#and in the event where she’s oblivious and thinks they’re genuinely friends or a number of other scenarios?

[faithfromanewperspective]

’why is taylor friends with the mahomes when brittany isn’t nice to her and also they support trump’ she knows that. both of these things. she’s just not letting the bully her out of their group of friends that’s also hers and actually existing around people who see politics differently to you is the most effective way to help them soften towards seeing things another way when they realise you’re just as human too

[peaceoutofthepieces]

Sink Or Swim

tag list: @cleocc @feeling-kinda-so-so @hopelessromanticvirgo @dreamy-slytherin @adora8 @lockerfivethreefive @painfully-oblivious @poeticinemaa @jjustonemorething @sassy-sara @wedarkacademia @coolguyssyndrome @hischbabe @suckerforsobbe @tayspots @starmansander @theah0lt @zoenneforever @invisibleme @chibibanane @odi-et-amo85 @watermelonlover-123 @xiaomailab

~^~

Monday, 08:08

Song: Mr Probz - Waves

Jens is nervous.

His hand bumps against Lucas’s, fingers twitching as if planning to intertwine before they flutter away, raising to rub at the back of his neck or push through his hair. Lucas hesitates to take it in his own. He doesn’t want to increase Jens’s anxiety by pushing unwanted affection onto him, and he certainly doesn’t want to do it in the middle of the street. Since telling their friends, Jens has been more than open with their relationship, almost to the point of flaunting it, but Lucas can’t be sure that recent events haven’t changed that.

He is reassured slightly when, about a block away from the school, Jens finally gives in and grips his hand tightly. Lucas holds on, squeezes, brushes his thumb over the skin soothingly, all he can think of to make Jens relax. But when he notices the uneven cadence of the other’s breath, he draws them to a stop and tucks them in against the wall, blocking Jens from the odd passerby with his body.

“Hey,” he says, coaxing Jens around towards him and capturing his gaze. “You don’t have to do this. You can go back to the flat. We both can.”

Jens shakes his head, taking another uneven breath. “It’s just getting in there. I’m fine, I swear. I have Robbe waiting and you with me. I’m good.”

Lucas squeezes his hand. “You have all of us,” he reminds Jens softly. “You have a crazy amount of friends who love you and would do anything for you.”

“I know.” Jens blows out a sigh, nodding. “I know that.”

“Okay. How about we just take a minute here, hm? Just a few extra seconds for us.”

Jens nods again, closing his eyes and leaning into Lucas. Lucas sets a hand on the back of Jens’s neck and plays with the ends of his hair, trying to soothe his own heart. This is so far from the Jens that he’s familiar with, and it pains him to see. He has seen Jens falter, has witnessed a number of his inner struggles and seen him both sad and unsure. But these are always simply moments—washed away in a sudden instant with a smile and a light beautiful enough to challenge the moon. Lucas hates that this runs deeper. He hates that Jens is in pain and there’s very little anyone can do to take it away.

“Stop worrying about me,” Jens pokes him in the side. “You’re gonna get frown lines if you keep pouting like that.”

“And you wouldn’t love me then?”

Jens pretends to consider it for a little too long, and Lucas punches his shoulder. Jens makes an exaggerated sound of pain, then laughs when Lucas presses up onto his toes to give him a brief kiss.

“Come on,” Jens mumbles, before stealing another peck. “I’m okay.”

Lucas sighs, settling back on his feet. “Okay.” He retakes Jens’s hand and leads them towards the gate, merging back in with the growing stream of other students.

Jens does seems a little more relaxed, and nothing in his posture changes as they make it to the courtyard. They both cast their gazes around, but it isn’t hard to find a bundle of familiar faces. The other boys are sat at their usual table to the side of the building, but this time the girls are with them. They are crowded onto the bench seats and perched on the table and standing at the side and completely and totally oblivious to Lucas and Jens’s arrival until they’re just a couple of feet away. Yasmina spots them then and her lips turn up in a smile as she waves, earning the attention of the rest of the table. Jens’s grip on Lucas’s hand tightens just slightly.

Moyo is rocking back and forth on his feet as they grow nearer, and he latches onto Jens as soon as the boy is within reach. He pulls him into a brief but tight grip, clapping his back once and offering a greeting that Jens easily returns.

Lucas watches the interaction with a smile, and accepts Moyo’s fist-bump/handshake combo when it’s offered.

“Morning, boys,” Zoë says, smiling gently at them both as Robbe scoots down the bench, shoving Aaron on the way until there’s enough space for Jens to slide in next to them. Lucas simply takes up his station behind him, looping his arms loosely around Jens’s shoulders and smiling when his boyfriend sneaks a kiss to his hand.

“Ey, come on,” Luca waves a hand at them from across the table. “Isn’t there enough affection from living together without the public displays?”

“Still jealous, I see,” Jens quips, raising his brows at her as Lucas huffs a quiet laugh, relief already spreading through him.

Luca flips him off and sticks her tongue out at him, and Yasmina laughs from her place standing next to her. “That’s a great way to defend your maturity.”

“Thank you.” Luca takes a mini bow to herself.

Robbe elbows Jens in the side before propping his cheek on his fist, twisted around to smile at them. “I think they’re cute.”

“Of course, you do,” Moyo snorts. When Lucas elbows him, he adds, in protest, “I didn’t say he wasn’t right.”

Jens reaches up to grip Lucas’s hands, leaning a little further against him, content to let his friends and boyfriend joke and bicker. It works to put Lucas at ease, too, when he’s able to note the tiny smile on Jens’s face.

Zoë speaks up hesitantly from where she stands at the opposite corner of the table, next to Amber. “I’m not trying to be nosy or pushy,” she says slowly, “but what are your living arrangements?”

It manages to suck a little of the light back out. Zoë already seems apologetic as Jens’s shoulders curve inwards, making himself a little smaller even as he shrugs. “I’m just staying with Lucas, for the time being.”

They all absorb this for a moment. Aaron looks across at them and asks, “Like until it blows over or...you find something else?”

“I don’t think this will be something that blows over,” Jens admits quietly.

Moyo shakes his head, scuffing his shoe loudly against the concrete with his arms crossed over his chest. “That’s some fucking bullshit. You haven’t even gone back to get your stuff this weekend, have you?”

He hasn’t, and it’s obvious by the fact that he’s wearing Lucas’s clothes, which aren’t quite as loose as his usual outfits. They’re all also aware that Jens still doesn’t have his phone, though he’d been able to use Lucas’s laptop to stay in contact with them and to call Jana the night before. Lucas had sat in the sitting room with his dad to give Jens his privacy, and he’d joined them about an hour later with red eyes and less of a weight on his shoulders.

Jens shakes his head and tugs Lucas’s hands, and Lucas holds him closer against him.

“Do you want somebody to go with you?” Yasmina asks.

“I don’t know. Luc’s dad already offered to drive me, but I don’t actually know if it’s the best idea to let them interact.”

“I’ll come with you,” Moyo immediately offers. “Luc can even come in the car as moral support if his dad’s driving us. Whenever you want to do it.”

“If you want to do it,” Lucas corrects. “Dad can go get your things, seriously. And I’d make sure he does it on his best behavior.”

Jens tilts his head back to look up at him, debating over the two options. He eventually seems to come to a decision and asks, “Would he be able to drive us tomorrow evening?”

Lucas nods. “If we ask him, he’ll make it work for you, yeah.”

Jens glances up at Moyo, but the boy is already shaking his head. “You don’t even have to ask, man. I’m there.” He taps Jens’s temple with his knuckle and earns himself a grateful smile, that he only returns with a nod.

“If you’re looking for somewhere,” Zoë speaks again, drawing the attention back towards her, “I think Milan would love to have you.”

“Yes, fuck,” Robbe brightens, smiling at her. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”

Lucas can’t believe he hadn’t, either, but Jens quietly admits, “I thought about it. But I still have no way of paying the rent.”

“Dad said—“ Lucas starts, but is cut off by Jens squeezing his hands.

“I know. But I can’t accept that.”

“Did he offer to help you pay?” Yasmina raises her brows. “Jens, an offer like that must be genuine.”

“I know,” Jens repeats, sighing. “But it’s too much. First I’m living in his house and then he’s paying my rent? What does that look like?”

Lucas squeezes him. “Who cares?” When Jens looks up at him again, he continues. “I don’t. Dad doesn’t. I’m pretty sure Milan wouldn’t. You really could get a part-time job and he could just help make ends meet.”

“Did you think about getting a job?” Moyo asks. Lucas and Jens nod. “There’s a place going at the cafe. They’d hire you no problem.”

Jens blinks at him. “Really?”

“Yeah, man. It’s basic enough work and the pay is minimal enough but honestly better than most places. They don’t need much of a CV for washing dishes and busting tables. It’s gonna be a little more stress on top of school, but if you want it, I’ll see if I can get you an interview?”

“Seriously? Do you even have that much sway?”

Moyo shrugs. “I’m one of their highest-tipped workers. They love me. Honestly, man, you could handle this job like a pro.”

Jens still hesitates, looking up at Lucas again for help. Lucas squeezes his hands and shrugs, but smiles encouragingly. “I can’t see anything wrong with trying.”

“If it gets too much, you can always quit,” Amber points out. Lucas thinks this is the first time he’s seen her so serious, without her usual bubbly demeanor. “We can all help take care of you if you need us.”

“Even Jana,” Zoë reminds him. “She told me you spoke to her. Just because she’s not here doesn’t mean she’s not available for you any time.”

Robbe bumps Jens’s shoulder. “Sander, too. And Milan and Senne. Any of us, any time, okay?”

Jens’s nod is slight, and Lucas can tell he’s getting overwhelmed. It doesn’t seem to be in a bad way, however, so he feels safe enough to lean down and press a kiss to Jens’s hair. “And me, always,” he whispers against his temple, and Jens clutches his hand and lets out a tremulous breath.

“You’re sure Milan wants to put up with another stray?” he asks Zoë.

Zoë grins at him. “I think he’d love nothing more.”

“He’ll be fucking ecstatic,” Robbe agrees. “We’ll never escape him.”

Zoë and Jens laugh, and Jens glances around them all another time before breathing, “Thank you.”

The first bell rings before they can offer any more sappy replies, so they all simply smile, before sighing or groaning as they rise and collect their things.

“I’m a little disappointed that not a single one of you offered to take my exams for me,” Jens sighs. “Especially you, Robbe. I’m friends with you for a reason, nerd.”

Robbe makes an affronted noise and gives him a shove, leading into a chase towards the school as Jens runs away from him with a laugh bursting out.

Lucas grins as Luca joins his side and fondly claps his shoulder, hoping that things are finally looking up.

[lastwagontrainhopper]

A little help goes a long way

I managed to finish this fic just in time before the end of pride, woohoo!

Summary:  

"Riza sighed and put her pastry down on the table. She looked him straight in the eye.

“I thought we had agreed, Colonel,” she said slowly, “on the fact that we do not have the same taste in women.” "

--

Roy is determined to find someone worthy of his Lieutenant.

(aka even when Riza and Roy are not together, they're still the otp)

Words: 2997

Tags: Royai ,Sort of?, Banter, Fluff and Humor, with just the tiniest speck of angst, Friendship, Riza is gay, Roy is an ally, They Gossip

read on aot

"Other than that, I spend most of my time helping out at my father's metalworking company. Do you know Gordon Industry? "

A few seconds went by before Riza realized she had been asked a question.

She took a long sip of wine to hide her surprise and promptly turned her attention to the young man in the brown suit who stood beside her. Casually leaning against the counter of the bar, he held a glass of whiskey in his left hand, a cigarette on the other.

"No, I’m not familiar," Riza finally replied with a contrite smile. "But I have to admit that, um, metalworking isn’t really a passion of mine."

The young man’s eyebrow shot up in genuine surprise. “Really, you’ve never heard of us?”

Riza had been upfront, but obviously not enough: the boy launched into a detailed description of the business’ operations, while she leaned further into the counter as she attempted to drink her boredom away.

Around them, the air was buzzing with conversations. The bar area was dramatically overcrowded: to reach the dancefloor in the next room, one had to elbow its way through the crowd - Riza had almost dropped her drink twice already from being pushed around. A tape recorder in the opposite corner was screaming out a blaring jazz tune, and a thick cloud of cigarette smoke was already beginning to form on the ceiling.

The Labor’s Day party was certainly not the fanciest celebration of the year, but it was nevertheless one of Riza's favorites. On this day, she was truly off-duty: there was no information to gather or higher-ups to compliment, and no reports to make at the end of the night. Besides, it was a rare opportunity for the military to mix with the civilians of Central, which led to some interesting encounters.

Well, most of the time.

Riza nodded idly as the young man continued his monologue. She had exhausted her repertoire of polite ways to end a conversation: this man was either incredibly tenacious or splendidly oblivious. He had even followed her to the bar when, on the pretense of getting a drink, she had tried to sneak away! For the umpteenth time, Riza’s thoughts drifted to the gun that was strapped on her right tight – sadly not a serious solution. She sighed and rested her chin against her left hand, her elbow on the table.

"Lieutenant! "

The interjection snapped her out of her reverie immediately. She raised her head and looked over her shoulder to see the Colonel - who else - who was just emerging from the crowd.

Riza hadn't seen him since the start of the night; he liked to keep busy on this type of occasion. But he didn’t seem in the mood to party at the moment: his expression was tense and he didn't even have a drink in his hands. As the Colonel reached the bar, he placed a hand on the counter between Riza and the young man, turning his back toward him as if he hadn't noticed his presence.

"Lieutenant, we just heard back from Havoc," he told her with a tone as serious as his face. "Target's on the move; we need to go now."

It did not take Riza long to understand. Without skipping a beat, she put her drink down, grabbed her purse and let her face fall back to its usual, serious appearance.

"Got it, sir."

Roy turned around and began to walk away. She went to follow him until a hand grasped her shoulder.

"Wait!" It was the young man - of course - looking dumbfounded, as if he hadn't followed what had just happened. "Can I at least get your number?"

This time, Riza didn't bother to fake a smile. "Maybe some other time."

With that, she twisted out of his grasp and ran after the Colonel who had already disappeared into the crowd.

She caught up with him as he exited the bar and entered the larger dance room. Riza took a few deep breaths; although the guests were just as numerous, the air here didn’t feel nearly as oppressive. The Colonel kept his rapid pace until they had crossed the sea of guests dancing in the middle of the room, swirling in all directions like raging waves.

When he slowed down and finally turned toward her, Roy wasn’t even trying to hide his self-satisfied smile.

"And you're welcome," he said with a half-mocking bow, stretching out the first word.

Riza took a moment to adjust the sleeves of her dress who had slipped off her shoulders – the garment wasn’t really made for this kind of wild chase.

"You know, people are going to become suspicious if you keep doing this," she replied as they started to walk again at a much more relaxed pace. "Besides, how do you know you didn't interrupt a perfectly lovely conversation?"

Roy threw her a knowing look. "Lieutenant, don't insult me. I could sense your annoyance from across the building." They were now entering the dining room, where guests could sit on small rounds tables to enjoy the buffet - not very fancy but quite filling – that laid on the counter along the wall. He smirked, putting his hands in his pockets. "That polite face of yours wasn't fooling anyone.”

"It was certainly fooling him."

"Men see what they want to see," Roy said whimsically. He glanced behind them, then pulled Riza by the arm. "Wait, let's sit. I think the guy might be looking for you."

They swiftly sat down on the first empty table they could see. Thanks to the people standing in small groups around them, their presence was hidden from most of the room.

Riza tried to look around, but couldn’t the young man's brown suit. She went to sip her drink and realized she had left it at the bar.

She sighed. “Guess I’ll need to lay low for a while. But thanks for the help, Colonel,” she added with a rare touch of honestly.

“Always my pleasure,” he nodded slightly. “Give me just a minute.”

Roy stood up and walked toward the back of the room. A few moments later, he returned with a plate filled with some of the few ragtag dishes that had survived from the buffet, and placed it down between them.

Riza suppressed a small smile. "You don't need to keep me company, you know."

Roy shrugged, mouth already full of shrimps. “I could use a break from the networking. Plus, being seen chatting with a beautiful blonde can’t hurt my image.”

“Except everyone knows that blonde is your subordinate,” Riza answered flatly, leaving the other problem unsaid. She reached out to grab a chocolate éclair. “This isn’t even a military event, and you’re still thinking about work?”

“Military event or not, many influent figures of Central are gathered tonight. Can’t miss that opportunity.” Roy licked the butter off his fingers, a gesture that contrasted with the classy black suit he was wearing. “But while we are talking….”, he turned his attention back to her, “there is actually something I needed to tell you. I’ve received intel on a certain individual, here in the capital, which seems rather intriguing.”

Riza fell back into soldier mode in the blink of an eye, straightening up on her chair. “What is this about?”

Roy raised a hand in front of him. “Relax. It’s not about the military.”

Riza frowned. Intel about someone from Central, without it being related to their work? What else could this be about?

It took a few long seconds for the realization to hit her. Oh.

“Sir….” she began warningly, hoping she was wrong.

Roy had a smirk on his face now, like a kid trying not to laugh at its own prank. “Now that I think of it, you in particular might find this person – her - interesting.”

Riza sighed and put her pastry down on the table. She looked him straight in the eye.

“I thought we had agreed, Colonel,” she said slowly, “on the fact that we do not have the same taste in women.”

He raised his hands defensively. “I know, Lieutenant, I know. Which is why this isn’t someone that I would date.”

Riza frowned, suspicious. “How come?”

“A bit too austere for my taste,” Roy answered offhandedly. She gave him a piercing look, and he caved in with a sheepish smile. “But mostly because she wouldn’t want to date me. You, on the other hand…”

Riza ignored his comically wiggling eyebrows and went back to eating her eclair.

“Do you even know if I’m her type?” If women were her type, was what this meant.

“My trusted source tells me so.”

He grabbed an olive and popped it into his mouth before leaning forward, his forearms resting on the table. There was a playful glint in his eyes.

“She’s in her late twenties, work as an investigative journalist – so smart, without a doubt, and with a touch of boldness. According to what I’ve read of her, she seems to have her heart in the right place too - you should see what she writes about Bradley’s administration. I didn’t even think it was legal to print this kind of thing!”

Riza hummed noncommittally. So far, so good.

“And I haven’t even got to the best part,” Roy continued, raising his index for emphasis. “My trusted source tells me she has not one, but two dogs.”

Riza raised an eyebrow. “Two? Sounds like a lot to handle,” she replied, keeping her tone neutral.

He smirked. “But you’re not the type to back down from a challenge, are you, Lieutenant?”

Riza sighed. She had forgotten how persistent Roy could be when he had good intentions. “God, you sound like your sisters right now.” A doubt crossed her mind, and she narrowed her eyes at him. “Did your sisters had something to do with this?”

Roy leaned back in his chair. “She goes to the same hairdresser as Bianca,” he admitted shamelessly. “They’re friends.”

“You are impossible,” Riza said with a half-smile, shaking her head. “I’ll think about it.” Roy nodded, apparently satisfied, while she grabbed the last piece of bread from the plate. “But what about you?”

“What about me?”

“I haven’t seen you with Madeline for a while.”

“Oh, well…” Roy looked away, his expression growing more somber. “Things were starting to get too serious between us. She wanted to move in with me.”

Riza felt her teasing smile fade off. “So, you broke it off?”

“No,” he replied a bit defensively, “we had a conversation about it like mature adults. I told her how I really feel about…all of that. And she decided to end it.”

It wasn’t the first time she had heard that story. Riza felt a pang of sympathy for him. “I’m sorry about that, Colonel.”

He shrugged it off, trying to appear casual. “It’s alright. I had a feeling it would end this way.”

Around them, the crowd had begun to dissipate, as guests wandered outside to enjoy the cool night air. Riza spotted two unopened beers lying on a table nearby that was now empty and got up to get them.

"You know," she said as she sat back down, placing one of the bottles in front of Roy, "there are plenty of women who would be happy with a casual relationship, no string attached."

“Trust me, Lieutenant, I am aware,” he replied with a smirk. “And I’ve had my share of that in the past. But I’m almost thirty, now; I’m not a young man anymore.” He popped the beer cap off on the edge of the table – his favorite party trick – and took a swig. “It’s only natural to seek something a bit more meaningful, someone with which I can drop the act.”

Riza raised an eyebrow as she searched through her purse for keys. “So, you want a serious emotional relationship with none of the practical aspect? Seems to me like you want to have the cake and eat it too.” She finally founded them and opened her own beer with a flick of the wrist.

Roy frowned. “Well, you seem to manage to get exactly that. You were with Rose for what, 2 years? Without any talk of moving, marriage, kids or whatnot.”

Riza gave him a flat look. “Yes, because if we had done anything like that and someone found out, she would have lost her teaching position – and I would have risked getting kicked out of the military. That’s hardly a pleasant reason.”

“Of course,” he nodded, “you’re right. But in our case, you have to agree that it is convenient. “

Riza hummed reluctantly. It was, in a way: she never had had to reveal the real reason why she didn’t want to  - or couldn’t - commit too firmly to a relationship. She was grateful for that; even among her most trusted partners, there weren't many who would have understood.

“But all is not lost!” Roy said after a moment, pulling Riza out of her thoughts. He set his bottle on the table with determination. “I have decided to try a new approach to dating, one that I think is promising.”

Riza looked at him, tilting her head with curiosity.

“I’m going incognito.”

She took a sip of beer. “Interesting. Any alias?”

He crossed his arms, musing. “Think I’ll stick to Roy. Just Roy, a simple guy looking for someone to spend the weekends with, without getting too engaged in each other lives. I’m sure some women are looking for that.”

“It will be a bit harder without your whole “Flame Alchemist” thing going on, though,” Riza notes, amused.

“I know,” he smirked, “but that’s the fun of it. You see, with my reputation, I can easily sway the most exquisite women in Central – except one, that is.“ Riza rolled her eyes at his sideways glance. “But the kind of women that are interested in me rarely is the one I’d like to end up with. In fact,” he chuckled somberly, “if someone falls for my “lazy, arrogant Hero of Ishval” persona, either they’re in it only for the prestige or they’re a terrible judge of character.”

Riza nodded slowly. “An unfortunate consequence of your strategy.” There was a short silence. Then she propped her chin in the palm of her hand, elbow on the table, and let out a teasing smile. “At any rate, I am looking forward to seeing how this will turn out. If only to know if you’re half as good as a seducer as you’ve always claimed to be.”

That made Roy laugh, throwing his head back. He looked at her with a fond expression, the type he only had after a few drinks. “You know, I’ll never get over how unfortunate it is that I’m not your type.”

She smirked. “I think it makes everything a lot simpler, actually.”

“Maybe,” he conceded. “But the best things in life rarely are the simple ones.”

Riza chuckled, and the two fell into a comfortable silence as they worked on finishing their beers. They were lukewarm, and not of the highest quality, but that didn’t matter - this was a night for familiarity and comfort, not luxury.

Suddenly, something in the room caught Roy's attention.

"Oh - I think I just saw her!" He craned his neck, looking at something behind Riza.

"Her?"

"The journalist. Come on!" Roy was already on his feet, motioning for her to get up.

Riza frowned as she pushed her chair back. "You mean she's here?"

Roy turned back toward her. "Do you think I would have told you all this if she wasn't? You underestimate my organizational skills, Lieutenant." She snorted, but let the comment slide. "By the way - have you seen what was on the news about Major Kingsman's trial?"

Riza tried to remember what she had read in the newspaper the previous Sunday. "I've skimmed through it, yes..."

"That'll do." He maneuvered between the tables, heading toward a woman who had just stopped by the buffet - or what was left of it. "Ms. Delacroix! We were just talking about you! I would like you to meet Lieutenant Riza Hawkeye - she's the subordinate I was telling you about."

The woman turned in their direction and smiled as she recognized the Colonel. Her outfit was simple but elegant, a linen shirt with a low-cut neckline and flowy black pants. Her brown hair fell down her back in a long braid, and her face was covered in freckles.

Riza felt like her jaw had just dropped. God. Did Roy even know how much she loved freckles?

The woman turned her attention to Riza as she came up beside them. "Yes, I remember! It's a pleasure to meet you, Lieutenant."

Riza suppressed her sudden urge to rearrange her hair- which must have looked atrocious, after hours in those stuffy rooms - and stepped forward to shake her hand.

"The pleasure is mine, Ms. Delacroix," she replied warmly. For once, it really was.

"So," the woman began, looking at Riza with interest, "Colonel Mustang told me you had some questions about my recent article in The Central Times?

Riza swore internally. She made a mental note to take it up with him later. "That's right," she said with a small smile. "I'm afraid I'm not an expert in the subject, but your article certainly caught my curiosity."

Before Ms. Delacroix could respond, Roy glanced over his shoulder. "I'm afraid I heard someone call my name," he chimed in, not looking the least bit sorry. "I'll leave you ladies to it."

He bid them both goodbyes, bowing his head at Ms.Delacroix, and promptly walked away.

Over the journalist’s shoulder, Riza saw him look back after a few steps. He caught her gaze and gave her a satisfied grin, mouthing something.

"You're welcome."

Riza bit down a witty retort and instead turned her attention back to Ms.Delacroix. The Colonel could wait; she had more important matters in front of her.

[preathfics]

PreathFics Madness: Sweet 16

Welcome to the second full round of the PreathFics Madness, co-sponsored by @hardtchill​.

We had 249 votes in the round of 32.

Congratulations to those fics that advanced. There were some REALLY close matchups (we’re talking 3 vote differences). We’re now down to two matchups in each division. 

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The Sweet 16 is now open for voting. You will vote on 8 pairs of fics. We’re giving everyone three days to vote again. Please please please DO NOT vote more than once and DO skip any pairs of fics that you haven’t read. I’m including links to all of the fics below each division bracket image, should you want to read before voting!

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Division 1:

under pink skies (248782 words) by wnnbh12

Chapters: 30/30 Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press Characters: Tobin Heath, Christen Press Summary:

Tobin likes her life. She's made a name for herself playing professional soccer, she's got an endless list of girls' numbers in her phone, she's got the life she's always wanted.

But sometimes things change.

And sometimes change is a good thing.

---

electric love (23296 words) by blake0tyler Chapters: 3/3 Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press, Alex Morgan/Kelley O'Hara

Characters: Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Kelley O'Hara, Lindsey Horan, Morgan Brian, Crystal Dunn, Mallory Pugh, Emily Sonnett, Julie Johnston, Rose Lavelle

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University, chaotic alex morgan, everyone is oblivious

Summary:

As a best friend, Alex knows — she just knows — that there are really only three things that Tobin genuinely cares about: black coffee early in the morning, playing soccer, and kissing girls at parties when she’s slightly too tipsy.

Alex also knows that dating pretty transfer students from Stanford does not fit into that category anywhere.

She knows.

Okay, she’s fairly sure, at least.

//

Christen & Tobin at college.

(& Alex’s perspective on the whole thing).

---

Feeling This (180329 words) by 5oclocksomewhere

Chapters: 32/32 Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press

Characters: Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Kelley O'Hara, Julie Johnston, Ashlyn Harris, Ali Krieger, Alyssa Naeher, Lauren Cheney, Amy Rodriguez

Summary:

Christen is excited to start her freshman year at UNC, rooming with three of her teammates. A last minute transfer changes everything.

---

Wild and Young (44193 words) by Hidge Chapters: 19/? Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press, Tobin Heath/Alex Morgan Characters: Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Alex Morgan, Kelley O'Hara, Allie Long, Julie Johnston, Crystal Dunn, Original Male Character(s)

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - High School, Love Triangles, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Confused Tobin, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Fluff and Humor, high school parties

Summary:

It turned out that Tobin Heath was totally into that whole good girl thing.

Tobin thought that Alex Morgan was the only girl that she could ever want, and then she got to know Christen Press.

--- Division 2:

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Lonesome Dreams (286745 words) by whatname0523 Chapters: 36/? Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press

Characters: Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Mana Shim, Kelley O'Hara, Alex Morgan, Servando Carrasco, Julie Johnston, Zach Ertz

Summary:

I lie under starlit sky And the seasons change in the blink of an eye I watch as the planets turn And the old stars die and the young stars burn But I don't really know this place, And it's lonesome here in the wide-open space Can it be as real as it seems? Maybe this time I won't wake from the dream

---

I was struggling to figure out how lightning works (then it struck me) (128582 words) by alittlestitious Chapters: 25/25 Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press Characters: Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Alex Morgan, Ali Krieger, Ashlyn Harris, Kelley O'Hara, Julie Johnston, Original Child Character(s) Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Single Parents, Family, Kid Fic

Series: Part 1 of

Struck

Summary:

"Hey Al, I accidentally kidnapped some kids," Tobin rushes out when her best friend picks up the phone, without so much as a hello.

Tobin possibly makes the best biggest mistake of her life.

AU

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Mixed Messages (110746 words) by elm27 Chapters: 28/? Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press Characters: Alex Morgan, Kelley O'Hara

Summary:

Christen transfers across country to attend UNC, following in the footsteps of her friend Kelley O'Hara. Once she's there it is one series of events after the other, mostly surrounding her new roommate, Tobin.

---

Love on the Weekend (152214 words) by whatname0523 Chapters: 19/19 Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press Characters: Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Kelley O'Hara, Allie Long, Lindsey Horan, Emily Sonnett

Series: Part 2 of

Roman Holiday

Summary:

I gotta leave ya, it's gonna hurt me My clothes are dirty and my friends are getting worried

 Tobin and Christen fell for each other in Italy. Can they make a long distance relationship work now that they're home?

--- Division 3:

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Gold Love (172649 words) by Holom Chapters: 18/? Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press Characters: Christen Press, Tobin Heath, Mallory Pugh

Summary:

“Christen? It…it is you, right?” Tobin sounded a bit unsure now.

Christen wanted to say something but she felt like she’d forgotten how to speak - like she was 15 again meeting Tobin for the first time. Her eye had caught the light reflecting off something on Tobin’s finger and she was certain she was going to pass out.

Right there, right where she saw Tobin put it on 12 years ago, was Christen’s ring.

“You know I waited for you. I waited for you until that loud u-17 coach threatened to make me run laps for the whole camp. I was so sure you were going to walk into the changing room, Christen. Where did you go?"

---

on a scale (from one to ten) (200591 words) by softanticipation Chapters: 28/28 Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press, Kelley O'Hara/Christen Press Characters: Christen Press, Kelley O'Hara, Ali Krieger, Alex Morgan, Sydney Leroux, Tobin Heath

Series: Part 1 of

on a scale (from one to ten)

Summary:

After a summer apart, everything changes between Christen Press and her childhood best friend, Kelley O'Hara. All Christen wants to do it figure it out, but she's got a handful of other things that keep distracting her: thinking about grad school, being forced to make new friends, and - most importantly - trying to get along with Kelley's newest teammate, who seems to be out to make Christen's life a living hell.

---

pillowtalk (36823 words) by softanticipation Chapters: 4/4 Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press Characters: Christen Press, Tobin Heath

Series: Part 1 of

pillowtalk

Summary:

Tobin's hurting. Christen's always there.

*

“It’s okay,” Christen soothes, moving her hand to come up and tangle in the base of Tobin’s hair. “We don’t have to do this now.”

“But I want to,” Tobin says, jaw setting even as her eyes fill with glittering tears. “I want to do this now.”

---

Afterglow (163024 words) by quincindentaldreams Chapters: 17/? Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press

Characters: Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Kelley O'Hara, Amy Rodriguez, Megan Rapinoe, Ashlyn Harris, Ali Krieger, Cody Press, Meghan Klingenberg, Becky Sauerbrunn

Additional Tags: Parenthood, Soldier!Tobin, Mom!Christen, Breaking Up & Making Up, G!pTobin

Summary:

"Her father, however, with the back doors closed from all the commotion and the front porch windows open, had recognized it instantly. His hand stopped from where it had been flipping the next pancake, ears tuned in to the outside to make sure he was hearing things correctly, then the sound of that old truck door shutting sounded throughout the house.

Christen angled her head backwards as the back door was opened, watching her father peak his head out quickly and wipe his hands on a hand towel. Every hair on her body stood up, as if lightening was about to strike through the blue sky above her head.

“There’s someone at the door for you, baby.”

--- Division 4:

---

Worth a Thousand Words (69624 words) by Heath17_KO5 Chapters: 18/? Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press Characters: Tobin Heath, Kelley O'Hara, Christen Press, Alex Morgan, Ashlyn Harris, Emily Sonnett, Lauren Holiday, Ali Krieger

Additional Tags: background kellex, the whole uswnt - Freeform, Photographer AU, possible background soran, Don’t copy to another site

Summary:

Photographer Tobin has been hired to do the (tastefully nude) photography for a USWNT calendar, the proceeds of which will be used to benefit charity. She expected a busy day. She expected the long hours. She expected the nervousness of the women. She did not expect Christen Press.

---

Girl Crush (198389 words) by Urbanrebel6 Chapters: 28/28 Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press Characters: Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Alyssa Naeher, Kelley O'Hara, Sydney Leroux, Ali Krieger, Alex Morgan Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - College/University

Summary:

Christen has a girl crush

---

we'll take the world by storm (it isn't that hard) (30866 words) by bestthreemonths Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press

Summary:

Navigating life, love, and adulthood in Los Angeles is hard enough for the average 26-year-old, but most 26-year-olds don't have several million subscribers hanging onto their every word like Christen Press does.

aka the youtuber AU

---

Make Me Like You (40428 words) by LittleHeiHei Chapters: 15/? Fandom: Women's Soccer RPF Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Tobin Heath/Christen Press Characters: Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Alex Morgan, Kelley O'Hara, Allie Long, and the rest of the USWNT, Ashlyn Harris, Jill Ellis

Additional Tags: Hate to Love, Sharing a Bed, Secret Relationship, Eventual Smut, I'm as clueless as you are about where this is going, Fluff, They're both rude asf, Enemies to Lovers

Summary:

They’ve hated each other since they met in the 2009 NCAA final. Christen thinks Tobin is cocky and insensitive. Tobin thinks Christen is uptight and far too serious. Fast forward 6 years and the two women find themselves sharing a room during the 2015 World Cup. This could get interesting…

[clansayeed]

Bound by Destiny II, part 1 ― Chapter 17: The Psychic

PAIRING: Kamilah Sayeed x MC (Nadya Al Jamil) RATING: Mature

⥼ MASTERLIST ⥽

⥼ Bound by Destiny II, part 1 ⥽

While struggling with nightmares of lives she’s never lived, a shadow from the past looming over her city, and the proposed idea that her life may just be a little bit too weird to handle alone, Nadya makes sure to tell herself that everything is perfect just the way it is. If only. When the self-proclaimed King of Vampires (and Maker of her sometimes-girlfriend and always-boss, can’t forget that little tidbit) Gaius Augustine returns intent on claiming Manhattan as the throne that was promised, she and her friends find themselves forced into the task of saving the world. But with millennia-old vampires and an Order of hunters on their heels as well as allies hiding catastrophic secrets at their backs… it won’t be an easy task. Too bad destiny didn’t exactly ask for her input.

Bound by Destiny II and the rest of the Oblivion Bound series is an ongoing dramatic retelling project of the Bloodbound series and spin-off, Nightbound. Find out more [HERE].

*Let me know if you would like to be added to the Destiny II tag list!

⥼ Chapter Summary ⥽

The group's patience is rewarded when Serafine finally arrives in Paris. But with her comes the reality that it's time to buckle down and do what they came here to do. Seeing as none of her previous experiences with psychics have been even remotely good, Nadya can't shake her doubts.

note: from this chapter and going forward this series will contain Adrian x Serafine content/mentions

[READ IT ON AO3]

It’s the longest week of Nadya’s life. A week of unknowns and uncertainties that somehow both keep her exhausted and refuse to let her sleep for fear they would go ignored. Like there’s any chance of that happening.

The suckiest part is there’s no escaping the worry. She doesn’t stray too far from the block the apartment building is on for fear of losing her way, or worse — losing her life.But it’s not like their apartment was the most spacious thing in the world. Only Lily and Nadya are used to living with each other. They aren’t used to living with two grown men.

They scour newspaper stands, memorize the channel numbers for every news station and use Adrian when translations are necessary. Digging almost obsessively for any information on New York and their loved ones. After all, you’d think a giant pitfall in the middle of Central Park would get even one 24-hour news cycle of international attention.

You’d think.

“The police have the entire park sectioned off,” Adrian summarizes; eyes flying over the newsprint of that day’s issue, “looks like they’re trying to write the event off as a scaled-down natural event. Hartfield’s sent out their geology department but I’m guessing that’s for the newspapers rather than to do actual good. Manhattan isn’t exactly known for it’s sprawling underground caverns.”

They stop looking at the papers after that. Or — they stop asking Adrian to expose himself to all of the things he feels he walked out on. He’s got enough on his plate.

And isn’t that an understatement. Yes; Adrian’s worries about being unable to reach Serafine are definitely everyone else’s problem too. But every time he seems to be getting a little too heated or intense Nadya reminds herself of their first night here and the talk they had. He may not admit it aloud but much of his worry for her is personal.

The side effect is as unanticipated as it is worrisome. Adrian’s a vibrant personality; never one to boast his success but always the center of attention because he’s just that interesting. So to see such an extroverted person retreat into themselves as harsh as he does has everyone on edge. He’s quieter at meals and outright avoids the rest of them in the apartment’s lone bedroom most afternoons.

When Nadya tries confronting him about it (she starts off subtle, but screw subtle they’re all in a bad way right now so if he’s going to be miserable he can at least be miserable with the rest of them) he at least does her the courtesy of not pretending to be oblivious about it.

“I’m just worried, that’s all,” he insists; pushy enough that it’s clear he’s trying to convince himself of it too, “about Serafine, and everyone back home too.”

“You think you’re the only one?”

“No, of course not. I —”

“Okay, so stop acting like it. We can’t do this without you.” I can’t do this without you, but she doesn’t need to say it for Adrian to know.

His excuses are always the same; so are the apologies that inevitably follow. Finally Nadya just forces herself to accept that if Adrian won’t confide in her there’s not much she can do about it. Not that acceptance keeps it from hurting her deeply.

The only consolation the universe decides to offer her is a few (worry-addled) days wandering around a snowy Paris at night with her best friend. It gets them out of the claustrophobic confines of the apartment though, so she’ll take it.

Still rosy-cheeked and shivering from their metro ride, Nadya fumbles to Lily’s delight far too long before she manages to get the key into the lock and her butt into the apartment.

“Karma is real you know,” though her huffs of discontent are made less malicious by the way her scarf muffles her words and makes her glasses fog up to the point of blindness, “and it comes after people who watch their friends suffer.”

Lily laughs in the face of karma. “Oh you poor baby, all cold from your visit to the top of the Eiffel Tower. My heart goes out to you.”

“It should!”

“It does!”

“Good!”

They laugh in unison. When Nadya is finished shedding her many wintry layers she grabs for the takeout bag at her feet. “Looks like Jax is still out,” she comments, and doesn’t miss the indescribable look of continued confusion that gets thrown her way. Yeah, she didn’t understand it either at first, but turns out he’s never been out of the country before and likes walking the streets alone.

A woman’s rich and chiming laughter stops both of them in their tracks. Nadya knows full well it’s impossible for her key to have opened any other door in the building yet still she does a quick double-check to make sure they are indeed in the right apartment. Jax’s sword is where he left it on the coffee table, and Adrian’s suit is still hanging over the bedroom door; so it’s definitely their place.

And Adrian doesn’t laugh like that.

“Hold on,” comes Adrian’s voice from the kitchen, “I think I heard the door.”

The laughing woman’s voice is richly accented when she replies. “If your hearing has gotten so terrible, mon chéri, I’m surprised you’ve survived this long.”

Lily wiggles her eyebrows suggestively before calling out; “If you need a minute or ten, we can circle the block!”

Nadya claps her hand over her mouth to stifle her snort, and the fact she can hear Adrian’s rolling eyes when he talks doesn’t help in the least.

“Ha ha, very funny Lily. Come on in — there’s someone here I want you to meet.”

The woman sitting very close to Adrian at the small kitchen table needs no introduction but Adrian gives one anyway. “Nadya, Lily; this is Serafine Dupont.” And she’s a startling beauty to be sure; hair falling in bushy and effortless curls around features that manage to look flawless even under the harsh yellow light overhead. But Nadya can’t look away from Adrian from the moment she sees him.

Adrian who is smiling; really genuinely smiling, for the first time in a long time. She’d almost forgotten what it looked like, but the sight of it is like an old friend and gives her an immense relief. Not just for his sake either — because just maybe something is finally going right for them.

The girls are barely one foot through the doorway when Serafine descends upon them. Feather-light fingertips brushing through the wool of Nadya’s sweater with gentle kisses gifted to her cheeks. She smells of rose perfume and spring morning dew, and carries herself tall and proud in a way that is so familiar it makes Nadya’s heart ache.

Lily returns the kisses enthusiastically. “I’ve been wanting to do that ever since we got here,” she admits to Serafine’s delight.

“Believe me, the pleasure is all mine.” The woman smiles sweetly at the both of them before taking up her seat again. “Adrian’s been talking the both of you up for hours. I told him that I could not remember the last time he spoke so highly of anyone!”

“Well we are admittedly awesome.”

“And modest, too, I see.”

Her oh-so-courteous vampire friends wait until Nadya’s settled in with her food unpacked to get down to business. There are only two chairs for the table so Lily joins her up on the counters; their legs dangling and colliding on lazy occasion.

“So, Serafine,” and there’s a depth to her warm brown eyes that Nadya recognizes; they may not have discussed it before but she has no trouble believing that Serafine is much older than her current companions, “no offense — but you’re a hard woman to track down.”

At least she seems genuinely apologetic. “Ah, oui. I’ve spent the better part of the evening giving Adrian my apologies but I should offer them to you as well.”

“She’s been in hiding.” Adrian comments, and with no small amount of sympathy.

Nadya and Lily exchange surprised looks. “Are you okay?”

Serafine nods with a hum. “I am alive, and that is more than can be said for those who fell victim to the Order.”

The Order. Nadya’s heard that name before — though never with her own ears. She may not remember all of her visions but they’ve come up too frequently for her to fully forget. With that name comes the chill of fear and the weight of loss. Serafine radiates it and so much more.

“The Order of the Dawn, you mean.”

Which makes Serafine regard her with surprise. “You know of them?” she asks, and because she’s working really hard on this whole being-honest thing Nadya just shrugs in a noncommittal answer.

Lily raises her hand. “And for those of us who skipped Vampire History 1-0-1?”

“The Order of the Dawn is the oldest enemy to our kind. Legend says they have been around since the time of the First Vampire Herself, and with the amount of wealth and influence they have gathered the world over… I would believe it. They are the worst of humanity. Radicals who exist solely to exterminate us. By their teachings, from the moment we are Turned we cease to be people. They paint us as savages; animals controlled by our need for blood and nothing more.”

“Sounds a bit like —”

“Ferals?” Adrian nods grimly. “They’ve been used as a tactic for the Order’s indoctrination for decades. But they don’t see the difference between a Feral or the likes of you and I. To them it’s all the same.”

Indoctrination, he says. And judging by the pain that flashes across Serafine’s face when he isn’t looking it’s not a word chosen for melodrama. When she tries her hardest to recall what few memories she can that even so much as whisper the Order in her ear, it’s not an unfounded fear the older vampires share.

However there’s one thing Nadya doesn’t fully understand.

“If they’re so powerful and connected, why haven’t you mentioned them before?” Frankly it would have been nice to know of yet another reason to look over her shoulder.

“Because I didn’t see any reason to scare you over something that you wouldn’t have to deal with. Or… so I’d hoped.”

Serafine offers Nadya a sympathetic smile; something a hair’s breadth from pitying. “Don’t think too little of him for it, petit. America has the luxury of letting the likes of the Order fade into history. They fought hard enough for the right to do so, after all.”

Her hand falls over Adrian’s with a feather-light touch; offering a look with it that Nadya only sees half of but that’s more than enough to know the feelings behind it. The tension melts from his shoulders in a steady wave.

“There was a secret war in the middle of the 19th century; the War of the Dawn. A decade-long campaign to wipe every vampire from the face of North America; and the Order’s last and bloodiest attempt at killing Gaius and damaging our entire species beyond repair. They all but abandoned Western Europe and poured every resource into the fight. Unfortunately we were forced to do the same… and because of it they very nearly succeeded.”

He’s had Lily’s interest since ‘secret war’ but everything after is meant to frighten them. It succeeds — rightfully so.

It wouldn’t hurt for him to stop there but Adrian continues almost like he’s duty-bound to finish the story for the warning it is. “We won because we were connected to the human world in a symbiosis. Gaius spent years weaving his court into the very fabric of American history and it paid off when the time came. Politics, industry, big business — when we formed the Council we didn’t create these connections, we merely stepped in to fill the void our coup left behind.”

She gets it now. “You have more power than the Order does.”

“And so they can’t touch us. Not without losing for a second—and final—time.”

For all of the terrible things Gaius is and will always be, he can play the long game well. Nearly every vision he showed up in left Nadya confused as to how such a terrible tyrant could inspire such loyalty. Now… it makes a little bit more sense.

Not that it makes him any less of a villain.

“But it is not my enemies that bring you so far from home, Adrian.”

If Serafine was hoping to cut even the smallest hole in the tension between them, sucks to be her. She takes the defeat with grace though. “I relish this chance to reconnect… though I have a sense our night would be better spent with why you are here, in Paris with her dangers, at all.”

His laugh is as dry as it is fake. “Where to start…”

There’ve been enough psychic vampires probing around in Nadya’s head lately that she knows the look their new friend gives her right away. Before she can even open her mouth Nadya feels the itch of Serafine’s psychic influence right at the base of her skull.

“The beginning should suffice.”

While Nadya may not have picked up on much of the French language in their short time here, she has little trouble imagining the long string of words that roll off of Serafine’s tongue are the pretty woman’s equivalent of swearing like a sailor. Judging by the way Adrian raises his eyebrows and suddenly finds the bottom of his wine glass the most fascinating thing in the room… she should have bet money on it.

“You okay there?” Lily asks, and passes what’s left of the bottle wordlessly back to the table. As vampires, they may not be able to get drunk like humans could but Nadya’s coming to realize her favorite thing about the French is handling stressful conversations with an alcoholic buffer.

Serafine looks between the girls in a strange emotion possibly named ‘wild sadness,’ which is valid honestly.

“Non, Lily, I am not. But I cannot fathom how minuscule my emotions must be compared to your own. And you, Nadya,” who tries her best not to cringe under the emotions that make her voice thick and accent thicker, “to have endured what you have, so young and in the prime of your life. I would not wish such a fate on my worst enemy.”

“Yeah well…” she has no idea what to say to that; so she drinks until something comes to mind, “I would. If only to show him what it feels like.”

Serafine gives a fitful nod. “But it doesn’t do any good to sit here and ruminate on the tragic things which have already passed. Whatever is in my power is yours.”

“Well that’s the thing — I wasn’t sure if it was in your power.” She looks offended that Adrian would even think of doubting her. He doubles-back; tries again.

“You’re the strongest psychic Kamilah and I know, Serafine. But I’ll admit I don’t know much about the skill. Is it even possible to undo the damage that’s been done?”

Nadya doesn’t disagree that damage is right but it still hurts to hear it. He glances at her quickly and utterly remorseful. “I mean —”

“I know what you meant. Let it go.”

Serafine shrugs. “Let me see what I’m working with first. Nadya, darling, if you would?” She gestures and Nadya slips from her stool without argument, is glad for the fact that Serafine stays seated only because she knows the woman would tower over her. She cups Nadya’s face in her cool palms; thumbs brushing over her cheekbones.

Isadora had touched at her mind subtle and with caution. By comparison Jameson had all but swung a hatchet at her brain; chipped away at her until he found what he needed and that was that. And Serafine, too, is different in her own way. But it’s more than the simple differences between individuals.

There’s a power in Serafine’s touch. Impossible for her to ignore. A compulsion of the will that drags her eyelids closed and brings her deep within and along for the ride.

Images, emotions, thoughts. Nadya sees them coming from a great distance but doesn’t have time to brace herself before they hit her like a truck.

Grasping for Lily’s hand on the plane—Kamilah’s lips on her forehead tears welling in her eyes emotion choking her throat—pleasedon’tmakemeleaveyou—I’mrighthereI’vegotyou—fear and worry and the brief flicker of joy—Taylor’s inconsistent eyes Kathy’s rich violet hair—all those months of lying begging for the end in those moments just before succumbing to sleep and the horrible things that alwaysinevitablycome…

And then there’s Gaius. Gaius whispering in her ear feeling Nadya’s heart pounding in her chest Vega two steps behind don’tlethimcatchyou! Gaius entering the dining room with silent fanfare — the glamour fading to reveal the rotting corpse beneath — his shoes taptaptap echoing in the Chamber the blood of the First staining his teeth before he rises up upup and into the oblivion of the night—

Serafine tries to pull back her psychic reach — but something, certainly not Nadya, holds her down. Keeps her still and there and demands of her to watch. As I have watched, as I have seen.

Nadya knows so very little but she knows without a shadow of a doubt the images that follow are memories, too. Serafine’s memories. Surprised to be pulled from some abyss, out of order.

The smell of spice and ocean sea-salt freshly sanded wood on beaches sand still warm with the sun’s heat sinking between her bare toes — electronica pounding through modern speakers club lights shining down on her skin slick with sweat her head thrown back in laughter — Adrian’s lips on her neck on her breasts lilted language on her tongue slow down darling we have a long day ahead of us fingers intertwining skin burning where the barest sliver of sunlight catches on their shared bed—

Paris bright and both new and old history not yet written in cobbled streets an empty void in the skyline where the Eiffel Tower will be and the smell of burning flesh and bone wafting up from deep within the earth tears and ash smeared over her skin—Youwillseejusticeatthehandsofyourenemies—and a burning hatred that ignited the flame.

Nadya tastes something unfamiliar and metallic on the tip of her tongue. Blood, her mind tells her — though her body struggles to accept it as more than just another memory.

She opens her eyes just as the red slips from Serafine’s own gaze. Shame and confusion burn hot in her cheeks and she barely registers the combined cries of “Nadya!” from both of her friends before she’s emptying the meager contents of her stomach in the kitchen sink.

Nadya reaches with a shaking hand to push her hair out of her face. Lily beats her to it; holds her through every shaking heaving breath without a word.

The two glasses of water she all but inhales help soothe the sting of the cut inside her cheek. Still, Nadya keeps the flat of her tongue against it out of habit. And though she’d like nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep off the vertigo a nd nausea still churning in her belly Nadya knows she can’t. Sits back on the counter like a good little Bloodkeeper while Lily scrubs the sink before the smell can linger.

“Je suis tellement désolé, Nadya,” apologizes Serafine, to which Nadya only nods to reply. Words are a little bit beyond her right now if that’s alright with them. “I had no idea even a simple exchange would be so… violent.”

Which is a word for it. Though Nadya would almost prefer they find something more dramatic for the future.

Adrian looks between them in a silent war with himself. Torn between apologizing to Nadya and asking Serafine the inevitable. What had she seen?

“Do you truly wish to stay your current course?”

She appreciates Serafine asking; it’s a consideration she hasn’t gotten much of so far. Unfortunately it doesn’t change anything.

“You—gh,” the three vampires wait patiently while she swallows and regains her words, “you saw what happened. You saw what Gaius became. This is the only way.”

Lily throws an arm around Nadya’s shoulders. “Unless you magically happen to have a God-killing stake you can pull outta your back end.”

Serafine’s laughter is more polite than amused. “Would it spare you further pain, I would. But alas. And I would not ask you to try again so soon. Too much has already been forced upon you.”

“So you’re saying I’m damaged beyond repair.”

“Non, I am not. Psychic intrusion is rarely so simple, and cannot be compared to the likes of physical injuries. Judging by what you have told me and the little I was able to see… most—if not all—of your previous encounters within the mind were done without consent?”

Nadya nods slowly; the heartbreak is plain on Serafine’s face. “Then it is of no surprise that you have put barriers in place; even unconsciously. It will take time to bring down those walls safely and without risking further harm to you both mentally and physically.”

“How much time?” asks Adrian.

“I could not say. Up until tonight I too thought the Bloodkeeper only a myth. Even if there were a clear path to recovery, that alone will undoubtedly bring complications.”

He looks down and away. But he doesn’t have to say it — and they don’t need to be psychic to know what he’s thinking.

They don’t have time. The people they love don’t have time.

Nadya inhales shakily. “How big is the risk if we just wing it?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“Humor me.”

And the distinct lack of humor in her voice makes all three vampires uncomfortable. If she could, Nadya would laugh. They aren’t the ones with anything to be worried about. Serafine glances at Adrian, almost like she hopes he’ll interrupt before the silence becomes a deliberate refusal to answer.

Frankly she’s getting really tired of people making decisions for her. “Adrian didn’t ask you, I did.” She snaps her fingers. “It’s my head and my risk.”

“Nadi’…”

She shoulders Lily away. “No, no ‘Nadi,’ just tell me. If you dig back in for the memory we need right now, how big is the risk?”

There’s no doubt in Nadya’s already-fractured mind that Serafine won’t spare her from the truth. She’s been inside the woman’s head and that kind of knowledge is a dangerous thing. As dangerous as Serafine herself can be, has been, might become.

Maybe some part of her knows this too, because she finally stops holding back.

“Your body would not be able to cope. Your mind would be so focused on the task it would forget to send signals to the rest of your body. Your heart would forget how to beat and you would even forget how to breathe. You could die before I even came close to the answers you seek.”

“So we put me on a respirator or something.”

Adrian looks up at her sharply. “Stop. We’re not entertaining this; that’s not even an option.”

“Well neither is waiting however long it might take,” she snaps back, “they’re risking their lives for us back home — I think the least I can do is return the favor.”

“That’s not true and you know it.”

“I’m tired of everyone risking their lives for me! It’s not worth it!”

“Getting you out of New York was worth it!”

“Obviously not, since I’ve got too much brain PTSD to be of any freakin’ use!” Nadya gestures wildly, arms spread. She’s got no idea where any of this is coming from but that doesn’t make it any less true; that doesn’t make it any less painful. “Every day we’re sitting here tiptoeing around what we need to do is another day Kamilah or Maricruz or Arnold or anyone could be killed.”

How are they not getting this, she thinks, incredulous and bewildered and borderline angry at them all. How can they let others put themselves on the line and not ask the same of her? Because she’s fragile; because she’s human?

Nadya doesn’t realize she’s on her feet until the dizziness hits her. She doesn’t let it or Adrian’s desperate “Nadya, wait, come back!” stop her from leaving them behind. It’s easier when she doesn’t think about what she’s doing. Just lets her feet carry the rest of her aches and pains and all out of the apartment and down to the frigid streets below.

She doesn’t know how far she has — or could have — walked in her half-conscious daze until a firm and supernatural grasp brings her back to the present.

“Whoa there — where the hell is your coat?” Jax’s frown only deepens as he watches her become aware of her surroundings. Even if she had the strength left to try and pull away, she isn’t sure he’d let her go.

“I… left it back at the apartment.” She means to look back over her shoulder but the thought of their disappointed faces, despite not being there, is too much. It keeps Nadya frozen (literally) in place, shivering under his hands.

“Uh-huh… well, let’s go get it.”

Nadya barely manages to dig her heels into the pavement. It’s just enough resistance for Jax to notice. “Don’t… don’t make me go back there.”

He raises an eyebrow silently, but thankfully doesn’t push it. “I’m not leaving you out here on your own though.”

“Probably for the best.”

After a long moment the man sighs; shouldering off his coat and letting it hang on her shoulders comically large and smothering. “Lead the way.”

Though the pair of them isn’t one often found, well ever, Jax must have understood and accepted the moment they began their shared walk that eventually she was going to unload on him. He takes it all with great grace and stride honestly; and only shows his disapproval in a look rather than an outright argument when she makes them stop for another chocolate-stuffed crepe.

“Don’t I always miss out on all the fun…” he mutters, something Nadya probably wasn’t supposed to hear so she goes back to her sniffly mouthful of sweet pastry like he never said a word.

“What was it you saw that upset you so much?” And that she was supposed to hear. No doubt about it.

It’s to Nadya’s surprise that Jax waits with an uncharacteristic patience for her to answer. Eventually there’s no avoiding it.

“It wasn’t what I saw that… it wasn’t a vision or anything.”

“Then what had you running out of there so fast?”

“How I acted.”

“Well yeah, that was pretty dumb.”

She pretends it’s an uneven bit of pavement that makes her trip and not, well!

“Uh, thanks… I think.”

Jax gives her a careless one-shoulder shrug in return. “What did you expect me to say? Because I’m not going to tell you that you weren’t in the wrong, Nadya. You know that’s not my style.”

Yeah, unfortunately. “I just don’t think she gets how… how crucial time is.”

“If you really believed we had such little time you wouldn’t be here right now stuffing your face.”

“Joke’s on you, I’m always ready to stuff my face.”

He stops; Nadya gives herself three steps ahead before she accepts he won’t be joining her another step further. She turns back and, luckily, manages to hide most of her face with crepe. But Jax doesn’t spare her even the tiniest bit of sympathy. His frown is stern; almost harsh. It’s hard to see what’s in his eyes with the lights of the city glowing behind him but she can’t imagine it’s anything consoling.

“You really don’t get it, do you.”

It isn’t a question. Nadya doesn’t answer. “Alright, okay, I guess it’s gonna be up to me to do this. But I’m warning you,” pointing a stern finger her way, “you’d better listen, and listen good. Because I’ll only say this once.”

“Say what, Jax?”

“None of this is about you.”

“I don’t think —”

But Jax cuts her off. “You’re right; you don’t think. If you did then you wouldn’t have had me go behind Adrian’s and Kamilah’s backs. But that one’s on me — I had to agree to it. So that’s your one free pass. But skirting Lily and me and getting yourself kidnapped was what gave Gaius the lead on the Amulet in the first place.”

“I didn’t exactly choose to give him the memory, Jax.” And it’s really hard to keep the I can’t believe you right now from her offended voice but that doesn’t help things in the least.

“No, but you don’t let anybody forget it either. Have you ever considered that if you spent half as much time helping out as you did moping and crying things might be at least a little bit better?”

“Wow. Tell me how you really feel.”

“Oh I am,” he snorts a dry, humorless laugh, “because everyone else might want to spare your feelings but I don’t see any point in it by now. Not when there’s so much at risk. Do you honestly think for one second I want to be here, thousands of miles away from everything and everyone I’ve spent my entire life caring for? Do you think Lily wanted to leave Espinoza behind, or that Adrian wanted to leave his Clan without a leader? These are genuine questions, by the way. Because I really don’t know what reality you’re living in, but from the way it sounds the only one any of this sucks for is you.”

Word after word comes at her each one like a blow to the face, to the gut; fighting skills Jax has honed but Nadya never knew she needed to prepare herself for that leave her bruised and just barely standing.

“I… no.”

“‘No?’ No what?”

“No I… I know I’m not the only one hurting.”

“Damn right you aren’t. But just like all of us, Nadya, you have a part to play. Of course all of us — you included — would rather have stayed in New York; tried to fight. But standing here crying about it isn’t going to turn back time. All it does is make the sacrifices of those like Arnold, like Sayeed and Espinoza and countless others we’ll probably never meet meaningless. Is that what you want?”

“Of course not!”

“Then act like it! Take responsibility and realize everything we’re risking for you. You’re our friend, and a sweet girl and all, but sometimes you’re so self-involved it drives me insane! Newsflash — you’re not the only person hurting right now. But the rest of us can put that aside for the greater good. Now it’s your turn. You keep talking about how much it hurts, well take it from someone who has dealt with a lot of pain in a short amount of time. There comes a time when you have to make all of that suffering mean something. Not just for yourself, but literally for the world.”

Nadya’s way passed the verge of tears but that doesn’t mean she’s not doing everything in her power to keep from falling into a blubbering pathetic mess. Jax is right; worse still, Jax knows he’s right, Nadya knows he’s right. If anything that only makes it hurt more.

“I—I’m… I’m sorry.”

In less than a stride Jax is standing in front of her. His hands on her upper arms this time less forceful, less confused. But kinder than his words and tone would allow for.

“Come on now…” he admonishes; softer but no less insistent, “I’m not saying this to make you cry. I suck at dealing with crying people, actually, so I’d really prefer it if you stopped.”

Which works about as well as politely asking Gaius to not go through with his crazy plan would, which isn’t a surprise to either of them. He sighs and pulls her forward into the world’s strangest hug but it works for them both. He doesn’t want to watch her cry. She doesn’t want him to see her break down against his shirt.

“I—” she hiccoughs, “—I didn’t aa-ask for any of this.”

“I know that. But neither did we. And crying about it doesn’t change what happened. We know what we’re giving up to be here — and… maybe I was a little harsh. Don’t think we don’t care about you or keeping you safe. But, hey—hey. But —” Jax gently pries her back and fixes her glasses where they’ve gone askew, “— that’s our job; to keep you safe. And yours is to figure out how we can stop Gaius.”

“I know. I…” I don’t know what to say. And maybe that means it’s best she not say anything at all.

“Remember —” he waits until she can compose herself enough to look at him without wet hiccups spasming in her lungs; and when she does he surprises her with a small smile, “— whatever it takes.”

Whatever it takes. And isn’t that the kind of mentality that had landed them in all of this in the first place?

Though it was also the mentality that gave her the courage to save Adrian in the Bloody Cellars, to confront the Trinity and evade Vega for as long as she did.

It’s obvious Jax isn’t letting her go until she says it back, and out of the two he doesn’t feel the cold on his cheeks. He can wait her out.

“Whatever it takes.”

[heloflor]

Ducktales S2 episodes thoughts

So I finally caught up with Ducktales, since I stopped watching in the middle of season 2, right after “Whatever happened to Della Duck”; and I’ve decided to share my thoughts on each episode of the post-hiatus S2 and the episodes of S3 we have so far. So here is season 2 for those who are interested, and yes, this post is going to be long (this is definitely not the most practical way to do it but I don’t want to make one post per episode) :

“Treasure of the Found Lamp!” : not much to say on this one, aside from the fact that this is probably an ‘’’excuse’’’ to show more of the Beagle Boys (when you think about it, these guys barely show up after S1) and that the character of Djinn is pretty cool; I like him.

  “The Outlaw Scrooge McDuck!” : still a delight to see Scrooge and Goldie interact and see how these two are genuinely attracted to each other but their desire for gold prevent them from being together. Though honestly, you can’t convince me that they didn’t date at some point, unless one of the creators (*cough* Frank *cough*) says otherwise. I mean, in season 1, when Goldie is introduced, not only does Scrooge immediately calls her his ex but Goldie is also willing to kiss him 5 minutes into their first meeting in years. Seriously, in season 1, you can tell that these two know they are attractive to the other, they know the effect they have on each other, and it wouldn’t be surprising that they acted upon those feelings at some point, before betraying each other again. Hell, remember the best quote from this episode ?

“You love gold more than you loved me.”

“And that’s why you loved me.”

They’re literally admitting that they’re in love with each other, or at least loved each other at some point.

  “The 87 Cent Solution!” : this episode did not age well. AT ALL. But this aside, the scene with Glomgold showing up during the funeral was one of the most hilarious things this show has done. And speaking of Glomgold, I really like how threatening he was in this. It shows that when he has a plan in mind and the right tools, he can really pull it off. We need more of Glomgold being clever like that (though I’ll admit he is pretty hilarious the way he is and in season 3 we have our lot of serious/threatening villains).

  “The Golden Spear!” : And they were roomates ! But more seriously; speaking of threatening villains : Lunaris is amazing as a strategist villain ! I absolutely love the way he’s able to pass himself as the good guy and manipulate everyone to get what he wants, whether it be Della by asking her for the ‘blueprints’ or his own people by making Della a traitor to their eyes. Hell, even Penumbra is at a loss by the end of the episode and doesn’t seem to know whether she should obey or not. And speaking of Penumbra, her evolution throughout the episode is really great. I especially like how Della is just so oblivious to the hatred Penumbra has for her. Honestly this episode alone is definitely enough justification for the Penny/Della shippers.

As for the “B plot”, it was nice to see a bit more of Donald being a dad, especially with the kids starting to realize the impact their actions can have on him. Though, they made Donald such an interesting and tragic character in this show that I’m not that big of a fan of seeing him get hurt for laughs.

Oh and one last thing about Della : for some reason, that shot of her in the rocket, seeing the earth and crying while saying “mommy’s coming home” gets me very emotional every time I watch it. I think it’s because we know that she spent 10 years trying to get home to meet her kids, facing failure after failure; and finally, after all these hardships, she’s going back with nothing to stop her.

On the same note, Donald’s hope when seeing the rocket and his accidental launch were pretty heartbreaking.

  “Nothing can stop Della Duck!” : Ok, first off, that intro. It is waaay too early in the episode for such feels and I love it ! Although, on one hand I’m a bit disappointed that the boys accept their mom so quickly (I expected a bit more heartbreak) but on the other hand it works because they all have a different reaction that truly fit with their personalities.

Secondly, the way Della is in this episode. It’s perfect. She’s not a mother, this is something the fandom had realized ever since “The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!”. Della had children too early, at a time when she was too immature for such responsibility. And her ten years on the moon, most of them in total isolation, didn’t help making her wiser. So now she’s back, still as immature, but now she has three kids to take care of; and she has no idea what she’s doing. Also, like some people already pointed out last year (or at least it probably was last year), Della doesn’t immediately know about Donald leaving the mansion for a decade. To her, the triplets grew up exactly like she did, hence why she doesn’t think her scary story would terrify them that much.

I also really like how Louie was and how Scrooge and Beakley handled the situation. I like how one of the kids wasn’t completely sold at the thought of their mom being back, and Louie works as the insecure triplet there. As for the adult characters, I love how they both knew that Della needed to learn how to be a parent but at the same time she just arrived, so they kept their distance to let her be with her kids while at the same time being close enough to act if something goes wrong.

Finally, it’s sweet to see how Della is truly willing to learn how to be a good parent, although the road is still very long, even in season 3.

  “Raiders of the Doomsday Vault!” : Nothing much to say about the plot with Glomgold. It’s just Glomgold being Glomgold while Owlson and Scrooge are just done with his shit. As for Della and Dewey, it’s a great plot. We see Della trying to bond with her kids by doing what they like, and it was pretty obvious that Dewey would be the first on the list. After all, he was the first to wonder about his mom and they both share the same thirst for adventure. And it’s great to see how Della doesn’t know her kids’ abilities. So at first, she’s completely fine with putting Dewey in stressful situations; but by the end of it, she realizes how dangerous things are and what she could lose, while Dewey started to believe too much in himself due to what his mother told him, only realizing too late in which situation he put himself in.

So yeah, it was great to see Della discover what her kids are able to do during their adventures, especially their limits.

  “Friendship Hates Magic!” : So, when I watched in 2017-2018, I didn’t really understand where the whole Lena/Webby came from; but seeing this now, I was definitely blind (and it didn’t help that I used to ship Webby and Dewey until I discovered Ace Att//orney and the ‘found siblings’ relationship between Edge//worth and Fran//ziska). Also I’m a bit split on Violet. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a good character and I do like how she got interested in studying magic and her personality in general. But at the same time her personality kind of rub me the wrong way, not in a “she’s evil” way but more a “I don’t like her” way. It’s weird.

As for the rest, it’s sweet how Webby tried to be more normal because she’s afraid to lose a new friend, and her reaction to seeing Lena again was adorable. Lena was also really sweet in how much she cares for Webby and wants her to be safe.

As for the B-plot, it was nice seeing Beakley and Launchpad get along, and it’s pretty clever how what brought them together was their liking for heroism.

  “The Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee!” : Firstly, the kids are still shippers, which is a nice touch.

Secondly, that scene with Beaks and the lasers was amazing. If the scene at Scrooge’s ‘funeral’ is the best Glomgold scene, then the scene with the lasers is the best Mark Beaks scene so far.

Thirdly, I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that Launchpad is pansexual. I mean, if a person can date anyone regardless of species, then gender shouldn’t be much of an issue. Also Launchpad mentions in his ‘list’ a wereduck and a ninja, which are often considered as male (by that I mean that, while werewolves and ninjas can be both male/man and female/woman, when you think of one of them you’ll have a tendency to see them as masculine, because that’s how they are represented in media most of the time). He also mentions a clone of himself, so another same-sex relationship; and a talking cloud of energy, which I’m pretty sure doesn’t have a gender to begin with. So yeah. Pansexual Launchpad. Or at least non-straight Launchpad. And speaking of Launchpad, I like how he can tell that Fenton isn’t smooth at all and puts some music on to prevent the duo to be forced to talk; it’s a pretty sweet gesture. Honestly it’s great how Launchpad is often seen as a complete idiot but then you have those specific ‘fields’ in which he knows and lot and can really shine (*cough* the next episode *cough*).

Update after lurking on Tumblr : apparently there’s an LGBT+ Ducktales event and a member of the crew made an art about Launchpad and all the people he dated (including his clone and the cloud of energy and I love this person for adding this); and given the appearance of several of them, it’s clear that this guy is pan. By the way if you want to see the art just time “Ducktales love is like a hurricane” on Tumblr and you’ll find it.

Fourthly, the “It’s a date” song is great and catchy.

Fifthly, the fact that DR. Atmosphere feels insulted by Fenton not giving much effort really works with him being a reference to Doofenshmirtz. After all, in Phineas and Ferb, we see that Heinz is just a lonely guy who truly likes Perry and takes their relationship seriously, between writing his monologues to making big musical numbers to complain when Perry isn’t there at the right time (and yes, by season 4, being evil is more of a job to him than an actual wish to dominate the Three-State Area).

Finally, the heart of this episode : Fenton. This episode worked well in how it develops how Fenton views his new role as a popular hero. We especially see how he struggles to balance his two lives and his relationships, wishing to be liked for who he is as a person instead of as a hero. It’s also interesting how much work he does as a hero, to the point of not really caring anymore about being dramatic and saying catchphrases and all that yada-yada. His relationship with Gandra is also pretty nice, although it is very predictable and by the end of the episode, I’m not even sure if they do end up together ? Like, Gandra talks about a second date but it’s just a trick to get Fenton to say the code thing; and though she does help at the end and give Fenton the right ‘formula’ (she draws a molecule so yeah, formula) for his invention, she still leaves without much words and seems to have taken the original ball (I think ?). Though, the idea of them dating could be very interesting in regards of her afflictions with F.O.W.L.

  “The Duck Knight Returns!” : so, first off, I never saw an episode of Darkwing Duck before seeing the recent fanart of the dt17 fandom. I more or less knew the show existed as a kid (there was a channel with old Disney shows in the early 2000s) because I remember there was another show than Ducktales that had Launchpad in it but I didn’t like his character at that time so I never watched. But I recently started watching and I have to say, the most surprising thing about it has to be the fact that Drake has a girlfriend because holy shit this show is gay ! Seriously ! Two guys, living together and raising a child together, having tons of domestic moments. Whoever wrote this show had no gaydar whatsoever ! And honestly this makes the whole thing hilarious. But shipping aside, the show’s pretty good. It has different villains with different goals and personalities, they decided to make the action cartoonish, which works well, and the show has some pretty good and hilarious quotes there and there. But what really makes this show a great one has to be the domestic moments, especially the relationship between Drake and Gosalyn. These two are adorable and their father/daughter relationship is both wholesome and feels realistic. On the same note, it’s great to see how a show from the 90s was breaking the gender norms not only by making a single father character (or, if you see Launchpad as a father figure too, you could say making two men be parents) but also by having a girl be a tomboy without it being seen as an issue by anyone (except for like one episode). So yeah, Darkwing Duck’s a pretty good show and if you like the duckverse and haven’t seen it yet, you should give it a watch !

Now, onto the actual Ducktales episode. It’s really great. I won’t talk much about it because pretty sure it’s been talked a lot already but yeah, it’s a great way to introduce Drake and give a backstory to Negaduck. Though my favorite thing about this episode has to be Launchpad. I love how he knows from the beginning that Jim’s plan is bad but still feels like he should roll with it because the guy’s his idol. I especially like the detail of Launchpad covering the eyes of the Scrooge logo while breaking into the studio. Also the “I’m trapped in a prison of guilt !” line. I also really like his interactions with Drake, especially at the end when he inspires him to become Darkwing. It really shows that, while Launchpad’s an idiot most of the time, when he’s truly passionate about something, a much more smooth and clever side of him shines (seriously during that part when he inspires Drake to become a hero, he sounds so smooth and yet it seems to come so naturally. And you can tell how much respect it makes Drake have for him with the way he looks at Launchpad when putting his hat on).

One last thing to say about this episode : there’s that scene right before Jim tries to trap Drake in which Dewey and Launchpad talk about how things are currently going for them; and when Dewey talks about how excited the whole ‘making a movie’ thing is for him, for some reason I absolutely love the animation of Dewey jumping into Launchpad’s arms while Launchpad tries not to drop him. I don’t know, it just feels really ‘fluid’ or something (I have no idea what’s the language for animation) but yeah, props to the animators for that moment.

  “What Ever Happened to Donald Duck?!” : First off, the highlight of this episode is definitely the speech about Donald going to a therapist to control his anger. It’s simply amazing to have a children cartoon show a character having issues and deciding to deal with them in a healthy way, and it’s great to see Dewey realizing how much Donald does for him and his brothers and being touched by it. It’s also a great lesson about how you can’t make your anger magically disappear but you can work to deal with it in the best way possible.

As for the scenes on the moon, between Lunaris being extremely manipulative and planning everything, Penumbra trying to do what she believes is best and Donald’s determination to go home and parental instincts shining through, it was a really enjoyable episode. Not much to say about Dewey and Webby though. It’s just Dewey and Webby being Dewey and Webby.

  “Happy Birthday, Doofus Drake!” : Doofus is still as terrifying as before, Goldie is still the same gold-driven robber as usual, Louie is still looking for an easy way to get rich, Glomgold is still doing weird schemes and Beaks is still relying on technology too much. So overall, not much to say aside from it’s a great and fun episode; the scene at the end with Scrooge and Louie is sweet and Boyd is a precious baby. Also I still love Goldie’s character and it’s great to see Doofus’ parents finally be free from their son’s creepy bullshit. Also also, seeing Della bond with Huey was really sweet, especially how she was willing for a while to stay with him and his garden despite how boring it was to her.

  “A Nightmare on Killmotor Hill!” : again, not much to say. We get to see more of Violet’s character, along with what the kids dream of, which is a good way to reinforce their personalities but also their desires and fears (I especially like Dewey’s dream having him cry on the moon, it’s a great touch given that he spent an entire season trying to find more about his mom). And obviously, we get to see more of Lena and how afraid she is to be a bad person. I also like how it’s unclear by the end whether or not she can control her magic, which left room for season 3 to expand upon. It’s also great how by the end of the episode, her biggest comfort didn’t come from her friends but from seeing by herself the state in which Magica currently is. I don’t know why but I’d say it makes the whole thing more realistic ? Like, there’s only so much friends can do to help you, but seeing your abuser being in a terrible state is a much more direct proof that there’s nothing to fear.

  “The Golden Armory of Cornelius Coot!” : again, not much. It’s a classic fun episode with the kids trying to solve a mystery while some bad guys are on their tail. Though, I really like the whole thing with Webby trying to be more like Della, with Della starting to be a bit of a mom to her. I also liked seeing Della and Launchpad interact more and it’s still funny to see how the ship that so many people liked in season 1 is slowly fading away as we see Della having a hard time accepting Launchpad and as we have Tumblr remember how much it likes gay ships with the introduction of Penumbra and Drake (by the way, I’m not saying that Della/Launchpad is a bad ship; it’s just that I find it funny to see how quick a fandom is to change their opinion on shipping, especially when ‘gay options’ are created).

Although, Della felt a bit uncharacteristically cold and aggressive towards Launchpad, especially when compared to how she was with Dewey in “Raiders of the Doomsday Vault!”. But I guess it has to do with how she felt like Launchpad replaced her, making her more protective over her plane and her talent as a pilot.

  “Timephoon!” : so I have no memory of Bubba (the caveman duck) from the old Ducktales so I can’t compare him. But from what I’ve seen in this episode, he’s fine. Not the best character but he works as a one-off character and I wouldn’t mind a cameo or two in the future (as long as it’s not an entire episode focused on him because that would get boring pretty quickly).

Now, for the rest of the episode, I want to talk about Della, because she’s clearly the most interesting part here. Della was gone for a decade, she barely knows anything about her kids, especially the mischiefs they can get into, and that’s what the episode plays into. Della discovers that her kids don’t just get into danger from adventuring, they can put themselves in danger, more or less voluntary. And the way she reacts to it (along with the season finale) makes it feels like Donald and her never or rarely got into these kinds of situations, although Beakley’s line near the end of the episode might say otherwise. And speaking of which, I really appreciate how Scrooge and Beakley were when Della scolded Dewey. At first, Beakley was ready to step in when Louie made the comment of Della not being better than him; but Della made it clear that she needed to do it on her own. And afterwards, we see both Scrooge and Beakley respect her decision and staying silent as Louie is pleading them to step in. They know that Della needs to learn to be a good mother so they respect and support her decision. Though, if you search the name of the episode on Tumblr, there’s a post about how Della went too far given her current relationship with Louie, though it isn’t her fault as she doesn’t know him enough. You should try finding this post, it’s definitely worth giving it a read ! And yeah, there’s also a lot of other posts talking about the issue with much more analysis than I do so if you’re interested, go read the discourse on Tumblr.

  “GlomTales!” : first off, they used the takeover as the intro and I love every second of it !

Secondly, Della….yikes. Yeah. Grounding Louie was the right decision to make but forcing him to stay trapped in a room with a dangerous robot guarding him and ‘taunting’ him with recordings telling him about how much he fucked up, all the while the rest of the family is in vacation in a place he dreamed of visiting…I think you get the point. They went way too far with the punishment, so it’s no surprise when Louie wants to join the bad guys who let him do all the scheming he wants. And while Della accepted his personality more by the end of the episode, these two still need to connect more.

Speaking of the bad guys, they were pretty fun in this episode. I like how their different personalities and knowledge led them to act with each other. I especially liked Magica trying to get back her former glory and overstepping on Glomgold for the role of leader, Glomgold who is still as dramatic and dumb as ever while having actually smart schemes and I love it.

  “The Richest Duck in the Word!” : while the structure of the episode was pretty cliché (character suddenly has tons of powers but doesn’t realize the responsibilities that go with it), the ending with Louie and Scrooge was really sweet and satisfying. Honestly the season is supposed to be about Louie having a company and yet he and Scrooge didn’t have that many interactions (they still had some, but they could have more) so it’s really sweet to see them solve an issue linked to Scrooge’s company together.

And let’s not forget that Owlson finally stood up for herself and quitted (good for her honestly, she deserves a job where she can be happy and get what she wants done) and that Launchpad actually managed to land a plane without crashing (and it’s not even acknowledged !).

  “Moonvasion!” : the season finale, aka the one that should have its own post. You know what ? I’ll put the review here and, eventually, I’ll split it into its own post if it’s requested.

So, Moonvasion. Where to start. Ok, first off, it was an amazing episode. Just like the first finale, this was possibly the best episode of the season (depending of your point of view though, tastes and expectations are different). It was great to see so many characters come together and fight together, all with different fighting methods. I especially like Fenton’s mom being a protective badass, Beakley being a total badass and Gyro with his clone army (I especially love his line when everyone is debating on what to do and he’s like “Simple. Clone. Army.”. I just love the delivery here).

Secondly, I really like how they expended on Della there. As we’ve seen in previous episodes, Della still doesn’t know her kids and their abilities; so in the face of danger, she’d rather flee to protect her. On the other hand, Donald trust the kids to defend themselves and immediately starts strategizing with them. And speaking of Donald, I love how they acknowledge how much and how well he took care of the kids with the line about Della’s lullaby. In general, that entire sequence on the island with the twins and their kids (no incest intended) was probably the best part of the episode, along with the big fight with everyone and that “Hey kids.” line from Scrooge near the end. Oh yeah, and also the space fight with the moon theme playing and the family working together with the twins fighting and Scrooge being happy to have his angry babies back. This entire sequence was also amazing. And when Penumbra shows up, I love how she’s using the original spear of Selene. Again, just like last finale, the crew outdid themselves.

Another thing that I can praise here is Glomgold. I really love how they made his weird schemes work out. I also love how not only did he do this to help but he also used the situation to spite Scrooge by trolling him. Also earth baby jail. Just earth baby jail.

And speaking of strategists, I absolutely adore Lunaris in this episode. This guy was truly prepared for anything Scrooge could send him and it’s great.

Another character that I’d like to mention in this episode is Drake. Basically, watching the episode again, I’m pretty sure that guy has no fucking clue on what to do. I mean, we see him show up at Launchpad’s place at the beginning of the invasion, then he’s at the meeting with the others and gives ideas that show he’s much more on the theatrics parts of being a hero, which is fitting with him being an actor (side note that I forgot to mention earlier : I really appreciate that they made Drake an actor. It really fits with how overly dramatic he was in the old show; and it could play with his ego as well, though DT17 Drake doesn’t seem to have that big of an ego). Then, before the giant fight, he’s on a car with Launchpad and once Scrooge takes his place in it, Drake still holds onto it. And by the end of the second act, he’s trying to fight with Launchpad helping him. In other words, Drake spends the entire episode glued to Launchpad. So personally, I interpret it as Drake not really knowing what to do so, since Launchpad is the one who inspired him to be a hero in the first place and is the only one taking him seriously, Drake is going to try to stay with him and have him as support. And yeah, overall, the joke about nobody knowing who the fuck Drake is was pretty hilarious.

Finally, because no episode is perfect, here’s a few details that, while not making the episode any less amazing, still bother me a bit.

- When Della left Duckburg on a gigantic plane, how come no Moonlanders tried to follow her ? Hell, we know they came to her specifically and we see later that Lunaris was able to see her position; so what gives ? And even when they’re in Egypt, though I can understand why they wouldn’t try to follow since they only have one ship. But still, Della was able to fly for possibly hours before getting attacked, and they only got attacked because they landed on a place that was about to be invaded !

- What happened to Drake after he fainted ? Like, don’t get me wrong, I understand while we stop seeing him. After Scrooge see the landing of the ship, we get into the third act, which seems to take place a few hours after the previous scene (given that several characters changed clothing and it started freezing). And I know that, since it’s the third act, they only wanted the main characters to play a role. But still, one minute we see Drake faint into Launchpad’s arms and the next Launchpad arrives alone saying everyone was captured. So what happened to Drake ? I see three possibilities, all with a few flaws : A) Launchpad ditched Drake/the two split up. Let’s be honest, this didn’t happen. Launchpad would never let an injured person behind, especially not someone he admires so much. B) Launchpad tried to find a safe place to hide Drake so that the guy can rest; but given that they’re in an invasion, finding such a spot could be very hard. C) During the time between the two acts, they got attacked by Moonlanders and either Drake was too weak to fight and got captured or he basically sacrificed himself so that Launchpad can go try to find Scrooge; with a “He needs you more than me” move. But, again, it would feel weird for Launchpad to abandon someone but then again, if it’s for the sake of everyone by trying to find his boss, I guess it could happen. This scenario would even fit with the “everyone got captured” line. Though, if Launchpad and Drake got attacked which led to them being separated, then we were robbed of a perfectly good action scene !

- There’s a shot at some point where you can see Doofus and his family and I have two questions there : 1. Why are the parents still wearing the maid outfits (and why do they keep doing it in season 3) ? and 2. Can’t Boyd do anything to help them ? Like, I know he believes he’s a real boy but that doesn’t stop him from having some pretty powerful defense mechanisms.

Update (before the post was made; I know) : so I ended up wasting 4 hours of my life reading all of Frank’s answers that I hadn’t seen yet (the things asperger makes you do…) and apparently Doofus burned his parents’ other clothes. Still doesn’t explain Boyd tho.

- During the fight in space, when the Duck family started to lose, they took a few damages before finding themselves behind the rocket. So, if they were to take damage anyways, why couldn’t Della immediately pull them on the side to get out of the way instead of heading to certain doom ? And yes I completely understand that it was a very stressful situation so she did the first thing she had in mind. Honestly that last flaw is the one that bothers me the less in a characters’ standpoint, though it still feels like plot convenience.

  So that’s all for season 2 ! Again, I could put the finale on its own post if requested. As for season 3, it’d be in a second post. This one is long enough. The post for season 3 will most likely be split in half, with the last episode talked about depending on which episode airs last before the post is made.

[aurorapillar]

Title: if a spark can start inside your heart     Fandom: Mary Poppins Returns Characters: Jack the Lamplighter, Georgie Banks, Annabel Banks, John Banks, Michael Banks Summary: The night of the Spring Fair, the Banks children are full of questions following Mary Poppins' departure and Jack finds himself the one responsible for answering them.

As much as he disliked the word, in Jack’s opinion it was quite frankly impossible for a fair not to be fun; when surrounded by the colorful attractions and joyful sounds even the most sensible of adults couldn’t fully keep their inner child suppressed. Their eyes would light up and for a moment in time, they’d forget their worries and just enjoy life, the way many of them hadn’t in years.

Fair’s didn’t last forever though and eventually people began to make their way home, returning once more to a world of cares and strife; Leeries were no exception, even after a day of fun there were still lamps to be lit, but their memories were much longer than others, so it was with a spring in their step and a song in their heart that they went about their route that night. Not of course that that was unusual for Leeries, they were a cheerful group by nature, despite the hardships of their lives; it just so happened that on the current night that cheer had been lit a little brighter.

Jack, in particular, seemed to shine with happiness that evening, not that he fully realized it himself; for all his talk about being your own light and shining for the world to see, he never noticed just how much he lit up the lives of people around him. Sure, he knew he was pretty good at cheering people up and that he was genuinely pretty well-liked by the people by the people who knew him, but there were lots of little things here and there he missed. Like how he could have a first conversation with someone and they’d walk away feeling like they’d just had a chat with a longtime friend, or how the people he waved and said hello to on his morning route tended to have better days then if he hadn’t, or the way people tended to instinctively trust him; all of those were things only visible from an outside perspective, not that it likely would have changed much if Jack had known, though it surely would have surprised him.

It really didn’t matter in the long run though and so Jack rode his route that night oblivious to the effect he had on others as he called greetings to the few others out so late, and by the time he reached Cherry Tree Lane his good mood hadn’t dimmed in the slightest; in fact if anything it had increased thanks to the Park Keeper actually giving him a nod in response to his greeting when he passed, rather than just ignoring him like he usually did. It still wasn’t a smile, which Jack was determined to one day get from the man, but it was an improvement.

Bringing his bike to a stop outside of number 17, Jack unstrapped his ladder and leaned it up against the lampost; however before he could climb up it, the front door of the Bankes house swung open and a blond blur most commonly known as Georgie came rushing out.

“Jack, you’re here!” The young boy called, taking the stairs two at a time as he ran to meet the Leerie at the base of his ladder

“'Ello Georgie, it’s a bit late for you to still be up and about innit?” Jack greeted, smiling at the young boy. It wasn’t altogether unusual for the Banks children to be awake when he came around to the light the lamps, there had been plenty of times they had waved to him from their window, but usually it was pretty clear that they were in the middle of getting ready for bed when they did so. On the current night though Georgie, as well as his siblings who Jack now noticed had followed him out, were all still fully dressed and very clearly not up in the nursery.

“Mary Poppins left today…” John began

“And Georgie was worried that you might have left too..” Annabel continued

“So we decided to stay up and make sure you weren’t gone.” John finished, looking a little embarrassed that they had been worried now that it was obvious Jack hadn’t gone anywhere.

“I see,” Jack said, nodding in understanding. It wasn’t too surprising they had been worried if you thought about it, Mary Poppins didn’t say goodbye when she left or explain why she was going usually; it was a course of action he didn’t really agree with, but he could understand why she did it at least, goodbyes could be hard after all. Even though she loved them, she could never stay with the children for very long, there were too many others who needed her; taking the time to say goodbye just made it harder to go, even if not doing so was rough on the children and hard for them to understand. It could make them that other people they cared about would leave as well

Jack supposed he had been lucky when it came to that, he hadn’t met Mary Poppins as one of her charges (though there had certainly been times during his childhood he could have used a nanny like her), but instead as an apprentice to Bert. Working with Bert meant he’d already heard tales of Mary Poppins long before meeting her and therefore it had not been as big of a shock when one day she was suddenly gone; it also didn’t hurt that Bert had an uncanny ability to find her and get involved whenever she was around, which meant Jack had been lucky enough to encounter her more times than the average person. The children hadn’t had his life experiences though.

“Not to worry, I’m not going anywhere.” He assured them with a kind smile, and whatever worry had remained even after seeing him seemed to slip away and their frames relaxed; at least until Georgie, who was never one to hold back when he had a question, piped up again.

“Why did she leave?” He asked, sounding oh so young, that it made Jack’s heartache.

“It’s what she does.“ He said, not really knowing how else to say, “There are other families out there who need her.” It was more complicated than that in some ways, but he didn’t know how to explain it when he didn’t even fully understand himself.  

“She could have at least told us she was leaving, she didn’t even say goodbye!” Annabel complained, her brothers nodding in agreement from their place beside her, and Jack let out a sad sigh

“Some people 'ave a 'ard time with goodbyes.” He told them. “Mary usually lets people know 'ow long she’s going to stay for though, surely she said something.”

“She said….that she’d stay until the door opened.” John slowly replied, “But there are lots of doors, what did she even mean?”

“The front door!” Georgie suddenly exclaimed, “It blew open for us when we got home, remember! And it was after that we noticed Mary Poppins was gone!”

“But the front door opened and closed plenty of times while she was here.” Annabel pointed out

“Ah, but that was the first time it opened since you came 'ome.” Jack reminded her, “Though I’d say there’s more to it than that, there’s often more than one meaning to things when it comes to Mary Poppins. What else 'appened today?”

There was a thoughtful silence as the children went over the days events in their heads, and Jack took advantage of it to climb his ladder and work on getting the lamp lit, just because it was the last stop on his route didn’t mean it would do for him to let it remain dark for too long.

“Well…” Annabel began after a few minutes of thought and another few seconds of blinking in surprise at the realization that Jack was no longer standing in front of them, but instead above them, having been deep enough in thought that she missed his movement. “We all went flying on balloons, you already know that though. “ She’d seen him up there with them, along with a good portion of the neighborhood as well; interestingly enough, now that she was thinking back to it, she realized that he’d spent most of the time side by side with their aunt.

Jane had said that they were just friends, but she couldn’t help but wonder if it was possible that he might end up as their uncle someday; personally, she thought it would be wonderful to have him as part of the family. She supposed that was a thought for another day though.

“We returned to the house and got everything unpacked,” John pondered out loud, “But that happened after she left, so it can’t be that.”

“Father and Aunt Jane remembered that everything they did with Mary Poppins as children really happened.” Georgie offered, and Annabel thought she saw a twinkle in Jack’s eyes as he climbed back down his ladder and turned to face them,

“Ah, there you go.” He told them, “There’s the other door.”

An expression of confusion was mirrored on the faces of all three children as they stared up at Jack, trying to figure out what he meant.

“How can something like that be a door?” John questioned, his voice doubtful, almost like he thought Jack was messing with them.

“When people grow up a lot of the time they become sensible,” Jack began, taking his ladder down and strapping it back onto his bike; he had a feeling he’d be on Cherry Tree Lane for a while longer, which was fine since he’d finished his route, but it was better to get things put away immediately rather than risk forgetting them. A Leerie without his ladder would have a hard job after all.  

“Now there’s nothing wrong with bein' sensible in and of itself, a little bit of sense can go a long way, but a lot of folks take it too far. They get older and 'ave responsibilities, and suddenly they think they don’t 'ave time for fun anymore, that there are too many important things they need to do instead; and then all the magic and joy of childhood just doesn’t seem to fit into their new logical world, so they lock it away.”

He paused, checking to see if children seemed to be following him thus far; the three of them looked thoughtful, though still rather uncertain as to what any of it had to do with open doors.

“If they're lucky though, then someone or something who acts as a key will come along, and then that room in their 'eart where they’ve shut away all the non-sensible things and dismissed as part of their imagination, suddenly it’s not locked anymore. And then the door to that room….”

“Can open!” The kids cried in unison, as they finally caught on to what Jack was trying to say.

“So then Mary Poppins left because we got our house back and father and Aunt Jane remembered?” Annabel asked, just to clarify, and Jack nodded.

“Exactly...well that’s what I assume at least.” He admitted, it wasn’t like Mary had ever stopped and told him what her plans were, but he could infer things based on what he knew. “Mary doesn’t usually show up just to 'elp the kids.”

The Banks children nodded in understanding, it made sense to them, and Jack wasn’t the type to lie. Suddenly John’s eyes widened in realization as he thought of something,

“Father remembered because of the balloons, and there were lots of other adults up there as well. I bet they remember what it’s like to be a child now too!” It was an exciting prospect for the children, they’d had a marvelous time with Mary Poppins and Jack, and already in the short time since their father and Aunt Jane had remembered what it was like to be a child, it was clear that there was a lightness to them that hadn’t been there before. They could only imagine how wonderful it would be if the rest of the adults they knew also had that happen.

Jack, however, winced at their excitement; he too thought that it would be wonderful if all the adults remembered what had happened, but unfortunately, he knew better.

“I’m afraid by tomorrow the other adults will 'ave all forgotten about what 'appened today, or dismissed it as a dream.”

“What!” The children’s outburst at the new bit of information was louder then it was really polite for them to be at such a late hour, but also understandable given the circumstances. Of course not all the residents of number 17 Cherry Tree Lane seemed to agree with the reasonableness of such an outburst, as after a few moments the front door opened and Michael Banks stepped out, a stern expression on his face.

“I know I said you three could stay up to wait for Jack,, but that doesn’t mean you should be noisy.” He scolded, “Besides, it’s quite late, now that you’ve seen Jack hasn’t gone anywhere the three of you really should be getting to bed.”

Even though he’d remembered what it was like to be a child, it hadn’t changed the fact that he was a father and had a responsibility to take care of his kids; which meant making sure they got to bed at a decent hour.

“But dad, we can’t go to bed yet.” John complained, rather desperately “Jack needs to explain!”

“Explain?” Michael questioned, a confused expression on his face since he’d missed the conversation up that point.

“Jack said the adults will forget what happened today.” Annabel told him, making a valiant effort to keep the worry out of her voice, but not managing to entirely succeed. Jack wasn’t really sure how much of the alarm on Michael's face after hearing that was due to his daughter being upset and how much was due to the prospect of forgetting, but his expression was clearly worried.

“Forget? But we’ve only just remembered!” He exclaimed, sounding even more upset then his children had been.

“I think you and Jane should be fine.” Jack quickly interjected, trying to reassure him. “From what I’ve 'eard the two of you went on some grand adventures with Mary Poppins yourself, and now that you’ve remembered they were real, it’ll be 'arder for you to forget. Plus you’ve got the children to help you remember.”

Micheal looked rather relieved by Jack's assurances, but the children were not entirely satisfied.

“Why will the rest of the adults forget than?” Demanded Georgie, “Is it because they didn’t have Mary Poppins for a nanny?”

Jack hesitated, not entirely sure what to say.

“I don’t know.” He finally admitted, hating that he didn’t have an answer to give them. “All I know is that while people who’ve spent time with Mary may forget the magic once, they rarely do twice.” The children didn’t look particularly satisfied with his answer, then again neither was he, but they seemed to realize it was the best they were going to get.

“What about you?” John asked suddenly, and Jack’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion

“Me?”

“You weren’t at all surprised by anything Mary Poppins did, so obviously you never forgot. Was she your nanny too?” Jack shook his head,

“No, she was never my nanny.”

“Then how come you’ve never forgotten?”

“Well…” The simple answer would be that he was a Leerie, which while not the whole reason, was a large part of it. Leeries had a magic of their own, which made it rather hard to forget that magic existed; there were rules about talking about that though, so he wouldn’t be able to explain why being a Leerie made a difference to them and that wouldn’t do. He was no Mary Poppins, if someone genuinely wanted to know something and he could explain, he usually did his best to. Which meant he’d have to come up with a different answer. “When I was younger I was apprenticed to a Chimney Sweep.” He told them, or it the children’s case reminded since he’d mentioned it in passing before back when Mary Poppins had first arrived.

“His name was Bert and ‘e was a good friend of Mary Poppins, still is.” At the sound of Bert’s name he noticed Michael’s eyes widen in surprise, it seemed he remembered the Chimney Sweep that had often watched out for him and his sister. That was good, Bert had always been fond of the two of them, it would have been a shame if they’d forgotten him. “He was always right lucky when it came to bein’ around when she turned up, so I got to meet ‘er several times. That’s made it rather ‘ard to forget.”

There was more to it than that really, like how Bert had taught him much more than just how to sweep chimneys or how their relationship had evolved to become more like a father and son than a teacher and apprentice; or how he was fairly certain that Mary had been far more than just a friend to Bert despite them never saying as much, and how that and his connection to Bert had resulted in a much closer relationship with the nanny than most people got to have. That information was rather personal, and as friendly as Jack was, he’d never been the type of person who could easily blurt out the things he held close to his heart; someday maybe, if they specifically asked he’d tell them more, but not on the current night.

Luckily the children seemed satisfied with his answer, though he was sure once they’d had time to think they’d probably come up with more questions; that was just the way children were, always hungry for knowledge. It was a pity so many people lost that trait as they got older.

“Now,” Jack said, suddenly clapping his hands together and making the children jump. “While I’d be more than ‘appy to stand ‘ere talking you all night, as I recall your father wanted you in bed and it wouldn’t be nice to ignore him.”

“Jack’s right.” Michael agreed, giving the lamplighter a grateful smile, “I’ve already let you stay up far longer than I should have, but it’s time for the three of you to be getting to sleep.” Unlike earlier, none of the Banks children argued with their father about being sent to bed, though it was clear to see that they would much rather not go; still, they obeyed regardless, waving goodbye to Jack as they headed inside. Their father turned to follow them but paused before entering the house and turned back to face the lamplighter,

“If you’re free sometime, I’d love to hear what Bert is up to these days. He was always kind to us as children.” He told Jack, before smiling mischievously, “And I’m sure Jane would love to hear about it as well.”

Jack grinned,

“I would be delighted to.”

[loving-jack-kelly]

So I hate to so this to you but.... Newsies RWRB au.... RWRB Newsies au.... just.... leaving these here....

Okay listen yes don’t hate to do this to me (it’s not like I’ve been thinking about this since I read the book or anything no way nuh-uh not at all)

Jack is Alex and Davey is Henry

Jack is the adopted son of Medda, who’s obviously the president

(Crutchie is June and Race is Nora)

Anyway Jack is the adopted son of President Medda and Davey is the heartthrob prince

So Sarah is Bea and there’s also little Les, but like I like both of them too much to make one of them Phillip so I guess there’s a fourth Jacobs who’s the one getting married who’s the awful one

but anyway Jack and Davey met once a while ago and Jack just didn’t like him. thought he was a jerk.

and proceeded to just kind of vague him on Twitter and avoid actually meeting with him for a long time

until he has to go to the royal wedding, where he gets a little bit tipsy and starts arguing with Davey and they end up in the cake

u know. Cakegate. It starts everything.

So their respective publicity teams are like you guys need to pretend to be best friends to make people forget about the cake incident

So Jack gets packed off back to England to spend “”””””””quality time”””””” with Davey and he’s ready to hate it

Surprisingly, it’s kind of okay

they do some public appearance stuff and it’s boring but fine

and then at the palace, Jack is mostly left as alone as one can be at Buckingham Palace and he runs into Davey late at night stealing food from his fridge

and it’s this complete discord because he’s so used to Davey being completely put together and well-groomed and prim and proper

and now he’s standing in the dark kitchenette lit only by the light from the freezer, holding a box of popsicles and looking like a deer caught in headlights. he’s in brightly colored fuzzy socks and his hair is a mess and he’s wearing thick glassed Jack didn’t even know he needed

it’s like he suddenly realizes that Davey is a person too, not just a prince, and so it’s a little bit easier to pretend to be his friend

they exchange numbers at the end of the trip “to make it easier to set this stuff up”

So there’s this list of things they have to do together. There’s a state dinner Davey has to come to, a New Year’s Eve party Davey has to come to, a charity launch Jack has to go to, a bunch of public events spread out over a year to prove they’re really friends

they start texting though and kind of without realizing it Jack starts to genuinely like Davey

he’s funny in a kind of dry way and since neither of them are ever asleep when they should be they end up being awake at the same times more often than one would think

so they talk a lot and get to know each other and the next time they have to see each other they both sort of realize that they aren’t faking it at all, they’re genuinely friends

and then comes the New Year’s Eve party

it’s a big deal

like the biggest social event held by the white house for people younger than thirty-five every year

Davey comes and brings his best friend, Katherine, but Katherine immediately latches onto Crutchie and Race, who think this weird spitfire British millionaire who’s slowly redistributing her father’s accumulated wealth to people who need it is hilarious

so Jack and Davey hang out all night

eventually, Davey disappears and Jack finds him outside, and they have a much deeper conversation about what it’s like being in the spotlight so much

and it comes around to dating and Davey tries to hint that he’s gay without saying it out loud but Jack is so oblivious with things like that that he hasn’t even realized he’s bi yet so it flies right over his head

until Davey kisses him

which is like

oh

Oh

OH SHIT

but when he’s still on the Oh, Davey runs because he’s scared. Jack kind of gets it. he kind of wants to run and hide to.

instead he puts on a happy face for the rest of the night and keeps up the cover Davey supplied for running and then stays up all night painting because that’s how he processes things

and then he talks to Race, who’s like yeah lmao you literally had a boyfriend in high school remember?

and Jack is like OH SHIT again

so he’s trying to reach out to Davey who’s completely ghosted him and then finally Davey has to come to the states for the dinner that he couldn’t get out of and Jack is like okay who’s gonna help me corner the prince of england completely alone i probably won’t kill him but nobody else can be there

and his long-suffering secret service agent is like….fine

so Jack gets Davey alone and Davey low-key is pretty sure he’s gonna get punched but instead Jack kisses him

and Davey kisses him back

and Jack is properly short-circuiting and Davey is really hot and how did he not realize how hot Davey is until Davey’s kissed him and why hasn’t he been kissing Davey this whole time

and when the secret service agent has to interrupt them before they get walked in on by Medda’s entire cabinet Jack tells Davey where his room is

and their relationship is wild after that. they’re going out of their way to be at each other’s events. sneaking away however they can to be alone. Jack’s secret service agent deserves a medal for the number of times she covers for him sneaking away to get with the prince of england

some rumors start to spread that maybe there’s something between them because they went from seeing each other in public once in a while to like three times a month

so Jack pretends to have a thing with Katherine for a little while, until somebody *cough maybe snyder should be the evil republican cough* leaks photos of Jack and Davey kissing in a car

they decide to be done lying. they went from enemies to best friends to romantically loving each other and they want to be able to go on a date with each other is that too much to ask?

but not before Davey has to fight for it. the random older brother who got married at the beginning of this and started the whole thing is against it. the queen thinks it will look bad.

Sarah points out how people are reacting literally right outside their door

and Davey finally puts his foot down. says he’ll take himself out of line for the throne if that’s what it takes for him to get to live his life as him and not as some character a publicity team designed for him

and they do

and it’s gay

and they’re in love

and medda gets reelected

and everyone should go read red white and royal blue by casey mcquinston right now because it’s amazing

it’s this plot like exactly bc i don’t want to change anything

i love this book so much

go read it

thank you

[parisianpicnic]

Partying with les pompiers of Paris (Bastille Day part 1)

Five months into my trip, I was feeling as Parisian as ever. I was proudly downing two pain au chocolat for breakfast each morning, I knew where to get the best coffee, and I could mostly get around without having to glance at a map on my phone. I was reminded of just how far I'd come when July—tourist season—struck. With each successive jump of mercury there was what seemed like an extra thousand tourists sprawled throughout the city. I, now a self-confessed local, felt totally justified in my dramatic eye rolls whenever getting stuck behind a conglomerate of slow-walking said tourists in the métro or in the street. Yes, I'd branded myself a true expat. What better way to show off how much of a local you are than by celebrating Bastille Day?

Bastille Day, also known as la fête nationale or le 14 juillet marks yet another of France's colourful (by which I mean violent and bloody) spots in history. ('Which one?' you ask. 'The prison-storming, social class upheavel one in the French revolution', I reply). It largely, however, acts as the country's national holiday, with a nod to the aforementioned revolution whilst celebrating the union of France. Meanwhile, my framework of what constituted a national holiday was only guided by my experiences growing up with Australia Day. As such, I was set for a fairly relaxed day of music, drinking, and a few snags on the barbecue (or whatever the French equivalent of a barbecue is). How wrong I was.

Turns out, there's another tradition that is celebrated—and with excellent reason—on Bastille Day. Friends, (single guys and gals out there in particular, pay attention), allow me to present what is perhaps one of the reasons why France is one of the greatest countries in the world: le bal des pompiers.

The bal des pompiers (or 'Fireman's Ball') is what I consider to be the ultimate way to 'get amongst the traditions of France'. For two (I repeat, two) nights only, the firemen of the local firestations of Paris open their doors to the public to throw what can only be described as a the richest cultural experience a little old foreigner like me could ask for. Flowing booze, an electrifying dance floor, and eye candy dressed in uniform that does not disappoint, plus... a four hour wait to get in to the best firestation. Unless, of course, you're one half of the Australian and American girl duo.

Introducing Brooke, my new all-American BFF. Just a month prior, I found Brooke wandering my workplace as a customer, and she left as my new favourite expat in Paris. We hit it off, swapping hilarious and somewhat cringeworthy dating stories and life as an expat over numerous coffee dates, and she's been the 'g'day' to my 'mate' ever since. She outright refuses any opportunity to eat Vegemite (a work in progress), has no problem befriending strangers (even when she shouldn't) and is the life of any party. Her heart and mind are both bright and genuine, and she's as California as they come. She makes her way through life with the beauty, confidence, and killer dance moves to make her the belle of any ball. Luckily, the bal des pompiers was no exception.

Not being brave enough to front the ball (or many events for that matter) on my own, I gladly took on the role of Brooke’s plus one. Before hitting the town, our first stop was at a friend of Vincent's (Brooke's boyfriend)—just a little soirée in Rue Blanche of the 9th arrondissement. Being a resident of the 9th myself, I was keen to meet some of my fellow neighbours. Turns out, Vincent has some seriously glamorous friends, and I am officially their very unglamorous neighbour.

The party was well and truly underway by the time I arrived. I stepped into a beautifully furnished apartment, with wooden floorboards sweeping out onto a terrace boasting views of Sacré Coeur. Across the balcony, seemingly painted onto the glass of the building opposite, was an iridescent reflection of the Eiffel Tower. Most of the guests were out in the presence of said view, seemingly oblivious to its magic (I guess they were real locals). Being a plus one (let alone a plus one's plus one) means that you can often quietly take in a few of these moments for yourself. Tonight was certainly going to be full of many ‘pinch me’ moments.

By the end of the night—despite being twenty years younger than the median age and way underdressed for the occasion—we'd mixed, mingled, and danced with Vincent's friends. I even scored some makeup tips from Stephane, a very glamorous and very Parisian man who worked in the fashion and makeup industry (and who even had his own makeup line!). The guests were all charming, sophisticated, and charismatic, and fortunately, the conversation steered well away from work (given the calibre of the guests, Brooke and I weren't that confident that 'au pair' would qualify us as being sufficiently cool to be there). It wasn't until just before we left that Vincent revealed just with whom we were mingling: the director of Dior, the man who discovered Alexander McQueen, Kate Moss's manager, and Stephane Marais, one of France's most highly regarded makeup artists (I was now seriously thankful that I asked him earlier in the night about his favourite foundation). No wonder the champagne was so good.

Not wanting to overstay our welcome, and being insatiably curious about the traditions around Bastille Day, Brooke and I decided to bid au revoir to our new high profile friends and check out the firestation down the street. We flew down the stairs and headed to the gate's of Sapeurs Pompiers, the firestation of the 9th arrondissement. Admittedly, we knew that on a night like this, we needed to play the foreigner card—and it worked. Before long, we'd befriended the pompier manning the gates, and were swiftly let through the entrance. We linked arms, determined not to get separated, and climbed over bottles and through crowds of people, eventually making it to the bar. At these parties, the firemen are partying hard but they're also working hard. They filled every role of the party: bartenders, security, dancers, and they’re still technically on call as firefighters. We honestly didn't know where to look. Our bartender was so hot could've started fires. Brooke and I raised our eyebrows at each other whilst he fetched us a drink each. Next thing I know, Brooke had handed him my phone and he was entering his number. Did I mention Brooke is also a fabulous wingwoman? It wasn't long before the crowds were clearing out of Sapeurs, so we decided to get to the real heart of the action. Rumour has it, the firemen Saint Paul in Le Marais throw the most outrageous, wild parties of them all. Of course, we had to check it out.

It was well after midnight by the time we arrived, and fortunately, the four-hour queue had turned into just a few minutes. We practically paraded through the entrance, bestowing the firemen at the entrance with a kiss on each cheek (they winked and told us that the kiss on the cheek and a gold coin donation were for charity). Despite the late hour, the place was absolutely booming, and we headed straight to the bar before hitting the dancefloor. Our exoticness was no secret: by the way we were loudly talking and obnxiously dancing, I don't think that there was any risk of being mistaken for two chic Parisian girls.

It seemed to work though, because before long, one of the chief firemen had taken a shining to Brooke. We got an 'off limits to the public' tour of the actual firestation which was actually super interesting, and finished the night having, in our posession, an extremely coveted invitation to return to the party the following night. Each fireman only gets two of these invitations (allowing the recipient to skip the monstrous queue) for close family and friends. And this delightful fireman had bestowed his rare, handwritten invitation, to Brooke, with yours truly scoring the role of her plus one.

Having locked in our spots for round two of the party, and eager to witness the full majesty that is the Bastille Day parade in the morning, we decided to call it a night... or so we thought. At the exit? A red-eyed, panicked Vincent was waiting for Brooke, simultaneously distressed and furious that he hadn't been able to get a hold of her. I won't spill the dirty details here (that's what Brooke's blog is for), but it's safe to say that one of those firemen would've come in real handy to put out the flames that was Vincent's temper and ability to jump to conclusions. Within minutes we were at his apartment, and grabbed what we could of her things (what hadn't been sprawled out across the floor in anger at least), and called an Uber back to mine. Paris is for the romantics, true, but even here, romance as a dark side, too.

[rufeepeach]

Rumbelle AU - TV/movie costars

A/N: for once a straight interpretation of the prompt! Extra bonus points for anyone who catches the inspiration >.>

She sees it when she watches the tapes.

"I hate watching myself," Belle says, when the question is broached. "If I hate watching myself act, why would I want to watch essentially home movies?"

"You're not in them a whole lot," Ruby retorts. She's rather defensive of the whole enterprise, honestly, which Belle can understand. The studio had approached Ruby of all the cast members on Enchanted Forest to do a behind-the-scenes video diary for the second season's DVD. It had made sense: she was easily the most famous, the most open, and the bubbliest member of the cast. Belle has always valued her privacy, and she couldn't imagine the reaction if they'd approached Elias Gold, the show's antagonist.

"Then why are you insisting I watch them?" Belle shoots back. Ruby shrugs.

"They're gonna be on the DVDs," Ruby says. "And you're on there. I'm doing you a massive favour here, you know. If there's anything you're ashamed of on there, this is your veto."

Belle rolls her eyes, but takes the memory stick. Ruby's right, as usual. Anything embarrassing on here today would be a gif and a meme in a week's time, and her career could be over when she's only just got it moving.

"Fine."

Ruby claps her hands. "Text me once you're done!" she says, already halfway out of the hotel room.

She pauses, turns. "Oh, and Belles?"

"Yes?"

"I was right."

The door closes before she can explain.

Belle doesn't chase after her. Ruby has another party tonight - launch party for some new artisan liquor she's a spokeswoman for - but Belle has the night off. She always needs downtime, after the season wraps.

So, she watches the tapes.

She fast-forwards most of it - Ruby pretending she has a make-up blog, Ruby chatting to other costars, Ruby filming the crew filming the show...

She's right, Belle realises with relief: she's barely in it. Probably because her best friend since drama school understands the boundaries, and that while she's cool putting every ugly selfie on Instagram and tweeting her grocery list, Belle has clear walls between work and home.

It's not until an hour in (fifteen minutes on fast-forward) that Belle sees it.

Ruby had been sick, she remembers, the night they were contracted to open a weekend music festival in Santa Monica. She'd been unable to get on the plane to fly down from Vancouver. Elias had been put in at the last minute.

That had been one of the best weekends of Belle's life.

They'd talked for hours on the flight down, catching up since their scenes this season had been sparser than in season 1. His character, the notorious sorcerer Rumplestiltskin, had been banished in the first season finale, and spent this season plotting his return. Her character, Lacey, a bartender dragged into a magical world by accident, had spent the season in an insipid love triangle with a prince and a thief. After the first season, where their characters had been in scenes together more often than not, Belle had missed filming with him.

He was kind, was Elias Gold, and generous. Nobody believed it, he was so taciturn, so grumpy, and truly loathed the press. His public image was surly, even a little dangerous. Rumours had circulated for a long time about his estranged mother, his wastrel father, his childhood in Glaswegian poverty. When he'd suddenly become famous in Zoso Beggs' gritty drama, Dark Ones, he'd been forced into the centre of a maelstrom of press attention and scrutiny. He'd hated every second of it, and that hatred now applied to every journalist who came within a hundred miles of him.

But anyone who acted with him knew differently. Well, anyone who was generous in return, and could hold their own against him. A good sense of humour helped, and a modicum of intelligence. He and Belle got along like a house on fire.

It didn't help that she'd nursed a crush on him since his Dark Ones days. However she had imagined him back then, the reality was so, so much better.

They had become fast friends, but that was all it ever was.

That weekend, Belle and Elias had hung around together until the event, bantered on stage, introduced the first band, and then gone to dinner with some mutual friends. The flight back, Belle had been comatose, sleeping off a hangover she blamed on Elias Gold's brilliant plan for a second bottle of red wine.

Ruby had lent her the camera. Belle had forgotten that she'd filmed much of the experience.

For the most part it was just her, goofing about at the airport, reviewing the book she'd bought for the flight, and failing to convince Elias to appear on camera. She had kept it in her bag after they landed, and forgotten about it until they got to the venue.

But then, she saw it.

They were in the make-up trailer, prior to their appearance on stage. She'd asked Elias to hold the camera while she did her make up. He must not have realised he was in the shot, clearly visible in the mirror.

"Oh, god," Belle murmurs under her breath. She would barely recognise him.

On the tape she is talking about nothing - where to eat that night, or their flight time the next morning. Belle can barely hear her own voice. She is fixated on Elias' face.

He's staring at her. His eyes are huge and dark, and he barely blinks. Belle doesn't think she's ever seen such naked devotion, adoration, on a human face, and it knocks the wind out of her.

"How do I look?" she asks on the tape, smoothing her hair and checking her lipstick.

"Beautiful," Elias replies. He looks heartbroken.

"Turn around, you idiot," Belle mutters under her breath, staring daggers at her oblivious earlier-self. Instead, that earlier Belle is just smiling.

"Why, thank you," screen-Belle teases. Gold nods, and when she makes eye contact with him in the mirror his face is calm and smooth, maybe a little amused. The yearning from before is wiped away, but Belle knows what she saw.

She rewinds, rewatches their previous shots. This time, knowing what to see, she sees it a hundred times. They're in the background of the shot, in line for Kraft services while Ruby yammers about the process of filming, and every time Belle looks away, Elias is looking at her. They're between scenes, in chairs on set, reading scripts: her eyes are on her paper, but Elias' are on her. She's talking to Ruby, he's in the back on his phone; for moments, seconds at a time, he looks up to her.

He's always watching her, she realises slowly: those soft, dark, gorgeous puppy-eyes follow her everywhere. And yet, she has never noticed. He's never said a word.

There are other shots, too. Shots where they're talking and laughing in the background, her hand on his arm, and she's in creases at some terrible joke he's just told. Shots where she's looking at her phone, grinning ear-to-ear, and Belle remembers he'd just sent a picture of his son with jam all over his face, or a bad joke about a fellow castmate.

She smiles often. She's a smiley person. But these tapes are living proof that she never smiles more, or wider, or with such genuine joy as with Elias Gold. It's written all over her face. She lights up in his company.

How had she missed it? How had she lived these past two years with this overwhelming crush on her costar, and never once caught him looking back?

She texts Ruby: you were right.

Ruby texts back instantly: i know rite!!!

How did I not see it??

Because you're too busy hiding from him to LOOK at him!!

Belle thinks about that. The next number she dials isn't Ruby.

It rings, and rings, and rings. Belle's heart is in her throat.

It connects. She waits to hear his low, sweet voice.

Instead, a woman answers. "Hullo, Elias Gold's phone."

"H-hi," Belle stammers. Her heart drops to her knees. Elias doesn't have an assistant!

"Who is this?"

"This is...  ah... Belle French," she says. The woman sounds British, London if Belle had to guess. But Elias is Scottish, and he doesn't have any family...

"Oh yeah, from the show," the woman says. "Elias is just in the shower, can I take a message?"

"N-no," Belle feels something awful, black and thick welling up in her throat, clogging her lungs. Happiness turned to dispair, to disappointment, to brutal self-loathing that she could have been so blind, waited so long, and been too late. How would she know if he was seeing someone? It's a Friday night and he's a handsome man, of course he has a date! "No it's fine. It can wait. I'll call tomorrow."

"Okay then," the woman says. "Goodnight."

"Night."

Belle hangs up. She takes a deep breath. When she begins to cry, at least there is no camera to record it.

[the-prima-vista]

Freedom (Drake x MC)

Story: The Royal Romance Ship: Drake x MC (Riley)

Written mid-book 1.

Drake has never before liked any of the women that relocate to the palace at the beginning of the social season. Not until Riley. She’s different, although he supposes that’s to be expected, given that she’s a waitress from New York, not nobility like the others. Her actions don’t seem calculated. Instead, her kind words and her bright smile always seem genuine, regardless of who they’re directed to, and sometimes, she seems as awkward around the others as he did.

Another thing that stands out between her and the others is how she doesn’t seem to mind his presence. She’s been honest, first at the Derby, when she told him she was happy to see him, and then at Olivia’s, where she hadn’t minded being relegated to the back tables with him. Riley had sent a smile Liam’s way, but instead of complaining or demanding better treatment, she’d turned the same incandescent smile to Drake.

“I’m actually glad to see you,” she’d said, before calling the other nobles stuffy and almost managing to draw out a smile from him.

She doesn’t even seem to mind his prickly personality. He knows he’s not the easiest person to get along with - he’s too jaded and bitter and frustrated - but he rarely seems to phase her. Even his grumpiest comments are met with either a quick retort or a good-natured laugh.

Every time she smiles, every time she laughs, he can’t look away. It’s an unexpected development, one he isn’t pleased to realise, especially once he begins to notice stirrings of resentment when her brilliant, beautiful smile is directed at Liam.

(It’s only been a week. Maybe it won’t hurt anyone too much if he finds out whether or not Riley’s kisses can make him smile the way they do Liam.)

He doesn’t want to feel this way. Liam is his closest friend, the reason he stays in a world he detests, and he shouldn’t begrudge him something that makes him so happy. And she does make Liam happy. His friend has rhapsodised over how free and fearless she makes him feel, how it feels as though anything’s possible when he’s with her, as if being with her is right. That, with her, being a prince doesn’t matter.

With each word, his own thoughts feel like a betrayal. He doesn’t want her to win. He doesn’t want her to marry Liam. Perhaps she makes Liam feel free, but if she wins, she’d be trapped. Drake has seen how her beautiful smiles fade and her eyes grow tired as each event drags on. He’s noticed how she seems so much more at ease, so much happier, away from the confines of the palace.

Maybe Liam is oblivious, but Drake knows that no matter how many times she dresses up and accompanies the nobility to lavish balls and silly tea parties, the others will never think she belonged with them. No matter how good she looks in the slinky dresses she tends to choose.

He finds her in the gardens one day, when he knows the other ladies are supposed to having a prince-free brunch together. She’s on her tiptoes, peering out over the garden wall. She doesn’t look like a princess, but like a tourist, with a huge sun-hat, equally big sunglasses and shorts he doubts Bertrand would approve of. Abandoned a few feet away from her is a bottle of suncream and an open book.

“Are you lost?” Drake asks, smirking when she jumps. “Tourists aren’t allowed in the palace grounds, you know.”

She turns to look at him. Her nose is slightly pink, as are her shoulders. “I’m not lost,” she says. “But I’m not really meant to be here, so…”

“Yeah, I didn’t think this looked like a brunch.” He gestures at the grass around him. “There aren’t any mimosas. Or other people.”

She smiles and steps away from the wall, slipping her phone into her pocket as she turns round to look at him. “I told Maxwell I wasn’t feeling well. I even coughed a few times to make sure he’d buy it.” She grimaces. “As tempting as brunch sounds, I thought I should finally send my roommate a message. I left a note for her when I picked up my things, but I’ve been silent ever since. It’s not exactly the first time I’ve taken off without any warning, but it’s the first time it’s looked like I might not be going back anytime soon. I was thinking of sending a picture or something, but I don’t really know how to explain any of this.”

“You’ve done this before?”

Riley shakes her head, a soft laugh falling from her lips. “Yeah. What, did you think this was my first princess competition?” Drake raises an eyebrow and refuses to let himself smile. “Okay, not what you meant. Yeah, this isn’t the first time I’ve flown somewhere on a whim. I was sick of the snow in New York once so after I finished work, I just… threw a bag together, went to the airport and bought a flight to Hawaii. And I wonder why I’m always broke.”

“Is that what this was?” he asks. “A whim? An impulsive trip abroad where you could play princess for a few days and then go home?”

She sighs, sitting back down on the grass beside her book and her suncream. Drake hesitates and then joins her. “I didn’t even know what this was. I’d had a good time with Liam the night before and Maxwell was offering me a trip to Europe and I’ve always wanted to come to Europe. I knew it wasn’t going to be a normal vacation, but I was expecting a bit more free time. I thought I’d at least get to see the island.”

“You know that if this goes well, you won’t be going back to New York, right?” He watches her, frowning when she adjusts her sunglasses and scowls up at the sky. “You won’t be leaving.”

“Fingers crossed I don’t win then,” she says quietly. He glances at her. She’s trying to pass it off as joke, but he’s heard her teasing before and this sounds just a bit too serious. “I’m sure you can’t wait to see the back of me.”

“You want to leave.”

She’s picking at the grass, pulling up blades of it only to release them and watch them float back to the ground. “Sometimes.” She looks at him, only for a second, and then it's as though she can’t stop talking. “It’s more than I was anticipating. Everything. I like Liam. A lot. But it’s not been long and everything with him is… intense and fast and too much. And with the contest too? What if I do win? I didn’t have much planned for my future but definitely not this. The Queen was saying things about not showing emotion and making every decision for the people, not for you, and everything’s about protocol and tradition and fashion and no one ever says what they really think and I don’t want that future!”

She sighs again, falling back so she’s lying on the grass. Drake stares at her, unsure what to say. He should try to convince her to stay, shouldn’t he? That’s what would make Liam happy, that’s what Liam would want, and maybe’s it’s a betrayal to do otherwise but her smile’s too bright away from the palace, away from the Queen and Bertrand and Olivia, for him to say what he should.

Drake stands up, his decision made before he can think it through. “Here,” he says, holding his hand out to her. “Come with me.”

She peers at him over the rims of her sunglasses and then takes his hand, letting him pull her up. “What are you doing? Where are we going?”

He hesitates for only a second and then he’s leading her through the garden, further and further away from the palace. “Something I shouldn’t be doing,” he tells her, ignoring the second question. They’re still holding hands.

They skirt the edge of the maze and wander through the rose garden until they reach a metal gate. He releases her so he can turn the lock and open it for her. She peers past him at the narrow dirt road that trails away from the garden, and he watches as she bites her lip, her eyes lighting up with what he already recognises as the promise of an adventure.

“Follow this road and you can get to the harbour,” he says, determinedly ignoring the brilliant smile slowly curving her lips. He shouldn’t say anything more - he’s already said more than he should - but he does anyway. “Let me give you my number. You decide you don’t want to come back, let me know. I’ll send your stuff wherever you want it. And I won’t say a word to anyone. It might be a bit of a scandal, but-”

“Thank you,” she says, so earnestly his heart catches, as she presses her phone into his hand. “Thank you.”

“You’re not stupid enough to forget that you’ve been in the papers recently, are you?” he asks, ignoring her exasperated huff as he types his number into her phone. “The hat and sunglasses should be enough but maybe don’t take them off wherever you feel like it.”

“I’ll try to remember.”

He looks back up just in time to catch her mid-eye-roll and this time, he doesn’t bother to stifle his grin. He watches as she tucks her phone back into her handbag and adjusts the frames of her sunglasses, and then, to his surprise, she removes her wide-brimmed hat so that she can lean in close and brush a kiss to his cheek. He doesn’t know whether or not it’s wishful thinking or reality that she lingers a little bit too long.

He watches her walk away, hat and all, until the dirt road curves away and she’s out of sight.

He might actually miss her.

The next morning, he spots her amid the ladies. Her nose is still a bit pink, and when she leaves the group to talk to him, he notices new freckles on her cheeks and on her shoulders.

“Here.” Riley rifles through her bag and pulls out a slightly squashed paper bag, holding it out to him. “It might be a bit stale but I thought you’d probably eat it anyway. The less gourmet, the better, right?”

It’s a cronut.

“You came back.”

“I did.” She sounds surprised at herself, as though she really had intended to walk away the day before without even a glance back over her shoulder. “I don’t think I’m done with you yet.”

[renaramblesaboutcomics]

Wednesday Roundup 25.9.2017

Okay, so I had another huge comic week, and looking forward this might be the last time that really happens for a while since at least three of these issues are here due to previous delays. and I’m trying pretty desperately to cut down on comics I’m subscribed to now. Which just emphasizes the fact that this week made it SO much more difficult to declare that because there was so much good.

... There was also some hilarious outrage on my part, too, so if you’re here for that you will not be disappointed.

Image’s Black Magick, DC’s Detective Comics, DC’s Harley Quinn and Batman, Marvel’s Immortal Iron Fists, Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, DC’s Nightwing, Image’s Saga, IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dark Horse’s Zodiac Starfore: Cries of the Fire Prince

Image’s Black Magick (2015-present) #8 Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott

Have I mentioned lately how Nicola Scott may be the most gifted artist in the industry in a while? Not since last month? Well we are definitely well past due time!

Story: Things are ramping up as the Hammer’s members increase their numbers and keep close watch on Rowan while Rowan settles things with her partner only to be manipulated once again by the terrifying forces of these unknown entities with that creepy AF girl with the stitched up mouth. That is a lot of stuff being unpacked in one issue and yet the moving parts never feel like they’re incongruent or taking away from each other. Seeing Rowan’s familiar watching the Hammer members, seeing Rowan struggle to be more open with her partner, and then seeing her old demons (literally) beginning to come to her work and haunt her there (literally and figuratively) all feels like it moves perfectly together.

I just really wish we didn’t have to do a “gay scare” which is a bit disappointing from Rucka, honestly. Haha get it Rowan was worried that her partner was onto her for being a witch and he just was mad because he thought she wasn’t coming out to him and it’s just all a good laugh. Or at least I would be laughing if either Alex or Rowan were confirmed queer women and so it isn’t just that he’s well meaning but oblivious while... literally taking away the possibility of representation. 

Maybe this will be corrected later in that very way! Who knows, I’ll be relieved if it is, but until then it feels like an unnecessary marring of what is otherwise a great story I’ve been enjoying.

Art:  I mean... just look at it! Nicola Scott is... arguably the best artist in comics right now. Her work is phenomenal and nothing presents that fact more than just how expertly she manages the medium in almost any way and how it adapts based on the type of story she’s writing. It’s very special for an artist’s style to work as well in a bombastic, colorful superhero comic then turn around and hit the perfect contrast of noir and witchcraft narratives. And all of her characters are distinct and especially her variety of noses, it’s simply gorgeous.

Nicola Scott very well may be the best artist in the business right now and any comic company that doesn’t snatch her up for major titles is foolish, honestly.  

DC’s Detective Comics (2016-present) #965 James Tynion IV, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Adriano Lucas

Well, it’s weird to say but if there was any issue for me to read before I took a short break from ‘Tec I am so glad it was this one. Which has all the makings of a backhanded compliment but we’ll see where I take it. Probably will seem like a backhanded compliment but I’m going to try to swing it toward positive.

Story: So I’ve been pretty sure I was going to drop ‘Tec for the upcoming storyline and then jump on again later for the next one, similar to how I did for the Monster Men crossover event, but I was really curious about Tim’s return and more specifically about the context of Tynion bringing Tim back which made me pretty excited for this comic. I love Tim Drake of old and reading this issue reinforced the fact that this current Tim Drake is the Tim of the 90s that I fell in love with -- the dork who loved Batman and Robin so much he put his life at risk to save the legacy of his heroes. And while this issue culminated mostly in a “slideshow” of Tim’s retconned retconned history bringing us back to the Tim origins from “A Lonely Place of Dying”, it actually felt really loving and refreshing to see the character I grew to love so much back in action. 

I don’t care one bit about this Evil Future or Mister Oz or literally anything else going on right now. In fact I find that whole crossover tedious enough I dropped Superman a while back but I really did feel like I needed this reminder that we’re supposed to be reading this Rebirth Tim as the Tim we knew and cared about in the past. And that made this issue on its own worthwhile to me. 

Art: Eddy Barrows is an excellent artist, through and through. The coloring’s fantastic, the art itself dynamic. Even with a familiar storyline and setup that we’ve all read before, he manages to find ways to make it read as unique and new through subversive angles and set ups. I really enjoyed his take on everything from Tim’s past. But even great artists sometimes fail the Batmanequin challenge. Which is, can anyone tell who the Batboys are apart from each other when they’re all the same age. The answer is no. His Tim looks identical to his Bruce to his Jason to his Dick and most of the time to his Damian and we’ve really got to change that at some point or else there will be a singularity of Batboys and we will all be sucked into an artistic blackhole and not in the fun way.

DC’s Harley Quinn and Batman (2017) #4 Ty Templeton, Rick Burchett

After this issue there’s only one issue left and in all honesty.... it’s about time we had some real emotional direction actually driving this comic because I’ve been asking for the last few issues “where is any of this going”. And since I all but refuse to watch the animated movie sharing a similar name, it’s that much more confusing for me trying to figure out what exactly this is all culminating in. 

Story: Like I said, we’re finally getting some real tension in this issue as we have Harley confronting Ivy, it becoming more and more obvious that Ivy has a genuine problem with rejecting her own humanity for the sake of becoming as much of a plant as possible, and we also get that emotional catharsis of Ivy at least somewhat confessing that Harley is the only person she cares about. And it’s obviously a deep and intimate form of caring. She’s pained by the potential of Harley’s rejection and offended at the assumption that Harley would think of herself as anything less than her partner. But this comic, like all of comic canon, just refuses to give us THE WORDS. I’m so tired of partner being emphasized instead of girlfriend. I’m tired of cared being acceptable substitution for love. And I’m REALLY tired of Harley and Ivy only being portrayed as sexy and into each other in a way that’s meant to be attractive to guys. I’m not a guy. I’m a woman who likes other women. And I would like for this relationship, if it’s to be real on any level, be treated respectfully and given canonicity. Maybe we’ll get that next issue. I’m hoping, but since next issue is the last I’m not exactly expecting much. 

Dick and Bruce are... still fun? I guess. It’s not really their story and I’m not sure why Batman’s even in the title at this point. His addition to this story culminates in a “not really”

Art: I gave Rick Burchett’s first two issues a hard time, especially compared to the guest artist for last issue, but this issue really had him stepping up his game and reminding us all why he’s been working with these characters and especially this style for the past twenty or more years. He really nails it... though it still has that edge of lacking refinement that we might see in something other than a digital first comic, the colors are really enhanced, the character and background art more detailed and controlled, and just overall this was a very pleasant looking and well laid out issue. Great work all around

Marvel’s Immortal Iron Fists (2017) #5 (of 6) Kaare Andrews, Afu Chan, Shelly Chen

We’re beginning to near an ending for this miniseries and I am growing an ominous, horrible feeling that I am desperately hoping is completely off base and unfounded outside of my constant apprehension of trusting comics too much. But we’ll get into that.

Story: As we left off last time, it was the culmination of all the storylines that we had seen building up in Immortal Iron Fists before then, Pei and her friends, the popularity drama that was the school dance, Danny’s feelings of responsibility and pride, the ten scrolls of Mara, and the strangely backward advice of the babysitter that Pei had been receiving throughout. And it all came down to a climactic battle with Danny and Pei finally at long last fighting side by side, both as the Immortal Iron Fist.

But suddenly there can only be.... one? And to save the world and inherit her responsibility as the Immortal Iron Fist, Pei had to choose whether or not she would take the dragon’s heart straight from Danny himself and use his chi to defeat Mara and his legion of demons. Which, of course, Pei refused and chose instead to sacrifice her own chi so that Danny could save the world.

This apparently erased Pei from reality and everyone’s memories in one solid swipe and sent her... to hell?? Where Brenda, who was in the storyline that brought Pei into the comics but has not been a factor through all of this miniseries, is a zombie champion fighter who saves Pei and her classmate that’s been in the coma because Mara was planning to use his body for his resurrection and also the popular girl, Danny’s girlfriend for an issue, an the babysitter are all daughters of Mara who are responsible for all this chaos. 

And I genuinely feel like there’s been a lot of missed opportunities in the previous four issues that would have allowed this to be set up more. And that’s what is leading to the worries I mentioned in the opening. As far as I’ve seen, in Defenders or the solicits for Immortal Iron Fist, Pei has not been allowed to make much of an impact outside of Andrews’ runs. And.... I would really hate that a series that has sold e SO hard on Pei and on a new spin on Danny Rand to be a series that gives Marvel an easy out to erase those very things. 

We have one issue left to go so I suppose we’ll have to wait and see in that regard.

Art: It’s still good art, still all-ages, but I’m starting to grow the opinion thanks to @secretlystephaniebrown and mine’s insightful talks that comis with cute art and lots of slapstick are pretty much utilizing a certain style to undermine dramatic writing or consequences in fear of being genuine. Or, in terms, bathos. And I really hope that’s not the intentions here because the relationship between Danny and Pei are genuinely sweet and good and if that’s the intention I really hate that comics don’t have the confidence to be dramatic fully in heart. 

Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur (2015-present) #23 Brandon Montclare, Natacha Bustos, Tamra Bonvillain

I’m worried about my favorite adorable team of superheroes. How can there be a Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur if there is no Devil Dinosaur? But also... is this the inevitable end? Are there not more adventures to come of our favorite world class genius and dinosaur? According to solicits there’s more for Lunella but is there more for the friendship that warmed our hearts? Are any of us truly ready to say goodbye?

Story: Legitimately I have no idea what’s going to happen next with this comic because it seems like Lunella is sidekick hunting for the next couple of issues, so the real question is how ready did this issue make us to move on from the loving friendship between a girl from Yancey Street and her bumbling dinosaur? Honestly, compared to the majority of the tight and loving writing of this series, it doesn’t feel like this conclusion was something we were very well prepared for. Sure, Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur are something we know of vaguely from other comics, but the anticlimax of the goodbye, and just how obvious it was that neither Lunella nor Devil were ready for it made the profound loneliness of this move feel so dissatisfying. Especially when Lunella returns to a doombot empty base instead of going home and emphasizes the strangeness even more. 

I’m hopeful that this is set up, but I’m always on high alert for books like this that could easily be canceled by Marvel and worried about ending on a note I really wouldn’t want it to.

Art: As always, the art for this book is gorgeous and the coloring is fascinating and eye popping. The cooler hues this time around really helped with the more subdued and sadder tone of the comic which made the actions toward the end not only more disconcerting but plainly just more heartbreaking. It was an excellent choice and incredibly subtle but effective. This is a creative team that truly understands their crafts more than the vast majority of people in the industry today, and that’s saying something since quality is not exactly in short supply in recent years. 

DC’s Nightwing (2016-present) Vol. 3: Nightwing Must Die Tim Seeley, Javier Fernandez, Chris Sotomayor

So I don’t.... really have any surprises in the works for those of you who follow my main blog at @renaroo who got to witness me liveblogging my experience reading this comic yesterday, but I’ll just put it definitively on the record here: Uh. Not a good effort here, guys. And this is officially the last thing written by Tim Seeley this gal is going to be picking up. Which I’m getting really tired of saying about writers who handle either one of my main two DC dudes -- Dick or Terry. Can we just... have anyone... care a little more? A bit?

Story: Okay so there’s about three plots going on at the same time during this comic and I’m going to address them in the three and then talk about the One Issue That Doesn’t Fit after. So four parts: The Robin Story, The Baby Story, and The Batman Story, and then The Good One. The way the plot is laid out you could argue that these three are interwoven enough to deserve going in a linear basis but I would argue no not really. Please take note that the title of this storyline according to the trade cover is “Nightwing Must Die”, a callback to the climax of Morrison’s run on the original Batman and Robin (2009-2011) series titled “Batman and Robin Must Die”. No, I’m not nerdy and observant, this thing is determined to hit you over the head with this allusion at every turn. 

The Robin Story: Damian who has basically been forcefully emancipated from Bruce and sent to live across the country with the Teen Titans rather than ... idk just be sent to Gotham Academy which is a boarding school anyway, is pissed because internet forums have declared that the original Robin -- aka Dick -- is the best Robin and Damian sucks. Why Damian suddenly cares about 4Chan is beyond me but here we are. Now, despite there being an overly long and obnoxious storyline in Batman and Robin (2011-2015) called “War of the Robins” where Damian already went through this and beat up all his predecessors sans Dick because they have an actual relationship, or the entirety of “Robin: Son of Batman”, or the huge storyline “Robin Wars” where there were 30 Robins including Duke Thomas all over Gotham and something I didn’t pay attention to about the Court of Owls and Lincoln March -- this is a useless subplot that makes no sense for the characters or relationship that has already been established by Damian and Dick here. That’s what I’m saying. 

Because this story isn’t interested in getting Damian right or doing him any service. This is dedicated to Dick in... about the worst way. And the weak motivation for getting Damian in Blüdhaven in order to reinact the events of “Batman and Robin Must Die” are so contrived that there’s really this feeling of “we need Damian in Blüdhaven come up with an excuse later” instead of it being something organic. For example: Damian is quick to bring up his concerns that Dick staying in Blüdhaven and starting a new life with Shawn is because he’s trying to become Batman of his “own franchise” and that he’s abandoning the rest of the family. This is really disconnected from the motivation of “who’s the best Robin” and would make more sense on a character level if Damian went to Blüdhaven of his own volition because of that concern to begin with. He feels pushed out of the family, and with Tim’s death he’s upset and surprised by Dick’s seeming abandonment of everyone else. Including him. The Robin with THE most abandonment issues this side of Jason Todd. Why not bring up something along the lines of “you haven’t been home since the funeral”. That would contrast the themes of family, Dick and Damian’s relationship, and Dick’s supposed worries about personal responsibility all at once. 

This isn’t how that was handled and I am suspicious as to why. because we had to have that awful, ugly -- for me personally inexcusable -- panel where Dick tells Damian that he knows no one can balance being a superhero and having a secondary identity because Bruce sucks at it SO BAD that he now has the “burden” of being a father to a bunch of Batkids which he follows up with “And the one I think suffers the most from this is you, Damian. His only real son.” 

So. You know. Fuck themes about nonconventional families and adoption I guess. Tim Seeley, go kick your own ass because you don’t even deserve the ass kicking from me.

It might seem like I’m being harsh but this one moment is SO hugely stupid and never brought up again or refuted later to the point that not only is it gross on a real world level, it actually REALLY weakens the theme of families and the such through the rest of the story specifically because there’s now this big ugly turd of a plot thread looming and never dealt with. 

Professor Pyg and Doctor Hurt are back from Dick and Damian’s time as Batman and Robin and theyve made a bunch of disgusting Dollatrons specifically of Damian and Dick, or Robintron and Deathwing. This actually matters a lot less to the story than you might actually think because Robintron and Deathwing don’t have a relationship outside of being made to believe they’re Robin and Nightwing and one ultimately kills the other once they remember this. It’s symbolic because the Robintron was in Dick’s original Robin suit and Deathwing was in the New52 Nightwing suit do you get it do you get it do you get what they’re trying to say here it’s clever. Anyway. 

The symbolism on a meta level is pretty on the nose “The New52 Dick killed the innocence of the old timey Golden Age Dick la da da” but in story we don’t really have Damian go through an arc or actually develop as a result of this matter and neither does Dick. Does Dick feel like his identity as Nightwing has killed his relationship with Damian? With his other family? With his idealistic self? It doesn’t... seem like it. Dick just kind of... punches Doctor Hurt after he decides that tragedy doesn’t define him... or something. It was from the hallucinations and like a whole issue later from Deathwing killing Robintron. And then Deathwing and Doctor Hurt kill each other by stabbing and falling rocks. Both ways in which villains have NEEEVVVEEERRRRR returned from the dead from before so I’m sure they’re gone forever.

So the Robin Storyline as a whole? it kinda comes to a conclusion with a genuinely nice two page spread where Dick and Damian talk about missing each other and missing their time as Batman and Robin. Dick even confesses something that would have brought all these storylines together rather nicely if it was done correctly: when Bruce came back to be Batman, Dick thought of staying as Batman, too in order to stay with Damian and train and raise him. But ultimately he thought, at the time, that he wasn’t old enough or ready enough to take that responsibility. 

Dick was not ready to be a father but now he looks back at himself and who he is now and is ready for another go, with Damian or with his own children in the future. ... EXCEPT that reading of how the themes would play out are completely undermined and broken beyond repair by having Dick say that UNBELIEVABLE comment about how Damian is the only REAL son to Bruce and that the “Batfamily” aren’t a unit like that. Therefore the Robin Storyline doesn’t really have a conclusion. 

Damian’s going to go back to San Francisco and still get pissed at /b/, there’s no family unit for anyone to reflect on, and.... the baby storyline:

The Baby Storyline: I could sum this up with one gif. I really could. I’m not going to but because I know this is only entertaining to hear me yell for an extent, have the gif anyway:

Now I’ll go into what actually bothered me about this storyline. Because this is tied to Dick’s relationship with Shawn and their pregnancy scare alone, and we see Dick freaking out at the possibility of the immense responsibility he may be stepping into, it actually genuinely had the potential to be a huge deal, a big game changer, something that actually would have developed both their characters and really questioned what they would be doing going forward with their lives. Would they both give up their costume lives? Would they move from Blüdhaven if they’re not defending the streets and it’s a terrible part of town? Would the baby have superheroes in its life from an early age?

It doesn’t matter because in what could probably be the weakest fake out ever, Shawn’s not pregnant she’s just... apparently not as regular as she once assumed. Which, hey, I hear that that happens fairly often for my fellow uterus havers and you know what? They’re young adults in their first serious relationship so I actually get the freakout from both of them. 

But it doesn’t end up meaning anything other than Dick screams at Damian a few times that they have to save his “girlfriend AND baby” and for some reason Damian just goes with it because Damian of course has never before in his life ever shown signs of jealousy and concerns about conditional love. 

The biggest problem beyond the fact that this plot’s resolution is a huge PSYCH spitting in everyone’s face is that... what... was the tie-in here? 

Was it JUST the drama of “PHEWWWW dodged that bullet, now let’s go give Sandy a makeover”? I guess so. 

Because if this was actually tied to the plots of the storyline it would have ended with at least one speech from Dick to Shawn, to his monologue, or to Damian that back when he returned to being Nightwing because he feared being too young and to unprepared to take responsibility for raising Damian, he had been wrong. He’s not ready because no one is, but he has a relationship with Damian that proves that he’s more than ready to be a father then and now. That he might not do it Bruce’s way because he didn’t like Bruce’s priorities, but he would find a way to balance all the aspects of his life and so can Shawn.

But that would require this story to... care about Shawn’s character more. 

I actually like Shawn? I want to see more of her and I think there’s a lot of potential there, but at the end of this story outside of genuinely good moments, like the time with her and Deathwing where she tries to soothe him, she’s... just a damsel to be rescued? Just a possible babymomma for tension?

If she was more than that, then the plot would have given her more to do once she joined Dick and Damian. Like even ONE scene of her and Damian playing off of each other in the aftermath would have done wonders, made her more than just an attachment for the advancement of Dick’s character, but we get more development for Deathwing and Robintron than for the potential love of Dick’s life.

Kidding. DC would never let Babs and Dick have actual meaningful romances outside of each other anymore. Just like DC will never let them have meaningful romances with each other!

So this was a trip into a cul de sac of disappointment. 

Also condoms condoms condoms condoms condoms boys and girls. Wrap it before you tap it. 

Or be a lesbian. But that’s my answer for everything.

#Shawn Tsang deserves better #Hollatchagirl

The Batman Story: Oh, Bruce. How your shadow lingers large over all things that have nothing to do with you. 

This is the “actual” plot. The one about Shawn being kidnapped and it all ending up being a plot by Professor Pyg and Doctor Hurt to relive the “Batman and Robin Must Die” storyline because....

Well. That’s the problem.

Doctor Hurt, as much as I really wasn’t a fan of that storyline under Morrison, served a very specific purpose. He was the antithesis to Dick when it came to Bruce’s legacy. Dick was his ward but also Bruce’s light and when he ascended to becoming Batman he took most of that with him and grew into the cape, so to speak. He embodied the detective work that Bruce taught him (finding the clues in the mantle that found the secret door), he embodied the friendship (taking his place as Batman on several superhero teams), and most importantly he embodied the head of the family. Alfred gave him advice, but Dick kept the Batfamily together as best he could, specifically by raising Damian as Bruce had raised him. And none of it was easy. 

Doctor Hurt worked as a villain to Dick’s Batman because he embodied the worst of Bruce’s darkness. The strange and forgotten stories of the past, the psychological horror, the devilish iconography. Those things that were Gritty McBadBat about Bruce were never things that Dick was going to embody as Batman. And that’s why Doctor Hurt and him battled, basically over the heart of Damian: Robin, the partner, the son, the future of the cowl. 

I didn’t like “Batman and Robin Must Die” because rather than have a huge statement about choosing the direction for Batman’s future by having Dick battle and defeat Doctor Hurt and his continuity drag, Morrison literally deus ex machina’d by having Bruce travel back through time and save Dick and Damian and basically take control immediately. It was such an anticlimax to both Dick and Damian’s arc even though Morrison tried to play it off as being the culmination of Dick and Damian and everyone else looking for Bruce plus Bruce’s “Return of Bruce Wayne” storyline. It’s messy and just feels like “whatever” at the end. 

I don’t like it here because .... Dick’s not Batman. He and Damian aren’t partners. Neither of those things have been factors for either of those characters for six years now and, I hate to break it to everyone here, but at least one of them was “dead” for at least three of those years anyway. 

Doctor Hurt is a Dick Grayson villain, but he is not a Nightwing villain. And the attempt to make him one here fell incredibly flat. 

Also why was Professor Pyg there? Does Professor Pyg now know Dick and Damian’s secret identities too? Was that throw away line about him building dollatrons for Hurt meant to tell us that no only Hurt knows the identities? How is that much better? Why does everyone know Dick’s identity and he doesn’t care? Why doesn’t Damian care that the random Robintron knows his full name and who his father is? Why doesn’t Dick? If only Hurt knows then how did Pyg brainwash Robintron and Deathwing? If Pyg didn’t why did Hurt need Pyg to brainwash them for this since he apparently already knows how?

This story basically sacrificed all logic within the story itself to tie-in Dick’s time as Batman, which he doesn’t want to go back to and isn’t  even tempted to go back to throughout the story, purely to justify having the Bat as part of the cover logo still. That’s it. 

The Good One: There’s a one shot at the very end of this volume, #21, that’s definitely filler in between storylines but is actually the best thing in this entire volume. Probably the best of this run of Nightwing I’ve read and... apparently will ever read since I’ve paid my penance and given Seeley’s turn a chance. It’s a classic team up between Dick and Wally with a pretty inventive villain named “Timebomb”. It’s funny, has a lot of heart, the coloring isn’t muted garbage, and it features some high stakes without losing its sense of fun. It’s a good issue. I would actually implore fans of Dick and Wally to pick it up. It does a great service to their friendship.

Art: The art is good, the entire “Nightwing Must Die” part was colored in this muted, pasty way that basically made all backgrounds feel like they weren’t a part of the scenes and made all humans look dead or undead as it were to the point that Dick and Damian -- both canonically characters of color and occasionally colored to match it -- have the same pallor of the rotting corpse faces sewn onto Robintron and Deathwing.

The exception is the blue used for Nightwing’s costume and gear and for Shawn’s hair because.... idk. I guess we’re supposed to guess that they’re important to the comic or something. 

No seriously, I love the art but they have to buy some more markers. I appreciate that you can only do so much when supplies are low but c’mon.

It’s a joke I know it’s a style choice I just don’t like the style.

But I emphasize again, the art is good. I just personally would go for the last issue’s coloring more than the main storyline’s. 

Image’s Saga (2012-present) #47 Fiona Staples, Brian K. Vaughn

The real question comes to be... will Saga ever have a truly bad issue? I doubt it. Like at this point I’m not really sure what a bad Saga issue would even look like, but I think there’s absolutely no doubt that mediocre issues or issues that were more build up for what is to come can exist. Again, I give backhanded compliments here but I mean them... in the best way possible? Never mind, these cold opens are hard.

Story: We don’t progress too awfully much in this issue. The Will is captured by a vengeful victim’s wife who means to torture him by making him suffer and forcing him to see the very people he loves die.... until money gets involved and suddenly like everyone else she wants to capture Hazel and company to make the big starbucks. But, strangely for Saga, for the first time in this series we really don’t.... go anywhere with this issue outside of what’s taking place with the Will’s torture. There’s no scenes exploring what’s going on with the other groups, there’s no narration from future Hazel, we’re left with the Will, his past we haven’t seen yet, and his current circumstances. 

Now this could make sense, the jumping around Will’s past is in place of jumping around the stars, and how could Hazel ever know what’s happening to the Will here, but it just all feels like a departure from the near omnipotence of Saga’s story before. And mostly it just feels like a setup for explaining how we get all the characters gathered for the next part of the story. And that’s.... not as cool as it could be. 

It’s definitely a weaker entry for Saga overall, but that’s like saying a TV show with 100 episodes may have some that aren’t perfect.

Art: Fiona Staples’ art continues to be the star of the series, but perhaps because of the restraints of the setup, this isn’t the most visually creative or wildest design ideas she’s had in this series. The reveal of the shrew woman’s face felt.... anticlimactic compared to some of the truly out there examples of aliens unlike anything I’ve ever imagined before and it made the pause for the joke “my husband was nearly as beautiful as me” feel like... “have you seen what some of the other alien species look like????”

Likewise the backgrounds of both the flashbacks and of the room Will’s tortured in are not as wild as we’ve seen before, but I have to say the creative idea of the floating prism in space kind of makes up for it because that was creative and visually awing. Again, much like the story itself, the art only suffers because in comparison to the rest of Saga I’m only kind of blown away and not totally blown away. 

IDW’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2011-present) #74 Kevin Eastman, Tom Waltz, Cory Smith, Ronda Pattison

Man we are just in the forest for transitions in storylines right now. Nothing is bad but nothing is standing out and I was expecting much the same with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles considering that we’re on Part II of the Trial of Kraang, but you know, it wouldn’t be TMNT if they weren’t continuing to surprise me.

Story: So this is a court drama because if there’s one thing that TMNT is dedicated to it is DOING ALL OF THE THINGS and apparently court drama hadn’t been checkmarked yet so here we are. And as someone who really genuinely likes the minutia of continuity and rules and regulations of different worlds and the way laws work in different universes, I found things fairly compelling. Not the least of which because of the smart use of characters and how they fit into their roles -- especially Donny and Professor Honeycutt both working as the prosecution. Don, after all, is the sci-fi heart of TMNT and him being in the thick of this as Kraang is the most “his” of their roster of villains makes perfect sense.

We mostly hit the same beats you’d expect from a court drama -- an unfavorable judge, slimy defense attorney making things hard for our prosecutors, the prosecutors pull a surprise key witness, and all in the background we have the unraveling of victims and friends trying to deal with the uncertainty of the situation while also.... fighting an interdimensional alien war. Hm. Okay so that last part is pure TMNT shenanigans but the drama of the story is really structured and punctual.

Which.... basically means that this issue is something like 80% dialogue with little tiny bits of action to give the other three turtles and their friends something to do while Don and Honeycutt hold down the fort. And if you’re prepared for that going in, you’ll probably find the case as interesting and the way facts are being retold and manipulated fascinating, but if you’re not then it’s probably going to be a bit of a slog compared to the ninja action you’re usually used to.

Art: TMNT’s art is always so shockingly good that it’s hard to comment on anymore. I really like how varied and interesting alien designs are with people not afraid to be gross by “human standards” when making things. And I like that the turtles manage to be simple so that they stand out in every setting without feeling out of place, and still have enough variation and ranges of emotions that there’s no confusing them with each other when the masks are off. It’s very good art and that should always be applauded. 

Dark Horse’s Zodiac Starforce: Cries of the Fire Prince (2017) #2 Kevin Panetta, Paulina Ganucheau, Sarah Stern

I have been on the edge of my seet for a few months now, waiting for news on when the next Zodiac Starforce was going to be coming out and, at long last, the answer came. It was today! And there was much rejoicing. From me. Because I’ve absolutely fallen for this team book.

Story: We learn more about the titular Fire Prince and honestly that’s where a lot of my apprehensions come into play. In the original comic series, the Starforce was comedic at times but its drama was never undercut by it. Relationships were taken seriously and the threat to the girls was certainly serious, particularly from their own goddess and from Cimmeria. So when the first half of this issue was spent with the Fire Prince and making his powers known but also having him laughably dance around and prove to be a bit of a sadsack and not even comparable to the last threat of Cimmeria -- having been imprisoned and shamed by her himself -- it was a little worrisome. The threat after a huge battle like last time shouldn’t really be followed up by something we’re directly told is lesser. And that fed right into the lesser fights too, with Savannah undercutting Alice’s threat by having to make a joke of why they were fighting and remind her of the fact that she even was a threat to the Starforce to begin with. I know I’m throwing this word around a lot lately but it feels like bathos -- like fearing the sincerity of the drama so going for a joke instead. And that wasn’t something I really remember happening in the previous volume.

That all said, the one thing always played straight and the risk that is never dampened is honestly the one that remains the most important overall, and that’s the relationships between the girls themselves. Lily and Savannah’s romance and Savannah’s obviously very supportive mother, Molly and Emma’s close friendship, everyone’s concern for Kim -- it’s all great stuff and taken seriously throughout which is why I still have a lot of hope and expectations for this series. It’s just so nice to see a book that’s so supportive and intent on emphasizing the importance of female relationships.

Art: The art for Zodiac Starforce is beautiful and popping, but it also has a very serious control of its style so as to not be cartoonish beyond the point of feeling the danger or concern for things within the story. Even so, there were a few things that felt off model this time around. It’s mostly nitpicking, but there was something different about the way Emma’s hair was drawn, specifically when she was Gemini, and there were a few times where Alice and her goons seemed to look very different from how I remembered them. but overall I can’t emphasize enough that it’s a beautiful book and really does capture the feeling of being a Western Magical Girl team story. 

There was a lot of good this week in a lot of different ways but when I think of what I enjoyed the most I have to absolutely give it to Black Magick. This book captures a unique style and tone of two things I sincerely love -- noir and witchcraft -- and is really doing something special with them in the modern age. And those are the kind of daring choices -- much like doing a mostly black-and-white comic when almost all comics stick to high definition coloring -- that really capture my attention and help any book stand out in a given week. So that absolutely must be my Pick of the Week, even with some of my harsher criticisms sent its way.

And, once more, I am in a bit of a financial crunch for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which being the medical bills I’m paying for my dog, Eve, who experienced a catastrophic dog fight and underwent surgery recently. On top of that, I have exactly a month and a half to pack up everything I own and move halfway across the country again which is not helping those financial crunches I mentioned before either.

As such, I really would appreciate if you enjoy my content or are interested in helping me out, please check out either my Patreon or PayPal. Every bit helps and I couldn’t thank you enough for enjoying and supporting my content.

You could also support me by going to my main blog, @renaroo, where I’ll soon be listing prices and more for art and writing commissions.

RenaRoo Ko-Fi

RenaRoo Patreon

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New Post has been published on https://javleech.com/a-life-of-adventure-and-delight-by-akhil-sharma-evaluation-stunning-unhappy-quick-testimonies/

A Life of Adventure and Delight by Akhil Sharma evaluation – stunning, unhappy quick testimonies

  These stunning, humorous, sensible brief memories are advised with such obvious simplicity. That’s Akhil Sharma’s style, honed in his two novels: An Obedient Father and the Folio prize-triumphing Family Life, his semi-autobiographical tale of a own family emigrating from India to America and then devastated by a dreadful coincidence, when their elder son hits his head in a swimming pool (the coincidence seems once more in such a stories, “Surrounded by using Sleep”). Sharma’s quick, declarative sentences, heading off taking metaphorical flight, never sense mannered, or like a Carveresque moody disavowal of the possibility of announcing some thing. The simplicity is Sharma’s attempt to get past all of the temptations of falsity, of false fashion and ready-made thoughts. His writing shines its clean light, by no means mercilessly or voyeuristically, on those characters winding spherical and round within the muddled opacity in their lives and their thoughts. They, as well as the author, war for the truth.

In “The Well”, a sad, awkward, obese younger man, son of Indian immigrants in America, has constantly been “in love” with a person – at the start Wonder Woman and Superman’s lady friend, and now Betty, a blond, tennis-playing girl at work. His hungry want for Betty makes him clumsily oblivious to what she genuinely is, or what she needs herself. And but there’s a moment of lovable readability on the heart of the story, wherein he wonders why, as she doesn’t really like him lots, she’d allowed him to get her pregnant. “The handiest feasible rationalization was that there has been some thing in her that turned into susceptible and baffled, similar to there was in me. The sympathy I felt, seeing her lie there, within the darkish, murmuring to herself, might in brief brush aside my madness.”

An Obedient Father with the aid of Akhil Sharma review – ethical corruption in Delhi The Folio winner’s first novel is an audacious portrayal of a vividly unsympathetic civil servant Read more Only in short, of route: it’s too hard to act out such insights in his everyday existence. And besides, Betty doesn’t love him. What’s he supposed to do, besides try and save himself, get what he desires? The story ought to lead to futility, besides that its final scene, where the younger guy and his mother and father carry out a funeral rite on the Sri Ram temple near Princeton, is by some means ugly yet gentle, both at once. For all its absurdity (the Pandit “directed me to reduce a ball of dough with a string and feed diverse stones by means of touching them with drops of milk”), the ritual seems to do some imperfect paintings in the direction of assuaging the young man’s guilt and baffled longings: or at the least, it acts these out. In other stories too, the ragged, half-understood scraps of a ceremony at funerals and weddings – or the prayers Ajay offers for his brain-broken brother in “Surrounded by way of Sleep” – are each comically inadequate to their event and additionally help to present shape to trouble and loss. Not that “The Well” results in an upbeat decision: on their way domestic, his mother slaps him and he thinks, “Good, I ought to be hit”.

There are pretty a number of hapless, sad, hopeful men in these pages, frequently failing to apprehend women, who’re the greater unfathomable the extra they are objects of choice. Individuals are capable of numinous gestures of tenderness and perception, however, those are by no means quite aimed inside the right vicinity, or at the proper moment; the trouble is compounded if immigrants from India are finding their way among confusing American mores. Yet although go-cultural encounters are always and fascinatingly part of Sharma’s material, they don’t experience just like the core of his situation: displacements and misreadings are just as baffling again in India.

Family Life overview – Akhil Sharma unearths a coming-of-age story in a calamity Akhil Sharma deftly information the end of an American dream writes Sukhdev Sandhu

Read extra In “If You Sing Like That for Me”, set in New Delhi, seven months into her marriage a spouse determines to fall in love together with her husband due to the fact she’s seen her personal mother and father’ marriage broken by way of futile hostilities. We recognise from the start that her attempt lasts just a few hours and is derived to not anything: the female unlocks some thing in her husband, they make love passionately, after which he spills over in speak, confiding his inner existence to her – which turns out to consist of her on his checklist of achievements, someplace among a promotion and an overseas automobile. He had desired a wife with an MA, but his mother didn’t approve of ladies who worked. “I turned into willing to change my requirements. Because I trust carefully.” The younger spouse wakes inside the night, inside the ultimate sentence of the story. “I changed into the cold and tried to wrap myself inside the sheet, however, it turned into not massive enough.”

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Summarized like this, the stories sound so unhappy – and they’re. “You Are Happy?”, about an alcoholic mom dispatched again from America to India to be murdered, is terrifying. Yet their imaginative and prescient is comic too, inside the broadest, Chekhovian sense: robust and heat and ironic, no longer overwrought. The genius lies inside the element, inside the gritty comical solidity of real things: a bully tapping a boy’s head with a cricket bat “as though the boy were a wicket being pushed into the ground”; a tense newbie looking YouTube movies on how to kiss; a girl stealing cubes of cheese at a marriage. Nothing can make a devastating accident much less dreadful, but by the end of “Surrounded by means of Sleep” Ajay can appearance at once for the primary time at the swimming pool where the twist of fate passed off, reflect on consideration on the water his brother dived into, and call the simple, lousy, mysterious facts.

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A Life of Adventure and Delight by Akhil Sharma evaluation – stunning, unhappy quick testimonies

New Post has been published on https://javleech.com/a-life-of-adventure-and-delight-by-akhil-sharma-evaluation-stunning-unhappy-quick-testimonies/

A Life of Adventure and Delight by Akhil Sharma evaluation – stunning, unhappy quick testimonies

  These stunning, humorous, sensible brief memories are advised with such obvious simplicity. That’s Akhil Sharma’s style, honed in his two novels: An Obedient Father and the Folio prize-triumphing Family Life, his semi-autobiographical tale of a own family emigrating from India to America and then devastated by a dreadful coincidence, when their elder son hits his head in a swimming pool (the coincidence seems once more in such a stories, “Surrounded by using Sleep”). Sharma’s quick, declarative sentences, heading off taking metaphorical flight, never sense mannered, or like a Carveresque moody disavowal of the possibility of announcing some thing. The simplicity is Sharma’s attempt to get past all of the temptations of falsity, of false fashion and ready-made thoughts. His writing shines its clean light, by no means mercilessly or voyeuristically, on those characters winding spherical and round within the muddled opacity in their lives and their thoughts. They, as well as the author, war for the truth.

In “The Well”, a sad, awkward, obese younger man, son of Indian immigrants in America, has constantly been “in love” with a person – at the start Wonder Woman and Superman’s lady friend, and now Betty, a blond, tennis-playing girl at work. His hungry want for Betty makes him clumsily oblivious to what she genuinely is, or what she needs herself. And but there’s a moment of lovable readability on the heart of the story, wherein he wonders why, as she doesn’t really like him lots, she’d allowed him to get her pregnant. “The handiest feasible rationalization was that there has been some thing in her that turned into susceptible and baffled, similar to there was in me. The sympathy I felt, seeing her lie there, within the darkish, murmuring to herself, might in brief brush aside my madness.”

An Obedient Father with the aid of Akhil Sharma review – ethical corruption in Delhi The Folio winner’s first novel is an audacious portrayal of a vividly unsympathetic civil servant Read more Only in short, of route: it’s too hard to act out such insights in his everyday existence. And besides, Betty doesn’t love him. What’s he supposed to do, besides try and save himself, get what he desires? The story ought to lead to futility, besides that its final scene, where the younger guy and his mother and father carry out a funeral rite on the Sri Ram temple near Princeton, is by some means ugly yet gentle, both at once. For all its absurdity (the Pandit “directed me to reduce a ball of dough with a string and feed diverse stones by means of touching them with drops of milk”), the ritual seems to do some imperfect paintings in the direction of assuaging the young man’s guilt and baffled longings: or at the least, it acts these out. In other stories too, the ragged, half-understood scraps of a ceremony at funerals and weddings – or the prayers Ajay offers for his brain-broken brother in “Surrounded by way of Sleep” – are each comically inadequate to their event and additionally help to present shape to trouble and loss. Not that “The Well” results in an upbeat decision: on their way domestic, his mother slaps him and he thinks, “Good, I ought to be hit”.

There are pretty a number of hapless, sad, hopeful men in these pages, frequently failing to apprehend women, who’re the greater unfathomable the extra they are objects of choice. Individuals are capable of numinous gestures of tenderness and perception, however, those are by no means quite aimed inside the right vicinity, or at the proper moment; the trouble is compounded if immigrants from India are finding their way among confusing American mores. Yet although go-cultural encounters are always and fascinatingly part of Sharma’s material, they don’t experience just like the core of his situation: displacements and misreadings are just as baffling again in India.

Family Life overview – Akhil Sharma unearths a coming-of-age story in a calamity Akhil Sharma deftly information the end of an American dream writes Sukhdev Sandhu

Read extra In “If You Sing Like That for Me”, set in New Delhi, seven months into her marriage a spouse determines to fall in love together with her husband due to the fact she’s seen her personal mother and father’ marriage broken by way of futile hostilities. We recognise from the start that her attempt lasts just a few hours and is derived to not anything: the female unlocks some thing in her husband, they make love passionately, after which he spills over in speak, confiding his inner existence to her – which turns out to consist of her on his checklist of achievements, someplace among a promotion and an overseas automobile. He had desired a wife with an MA, but his mother didn’t approve of ladies who worked. “I turned into willing to change my requirements. Because I trust carefully.” The younger spouse wakes inside the night, inside the ultimate sentence of the story. “I changed into the cold and tried to wrap myself inside the sheet, however, it turned into not massive enough.”

Advertisement

Summarized like this, the stories sound so unhappy – and they’re. “You Are Happy?”, about an alcoholic mom dispatched again from America to India to be murdered, is terrifying. Yet their imaginative and prescient is comic too, inside the broadest, Chekhovian sense: robust and heat and ironic, no longer overwrought. The genius lies inside the element, inside the gritty comical solidity of real things: a bully tapping a boy’s head with a cricket bat “as though the boy were a wicket being pushed into the ground”; a tense newbie looking YouTube movies on how to kiss; a girl stealing cubes of cheese at a marriage. Nothing can make a devastating accident much less dreadful, but by the end of “Surrounded by means of Sleep” Ajay can appearance at once for the primary time at the swimming pool where the twist of fate passed off, reflect on consideration on the water his brother dived into, and call the simple, lousy, mysterious facts.