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ayma-nidiot · 3 years ago

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Dawn of the Dark Chapter 20

This chapter can be found here on AO3.

Chapter 20 – Watch and Learn

“Welcome back!” Chloe greeting Goh and Ash on a Friday afternoon. “So, how’d the ultrasound appointment go?”

Goh closed the door behind him and nearly stumbled. “Whoa! …It went great! My boy doesn’t have Twin-to-Twin Transfusion Syndrome anymore. My babies are going to be all right now!”

“That’s great!” Chloe dog-eared the book she was reading and walked up to Goh. She touched Goh’s enormous baby bump, remarking, “Goodness, they’re going to come any day now, aren’t they? How far along are you again?”

“I’m 36 weeks along. Most people who are pregnant with twins get induced labour by now, but not in my case, since my boy is still so small. So I might be going the full 40 weeks.”

“Ugh, I wish I didn’t have to wait! I want to teach them about the joys of Pokemon battles already!” Ash whined.

“Leave it to you to think about that…” Goh sighed, getting into the massage chair.

“I’ll tell you what you should think about.” Chloe left for a spell to get everyone some tea and tea biscuits.

“What our babies’ starter Pokemon should be?”

“No, you doofus!” Goh scolded lightheartedly. “We still don’t have names for them!”

“And with four weeks or fewer to go?” Chloe wasn’t surprised that Ash was this clueless, but she had expected Goh to come up with at least some idea. “You know, I’ve heard Parker refer to them as ‘Smelly Sacks.’ You want them going through middle and high school being called that?”

“What? He said that?” Ash shot up. “I’m going to kick his ass!”

Parker peeked his head out from his room. “C-C’mon, Ash, it was just a joke… Sorry, man.”

“Be that as it may, Chloe has a point.” Goh flipped through the book “100000+ Baby Names” by Biggus Dickus. “There are a bunch of names in here that I really like… Ooh! ‘Ashalina’ is a good one and it even looks like your name, Ash!”

“What a cute name!” Chloe cooed.

“Then maybe our son’s name should start with a ‘G,’ after me.” Goh flipped to the “G” section of the book. “Here! I like ‘Gavin.’ What do you think?”

Ash contemplated a while before giving his answer. “I think we should name our daughter ‘Ash Jr.’ and our son ‘Goh Jr.’”

“What a simpleton…” Chloe shook her head.

Goh narrowed his eyes at Ash. “I think the guy who’s been carrying two sacks of rice for the past four months gets first dibs.”

“Okay, then our next two kids will be called ‘Ash Jr.’ and ‘Goh Jr.’”

“I haven’t even given birth to our first kids…” Goh stroked his sore baby bump. “Give me a little break before we think about having more.”

“Yeah, Ash.” Delia had been working on knitted onesies for the past four weeks. She had just started a new one for her granddaughter when all of a sudden, Goh got up from the massage chair. “Where are you going?”

“My legs are feeling a little cramped, so I need to go out for a walk.” Goh stretched a little. “Plus, I still need to buy some things for the nursery.”

“I better go with you, then, to make sure that you don’t do something stupid.” Ash was the first to head back to the door.

“You, worried about me doing something stupid?” Goh laughed. “Ha! That’s fresh.”

“Then I’ll come along to make sure Ash doesn’t do something stupid,” Georgio volunteered.

“So will I.” Delia put down her knitting items and got off the sofa.

“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence.”

While the four had their friendly squabble, Jessie took note of it all the way from the lab. “Now I want to go along, too…”

“Whatever for, Jess?” James turned off the computer he was using. “Why would we want to spend time with the twerps- I mean, with Ash and Goh?”

“I don’t plan on spending time with them… I just want to see where there going. You know, a little watch-and-learn.” Jessie, with the rest of her family, quietly followed Ash et. al. outside, occasionally hiding behind obstacles so as not to be seen.

“So you wanna be friends… but you also wanna be spies.” Damian was confused. “You’re weird, Mommy.”

“W-Well, we’re all a little weird…” Jessie got more serious when she knew what to say. “Just think of this as my way of making friends.”

“Yay! We get to be friends with Champion Ash!” When everyone had reached a Poke Mart, Damian wanted to rush in front of Ash, and had to be restrained by James.

Delia decided that this shopping trip would be her responsibility and was eager to use her expertise. “Did you pack your hospital bag yet?”

“I did not…” Goh felt embarrassed about forgetting this important thing.

“That’s no good!” Delia pointed to the beauty section. “That’s where we’re going to buy most of your stuff.”

“Are we going to a salon or to a maternity ward?” Goh had always believed that he looked good in anything, so he never gave much thought to his dress or taking care of his skin – at least, not until Talia got on his case about it.

“It’s not just about looks, but about your health, too.” Delia led Goh to this section of the store. “This is so exciting, bonding with my future son-in-law this way!”

Jessie watched the whole scene unfold, hanging out by the women’s clothing section. “Aww, it reminds me of when I started getting ready for you to arrive, Damian. I wanted to be pretty as a peach back then.”

“Really?” Damian stared at his mother wide-eyed.

“Mm-hmm!” James unashamedly hugged Jessie tightly. “And she still is pretty as a peach.”

“Yeah, but I could always be prettier… See you, then!” Jessie decided to follow Delia and Goh.

Not noticing the former Team Rocket trio, Ash stood there awkwardly. He now considered Georgio a friend, but to go on a shopping trip with just him? He didn’t feel that close to the middle-aged man. “So… Uh, wanna go shopping for Pokemon stuff?”

Georgio swung an arm around Ash as if the two had been best friends for years. “My dude, taking care of your future spouse and kids should always come first. We’re off to the baby section!”

“Daddy, can we follow Champion Ash?”

“I don’t see why not. It’ll be a trip down memory lane!”

Ash like what he saw in the baby section of this Poke Mart; only the one in the Celadon Department Store topped it. “We haves cribs, rugs, and plenty of toys for the babies…” Ever the clueless one, he didn’t come prepared with what he needed.

“You’re going to need a chair and a foot stool.” Georgio walked over to a glider chair with a footstool, both made of white velour. “I highly recommend this one!”

Pikachu jumped off of Ash’s shoulder and onto the chair. “Pikaaaa!”

“Pikachu seems to like it!” Ash touched the soft fabric. “All right, I’ll take it! But why do we need a chair? The babies won’t be able to sit on it, will they?”

“Not really. It will help you rock the babies to sleep; plus, it will make it easier for Goh to breastfeed them.”

Those words made Ash feel warm and fuzzy inside. “It makes me feel grateful what Goh has been going through for the past eight months. I really want to be the best dad I can, for Goh and for our babies.”

“In that case, one thing you can do is bathe the babies. I’ll show you!”

“You mean, you don’t just dip the baby in the sink? I thought that that’s how it worked.”

“Some do, but this is the best way to do it.” Georgio looked at a displayed baby bath with a Pikachu motif. “Pikachu, can I borrow you for second?”

“Pika pi?” Pikachu volunteered.

“Now, you’re going to want to lower the babies gently into the bath, like this.” Georgio demonstrated with Pikachu. “Be sure to support the head the entire time you’re doing it.”

“Uh-huh.” Ash watched Georgio’s movements intently.

“Then put the babies gently on a towel like this… Dry the hair and the skin… And you’re done!”

“Wow, thanks, Georgio! You must have kids of your own to be so smart about these kinds of things.”

“Let’s just say I’ve done my research.” Georgio grabbed a nearby bottle of baby shampoo, made with Spritzee essences. “Oh, and I highly recommend this brand of baby shampoo.”

“Thanks again! Why don’t we go to the cash register, have our purchases sent to our new home in Hammerlocke, then go buy Pokemon stuff?”

“And then a Pokemon battle?”

“And then food!”

“Great minds think alike! Haha!” Georgio made his way to the cash register with Ash.

“Aww, he’s moving away to Hammerlocke?” Damian frowned. “Now we can’t see Champion Ash every day.”

“Sweetie, I think that it’s for the best.”

“Okay… As long as it makes Champion Ash happy! And maybe I can go see both him and Lily!”

“Always thinking about Lily.” James chuckled. “Now come, let’s go find Mommy so we can shop and then eat.”

Unfortunately for James, that process would take longer than he wanted. Jessie wanted to buy a good number of things in the beauty section and on top of that, she was torn between the maroon and burgundy shades of lipstick. This behaviour was so tiresome that James swore he never wanted to look at anything red again.

After about twenty minutes of idling in the beauty section, Jessie finally decided it was time to go eat. “There’s this seafood restaurant by Vermilion Port that I’ve wanted to try. How about we go there?”

“Yes, queen of the universe…” groaned a tired-out James.

“Shopping with girls is a pain in the butt.” Damian moaned.

“Wobba wobba…” Even Wobbuffet wanted to complain.

“Oh, stop it. How about I make up for it by treating you all?”

“Aww, you’re so sweet!” Meowth smiled, then mumbled, “…for once.”

As Jessie approached this restaurant, Ash, Goh, Delia, and Georgio had beaten her there. Not only that, but they were already eating. Goh had eaten so quickly that he was already for dessert. He waved the waiter over and requested, “Can you squeeze some Tamato Berry juice on top of my cake, please?”

The waiter look perplexed before saying, “Sure thing. I’ll be back in a little while.”

Delia looked up from her dish. “You shouldn’t eat so fast while you’re still pregnant, or you could get acid reflux. But definitely eat away when the babies are born!”

“I’m just saying that nothing bad has happened from my eating habits yet.” Goh looked to his right, admiring the open ocean of Vermilion Port. In the distance, he could see a pod of Lapras, reminding him of when he and Ash first fell in love. “This is the place where we first met, Ash… This is the place where we rode Lugia together in a fated encounter.”

“A fated encounter that I am forever grateful for.” Ash held Goh’s left hand, rubbing a thumb over his engagement ring.

“Ash… Let’s have the wedding here, as soon as the babies are born and after we’ve moved to Hammerlocke and set up the house completely.”

“I like the sound of that! We can even have the reception here at this restaurant! I’m gonna buy out the whole place for the day!”

“Pikachu!” Pikachu happily nibbled on a scone that Ash fed him.

“I like the sound of that, too.” Delia concurred. “We already have all the bridesmaids and groomsmen, all the outfits and decorations bought and planned out… That just leaves the catering and actual decorating.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Ash rested his head on Delia’s shoulder. “You’ve put so much effort into this wedding.”

“I’m your mom, what do you expect?” Delia poked Ash’s cheek.

Just then, a little girl’s crying interrupted this jovial talk. “Waaah! Rattata!”

“That can’t be good…” Ash decided to take the matter into his own hands, and promptly found the girl. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

“Sniff… Sniff… My Rattata suddenly got really angry and scary-looking… I don’t know what to do! And she’s hurt!” The girl held up a Rattata with red eyes and shadows emitting from her body. The underside of her chin was scratched.

It’s a Shadow Pokemon… Ash took the Rattata.

“Oh my Arceus, is that kid insane?” A restaurant patron watched in horror, along with many others. “Does he want to get his hand bitten off by that… that thing?”

Ignoring the mutterings of his fellow patrons, Ash stroked the Rattata’s head. “There, there… You’re going to be fine.”

“Rat.. ta?” Rattata began to calm down.

“…There. Are you okay now?”

“Ratta… Rattata!” Rattata turned back to normal, jumping into her Trainer’s arms.

“Yay! Thanks, Mister!”

“Hey,” the girl’s father warned. “He’s not just a ‘Mister.’ He’s Ash Ketchum, the Champion of Galar.”

One of the restaurant patrons nearly choked on her food upon hearing this name. “Get out of here! The Champion Ash is here?”

“Oh my gosh!” The patron’s friend exclaimed in glee as she ran up to Ash. “Can you sign my purse? I’m such a huge fan!”

“Sure thing!” Ash obliged.

“I didn’t know that Ash could do that!” James watched from afar as fans flocked around Ash. “He can even heal wounds just by touching them!”

“I know, right? Isn’t he the coolest?” Damian watched in wonder.

Little did Ash know that from even farther away, his waiter watched on, whispering into a phone, “Boss… Giovanni, sir. I have vital information for you.”

When his face showed up on the waiter’s Rotom Phone, Giovanni spoke, “In regards to what?”

“We’ve located our two deserters… Even worse, Ash’s powers are getting stronger by the day. We have to do something about that.”

“You leave that to me. I will do something about that brat once and for all.”

#pokemon #satogou #firstfriendshipping #mpreg #fanfic #fanfiction

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longitudinalwaveme · 4 years ago

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Merry, the Boy Wonder

The multiverse is filled with endless possibilities. For example, in our universe, it was Dick Grayson whose parents, a pair of circus performers, were killed by gangsters in Gotham City, and who subsequently became the first sidekick to the mysterious Batman. But what if things had gone a bit differently? What if, instead of Dick Grayson, it had been one James Jesse whose family had performed in Gotham that fateful night? This is the story of the world where that happened….

“Great news, Helen! Haly’s Circus had to pull out of their planned appearance in Gotham City due to a scheduling conflict, so our circus has been called in to take their place!” Giovanni Giuseppi, known better to the non-carny world as James Jesse, the youngest member of the Death-Defying Jesses, looked up from his book at his father’s exclamation.

“Really? That’s wonderful!” His mother replied. Giovanni grinned. This was perfect! Not only was being offered to perform in a huge city like Gotham a sign that Big Circus had finally, well, hit it big (pun completely intended), but it also meant that he would be able to perform with his new airwalker shoes in front of a much larger crowd than he had expected.

“We’ve finally made it, darling! This the Death-Defying Jesses’ first step on the road to worldwide renown!” With that, his parents kissed, and Giovanni made a face. True, he himself had made out with Alessia, a cute knife-thrower, two days ago, but when his parents did it, it was just weird.

“This is awesome! Today, Gotham City, tomorrow, the world!” he exclaimed. His mother laughed.

“Well, we hope so, Giovanni,” she said.

“We’ll be leaving Happy Harbor and heading for Gotham tomorrow morning, son, so I expect you to get a good night’s rest. No staying up late to read about that outlaw Jesse James, understand?” his father added.

“I understand,” Giovanni replied, crossing his fingers behind his back.

“I’m glad to hear it, Giovanni. Your father and I don’t want you to get any ideas from those books of yours,” his mother said. Giovanni had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Marcello, a joey, and Georgio, who ran a garbage joint, had been teaching him how to cheat at cards and perform sleight-of-hand tricks since he was five years old. If anything was going to cause him to become a delinquent, it wasn’t going to be history books about Jesse James.

“I won’t, mamma.”

“In that case, you need to get to bed. It’s already almost 11 o’clock,” his father said.

“Already?” Giovanni asked.

“Yes,” his father replied sternly.

“Oh, all right. Night, mamma. Night, papá. Love you,” Giovanni said. With that, he went to his bed, and, after about thirty minutes of reading his latest book under his bed covers with the aid of a flashlight, he fell asleep, mind filled with images of his airwalkers, applauding crowds, and one very pretty knife-thrower.

Giovanni woke up at six the next morning and spent the next three hours helping the other members of the circus prepare for the jump. Once everything was prepared, the entire circus spent the next three and a half hours traveling from Happy Harbor to Gotham City. Giovanni spent this time alternatively reading, bugging his parents, and tinkering with his airwalker shoes. When the jump concluded, the circus burst into action again, setting up the big top and the joints, unloading the baggage wagons, distributing all the props, and generally preparing for the opening night of Big Circus’ date in Gotham. In fact, Giovanni was so busy that, although he saw almost every member of the circus, including the ringmaster, while helping to set things up, he didn’t see his parents again until two o’clock in the afternoon. By seven-thirty, however, even the business of setting up a circus came to an end, and Giovanni was free to search for Alessia. Giovanni was passing by one of the floss joints when he heard a voice he didn’t recognize. Curious, he snuck closer, then hid behind one of the gilley wagons.

“And if you pay us, we protect you. Get it, Chandler?” Chandler was the owner of the circus.

“Yes. I get it. You’re gangsters! It’s a protection racket! If you don’t leave immediately, I’ll call the police!” Chandler replied.

“You don’t want to die, do you? Be sensible. Pay us and protect your show from “accidents”,” a second unfamiliar man said.

“Get out! Big Circus does not make deals with criminali!” That time, it was Alessandro, Alessia’s father and the ringleader of the circus, who spoke.

“Alessandro is right. I won’t pay your kind for protection,” Chandler added.

“Okay, buddy. It’s your funeral. But remember...accidents will happen,” the first unfamiliar man replied. With that, he and his companion walked away. Slightly concerned, but confident that Chandler and Alessandro would be able to handle the problem, Giovanni decided to continue his search for Alessia. He found her a few minutes later, and the two spent the next three hours chattering excitedly about the next day’s upcoming performance, making out, and eating floss before returning to their respective trailers. By the time he entered his home and bid his parents good night, Giovanni had forgotten all about the gangsters who had visited the circus.

At five fifty-five the following evening, the entire circus was in an uproar. The show would begin in only five minutes, and everyone was running around trying to find costumes, props, and other kinkers.

“Where are my knives?” Alessia asked.

“I don’t know. Where was the last place you put them?”

“Right here. But they’re not there anymore!”

“I’m hungry!”

“Then you should’ve visited the pie car an hour ago!”

“I found your knives, Alessia!”

“Where were they?”

“Under my clown costume.”

“We’ve got a straw house tonight! Every seat is filled!” someone shouted. Giovanni’s father beamed and turned to his mother.

“You hear that, Helen? This is it. We’re going to be famous,” he said. As he fiddled with his airwalker shoes, Giovanni grinned, too. He couldn’t wait to show his family-and the world-his new death-defying tricks!

“I heard, Jacob.”

“Giovanni, I’m so nervous! What if I’m awful?” Alessia asked.

“Don’t worry, Alessia. I’ve seen you practice. You’re terrific,” Giovanni replied.

“Thanks, Giovanni. You’ll be terrific, too,” Alessia said.

“Alessia, don’t forget your hat!” another knife-thrower yelled.

“Sorry, Giovanni. I gotta go. See you after the show!” With that, Alessia ran off.

“Giovanni, you remember your part in the act, right?” his father asked him. Giovanni nodded. Sure, he planned to make his own slight addition to the plans, but he knew what he was supposed to do.

“I start climbing the ladder once you and mom have met in the middle of the tightrope, kissed, and started walking back to the platform,” he replied.

“Good. We’re so glad to finally have you as part of the act, Giovanni,” his mother said.

“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, welcome to what will no doubt be the most thrilling, astonishing, and stupefying experience of your life!” Alessandro was starting his opening. The night’s performance had officially begun. Giovanni and his parents were scheduled for the second act, right after the clowns. To pass the time, Giovanni pulled a yo-yo out of a box of props and started messing around with it. Ten minutes later, the clowns were heading to the backyard, and Giovanni quickly stuck his yo-yo back in the box.

“And now, for the amazing feats of the Death-Defying Jesses, performed on a tightrope sixty feet above the ground!” Alessandro exclaimed. Giovanni and his parents entered the ring, waved to the natives in the crowd, and then walked over to the tightrope ladders, with each of his parents heading to the ladder on one of the sides and then scaling it. When they reached the top, they both carefully stepped out onto the high wire, and then started walking towards one another...only for the wire to suddenly snap! The next few seconds felt like hours, as his parents fell towards the ground below...then landed with a sickening, but surprisingly quiet, thud. After several seconds of staring at the scene in horrified shock, Giovanni ran to his parents, oblivious to the screams of the audience members.

“Mamma! Papá! Be okay! Please be okay!” he exclaimed. He kept waiting for them to yell “Surprise!”; for them to reveal that it had been some particularly clever trick used for the act...but deep down, he knew the truth. His parents were dead; life having played a cruel trick on them by killing them on what should have been the night of their greatest triumph. Giovanni burst into tears. How could this have happened? After several minutes, Alessandro gently led Giovanni back to his trailer, assured him that the Gotham City date would be folding due to his parents’ deaths, and then left him alone, something for which Giovanni was grateful. He didn’t think he could handle having anyone else around right now. A few minutes after he was left alone, he started sobbing again. His parents were dead. If the wire had broken a few minutes later, he would’ve died, too. How had everything gone so terribly wrong?

A few hours later, Giovanni decided to go outside in the hopes that doing so might clear his head and help him make sense of what had just happened to him. However, he didn’t get very far before he heard unfamiliar voices once again.

“Too bad about that “accident”, Chandler.”

“Yeah! But there wouldn’t be any accidents if you paid us to protect you!” Giovanni realized with shock that he’d heard the voices before...and suddenly, the earlier conversation Chandler and Alessandro had had with the men they had called criminals came rushing back to him.

“You murderers! All right, I’ll pay, but only so that no one else will be killed,” Chandler replied weakly. Giovanni felt as though he’d been punched in the stomach. His parents hadn’t just died-they had been murdered!

“Those crooks...they killed my parents, and now they’re extorting the circus. I’ve gotta call the police,” Giovanni muttered to himself.

“No, boy. Not yet!” a deep voice exclaimed. Giovanni spun around to see a tall, well-built man who was cloaked in a deep blue-or possibly black, it was hard to tell in the dim light-cape. Giovanni was used to strange-looking people-after all, he lived with the circus and was currently wearing a blue-and-orange striped uniform-but this man had them all beat.

“Who...what... are you?” he asked.

“I am Batman. I want to help you bring the men who murdered your parents to justice-but you can’t go to the police. Come with me, and I’ll tell you why.” Normally, Giovanni would have scoffed at such an offer-it did, after all, sound exactly like what a kidnapper would say-but at the moment, he was too consumed by grief to really care. If this weird guy helped him get justice for his parents, great. If not….what else did he have to lose? The two people he loved most in the world were already gone.

“Okay.”

“What’s your name, boy?”

“Giovanni Giuseppi. James Jesse is-was-my stage name,” Giovanni replied. “Batman” nodded curtly and proceeded to lead Giovanni to a really nice-looking car, and the two climbed into it.

“Don’t touch anything.” Under normal circumstances, this order probably would’ve been necessary, as Giovanni knew he had a bad habit of pressing buttons and grabbing things out of curiosity, but right now, he had no interest in doing anything of the sort. What he was interested in was finding out whether or not this “Batman” could help him.

“Why can’t I call the police?” he asked.

“Because this whole city is run by Boss Zucco, a powerful mobster. If you told the police what you knew, you would be dead in an hour. Because of that, I’m going to hide you in my home for awhile,” the man replied.

“Why? Why do you care what happens to me? I’m not even from around here. I’m just some carny kid,” Giovanni asked.

“Because my parents were also killed by criminals. Because of that, I’ve devoted my life to wiping them out...and protecting their victims, like you.” At this reminder of his parents’ death, Giovanni started to cry again. How had this happened to him?

About twenty minutes later, “Batman” pulled into what appeared to be a very large cave….that for some reason contained a boat, a bunch of gadgets, a large computer, several costumes that resembled the one “Batman” was wearing, a giant penny, a huge playing card, what looked like a dinosaur, and...a butler? What was this place?

“Get out of the car.” Giovanni complied, still mystified by the whole situation, and followed “Batman” to the butler.

“Alfred, this is Giovanni Giuseppi. Giovanni, this is Alfred Pennyworth, my butler.”

“If I may be so bold as to ask, Master Bruce, why have you brought a child into the Batcave?” The butler, who was apparently named Alfred, sounded very British.

“His parents were killed by Zucco’s mob. To protect him, I’m planning to have Bruce Wayne adopt him,” ‘Batman’ replied. Giovanni started crying again. He didn’t want a new father-he wanted his old one!

“My, my. The poor child. Are you sure that adopting him is really the right decision? After all, you don’t exactly lead a….conventional life.”

“I’m sure. I was in the audience, Alfred. I watched his parents die just like he did. If I didn’t offer him a home after that, I couldn’t live with myself.”

“Very well, Master Bruce. Who knows? Maybe a child will be good for you.” With that, “Batman” turned back to Giovanni.

“Giovanni, you are about to be let in on a secret that only two other people in the world know,” he said. With that, he pulled off his mask, revealing a handsome young man, probably in his late twenties.

“My name is Bruce Wayne. I am the CEO of Wayne Enterprises, and-”

“You’re the guy who purchased the most expensive grandstand seat! The...the billionaire!” he exclaimed, stunned. He wasn’t exactly used to talking to billionaires-after all, most carnies could barely rub two nickels together most of the time.

“Yes, I am. When I was eight years old, my parents were gunned down in front of me by a mugger. Since then, I have devoted my time and money to becoming the Batman-the world’s greatest crimefighter,” Bruce Wayne/Batman replied. Giovanni pinched himself to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. This was insane! Billionaire Bruce Wayne ran around in a bat costume to fight criminals? And wanted to adopt him? Why? He was just a poor carny kid...and besides, he was already fifteen years old. If Bruce Wayne really wanted to adopt a kid, why not adopt a baby? Surely a baby would be easier to mold into an heir for Wayne Enterprises than a teenaged nobody.

“And you’re revealing your secrets to me? Why?”

“Because you’re going to be living in Wayne Manor with me. Since you seem to be fairly intelligent, you would almost certainly have discovered my secret at some point even if I didn’t tell you, so I decided it would be best to inform you about it upfront,” Bruce Wayne/Batman replied.

“You’re...serious about this adoption thing? But I don’t know the first thing about being rich or running a company or…” Giovanni began.

“When I became Batman, I promised myself that I’d never let criminals orphan another child in this city. When I failed to prevent your parents’ deaths, I broke that promise. Adopting you is my way of making it up to you and to myself. And besides, you’re pretty young to be left on your own,” Bruce Wayne/Batman cut in. Giovanni frowned.

“I don’t want a substitute father.”

“And I’m not trying to be one to you. I know no one will be able to replace your parents. Just think of me as an ally who’s giving you a home.”

“Well...I…” Giovanni wasn’t sure what to think. On the one hand, he didn’t want to replace his parents with this guy he barely knew, and he was pretty sure that he would stick out terribly in high society, but, on the other hand, Bruce Wayne did seem to know what he was going through, and had promised to help him bring his parents’ killers to justice.

“If you’re really opposed to the idea, I can return you to the circus,” Bruce Wayne/Batman said. That settled it. Giovanni knew he couldn’t handle returning to the circus where his parents had died, no matter how much he liked the other carnies. The emotions would be too much for him.

“Well, if you really want to adopt me...I guess I’m okay with the idea of an ally like you.” Bruce Wayne/Batman nodded.

“I’m glad to hear it. In that case, Alfred will show you to your room,” he said.

“Follow me, Master Giuseppi.” The butler gestured to a flight of stairs.

“Just call me Giovanni.”

“As you wish, Master Giovanni.” That hadn’t been exactly what he’d meant, but whatever. He had more important things to worry about. Giovanni followed the butler up the stairs, through what appeared to be a grandfather clock, through an enormous library, and to the largest bedroom Giovanni had ever seen. It was as big as his family’s whole trailer!

“This is all mine?” he asked, stunned.

“Yes. Are you displeased with it, Master Giovanni?” the butler asked.

“No. I’m just...not used to having a room this huge,” Giovanni replied.

“I can fetch you one of Master Bruce’s robes, Master Giovanni. If I had known about your arrival, I would have ensured that a suitable wardrobe was prepared for you, but, under the circumstances, I will have to make due with what I have on hand,” the butler said. Giovanni shook his head.

“Nah. I appreciate the thought, but I’ll be fine sleeping in my clothes. I’ve done it before,” Givoanni replied.

“Very well, Master Giovanni. Is there anything else you need?” Giovanni yawned.

“Tonight I think I just need some sleep. It’s been a really, really long day,” he replied.

“In that case, I will take my leave of you. Good night, Master Giovanni...and I express my strongest condolences for the tragic loss of your family,” the butler said. With that, he bowed and left the room. Giovanni walked over to the enormous bed and laid down on it. It was incredibly soft, and that, combined with Giovanni’s emotional and physical exhaustion, meant that sleep claimed him quickly.

The next week passed in what to Giovanni was an utter blur. He attended his parents’ funeral, bid good-bye to Alessia, her father, and his other friends when the circus left Gotham, was formally adopted by Bruce Wayne thanks both to the billionaire’s fortune and his own lack of living relatives, and was enrolled in a ritzy private school. And so it was that Giovanni Giuseppi, a carny kid who’d never been in a classroom in his life, entered through the doors of one of the most exclusive high schools in the country, Gotham Preparatory Academy. On Alfred’s insistence, Giovanni arrived at his first class early-so early, in fact, that he was the first person other than the teacher to arrive.

“Hello. My name is Mr. Cunningham. I’ll be your American History professor. You must be Giovanni Giuseppi, the boy Bruce Wayne recently adopted. I look forward to having you in my class,” the teacher said.

“Yeah, that’s me.”

“I heard that you used to be part of a traveling circus. If that’s true, I’m sure this must be very strange for you.” Giovanni nodded.

“No kidding. This is the first time I’ve been in a classroom. My parents homeschooled me before...before…” He managed not to start crying, but it was a close thing.

“I understand, and I’ll do my best to make the transition easier for you.”

“Th-thanks.” The teacher nodded, and, soon after, other kids started entering the room. One of them, a tall, brown-haired kid, came up to the desk he was sitting at.

“I’m Jared Vreeland. You must be one of the new kids,” he said.

“Yeah. My name’s Giovanni Giuseppi,” Giovanni said.

“Giuseppi? I don’t know that last name, so you must be the circus kid Bruce Wayne adopted,” the kid replied.

“You’re right, I am.”

“Then you don’t belong here. Bruce Wayne’s always been eccentric, but adopting some circus vagabond and pretending that he’d fit in high society? It’s the craziest thing he’s ever done, and that’s saying something. I bet you’ve never even been to school before.” Giovanni frowned, now on edge.

“And I bet you’ve never understood basic manners.”

“I don’t need to be polite to vagabonds with no class!”

“Mr. Vreeland! That is entirely inappropriate! Sit down and leave Giovanni alone, or I will have you sent to the headmaster’s office!” Mr. Cunningham barked. Vreeland scowled, but complied, and Giovanni decided that he was definitely fond of Mr. Cunningham. About six minutes later, just as the bell was ringing, another kid rushed into the room, almost tripped over the flagpole, and then sat down in the seat to Giovanni’s left.

“I’m sorry I was almost late, Mr. Cunningham. I got lost,” the skinny, red-headed kid apologized.

“That’s all right. I take it you’re the other new student?”

“Yes, sir. My name is Hartley Rathaway,” the kid said. Giovanni noticed that he had a distinctly different accent than Bruce Wayne, Mr. Cunningham, and his other peers. That was odd. True, he sounded different from them, too, but he hadn’t been born in Gotham. Was it possible that this kid wasn’t from Gotham, either?

“It’s nice to meet you, Hartley. I’m Mr. Cunningham, your American History professor.” With that, the school day began, and, while the strict scheduling and multiple teachers were going to take some getting used to, Giovanni didn’t think he would have too much trouble with the coursework itself. What he was starting to suspect he was going to have trouble with was his peers. Apparently, Vreeland wasn’t alone in his anger at the idea of a circus kid being at their fancy school, and their hostility made him miss his parents...and the circus...even more than he already did. He had belonged there.

Roughly halfway through the day, the students broke for lunch, and Giovanni sat himself down next to the red-headed kid from his history class, who was apparently the other new kid at the school. He’d always been a curious sort, and he wanted to know the story behind his fellow newcomer. Besides, talking to the kid would help keep him from thinking too much about...about...not thinking about it!

“Hi! You’re Hartley, right? Mind if I sit here?” The kid looked surprised.

“I suppose not. Who are you?” Giovanni smiled (a bit weakly), sat down, and unwrapped his lunch.

“Giovanni Giuseppi. You sat next to me in history class. I’m the other new kid.”

“The one Bruce Wayne adopted?”

“Yep. I’m the carny kid...and apparently a lot of people here are unhappy about that.”

“I heard. And before you ask, I’m not one of them. I actually think it’s rather neat. I’m sure you’ve gotten to travel a lot, if nothing else. And...and I’m really sorry about what happened to your parents,” Hartley said. Giovanni smiled. It was good to know that at least one kid at this ritzy school wasn’t going to hold his being a carny kid against him, even if the kid had accidentally brought up painful memories that he’d been trying to suppress.

“Thanks for the condolences. And you’re right, I did move around a lot. Let’s see…I’ve been to Coast City, Star City, Opal City, Happy Harbor, Gateway City, Hub City, Ivytown, Central City, here…” He really didn’t want to think about his parents, so hopefully Hartley wouldn’t bring up what had happened to them again.

“You’ve been to Central City?”

“I was like three years old, but yeah. Why?”

“Because I’m from Central City.”

“Really? That explains why you don’t sound like anyone else from Gotham, then.”

“Yes. I’m the son of Osgood and Rachel Rathaway, the billionaire publishing magnates.”

“Never heard of them,” Giovanni replied honestly. Hartley smiled.

“You have no idea how refreshing that is.”

“So, what’s a Midwestern boy like you doing in Gotham City?”

“Well, I’ve been tutored at home for most of my life, but now that I’m high school aged, my parents had an excuse to send me away from home, supposedly so I could “meet the right people”. Of the schools that met their criteria, Gotham Prep was the furthest away from Central City, so they shipped me off here.”

“You make it sound like they’re trying to get rid of you,” Giovanni replied. He couldn’t imagine his parents...no, not thinking about it!

“They are trying to get rid of me. They sent me here so that they can hide their embarrassment of a son,” Hartley said quietly.

“Granted, I’m a nobody carny kid, so my standards are probably different from your parents’, but you don’t seem like an embarrassment to me.” In fact, as far as Giovanni could tell, Hartley looked and acted like the perfect heir to a huge corporation. In response, Hartley removed something from his right ear and handed it to Giovanni.

“A...hearing aid?”

“A very expensive, advanced one, but yes. A hearing aid. I was born deaf, and my parents have been disappointed with me ever since,” Hartley said. Giovanni handed the hearing aid back to him and, now a bit uncomfortable, decided to change the subject.

“So, do you have any hobbies?”

“I play the flute. And the violin. You?” Hartley replied.

“I’m the best cardsharp this side of Vegas, and I know loads of tricks you can do with yo-yos. And I’m an acrobat, of course,” Giovanni replied. Unfortunately, talking about his hobbies reminded him of his life at the circus, and that made him start to cry. Bruce Wayne, Alfred, Mr. Cunningham, and Hartley were all good people, but no matter how good they were, they weren’t his parents.

“Are you all right?” Giovanni shook his head.

“I...I miss my parents.” A few minutes later, he managed to calm down enough to stop crying, but he still couldn’t stop thinking about what he had lost. Those gangsters had killed his parents and destroyed his life, and all for some cash? How could they have done something like that? And why had it happened to him?

“I know that this won’t make up for what happened, but I’m so sorry for what happened to you. You obviously loved your parents very much,” Hartley said quietly.

“Why did they have to die? They never hurt anyone!”

“I don’t know. Probably the same reason my parents wish I didn’t exist.” At that, Giovanni looked back up at Hartley and gave him a slight smile. While their situations obviously weren’t exactly the same, in a way it was comforting to know that he wasn’t the only kid his age who had been hurt for reasons he didn’t understand.

“You know what, Hartley? I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”

About three weeks later, Giovanni returned from Gotham Preparatory Academy to be greeted by a very grim Bruce Wayne/Batman.

“Giovanni, I’ve got proof that Boss Zucco was behind the murder of your parents. Tonight, Batman will bring him, and all of his cronies, to justice.” Giovanni smiled. This was wonderful! He was finally going to be able to avenge his parents’ deaths!

“I’m coming too,” he said.

“No.”

“He killed my parents! I want to help bring him in.”

“I said no. Even if it wasn’t incredibly dangerous, you don’t have the requisite physical training to fight crime.” Giovanni scoffed.

“Don’t have the requisite physical training? I’ve been practicing acrobatics since I was old enough to walk!”

“Crimefighting isn’t just a physical discipline. It also requires intense mental fortitude.” Determined to convince Bruce Wayne/Batman to help him bring in the men who’d murdered his parents, Giovanni rushed to his room, put on his airwalker shoes, and then ran back to the billionaire.

“I’ve got mental fortitude! I invented shoes that let me walk on air,” he said as soon as he caught his breath. Bruce Wayne/Batman looked skeptical.

“I’ll believe that when I see it.” In response, Giovanni activated his shoes and ascended several feet in the air. Once he was high enough for his feet to be roughly level with Bruce Wayne/Batman’s face, he stopped.

“Now do you believe me?”

“You invented those all by yourself?” Bruce Wayne/Batman actually sounded surprised, and Givoanni grinned. Surely he would be allowed to come along now!

“Yep. You see, when I was a kid, I was afraid of falling, so I decided to invent shoes that would make sure that I never fell. Pretty cool, huh?”

“If I don’t let you come, you’ll follow me regardless, won’t you?” Giovanni returned himself to the ground.

“Definitely.”

“All right. I know when I’m beaten. I’ll take you with me to bring in the men who killed your parents...but first, you must swear that you will fight with me against crime and corruption, and to never swerve from the path of righteousness!” Bruce Wayne/Batman exclaimed. Giovanni thought that that sounded a bit intense, but he would agree to anything if it meant that he could get closure for the deaths of his parents.

“I swear it. Can we go now?” Bruce Wayne shook his head.

“Not yet. I want to see the extent of your physical capabilities first.” Giovanni sighed, but allowed Bruce Wayne/Batman to lead him to Wayne Manor’s enormous gymnasium anyways. When Giovanni saw the trapeze, he grinned. True, his parents had primarily been tightrope walkers, but they had taught him a good deal about trapeze artistry as well. After a brief warm-up, he launched into his most complex routine, and executed it flawlessly. He’d never had more motivation to get the routine right than he did right now.

“I’ve been doing this since I was four years old!” he exclaimed as he landed. Bruce Wayne/Batman actually nodded, clearly impressed.

“As far as swinging ropes go, you could probably teach me a thing or two!”

“Told you I was good.”

“Don’t get too cocky. You’re obviously in good shape, but that doesn’t make you a trained fighter. If you want to help me take down Zucco’s mob, you have to promise to follow my orders to the letter. In this business, getting cocky can get you killed. Do you understand?” Bruce Wayne/Batman replied.

“Sir, yes, sir!” Giovanni mock saluted, feeling more like himself than he had in weeks. It was such a relief to finally be able to do something for his parents’ memories.

“I’m going to regret allowing you to join me, aren’t I?”

“Probably. Now are we ready to go?” Bruce Wayne/Batman shook his head.

“Not quite. You still need a costume and an alias. I don’t want people questioning why Bruce Wayne’s adopted son is running around fighting crime with Batman.”

“Gotcha. I’ll be right back.” With that, Giovanni ran back to his room, retrieved his old circus uniform, and then returned to Batman.

“What is that?”

“My costume.” Batman looked at him incredulously.

“A costume is intended to hide your identity, not make it even more obvious. The fact that you were part of the circus before I adopted you is well-known. Wearing that outfit is basically like wearing a sign saying that you’re Giovanni Giuesppi, Bruce Wayne’s adopted son. And even if it wasn’t, that costume is the most hideously garish outfit I’ve ever seen.” Giovanni scowled. His uniform was not hideous. What did Batman have against bright colors?

“Do you have uniforms in my size?” Batman frowned.

“Well...no,” he admitted.

“Then I’m wearing the circus uniform. If anyone gets suspicious, we’ll just say that I’m obviously not the kid running around with Batman. I was traumatized by my parents’ deaths-why would I want to run around in an outfit that would remind me of how they died?”

“Fine. But you’re at least going to add some accessories to it,” Batman replied. With that, he led Giovanni to the library, through the passageway behind the grandfather clock, into the cave, and to what appeared to be a dressing room of sorts, one that was full of costumes and accessories. Giovanni quickly ducked behind the divider in the middle of the room, changed into his uniform, and then returned to Batman.

“What other accessories do I need?” Batman handed him a yellow belt and a pair of black gloves.

“The belt contains a variety of useful crime fighting tools. The gloves prevent you from leaving fingerprints. Both are vital for our line of work.” Giovanni put the belt on, discarded the black gloves, and donned a pair of powder blue ones that were much more to his tastes.

“The belt’s a little big.”

“That’s because it was made for me. If you pull it taut, it should stay put.” Giovanni nodded and complied.

“Anything else?”

“You need a mask.” Giovanni nodded, picked up a black domino mask...and then noticed a huge blue cape. Grinning, he grabbed the cape, and proceeded to don both cape and mask.

“So, how do I look?” “Like a colorblind acrobat.”

“Because a giant bat is much less weird, right?” Batman frowned.

“You’re skating on thin ice, Giuseppi. That being said, your costume is basically complete at this point. Now all you need is a code name.”

“I know! You can call me the Trickster!”

“No. That sounds like a supervillain name.” Giovanni didn’t think so, but whatever.

“All right, how about the Prankster?”

“Taken.”

“The Joker?”

“Very taken.”

“Are you sure we can’t call me the Trickster?”

“Yes!” Briefly stumped, Giovanni pondered possible names for a few seconds...and then beamed.

“I’ve got it! You can call me Merry.”

“I suppose that’s acceptable. Merry it is.”

“So are we ready to go now?”

“Yes. But remember to do exactly as I say.” With that, Batman and Giovanni-Merry-entered the Batmobile and headed into Gotham City to take down Boss Zucco.

FIN

#james jesse #batman #fanfic #hartley rathaway #dc comics #au #alfred pennyworth #bruce wayne

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feelingfolegandros · 4 years ago

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Day 36 - 41: December 1 - 6 2020

I’m writing this, sitting outside, listening to goats bleat away and the goat master (I’m sure there’s an official word for this) making amusing noises and shouting at them.

The sun will start to set in about an hour, I’m guessing. I feel so incredibly lucky to be able to spend so much time outdoors. I’ve been warned that December isn’t really winter yet here in Folegandros, that January and February will bring colder temperatures and days in a row of rain. I know I can handle it. For now, I’m enjoying swimming in December.

Yesterday, Saturday, K.P. and I headed to Agios Georgios on the North side of the island, past Ano Meria. On the way, we stopped by the supermarket and the bakery. We each picked up a mikro (small) loaf of bread and some Christmas cookies to share. I met her and the man she’s staying with, A.L., in Chora outside a café where some people had gathered, semi-respecting social distancing. The sun was glorious. We dropped off A.L. at Agali, and he planned to walk to meet some fellow fishing companions at Agios Nikolaus, 15 minutes or so by foot. Fishing is not permitted at the moment, which is odd to me and I’d imagine most other people. It’s just you and the fish, right? Maybe you’re out there with other people, but are you really rubbing up against each other? Do people who fish like to embrace each other a lot? I have no clue!

When we arrived at Agios Georgios, we saw the two men who were supposed to be fishing with A.L., so K.P. went to pick him up and bring him back, so the fishing trio could unite. I laid in the sun in my bathing suit, listening to the metal playing on a small speaker they brought on the dock. It was glorious. I wrote in my notebook a bit, and then slowly but surely made my way into the water. Having a soundtrack to lazily swim around to was fun.

K.P. returned with A.L., and K.P. helped one of the other fishermen retrieve one of his lures, borrowing some goggles to get the job done. I took photos of her after she completed the task. She looked incredible. A man she sent the photo to afterward said she looked like a Bond girl, and I wholeheartedly agreed.

Unfortunately no fish were caught by our friends, but two spearfishers caught some! As K.P. and I played cards on the beach while the sun was still out, she joked that they should give us a fish. On the way home, we stopped to watch the sunset and danced on the roof of an abandoned building, listening to music on our phone speakers. Later, we made a Greek rice dish with carrots, leeks, and dill, I brought a fish from the store that had defrosted in my fridge and needed to be eaten, and K.P. grabbed some vegetables from the garden to make a salad. H.U., a friend of A.L.’s who fished with him earlier stuck around for a bit. The two of them drank vodka and raki (a spirit popular in Greek, Turkey, Albania, the Balkans, etc made of grape) and listened to music as we cooked. Another great meal!

We had started watching The Rose starring Bette Midler the day before but were rudely interrupted by a power outage, so we finished it after dinner. Midler was nominated for an Oscar for it. I liked it. Apparently, it was loosely based on the life of Janis Joplin. On Friday, before we watched The Rose, K.P. and I went for a walk in Ano Meria to a bay that is named after trees or something. Déntro (δέντρο or maybe it’s the plural δέντρα) I believe it’s called, simply because there’s a couple of trees there. She spotted wild dandelion on the way there, so we picked a bunch on the way back. It made me so happy to be able to pull my own food from the earth. We confirmed it was dandelion for sure thanks to Ireni of Ireni’s Restaurant fame. She said it was poly kala (really good), so definitely edible! We ordered some food from her to take home - meatballs with fried potatoes and bean soup. Delicious and comforting, as per usual.

Later, Z.X. brought over some souvlaki (no extra patates for me this time), then we watched Keeping up with the Kardashians together. Back to season 1 since we finished season 4 and on the TV’s mysterious Spanish Netflix account, only the first four seasons are available. After joking that Z.X. would fall asleep in 30 minutes, I fell asleep in 30 minutes.

The week before Friday wasn’t super eventful...Tuesday stands out to me as it’s the day I found out I have shingles... Ha! Last weekend, I had asked Z.X. to scratch my back, and when he looked at it, he was concerned. He took a photo of it and sent it to the doctor. We went to the doctor on Tuesday, and she said it was herpes. I spent an entire day freaking out, but then later figured out it’s Herpes Zosta - which is the same as Chickenpox and NOT the sexually-transmitted kind… The nurse, who I had met earlier this summer and is also a Cancer, put a bandage over it and gave me a small stack of more to take home along with some anti-histamines. I read about what foods to avoid and chocolate is one of them, unfortunately, so since then, I haven’t eaten any chocolate and I’m eating much less sugar than before. Boring, but it’s rarely a bad idea to consume less sugar. Today, Sunday, December 6, I stayed in bed for a while, finishing the latest episode of Love After Lockup and then a documentary called My Psychedelic Love Story. The latter is about Joanna Harcourt-Smith, who had a love affair with Timothy Leary (the LSD guy) in the early to mid 70s, while Leary was on the lam from the U.S. feds in Europe, and then subsequently brought back to the U.S. and sentenced. I really enjoyed it and she’s a fascinating woman that passed away shortly before the documentary debuted at the end of November. After sweeping the floors, I decided to take a walk without my phone to the Panagia, a church up a hill that’s an icon of the island. It’s a zigzag promenade to get to the top, and I stopped at the first zig. I sat on a rock and wrote. The sun was so strong and I was a bit sweaty so I took off my shirt. A copy of The Alchemist was in my backpack, and I finished the last 60 pages or so on the grass below the rock. Watching the clouds move past the sun again and again was wonderful. I definitely felt more connected to God, my destiny, etc. finishing that book in that setting.

Tonight, I think I’ll make the dandelion for dinner and count every single one of my blessings. The sun is beginning to set now, turning the sky the most magnificent colours.

Thanks for reading, once again! Love and light to you and yours.

#folegandros #greece #winteringreece #greekislands #island #greekisland #cyclades

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allie1804-fan · 4 years ago

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Please Assist Me (Chapter 11)

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10

Warning: mentions of sex

She Said

Having had such a lovely day at the beach, Keanu offered to take me and the kids back there again on Sunday. We headed out early as we didn’t know if it would get crazily busy. It was a bit more off the beaten track than the LA beaches that were on the evening news, heaving with people not distancing from each other and the kids always wake early so it was no hardship really.

Keanu came into his own at the beach having seemingly endless energy for games, swimming and bodysurfing. By 3pm, our energy was waning and I could feel the saltiness on my sun-drenched skin and that wonderful tiredness from being out in the fresh air all day. We headed home and the children were asleep on the back seat in under 10 minutes.

“we’ve beaten them for once thanks to you” I grinned.

Back at my house the kids revived enough for a quick dinner of pasta with pesto before a little quiet time in front of the TV then stories and bed. We each took a kid for a story and met up in the living room afterwards. I was down first and set some music playing from my phone on the speakers.

The music was being selected at random from my playlist. Just as Keanu got down after finishing Miguel’s story, a familiar tune started up. Keanu laughed out loud as the simple piano notes of “This never happened before” started.

“Really?”

“I swear it’s just on random selection!”

“OK, I believe you – so do you wanna dance”

There was no need to answer that as he well knew! As we moved to the music, I can’t deny that I was thinking about that scene as I nestled into his chest and slid my arms up and around his neck. We were soon kissing, sooner than him and Sandra I think! I was utterly lost in the moment and his kisses until I heard a creak from the corner of the room. We both heard it and pulled away from each other, startled but there was nothing there ……. or so we thought.

He said

Our family day at the beach was idyllic and we managed to avoid the crowds and the paps as far as we were aware. And there was nothing to see from a Pap point of view anyway as we were playing it cool in front of the kids.

The day left my skin taught from the sun, sea and wind and I had that lovely tiredness you feel from a full day of outdoor fun. In the evening we danced and kissed to “It Never Happened Before” which was both weird and lovely. Our dance was cut short though when we heard a noise - the moment was lost and I realised as well just how tired I was so decided to head home. We each had a busy week ahead so I likely wouldn’t see her until the following weekend. If she could arrange a sleepover for the kids, maybe there was a chance she might be feeling ready to take the next step by then.

Then, on Tuesday evening I had an interesting call from Sophia

“So I have some news”

“Oh yeah what?”

“So Eva asked me today if you were my boyfriend!”

“Oh, right, how did she figure that out?”

“Well, when she told Julie that she had seen us kissing ..”

“What?!”

“Yup, anyway so Julie said you must be my boyfriend if you were kissing me!”

It turned out that when we were dancing and heard that little noise, Eva had forgotten her doll and popped downstairs to get it and had glimpsed us dancing and kissing. She’d then told Julie who’d obviously asked Sophia about it.

“So what did Julie say”

“Well she said that all the other bubble mums had totally realised why I wanted you to join the bubble and knew it wasn’t because you were lonely”

“Are we that transparent?”

“Well obviously I am! They said they knew I’d been mooning over you for at least 6 months!” She chuckled as did I.

“And Julie also made us an offer”

“Oh yeah what kind of offer, does she want paying off to keep the secret?”

“No don’t be ridiculous - that’s a given. What happens in the bubble, stays in the bubble OK? No, she said that next week when it’s her school day she’ll keep my 2 overnight and take them to the next mom so we can have a couple of days and a night together. Are you free Tuesday, Wednesday?”

In an instant I said I was.

“You can’t have checked your diary that quickly!”

“Well if there’s anything in it, I’ll move it – or my PA will!”

She burst out laughing at that

“OK Boss. Sooooo it’s a date then”

“Yup, a special date”

She Said

Being discovered like that was a blessing but since it also accelerated the big moment, it filled me with nerves - excitement too but mainly nerves.

I think Keanu sensed my nerves as each time he called and asked what I wanted to do during the day, I was struggling to think, almost paralysed by what was going to come next!

“Look, let’s focus on the rest of the day OK, I can tell you’re worrying about, you know, the rest of our plans but try not to please. I want to please you, OK and I think you want that too right?”

“Yes, of course”

“So everything will fine if we relax and focus on that OK?”

“OK”

So he took over and suggested another bike ride up PCH and a short hike, maybe around Topanga Canyon before going back to his house. He then said we could order take-out from one of his favourite restaurants, Georgio Baldi sending me the menu to choose ahead of the day.

The time we had before our date allowed me to buy some new underwear – I definitely hadn’t thought about underwear in a sexy way for 3 years at least so it was fun to choose something new though I ended up ordering several different sets online because there was no option to go to an actual shop and try things on. I was going to wear my yellow sun dress for our dinner - I had in inkling he liked it on me. I did see him in person too before our actual date since there were PA tasks that required me to be at his house on some days but we mostly kept to business unless I was there for lunch when we’d take a break and share a meal on the patio together.

When Tuesday came at last, his choice of the ride and hike turned out to be just what we needed to relax and enjoy each other’s company and the great outdoors instead of everything being focussed on what was going to happen later. We made it up to one of the canyon’s best viewing points by lunchtime and sat looking over the spectacular views to the city and the sea. We had stopped on our way for sandwiches from Keanu’s favourite deli that was fortunately still open for take out, stowing them in a cool bag in one of the paniers on the bike. He had all the gear for the touring bike that made things comfortable for a day out. We spent a good half hour of our time at the viewpoint talking sandwiches! He’d gone for a BLT because it needed to travel OK but if we’d been eating straight away he’d have gone for a hot pastrami sandwich instead he told me, lovingly describing the relishes and gherkins he’d include. He sure can talk with passion and knowledge about his food preferences for someone who really doesn’t cook!

After a little more hiking up at the canyon after lunch, we made our way back to his house where we cooled off in the pool for a while. Now we were properly alone, not to mention not wearing many clothes, Keanu took his opportunity to get up close and personal. I was resting against the pool side, eyes closed leaning my head back and enjoying the sun while he did a few lengths. I noticed that the splashing had stopped and opened my eyes but couldn’t see him. A moment later I gasped as he popped up from the water right in front of me having swum a length underwater. He was delighted at my surprised reaction and leaned in to kiss me, pinning my arms back against the edge of the pool. My legs instinctively went up around his waist and I could already feel his hard on pressing against me as he looked hotly down at my cleavage and groaned.

“Sorry, I’m being like a horny teenager aren’t I?”

I giggled at that, he was so sweet and playful so in that way, yes, he was young in attitude but he had none of the horrible demanding nature of a real teen.

“Nahhh, horny teens are pushy, you’re just needy I guess”

“Yup, why don’t we get out and get showered and changed ready for dinner. The restaurant delivery is due in around an hour so we can have the crostini out here with some champagne”

He hopped out of the pool and helped me out too.

“You trying to get me drunk Reeves, coz I can tell you, you don’t need to”

“Nope, just trying to please you, like we said”

“OK then”

I was smiling as I headed to his room and the shower while he set the dinner table and got drinks chilling.

@fortheloveoffanfic @kindainlovewithkeanu @omg-imagine @iworshipkeanureeves @fics-not-tragedies @ficsnroses @keanureevesisbae @penwieldingdreamer @witty-wallflower @paperplanesandwallflowers @bitchyslut99 @ladyreapermc @toomanystoriessolittletime @fanficsrusz @keanuficfiles

#keanu reeves fanfic #keanu reeves fanfiction #keanu #keanu reeves #romance with boss

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queenofnohr · 5 years ago

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Aeaean Spring Breeze - Ch. 1: Breathe Like it’s Any Other Monday Morning

(Here’s the dreamwidth link for easier reading)

[in My Room]

Circe: Ugh…… For some reason…… Motivation…… Dwindling…... Fou: Fo~u...... Mash: Once again, Circe is slacking off in Master’s bed…… Circe, every time you do this, senpai turns up with “perfect” timing. Circe: It’ll be fiiiiiiiine. This time I’ve set up detection magic, after all~. Mash: I see. But isn’t that a violation of privacy? Circe: Just be cool, be chill. I’m worried about Master, so it can’t be helped.

[you come in]

> No, it can be helped

Circe: Gah!!

*the sound of her falling off the bed* *the sound of her shakily getting up*

Circe: H- Hey, Piglet! How did my detection magic get disabled? …...Medea! This is SO getting old and that girl is getting downright vicious! Always butting in on other peoples’ love lives, this is why I’ll never find a new partner! Fou: Fou, fo~u. (Translation: Like student, like teacher.) Arjuna: ......Circe. We are of different classes and different places of origin, and as such thought it prudent to avoid conflict due to our different values. However— I cannot overlook your actions. Go sit in the corner and think about what you’ve done. Circe: Eugh. Who appointed you head of the disciplinary committee? Arjuna: Disciplinary committee……? Perhaps I am. After all, even Osakabehime said that I was like a “white-uniformed disciplinary committee member or student council president as a second pick” Mash: Yeah! You really do have the good sense of a Japanese student! Fou: Fou, fofo~u......! (Translation: Your good sense is a little off, Mash……!) Arjuna: ......No, this is all beside the point. We confirmed the existence of a Micro-Singularity. Circe: Huh. Mash: ! Arjuna: The Chaldea staff are busy with the investigation and analysis of Lostbelts, so they want Mash to be in charge of monitoring it. Mash: Leave it to me. I’m happy to receive orders straight from the student council president himself! Circe: So, where is this Singularity? Arjuna: Right— It’s at Aeaea Island. Circe: ...... ...... What did you just say?

> Aeaea Island Circe: Guh…… Mrr…… Ugh……

> Isn’t that the island where you lived, Circe?

Circe: ...... ...... ...... ......Yeah, it was.

Arjuna: Then I’ll make this briefing quick. The era seems to be the Age of Gods, if not, somewhere close to it. Circe: Ehhhhh…… About that island…… I only have bad memories of it, so…...

> Was it painful?

Circe: ……I feel like I had a bad dream about that island recently.

> Is that so……?

Circe: Uhm...... Errrr......

Jason: Ha. That’s not a reason, you just wanna skip out. And I wanna skip this mission too! Orion: I- I- I also wanna skip out. I mean, Artemis isn’t even gonna be there. And if she’s not there, I’m useless. Arjuna: Putting Jason aside, Orion…… What happened to that goddess? Orion: It was something weird like a meetup for goddesses in a relationship or something. And thanks to that, I’m free. Arjuna: Then that’s even more reason to take you along. After all, it’ll be easier to keep an eye on you if you’re with us. Orion: Why do I get this kind of treatment!? Jason: Sounds right to me. Georgios: It’ll be good for both of you. Circe, if you don’t want to go, you don’t have to. I will be departing for the front. Jason: What? That’s unusual for you, Georgios.

> I meant to ask Chiron, but—

[flashback]

Chiron: If I go, Jason might be nervous. When he tries to show me how much he’s grown, he ends up making mistakes…… that’s the impression I get. I’m terribly sorry to suggest a replacement, but how about Master Georgios? If you bring him along, he’ll surely help balance the party.

[end flashback]

Jason: Huh!? HUH!? What the hell is Chiron on about!? I don’t get nervous at all just because he’s around! I’m the man who journeyed across the sea on the Argo! Orion: I don’t really know what he’s talking about, but you probably will have a lot of screw ups. Arjuna: I agree. To be honest, I can picture it all in my mind. Jason: Since when did you guys get to be such a bunch of know-it-alls!? ……Well, it’s fine. So, what are you gonna do, Circe? It doesn’t matter if you go. It’s a Micro-Singularity, so three Servants should be more than enough. Orion: Including me? Jason: Why would you think you’re included in that number? I’m not gonna rely on the skills of a stuffed animal.

> Orion is pretty calm

Orion: Oho, so you’ve finally zeroed in on my strengths, Master. That is, being able to pull back and look at everything from a bird’s eye view. Fou: Fou...... Circe: Oh…… I— I’m sorry. It’s kinda…… Um…...

> You don’t need to force yourself.

Circe: Thanks. No, wait a second…… Let me think…… Orion: (......Why is this “Great Witch” frozen and twitching in a corner of the bed) Jason: ……We’ll be on our way now. I think we can manage without one or two Great Witches. Circe: Wha!? Jason, isn’t that super rude of you? If you don’t have a Great Witch, won’t you be in trouble? Jason: ……Alright, let’s go! Circe: Agh, wait. I said wait! Let me think on it a little more——

[we Reyshift]

> In the end, she just sorta went with the flow……

Jason: The result was gonna be the same either way. Let’s go, Great Witch. Circe: I have a bad feeling about this. Guh…... Georgios: Mm. Even so, it’s quite picturesque. The color of the Greek sea is beautiful. Then, I’ll take one……

[he snaps a photo]

Orion: I’ve been thinking this for a while, Master Georgios, but where’d you pick up that camera? Georgios: Well, it became my hobby without me realizing it. Perhaps I used the Grail to wish for it in some Holy Grail War. …...I’m joking, of course. Orion: …………You got me! (I have no clue what to say when such a grave guy cracks a joke) Mash: ……Ah, everyone, we’re getting a Servant reading immediately. Jason: A stray Servant? Mash: Yes. It seems to be an unknown Heroic Spirit whose Saint Graph has yet to be registered with Chaldea. Arjuna: We don’t know if they’re friend or foe. Let’s approach with caution for the time being. Orion: …………Not that it matters, but. Why “stray” Servant? Jason: Because calling them “wild” Servants totally changes the meaning. Wild Servants are ones like Atalante, Penthesilea, and other meathead Servants. Mash: Jason, Jason— Those two are currently in the control room, so…… Penthesilea: Hey, Jason. I’ll be sure to give you a “warm” welcome when you get back. Atalante: I think I will as well. Tell me, captain, which do you prefer? Being a target or being a crash dummy? Jason: Mash, tell me who’s in the room with you sooner!! It’s a matter of life and death for me! Arjuna: ……Perhaps it’s better for you to keep your mouth shut? Jason: Shut up, Mr. Logic! I’m the type of person who’s got something to say for everything! Georgios: So you admit you talk too much. Circe: *sighhhhhhh*...... This is a total bummer…...

> You okay?

Circe: Yeah, it’s just mental strain, I’m fine physically. Mash: Are your memories of Aeaea Island that bad? Circe: ……Overall, the memories I have of it are good ones. I have just one bad memory. But you know what they say, right? One rotten apple is all it takes to spoil the barrel…… Jason: Odysseus? Circe: Has anyone else ever told you how insensitive you are!? Jason: They have. Circe: What’s with that attitude!? Orion: I mean, sooner or later it was gonna come up, right? Your legend is super famous. Even you know it, right, Master? Circe: !!

> Of course I know it.

Circe: *grumbles* Well, at least there’s no need to explain. Right, moving on! Jason: Well, the gist of it is she was totally rejected by the guy she fell in love with. Circe: Can you be a little more tactful—!? Is this just what human royalty is like!?

> Not very well……

Circe: Yeah, exactly. It’s nothing you need to know about, Piglet! Orion: Oh, then I’ll explain it. Circe: It’s. Fine. Just. Drop. It. Orion: It was after the end of the Trojan War. Odysseus got on a boat to return home…... Circe: You’re rea~lly doing this, huh. Orion: But he was set adrift. A bunch of other stuff happened, but long story short, he ends up washing up on Aeaea Island. Jason: But the witch who lived there didn’t trust humans, so they got turned into animals. Stuff like pigs and lions and wolves. Orion: Even though they were welcomed in, Odysseus’s men were also transformed into pigs. But she sure apologized quickly when Odysseus got angry and pulled a sword out. Circe: Agh- Geh- Guh…… (She’s writhing) Jason: And then, in exchange for turning his men back to normal, she got Odysseus to stay. ……Now that I think about it, you’re pretty good at doing business…… Circe: You think that’s what’s admirable!? Orion: But, ya’know, from the start Odysseus already had a wife, Penelope. After recuperating his strength on Aeaea Island, he decided to return home. Circe: (She’s starting to get into the depressed loner at PE pose) Jason: And that’s the story of how Circe got rejected! Circe: ーThank you all for your “courteous” explanation. I’m so gonna turn you guys into pigs!!

Orion: ......Huh? Hey, Master, do you think that guy way over there is the Servant? They’re collapsed on the beach. Jason: Oh, maybe they smell bad and that’s why all those Phantasmal Beasts are gathering around.

> W- We have to help them!

Georgios: Indeed. Let’s move out! Circe: Fine, but I’ve still got a number of complaints, so— Jason: Forget about that and help!!

[battle]

Georgios: That should be it. Now then, everyone, if you would be so kind. Everyone: ? Georgios: Smile.

[he snaps a photo]

Jason: I smiled on instinct, but is there a reason why you had to take a picture? Georgios: For the memories, of course. Circe: Well, we should probably get to waking up this Servant, right? Good grief, we really are a bunch of insensitive heroes…… Hey, are you okay? …… …… Hm? Hmmmmm?

> What is it?

Circe: I- It’s nothing. Super, totally not even a thing, ya’know? Jason: I thought the back of their head looked strange, but it’s a helmet, huh? Oi, they might be drowning in there. Why don’t you take off his helmet? Circe: ...... ...... Orion: Georgios, teacherー please helpー. Georgios: Right. And-a-one, and-a-twoー ???: Ug…… Ugh…… W- Where am I……? Jason: Oh, he’s alive. ???: Who are...... you people......?

[Circe is constantly at the side of the frame while we’re talking]

> We’re from Chaldea

???: Chaldea......? Jason: If you don’t know Chaldea, does Jason or Orion ring a bell? ???: ......Those are the names of legendary heroes…… Are you saying you are too? Georgios: I am Georgios. The thing that looks like a bear at first glance is Orion. And the man who’s crossing his arms, slowly backing away, and thinking things like “When I get my chance I’ll turn tail and run”...... That one is Jason. Jason: Why do I get roasted for my introduction!? Georgios: Moving on— Oh? What happened to Circe?

> Huh?

???: ......Circe? Mash: Circe seems to have slipped away. Orion: Just what does she think she’s doing…… Hey, you guys stay here. Master and I will find her. Jason: So she ended up skipping out after all. ???: Circe…… Georgios: She’s the famed Great Witch of Aeaea Island. You’ll meet her in a bit.

Node 2

[at a waterfall]

ーAll at once, I ran away. I don’t understand what’s happening right now. All I knew was that I had to get away from that suffocating atmosphere.

Circe: *pant*…… *pant* *pant*…… So that bad feeling I had was right……

……I thought this day would come. Because he is a hero. A hero among heroes. Of course he would be summoned, the only question is when.

Circe: It probably wouldn’t be a problem if it wasn’t a chance meeting.

Why did it have to be this, of all things? I just had to find him summoned to Aeaea Island. Where it all began.

Circe: What’s gotten into me, running away like that!? I’m not usually this bad. Right now I am first and foremost— Guda’s Servant. …… ……

……If I could just breathe and sort my feelings outー But even as I think this……

[there’s a noise]

Circe: Can everything just be quiet!

> Circe!

Circe: Guh, Master!!

[she starts shifting around]

Circe: *fiddles with her hair* *pulls her own cheeks* *checks her face in a hand mirror* *turns away, then looks back with a smile* Hey hi, what’s up, Piglet! Orion: Stop looking in the mirror and help us fightー!! Circe: You’re just a bear that doesn’t understand a maiden’s heart!!

> Preparing for combat!

[battle]

> Now then, what’s wrong?

Circe: ...... ......Ugh. It’s about that guy we found on the beach.

> Do you know him?

Circe: I do know him. I know him very well. That man’s name is— ......Odysseus. He’s one of the few heroes that survived the Trojan War. The man who devised the Trojan Horse and led the Achaean forces to victory. ……A man who was set adrift for a long, long time on his way back to his beloved wife. ……A man who spent a bit of time with me here, on Aeaea Island.

---

T/L: Only one! The section where Circe is “frozen and twitching at the corner of the bed” is a phrase that I do believe got translated (re: her connection to Penelope in Material Book VI) as “curled up in a fetal position”. I think, perhaps, the description in the Material Book could be translated as that, but that turn of phrase seemed much too severe for Circe in this moment. The feeling here is more like “are you sure you want to think on it” rather than “oh something is seriously wrong here”

Prologue ← → Ch. 2

#fgo #fgo translation #grand order #aeaean spring breeze #my translations #long post

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morris-magus-merry-miller · 5 years ago

Text

Chapter 5: The Marvelous Manor of Madness

The island was to be a two-hour trip from Port Town. Enough time for me to prepare a special little spell, which if this is not the final draft will likely be on this page if it hasn’t already been expended. Sorry about that, I’ll undo the effects if you weren’t the intended target. Hope you at least have a nice nap.

Anyways, it was a quick and uneventful boat ride, until the last moments. As we approached the island, we found there was an ominous storm brewing. Blood red clouds had gathered in the sky above Gladshire’s manor. I would not blame you, dear reader, if you find this storm very similar to the roiling pink clouds which had gathered when Ulong had frozen Dualwood. Certainly, that is what we feared as we approached the island. But this proved to be a different phenomenon entirely.

We dropped anchor at the shore and made our way inland on foot. As we approached the manor, we came upon four shambling animated corpses and a foreboding looking tree.

Issac, our dear nature expert, informed us that the tree was a very dangerous undead plant called a Hangman Tree. It’s a tree…that does exactly what its name implies. It’s an insidious creature that uses spores to trick your brain into thinking it’s nothing but a normal tree, or even a friendly treant. Then when your guard is down it snags you by the neck with its vines, strangles you to death, and then eats you!

As we formulated a plan of attack, Issac warned that it wasn’t particularly flammable by normal means—but it would likely be set ablaze by a well-placed lightning bolt.

That meant it was John and Vigo’s time to shine. John called upon his goddess’ wrath and bolts of lightning rained from the heavens, striking the tree and the zombies that meandered around it.

Strange that a goddess of death would have an affinity for storms…although I suppose many people are likely killed by lightning strikes, so it’s not utterly uncalled for. It would make more sense I think for a cleric worshipping Nairon’s goddess to strike down foes with lightning. But again, I am no expert on divine magic. If a goddess of death wants to grant her followers control of the weather, who am I to say it makes it seem as though the world we live in has no internal consistency?

With the zombies weakened, Vigo followed up with a wall of lightning that blew them apart. Thus in mere seconds only the tree remained.

I began a reading to focus my companions’ minds to the task at hand, and also sent a spell at the tree to slow its movements to a snail’s pace. Even if it released its spores, I thought, it wouldn’t be able to immediately grab any victims.

Well, I was right, but that didn’t stop it from releasing said spores. As Terrance and Nairon pushed forward, intent to take advantage of the plant’s slowed state, a cloud of spores were released into the air. I saw Candy let out a gasp, breathing in the mind-altering pollen. I couldn’t allow that to happen to my friend, of course. I snapped my book shut, abruptly ending my performance. The remaining magic was channeled to Candy, clearing her lungs of the dangerous substance.

Unfortunately, in doing so I left myself open to breath in the same pollen. Things got a bit fuzzy from there. The tree actually looked quite friendly. I think I was about to run up to it, before John utterly annihilated it with another lightning strike from above. It is quite possible I owe John a life debt for that, and I will repay him in kind.

Nairon and Terrance had apparently also been taken in by the tree’s mind warping properties. They expressed discomfort with going any further after such a harrowing experience, and decided they would return to the ship and keep watch from there while we cleared out the manor.

So we parted ways, and our band continued onwards. As we approached the manor it was clear all was not well. Many of the once opulent windows had been shattered, and a quite deceased body hung out of one. Not moving, unlike the corpses that had stood vigil around the tree, thankfully.

However as we approached a voice spoke up from the body. At first it appeared a lingering spirit was calling for our aid. What we discovered, however, was that the body had one of those Stones of Farspeech on its person, and Oswald Gladshire was trying to contact us through it. The Wizard of the Stars was being held captive within his own tower by a vile necromancer—who also happened to be his grandfather. Gladshire requested our immediate aid, to clear out the monstrosities that now infested his home, and to free him from the bird cage he’d been locked within at the highest point of the tower.

We needed his guidance to save Dualwood, so we were of course going to do so regardless. Adventurers save nobles in distress because it’s the right thing to do, that is a given. That he offered to let us keep anything we picked up that could help us within his manor was, of course, a secondary concern.

He quickly dropped the call as he heard his captor approaching, but promised to keep in touch as the situation allowed.

The inside was both as extravagant and as wrecked as the outside had been. Rubble blocked a ruined staircase, necessitating us going the long way around to get to higher ground.

There were a number of rooms down the halls to both sides, many with placards denoting what the room was. Vigo stuck he head into a room labelled “WC”, which he said didn’t have anything of interest. John and I went looking into the “Horse Room”, which was a mostly barren room with a single large golden statue of a horse. Someone—Gladshire I must presume—had placed sunglasses upon the horse’s face. Quite reminiscent of Nathaniel’s usual attire, in fact, although something about the statue gave me a feeling that this horse was much older and more venerable than my own dear companion. I gave him a polite nod in greeting, as I would Nathaniel if he had been there at the time, before being on my way.

Down the next hall we came upon an imposing metal door—Gladshire confirmed over the Stone of Farspeech that it was a vault. He was fairly certain some baddies had made their way inside, and asked that we unlock it and clear it out. One itty bitty little problem stood in the way of that—the door was protected by a device that was password protected. A skull mounted above the door would spit acid at anyone who guessed the password wrong, or tried to open the door through brute force. Gladshire didn’t know the password himself, he’d had his apprentice Elena set it for him, and he hasn’t seen her since the attack. All he knew was that he’d told her to set it to ‘something you will remember’.

Clever adventurers that we are, we took the most prudent course of action. Guessing wildly. Paige confirmed that a few…admittedly rather vulgar terms were not the password. I tried Elena’s name—after all she was sure to remember that! We brainstormed other possibilities, and were about to give up when Paige tried the word ‘Something’. While the door remained closed, the skull didn’t activate.

A brilliant thought hit me—Gladshire hadn’t said the password need be only one word. Heart pounding, excitement flowing through my veins, I spoke the password.

“Something you will remember”

And voila! The skull remained inactive, and there was the sound of a lock opening. I pushed open the door.

And immediately back-peddled for Candy to take the lead, as there was a golden skeleton waiting directly within the doorway. A swift flurry of kicks was all it took to do away with that little problem. We got a number of nifty trinkets courtesy of Gladshire’s generosity, and we continued on our way to keep clearing the manor of such ghouls as that. Not literal ghouls. I don’t think we faced any literal ghouls. A few…other things, as you’ll soon find, but no ghouls.

We circled back around, finding that the next hallway led back the way we’d come, but also continued forward in the opposite direction. John found a “smoking room”, and he and Vigo took a number of seemingly enchanted cigars from there. One was as long as Vigo was tall, and smelled…just atrocious, really. I had to excuse myself, alongside Peanut whose poor sensitive bear nose must have been burning from the putrid smoke.

Next we came to a parlor. The room beyond had music coming from it. Issac decided to try to scout ahead. He transformed into an adorable little hedgehog and skittered forward to peek beyond the door.

He didn’t get far. In the next room a number of awakened skeletons waited, and they immediately spotted the tiny hedgehog that pushed his way into their midst. The music grew louder and more focused, as one of the skeletons—whom I later learned was named Georgio—began playing trumpet.

I felt a challenge had been issued, and whipped out Nathaniel’s flute to begin a tune of my own.

While Georgio and I provided background music for the skirmish, Candy had a more up close and personal fight with one of the musician’s friends. (A backup dancer perhaps…?) I threw my hat into the ring as well, so to speak, when the skeleton had some disparaging words to say about Candy. His companion may have been a fine musical talent, but a gentleman this one was not. I called up a new spell I’ve been toying with—biting words—and told him just what I thought about him speaking ill of my companions.

Between the five of us, the musician’s two companions fell quickly. Georgio didn’t seem to have much in the way of battle prowess himself, and quite frankly I felt no desire to destroy him. He was a man of true talent after all!

It would seem he had no desire for a physical confrontation anymore, either. He ceased his trumpeting and challenged me to a far more desirable duel—one not of magic or sword, but of musical might.

Unfortunately for him, he flubbed his notes rather quickly, while I was quite on point. He tipped his hat to me.

Before exploding.

…I know some people don’t handle a loss very well, but looking back that still seemed a bit excessive.

I took both his trumpet and a fiddle from the wall, which I shall play in his short lived memory.

With the skeleton band out of the way, Issac stole a peek into the next room. It was…beyond description, and even if it weren’t I fear I don’t desire to make use of words to do it justice. You shall have to fill in the gory details yourself, dear reader. Suffice to say there was a veritable horde of Fetches. They were seated at the table eating. Not food—oh no—but viscera, scraps of flesh, the last remains of many a visiting noble’s carcass...

I apologize, I did say I would not describe it, but the memory is difficult to banish.

Standing before the feasting horde was a man. Although ‘standing’ and ‘man’ are both inexact. It was more ‘floating’ and ‘ghost’.

I recognized the man from some old news I’d read some time back, while Candy realized she’d seen this man first-hand in the past. A vile fellow by the name of Count Bartholomew McLaurin. For those not in the know, he was once a count in Donmum City. However he was caught up in some dark business—human experimentation, warping creatures together, and who knows what else. All at the behest of some group called the Society of Great Enlightened Ones. He died in an explosion, a suicide bomb, I suppose to escape any punishment for his crimes.

What connection he had to this place was at first unclear. Without knowing we feared we couldn’t best him permanently—for as everyone knows, a ghost will just keep coming back if it still has unfinished business in the mortal realm.

And it would seem I was to be the one to uncover the truth. The others were rather quick to volunteer me for the task. I cannot deny I have a knack for words. I wouldn’t be an author if not! But I must say this entire situation was rather off putting. Quite frankly, I wasn’t certain that the entire room wouldn’t just mindlessly attack me. Not that all undead are mindless—as we saw from Georgio that is very much not the case, and I am well aware of the rise of awakened undead in cities across the globe. However these were…you know, eating viscera in the middle of a manor where most everyone had apparently been slaughtered…it didn’t seem like an ideal place for a chat. Georgio aside.

Still, my companions felt this was the best course of action. The fetches wouldn’t be difficult due to their pyrophobia, but we feared the ghost alone might be enough to drag one or all of us to the grave if we weren’t careful. So we hatched a plan to speak to the ghost, butter him up to learn what we could about what bound him to the mortal plane. We brainstormed possible codewords to use to call in reinforcements if things got out of hand—and settled on ‘would you like some merlot with that’, since the undead were eating. Issac also decided to come along with me—transforming into an adorable little black rabbit who helped calm my nerves tremendously. I wonder if anyone has ever told Issac he’d make an amazing therapy animal in that form?

To be quite honest with you, dear reader, I found the idea of talking to a ghost a rather frightening concept. I know we were in a haunted manor, but I didn’t expect to find a real ghost of all things!

As a wise man once said “I ain’t afraid of no ghosts”. Actually, I think maybe Vigo said that. Regardless, with a plan in place, a very fluffy bunny in hand, and a few spells cast to grant myself a…let’s say confidence boost, I strode forward into the feast of horrors.

#entry #pathfinder #pathfinder campaign #dungeons and dragons #d&d campaign #Morris 3M #a totally normal horse

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midnightiscoming-kasabian · 5 years ago

Photo

How Batman inspired Kasabian side project

By Paul Glynn 9 June 2019

As 21st Century rock 'n' roll names go, they don't come much bigger in the UK than Serge Pizzorno.

Over the past 15 years his tub-thumping band Kasabian have been selling out stadiums and headlining festivals like Glastonbury.

The guitarist/singer's name has also been synonymous with wonder goals at Soccer Aid and on Soccer Am.

For his first foray into the solo world, however, Pizzorno felt his given birth name in full just "didn't feel right", so while his band are taking a year off, he's now operating alone under the new moniker The S.L.P. [Sergio Lorenzo Pizzorno].

"It almost felt like it would be good if I was starting a new fashion line," laughs Pizzorno, "like Georgio Armani or something".

He added: "I thought the initials would be a better place to start.

"I also like Biggie Smalls, the B.I.G. - you know what I mean? The S.L.P. - I was into that."

"The dot after the P is very important if you're gonna write it," he stresses.

There's more to the re-name than meets the eye though, it seems.

As well as being a nod to a famous late rapper, Pizzorno claims his latest incarnation allows him the chance to free himself from the shackles of his day job - running a massive dance-rock "machine" - and to explore a different side his personality, with a whole new short-haired look to boot.

Much like his favourite superhero.

"There's three songs on the record called Meanwhile..." he explains, "Meanwhile in Genoa, Meanwhile... The Welcome Break... and Meanwhile… In the Silent Nowhere - that's the start middle and end of the album.

"I've always loved that, he's Bruce Wayne, meanwhile... he's Batman, in the Batcave!

"In everyday life he's got his suit on and behind what we don't see is that he's this thing, this alter ego.

"So I just thought you've got 'Serge', whatever that means, and meanwhile there's The S.L.P."

He adds: "It felt like OK, I've got a starting point and for me making music, I need a start point, I need a reason to do it.

"I'm not doing it to knock out cheese burgers and make profit, I'm into it to blow my own mind."

Pizzorno debuted tracks from his forthcoming debut solo album at a central London Q & A, alongside his friend, comedian and sometimes collaborator Noel Fielding.

One of Fielding's own alter egos - aside from baking cakes and cooking up surreal comedy - is portraying Vlad the Impaler, a character from one of Pizzorno's band's songs, at some live shows.

Fielding described his friend as "one of the best songwriters we've got," adding, "we should celebrate him."

'Self portrait'

The 38-year-old musician from Leicester views the record as "an updated self-portrait" and a chance to take stock of who he really is, where he's been and where he's headed.

His band have had five consecutive UK number one albums, with Pizzorno acting as the main songwriter and creative force.

"You get so far doing it and you just forget," he says, sipping a suitably rock 'n' roll-named cocktail - Crossfire Hurricane.

"You go 'oh that's what I do now', and some mornings you wake up and go 'I don't know if I wanna do that anymore'. Everyone does it, you do it.

"It's that thing of going 'man, remember when it wasn't about that?'

"So now I can ask whatever I want, I can go into a studio and don't have to think about headlining a festival, or getting it on the radio or all the things that creep in.

"There's a freedom to it, it can be whatever it wants to be and that is exciting."

The first thing "it" became was a collaboration, (thanks to a mutual friend) with one of the hottest rappers in the UK, Little Simz, on lead single Favourites.

The genre-bending track, which was Annie Mac's Hottest Record on Radio 1 earlier this year, tackles a subject that barely existed when Kasabian began - the stress of online mobile phone dating apps.

"I was sat in a boozer with my wife," he recalls, "and we saw these girls flicking through, going 'he's my favourite,' and I was like 'I'm writing that down, I love that.'

"It just got me thinking about the real you. What we put out to the world, especially online, is a heightened vision of yourself and the perfect version of you, but the reality is we're all sat at home panicking like hell about everything!

"I needed someone to buzz off and Simz, she's the best. So I sent her the track on email and told her what it was about and she loved it.

"It's this back and forth between this couple on a date and in their heads this voice is screaming out 'if you only knew the real me!' but then they can't give that away.

"She came down to the studio, we sat down and she penned it on an iPhone."

The re-branded Pizzorno is currently putting together a band for some Dave Byrne/Talking Heads-inspired theatrical live dates, which he promises will also include some more intimate solo moments.

"I don't want it to be like Kasabian" declares Pizzorno, who adds that his record - sonically speaking - goes "from Ibiza to Nigeria to... I dunno... Croydon".

And as he begins his musical metamorphosis into his own version of Batman, he does so with the full blessing of the man who has been his Robin for all these years (or vice versa) - Kasabian singer, Tom Meighan

"Tom? He loves it. He's my favourite bro!"

Sergio Pizzorno's debut solo album The S.L.P. is out later this year

Source: www.bbc.com | Photo: Carsten Windhorst

#kasabian #sergio pizzorno #the s.l.p.#noel fielding #favourites #little simz #interviews #interviews 2019 #london 05.06.19

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movedyourchair505 · 6 years ago

Text

Napule Nights - nove

Shocker, thanks to Elana for helping me with this again. Love you xx

- chapter navigation -

Every new space Jade entered with Turner offered new impressions, new faces, new secrets, and she tried to observe it all, to not leave a single detail not taken notice of, which was admittedly harder than it seemed with his hand on her hip as he led her through a dark tunnel underneath the building they had just entered, his touch proving observing and keeping her mind focused to be a rather difficult task at hand. Quite literally.

Despite his previous intention to give her more instructions in the morning, she had very little to go by as they neared the end of the corridor. He'd told her to “dress teh impress”, informed her that the previously mentioned meeting was a poker game with participants of mostly people he worked with, some although loosely connected with enemy businesses. He had asked Jade to watch those individuals, just to have another pair of eyes on them, but he'd also made it quite clear that she was mostly there to divert the attention from Turner himself, to turn some heads, to look pretty and be a distraction, and to make him look better. Jade hadn't dared to ask then, why her, why he wouldn't just hire an escort.

Helders and Cook were closely behind them, the echo of their shoes ringing up the walls, and Jade couldn't help but feel safe, especially when she could make out two more figures at the far end of the dimly lit tunnel, another pair of henchmen. All they needed to move was a nod from Turner, then they opened the door they guarded and soon Jade was once again stood in a room of which the bright and luxuriously furnished interior harshly contrasted the blank and dark exterior.

Old photographs decorated the brick walls, the floor was carpeted in crimson red, a bar set up in one of the corners. Multiple crystal chandeliers lit up the underground space, no windows, one door each on opposite ends of it. Smoke floated through the air, its smell blending together with that of leather, rich perfume and gin.

Two women stood by the bar, sipping on martinis, looking up instantly when Turner and Jade entered the room. Without even letting her gaze wander across half of the room, Jade knew that all eyes were on her, those of the two women stood on the side, those that sat in the laps of a few of the men situated around a large round table in the centre of the room, and all the men themselves – including Turner.

It was then that she realised why he hadn't decided to hire an escort, as she slowly grew aware of just what she had gotten herself into. She had seen none of the faces in the room before, no one looked familiar and most importantly, no one wore the same look that Turner did. He was the most important person here and she hadn't truly understood until this moment what that meant for her.

“Turner, finalmente.”

One man sat at the table gave Turner a smile, then gestured to the last empty chair, stood beside him and Turner's hand slipped from Jade's hip to the small of her back. The material of her dress was thin, flimsy enough to allow her to feel the heat of his touch through it and there was no denying that it made her more nervous that she liked but she tried to compose herself as he led her forward, sat down in the chair and leaned back, spreading his legs apart, the matte material of his dark suit straining over his thighs and he patted his knee, then looking up at Jade expectantly.

She pressed her lips together, let her eyes wander around the room, met with most pairs, some looking away just in time before she noticed as she sat down on Turner's thigh, one of his hands instantly finding its way to her hip again and giving it a squeeze.

One of the men opposite them at the table had started shuffling a deck of cards, a woman by his side placing an equal amount of poker chips in front of each player, then stepping back when the cards were dealt.

“Would yeh light meh a cigarette, pupa?”

Jade felt shivers run up her spine, Turner's voice much closer, much lower than expected as he reached for his cards and picked them up, sorting them in his hand. Jade instantly missed the feeling of his hand on her hip, it almost distracted her from actually comprehending what he'd said, until he bounced up his thigh slightly to get her attention, the nudge enough to make her snap out of it and she nodded, drawing the pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and fishing one out before placing the pack in front of him.

He parted his lips absently, then closed them around the cigarette when she placed it there and popped open his lighter and flamed the end until smoke rose from it and Turner held his cards in one hand once he'd finished putting them in order, taking a drag from his cigarette and holding his hand with it over the edge of the table, blowing the smoke up into the air in rings lazily.

Slowly, the cards became more interesting than their arrival and Jade felt less on edge focusing solely on Turner for a moment. Not that she had been able to really pay attention to anything else while sat so close to him. It wasn't just his scent that surrounded her into a spicy cloud of musk, but the way his suit was tight in all the right places, the top buttons of his shirt open as usual, the white contrasting his gently bronzed tan, exposing the shiny chain resting against his collarbones. He was intimidatingly gorgeous.

The embarrassment from the previous night still gnawed at her, and she was determined to not slip up tonight, to obey him, to somehow gain his approval or at least to not disappoint him or generally give him a reason to criticize her in any way, shape or form so when he leaned in again, she tried to pay attention to his words as much as his scent, his face, his touch.

“Reyht, 'ere's the deal” he drawled, his lips so close to her ear that she could feel his breath tickling her skin. He held up his cards as if he was showing her and she picked up on it quickly, staring down at his cards while she listened, nodding slowly.

“Tha' one wif the fick glasses, tha's Georgio” he said, quiet enough only for her to hear him. “I'm positive 'e's got ties teh Alfonso. Also tha' short one teh 'is reyht, he does deliverehs for another famileh tha's wif Alfonso.”

“What about the others?” Jade asked, her voice barely audible but she knew he'd heard her.

“I kno' most of 'em and 'ave worked wif them so tha's nofin teh beh worried about.”

For a moment he seemed irritated, furrowing his brows in confusion, moving to turn his head but before he fully could, his features smoothed again as one of the women from the bar placed a drink down in front of him and he acknowledged it simply with a nod before he sucked in a deep breath, his eyes flickering across the table, studying each of the men individually, gaze wandering across the women sat with them, then it landed back on Jade, shamelessly cascading down her slender neck to where her breasts were pushed up in the tight red dress that hugged her curves exquisitely.

He loved having her just sit there, just as his accessory, a secret weapon at the same time, she'd proven useful before, and he knew she was seemingly harmless to the others, just another girl to do whatever he pleased with, but he knew full well that all the other women in the room had nothing on her and he enjoyed that immensely, knowing he was superior, in power in every respect.

Jade could feel his eyes on her, their intensity, it was like they burned her skin and made her shiver at the same time. It took all her strength to focus on the rest of the men in the room rather than him, he was so close and she was so aware of the way his hand kept finding its way back to her thigh, in between taking drags from his cigarette and placing the cards on the table.

He seemed on edge at first, then slowly relaxed as the game ensued, dominating right from the start, watching the other players carefully nonetheless. He was highly focused, his movements and decisions strategically placed, and if they weren't, he was effortless at keeping up the appearance. When allowing herself to look back at him, turning her head for the shortest amount of time – not a second longer so he'd know that she was still following his orders – she regretted it instantly, struggling to go back to watching something much less interesting than him because she couldn't deny that she was completely and utterly fascinated by him, the way he pursed and licked and stretched his lips, the way his gaze hushed across the table before he made any sort of move, the way his jaw locked and she was the only one who could tell he tense.

When she could draw her eyes from him and focus on the others, she allowed herself to let her gaze drop to his hands, fiddling with the cards of bringing the cigarettes she continuously lit for him up to his lips, then back down. Every time one of his hands was free, she tensed, anticipated his touch and she was never disappointed, swallowing hard when he gave her thigh a subtle squeeze and she turned her head. It was unnecessary, he had her full attention anyway, she'd figured out as much as she could by now, felt it was quite obvious who belonged to who, who felt the most comfortable because of their location.

“Jade?” Turner drawled, his voice raspy, not as quiet as before but he cleared his throat quickly.

“Mmm?”

“D'yeh actualleh kno' 'ow teh play?” He asked. He must have noticed her not only watching the men he'd pointed out to her, but also the others, following the game carefully.

Jade chuckled, shaking her long hair back, brushing her fingers through it. “What do you take me for, Turner?” She whispered, licking her lips.

The corner of his mouth twitched and he titled his head to the side in amusement. He nodded slowly, her perfume had been lingering around him, like his personal magic tree, but as she shook her hair and shifted it really hit him and he grew more aware of just how close he was, of just how much he could do like this and she felt his fingers move across her thigh, the calloused tips running up her skin just below the hem of her dress, his nails scratching lightly at her skin in the process. She didn't know it but he was pleasantly surprised by her, especially after how she'd acted the day before. “Wha' do yeh suggest I do then?”

He gave an barely noticeable nod towards his cards, another squeeze of her thigh and she tried to compose herself, tried to ignore the way he toyed with the hem of her dress, pressed his chest close to her side, his lips almost touching her neck as he spoke and she tried her hardest to play along, to act like he was just letting his hands wander, telling her something dirty.

She could feel his heartbeat, could smell his cologne, something else she was never able to pinpoint and it was almost too much, but the urge to impress him prevailed. “Do it.”

His eyes flickered up at her, then he looked back down at his cards, straightened his neck and stretched his jaw. The confidence in her voice, knowing, decisive, he couldn't resist and pushed the rest of his chips into the centre of the table.

“All in, gentlemen.”

The mood shifted, most of the men now tense, the women suddenly paying attention to the main event too. It was quite impressive, the effect he had on a room full of people that seemed only half as intimidating as him, but what really drew Jade in was the look on his face, the smug hint of a smile, complacent radiation of confidence.

“Why don't yeh get yehrself a drink too, pupa?”

Jade was confused at first, taken aback by the tone, the edge to his voice, like something had changed, but it wasn't exactly unsettling, comforting rather, like he'd relaxed somehow. With another squeeze of her hip, he let go and shifted so she could get up, making her way to the bar in the corner, not even needing to look over her shoulder to tell he was looking at her, or to know that the groaning around the table meant that he'd once and for all asserted his dominance, a sense of pride swelling inside her as she heard the chips being dragged across the table.

“What's it gonna be?” The woman's low voice snapped Jade out of it as her eyes scanned her up and down, she pursed her lips, then looked at the other woman stood with her.

“Manhattan.”

She gave a nod, turned around to start making her drink while the other also prepared one. “So, where do you work?” She asked, looking up at Jade.

Jade raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, I've seen you around, haven't I?” The second one smirked. “Voglia? I used to dance there.”

“I don't anymore” Jade responded stiffly, all her confidence going up in smoke as she was unsure about how much she should share, but she also didn't want to be too cold, too distant to make Turner look bad in any way. There was way too much she still didn't know, but she knew she didn't have to try with these women either. She was certain they both accompanied the men Turner had told her about.

“Is that so?” The first one asked, handing her her drink.

She looked back at them both, swallowing. “It's none of your business really.”

That gained the attention of the second woman as well, drawing it from her chaperone back to Jade and she just shrugged before carrying two drinks over to the table.

Jade didn't know what unsettled her but she felt instantly like she'd missed something, let the men out of sight even though Turner had asked her to watch them, but he'd also told her to get a drink and she felt strangely out of touch with herself, her task, like talking to the women had thrown her off, had made her lose focus.

She pressed her lips together, watched the second woman place a glass in front of Turner and then Jade's heart started pounding, blood rushing into her ears and she swallowed, her throat dry.

She crossed the room with two large steps, the heels of her shoes audible even on the carpeted floor and without any sense of respect or shame, she sat herself back down in Turner's lap and wrapped her arm around his shoulders, visibly catching him off guard, but he only wrapped his arm around her waist, turning his head to allow her to speak close to his ear, shielded by her hair.

“Stay calm” she said, unable to follow her own advice. Her voice was shaking, she felt dizzy.

He was irritated instantly. “Wha'?” He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

“She spiked your drink.”

His jaw clicked and he blinked several times, she could feel him suck in a breath. “Jade, don't embarrass yehrself again. I joost told yeh teh watch the two men...”

“She's with him” Jade said quickly, panicking as she realised he really didn't value her word that much, maybe he didn't trust her at all, maybe he just wanted to keep her busy, didn't really need her.

“This is neither of their places, sheh's joost...”

“The barwoman” she spoke insistently, almost frantic, desperately trying to keep her voice down. “She's with one of the men you pointed out, I think … I think you might not be on good terms with more of two couples in this room.”

“Do yeh kno' wha' yeh're suggestin' reyht now? I'm winnin' reyht now, I...” He was growing more tense,

Jade snapped, pushing herself away from him, stealing the cigarette resting in front of him on the edge of the ashtray and without a second thought dropped it into the clear liquid in his glass.

The sizzling sound silenced the room.

Having blended into the background up until now, Cook and Helders were instantly on either side of her and Turner, both with their hands at their belt, their jackets concealing what Jade assumed to be guns and she tensed, breathing out shakily.

Turner tightened his arm around her, no indication of fear, not a hint of panic on his smooth features. “I fink weh're gunna go” he spoke calmly, locking the gaze of each of the men he was now certain had not expected him to make it this far.

“I think you better had.”

Jade watched Turner's eyes darken, praying she would never be on the receiving end of the glare he laid upon the man he'd trusted up until a few moments ago.

“I fink it's safe teh say I won” Turner said, chuckling darkly. “Me moneh.”

It was all a blur, surreal, how the woman that had put something into his drink went back into the corner, only to return with a small suitcase of bills, and Turner got up only when Helders had confirmed that it was the right amount of money, there was no rush to his movements, his hand on Jade's hip the only thing soothing her as Helders and Cook led them outside, neither of them looking back, the room behind them silent, tense.

The heavy door fell closed, separating them from the hostility she'd feared so much inside the room, but it wasn't until they were sat in the back of the car that Alexander looked over at her, his expression giving away more than he would have liked but as he regarded her next to him, he was visibly shaken, almost unable to hide just to what extent. Not that nobody had ever made an attempt on his life before, no, he was no stranger to that. But the fact that Jade had been the only reason it hadn't succeeded, it unsettled him.

“Jade...” he said quietly, swallowing hard, the lights of the city rushing by flickering across his face, his neck as his skin stretched over his adam's apple, moved his chain even.

“Y-Yes?” She stammered, desperate for him to speak.

“Yeh were reyht.”

Her heart was still racing, she felt like she hadn't really comprehended the situation she'd been in until now, and it terrified her to the core. “I...”

“No” he said, taking her hand into his, not allowing her to disagree with him which he knew she was setting up to do, judging by her expression. “Fank yeh.”

#alex turner #alex turner fic #alex turner fanfic #alex turner fanfiction #alex turner/oc #alex/jade #arctic monkeys #The Last Shadow Puppets #adt #writing #napule nights #mafia au #mafia!al

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magicjesuscup · 6 years ago

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I really like your headcannons, may I please ask for some about Jeanne x Siegfried (saber of Black)?

I’m glad you’ve liked what you’ve seen so far. :) So...I can probably only do this because I feel like I know the characters well enough. I kinda ship Jeanne with Arthur, but this would be cute too. I mean, who doesn't love that precious dragon slayer? So now I'm in rare pair hell x2. Lol.

I've seen other people do relationship hcs, and I'm not sure I can write them like that. I don't think Siegfried or Jeanne would be different in other relationships. So if someone asked about Jeanne in a relationship with Arthur or something, I feel like I'd be repeating myself. I can write a separate hc post for what Siegfried would be like in a relationship and what Jeanne would be like in a relationship, but approached this ask by answering things like, How did they get to know each other?" "What do they like about each other?" and "What happened when they kissed or confessed their love for the first time?" ...I hope that's ok. >_>; It also got pretty long because I got carried away.

I stuck it under the cut because there are spoilers to Siegfried's first interlude and the Orleans singularity.

((This is going to assume that this Jeanne is different than the one in Fate/Apocrypha so I can avoid the love plot she was apart of.))

Both Jeanne and Siegfried tried to take responsibility for Fafnir still being in France. Jeanne believed since her alter brought the dragon to France, it was her duty to make sure it was vanquished; besides, France was her home, and she would protect it always. Siegfried insisted Fafnir's presence in France was his fault. The dragon was only summon-able because it gained fame through his legend. As their master, you suggested both of them accompany you and Mash. After all, the number of servants you could take with you well exceeded three.

While on the mission, Siegfried opened up about himself. Unfortunately, his stories were often cut short leaving Jeanne wanting to know more.

When they returned to Chaldea, Jeanne went after Siegfried and asked him, "You said you had no regrets, but what was there to regret? What happened?" Siegfried didn't seem to want to answer, so Jeanne clarified why she was asking. She too didn't have regrets about her life or how she died; she thought the two were similar and wanted to know more. Siegfried was 100% sure he had nothing in common with a saint, but his curiosity got the best of him.

Jeanne told her story first. She focused on growing up on her family's farm and the friendships she formed while on campaign with the French army while glossing over her trial and burning at the stake.

In turn, Siegfried shared his life. He skimmed over his fight with Fafnir as she had witnessed him fight the same dragon not too long ago. He focused most of his story on the things requested of him. As he agreed to any and all requests, it lead to him doing some not-so-heroic things. "I did those things because the person asking me couldn't, and I was able. I'm afraid back then I did things because I could rather than give any thought to if the things should be done. I would have turned down a lot of requests if I had." He also explained the circumstances surrounding his death.

Jeanne is incredibly inspired by Siegfried. Even though he had done things he wasn't proud of, he turned them into lessons to make him a better person. And what a person he had become! She understood everything he did while at Chaldea were things he wanted to do and determined were things he'd be willing to do. She watched him carry child servants on his shoulders. She saw him indulge Astolfo that one time Rider was curious if their riding skills would transfer to office chairs on wheels if they used them in a race, and who would win (The short answers to those questions, by the way, are "yes" and "Astolfo"). She observed him train with the knights of the round table and listen intently when any of them spoke of their code of chivalry. She spied on Siegfried as he interacted with their master; the way Siegfried slowly came to trust their master and form a friendship was heart warming.

Siegfried was equally impressed with Jeanne. She somehow saw something good in everything. In the few instances where she couldn't, she saw the possibility of redemption. No one and nothing was beyond hope; the only requirement for God's forgiveness was to seek it, and God loved all regardless. Her positivity was a sight unlike any he had ever seen. She made everything seem possible and bad situations less awful. Siegfried was never terribly religious, and was surprised when Jeanne didn't push Christianity on him. She certainly never bothered with any fear mongering. When asked about it, she would say, "Every person's path to God is unique; the only person that can walk your path is you. When the time is right, you'll find Him, and you'll understand how much God has always loved you." Siegfried wasn't sure who or what was to thank for him having met Jeanne. Was it fate? Good fortune? If it was her god, then maybe his book was worth a read.

Her smile was infectious and he often had to turn away from her or walk away least he be left grinning like an idiot. Of course, there was that one time Jeanne followed him, asked what was wrong, and immediately apologized if she had offended him or hurt his feelings. Siegfried quickly explained that she hadn't done anything wrong; it was just that his smile was weird...like serial-killer-weird. Jeanne put her hands on her hips, smiling and told him that wasn't true. She had seen him smile many times while speaking with her, and he didn't look like a serial killer at all. In fact, his smile was actually rather wonderful. Siegfried blushed a bit at that and found himself smiling along with Jeanne. Her face lit up even more and the two walked back to the others.

They were oblivious about their feelings for one another until Astolfo asked if they had made out yet. Both of their faces were bright red and both denied knowing what Astolfo was talking about. He came back with, "Oh, come on. You two have been flirting for months and a bunch of us are kinda invested." When Siegfried asked Astolfo to clarify, he explained that a bunch of servants (the Apocrypha group, a few knights of the round table, Merlin, both Gilles de Rais, and several others) started a betting pool for how long it would take for them to kiss.

Siegfried and Jeanne became super aware of each other after that. There were many moments where one would be staring at the other and turn away when the other looked in their general direction. To be honest, neither were opposed to a relationship, but neither were the type to initiate one. In life, Siegfried was married. He loved his wife, but their vows were only valid till "death do us part," and death parted them centuries ago. He had mourned his loss and since moved on. Jeanne, on the other hand, was a ruler class servant. Her role was meant to be that of a referee, and she wasn't supposed to get overly involved with any one servant in the grail war. However, her role seemed different in the Grand Order as every servant was fighting for humanity's salvation rather than the Grail.

They got a lot of advice from other servants. Siegfried got his from the Apocrypha crew. Karna was largely unhelpful. Astolfo and Shakespeare often gave bad advice. Most of the useful advice came from Vlad and Chiron, although Achilles added this gem, "Don't listen to Shakespeare...That dude wrote tragedies." Jeanne's advice came from Roman, Da Vinci, her master, and the other saints (most notably Georgios). For as many ideas as they had to kick start their relationship, both were too shy to actually do anything. It all kinda happened on its own.

One day Siegfried told Jeanne that he would likely turn into an evil dragon one day. He was sitting under a tree when he said it. Jeanne planted her left knee by his right thigh and swung her other leg to the other side so she was effectively straddling him. Jeanne replied with, "That's not possible." She put her hand on his chest. "I've seen your heart; it is pure, and it wouldn't permit you to do such things." Siegfried moved his left hand up, covered the hand Jeanne placed on his chest, and curled his fingers under it. Jeanne lowered herself a bit and pressed her forehead to Siegfried's. It wasn't terribly comfortable because of the armor she was wearing, but he would sooner die than complain. He tilted his head and pressed his lips against hers. He wasn't sure if she was ok with that until he felt her free hand rest on his side of his neck. Siegfried ran his free hand up the outside of her thigh before finally finding her lower back. As Jeanne broke the kiss to catch her breath, Siegfried murmured, "Sorry. I had trouble finding you back with my eyes clo-" He was cut off when Jeanne leaned in for a second kiss.

#Siegfried #Jeanne d'Arc #SiegfriedxJeanne #Fate/Grand Order #innersuperhero

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sephythespooky · 6 years ago

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Flower Child

(bringing valentine home from Goggle’s point of view)

Floret bitty from @gaiasteapot

Twister bitty from @selkiesbittybonanza

mythbitties from @mythical-adoptions

Chain lamia bitties from @vex-bittys

Puppy papri by @nyehtish

Sunlust lamia by @bitti-tarts

Moonjelly naga bitty from @dumplingsspookysweeties (aka me!) )

I liked the idea of being a helper. Not being able to see wasn’t fun, even if I only half know what that’s like. It let me bond a bit with Virgil, that first little while, both of us missing sockets.

But Valentine couldn’t see at all, so I could help them. I kept their bitty carrier secure in my coils all the way home.

“What sort of bitties are at home?” they asked as we got in the car. It took a lot of effort, at least it felt like it from the tone in their voice.

“Well, we have a lot of myth bitties at home, and quite a few snakes if you include Goggles. And then there are the puppies.” Sephy giggled about them. I knew she was in love with the big bones, and it made me happy to think about it. Made me feel more secure that our family wouldn’t fall apart.

“Puppies?” Val seemed to be confused.

“really tall skeletons with some dog features and tendencies,” I explain. the little rose leans against my scales and hums, acknowledging they heard me. “Sweet Bun is the housekeeper in the family. He’s the cook, the cleaner, and very nice. Then we have Goldie, who’s more of a lazybones, but he’s the protector kinda guy. And last is Gracey, who’s the newest pup. He’s shy and quiet, but he’s gentle to us and very enthusiastic about everybody being happy.”

Valentine seemed satisfied for a while, their fingers smoothing my scales with interest. But then they asked, “what about the myth bitties?”

“We have Dante, a Dietyrus who is very energetic but sweet,” Sephy lists off, counting on her fingers as we sit at a red light, “his Harbinger, Virgil, and their little brother, Orpheus, the Faerie. Then we have Adonis and Morpheus. Adonis is an Eastern Red, a dragon-”

“FIRE?!” Valentine yelped and crouched down in their box.

“hey, no, it’s okay,” I tried to purr to calm them. I could feel the little pings of panic from their soul, “donny never blows fire. even when he was super mad at dante once, he never used his fire. and even if he wanted to, he’d have to get through all of me first.” Poor little flower.

Sephy felt bad about it, too, I could see it in her face, “Oh, honey, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. Goggles is right, Donny’s just a lazy noodle, and he’s really sweet, especially to his brothers and mate....”

“Wh-what are they?” the stammer showed they were still scared, but Valentine at least peeked their petals over the edge of my coils again.

“Morpheus is his first brother, and he’s a Lucirazz. Then we have a Dealer, Jubilee. He’s one of the sweeter red suits, a diamond, so he’ll be nice if you ask him to. And Donny’s mate is Amethyst, a Sunlust lamia bitty.”

I purr. Amethyst has been really good for our household. He made Donny happy, he helps me and Gracey and Sephy with our anxiety, and he love love loves the fact that we all like to cuddle...except Virgil, but I’m pretty sure he’s what Sephy calls a ‘tsundere’, like those cute cactus pictures she puts on her phone.

Valentine nods, “Anybody else?”

“Mmhm,” She’s turning into our apartment complex now, “I have a Chain lamia named Georgio, and I just found out yesterday that he and Wagner, his Vampyrus mate, are going to have a clutch of eggs soon.”

A soft gasp made me look down. Valentine looked nervous, “Babies?”

“Yes, babies.” Sephy slowly pulled into our spot at the end of the line. “And last we have Denim. He’s a Moonjelly naga, a classic sans type snake. He likes to boop people on the nose, but we told him to leave you be until you say it’s okay.”

Valentine has popped back up to full height, and I hold them tight while Sephy picks us up from the passenger seat. “Are the babies here yet?”

“not yet, rosey,” I explain. “Georgio and Wagner just barely told Sephy about it, and Georgio’s got his soul bond with Sephy. He’ll be kind of protective for a while until the babies are hatched and kinda big. So there’s no need to fret”

They ease a bit, and nodded again. “Okay. And they know I can’t see?”

“yep,” We’re going up the stairs so Sephy’s concentrating. She’s scared of twisting her ankle again like a few months ago, so I don’t blame her for being quiet. “usually when we take someone in from a center, we’ve all agreed they’d fit in well with us. only gracey and denim were surprise members of the family.”

They seem to relax for the most part, and Sephy gets them out of their carrier and opens the door.

“WELCOME HOME!” Sweet Bun’s voice greets us as always, and I feel Valentine jump at the sudden sound.

“Sweet Bun, remember-”

“Oh!” His voice is much softer now as he comes out of the laundry area and gives Sephy a hug. “Sorry, I forgot for a moment. Hello, little flower friend. It’s nice to meet you.”

Valentine reached out, and Sweet Bun put his finger into their hands. The pups were all at full height now, so he was over half a foot taller than Sephy now. It made me feel good that we had three tall guys here to help if something ever happened to Sephy. I know I couldn’t lift a whole human in my tiny arms.

“I do have to go organize the others, little friend. I’ll be back in a moment.” When he was let go, Sweet Bun zipped from room to room, gathering people as Sephy sat on the sofa after closing the door.

“Okay, Valentine. That was Sweet Bun. Are you okay so far?”

They say slowly, “I think so? It will take a little bit to get used to his big voice, but his small voice is good for now. Does anyone else have a big voice like that?”

“nope.” I don’t think so, anyway. Sweet Bun is the loudest of all of us. “Orpheus, we call him Fi for short, is a little loud and so is Morpheus, but they’re all way softer than Sweet Bun’s normal voice.”

“um?” I look down and Denim is there. He’s quiet, mostly, but he’s talking right now. And he actually wears shirts now. Sometimes.

“Valentine, Denim is here.” Sephy says, and their vines reach out.

“Hi, Denim.” Valentine is happy, so I’m happy.

Denim slithers closer and lets Valentine feel his face, “hi. i won’t boop you. um...what’s your name?” His voice is very very soft and I’m kind of surprised to hear it. He’s barely said a word to anyone since he came here.

“I’m Valentine. Thank you for not booping me, and I appreciate you talking softly.” Yes good. Everybody’s doing well so far.

Denim hums and nuzzles into Valentine’s hands, then backs away, “talk to you later,” and he’s off to wherever he likes to hide.

Amethyst slides up next, and I greet him. “hey, mey. meet valentine.”

“Hello, sweetheart,” Mey purrs and leans his face against my coil so Val can feel him.

“Oh. You smell nice.” Val mentions, and Mey starts to purr.

“Thank you. You smell and look fantastic, darling. Welcome home.” I had a feeling Mey would probably try to help Valentine out, too, and I didn’t mind.

“Goggles said that...that the dragon is your mate. He won’t burn me, right?” Aww, they were still worried about Donny hurting them. Poor Val.

“Oh no, he would never.” Amethyst cooed and gently kissed some of Val’s petals, earning a shy squeak, “Adonis is a tender soul who loves peace and family. And you are our family now, Valentine.”

“O-okay,” Val was blushing. and I knew things would be good. Mey could keep anybody calm.

Fi and Morpheus zoomed in, “I’M COMING, GOGGLES!” called Morpheus and Val shifted to face them as the two landed.

Fi squeaked and held out his hand, “HI! YOU’RE THE NEW FRIEND, RIGHT?”

By now, Sweet Bun was back and sat on the far end of the sofa, clearing his throat to announce his presence. Val reached out and found Fi’s hand, “O-oh, hi. Um, what is your name?”

“HE’S FI AND I’M MORPHEUS THE GREAT AND TERRIBLE!” Oh dear, M is being....well, himself. The more he grows up, the more (falsely) cocky he gets. I worry about him.

“Oh. Why are you terrible? Morpheus?” Val reached out their other hand and Morpheus seemed to realize his posing was useless and calmed down.

“BECAUSE I’M ME. AND BECAUSE IF I’M GREAT AND TERRIBLE I CAN PROTECT YOU AND FI.”

“AND I’M NOT TERRIBLE BECAUSE I DON’T WANT TO BE SCARY.” Fi answered a question no one asked. As usual for the cutie. “WE’LL HELP RAISE THE BLINDS FOR YOU TO GET SUNSHINE.”

Sephy chuckled, “That’s very kind of you, boys.”

Val hummed as he examined the two hands he was given. Fi’s wings were fluttering, and I said softly, “hey, fi, you’re awfully breezy today.”

He puffed up his cheeks and huffed, but Morpheus growled at me. Hah, cute. I love these two kids.

“Oh?” Val turned to me. “Was that a pun?”

“yeah,” I hum, “Fi was flapping his wings to make those little gusts.”

“Wings...” Val seems pleased with the idea.

“Um, if you’re ready for the others, Valentine,” Sweet Bun says gently, “they’re here. But at your pace, of course.”

Nodding, they let go of Fi and Morpheus, “it’s nice to meet both of you.”

They giggle and fly away, off to play more games.

Dante whines and puts his head on Sephy’s knee. I realize he can’t directly communicate with Val because he can’t speak. “virgil? would you mind translating for your bro?”

“It is my solemn duty and only joy,” Virgil huffs and appears on Dante’s head. “Valentine, you are in the presence of the great diety known as Dante, and I am Virgil, translator and brother of Orpheus.”

There are several groans and coos from Dante, and he signs while he makes them, for the benefit of the rest of the family (and so they can correct Virgil if he tries to twist the words).

“My god wishes you to know he is also blind, traditionally speaking, and can only sense the world through his amazing extra senses.” Val reached out their vines and was gently analyzing Dante’s face while Virgil talked. “Welcome to our divinely cultivated family.”

Val’s vines slip over Virgil, too, who is surprisingly patient with them. “Hello, Dante, Virgil. Thank you.” When the vines withdraw, so does Dante’s head.

Sephy says softly, “Are you doing okay, Valentine?”

“Um, yes? I could use some water, though.” She sets us on the cushions and goes to get some.

Sweet Bun pushes Goldie and Gracey forward, “Valentine, these two about to give you their fingers are Goldie and Gracey. Please present yourselves to our new tiny friend!”

Goldie’s soft, warm voice is always calming. If I had to pick someone to be in charge other than Sephy, Goldie wins. He loves us and is strong enough to protect us.

“hey, valentine. i’m goldie. it’s good to have you safe at home.”

Val shook his finger, then Gracey offered his whole hand to the searching vines.

“m’gracey...you’re a nice, soft little fella...that’s good.” This made Val hum happily. They liked being praised.

A soft purr reached Valentine’s attention, and they turned their head down to it.

“Georgio~” Sephy cooed as she picked up the mini chain. Here was our brave and gentle founder. I guessed Wagner and Starlight were back in the nest boxes.

“heya. felt how happy everybody was and thought i’d join for a minute.” He sounded sleepy. He probably was, if I had to guess.

“geo,” Goldie said softly, “check out our cute new pal.”

“ooh.” He turned and Val followed his movements with their head. “hey there, flower baby. i’m georgio, sephy’s chain. i’m a lamia, so snakey sounds are gonna happen. when they wake up tonight, you can meet starlight and my mate, wagner. they’re sleeping in the closet, but uh...don’t go there.”

“i...i don’t plan to.” Val answers shyly. Georgio purred some more and flopped on Sephy’s hand as it came closer.

“valentine, we’ll set you in the sun for a while now, okay?” I ask, figuring introductions were over.

“Oh. Okay.” they cuddle up to me as I set them against my back, heading to the windowsill. I figure I’ll let them sun and take a nap myself.

All in all, a good day.

#bittybones #mythbitties #chain bitty #floret bitty #puppypapri

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argyle-s · 6 years ago

Text

THE SHAPE OF THINGS TO COME CHAPTER 17/38

Rating: Mature

Read at Ao3

Start at the Beginning

Kara introduced Cat to her new assistant, Alex and Maggie work together for the first time, and Cat comes to a decision.

Thanks to @ifourmindbeso for her great work as a beta. Any remaining mistakes are entirely my own.

Chapter 17 – Introductions and Resolutions

There were just a few hours left until the launch gala started. She’d gotten confirmation earlier in the day that copies of the issue had been delivered by messenger to the White House, and dozens of Senators and Representatives’ offices, as well as to both Sam and Lucy Lane. She’d put copies in Lois’ hands personally when she’d greeted her at the airport the previous night and knew Lois had passed one on to her cousin and Diana. She’d arranged to have copies for Bruce and the rest of the Gotham contingent waiting in their hotel rooms when they checked in. Alex had taken the first few copies off the press back to the DEO with her so she, Susan, Hank, and the entire intelligence analysis team could review them.

All in all, she was enormously pleased with the issue itself. None of the articles could be called a puff piece, except maybe the sections on Kryptonian fashion which did end up using photos from the photo shoot and the collection of Earth-adapted Kryptonian recipes in the food section. The articles Cat had written, and in total she’d written four, were filled with a mixture of both praise and criticism for Kara herself, and for Superman on the rare occasion he was mentioned. There was the feature, there was an article which talked about the difficulties refugees often had in retaining their own culture, and the difficulties they faced in adapting to a new culture. There was a historical look at the hostility immigrants had faced in US history, and lastly, an interview with one of the passengers on National City Airlines Flight 237. Every article in the issue was well-written, well-researched, and related to Supergirl in some way. It was everything she’d hoped.

The problem was everything seemed to demand Kara’s attention. She’d finally been forced to hand off the autographing of the magazines to Winn, who was currently feeding copy after copy into the autopen while someone from the secretarial pool slipped the signed issues into the swag bags. The hotel was on the line every five minutes about some security issue or other until finally, she’d had to give them Alex and Maggie’s phone numbers and just let them handle it. She’d had an argument with the Commissioner of Police earlier when he’d called, wanting to replace Maggie as the NCPD liaison. She’d finally had to drop Supergirl’s name, telling the Commissioner that she’d gotten Maggie’s name from Supergirl and that Supergirl insisted that Maggie be the one to handle security. In fact, the Caterers were the only ones who weren’t giving her a headache because she’d been sure to do a sample tasting of all the dishes by Wednesday to make sure none of the recipes needed adjustment. That had gone surprisingly well, though by the time it was over she’d been incredibly homesick.

Having four DEO agents in the building had been a huge help though. Padme Panjabi was the head of the team Kara had recruited to handle Supergirl’s media presence, and so far, she couldn’t be happier with the decision. Panjabi had taken over the setup process for the forty-second floor without a moment’s hesitation. She hadn’t even flinched when she’d been introduced to Winn. Laura Nguyen, Wilma Manygoats, and Marcus Brown filled out the team, and between the four of them, they’d not only gotten the forty-second floor up and running, but they’d all dug in and been helping with various last-minute arrangements that had allowed Kara to take enough of a breath to slip out and Supergirl for long enough to catch a car that had been about to go over the side of Otto Bender Bridge, clean up a pile-up on the Interstate, rescue a small craft that was taking on water about fifty miles off the coast, and catch a bear that had gotten out of its enclosure at the National City Zoo.

Which really left only one task.

Kara led Kaldur’ahm across the bullpen, and felt every eye in the room on them as she did. Part of it was curiosity and part of it was just Kaldur’ahm himself. He was magnetic. Tall, lean, handsome in a way that put James Olsen to shame. Part of that was the way he carried himself. He was calm and quiet, but you could see that he was attentive and aware. He carried himself like the royalty he was and even Kara knew there was a time she’d have been swooning. Now, though, she was older, more aware of herself, and while she found his presence reassuring, it didn’t make her weak in the knees.

He was dressed in a suit that could have come straight from the latest Georgio Armani collection. Charcoal gray virgin wool over a red cotton shirt with a red and gray silk tie. The suit was cut loosely enough that he was able to wear his water bearers in a carefully modified shoulder hostler set up. It was enough to make Kara feel more than a little inadequate in her white oxford, salmon pencil shirt, and gray sweater. Unfortunately, she didn’t have time to go change into something more impressive herself. Cat wanted her new assistant by the end of the day, so that Kara would be free to start as the head of the Supergirl Social Media Group, or S2MG as Cat had dubbed it.

She led Kaldur’ahm into Cat’s office, only to find Cat sitting on one of the couches, smiling as she read through the finished issue.

“Ms. Grant?” she said.

“Yes, Kiera?” Cat replied.

“I wanted to introduce you to your new assistant,” Kara said.

“Oh?” Cat said, as she looked up from the magazine. She gave Kaldur’ahm a quick inspection. “Another Millennial,” she said, with a heavy note of disappointment. “Well, at least he knows how to dress like an adult,” she said. “But I certainly hope he’d not expecting to earn enough to afford Armani.”

Kara smiled. “I’ve explained the salary, Ms. Grant.”

“Well, then, maybe you should get to the actual introductions,” Cat said.

Kara nodded. “Ms. Grant, this is Jackson Hyde. Jackson, this is Cat Grant.”

Kaldur’ahm stepped forward and held out his hand. “A pleasure, Ms. Grant. Kara speaks very highly of you,” he said.

“Of course she does. I’m amazing,” Cat replied as she reached out and shook his hand.

Kara noticed the slight uptick at the corners of Kaldur’ahm’s mouth and felt a small bit of relief.

“Now, I assume Kiera’s already verified your qualifications, but I do have a few questions.”

“Of course,” he said.

“I’m not sure if Kiera here has explained how I feel about Millennials and she’s no doubt coached you on the answers she gave to get her through the interview, but I don’t coddle my employees, and especially in this position, I expect absolute devotion to the job.”

“Ms. Grant, I assure you, I have no desire to be coddled. Kara explained quite clearly the work load associated with the job. She told me that you were demanding, driven, and had no tolerance for anyone who gave less than their absolute best. She also said you were every bit as demanding of yourself as your employees. That you were harsh, but fair, and that while your accomplishments spoke for themselves, she felt the need to point out that you were worth every bit of the respect you demanded from those around you. I assure you, Ms. Grant, hard work does not frighten me. I simply want a place where I can serve someone I respect and where I can make a difference. Kara has assured me that the desk in front of your office is that place, so here I am.”

Cat looked him over again, much more slowly this time, taking in every detail about him, before she turned to Kara.

“Relative, Kiera?”

Kara shook her head. “No,” she said, having a pretty good idea what Cat was really asking. “When you told me to find you a new assistant, I placed a couple of calls and five different people all recommended Jack, so I got in touch with him and here he is.”

“I see,” Cat said. “Well, I just hope Jacob here is as good about keeping my Latte hot as you are.”

Kara had to bite her lip to keep from laughing as Cat continued.

“And since you’re skipping out on the gala tonight to do whatever it is you Millennials do on a Friday night, I expect him to be in attendance and fully up to speed.”

“Of course, Ms. Grant. I never expected anything less.”

“Oh, and Kiera,” Cat said.

“Yes?”

“I’ll expect a tour of your new space on the forty-second floor first thing Monday morning.”

“Of course, Ms. Grant.”

<hr>

Alex stood inside the small meeting room that connected to the side of the main ballroom where the gala was going to be held, taking in the preparations. A dozen DEO agents, along with four Secret Service agents were going over every detail of the room, checking every nook and cranny, because in the event of an emergency, the President would be evacuated through this room, into the service tunnel that connected to the far wall, and down a carefully marked path to the private garage where the Presidential Limo would be waiting. It was a good plan. Well thought-out. The DEO was just adding some mission-specific hardware.

“What are those?” someone asked, making Alex jump slightly. She turned around, only to feel her mouth go dry as she found Maggie standing right there.

“Um…” She turned, following Maggie’s gaze over to one of the heavy-duty Kryptonite radiation lamps. The fact that the topic was related to her job put Alex a bit more at ease. “Those are Kryptonite Radiation Emitters,” she said. “They put out a wavelength of light that’s largely safe for humans, but is harmful to Kryptonians.”

“They’ll hurt Supergirl and Superman?” Maggie asked. Alex didn’t miss the edge in her voice and it made her smile. She didn’t know a lot about Maggie, not yet, but one thing she had picked up on was that Maggie was protective of Kara.

“No,” Alex said. “We wouldn’t have installed them if they would. Supergirl and Superman both have shields that protect them from the radiation. The other Kryptonians, the ones from Fort Rozz, don’t. Kara was the one who actually suggested these.” She glanced over, and saw Maggie nod.

“That girl’s a little scary sometimes,” Maggie said. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was a soldier.”

“I know what you mean,” Alex said. “I keep thinking of her as my awkward little sister and then she starts laying out things like this.” She gestured to the Kryptonite emitters.

“I think anyone who’d been through the things she has would be bit weird. I’m just amazed that she’s such a good person, all things considered.”

“Me, too,” Alex said.

“I’m not sure why you’re surprised. The way she tells it, you’re the reason she’s not a complete basket case.”

Alex felt herself blushing a little. “She’s exaggerating,” she said. “Kara’s always been amazing. I just helped her along a little.”

“Modest, too,” Maggie said, a cute little smirk on her face. “Anyway, I just came in to let you know that we’re all set for the Motorcade. Your teams will be directly in front and behind the limo, then the Secret Service. We’re closing down the 112 and NCH in about an hour.”

Alex nodded. “Thanks. We should be done here in about thirty minutes.”

“Good,” Maggie said.

“Can I ask you something?” Alex said.

“Sure,” Maggie replied

“How’d you meet Kara? I’ve heard her version of it, but…”

“But sometimes Kara’s perspective on things is a little weird,” Maggie finished for her. “I was dating a girl, and we’d been on and off for a while. I had it really bad, but she was sleeping around. I would break it off, she’d call, and I’d run right back to her, because I was lonely and miserable. I walked into a bar where some colossal idiot had stood Kara up, and just happened to sit down next to her and you know Kara.”

“Never met a stranger,” Alex said.

“Yeah. So, she starts talking to me, and at first, I’m annoyed, but she’s just got that smile that you can’t resist, and next thing I know I’m spilling my guts. She volunteered to keep me company any time I start missing my ex. She’s kind of been my Ex-girlfriend’s Anonymous sponsor. Any time Darla calls me, I tell her I’m busy, then call Kara. Any time I’m tempted to call Darla, I call Kara instead. After a while though, I realized I had a lot more fun with Kara than I ever did with Darla.”

“If you’re about to say something that would make me obligated as Kara’s older sister to shoot you, please don’t,” Alex said.

“No,” Maggie replied. “God no. Kara made it perfectly clear right up front she wasn’t interested. She said she really wasn’t over Sara. She was only trying to date to shut up her foster mom and big sister and she didn’t really want to be anyone’s rebound relationship. Honestly, it would be a bit like dating someone’s kid sister.”

“Yeah,” Alex said. “Mine.”

Maggie chuckled. “She’s a good friend. Bit of a meddler though.”

“Yeah,” Alex said. “I know.”

“I should get back to it,” Maggie said.

“So should I,” Alex said.

Maggie turned, and started to walk away, but on impulse, Alex called after her. “Hey, Sawyer.”

“Yeah?” Maggie said, turning around.

“We should grab a beer sometime. I wouldn’t be a good older sister if I didn’t tell you at least some of the embarrassing stories I have about Kara.”

Maggie smiled. “Okay.”

Alex turned back to the work at hand, wondering if she’d done the right thing. Kara said they worked well together and J’onn thought it would be a good idea to foster the relationship early. Hopefully, getting to know a bit about Maggie would make things run a bit smoother.

<hr>

Cat sat in front of the mirror at her vanity. Her makeup was already in place. All she had left to do was step into the dress she’d picked out, put on her shoes and be on her way. Except she was having a hard time moving and it was all Kara’s fault.

She didn’t understand what was going on. She didn’t understand why Kara was doing half of what she was doing. Oh, she got the big picture. The girl had been clear enough in the interview. She wanted to make a place for aliens on Earth. To get them established as refugees. What the girl said made a lot of sense, and Cat had found it moving enough to thaw even her frozen, bitter little heart. The heart which normally only showed any signs of defrosting when Carter was around.

Kara had been an exception to that rule almost from the beginning. This wasn’t new ground. What confused her though, was how far out of the way Kara was going for her. She had no idea who ‘Jackson Hyde’ was, but she had no doubt that he was an alien, or at the very least, a metahuman. Either way, Kara had, upon being told to find her own replacement, gone out and found her *another* super-powered assistant. It didn’t make any sense at all.

She could understand if Kara was using her and through her, CatCo to further Kara’s objectives. That made sense. She might even accept Kara’s statement that she enjoyed working at CatCo at face value, though God only knew why, given that Cat herself was a terrible person to work for. What she didn’t understand was why the girl was so focused on her. Most people, given the assignment to find their own replacement before starting their new position would have had HR pull some resumes, found the least terrible option, and thrown them at Cat as they fled to greener pastures. Not Kara. Of course the girl would do this the same way she did everything else. She’d go above and beyond the call of duty, find exactly what she thought Cat needed and make sure everything was just so before she moved on. She’s also pick someone who she was sure would know to come to her if there was any issue.

It was almost as if the girl cared for her, which, if it had been anyone other than Kara would have been a stupid thought. But this was Kara and Kara had never quite made sense to her. Oh, she’d seen potential, but Kara had never seemed to quell under Cat’s threats. She’d seemed to enjoy them. It had driven Cat mad at first, because the more dire the threat, the broader the smile on the girl’s face. The first time she’d fired the girl and the girl had just responded with ��of course Ms. Grant,’ then cheerfully ignored that she’d been fired and kept right on working, it had honestly left Cat flabbergasted. It had almost come to the point where firing Kara was a little like some weird kind of flirting.

She looked herself in the eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. Kara Danvers was attractive. She knew that. She was nursing a little bit of a crush. She’d known that for months, because everyone who met the girl seemed to fall hopelessly in love with her. She didn’t pretend she was immune. The fact that Kara Danvers could take anything Cat could throw at her, and let it roll off like water off a duck’s back, just made her that much more intriguing. That fact that the few times Cat had crossed that invisible line that Kara seemed to consider too far, she hadn’t hesitated to put her foot down and let Cat know it was time to back off made Cat squirm with her own arousal.

She needed to get this out of her system. Maybe find some young blonde company some night when Carter was at his father’s. Play the fantasy out and be done with it. Because she needed to be able to think clearly. Kara and Supergirl. Both were important, for different reasons, and she would not get in the way of that. She would not be some cliché, chasing a young woman around the office and destroying the girl’s career to satisfy an itch. Because that’s all it could ever be. An itch. An impulse.

Kara had too much potential. She was too important. And Cat would keep her hands to her God-damned self.

#supergirl #supercat #supercanary #sanvers #fanfiction #the shape of things to come #kara danvers #alex danvers #cat grant #maggie sawyer #sara lance #j'onn j'onzz #susan vasquez #lois lane #clark kent #james olsen #winn schott jr.#future shock

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mamagabi-s-corner · 6 years ago

Note

let's so some cute fluff w/ max and puff w/ #37 "I had a dream about you"

Puff is that you??? Only you would order the two ace af guys who are romantically in love with each other. >w>

“Alright you two, go home and get some rest, starting Monday, you two will be working the morning shift with Georgio and Devon.” a Cook said while reading in on the schedule list for both Max and Puff. Max was listening since he himself wasn’t able to read due to the fact that he was blind, as for Puff, he could barely hear what was being said since he was struggled with being awake. Working evening shifts was quite tiresome, dinner would usually be very straining on those who worked evening shifts, especially when it came to cleaning up afterwards. “Puff?” Max asked as he waved his hand near Puff’s face to see if he’d react, but nothing much happened. “Alright, uh, thanks for the heads up. I’ll take Puff along.” Max commented as he lifted Puff, put him on his back and walked out of the kitchen. Elsen were always light as feathers, no matter how much weight they can put on, so Max had no trouble carrying Puff around.

Upon arriving to the monorail, Max heard that Puff was quietly snoring in his sleep. “Oh you.” Max smiled a bit as he was entering the monorail, listening in on Puff’s soft snores. Once inside, he put Puff down on the seat and covered him with his apron so he wouldn’t catch a cold. When that was done, Max set the coordinates for Area 5: The housing area. It might take a while to get there however, probably less than an hour, but it will give Puff some time to catch some z’s. Every time Puff was asleep, there was an important rule of thumb that Max always followed: If one of them naps, their heads must be on the other’s lap at all times. Since Puff was the one who always falls asleep first, Max would be the one to put his head on his lap. He had to be careful however to avoid waking him up, and also hurting his thin neck. Once he was settled with Puff’s head on his lap, Max could easily relax for the nest half an hour until they came to area 5. During that time, the only sounds Max heard was his own breathing, and Puff snoring like a baby. On occasions he’d even hear Puff ramble in his sleep, always making soft compliments about Max’s looks. Max simply took it as him sleep talking, it’s nothing uncommon, and it didn’t even bother him at all.

That is, until Puff began to ramble about something entirely different. “Max.. a-are you sure it’s okay to.. you know?” Max raised his brow a bit and looked down at Puff who continued on rambling: “I-I mean.. if you’re okay with it that is… raising children is a… v-very big responsibility, and.. it wouldn’t take much to pay the adoption papers.” He intently listened in some more, this ramble seemed completely new to him. “O-Oh, I am sure you’d be a good parent figure to the kids, Max. Y-You’re already brave enough as it is. Speaking of, what do you think we should name them? How about May and June if they’re girls? You need time to think about boy names?”

May and June? Adoption papers? Raising children? Boy names?? Was Puff.. thinking about starting a family? The mere thought of having children running about the house was an interesting concept to Max, which did get him to slightly blush, almost to the point of him tearing up a bit. Several times he would blink as tears began to slowly form in his eyes and a couple of them landed on Puff’s cheek.

-Area 5: Housing area. Final stop!-

The monorail stopped moving once it reached it’s destination. As per usual, Max would gently lift Puff and put him on his back, then proceeds to fast-pace to their house as fast as possible. At home, Max locked the door, walked upstairs with Puff and quickly put him on his side of the bed whilst taking off his shoes and apron. Even after all that, he was still sleeping peacefully, it was a surprise that a single tear didn’t wake him from his slumber. As he sat down on his side of the bed, he began to ponder about what Puff said in his sleep. He wasn’t sure how he felt, it sure wasn’t sadness. Maybe it was a bit too much to take for him. For now, he had to sleep.

The very next morning, Puff was the first person to wake up, albeit a bit early. He did notice a bit of weight on him, so he looked back to see Max softly hugging him quite close in his sleep. “Max.. Max wake up.” Puff prompted him to wake up, gently caressing the side of his head. “No… 5 more minutes.. Isn’t is Sunday yet?” Max murmured in his sleep, he didn’t want to wake up at all, he just wanted to sleep the Sunday off with his significant other in bed. But not even a minute passed and he said fine before he opened his eyes to look at Puff. “Morning.” Puff said, Max replied back with a morning as well, he had a small smile on his face when he said that.

“I had a dream about you.”

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lolasimblr98 · 7 years ago

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If I Was Your Girlfriend (Chap 4)

NSFW. Blurred some images, you can see all and in full on my blog https://reignagameofpower.com/2018/03/05/chapter-4-if-i-was-your-girlfriend/ Bash Banks POV ****SENSITIVE SUBJECT MATTER/RACIAL POLITICS****

“Damn girl, you feel so good,” I said through grunts as I gave Giavanna Gavino repeated hard thrusts positioned behind her against the side of my bed. I had a tight grip on her fast-moving gyrating hips, and her body slammed against mine.

She screamed out. “Oh, right there..so..good!” Giavanna struggled to get her words out. I was positioned behind her on the bed giving her the best fuck of her life. “Is that good?” I whispered. “Yes…”

I had been pursuing this girl for the last two months. GG worked near my office building downtown in at one of the most elite money management firms in the country. I had seen her and some co-workers at a bar in my building off and on over the last eight weeks or so. She’d usually curved my advances when I attempted to flirt or get her phone number. But I knew it was just a game because of the way she flirted with me but made every excuse as to why she wasn’t looking to date, anybody. I think about her more than I thought I would. Now that I have her in my bed, I wonder if there could be something more between us; if I could ever be close to her.

I saw her exchange numbers with one of those blonde, fair skinned pedigree WASP. You know the type, those fuckers who only got into Ivy League because they were legacy members or daddy made a substantial contribution to get their mediocre kid past the waiting list. Girls like GG usually went for those types with the prominent last names and good families. They would fuck niggas like me but typically choose not to date openly. Giavanna was Brazilian, not one of those black Brazilians, but more so with the looks of like Adriana Lima with a similar exotic flair. If she wanted to get past the fact that she wasn’t blonde and blue-eyed, she could not procreate with a dark Brazilian, a black American, or anyone else that could taint her bloodline. I wasn’t a basketball player, making millions of dollars. That always seemed to ease the minds of white fathers’ racism if their little girls were to marry niggas with money. I did do well for myself, but nothing in the seven-figure range. It wasn’t enough.

I gave her one final thrust as I started to feel myself coming. GG had already came, more than once I must say. She screamed so loudly; she was wild. When women acted outright like animals in bed, it made me even more excited. If you ever wanted to know what the koochie was like on my end, just imagine a tight wet cave stuffed with soft pillows. You slide in, and you slide out, all the better when she made that shit rain. I finally climaxed, and we collapsed onto my bed. I was hot and sticky; my body burned from the workout I just gave it. GG slid over and rested her head on my chest. Her hair smelled like jasmine, and her skin had a lustrous, silky feel to it. Panting and breathing hard, I looked at her body, admiring it yet again.GG was so beautiful. She had this tanned olive skin, dark curly hair, perfect pouty full lips and greenish brown eyes. I preferred her phenotype to most other women. She was the definitely the sexiest woman I’ve ever been with. Usually, after I bed a woman, I’m not so eager to continue seeing her, but I felt differently about GG. I wanted to grow closer to her, know her thoughts, wants, and needs.

“That was so amazing. You are so amazingly talented. What they say about black guys is definitely true,” purred GG, as she turned over to look at me. “Yeah, that’s one stereotype I’m proud to say is true. So I’m the first black man you’ve been with?” I asked. She giggled a bit. “No, you’re not.”

I raised my brow. “Oh? By the way, you were acting before I assumed you preferred Bobbys over Tyrones,” I said, which made GG giggle.

“Don’t act so surprised, Sebastian. Besides those guys at the bar are just guys I have fun with sometimes and can get me into some pretty exclusive places. They’re like my bosses friends sons who have jobs because of who their fathers are. But you, you Bash, I want to be my big Mandingo. I think I need you a regular basis.” GG sat up; slowly crawling toward me. Her stare was penetrating as she moved her hand over to my member. I laughed a bit. “I’ll give it to you anytime you want it, Baby.”

I got up from the bed and went into the bathroom to take a piss. The air in the hallway was cold, but it felt good to cool my skin off.

I grabbed my bath towel and wiped the sweat from my chest and washed my hands. I headed toward my bedroom when I heard a notification of a text message I had received. I spotted my phone on the hall table; it was just after eleven. I opened up the text, which was from Rico Thomas, an old associate from Wharton.

Rico: Hey, it’s been a while since we’ve talked. We need to discuss your future. We’ll meet for drinks at Georgio’s.

That was the end of the message. Rico didn’t specify what day he wanted to meet. When you get a message like that from him, which isn’t often, you don’t ask questions. If you had something planned, you don’t call him back asking to reschedule; you break your date even if your wife is in the middle of giving birth, you see Rico. I was intrigued not so much by what Rico said, but what he didn’t say. What specifically did he mean by ‘your future’?

Rico had one of the fasted growing consultation firms in the region. He rubbed elbows with some of the most influential people in business, politics, and just about every other field. He must’ve heard about the latest promotion I was passed up for.I could only wish to have access to some of the people Rico deals with on a regular basis. My life would be so different right now. Instead of slaving away making the white man richer, I could be running my own firm, using my design with my name on it.

I was eager to talk with Rico, but I would have to wait until he made contact again wait to see just exactly what he wanted to talk about. I had to admit; I felt a little intimidated at the thought of meeting up with him. We knew each other from U-Penn. He was ahead of me in school; we took some of the same business classes at Wharton. He was also a graduate associate professor before he went to Harvard full-time and obtained his MBA. Periodically, we ran into each other at a bar in Cambridge, as I was at MIT, which is very close to Harvard.

I put my phone back on the charger and headed to my bedroom, as Giavanna was starting to get dressed. The room was hot and stuffy and smelled like a combination of her Clinique, my Hugo Boss cologne, and sex.

“I need to get out of here. I have an eight am meeting tomorrow,” said Giavanna. I wasn’t really ready for her to leave just yet, but I didn’t let on. I watched as she pulled her black lace panties on and pulled her dress over her head; she hadn’t worn a bra. Her titties looked as succulent as ever. I had every instinct to push her on the bed again and fill my mouth with each one while I licked and sucked on her nipples.

“I too have early meetings. I’ll take you home.” I told her, snapping out of my fantasy. “Sure, that would be great.” Giavanna walked over to me and kissed me softly on the lips. “Thanks again for tonight, it was great,” she said. “My pleasure.”

Giavanna seemed impressed when she got into my new Benz and complimented how nice the features and heated seats were as we cruised through the dark streets downtown.

It was nothing serious going on between us, and I wasn’t sure when we would hook up again. It was okay for now. Sometimes I think it would be nice to be in a relationship, but I work so much and the women I’m around, act like they’re in charge and control, but they’re not.

These millennial girls of my generation are educated and going out getting careers and competing with males for those same jobs. Yeah, that shit is okay as far as them getting an education, but I find most of the bullshit about independence is just that: bullshit.Most women are the same as they were in my grandma’s generation. They ultimately want a man to call the shots; to make the hard decisions and have most of the responsibility. They mainly someone to take care of them.

I don’t know how many girls I went to school with, fresh out of graduation, a degree in hand, and within a year of finding their Bobby Pedigree, they gave all that shit up. Usually first getting a nice little upscale, overpriced condo near work and later moving out to the suburbs to be near the rest of the pedigree families and join their country club.

The women of the club would organize tea and feel-good charities for the less fortunate little Tyrones, Jamals, and Kishas. It made them feel good to peddle some money into the inner city, to help those little poor black babies; even when those “poor black babies” came from two-parent households. Often when black kids came from two-parent middle-class families, some of the country club Jenns and Susans believed they were poor and unfortunate, because ‘hey, they were black so ultimately they suffered and needed saving right?’ I’ll be the first to admit, however, that some of the thugs that have taken over my family’s neighborhood could use some saving, no matter who it came from.

My family wasn’t living in poverty. They weren’t exactly middle class, but working class; which might as well be poverty if you think in regards of how the real world works, and the divide between the rich and unambitious people in my old neighborhood. They were the people I struggled to get away from all of my life.

I felt obligated to socialize with my family every once in a while to show them that things could be better and that they needed to stop thinking small and living a life of low means was okay. I knew it was too late for my father, the most unambitious man I know, but at least my little sister, Michelle had a chance at getting an education and bettering herself. But who was I fooling? The rest of my family was hopeless. That’s the life they were used to, and none of them had any desire to change it.

Giavanna didn’t live too far away from me in Art of the City, an upscale neighborhood similar to SoHo in New York. The price for living here was almost as high as well. But you get what you pay for.

Once we arrived at her apartment, I walked her up the front door of her high-end building. Her doorman gave us a hard look. I held on even tighter to her and kissed her deeply on the mouth. It will never cease to amaze me how shook some white boys get over the beautiful women I can pull any day and the ones I chose to have on my arm. It’s okay; the haters drove my ambition. As I rise, I’ll give them a real reason to hate me.

****You can see all the pics on my blog

#SimLit #TS4Story #sims 4 story #sim stories #ts4 legacy #reignagameofpower #Bash Banks #chapter 4 #game of power #simsofcolorstories #blacksims #simblr #sims 4 legacy

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maryanntorreson · 4 years ago

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Introducing the launch of the TED-Ed Innovative Educator Alumni Innovation Projects

TED-Ed Innovative Educators

In 2015, TED-Ed launched the TED-Ed Innovative Educator (TIE) program, a year-long professional development program for dynamic educators who are dedicated to celebrating the ideas of students and teachers around the world. Six years later, we have 104 alumni representing over 20+ countries, constantly thinking of new ways to innovate in education.

2020 brought on unpredictable levels of global change: a pandemic, racial reckoning, and world-wide political upheavals. The traditional system of schooling has experienced significant disruptions in the past year.

These changes signaled a call to action: the TIEs, coming from rural, urban and suburban communities, in roles including classroom teachers, adjunct professors, superintendents, librarians, college advisors, district tech specialists, and more, are coming together to build some solutions.

First, the TIEs identified problems in global education and turned them into four main Opportunity Statements:

1. Redesign instruction: Reimagine how instruction can comprehensively meet the needs of all students. 2. Redesign how we address inequities: Reimagine how to empower teachers and communities to address race, equity, inclusion, and justice issues. 3. Assess innovations in pandemic: Assess how to carry forward the innovations created during the pandemic into full-time in-school instruction (and continue to build a culture of school/district innovation). 4. Reinvest in educators’ well-being: Reinvest in how best to support our teachers and admin, professionally and personally.

Next, each TIE has chosen one Opportunity Statement to work on for their Innovation Project. Follow their journey over this year as they collaborate, design, test, and share their innovations; we will be reporting back through the project development.

Explore why some TIEs are working on their chosen Innovation Project:

Redesign instruction

Alejandra Guzman (Texas, USA)

I have worked in the curriculum and instruction department in two different school districts over the last 6 years. I know that in many schools, some parts of instruction, curriculum, and assessment are out-dated, focused too much on standardized assessments and not on deep learning, making connections with other content areas, and application to solve real-world problems. This type of instruction will strengthen student critical thinking, problem solving, and communication skills. I believe rethinking what instruction should and can look like and creating a realistic instructional model will help many educators go back to focus on what the true meaning of education should be.

Christie Simpson (Perth Western, Australia)

I work at school in a low socio-economic area. We have high rates of poverty and transiency and over 60% of our students have some developmental trauma. Only 35% of our Year 7 students arrive at high school able to read at grade level. 35% are still learning to read with fluency and 30% are still learning to decode words. How do teachers cater for this? Mostly, they try to muddle through the vast amounts of content in our curriculum, often using ineffective – though well-intentioned – discovery or inquiry based learning practices. I know there is great value in those models, but I also know that our students need strong foundational literacy and numeracy capacity as well as concrete background knowledge which they can draw on as they start to inquire. I’d like to see us arm teachers at both ends of the instructional spectrum, so that they can competently and effectively meet their students at their point of need.

Georgios Villias (Athens, Greece)

I honestly believe that living in a world which overwhelms us daily with information, it is humanly impossible to stay focused on something unless it is useful, exciting, and meaningful for you. This reality applies to schools as well. Instruction should be much more than just content knowledge. Instruction should also care about developing skills, showcasing each individual’s unique talents, engaging learners to act in real-life situations, nourishing and inspiring youngsters’ minds, teaching moral values in a social context and so much more. Molding students’ character, encouraging active citizenship, and raising the next generation of ethical problem-solvers always start from family and school. I would be honored as an educator to make even a minor, constructive contribution to my students’ lives towards that direction.

“Instruction should be much more than just content knowledge.”

Kristin Leong (Washington, USA)

Students and teachers deserve more diverse, timely, and dynamic resources and more support. Teaching is hard. Online teaching during a pandemic, a civil rights uprising, and an insurrection is really hard. In addition, the news cycle is relentless. The Sisyphean task of educators to constantly find great resources to build an engaging curriculum that responds to quickly-shifting current events is profoundly challenging. Lastly, our students are increasingly diverse in race, culture, sexual orientation, and gender identity, while our teachers remain mostly white, female, and heterosexual. Connecting with young people across these divides, when you instruct 30+ students at a time, only compounds the challenge of designing original curriculum. As a former QPOC teacher myself, I know teachers need more support and a reliable flow of trustworthy and updated resources by diverse sources to connect their classrooms to current events in ways that inspire students to engage with the world and their learning.

My weekly newsletter ROCK PAPER RADIO is one way I’m offering support to teachers. Every Thursday, I share three multimedia stories by diverse thinkers and creatives delivered via email for free. The newsletter is quick (less than five min to read), and organized by format (an audio feature, an essay or article, a human interest story). All stories are linked to current events and framed for personal engagement.

The Black Lives Matter movement has shaken awake all of the systems that make up society, including our education system. Young people are paying attention and rightfully demanding more inclusive and more current curriculum now. I’m thrilled to be part of this TIE alumni group working to usher in that much-needed change with heart, innovation, and more than a little bit of courage.

Mahrukh Bashir (Tangerang Selatan, Indonesia)

I have encountered instructional models dominated by the ideas of transfer of content and knowledge with the implicit understanding that learners are merely vessels to be filled. This system had, and still has, standardized curricula delivered in standardized ways and the effectiveness assessed using standardized testing. On the other hand, I have been refreshingly greeted by ideas of developing students’ talents and dispositions, differentiation and individual needs. However, the perfect instructional model that takes into account individual needs and delivers academic rigor and deep learning is yet to present itself. I want to explore and implement an innovative model of instruction that comes closest to this, what has effectively become “the holy grail of modern education.”

Reimagine how we address inequities

Craig Zimmer (Ontario, Canada)

I love the fact that we are having some real conversations here. We need to advocate for students and show that, as educators, we are on their side no matter what. In 2021, we have to ensure that education is inclusive and accessible to all students. This is going to require very big changes and it all starts when we go to work to bring about real reform.

Fred Sagwe (Kisii, Kenya)

I believe the approach to inequities on race, equity, inclusion and social justice issues means different things depending on the region and countries. For example in Kenya and most parts of sub-Saharan Africa, the challenges have a gender-based perspective. There was the challenge of FGM among young girls who, after circumcision, are married young, hence dropping out of schools. Also, marginalization in less developed regions in Kenya also hinder favorable educational outcomes. School infrastructure is a concern too, including the availability of reliable internet connectivity. The government is trying to remedy the situations.

Jen Ward (Michigan, USA)

This past year has served to highlight in so many different ways the divides, gaps, and inequalities that are systematized in our educational spaces. I selected this project because I believe as a global group of change-makers, we are able to come together, dig deep, and put forth proposals for real change to ensure that all students have an opportunity to learn, grow, and be heard.

Sandy Chambers (North Carolina, USA)

Working to change a system that perpetuates inequities is my calling. Working with others who believe that change can happen is inspirational and hopeful. As an administrator, I have more “power” than I think. I know we can make a change!

“Empowering starts with radical truth-telling, which means listening to all stakeholders, especially students.”

Shameka Williams (Georgia, USA)

I want better for all students that have unfair disadvantages due to a system that was not historically designed with all children in mind. I want better for each generation, so they do not experience the same setbacks as those before them and have to work harder to prove themselves as equal. Moreover, I want to tackle this problem with others that bring different perspectives so that the narrative and outcomes are inclusive of everyone! One perspective cannot be the solution to this global issue.

Tim Leistikow (Minnesota, USA)

I am not sure how we achieve any meaningful change in our system (I teach in the USA, but I assume similar issues in other countries) until we start telling the truth about the history that led to the inequities that exist and persist today. Empowering starts with radical truth-telling, which means listening to all stakeholders, especially students. I have done a project with students on creating the ideal education system for the past 10 years, and every cohort sees addressing inequities around race, gender, religion, sexuality, socio-economic status, and more, as being a primary first step to making schools a better place for students.

Wiputra Cendana (Tangerang, Banten, Indonesia)

Equity and equality become great challenges especially for the students who have learning difficulties, connectivity issues, and other variables. This project is to give a new learning model as I synthesize from a particular current teaching experience. I truly hope the project will be a small sparkle and idea which can equip educators around the world to confront these issues. Entrust the learning essence and ‘meat’ will be absorbed well by the students across the world. Let’s think globally, connect intentionally, share clearly, and act locally.

Assess innovations during the pandemic

Lisa Winer (Florida, USA)

I found that during Hybrid teaching, I couldn’t see my students’ work – they used to work on whiteboards or I could walk around and see how well they understood. But even then, I didn’t hear from or see everyone. For my capstone project for my EdD, I am researching how to add ed tech to the classroom to help capture student thought and to include the voices of the students who are quiet or who aren’t risk-takers. I want to hear from all students and showcase them all as well. This was something brought forth from the pandemic because never before had I not been able to see the work of my students as they were thinking.

Maggie Muuk (Kching, Malaysia)

I would want to know more about innovation as many of my students were left behind by this pandemic. Many of them do not have sufficient access to gadgets or internet to enable them to stay aligned with the lesson. Currently, we are only using WhatsApp to communicate. I’m looking for low technology to make them want to study.

Małgorzata Guzicka (Legnica, Poland)

I truly believe that because of the pandemic, we have rediscovered online learning. Teachers are learning how to use different platforms and educational apps to enhance online learning; students are doing projects in groups using educational websites. I think it would be awesome if students and teachers from different countries could work and learn from one another, do projects together and meet online. I am thinking about a project that could help teachers and students learn from one another about their cultures.

Shawn T. Loescher (California, USA)

The pandemic has represented a time of tremendous learning for our educational and social institutions. Within the pandemic, nearly 1.5 billion children around the world have had disruptions to their typical educational environment. Through this disruption, we have learned that there are multiple modalities and ways of learning. To me, the challenge we face as we emerge from the pandemic is which of the many successful lessons we’ve learned should be adopted and institutionalized to advance academic performance, address inequities, and redesign our schools, in order to create a more human-centered experience that is sustainable in scale and scope.

“The students we will meet on the other side of this pandemic will deserve better than a return to the ‘old normal.’”

Susan Herder (Minnesota, USA)

Educators and students were forced to change suddenly in the midst of the pandemic, often without adequate support. I chose this project because as we return to a combination of in-person and online classes, teachers need to be able to let go of the practices that are not effective and continue to use innovations that engage students and close gaps and eliminate inequities.

Tim Couillard (Virginia, USA)

Well frankly, there is no going back. The students we will meet on the other side of this pandemic will deserve better than a return to the “old normal.” I suspect (and secretly hope) they will demand it. Amid the toll and tragedy of this past year, I hope we find a way to get education “unstuck,” to shed the lockstep factory model of learning once and for all. Let’s hope that necessity is still the mother of invention. I suspect that we have all had a chance to cultivate some new habits of mind that will be as useful in-person as they are at a distance. I’m excited to see where that leads us.

Lastly, I hope that we abandon, or at least push back against, the anxiety-fueled march of “more is more” when it comes to education. Students are people first, learners second. They are more than the test data the system can coax from them to tout their “success.” If we truly believe in social and emotional learning, we need to reject it as a mere tool to boost productivity. We need to not only mean what we say, but ask ourselves if our actions match our words. Ultimately, I hope we can look back on all this and say, tired as we are, we still found the strength to work for a world where what we have gained from this pandemic will be greater than all we have lost.

Umar Anjum (Lahore, Pakistan)

I am working on this as I have seen that inequalities and gaps in the education system have been growing and merely adding more resources is not helping. That is why I believe the answer is hidden in the Innovations.

Reinvest in educators’ well-being

Sarah Harkin (Shanghai, China)

Self-care isn’t just a buzzword; it’s critical. So much is asked of teachers. I hope to find real ways to help build teacher capacity and systemic support within schools in order to better prioritize teacher well-being, specifically mental health and work-life balance.

“Self-care isn’t just a buzzword; it’s critical.”

Sharon Hadar (Raanana, Israel)

During the pandemic, most things have become accelerated – emotions, thoughts, worries, health issues, financial difficulties, and more. On top of this, education systems and educators have been put under the microscope. We get so much criticism from parents, the media, politicians, our administrators, and more.

We, the educators, are the foundation and base for our communities. Our well-being is essential for our communities; teachers have to support each other, be strong, and stay united. It is also making sure there is a way to release and vent, while at the same time find the strength to continue doing our job the best way we can. I want to find the right way to do this, together with the rest of the TIEs, as a part of a strong and cohesive group that can change people’s viewpoint about teachers. It’s time for us to take care and support each other. I am sure that with this project we will find the best way to achieve this!

Introducing the launch of the TED-Ed Innovative Educator Alumni Innovation Projects published first on https://premiumedusite.tumblr.com/rss

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