string of profanities at him.

It wasn’t until my father spoke up, beginning with a laugh, and said - quote ‘Have you softened to the city that much to the point you don’t even remember your own horse?’

It was then that realisation dawned on me that the ‘pest’ from which had almost teared a lock of my hair from my scalp, was in fact Jigsaw, my childhood horse. He may not look like he did 3 years ago, but then again, neither did I. He was still the same ol’ Jig, just older.

From there it was a spiral of emotion. Jumping the short wooden gate to get to him was a breeze, and it was an instant reunion.

Hugs and affection was passed between the two while my dad announced that he would just meet me at mamaw’s, and let me have some alone time with my horse - try to prepare myself for the coming event’s. He knew sooner or later I was gonna run into Justin, and he knew how nervous I was to do it.

It had been 3 years since I left without a word. Things where going so well between us and I just know he hates me for disappearing like I did. I can’t face him. I’m not ready. And the saddest part is that I still love him.

The dirty tractor my father drove rumbled into the distance until all that was heard was the wind, the cicada’s and the occasional gruff from Jig. My hands ran through his beautiful fur, remembering the mixture of white and brown throughout his body.

That’s how I got the name Jigsaw - because he was a white horse with a variety of large caramel spots scattered around his fur. As a child, I thought he was incomplete. That maybe, I had to find the missing pieces to his fur, and put him back together. That It was all just one big Jigsaw puzzle I would complete along the way.

But of course that changed, not only because I grew older and realised that he was like that from genetics, but also because I moved, and almost completely forgot about him. My best friend.

“Hey Jig.” I whispered into his ear once I was settled comfortable onto his back. “It’s been a while ain't it?”

My hands grazed his mane, fingers gliding through the soft fur, he had obviously just been washed and brushed. Probably by mamaw. Once feeling comfortable in a spot, I gripped a hold of his hair tightly enough so that i would stay on, but loose enough that Jig was comfortable and not in pain.

“Lets see what you still got.” I mumbled, kicking my leg into his belly.

But it hadn’t occurred to me that maybe it had been a while since Jig had been rode as well as me not riding a horse. So without warning, Jig took off at a pace too fast for me to process, and I had been knocked right off his back into the meadows below, watching in worry as he continued accelerating.

I quickly scrambled to my feet, watching as Jig excelled into the distance. “JIGSAW!”

But it was no use, he was already running wild.

But as fast as Jigsaw had taken off, was as fast as everything happened. A sudden brush of wind swept past my body, brushing my hair around like crazy, the familiar trotting of a horse's hooves glowering in the air.

My eyes widened as I spotted a beautiful chocolate brown horse, accompanied with two slightly blurry figures on it’s back chasing after Jig. A lasso in the arms of one person who was balancing on the horse had relief flushing over me, especially when they started swinging the rope in the air.

Once the people were a fair proximity between Jig and there won horse, the lasso was tossed around Jig’s neck and yanked backwards, causing not only Jig, but the brown horse to slow to a stop.

I watched in awe as the scene in front of me played out. It all happened so fast, and before I knew it, Jig was standing in front of me, along with the brown horse and what seemed to be a man and a woman. The woman with her hands crossed over her chest looking at me, the man removing the lasso off Jigsaw’s neck with his back facing me.

“Uh-...Thank you for that.” I blushed in embarrassment at the thought of these two seeing how rusty my horse riding skills where, but still thankful for the help and kindness they had shown.

In that moment the boy swung around to face me, and my face dropped in amazement.

Wow. Is it even normal to be that handsome?

His eyes where so perfectly sculpted that you could honestly mistaken his hazel orbs for honey. his hair - a bright blonde, slicked clean over one side of his face and pair of rose shaped lips. He was a lot younger then I would of thought from a distance.

He sported a nice pair of overalls, slightly dirty and worn but nonetheless adorable. Only one side was buckled but underneath was a baggy white top to hide his probably perfectly sculpted chest - judging by his muscley and inked arms. And last but not least, a nice pair of timbs to complete the outfit, more then likely new from the little to no dirt present.

“Just doin’ our job ma’am.” He spoke in a slight country accent, but nothing too heavy. The wemon suddenly perked up, whipping a lock of wavy, luscious brunette hair over her shoulder. “But I’d like to know what you were doing touchin’ the horse. This is private property. We should call the police for trespassin’ and attempted theft.”

“Theft!?” My eyes widened.

“Yup.” The guy replied. “For trying to steal the horse.” The girl added as if I was dumb and hadn’t figured it out already.

I scoffed at the wemon, a smirk replacing my shaken expression. “You can’t steal something that already belongs to you.”

“Belongs to you?” The boy questioned, raising his eyebrows. A defined few lines of worry formed on his forehead from his lift in face, but it was almost in amusement. “This horse belongs to one person, and she don’t live here no more.”

“Yep, but she is visiting.” I smiled extending a hand. “Hi, I’m Y/N L/N, owner of ol’ Jigsaw here. You must be two of my mamaw’s farms men.”

The boy looked over at me in shock, eyes nearly bulging out of his there sockets. “Y/N?!”

“Yes?” I asked in confusion. “Do I know you?”

“Y/N I-It’s me! Justin? Justin Bieber.” The boy exclaimed.

Justin?! No! It can’t be...He looks - so...wow. Three years can really do a lot to a person, and boy did those years treat him well. Last time I saw him he had just cut his hair into a quiff, out of signature bowl cut. Little to no tattoo’s and a high pitched voice.

Now....His hair was blonde and wavy, many tattoo’s supported his arms and skin, and his voice...that was the best part. Deep and raspy.

“Justin?” I whispered. I hadn’t even realised my eyes had dosed over with tears, shocking me slightly.

I made quick to wipe the tears away before staring back at the boy in shock. He stood silent with an expression as if he was expecting me to say something, it almost looked hopeful in a way, but that expression quickly died once I cleared my throat and snapped out of my thoughts, stalking towards Jig once again.

“Uh...Thanks for roping Jig for me. Guess its been a while since I’ve ridden.” I chuckled nervously, settling myself back onto Jigs back, this time taking a slow and steady approach.

My eyes darted over to the girl standing beside Justin, she didn’t seem familiar, at least I didn’t think she did, but the death glare she was currently throwing me was definitely intimidating me enough to leave ASAP.

“Well I-uh...guess I’ll see you at my mamaw’s then.” And with that, I was riding away down the paddock of my grandmother’s farm, towards the farm house.

PART TWO TO COME

Requests are being written...

#justin bieber #justin bieber imagines #justin bieber imagine #justin bieber fake text #justin bieber smut #justin bieber fake texts #justin bieber au #justin bieber drabbles #justin bieber one shot #justin bieber drabble #justin bieber one shots #jason mccann #jason mccann imagines #mccann imagines #mccann smut #jason mccan smut

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drinkshaming-blog · 8 years ago

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>Gamzee: Transport eggs.

You illuminate the path ahead of you, unwavering in your light as you gingerly carry a large, padded basket full of eggs towards one of the incubation caverns. Your bare feet pad softly against the rocky ground, dark stone tinted a hundred colors from sweeps of blood and paint running through the crevices. As you walk, you sing to the basket under your breath.

Ahead, the entry you remember is gone, as well as several of the murals that were beside it. You stop and frown. Your memory isn’t that bad, is it?

“Gamzee!” calls a voice from down the tunnel. “Ataki’e!”

You look up and wave in greeting. “Ataki’la, kenna.”

A troll a few sweeps older than you, Datayn, approaches you, carrying an armful of failed eggs. She nods to the wall where the entry should be. “Eylna te hariek’a juni pate, ah, saulo tog’una fabrei ne’gi, tellai.” Her expression darkens momentarily. “Temai’e herum herei te taki’e kureti aue.”

Your eyebrows lift and you study the wall, or rather the unwieldy rubble that makes up the wall. It’s difficult to tell where there’s been a recent collapse because there are so many old collapses-- there’s an old saying that goes hariek’a hennei kala re’ue ni’a, or ‘every wall of the caverns is made of someone’s ruins’. Datayn says eight jades and forty eggs were lost to a collapse three nights ago. You turn your gaze back to Datayn with a soft smile. “Auwae. Malai, malai, kenna.”

She smiles back. “Malai, malai, tellai.”

“Reke’te aue hyeni’el keji keia unelli te orema?”

“Paela taei ke me’ei.”

“Fa’ele key te jyre’kl te haeme’ai saulo taki’e?”

“Ah, raenu keai ke’ea ne’a dayn, melliaku.”

“Ta, auwae. Kelli’a ieneta ue!” You carefully rotate one of the eggs in your basket.

“Ieneta ue,” she echoes, nodding towards the failed eggs in her arms. “Temai’ilee kaki morei, shereya, Gamzee.” She laughs at her own joke and allows you to adjust the rhododendron in her hair before she continues on her path and you alter yours, turning right at the next fork to make your way to another incubation cavern.

As you walk, you check your messages, scrolling through a couple notifications about various projects you’re collaborating on (and sighing softly at your conversations with Tavros and Karkat respectively) until you reach your conversation with your supervisor.

GAMZEE: no worries, motherfucker GAMZEE: youll get a chance to see these legs again sooner or later haha JAREED: |et’s aim for ‘sooner’. GAMZEE: sure thing :o) JAREED: you are hard at work, i assume? GAMZEE: be up and carrying some motherfucking eggs around right now actually JAREED: oh! are you, uh. |uminescent? GAMZEE: yeah haha i lights all up whenever shits dark GAMZEE: helps a brother get around easy JAREED: that’s pretty hot.

Your smile widens. Motherfuck, for all the respect he doesn’t have for you, this thing you’re doing with him feels pretty good.

GAMZEE: you think? JAREED: yeah, the who|e g|owing thing, as we|| as the makeup stuff you wear. JAREED: and you. you are beautifu|. GAMZEE: haha damn thanks GAMZEE: thats all some nice shit to hear from a motherfucker as you GAMZEE: which, here cant make no judgements cause i dont all talk to so many highbloods JAREED: you are the first jade i’ve spoken to as we||. GAMZEE: really? JAREED: yes. i have heard stories about friends of friends who have had… encounters with jades, of course, but it is difficu|t to discern how much of that is pure boasting. JAREED: i think most tro||s want to find out what it’s |ike. GAMZEE: wow GAMZEE: that mean a brother just got lucky or something? JAREED: yeah, i got to see you for myse|f. GAMZEE: all kinds of motherfucking good shit that be haha GAMZEE: this fucker getting to talk at ya such how, shades and looks and everything JAREED: nothing you say makes sense. it’s cute. GAMZEE: haha aight JAREED: it’s because you speak that backwards jade dia|ect, right? it’s very exotic.

Does he think you’re speaking in the mother tongue? Does he think that’s the mother tongue?

GAMZEE: sure GAMZEE: so this all you tryna make a story for ya friends friends to gossip at, if ya catch? JAREED: abso|utely. i want you.

Oh, man. This is obviously intensely objectifying, but fuck it’s nice to be wanted. Why don’t you fall in love with people who fetishize you like Jareed does, again? (Because you would and do choose real, all-consuming, unrequited love over someone fickle who actually wants you any night. Which is a miracle unto itself.)

GAMZEE: thanks :o) JAREED: i’|| try to find an excuse to visit the caverns soon. GAMZEE: oh aight JAREED: is the new diet for the mother grub working out? GAMZEE: yeah shit be going down right as rain yo

You hear singing and see flickering light ahead, and shut off your palmhusk, checking on the eggs instead of paying attention to the new message vibration. Before long, you find yourself cutting through an enormous cavern where rows of jades are hauling on lines and handling levers to move huge vats of genetic material (a job far too delicate for machines- one off-temper unit and the entire gene pool could be poisoned). You walk down one of the lines as they continue to sing, and stop beside one particular troll.

“Yo, Kerede,” you greet him.

The jagged scar on his face twists as he smiles up at you, continuing to haul in time with the song. “Hey, brother. How’s the night treating you?”

“Some fine shit, tellai. You?”

He shrugs as much as he can. “Got stuck hauling, but we having a good time here.” Something catches someone’s attention; they raise their hand and call for the others to stop. The motion pauses and several trolls hurry over to check out whatever’s wrong with the slurry. Kerede steps away from the line; you decaptchalogue a skein of water and hand it to him. “Thanks, man. You going to the festival this week, right?”

“Yeah, motherfucker just heard of all that,” you reply. “Gotta pay respects and shit. Been a while since the last big event, anyway.”

“True, shit’ll be nice.” Kerede carefully pours some water over the back of his neck. “Anyways, I’m near finished with the inseam on that hat for ya’ friend. Probably be done in a night or two, depending how busy I am. Having a nice time with it.” He finishes dousing himself in water and holds out his arms invitingly; you carefully hand your basket to him and stretch.

“Damn, aight. Thanks. Anything a motherfucker can do back at ya?” you ask.

He thinks about that for a moment. “Oh, I been working on some fancy dress for my palemate’s wriggling day in a few perigees here, could use some patterned silk for a shawl kinda thing.”

You nod. It isn’t repayment for his services, that isn’t how things work down here; it’s a way to keep busy, to keep creating, to help a brother. And this sounds like something you’d enjoy in your free time. “What size you thinking? Might need to find some help getting dyes and all.”

“Well-” A call goes up for workers to return to their places. “Shit.” He hands your basket and water skein back to you and repositions himself beside the line. “I’ll message you the details, okay?”

“Sounds good, brother.” You smile at him. “See you.”

He returns your smile and you’re on your way again as the singing starts back up.

Some time later, you see seashells dotting the walls of the tunnel, most broken into a few pieces by centuries of pressure at least. A few jades are carefully digging some of the shells out of the stone. They must be on break. You watch them gently scrape at the insides of the shells, presumably to make sure they’re the type that can be used to make a certain rich fuchsia pigment. One of the trolls calls to you and asks if you’d like some dye from these once it’s been treated. You say yes, definitely, and thank him-- without stopping; you’ve wasted some time already and you don’t want these eggs to cool down too much.

A few minutes later, you’re humming softly to yourself and the eggs when a smaller troll, barely younger than you, falls in step beside you. There’s something strange about the shape of her torso, not distinctly noticeable but undeniably there; she herself was killed in a collapse not too long ago. She’s holding a basket of eggs as well, you notice as she amiably joins in with the words to your song. “Cover your crystal eyes, and let your colors bleed and blend with mine... Making, uh-- motherfuck, forgot the lyrics.”

You laugh. “‘Sup, Ellane?”

“Thirsty as shit,” she replies frankly.

“Mm, I feel ya. Should check in with Ya’alei? Motherfucker might got something to spare,” you suggest. Ellane nods. “Mine best friend got me all fed couple nights ago,” you add, some pride in your tone.

She cocks her head. “Who?”

“Karkat.”

Her eyes widen, a grin playing across her face. “The cute cerulean who was here like last week? He is, so. Oh.”

You give another soft laugh, keeping an eye on your basket. “He’s the only cerulean you ever met, sister.”

“Yeah, but I’ve seen them in movies. He’s motherfucking cute. Have you ever met another cerulean, anyways?”

Shrug affably. “Nah, I ain’t. Got a good point.”

“Was he the one you went out with?” Her gaze traces the colorful shapes on the cavern walls as she moves past them.

“Yeah.” You smile at the memory.

“Sweet messiahs, that must have been so cool. How was that, anyways?”

“Some miracle shit. Brother took me to see some wildflowers and all, we sat around most the night. Hardly wanted to come back.” There’s probably some totally obvious note of disproportionate happiness in your voice.

She quirks an eyebrow. “So are you pale for him or what?”

“Yeah,” you reply simply. The two of you reach the entrance to the incubation cavern and head inside, navigating around clutches of eggs to find an open space. This area is tinged with the sulfurous smell of the hot air channeled up into this chamber from the boiling wells deep below. You step over one of the naturally occurring vents that line the wall of the cavern, feeling its intense heat on your legs-- it reminds you of the sweeps before the game, when you were the youngest troll in the caverns and your relatively diminutive size made you the perfect candidate to lower yourself down into the vents and locate blockages or problems. It reminds you of crawling for what felt like weeks through narrow winding tunnels, sometimes having to press your back and feet against the sides so you didn’t fall, of scraped shoulders and skinned knees and damp clothing, of a parched tongue that painfully juxtaposed the air so humid you thought you’d suffocate, of heat rashes and ambiguous chemical burns, of having to grope your way along the wall through total and inexhaustible darkness.

Motherfuck, you wish you had your bioluminescence then. Maybe you’ll go back down there sometime. You smile and continue to follow Ellane, breaking your trance with “Sorry, what’d you motherfucking say?”

“Does he know?” she repeats.

“Don’t think so,” you say as she sets her basket down and lays a thick cover out in a wide, shallow depression in the cavern floor. “Ain’t trying to make it known, but ain’t tryna hide it neither.”

“Are you gonna make a move?”

“Nope. Motherfucker ain’t any way, like, available for that feelings shit, nor interested in a brother. Just friend shit.” You set down your own basket and start transferring the eggs to the cover.

She examines one of her eggs and then sets it aside with a little sigh. “And you’re happy with that?”

“Sure thing.” You smile down at the eggs. “I love him, ya know, don’t need nothing back. Brother knows I’m there for him, that’s the best I motherfuckin’ need.” You know if he knew how you feel, he’d try to cut ties with you; you know it’s bound to happen sometime. But he’s here for now, and you’re happy with that, and the little pining lump in the center of your chest just reminds you how good you felt when he was yours. And that’s not a bad thing. You squint at the ceiling, trying to fit words together. “It’s, uh. You know, tou’na leiva, for a motherfucker, like takalou na’e hekemai? Reke ali’i jeya fe’all, gaiye pala he works shit out. It all... hennai ali’e ta, last time. Kinda, um, ehuwei te’a. Miracle shit.”

She gives a little nod. “Ah, I got you. Ca’ali te, brother.”

You adjust an egg in the clutch with a laugh. “Yeah, ca’ali te.” Ellane reaches over to you and wipes at what you assume is a spot of smudged paint near your jaw, starting to hum another song. You quickly check your messages again; before Kerede’s recent message about the shawl for his moirail is one from Tavros, which does hurt a little, as fresh wounds tend to do. You smile, at her in thanks and at yourself for being able to help Tavros out as well as you can.

The mineral deposits in the incubation cavern glimmer as you and Ellane make your way out, the light from your bodies reflecting against the crystals, and you take a moment to take in the huge murals that illuminate the walls nearly as much as your bioluminescence does. They bear lines of scripture, depict messiahs and cavern workers and flowering trees and moon cycles, scenes of violence and kindness.

The caverns are beautiful, you think for the hundred thousandth time over the course of your life, all decked out in centuries’ worth of paints and stardust stains in every color imaginable, all full of siblings in their own paints and flowers and stardust singing songs and performing ancient rites and lighting their paths with the radiance of their own bodies. Making inks and baskets and clothes purely for the love of making. No wildflowers could be this vibrant, you think. You work hard, all of you, scraped shoulders and blistered palms and crushed ribs, hands grasping blindly in the dark, purely for the sake of creating something good, and you have. Here, deep beneath the surface of Alternia, is the garden of the sun.

These caverns must have been a lifeless place before the Faith was born-- you can’t imagine how difficult it must have been for your people back when they were really slaves. And without the Faith, they still would be. Without the Faith, you can only imagine that these caverns, here beautiful, the garden of the sun, would be dark and empty.

You like to think that you’re like the caverns.

#prayers #longpost //#slavery //#death //#claustrophobia //#fetishization //#casteism //#more people being attracted to karkat //#blood //#ask to tag //

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itsclydebitches · 8 years ago

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Summary:

Just days after Balem returned to his adult self, Jupiter is thrown head-first into another adventure - one she, frankly, really doesn't have the energy for. But when has the universe ever taken her desires into account? Mysteries, promises, and desperate moves forward; bees, splices, and awkward family dinners. It's enough to make even her seasoned head spin.

...which doesn't even include the chance to play at 'Mother' once more. Only question is: will Jupiter take it?

(DIRECT SEQUEL TO "ROCK THE CRADLE")

Fandom: Jupiter Ascending

Words: 9,779 so far

Warnings: Will eventually mention previous neglect/abuse of children

Pairings: Jupiter/Caine

Where to Read it: Below the cut or on AO3 (AO3 recommended for formatting)

Chapter Six

“This went from ‘kind of cool’ to ‘seriously annoying’... oh, twenty minutes ago?”

Jupiter irritatingly swatted at another cloud of bees (careful not to actually hurt them) as they made a desperate dive to try and burrow into her hair. Another batch was settling in all the crooks of her body (collarbone, beneath her chin, in the hollow of the backs of her knees), while still others seemed to seek actual skin contact, bypassing her already covered arms and legs to flit up beneath her shirt. Jupiter grit her teeth at the feeling of foreign bodies crawling everything, stupidly glad that her skinny jeans didn’t allow them to burrow anywhere else.

“Enough of you,” Caine growled, mimicking her swat with a lot less patience. Jupiter caught his hand and brought it into her lap instead.

“It’s fine,” and no sooner had she sighed it than the bees were back, landing wherever they could and taking whatever she was willing to give. Jupiter wondered if she looked somehow regal like this—or if she was just a cheap monster out of some low-budget horror flick.

Kiza’s expression suggested the latter. Her phone click-click-clicked as it took a million, horrible photos. No way was she buying her a better phone. This girl did not need more storage space.

Jupiter thought about pointing out the obvious though, that there was no photo album to fill anymore. Or there was, but it was gone, and she doubted Balem wanted her to send updates. The mere thought of him painstakingly adding pages to the back of the book and gluing in new photos was so ridiculous it had Jupiter releasing a slightly hysterical laugh.

Kiza slowly lowered her phone. “You okay?”

“Not really.”

“Yeah. Yeah I feel that.”

The whole party was largely off kilter and a massive swarm of bees invading the living room was only part of the problem. Jupiter was high-strung of course, and Caine had a tendency to follow her in all things, even emotions. Same with Kiza and Stinger now that she thought about it, some hereditary loyalty rising to the surface as they honed in on their queen, and okay, shit, was everyone in a bad mood just because she was?

Three pairs of eyes stared at her intently. Huh. Maybe “I feel that” was less a common phrase and more a literal expression of truth. Jupiter mustered up a smile.

“Whoooo’s gonna explain what’s going oooon?” she sang.

Stinger sighed, throwing up his hands. He obviously needed to do something with them though, and without a weapon to point at a concrete enemy he just ended up fiddling with everything in reach: the throw draped across the couch Jupiter sat on, the edge of his shirt, a pencil he’d stuck haphazardly behind his ear. In the end Stinger settled on pouring her another cup of coffee even though Jupiter had barely touched the first.

That done he spread his arms. Whole strings of bees followed the movement.

“You’re more equipped to answer that than I am, Your Majesty. You say you were visited by a fox splice?”

Caine nodded. “One sent by Kalique. You think there’s a connection?”

Kiza snorted. “Between her suddenly changing the game and an attack on our house? Absolutely. Though what the hell would she want with our honey?”

“Nothing,” but Stinger’s hands made fists just thinking about it. “She has the resources to pull off a theft like that of course, she could hire any group she’d like, but why the hell would she want to? There’s no commercial value to it—at least not compared to her own vast wealth—and as for personal reasons...” he trailed off, shaking his head. “It makes no sense.”

Jupiter scoffed. “When has anything involving Kalique ever made sense?”

“The fact that she’s actually the most logical and methodical of the three is kinda sad. And by ‘sad’ I mean hilarious.” Kiza dodged Jupiter’s whack to the head.

“You didn’t hear anything?” she pressed. “Earlier?”

“Nope. Slept in, did my chores, went to do more chores outside—” Kiza sent a nasty glare her dad’s way. Stinger challenged it stiffly—”finally got to the hives out back, called you, and discovered... that.” ‘That’ was clearly the missing honey, though Kiza made the absence sound like a foul addition instead. Like an enemy. Or no, something that grew. A cancer.

Jupiter felt Caine shifting on the couch beside her. She gave his hand another squeeze and was relieved to feel him doing the same.

“We’ll figure it out,” she said. “I promise. And not to make light of that situation, but...can we focus on one emergency at a time?”

“Dinner,” Caine said solemnly.

“Politics,” Stinger countered.

“Food,” Kiza finished. “Wasted. Which I am very happy to eat for you anyway.”

“You’re welcome to the steaks,” Jupiter sighed, like she didn’t already know that Kiza had squirreled them away for a late night snack sometime. The girl’s appetite was easily the most alien thing about her. “You’ll all come then?”

Stinger’s hand settled on her shoulder. “Don’t be foolish, Your Majesty. Where you go, we follow.”

She actually wanted to say something appropriately thankful in response, but the movement was—once again—ruined by a flash from Kiza and an exaggerated “Awww.” She raised her phone in the air as Jupiter rubbed at her eyes.

“I like this one,” Kiza announced.

“Good for you,” Stinger said. “Caine. With me. I won’t be going into another Entitled’s lair blind. Not again. Kiza? Entertain your Queen.”

“Sir, yes sir,” she said and as the two boys went off to discuss super cool space weaponry she threw herself onto the couch beside Jupiter. A massive cloud of bees rose up like a wave.

Jupiter carefully extracted a bee that had gotten caught in the belt loop of her jeans. “Can you make them go away?”

“I’ve tried.” Kiza actually sounded apologetic about it. “They’re really... just...” she blew out a slow breath. “They need this right now.”

“...and so do you,” Jupiter said, realizing the words were true as soon as she’d said them. Kiza was pressed shoulder-to-shoulder with Jupiter, much like how the bees themselves were seeking her touch. If Jupiter focused, she could feel the lightest tremble running through Kiza’s body. She lifted an arm and settled it around Kiza’s back. The younger girl nestled there, vulnerable.

“It probably seems stupid to you,” she muttered, face now pressed into the fabric of Jupiter’s shirt. “Just honey, yeah? Got plenty of that. And sure, sure the bees themselves are fine, which is the important thing, but... it’s an invasion, you know? Someone was here. In our home. They took something that didn’t belong to them!” Kiza was trembling harder now and it had little to do with disquiet. “Ugh. I sound like dad. I know he’s super mad too, even if he’s better at controlling it. I’m a second generation splice. I love our bees, alright? But even I’m not connected to the spirit like he is.”

Jupiter’s fingers had found their way into Kiza’s hair. She paused there before resuming her slow, soothing movements. “Spirit?”

Kiza hummed. “It’s not really a religion, like you have here on Earth. You gotta remember its all tied up in our biology too. It’s more that we understand all the layers.”

“Like onions,” Jupiter intoned and was relieved when Kiza shoved her lightly.

“Don’t quote Shrek at me. But yes, layers. Or—or connections. Like how one bee isn’t just a bee. They’re part of a hive, an ecosystem; they’re connected to you and to me. It’s the same with honey. It’s not just a food source, it’s something they made. It’s exploration and life and they always create more than they need so we can have some too and—” Kiza drew in a massive breath. “It’s just important, okay?”

“Okay,” Jupiter agreed. She sometimes forgot just how young Kiza was, not only compared to her but their group at large, everyone either in a genetically enhanced middle age or outright ancient. Kiza was the little sister Jupiter had never, but who she was thrilled to have now that she was here.

She also felt a little like a daughter.

Jupiter twisted her earring.

“Good talk,” she said, because Jupiter was nothing if not awkward when it came to heart-to-hearts. There was a little part of her mind that whispered, ‘I love dogs’ and she firmly stuffed it into the deepest, darkest pit she could conjure up. “So… whatcha got there?”

Still curled against Jupiter, Kiza had her phone out again, though for once it wasn’t pointing and clicking. It looked like she was online, though what website needed such a violently blue background, Jupiter didn’t know. She shooed a bunch of bees out of the way to get a better view. Kiza helped by tilting the screen.

“Tumblr,” she said, like that explained anything at all.

“Tumbling?”

“Tumblr. Don’t you ever waste your life online?”

Jupiter considered. “Yes, but you’re talking to the girl who grew up in a poor, super large family that always monopolized the one desktop. Also, excuse you, but I’ve been busy. Saving the world? Or did you forget?”

To Jupiter’s horror, an unexpectedly evil grin stretched across Kiza’s face. “Oh, I didn’t forget, Your Majesty. I documented it.”

“You—wait what?”

Over the next mind-boggling ten minutes Jupiter got a crash course in current social media, complete with the distinction between those parts of the website that humans had access too, and the sprawling, galaxy-wide network that catered to everyone else. Scrolling through pictures, news articles, and GIFs of funny cats was one thing, finding out that Kiza had been blogging about Queen Jupiter on the equivalent of Space Facebook was something else.

“You’ve made me kind of famous,” Kiza said, sounding infuriatingly smug about it. “My follower count skyrocketed when I started posting these pics. I mean sure, we get the stupid anon or two, but pretty much everyone else is supportive. They want to know you, Your Majesty. It’s the classic rags to riches story, plus you’re the first Entitled in, what? Ever, who isn’t a dick? You should totally start your own blog. Provided I help, of course.”

“Oh my god,” Jupiter whispered. Her finger felt numb as she scrolled through an endless stream of stories, questions, and, yes, pictures of her. Most of them were candid, shot when Jupiter had been otherwise engaged. There was one of her upside down on her bed upstairs, a half-piece of toast dangling from her mouth. She couldn’t even remember when she’d done that, let alone how Kiza could have gotten a pic without her noticing. The ones of her and Caine were particularly popular, at least according to the number of ‘notes’ each one had. Jupiter was torn between flattered and mortally embarrassed.

She scrolled down further and found a picture of her holding Balem. Jupiter snapped her hand back.

“You’d be good at it too,” Kiza was saying, oblivious. “You’re pretty, famous, and rich, the trifecta for getting a good following. Plus half of what you say is basically shit-posting, so.”

“Kiza—”

“I can—”

Whoom.

Too late for talk: at that moment a massive crash sounded from somewhere outside; too short to be an earthquake, not quite large enough for an explosion. Still, it knocked Kiza back into Jupiter’s shoulder, the both of them slipping halfway off the couch and their cloud of bees scattering with worry. The two filled coffee cups splattered onto the carpet. The throw fell down across their backs. Jupiter ended up jarring her hip and watched as Caine and Stinger store sideways into the room.

What now? was her first and completely justified thought.

Jupiter pushed up quickly, righting the boys in her vision. They looked ready to take on a whole army together. Which tended to happen when you carried whole armloads of weapons into the room.

“What the fuck?” Stinger growled. He’d already hefted something large and glowing blue over his shoulder, marching towards the door. Caine stopped only long enough to pull Jupiter to her feet.

“My thoughts exactly,” she grimaced.

“You’re okay?”

“Fine, fine. Do we know what—?”

Whoom! Again, but closer and with a bit more... solidity. This time Jupiter felt the foundations of the house shake.

“Oh, but it’s never boring with you, Your Majesty,” Kiza breathed. Jupiter watched with a mixture of disbelief and respect as she began composing a new post.

“We’re talking about this later,” she said and grabbed them both by the arm.

Careful of what they might find, Jupiter, Caine, and Kiza followed Stinger out of the house.

#JA #Jupiter Ascending #Rock the Cradle #When the Bough Breaks #JAfic #its been a productive fic day!

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sleepymarmot · 8 years ago

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DS9 season 3 liveblog & notes

[Season index: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 PS]

The Search 1

Um... so what about that treaty about no cloaking on Federation starships, that was such a big deal in The Pegasus?

What's going on with Jadzia's hair...

"We're going to take our only warship into the territory of people who think of us as intruders to convince them we represent no threat" Logic???? What kind of plan is this?

Loaned? Ah, ok.

"When did I start thinking of this Cardassian monstrosity as home?"

If this is "one of the finest collections of ancient African art you'll ever see", what is it doing in their luggage instead of a museum? This is almost as bad as Picard and that priceless artifact in The Chase...

"Maybe it is. Maybe I'm your friend, and maybe I want you to see that you are still needed here no matter what some idiot Starfleet admiral might think." ;_;

Why dim the lights when you cloak? Just to give a visual shorthand to the viewers?

Wow Odo... I don't understand why everyone is so hard on Quark in this episode -- Sisko bullies him, Bashir insults him for no reason, now Odo is yelling at him with more aggression than he's ever shown in two seasons...

Seriously?! Cloaked ships leave a trace, and nobody in all decades of conflict ever noticed that?! I mean, even if somehow only the Romulans know, that means they can detect cloaked Klingon ships, which would mean they could as well have been uncloaked -- that'd be a massive retcon that doesn't work with anything we've seen before.

I still don't understand how replicators can produce foul tasting food... They make exact copies on a molecular level...

Poor Bashir -- it's as if Sisko picked his best friends to leave behind on purpose...

another literal redshirt dead

Class M planet with no star? What?

Why do these changelings all look like Odo -- imperfect imitations of humanoids? I thought Odo's appearance was the result of trying to fit in Bajoran society + lack of skill to make face more detailed. These changelings live by themselves so they can pick any shape they like, and I'd expect them to have more control over details, so just repeating Odo's design looks like a lazy shorthand to indicate they're the same species -- as if their liquid state weren't enough. They even have the same hairstyle -- which he copied from a Bajoran! If the writers are trying to say "they're just copying Odo" then they should all be played by the same actor.

The Search 2

Oh come on, Kira, there's absolutely nothing wrong with having a lot of questions in this situation!!!

Me: well this story is pretty bad so far, I don't have any expectations for it anymore Screen: Andrew Robinson as Garak Me: interest instantly restored

(I'm certain every person liveblogging this show made or reblogged a post in this vein...)

Alright, Sisko's plotline is definitely some kind of hallucination

Or is it? I thought it was all too good to be true, but maybe the Dominion is just tricking them

Wait, that subcommander is alive and on DS9?

Okay, I didn't like that "Starfleet security officer" and now he's more suspicious. Maybe he's a part of the Dominion. Maybe the changelings are a part of the Dominion. Maybe all these people acting strangely are changelings in disguise. Maybe everything is a conspiracy. I dunno, this entire episode feels incredibly fake.

"It seems our leaders have simply gone insane" Garak stop reinforcing my impression that you and Sisko are somehow the only real people in this story... Well Dax and Bashir also seem to be alright, but they're a bit too passive.

Oh, Garak didn't look behind himself and got shot, guess he's not real either

FUCKING FINALLY

This is so unsurprising that I can't tell if the writing is to obvious or if I've seen this spoiler before and half-forgot. Probably both.

And they just let them all go. Sure. I wonder how they managed to gain so much power, if they're prone to dumb decisions like this..

What a shitty story. Jfc. The only amusing part was that according to the main characters, the Starfleet admirals are stupid and untrustworthy (what a surprise...), and Garak is smart enough to not only take action when needed, but seem to almost realize the world around him is wrong (but he still somehow fails a spot check in a firefight...). Bashir clearly wants him to join the team and run around having adventures (not a surprise either...). It's funny that the character who comes closest to becoming self-aware is actually one of the simulated ones.

The fakeness of the plot is obvious enough to make me unable to take it seriously, but not clear or fun enough to just relax and enjoy the ride. I don't hate simulations on principle, but I need them to be good simulations. The Federation is too stupid -- it might have worked with some new admiral, since they're often assholes, but we know Nechayev and she was obviously OOC. The editing is pretty telling: there are weird timeskips (worst offender: Sisko gets into a fight and then without a change of pace others come to break him out from the brig), plus I don't think there were establishing outside shots of DS9. And anyway, the very first scene with Sisko where he's in a shuttle even though at the end of the previous episode he was about to be captured, and then Dax and O'Brien show up and we've never seen them escape is a dead giveaway that everything about this group of characters from here on is somehow wrong. And that's 8 minutes into the episode. I thought "Well, maybe it's an editing experiment, and it'll be a how-we-got-here flashback episode" but nope. What a waste of time.

Lmao I just read this in a comment to a review of this episode: "When I first saw the The Search, Pt II I found it unusual that Bashir is in a shuttlecraft with someone and for the first time manages not to annoy his travelling companion. And then the ending reveals why – it was all a dream!" That's right! I actually thought that too! :D

I can say one good thing about this episode: Odo's love of order has always had dark undertones, and I like that it's explored and discussed here as a racial trait which made his brethren into a galactic evil force.

But otherwise I'm not very impressed with his storyline? In the first part his anger and compulsive homing instinct look offputting instead of sympathetic. At one point he makes an expression that is probably supposed to be soft and makes the viewers go "aww", but ends up just looking forced and creepy. And the tender moment with Kira at the end just didn't work for me.

The House of Quark

OUCH

I was pretty scared for Quark, since he's not a big fan of violence, nice to see he's taking this so well

A new pretty outfit for Quark! A beautiful Klingon woman!

Another beautiful Klingon with a great grey mane. Yes, my commentary is very deep today.

I just continue to be amazed by Quark's luck with the ladies. Cultural exchange with a Vulcan in the previous season, now with a Klingon.

Aw, O'Brien actually wants Bashir's opinion now. And Bashir gives good relationship advice to a married man -- compare to their conversation in Armageddon Game!

Doesn't this solve their problem? If Kozak died dishonorably, that means D'Ghor gets nothing. Which is what should have happened in the first place. So now that D'Ghor challenged Quark, Quark's inability to fight will be shown to everybody (as if it weren't obvious enough...), so D'Ghor's lie will be exposed. And then he'd not only have no right of ineritance, but presumably also become a criminal for lying to the coucil.

Quark is awesome

What a good episode. Quark acts cool and noble! Klingon vs Ferengi value clash & working together! A-story and B-story work together well because despite no direct connection, they're both uplifting and thematically linked!

Equilibrium

Oh, of course when Jadzia gets screentime, it's for her to act OOC

Aw, a J&J friendship scene

Time for the annual comment on how much Bashir grew up! I've already talked about his scene in the previous episode, and now there's this lovely, purely platonic scene with Jadzia

How can these Federation weirdos sleep without blankets?

This was okay. But can we have a Jadzia episode not about her almost dying? So far this season is disappointing -- only one good episode out of four.

Second Skin

O k a y. You got me, I really didn't expect this

This is the kind of episode I watch this show for

How do you disguise someone as a member of species for years? I can understand cosmetic surgery like in Face of the Enemy, but to change their entire body so it would show as target species during any medical examination... This concerns the episode Tribunal, too. How are agents so deep undercover supposed to work? She spent all these years helping the Resistance. How does that benefit Cardassia? 10 years ago they wouldn't have known the Federation would become involved and their sleeper agent would work with them

Niiiiice

"Just something I overheard while I was hemming someone's trousers" lmao his excuses are getting more and more ridiculous

Cardassian!Kira *is* more attractive than the real Kira

the real Garak demonstrates how much his reflexes are quicker than his simulation's :D

Honestly, by this point I'm just curious for how many seasons can the writers stretch the mystery surrounding Garak. :D They're having too much fun giving out pieces of the puzzle one by one.

The Abandoned

This beautiful woman with a really impressive chest is Jake's gf? Wow!

Why are they just taking away the wreckage instead of buying it from Quark?

Sisko holding the baby and Jadzia and Julian watching him with smiles on their faces :'))

oh my god Odo used his old bucked as a cache-pot for Kira's plant... :O

wait, weren't the Jem'Hadar much more reptilian?

"It's amazing how some people would judge you based on nothing more than your job" haha

If this boy has so much aggression, why is it only expressed as need for physical combat, and not angry verbal outbursts etc? Another genetically engineered quality -- he needs to be a brutal soldier that doesn't talk back?

I find it curious that this episode answers the question "Is it okay for a 20 year old to date a 16 year old?" with such a definite yes. That's pretty questionable territory, and it's unclear why exactly Sisko changed his mind: his opinion about the girl's job or Jake's interests doesn't negate the age difference.

I like that the show takes Odo's backstory as a lab specimen so seriously. I used to expect exploration of this theme with Data, since he must have spent a lot of time in some Federation research centers before entering the Academy.

Civil Defense

Garak AND Dukat? I like this episode already.

Why are they not asking Garak for help? I know they'd prefer other options, but is kind of an emergency! I know they'll have to, eventually, since he's in the opening titles.

"I never knew how much this man's voice annoyed me" :D I'd actually be curious to hear the announcement in full, personally!

This is such a good excuse for a Disaster-like episode?? Perfect synergy between the setting and the needs of the plot

haha of course Odo and Quark are trapped together

"The only place in the galaxy that still recognizes my access code is a Bajoran space station" So what about that code in Second Skin?

bwahaha it just gets worse and worse

I think this is a good episode to show new viewers who want a taste of the show before starting to watch it properly from the beginning: it gives a good idea of the setting and involves all major characters to some degree, but so far it has very few continuity references

"What? That you'd spend your final hours in jail?"

"Tell me, Doctor, what is it exactly about this situation that's making you smile?" "You, Garak." oh my god...

holy shit this station is something else...

Dukat shows up in person! It's strange they didn't even discuss the possibility of calling him earlier. Of course, he immediately turned this into a hostage situation, so...

Oh my god he's making himself tea in the middle of this... amazing

"If you had been on the station when I designed this programme, I would have made an exception in your case."

HAHAHAHAHA

When Odo and Quark walk out, why are so many people just chilling on the Promenade?! They were about to die seconds ago!

What a beautiful episode :D Probably not as suited for beginners as I initially thought, thanks to Garak&Dukat. But I really appreciate the dark comedy side of it

Meridian

I think I've seen this episode in TNG... maybe multiple times... Jadzia is even worse suited for this role than Deanna.

welp this was really bad on literally every possible level. i could complain for a long time but i'd rather save my breath

the only good thing about this episode: it's so irrelevant you can easily skip it.

Defiant

I think she needs sleep, not a night out in the bar

THAT VOICE

I think I'm spoiled about this one...

Second Chances did such a good job not villainizing Tom and then this episode comes and ruins it

ah yes tell all your military secrets to the Cardassians, including cloaked ship detection...

why the random kiss

aaand Riker spends possibly the rest of his life in a Cardassian camp? great. just great. why did someone hate him so much they deemed this necessary? they managed to make me so salty about this I didn't even care about the Cardassian stuff, that's an achievement. Will gets to continue his career and marry his imzadi while Tom, who already spent 8 years marooned alone and didn't even get a promotion afterwards, now rots in prison forever. "You always had the better hand," indeed.

it's hilarious how quickly Dukat can make Sisko sympathise with him just by mentioning fatherhood. worked even better than the last time. if he got half a brain he's doing it on purpose.

I hope Riker at least got to spend some time with Ro while they were both in the Maquis. now that's something I'd like to see

Fascination

"I'm a poor substitute for your wife" "I could have told you that 60 games ago"

do we really need the Odo/Kira/Bareil love triangle?

"I usually make it a point to drop by Quark's three or four times a day at random intervals, just to let him know that I'm thinking about him"

"Jadzia, of course. I've never understood how the two of you could be such good friends. [...] It's just that she gets to spend so much more time with you than I do." "Jadzia and I have been doing this for the past two years." ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

oh O'Briens, pls don't fight over nothing :(

so where is Bashir during all this? because I'm pretty sure he and Garak are not immune to this romance confusion nonsense, and that sounds like a much more intriguing story than what I'm watching

ah, he's with Kira, well at least this one's mutual and not sexual harassment

I understand Odo, but why is Sisko unaffected too?

A question that concerns not only to this episode: why is Kira always the object of everyone's attraction? She's dating Bareil (which I completely forgot about; when she mentioned having a boyfriend in the previous episode I was very confused), Odo has a crush on her, in this episode Jake and Bashir do too, an episode before Riker kisses her, an episode before some creep wants a blow-up doll of her, an episode before Dukat leers at her...

Well... I guess this was less gross than The Naked Now.

Past Tense

I like how Dax adjusts to this time period instantly. was she already born by then?

"Some of these people are mentally ill." *braces myself for some horrible comment* "...They need proper medical treatment." oh thank god

Jadzia looks absolutely gorgeous

surely it's not a coincidence that the only white character among the time-travellers ends up with a millionaire, while the others are locked up in the sanctuary

Sisko and Bashir's discussions are very heavy handed, it's like watching some old moralizing play

I like how Jadzia retrieved her combadge by telling the truth

there was nothing particularly wrong with this story, and it was well-made, but for some reason it didn’t really impress me

Life Support

so. Winn was behind the sabotage, right?

this is like "Ethics" in reverse

haha they want Terok Nor back

"She talks a lot for a female" Nog you used to be better than that...

"Listen to me. I don't care about your negotiations, and I don't care about your treaty. All I care about is my patient, and at the moment he needs more medical care and less politics. Now, you can either leave here willingly or I'll call security and have you thrown out."

now it's more like "The Host". (I can't stop comparing everything to TNG haha)

don't try to make this into a "grey morality" situation. Nog is objectively in the wrong here, the human culture is objectively better than the Ferengi culture in this respect. TNG intentionally wrote Ferengi values to be abhorrent, and DS9 didn't change them but somehow tries to justify them and it just. doesn't. work. Just admit you wrote yourself into a corner, and either retcon the Ferengi to be more tolerable, or set aside your "all cultures are valid" agenda for a minute and admit some things are just bad. this glorification of moral relativism is DS9's version of TNG's worst misapplications of the Prime Directive

wow, are they actually going to kill him off?

"Positronic implants"?! Um. UM. They have working positronic brain now? Since when? Last time I heard, nobody managed to make stable ones since Dr. Soong... Or are implants easier to make than a full brain? Anyway, the possibility of a mixed organic-positronic brain has never even been discussed before, this is kind of a big deal. Dammit, just putting some human skin on Data was something only the Borg managed to do! This sounds 1000 times more complex!

"Major" ah, so that's how they break up, he’s incapable of romance now

ahh, his voice, head movemens and facial expressions are just like Data's

uggh the Jake-Nog storyline went as I expected

wow I didn't expect the treaty to actually get signed!

"I won't remove the last shred of humanity Bareil has left" rude... and that's from the man who befriended Data... I'm disappointed

oh btw if he just casually talks about the possibility of fully replacing Bareil's brain, that means it is possible to create stable positronic brains at will now! this is enormous! Data doesn’t have to be the only one of his kind anymore! Lal can be rebuilt! oh wait, let me guess, this will never be addressed again ever.

Welp. You know, right before I started this episode, I was mentally complaining about Bareil, like "kill him off already". Whoops! I feel bad now. This episode didn't go as I expected, and was more important than I expected too, which is good.

Jake and Nog's storyline and the positronic stuff -- less good. Honestly, the more I think about these two points, the angrier I become and the less I like this episode.

I thought that A and B plots were annoyingly unrelated, but actually... I think they share the theme of "peace above all", on a very different scale. Because the Bajoran-Cardassian treaty doesn't sound very fair to me either. "There's even the possibility that the Cardassians will issue a formal apology"?! Is that really enough? "Even the possibility"? Meanwhile, people like Dukat not only walk free but remain at their high posts. Cardassia|Nog was the offending side, Bajor|Jake did nothing wrong, and yet rather than declare that and demand justice and apologies, the latter can only hope to achive mutual tolerance -- even that is hard enough. Well, let's just hope the show isn't going to try and justify the occupation, like it did with Nog's misogyny...

btw, since we're talking about international politics and status quo: what about the Dominion threat? everyone was really scared for a couple of episodes, and then things went back to normal. we went to the Gamma Quadrant once for no reason (nothing about the plot required that!). the Defiant, a unique warship sent here for defend DS9 and the wormhole against Dominion attacks, is regularly used as a shuttle/runabout for random trips. way to disperse all sense of danger, change and excitement.

I certainly like Bashir in this episode more than I liked Crusher in Ethics (or in The Host, lol). He can get pretty intense when it comes to saving his patient's life. Not "fly to Cardassia to face a former head of secret service" intense, but still.

It's nice to see Winn humanized a bit. The writers have spent a lot of time making Dukat likeable, she deserves the same treatment. I'm so used to mistrusting her, I spent the entire episode being confused whether she actually wants the treaty to succeed or is plotting to make it fail for some reason, whether she wants Bareil alive or dead. But I guess I was supposed to take everything she was saying at face value for once?

I don't know what the hell is this season doing with these Ferengi B-plots that, I guess, are supposed to be humorous (???) but are wildly offensive instead. Are we supposed to just calmly accept Quark and Nog's extreme misogyny? It was played for drama pretty well in Rules of Acquisition; this is a noticeable step back.

Heart of Stone

I love Sisko and Bashir's casual conversation about a male ensign's pregnancy! Sure, he's an alien, but it's still progress for this show.

Odo and Kira's storyline is so cliched... I don't even make an effort to listen to their technobabble

As viewers we all know Kira will be saved somehow at the last minute, but in her and Odo's place I'd already start discussing a mercy kill. Phaser blast from a friend >>> asphyxiation

"I'm in love with you too" ???????????????????? YOUR BOYFRIEND LITERALLY DIED IN THE PREVIOUS EPISODE

Sisko, he's just a kid. I know you're testing him, but there's no need to go that far.

Okay, I'm going to sound like a broken record, but: what about misogyny? The previous episode made a point of showing that Nog upholds Ferengi values regarding women. And that's completely incompatible with Starfleet. Isn't anyone going to mention that?

heh... there was a thought at the back of my mind that a changeling might be involved

aww, good, stand up to Quark, you two! :)

Well, most of this episode is very boring, contrived and derivative, but it does give Odo some character development (even if it includes the dreaded romance, ugh) and has a good excuse for this plot device at the end.

Destiny

"I also had Chief O'Brien reprogram the replicators to provide Cardassian food" Um, why wouldn't it already be on the menu? I assumed the replicators weren't replaced by Federation ones, and in season 2 Keiko gave a Cardassian dish to Rugal. I went back to check, and she literally said "I found some Cardassian recipes in the memory bank of our food replicator"!

It makes sense that the Bajorans don't want the Cardassians in their Temple

let me guess, there'll be an unexpected third Cardassian and suddenly the prophecy will sound much more believable

"Now those are about the two friendliest vipers I've ever met" Hey, maybe don't make jokes like this immediately after someone walks out of the door...

Told you so

Damn, the third "viper" seems to actually deserve that name! Will she be the "bad" one, or, in subversion, the only trustworthy one?

"Men just don't seem to have a head for this sort of thing. That's why women dominate the sciences." ah yes hello reverse sexism trope

Cardassians flirt by bickering? Never heard that before... I thought this was more like Klingons.

Okay, they played it straight with Dejar

That's lovely! But "vipers will return to their nest in the sky" doesn't make sense -- how did the comet fragments return to their nest?

The Prophets don't "want" anything! They just can tell you the future because they don't exist in linear time!

Well, this was a lovely episode, if not the most engaging. But the subplot with O'Brien and the scientist was completely unnecessary.

Prophet Motive

Was! This! Necessary?! I don't need to see sex on screen! And yes that includes oo-mox!

Aw Bashir

I can't believe we're getting a story where Bashir is the one who suffers because his friends won't shut up. Karma is real...

nice job breaking it, Quark

The story is pretty shallow by itself, but makes me ask some interesting questions. Would it be ok to nonconsensually transform a bad person into a good one? Especially a person in a position of power? I know I'd be tempted to do this to some politicians... But even if we assume the ends justify the means, who would define good or bad? Sadly, this episode doesn't take these issues seriously.

After 2.5 season of Bajoran religion, it's actually nice to meet the "Prophets" in person again in all their creepy, clueless glory.

Visionary

Time to torture poor Miles with more unreality!

why are both sides being so dumb? just say "Odo was separated from the rest of his people as a baby, grew up with no knowledge of them, and only met them 1.5 times"?

"I'm always diplomatic" *cut* "THAT WAS THE MOST RIDICULOUS THING I'VE EVER HEARD AND I RESENT THE IMPLICATION!"

my first thought: the transporter genuis who beamed in the device was O'Brien

this one doesn't make sense... the sleeping Miles should know about the disaster and the radiation device too...

As usual with time travel episodes, it's very fun to watch, but the mechanics break down at the end and spoil the impression. I like that, as in Civil Defense, every time you solve a problem it gets worse.

It's only season 3, and "O'Brien suffers" as a type of episode is already getting old.

Distant Voices

There's a Cardassian writer named Shoggoth? :D

"Still the man of mystery?" "Oh, you wouldn't have me any other way"

Melting Odo is a genuinely disturbing sight...

"There's hope for you yet, Doctor"

Very predictable story, but it has some character development and lovely scenes with Garak.

Through the Looking Glass

when Mirror!Garak looks in indignation at Sisko kissing Kira: honestly same

Mirror universe Terok Nor is less riot-proof than our universe's was...

Episode: boring and pointless as I feared

Mirror Kira: somehow even worse than the last time, at least watching her hit on herself was mildly entertaining

Mirror Garak: still a giant waste of Andrew Robinson -- seriously, he appears rarely enough, and for the third time in this season he's not playing his real character

Sleeping with alternate versions of friends/subordinates: incredibly gross

Well at least Bashir and Dax looked really hot with these haircuts lol

Improbable Cause / The Die is Cast

Ahh, so many of my favourite things. Odo investigates! Garak confronts his past and justifies his reputation for once! International conflict! Dominion is dangerous again!

The cliffhanger where Garak joins Tain is the most thrilling thing that happened on the show recently! But I'd be severely disappointed if he didn't do that.

The torture scene is very impressive, but there are some things I don't understand about it:

What, "They're still my people and I want to go home" is the big secret that's worth all that torture? Seriously? Anyone could have told you that. How is this information new or relevant?!

Nevertheless, "he never broke" is a lie, right? Odo did break and confess, even if I think his revelation was completely useless. Don't the intelligence agencies of the two biggest police states in the galaxy have security cameras in their interrogation chambers?!

I could understand if Odo forgave Garak eventually, but not so soon and easily! He tortures you horribly, then you never even mention it and invite him to hang out only several hours after! Sorry, what?!

It's becoming a trend to start Garak-centric episodes with something bad happening to him. :D Oh shit, Garak's hand got bitten! Oh shit, Garak has a migraine! Oh shit, Garak's shop blew up!

Explorers

Come on, O'Brien, is this really more ridiculous than building ships in bottles? :D You of all people should understand!

"For a moment there I thought that you had been put in charge of the Cardassian Ministry for the Refutation of Bajoran Fairy Tales"

Miles, just say the word! :D

Fireworks in space! :D I don't know what I love more -- the beautiful and uplifting moment itself, or Cardassians going "Shit :))) We gotta be really nice today :))))) Congratulations :)))))))"

After the epic intense two-parter -- 45 minutes of pure fluff :D It has so many things that are specific to DS9: Sisko and Jake's family bond, Bajoran culture and Cardassians being jerks about it, Sisko and Dukat's passive-aggressive skyping, Bashir and O'Brien's slowly developing friendship -- all leading to the celebration of the “boldly go where no one has gone before” spirit, and everything, for once, ends well.

Family Business

"If I were Curzon, I'd have stolen her from you by now" *facepalm* let's just pretend this stupid heteronormative line doesn't exist

this house looks like a Hobbit hole

Quark and Rom's mom is awesome. get rekt you misogynists!

omg Miles & Julian, how old are you? :D

Rom is so nice in this episode

I like Kasidy

Ishka is 10 times more awesome than it seemed

Rom really rocks in this episode

aaaand the ship sails :D

I wish Ishka could make a public statement, and Quark would

Good episode: interesting family dynamics, amazing Ferengi feminist, cute new ship

Quark and women is a fascinating topic. He's a traditionalist when it comes to Ferengi women, but in daily life among other species usually manages to come off no worse than any 20th century misogynist, and finds strong and outspoken women attractive rather than repulsive. Apparently it boils can be traced back to mommy issues: Quark isn't just a "good Ferengi", he's being reactionary towards Ishka, but at the same time she clearly is a positive influence on him, even if he won’t admit it. Too bad in this episode he refused to take even one step forward as he did in "Rules of Acquisition"...

Shakaar

Shit, things are really going downhill on Bajor... separation of church and state, what's that?

"We spent so many years fighting the Cardassians. We spent so much time hoping and praying for a Bajor that was free. Now that we won, how can people just hand their freedom over to someone like Winn?" "It has been my observation that one of the prices of giving people freedom of choice is that sometimes they make the wrong choice."

Why can't those reclamators be replicated?

"I wasn't aware that our relationship needed solidifying"

Great episode! (If I set aside the question of replication... Seriously, what's the law here? The Bajorans on DS9 can use the replimat, but Bajor can't ask the Federation to replicate some farm equipment? I don't think it would be physically impossible, surely it's not made of something like dilithium or latinum.) Winn hasn't reminded me of our sad reality so much since her first appearance. The B-plot was completely irrelevant, but I always enjoy seeing this sort of thing.

Facets

Quark... are you trying to convince the station commander's 16 year old son to write porn for you? seriously?

Ah yes, people closest to Jadzia, aka all of the main characters... and a dabo girl who appeared once for 45 seconds

don't do this... especially in front of all of ur friends...

Dax has a multi-Doctor episode! :D

CurzOdo and Quark's reaction to him are beautiful :D But how can he drink?

Poor Jadzia :(

Go Rom! Quark is too much of an asshole this season...

This is messed up...

Typical man: he's attracted to a woman, so he takes out his frustration and her and nearly ruins her life

How do Trill memories work? Why is this ritual needed when all memories are already in Dax's head? Are some of them in a .zip and need to be decompressed to be appreciated fully? How did Jadzia not know of Curzon's crush? Is it possible to hide some of your memories from the next host(s) on purpose? You know what, nevermind. Rene Auberjonois (whose name I had to copy-paste, I must admit...) clearly had fun with this episode, and so did I.

The Adversary

yes finally! :)

When they introduced the word "changeling" I was like "that's dumb, that's not what the word means" but now I understand. tbh I love them as enemy -- this story is so beautifully paranoid

why are they all assuming there's only one changeling on board

Well, they certainly know how to end the season on a dramatic line...

This season, my honeymoon phase of "oh my god, serialized Trek" finally ended, and I started thinking about whether or not I like these serialized stories. So I felt compelled to write longer notes after each episode, and don’t have any general remarks this time.

#star trek #ds9 #blah blah blah

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triplealysine-blog · 7 years ago

Text

disco space cat

Let’s see. I’m an Aries and I need to fucking analyze everything otherwise it makes me go insane.Or i’m just insane all the time. I mean I used to just add things to my agenda so I don’t have to deal with feelings but I don’t know, I physically cannot focus and do that. Plus, I’m trying to get better so maybe writing things down and taking care of my emotions head on will help me deal with things better.

So here we fucking go. I mean on Thursday I went along my day knowing that I would intentionally make bad decisions. I was trying to be convinced by my friends to not do any of that, obviously, but you know me. I’m an Aries, if i’ve already made my decision and I know it’s for sure going to get me an outcome that is a “win” then here we go. Even if it’s going to drag me through fire, I’m going to fucking do it. And by winning, I mean like idk...I’m not trying to conquer this person, b/c people are their own people and I DUNNO. When I have a goal, I do everything I can to achieve it, no short cuts (that’s questionable with this situation? hmm). Anways, them. It’s one of those fucking Romeo and Juliet fucking situations. Me and them...We both socially associate and are friends with VERY DIFFERENT groups of people. I obviously feel insecure about it, I already know my friends don’t approve. One of them said “ you slept with that person?!?!” After seeing a facebook picture of them. To give context, my friends care about how they look a lot and I feel like they need to fit the social construct of beautiful, tall, and skinny. 1 of those traits is genetic so that can’t be changed, but you get the drift. And then i’m that short, one asian friend. How have I assimilated to their group? Who knows. Off tangent. Uhm anyways I’m jumping around here because I’m so frazzled and don’t know how to coherently talk about this story. Uh so this person I’m interested in. I dunno, We like the same random things in a lot of areas of music, books, and movies and just things. Like very specific, not popular things. They’re no bs from what I see and they feel so comfortable in their own skin. They also just seem so invested and have so much compassion and drive for something they want to do. That’s a quality I like to see in people, just seeing someone so engrossed with something and really trying to perfect the nuances for what they’re working. That drive to tirelessly accomplish something they’re passionate about.

Let’s just back track to when I first met them. It was in an improv class last year. I absolutely abhorred that class, because i’m a classical musician (long story short I ended up liking it even though i bashed on it weekly). First day of class we all did those introduction and ice breakers bullshit....It felt like one of those group therapy sessions. We were all sitting in a circle, staring at each other and trying to take in how each individual is so fucking different and in so many different majors. Anyways, they were there, so //strikingly// different and they just stood out with their newly dyed hair and some getup that was so fucking abstract to me. They introduced themselves with another name at the time and told the class that they were interested in improv but were very shy. They wanted to be in this class to become less shy and perform for an audience with their voice without all the jitters of insecurity, etc. As the semester rolled by they would always intensely stare at me, and I would stare fucking back. These improvs were long, so sometimes it would just be a staring contest. Usually they would win. It was annoying. From what they told me //yesterday// they said they would stare at me because I looked passionate and beautiful >///> when I played. UGH. Slay me please. Back to last year...I dunno, I always felt so drawn to them. I sound like a fucking 14 year old girl (according to my friends and myself). Anyways, I would try to hang out with them during breaks and be down for anything and everything. I accompanied them to Walgreens one time and they just told me a bunch of random things about themselves and I was definitely into it. I also started to make jokes and mess with them ( I usually don’t do that unless I know a person for awhile). We did hang out like that a few other times, at some point I gave them my number. Jump to the more recent days where I’ve been an absolute mess and they’ve asked me to do an improv with them and a few others (who were also in the improv class last semester) for a performance called TNS (Thursday Night special where people play what they’re working on and get totally shit faced, the shit faced aspect is obviously drawing me bc i’m a fucking binge alcoholic). Obviously I said yes and so I’ve been practicing with them the last few weeks. Oh, did I also say that during this time I was on tinder? I saw them on tinder and swiped right just for fucks and obviously to wonder if they swiped right. AND GUESS FUCKING WHAT, we fucking matched bitches. My first message was “lol.” So fucking smooth right? They sent a message back like a day later with the eyes emoji. We exchanged a text more or two and then they finally said “So was this a friend or a something else swipe because tbh I am completely fine with both.” I responded all “cool and calm” saying “I’m down for either. I don’t mind.” And then a few minutes later I got the balls and said “ And you’re cute so :P”..They responded with “ OH dramn...so like in that case we should like....hang out more....Also, you are also very cute, fancy that.” We exchanged more texts on tinder and such, very minimal. Onto the second week we started practicing for their piece titled...let’s say “Cassiopeia.” We started to play the improv, and they were conducting me, and the 3 other musicians. Obviously I’m staring at them to perform and just b/c i’m like high-key like crushing on them. During the middle of the improv, for some reason they fucking kept on staring at me like 75% of the time. After contemplation during this improv I fucking winked at them. They basically lost it and their face was so fucking beet red. As fucking red as their fucking firey dyed hair. That blush killed me. Literally. We like giggled and laughed it off during those like 20 seconds. We were all still playing of course, the harpist and the bassist were like into the music and not paying attention to this little fiasco. But i fucking turned my head to the left where the sax player was playing and she laughed and had a very confused expression, mouthing to me “what’s going on???” and obviously I just shook my head and turned. Yeah fuck me b/c AGH. Their blush was...*cries*..reminds me of really gay and horribly written fanfiction. Anways, that week goes by and we have another rehearsal in which I was rushing to leave bc my friend was crying and i had like work to do. As I was leaving somehow I agreed to hang with them afterwards? Skip to me hanging out with them in their room...I forgot they had a fucking cat and I was hella allergic and my eyes were getting so ugly and puffy. THey were coughing so I offered to give them my inhaler (probs a bad decision but ill get another one) so I could run to my dorm and get that plus take some allergy pills. I was so fucking excited so i ran to my dorm (tripping occasionally,) and got the inhaler, plus a strong steroid one to give them and like scarfed down 2 zyrtecs and my strong nasal allergy spray...Anyways, we just hung out and chilled on their bed. Nothing happened, but as the time went on (till like midnight-1am) I progressively got closer to them. Did I tell you they’re warm as fuck?

Onto the next week for TNS (which was this past thursday). That’s the fucking day where I knew I would make very bad(but good?) decisions. OBviously everyone drank and smoked and played music. our improv went so fucking well and I hung out with them and followed them everywhere. THis other dude they’re interested in was there so idk. He kissed her on the cheek and I was like “ should I get the other side” and I fucking kissed their cheek. I was probably drunk at this point and very bold lol. Did I tell you that their cheeks and face is literally so fucking soft. I’m going to finish this later b/c i am sleepy.

#triplealysine log #definitely a fucking aries #i dont know how to deal with my emotions in a constructive manner so i'm going to try writing #personal #DSCaquarius #trying to figure things out #walgreens fiasco

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