#anything really because he can monologue about anything under the sun

[gods-perfect-idiots]

❤️💛

[austinsastrology8991]

> Mercury Aspects <

and why you sound like a Dumb Fuck

Mercury Aspecting Sun - Your voice is authoritative and you love to flex on people with your loud appeal. However, your voice being the centre of attention (usually) can create an atmosphere where you're very controlling of the conversation. This is not so bad because others do like to listen to you, but the problem is others may not always feel heard. You are gifted at speaking, and gaining recognition from that, but a good conversation isn't formed from a fkn monologue, or outwitting the other, its about conversing - not speaking AT someone. But you speak clearly and its easy for others to call you smart Mercury Aspecting Moon - Nervous speakers who's tone is so dependent on how they are feeling, you literally have to give them a pat on the back to get a coherent answer out of them. These people are very thoughtful, but since they have been thinking about what they want to say for so long, they find themselves stuttering, and word vomiting; because they want to be careful with what they say hence the overthinking tendencies. They speak softly and it can make others relax around them. But people like to ask them to speak up a lot, so not so relaxing for them I guess Mercury Aspecting Venus - Pretty voices, and they always say the right thing. People love to talk to them cause they have a very receptive ear, but also a willingness to share their own ideas, and this duality makes it so others cannot help but be completely enamoured by their talking. They can sell water to a well, a fire to a lighter, a Samsung to a Apple store; they really can convince you anything just because you got lost in their language.

Mercury Aspecting Mars - Harsher voices that love to get aggressive on da mic. They love to swear but more than that, they love to talk shit, and well they are good at it because they don't really put so much thought into what they are saying, they just say it. And others have to remind these natives that they said some fucked up shit, and that they should calm down lol. But they perform very well in arguments, and its because they thrive in da art of da comeback Mercury Aspecting Jupiter - Naturally bold in what they say, and always have something interesting to talk about, and they are interesting, but they are always in the mood to teach you something and its kinda exhausting. Jim carry has this conjunct and well he is interesting... But he is also always trying to teach you something, but unfortunately for him we don't really care we just want him to make us laugh. And I guess thats why this combo can be a little unfortunate, because most people feel educated enough and don't want to be further educated. They so badly want to teach others, but unfortunately for them its a hard thing to teach in tongues > people learn from experience more, and they'd rather be the master of their own destiny (not owe it to yoi) > ik ur trying to help but you have to understand we are a stubborn species Mercury Aspecting Saturn - They speak with so much nonchalance, and its a great way to make others listen to them; because they acting like the answer is simple. But it's actually because they >think< they figured out all the possible answers; since they have studied/researched a lot just so they feel some semblance of control on the topic. And if they don't speak on a subject, its because they don't know the answer, and this decisiveness in when and when not to speak makes others respect their opinion more often than not.

Mercury Aspecting Uranus - You guys jump from subject to subject with such little foresight of what the fuck was happening in the conversation, I frankly get a headache talking to you. You are def interesting to talk to, but your lack of direction in communication, can get on my nerves and I hate your lack of care about it. You talk about anything under the sun, and this makes you someone almost perfect to speak to. Until the other person realizes the conversation as a whole was utterly meaningless. But these guys lowkey geniuses and their voices are 'unique' Mercury Aspecting Neptune - These people are um. hard to say. they really go all over the place. I've seen these natives go from speaking like a retard > to a professor > to barking like a dog > then speaking like the president; and its just a normal conversation for them. I think its because they pick up on the energy of what the conversation needs most and they shapeshift into whatever that need is; so you really don't know what your gonna get. You really can never can tell what they are going to say next, and they are a master at confusing yo brain. Also high-key the best person to talk about life with; very sensitive and genuine when need to be. Mercury Aspecting Pluto - These guys love to get deep n emotionally invest in any conversation they can. They have extremely piercing minds, and cannot be bothered talking about a 'nothing', so they always probe your brain, and swerve the conversation into something deeply uncomfortable for the both of you. Hey its more interesting than a boring conversation, and well if they never brought it up, lets be honest; you never would have thought about it in the unique perspective that they gave you. Also they are so blunt and forceful, you literally have to stop everything because of the audacity of what the fuck came out they mouth. They speak intensely and put all focus onto you/subject at hand, its low key uncomfortable; but always interesting

[riddlerosehearts]

list of acd canon sherlock holmes things i absolutely love

(and am going to mostly put under a readmore because i made most of this list while rereading the entire canon so it is very long! listen i just think sherlock holmes is the best character ever and i need to share my love for him--)

immediately upon being introduced to watson he grabs him by the sleeve, starts excitedly showing off his bloodstain testing experiment, and claps his hands “looking as delighted as a child with a new toy”. once he finishes, his eyes glitter and he puts his hand on his heart and bows “as if to some applauding crowd conjured up by his imagination”.

watson: “i object to rows because my nerves are shaken”

holmes: “do you include violin playing in your category of rows?” he asked, anxiously

he’s noted to be extraordinarily knowledgeable and zealous in his studies, and yet on the same page it’s stated that he doesn’t know the earth travels around the sun and once watson tells him about it he immediately decides to forget about it because it’s not relevant to his work. this is where the famous “brain attic” monologue comes in.

watson writes this list about him and then throws it into the fire in despair:

has a habit of laughing in a way that’s described as bursting into an “explosion” or “roar” of laughter

frequently does this at crime scenes:

enlists a gang of street orphans to help him on his cases, pays them for their work, and generally treats them as equals but also playfully talks to them like a general to his soldiers

plays the violin for watson to help him get to sleep

is incredibly knowledgable on anything from different types of tobacco, to the ways one's trade can influence the form of their hands, to medieval pottery and stradivarus violins. and yet, i reiterate, does not know the earth revolves around the sun.

has a tendency of waxing poetic about the meaningless of existence, particularly when he’s bored from not having any cases to work on

once said about a dog “i would rather have toby’s help than that of the whole detective force of london”

used the word “doggy” when speaking to toby

once told watson “i don’t wish to be theatrical” despite all evidence to the contrary

disguises himself as an old man just to play a prank on watson

watson: “i think i had better go”

holmes: “not at all, doctor. stay where you are. i am lost without my boswell.”

is known to wiggle in his chair when he gets excited about a case

discovers that a man has tricked his own stepdaughter into a fake marriage so he can keep her at home and control her life and inheritance. acknowledges that said man hasn’t done anything illegal but still tells him “there never was a man who deserved punishment more” and that he ought to get whipped for what he did, and then goes to actually get his hunting crop, causing the man to run out the door at top speed

let a criminal go free because it turned out the man he murdered was trying to force said criminal’s daughter into an unwanted marriage

was suddenly made to participate in the wedding of someone he was tracking for a case, came home and laughed about it for several minutes, exclaimed “well, really!”, laughed for several more minutes, and only then did he actually tell watson what happened

responds to the king of bohemia insulting irene adler and saying she’s not on his level by saying coldly: “from what i have seen of the lady, she seems indeed to be on a very different level to your majesty”, which is basically him saying “actually she’s way better than you, so fuck off”

refused to shake said king’s hand

built a pillow fort in a client’s house so he could think better

let a poor jewel thief go because he cried, because it was christmas and therefore it was the season of forgiveness, and because the case was really easy anyway so it’s not his fault if the police are too stupid to solve it themselves

always reassures clients that they can trust him and watson and speak freely around them

is willing to waive his fee for clients who can’t afford to pay him, because according to him his profession is its own reward

this entire scene from speckled band when he gets confronted by his client’s abusive stepfather:

this nice little example of the gentleness he often displays with his clients:

the adventure of the copper beeches. just, all of it. a woman he doesn’t know comes to holmes for advice about a potential job she’s interviewed for and they both agree it sounds incredibly sketchy, she says she’s gonna take it anyway because she needs the money, and he’s like “well i wouldn’t want any sister of mine doing something like this but FINE i guess, just please write to us and let us know if you’re okay and if anything bad happens we’ll drop everything and come help you immediately”, and then the job does in fact turn out to be super sketchy and they drop everything and get on a train as soon as she writes to them

sometimes spends several hours out on walks through the park or the town with watson just relaxing and talking with him for the sake of it, despite watson frequently noting that holmes doesn’t have much appreciation for nature

“we have had the good fortune to bring peace to many troubled souls. i trust that we may do the same for you,” he says “in his easy, genial way” to a potential client who’s clearly very upset and sleep-deprived

is completely wrong about a particular case and asks watson to remind him of that case next time he gets overconfident

is noted by watson to be very neat and methodical in his methods and way of dress, while simultaneously being one of the messiest people ever who keeps his tobacco inside a persian slipper and his unopened letters held up by a knife in the center of his mantelpiece, keeps tons of criminal relics which apparently somehow end up in the butter dish sometimes, and keeps countless stacks of papers and documents all over the place

tells watson anecdotes about his past just to avoid cleaning up said documents

deliberately knocks over a table, shattering a glass fruit bowl which then sends oranges rolling all over the room, and then blames it on watson and runs away

says snarky things like “when gregson or lestrade are out of their depth–which, by the way, is their normal state” and “you’ve done very well, watson! it’s too bad you’ve missed everything of importance”

laughs when watson suggests he’s being modest about his abilities

picked up a rose and got all sappy and poetic about it

more specifically, picked up a rose and said that religion can be a science which involves a lot of careful deduction, and that flowers are a source of hope and proof of the goodness of god due to the fact that they aren’t a necessary part of life but are still so beautiful anyway

recovered an incredibly valuable government treaty for a client and had it served to him on a platter at breakfast because, in his own words, he “never can resist a touch of the dramatic”

faked his death and then revealed to watson that he was still alive in a manner that even he admitted was unnecessarily dramatic

had a full-scale wax model of himself created and used it to fool his enemies

made a diagram out of breadcrumbs to explain something to watson

broke into a blackmailer’s house for a case because he believed it to be morally justifiable, and admitted that he always thought he might make a good criminal

held watson’s hand while they were burgling said house together

twice

allowed said blackmailer to be murdered in front of him by one of his victims and then refused to take the case when asked because he just hated the guy that much

“flushed up with pleasure” when watson complimented him

asked watson to sell his medical practice and move back into 221b with him after the death of his wife. and then secretly gave a relative of his a ton of money to buy watson’s medical practice at the highest price watson would ask for, just so they could live together again

was nearly brought to tears by lestrade saying he was proud of him

let a dog lead him around on a case, multiple times in different stories

was very gentle with a client who he knew to be the victim of an abusive marriage and allowed the man who killed her husband to go free out of sympathy for their situation

noticed watson looking sad and touching his war wound and tried to cheer him up by echoing his thoughts and providing a deduction of how he knew what he was thinking

mentioned watson’s sparkling eyes in said deduction

talked about nothing but violins and his favorite violinist for an hour while he and watson had lunch together

likes going to classical music concerts and getting lost in the music

does scrapbooking

chuckles and rubs his hands together when he’s happy

this:

takes getting called "the devil himself" as a compliment

let a killer go because he had only killed in retaliation for the unjust murder of his lover, and holmes felt that he might’ve done the same if someone were to kill the woman he loved

on a completely unrelated note tells a guy who shoots watson “if you had killed watson you would not have got out of this room alive”

also reacted like this when watson got shot:

went undercover to supposedly give a guy secret government intelligence documents, and then gave him a book about bees instead

frequently disguised himself either for cases or just to fool watson and was noted to be a great actor

once disguised himself as an old woman with a parasol

tried the best he could to talk a young woman out of marrying a man who had a history of “collecting” women for sport and destroying their lives, and admitted to watson that he thought of her as he would think of his own daughter

was prone to “imp-like moods”

sent watson a message to come over at once ("if convenient--if inconvenient come all the same") just so he could infodump to him about dogs

wasn’t surprised that a dog died of grief shortly after its owner’s death, because of “the beautiful, faithful nature of dogs”

listened with great sympathy to a depressed woman who wanted to tell him her tragic story, picked up on hints that she was planning to commit suicide, talked her out of it by convincing her that her life does have value and then called her brave for choosing to live

got lost in thought looking out the window at the publicly funded elementary schools and randomly went on about how he believes they and the children who attend them are beacons of a brighter future

made hot cocoa for watson

shook hands with a baby

retired to the countryside to live on a farm and become a beekeeper.

[goodolddumbbanana]

Sun's Wedding [2]

Cringe: hahaa... I have no idea what I am Writing...

Part 1

“--And then she dared to drag Sun along with her, like he was just some toys!!”

The dark blue animatronic’s heels crunched on Monty’s million-dollar tile floor. The crocodile was already sleepy, but they still couldn’t go back to cuddle with Earth in their bedroom because someone was still shamelessly refusing to leave.

The elegant yellow-green wedding invitation was torn to shreds on the glass table, but still managed to form some fancy letters, Sun x Miku.

‘Oh my god, it’s really late, Moon! Give me a damn break.’ 

Monty’s eyes twitched, almost closing under their sunglasses. The thought of throwing Moon in the trash was getting more and more appealing with every minute the damn moon-model kept them from sleeping. The vision ahead was getting more and more blurry, and Moon’s face was starting to resemble a mutated eggplant.

“Monty. Are you listening to me!”

Damn, Monty almost fell. They adjusted their glasses, snapped two fingers at Moon, their voices a little groggy. 

“Sure, bud. Crystal clear.”

The silence was filled with gravel and the judgmental look from those red eyes. Moon looked like he wanted to snap their necks, which was impossible but kinda cute because that twink thought he could with these two rotten noodles the blue animatronic called hands.

“Monty, if you doze off again, I’ll blow up every vault you’ve hidden under the Pacific Ocean.”

A chill ran through Monty’s body, just like the day they’d discovered the money they’d invested all went bankrupt in a Soviet project. Using the German scientists was not a good move.

Their mouths dropped open, they clutched their metaphorical hearts. Their hands shook as they removed their glasses and stared at Moon’s eyes.

“Moon… Moon… Please…! Come on, buddy!? You don’t mean it, do you?” Monty stammered. “Those are my babies!!”

“Oh well Monty, guess your babies are about to go shit.” Moon sneered. “241 gold vaults and 462 weapon vaults. One wrong move and–.” Moon made the sound of an explosion, the activation button hovering teasingly in Moon’s hand.

A withered sigh of resignation came from Monty. They leaned back, both hands rubbing their foreheads.

“Geez! I don’t remember you being this scary…” They muttered under their breath, completely nonchalantly admitting their crimes. “Alright! I admit, I slept through half of your monologue.”

Not even looking at Moon’s finger that was so close to the button, Monty picked at their ear. “But what do you want me to do with that information?!! Find a sniper and deal with Miku myself??? Throw that crazy girl into the East Sea?”

“I don’t know!” Moon waved his hand, shouting. “I’m desperate, okay!! And you’re the one who does all the weird stuff all the time!!”

“So what?” Monty laughed, their voices almost mingling together. “You think I can pull something out of my ass magically, Moon? Do you really think I can do that without preparing anything? It is Art, Moon! I need time to think! And some minors are in labor!! If they’re orphans then even better, I don’t have to pay them anymore.” They waved their hands ridiculously, their handsome reflections in the glasses making them stop their movements and admire the mirror.

Oh yes, who has such beautiful muscles… It’s you~~~

“Monty! Focus!!” Moon snapped his fingers. He felt his own patience level going out the window, and just thinking about his poor little brother trapped in Miku’s evil embrace made Moon’s blood boil.

He wanted to find Solar, but somehow that orange animatronic had disappeared along with Lunar or Earth to nowhere.

“Fine! My God! You need to relax, Moon. This fussing isn’t going to solve anything.” Monty sighed, rubbing their shoulders. They took a sip of their gin, too sober to continue this conversation.

“Well, I don’t think Miku’s that bad. She’s pretty, and she has money, a lot of money. Heh…” Monty’s eyes might have turned into $$ shapes as their hands made the same counting motion before coughing and adjusting their glasses.

“What I am trying to say is that… I think you’re overreacting. Didn’t Sun look happy looking forward to this wedding?”

“Well Monty. The truth is… I don’t care!!! As long as the person Sun gets married is not Miku!! Besides, if you like her so much, why don’t you just marry her yourself.” 

Moon glared, trying to slap Monty. Of course, if Monty was hurt by this, it wouldn’t be Monty. “I’d love to, but I have Earth.” The crocodile waved their hand. “Not worth the effort and the insurance. Besides, you’d definitely kill me if I planned to do it.”

“Good, you’re right.” Moon sighed, picking up his glass of water. “I’ll make a mess out of you if you make Earth sad.”

“But honestly Moon, my hands are tied.” Monty sighed, scratching their head. “I promised Earth I’d ​​be ‘a good boy’ when I attend Sun’s wedding. Which means—” Monty held up their fingers to show. “—I can’t do anything illegal for you.” 

The crocodile looked sleepy when they said it, which made Moon feel a little pity before he thought of all the scams Monty had put them through and that pity turned into hatred.

The two sat in silence for about a minute and twenty seconds before another voice suddenly rang out from the darkness.

“Well hello gentlemen, I see you're in trouble!"

Lunar's 4x4 body lurched behind Monty, causing the crocodile that was nodding off on the sofa to fall to the ground, lunging at the bottle.

"Cheese of Christ, Lunar!!! You scared the crap out of me!!" Monty yelled. Moon was startled too, but for a different reason, and he was too cool to act pathetically like Monty so he just opened his mouth before silently closing it.

"Lunar." Moon said slowly, sliding the orange silhouette of someone tied up pathetically, placed on top of Lunar's head. "What's that sitting on your head?"

There was a faint groan from someone Moon didn't expect. A candy corn. Or rather, Solar - The candy corn.

The poor orange animatronic was transformed into a candy corn, and was wrapped (?), tied up in a baby carrier and placed on top of Lunar's head.

There was a ribbon wrapped around his head(?), the triangular tip of the candy, and the words ‘I am the twink’ are really colorful.

“Please Moon… You have to help me.”

His friend’s voice was sad. Desperate. 

Moon knew he should remember all the life-and-death moments with Solar, remember what Solar had done for them, both Sun and Moon. Moon also needs to remember he should rescue his best friend, his partner, his close brother for some holy reason that Sun would have made him do if he were here.

But for some reason, as if possessed by a devil, Moon’s hand made the sound of a camera snapping.

‘Clack! Clack! Clack!’

“OH, FUCK YOU TOO, MOON!!!”

That night, in Monty’s mansion, Solar’s ​​curses resounded.

***

“Okay, it’s good that everyone’s settled down.” Lunar cleared his throat. Solar the candy corn had been freed, and was now soaking in a bowl of water with a tiny float. There was a gurgling sound underwater, as if there was still a lot of unique vocabulary that Solar had yet to exploit, bursting out in a place where no one could possibly hear.

Underwater.

Why doesn’t Solar dissolve in water? Moon's scientific side was eager to find out the answer.

But not now.

“First let me ask—” Moon raised his hand to signal Lunar. “Can you tell me why Solar… turned out like this?”

“That’s right, I also want to know why Moon’s weird boyfriend turned out like this.” Monty smacked their lips, and blurted out the most disgusting line of the year.

“Ew, gross. Solar’s ​​my best friend. He’s like a brother to me.” Moon stuck out his tongue, looking like he was about to throw up. Struggling in the bowl of water, Solar gasped and clung to the edge of the bowl, also speaking up.

“Yeah… technically, I am his distant relative. Besides, Moon is an aroace. And… also no offense, but I don't see you that way, Moon.”

“None taken.” Moon nodded. “And since we've ended this awkward conversation here, can you tell me how Solar got turned into a candy?”

“Oh?” Lunar glanced back at Solar, who looked like he'd seen death and returned, with the melancholy of an old man who'd lived past 100 or a beggar who'd been swept away by a river.

“My dearest brother, the story started when the portal's malfunctioning again, and as revenge for making Jack follow me,” Lunar's tone was indifferent, but his brother's starry eyes were as cold as death that it made Moon shiver, “--I decided to take Solar for a walk before returning him to his home. It was actually quite easy, since he was small, and pickable.”

Solar, now almost resigned to the currents of life, still tried to draw a middle finger on the rim of the bowl with her tiny pieces of candy.

“So.” Lunar clapped his hands. “Do you have any plans to ruin the wedding?”

“Hey, wait.” Moon shaked his head. “We haven’t talked about that yet.”

“Really?” Lunar narrowed his eyes, “-because I heard all this time about how you two were planning on hiring an assassin to deal with Miku before you both become losers and stunted out.”

“Look, it’s not my fault.” Monty defended themselves, now that they had transformed into their female selves. “The promise to Earth is a sacred ritual between girlfriend and girlfriend. Or Boyfriend. Partner.”

“And Moon is the cowardly little shit who screams a lot right now, not me.”

“Look, it may not be to your ears, but not wanting to kill people isn’t a bad thing.” Moon gritted his teeth. “Besides, Sun hates it.”

“So we just need to find a way for Monty to freely help us do it… That should be easy.” Lunar muttered to himself. A metaphorical light bulb lit up above Lunar’s head. He took a deep breath, slamming his fist on the table.

“Don’t worry, my dear brother. I have a solution...” Lunar’s voice was stern, the darkness falling on his face creating a mysterious look.

The words were full of conspiracy mixed with the eyes that flashed with a cruel light like the way a crocodile stalks its victim, making Moon unable to think that he might have been trapped.

Throat dry, Moon swallowed, listening to Lunar’s golden words.

“But first, we need to break into the wedding and steal Sun.”

***

“Look, I don’t care what stupid thing Sun does,” Solar lifted his head from the water, his mouth slightly foaming. He said dejectedly.“--but instead of thinking of some stupid plans, why don’t you… I don’t know… talk to each other like normal people. And… ask someone you know to buy Sun?

Because we have money, and connections?”

“BOOOOO!!! How boring, Solar.” Lunar lowered his finger, pushing Solar into the water, causing the candy corn to squeal in confusion. “Don’t worry, Moon, we’ll take care of it from behind.”

“You just need to relax, and watch the show…”

‘That’s right, Solar. You deserve to be drawn for that stupid speech.’ Moon thought to himself, continuing to gulp down his fifth glass of orange juice at this damn ceremony.

The altar was filled with blooming yellow roses, white silk drapes were decorated everywhere very delicately.

The sound of glasses clinking against each other. The laughter of strangers that Moon didn’t know rang out. He stood in a corner hidden from everyone, praying that a meteorite would hit this place and turn everything into a pile of dust.

“No thanks.” Every five minutes, someone would come to buy him a drink. Every ten minutes after that, some bastard would flirt with him. Moon wondered if it would count as manslaughter if he just accidentally threw those people into the sea.

After all, they wouldn't die anyway.

At least half of them would be eaten by sharks.

"Moon! You're here!!" His sister's voice rang out from afar. She looked fresher than usual today, with a pink dress and black gloves. She threw herself into his arms and gave him a fierce hug.

"Can't breathe, Earth!!" Moon coughed, trying to struggle but failing.

"It's good you're here Moon, I thought you'd be too angry to come."

Earth smiled, lightly poking Moon's nightcap.

"Haha... no way." Moon laughed so hard his mouth twisted, constantly wondering where the hell Lunar was.

"You came alone?"

“That’s right. I haven’t seen Solar and Lunar since yesterday. Neither has Monty.” Earth shook her head. “They said they had to go on some secret mission and would be coming later.”

“Hmm, that’s strange.” Moon smiled wryly. An expression that completely showed he didn’t know anything.

The silver bell rang suddenly. A certain handsome guy, who looked exactly like Miku with short green hair, spoke in a sour and annoyed voice.

“Ah, well, everyone gather, let’s start the ceremony.”

Moon didn’t even have time to react, he was pulled into his seat by Earth.

The procedures were so cumbersome, he almost fell asleep. It felt like he was stuck with a python, with a long ceremony that seemed to hypnotize people into falling asleep.

Suddenly, there was a light nudge to his side.

“Look Moon! It’s Sun.”

His brain had drifted out to sea, and suddenly got dragged back.

The music started, sacred and painfully annoying. Purple flowers were thrown everywhere by Gregory, followed by FC and Dazzle. Sun looked awkward and worried as usual, but on a not so bright side, his brother wore a proud white wedding dress and looked really better on it.

Moon would have been more moved if his brother's husband wasn't MIKU!!!

The purple bouquet was held in his arms, dotted with yellow roses. The smile on Sun's lips was still very forced, but it seemed much softer when holding the hands, or tassel(?) of their father, Creator.

The brain, inexplicably, had a bow attached to his cerebellum(?), looking extremely moved. There was a stuffy nose sound when Creator led Sun down the aisle, or vice versa because every few steps Sun had to stop to calm Creator down.

"Oh my, looking at Sun like this, I also want to get married soon. Let our father walk me down the aisle like this.” His sister cooed, something he didn’t understand why his sister wanted so much, when Creator was such a bastard—

“Oh my dear wife. You ate. Guess today guys I’m taking the big W.” Miku stood next to the priest, looking utterly smug. Beside her was Dark Sun, who looked like he didn’t want to be here at all, wearing a saffron bridesmaid dress. Their red eyes looked up at the sky as if they were waiting for this whole thing to end.

Honestly, and surprisingly, if this situation got any worse, Moon shared their sentiments.

“The Ring bearer is coming!”

On the pure white carpet with yellow petals, Ruin wore their damn purple dress, walking shakily like a British, with two bracelet-sized rings, glistening in the sunlight, placed on a soft velvet pillow.

“Oh dear! I hope I’m not too late.”

‘And I want you to cease to exist.’ Moon thought bitterly. Compared to someone who had destroyed over 4 million worlds, the treatment Ruin had received was too light. Moon wanted to do more than push them against the wall and break that arm—

Strange… Has he ever done that before?

The priest spoke up.

“Miku, do you agree to take this person as your husband?”

“Period, Father. This is lit.” Miku snapped her fingers. “Please hurry so I can bring my baby girl home.”

“And Sun, do you agree to take this person as your wife?”

The light shone on the veil, penetrating Sun’s pearl-colored pupils. His brother seemed scared. He blinked his eyelashes looking back at Moon as if seeking help, looking so heartbreaking.

Moon was about to stand up when a voice suddenly rang out in his ear.

'--No!! No!!! Lunar!!!.'

There was a loud explosion. Half the guests were blown up everywhere. The door flew open, smoke poured in and figures stood in the backlight, making Moon squint.

"Lunar!!! You little shit!!! How dare you throw me like that!!??"

"I have no choice, Monty!!! Only you have enough weight to break the door."

"You can use Bomb, Lunar!!! You don't need your bullshit magic to throw me inside!!!"

"It's star power, Monty!!!"

"I'll call it that when it does more than shoot lightning out of your ass! And turn me into barbecue!"

"BOTH OF YOU SHUT UP THE FUCKING FUCK!!! I RATHER DEAD THEN KEEP HEARING YOU GUYS MOANING EVER SINCE WHEN WE CAME HERE!!!"

"Oh look, Lunar! Solar is talking!! Why don't we listen to that craftsman, huh? Sure, let's hear the one who didn’t contribute a single bit!!!” Monty roared. Rushing forward to bite the candy corn before being stopped by Molten who was lifting them up like that hundred pound alligator only just weighed as Solar.

“Come on you bastard!!! Even if I’m small I’ll still make you shit!!!”

“How, with your short legs? And your invisible hands??”

The air melted to reveal four people standing and arguing. Technically it was one, or two. Only Lunar was human. Or animatronic. There was a roaring alligator on the ground, and Molten(???) appeared from nowhere holding Solar on his shoulder.

They were all black with soot, and still arguing.

“What the hell is going on here?” Miku yelled, her voice rising to an octave.

No one said anything, and there was an awkward silence, before Molten cleared his throat. Molten’s muffled, innocent voice dropped a few bombs on the seemingly ruined ceremony.

“Uh… We’re here to rescue Sun. Can you please let Sun go?”

“And for what?” Miku scoffed, tossing her green hair. “Just because you said please?”

“Um, yes?”

“Oh, my sweet summer child. The answer is no. Go home and play with your toy. Adults are married here.” Miku’s voice was sweet as venom. She gave the priest a commanding tone. “Let’s start quick before I fire you.”

“Urm… Wait… Sun can’t marry you.” Molten said in a soft, timid voice. Their icy blue eyes fixed on Sun with a look that Moon could only dare to call cherish.

“Why?” Miku narrowed her eyes in confusion. She looked as if she was about to call security to escort them all out.

A voice whispered into Moon’s ear.

‘Don’t interfere, big brother. Things start getting interesting.’

“Lunar, what are you on about!???” Moon screamed softly at lunar.“Because Sun married me.”

The bomb Molten drops, even makes Moon drop his phone.

[l0ggia]

A potentially unpopular Barbie opinion that I HAVE to get out of me so I can stop thinking about it

I found the line "it's impossible to be a woman" kind of condescending and unhelpful, and, at most, not the most powerful line they could used.

What Gloria really should have said (since the writers were running out of time to make the point of the movie so they gave her a monologue) was that "Barbie, every woman is supposed to be like you, and it's impossible to be you!"

Which is when Barbie should have had a moment of realization that that she has every job under the sun and has to look perfectly flawless 24/7, has to host girls night every night, and never complain about anything. There's no negativity or reality allowed, (i.e. Pregnant Barbie is shunned). Living that kind of life is actually a lot of pressure. This is evidenced by the fact that there are so many Barbies girlbossing in Barbieland, taking up more space than the Kens. She can't just be one Barbie, she has to be every kind of Barbie, thriving at absolutely everything. Ken’s job is just “beach”.

To that, Barbie should have replied, "Yeah, "It IS impossible to be me!" This would give her more reason to experience raw, "human" emotion, because to the audience, it seemed like she was just crying whenever Gloria was sad. They could have also had her say, "I'm so sorry I did this to you... I thought I was helping. I thought I was a good role model."

"You are a good role model, Barbie, and you have the chance to make things right... blah blah blah..." [insert the final part of the movie].

Basically, Ken is incomplete because he only exists to matter to one person, whereas Barbie exists to matter to everyone. I think a change to this line would have explained both their problems, as well as made Barbie more relevant to her own story. Otherwise, the story that ties a doll into the real word kinda falls apart.

[tobiasdrake]

And Sea of Stars.

Time to tackle some trials.

These little lantern doo-dads are cutie-patooties, is what they are. I'm a little weirded out that they drop Berries though.

Do they eat the berries? Do they grow the berries? Are these plants or herbivores because it's freaky either way.

Alright man, we gathered your weird giant artifacts and now we understand Live Magic. Do we pass?

Honestly, I don't know why you made a token gesture of a fuss about letting Garl in here in the first place. He can use Live Magic too. I know it's because of Something Something Solstice Warriors So Attunement and all that but. Still.

If the presence of a Solstice Warrior nearby means everybody gets superpowers then this is one area where having normies along is a total benefit. The more Live Mana channelers, the merrier.

Anyway, you can give me my certificate or whatever and we can--

...okay, so apparently that was happening while I was talking.

Man, I have got to stop going off on monologues in the middle of dramatically tense conversations.

I just want it on record that I think it's unfair of you to make us build the robot body that you are going to crack my skull with. I think that demonstrates poor work ethic on your part. And that I would like to file a formal complaint with your manager.

That's fair.

Hold up, nobody said anything about prophecies. We were just told to learn "to use magic without using magic".

Fuck yeah, gift with purchase!

But we already began our journey!

Ten years after beginning our journey.

I'm so tired of beginning our journey.

Oh man, I am going to ruin so many people's sleep schedules doing this. This is the most catastrophic power yet.

It's not even a toggle. Like, a lot of games have the ability to SHLOOP straight to dawn or dusk, often with the implication that you aren't really changing the time of day so much as you're just skipping forward in time, either with or without your PC.

But no, this is whole-ass fucking time-of-day manipulation. I can crank the sun back and forth like a DJ at a turntable. WICKA-WICKA Your lunch hour is gone.

This might actually be a sound basis for one of those Superpower Registration Act storylines. I'm about to ruin the lives of every single person on the planet because this bridge is solar-powered and I don't wanna wait around for the right time of day.

It's nice to know that it's not just Moraine. We're all inconsiderate pricks. Imagine doing this instead of. Like. Any other possible locking mechanism ever.

We already have locks that you just zippy-zap with a bit of lunar magic and they open right up. But no. I'm going to crank the sun back to 8 AM every time I want to cross this bridge. Fuck you.

Hold up. We sealed ancient evils inside a prison whose locking mechanism is a specific time of day? I feel like there's a flaw in that plan.

Well. That's horrifying. Anyways, it's prophecy time.

HA! Told you lunar magic's superior. Even Sun Warrior Zale needs a little bit of night to become the best version of himself.

Zale's prophecy is that he needs to be more like me. My prophecy is that I'm next-gen Jesus. I WIN.

Does Garl get a prophecy?

That's. Not. A prophecy. That is whining about our decision to bring a normie disguised as a prophecy. Man, everyone's prophecy sucks but mine. Even time recognizes that I'm the best one in this group.

Oh, there's more. So he gets a prophecy and also some whining. Elder Mist wanted to clearly establish that he's only delivering this prophecy under duress.

Though the prophecy itself is pretty good, actually. High five, Garl. We're both better than Zale.

That's going to be our ticket to Wraith Island. We need to be there before the eclipse which is... uh... an amount of time away. Shouldn't be too far off. Depending on side quests, of course.

Of course, if we miss the eclipse, I could probably just timey-wime the days back until the day of the eclipse anyway.

Giants are our travel mechanism? Do they, like, shoot teleport lasers out of their eyes or something?

O_O CAN HE MISS!?

[genesic-archives]

Main Story Chapter 1-1: It All Started With This Encounter

This is a translation of the first section of the first chapter in the game. This chapter establishes Al as the main character with The Caretaker of Spacetime (referred to as 'The Observer of Spacetime' in this story) telling him his role and newfound Geass.

Next Section - All Story Sections

(AN: This translation I got from Tales of Tales on Youtube. Special thanks to them for posting their translation.)

In between each sentence of dialogue, sounds of pages turning can be heard in the background within the pitch black darkness.

This is a story of revenge.

Someone once said... Revenge is best accomplished by not repeating the same thing.

In that case, should the robbed ones remained robbed? Should no one be able to avenge the murder of a loved one? What about those unresolved feelings?

A young man who changed the world once said: "The only ones who should kill are those prepared to be killed."

However, he also said: "I will break the cycle of hatred."

It is an antimony, some contradictory words. People bear contradictions in their heart. Revenge is also created by contradictions. People take revenge because of their contradictions.

That is a reason why... this story is about revenge. One filled with contradictions.

The sound of a book closing the background is heard while the game logo appears onscreen, fading into a starry sky with the echo of a raindrop.

Al: Stars...?

Al (internal monologue): Suddenly I come to my senses, though I wasn't asleep. Just now, I became conscious. I can't explain why but I'm sure of it. Let's say I couldn't think otherwise. I only have the feeling of now, after all. That's right, I currently don't remember anything.

It's strange, I can think. I can put words on my thoughts just like this. I just don't have any memories. Who am I and what am I doing here? I'm not the person I used to be before, I don't have any feeling of continuous time spent like I should have. It wouldn't be like that if I was just sleeping. I'd have memories of my past.

But I gained consciousness without any of that. We could also just say that my existence just started.

As what we would call a newborn, I had no choice but to look around to learn more. My mind simply put a word on the first thing I saw back then - stars.

But there's no one around to talk to.

The place I found myself within was a strange realm with lots of falling stars. The sky was wide and spotless. Only endless falling stars to watch. I reached out for one of the beautiful stars, but of course it was impossible. I really wanted to grab one, but I couldn't explain the reason behind it.

Al: What should I do?

Al (internal monologue): In any case, lying around wasn't helpful with my memories, so I decided to get up and start walking.

This place was fascinating. What I was lying until now wasn't the ground but a surface of a gigantic sea. Thanks to my knowledge-unrelated to my memories- I knew it's not possible to walk on water but it doesn't apply to this place. I took a few steps and I didn't sink. The ripples from my feet spread on the pretty mirror-like surface of the water. It was like a thin layer of water on a transparent board.

A bit curious, I looked at the surface of the water. I saw some old structures under the clear water.

the camera slowly pans out to show the ruins in the background.

Al: Ruins...

Al (internal monologue): Ruins. The word came out naturally. It is undoubtedly the best one to describe the remains below. They were structures built by people with a purpose. But now they look unusable and there's no sign of human activity, so I thought it was correct to call them ruins.

That said, it was a mysterious sight. The ruins were not submerged in water, they were floating in the air. Even I think that's a silly way to say it. But that's really how it is. Those ruins are certainly floating. The space that floats in each site also varies from twilight to sunrise. It looked as if there was another empty space beneath the surface of the water, where countless other ruins existed.

I thought that one of these ruins could help me but I felt that it was impossible, so I gave up before wasting my time.

The camera slowly moves around as Al darts his eyes to find anything within the deep ruins of this nonsensical sea.

Al: I wonder if there's anyone here. Is that.. a girl?

Al (internal monologue): Confused and lost, I inspected the surroundings. At a place I had thought empty, there was now a chair that didn't really fit here. It looks like someone is sitting there.

The camera pans up and un blurs itself to reveal the face of the girl sitting on the chair: The Caretaker of Spacetime.

Al (internal monologue): As I approached carefully, I saw a young woman reading a book in the chair.

Observer of Spacetime: I never thought this would happen.

Al: What are you talking about? Who are you...?

Observer of Spacetime: Me? I'm no one. I don't exist in the human perspective. But to those who can see me, I do exist. That means people like you.

Al (internal monologue): Those who can see her? Well, that doesn't make much sense. I guess my confusion was showing on my face. After looking in my direction for a second, she smiled and continued reading.

Observer of Spacetime: I can see you don't understand what I'm saying. Of course, it can't be the other way around. It's a first for me too. It's even a first in history. This world is a work of the Creator. One man has bent his logic, another one protected it, and another one broke its law...You still don't understand, right? But those are facts. The reason why you're here. What made you exist in this world.

The girl looked away from Al and turned her eyes to the sky where stars continue to fall.

Observer of Spacetime: The basis that life desires to keep existing... is not a real issue. This craving for existence is also what drives the evolution of the universe. However, Geass are some kind of overpowered catalysts. Using one wrong can even twist logic.

Al: Geass?

Observer of Spacetime: Yes, Geass. they can greatly affect space and time, no matter what era, world and story.

The sound of static plays for a second as Al grunts in pain.

Al (internal monologue): For some reason, the back of my eye aches.

Observer of Spacetime: With the collapse of the law, accumulated sediment mixed with outbreaks of ego created shards of Geass that scattered across space and time.

Al: Shards of... Geass.

Observer of Spacetime: Geass are neither good nor evil. they are a wish or a curse depending on the intent of the user. Now, what will the will of man choose? Perhaps it is your role to see it through.

Al (internal monologue): My role? It is to see how people get involved with Geass? This girl is telling me my existence is tied to this role.

Observer of Spacetime: Don't think too hard about it. Now that it's happened, I do... We do understand that the will of man is about to change the world. And that's why I'll leave it to you. I entrust you with the worlds you'll see. And with the stories you'll see.

Al (internal monologue): The Caretaker of Spacetime closes the book she was reading. At the same time, I feel my consciousness fade away.

Observer of Spacetime: You've now become the Observer, after all.

Al (internal monologue): As I was losing consciousness, I saw the back of the book the girl was holding. It said 'The Genesic Re;CODE'.

[missyourflight]

when i was on livejournal i used to review, like, everything i watched or read (bc i did not have a job). i kind of miss that so here are some notes about some of the things i read/watched in january!

the hour (s1 - rewatch): i feel like unless you were In It you can't understand the hold the hour had over us when it was airing. whishaw! romola! dominic west as a rake who wants to Learn! the looks! the fonts! jamie parker and anna chancellor and andrew scott and joshua mcguire!! the mechanics of how we bear witness!!!! nobody not even the rain has such small hands!!!! jesus christ. anyway here's 1k of space stuff from yuletide 2012

justified (s1&2 - rewatch): inspired by @love-leah's vital boyd/raylan fanfictions honestly, this whole show should be about boyd/raylan. i remember first time around i was very into the tim stuff because we were living that hbo war miniseries life and honestly the episode where he has to babysit raylan is still very good.

eyes wide shut: for some reason i watched this like new year's morning?? anyway i had fun with that one nicole kidman monologue and the like gaping chasm of blank panic under tom cruise's good guy mask. if you have seen barry lyndon should i watch barry lyndon?

mr malcolm's list: zawe ashton forever obviously!! very sweet for oliver jackson-cohen to be allowed to be funny for once, sope disiru can do literally anything. i rented this on amazon and i wish i had just bought it lol

white noise: obviously the supermarket dance sequence is the best part. idk i feel weird about don delillo ever since i had to read out a fisting scene from cosmopolis as a 17 year old virgin in english extension class 🙃

evil under the sun: my first ustinov poirot, worth the price of admission for the incredible diana rigg and maggie smith bitchfight energy (including an amazingly agressive performance of you're the top). i would like to go to an island please

emma (2020) (rewatch): i love it So much!! everything i said in this deranged letterboxd review still stands!!

aftersun: mescal and corio both wonderful, i can't get over calum's despair developing like a polaroid

the sting: good old-fashioned homoerotic fun etc. paul newman's eyes are So blue

best in show: i watched the christopher guest mockumentary trilogy thing with my sister and this was our favourite. the dogs!!! also there's a thing catherine o'hara does with her knee that killed me

babylon: i loved the parts that were about making films and didn't care for most of the rest of it! could really have done with less of a lecture about why cinema is important

the fabelmans: by contrast i loved the stuff here about why this one specific person is drawn to make films! paul dano has my heart forever and michelle williams' performance did not really work for me whoops

kate beaton, ducks: two years in the oil sands: hark a vagrant was such a touchstone for me, i read this all in one sitting and immediately wanted to give it to three of my friends - her anger is so palpable

[vonkarma2]

📙⭐🌠🌀💜🎀 on the oc ask?

I’m never picking the characters myself for these ask things again it makes this take so much longer 😭 

📙 What kind of subjects (of conversation, of discussion, in school or whatever) does your OC find interesting or engaging or that they can talk for hours about? What kind of stuff do they just find fun?

Lucia is really interested in like world events and politics, she thinks it’s very interesting to learn about. She also thinks it’s incredibly depressing and she hates hearing about it, so as you can imagine there is some conflict between these two desires. At any rate, she can talk for a long time about it— she’s pretty quiet at first, but if you get her talking she’ll like, go on a long monologue abt whatever topic. But she for the most part doesn’t find it fun, it’s more of like a compulsion to learn more about it + understand it I guess. Not dissimilar to Rocio’s obsession with magic, but it’s more grounded in nature. In terms of what she likes to talk about for fun, she really likes talking about + listening to music, + can talk for a while about it if she’s asked to.

🌠 Who was your OC’s first friend? Do they remember them or are they still friends now? Talk about some of the people your OC has lost contact with over the years. Do they have any regrets about losing these people and would they revist them if they could?

Ok I have to say. I’m not doing this one I am so sorry I tried to think of something I promise but I guess no one has like a former friend/someone they’ve lost contact with as part of their backstory. Rest in pieces. And I really want to get this done and post it bc I feel bad for taking 8 thousand billion years on this so I will pass on this question I’m sorry. you might have forgot you even sent this by now LOL

⭐ What is your OC afraid of? Any crippling phobias or some such? How do they act when scared and what helps them calm down? Does anyone ever find your OC scary? Why?

Jude (Prince Sovereign of Renaudin <3) I think for the most part has been kind of emotionally shut down for a while now. He’s afraid of a war breaking out again in the same way most people are, but probably less so than the average person because he’s resigned to the fact he has no control over anything that happens. He doesn’t want to die or anything, but he’s not all that afraid of it either. I think when he does get scared he tries to dissociate from the situation, like imagine he’s not really there or he’s looking down on everything from afar. Maybe he’ll just go to sleep or whatever. Do old timey drugs they had in the 1910s what was popular back then opium? No idea. 

I think people are scared of him very frequently though, like since his power is so strong he could like. Extinguish the sun/create eternal night if he wanted to, potentially. He’s not actually that powerful, at least under ordinary circumstances, but like the rumors/his reputation have been exaggerated. So everyone that like interacts with him directly (and also political leaders who have to deal with him being used as a threat/bargaining chip) are afraid of him both as an object of extreme power and as a person— they’d be fucked if he ever decided to go rogue yk.

🌀 Where is your OC from? Where were they born? Do they still live there, if not why did they move? If they still live in the area how has it changed since their childhood? How many places has your OC lived in and where has been their favourite?

Kela has been living in the coral kingdom for most of her recent life, since that’s where the people she like acts as advisor to (and later replaces) work, right? Like it was the first place created by wizards and the largest of the kingdoms, so there’s a lot of trade lot of meetings of international leaders etc etc, and she was indeed born there, but she actually was raised in the kelp forest kingdom. They didn’t know abt the magic superintelligence thing at the time and thought she was just a normal person with no special attributes, so they didn’t want to study her or anything and she was raised in like a group home type setup. It was pretty nice, the wildlife in that area is very beautiful and she really likes being in nature so that was good for her. She was also good at making friends, and since she was raised alongside a lot of other kids, it was nice for her, she got along with them really well. So she has a lot of pleasant memories associated with it, and is very sad she had to leave, but she understands why it was important, and she likes the coral kingdom as well. I think she likes them equally as much, she cares a lot abt the people of both kingdoms in general + likes both a crowded city setting and a small town setting. She likes the city because you never like run out of different people if that makes sense? 

💜 Music or Silence? Swords or Spells? Cities or Nature?

Aya: Music, swords (<more so guns or regular fistfighting than either of those, though) nature  (they hate living in a city so fucking much they’d be happy living alone in the woods, not for isolation reasons (they actually dislike being isolated) but just bc of the environment. They hate claustrophobic spaces with a lot of people)

🎀 Do they wear a specific accessory with a special meaning behind it? What is their usual fashion sense like? What do they wear when they want to be comfortable and what do they wear when they’re going to a fancy party? Or do they just not care?

Only character I have that wears a particular accessory often is Angel so I will go with him <3 he wears these green spherical earrings like every single day, he likes how they look + they’re kind of similar to jade which is popular at the time. But they’re really made of glass so he has to be careful not to break them. Very impractical. In the country/time period he lives, there are two different styles, one that’s a more ‘traditional’ style and one that follows international trends. Both of them are popular and neither is really favored over the other (except in certain specific circumstances like ceremonially/for holidays or for meetings with international business associates), but mixing them together is considered extremely unfashionable. Angel used to like mixing them together as a kid, but now that he’s older he is significantly more fashionable. Wears things from either style depending on how he’s feeling. He used to have horrendous fashion sense but he’s actually pretty good at it now. This is bc he is incredibly self centered and so cares a lot abt how people see him. He definitely puts a lot of effort into dressing up if thr event calls for it.

[mamamittens]

I wonder if it would be interesting flavor text to add to Ambiguous Intent that Nikia once almost had a promising violin career except she never committed to playing professionally.

Hates doing it on command, it feels awkward. She just has it for a hobby sometimes. Took classes in college cause she was curious.

Or, you know what, fuck it.

Professional violinist for her childhood but didn't like playing for an audience or music to someone else's taste. Never liked reading sheet music, so all her notes personally were literally just the tabs.

Didn't like the pageantry of it all, really. On quiet evenings she'll tune her violin and play little songs just to fill her apartment.

Her little road trip to figure out her feelings she takes it with her to play in random places for fun. Alone, of course.

She does record some video for it cause sometimes it's too good to pass. Like, a stunning sunset over a national park forest, a sea of trees beneath her with a massive lake reflecting the setting sun. And she's standing there playing Auld Lang Syne.

She is not immune to the Rule of Cool.

Saves a frame of it for her photo album. And she's got several really good videos of her playing in these odd, scenic places. Just sandwiched between monologue video diary entries talking about her feelings and the bizarre position she's in now.

She has no intention of sharing these videos. She just thought it was a nice way to unwind after a particularly draining session reflecting on herself.

And the boys are floored. She never mentioned anything about violin playing. It didn't even come up in her background check because she played under a slightly different name when she was younger and never did national shows or anything like that.

Also, I thought it would be fun if Izou's daytime job is like, fashion consultation. He usually does outfits but he can help with decoration in a pinch. He loves custom making clothes but does have strong opinions. Is utterly thrilled when Nikia admits she always wanted to try a custom suit but never had the money or occasion to do one.

The minute he has a function he can bring plus ones, he's making her a suit and they can all go together for it. Or just him and Nikia if Thatch is too busy or in the doghouse as he tends to be from time to time.

He just really gets ahead of himself sometimes.

Anyway, back to Nikia! And violin! The boys definitely are not helped by the realization that they didn't know about such an important part of Nikia. Especially not if they're just discovering that someone revealed their murderer statuses to her and her trip is actually her trying to decide if and how she should/could run away from them.

Still waffling about them taking her to their own isolated cabin or then catching her at her own inherited property and keeping her there.

I feel like they may decide total honesty is the only thing to save the relationship at that point but not in a healthy way. But in a "you'll understand how serious we are about you and until you do, we're right here. All the time" sort of way.

Showering her with praise and affection, constantly reaffirming their feelings. She can't leave until they know she knows how crazy they are about her. Definitely having a bit of a honeymoon phase with her, though she's wigged out and nervous for a good long while.

Their solution to any discomfort is just more contact and reassurance. Perhaps devolving into heavy petting and maybe more???

It's so sweet it's cloying how affectionate and attentive they're being. Practically grinding against her boundaries until she gives in little by little. No space to breathe or think about leaving them. Just constant reaffirmation that life with them will be so good and sweet if she just lets them in...

She starts off refusing to eat at all and it steadily graduates to watching Thatch cook (sitting on Izou's lap with his hand between her thighs and the other holding up her chin to keep her eyes on Thatch's bare back while he does his magic) and to blindly accepting being handfed with little prompting (sitting on the counter with Thatch between her legs, the hardest part is not choking on a fork of wagyu steak as he times his movements just right).

Nights spent cuddled between them. Occasionally pinned in place to keep her from squirming away while they get handsy. Sometimes, if she's too resistant to affection, they turn to each other and spend the entire time talking about how much they love each other but would rather see her while doing (X) to the other. She can't leave and turning away does nothing but encourage them to get louder. Respecting her 'No' in the loosest way possible. Eventually she caves or spends the next morning being bribed to eat having one of them comment on how needy she is. How she can always tell them when she feels neglected and they'll fix her right up!

Like they didn't spend at least a solid hour loudly moaning her name while fucking beside her the night prior.

It's a long-ish term seduction.

And by the end of it the only thing she could never imagine less than them killing her is them leaving her. They're so proud!

No more secrets 🥰

In fact, she's rewarded for being totally transparent about her day and feelings. They won't stress her about their night job, but will let her know when they'll be gone, come back, and call every night. All in order to be certain that any hesitation about them is nipped in the bud!

Perhaps even affirmations every night about how much they love each other.

It would be sweet if it wasn't almost ritualistically when they're having sex. To the point that she tells them she loves them instead of that she's cumming. Same thing, really.

Woof, this really spiraled and returned to those fucky yandere vibes!

[witchersgoldenbard]

My sweet darling @mayastormborn asked for some nonverbal Geralt:

Some non-verbal Geralt during winter, and they all allow him to just *be*? No one asks him anything, they just bring him some of his safe-foods and a drink and top it up through the day. Any conversation is through gestures though as little as possible

Well, sweetness, I hope this little thing brings you some comfort and is somewhere near what you had in mind 💕👉👈 (tho it’s not and I will try again)

1.8k words, no warnings except the obvious

No Words Required

When Geralt wakes up with the first light, the weak rays of the winter sun slowly but stubbornly bringing a new day to Kaer Morhen, he knows it is one of those days that will have to remain silent on his part. Usually, he would turn to Jaskier beside him and press a kiss to his brow to wish him a good morning, but the very thought of talking is almost enough to quicken his heartbeat and make his hands shake. No talking, then.

He closes his eyes again and tries to fall back to sleep, maybe he just needs to start this day over. He doesn’t dare to hope, but it might be worth a try.

Despite giving it another chance, his tongue still feels too heavy in his mouth when he opens his eyes again, the world around him still blurry and sharp-edged at the same time. So Geralt has no option but to accept his fate. At least for today. Only for today, he hopes.

“Good morning, my love,” comes Jaskier’s tired voice from beside him, and Geralt thanks the Gods he doesn’t believe in that he can still find happiness in this familiar tone. Grateful that not all his senses are set to overwhelm him today.

He turns to smile at Jaskier, who waits a moment, gives him a chance to say the words he doesn’t have the strength to utter today. Wants to force himself to say, but his heart, his hands, his head, they all deny him. Warn him.

And Jaskier only softens his smile and asks, as quietly as he can, “Silence day?”

Bless him. Bless this man, this wonderful man, for understanding. For knowing him well enough, for seeing, for asking.

Geralt nods, but reaches out to hold Jaskier’s hand with only a slight tremble in his fingers, afraid to find that touch will be denied, too. But the warmth of Jaskier’s skin feels good, the softness under his fingers bringing its usual comfort, and Geralt smiles at the bard’s hands.

“Touch and noise still fine, darling?” Jaskier asks anyway, despite seeing the smile he is wearing. Always asking, always reassuring. Always loving and caring. Always there.

Geralt nods and taps Jaskier’s hand twice, too.

“Would you like me to tell the others?”

Geralt hesitates, quickly calculating if he has enough strength to grunt and hum his way through the day, make enough noise for them to let it pass. But it feels wrong, and he knows they don’t judge. They all have these days, even Jaskier, and it’s always better if everyone knows.

So he nods and is rewarded with a gentle smile.

“Wonderful. And this is going to be the last complex question of the day, I know they’re hard, but technically it’s still yes-or-no? Really, it will depend on your response, uhm—“

Geralt squeezes Jaskier’s hand and regards him with an amused smile. He loves this man so much, how could he not smile even when the world is heavy around him?

“Right, sorry,” Jaskier mumbles and sits up, scratching the back of his head and looking at Geralt. “Is there anything you need? Except to not talk, and possibly the usual, you know. Anything you need, right now?”

The hand still wrapped around Jaskier’s wrist gives Geralt perfect leverage to just pull and have Jaskier land on top of him with an undignified squawk. The bard chuckles as he lies on top of Geralt, their warm chests pressed together like they were made for just this.

Jaskier hums the moment Geralt’s arms wrap around his middle, keeping the warm and comforting weight on top of him. Let the world be heavy, he thinks. I am safe right here.

“I’ve got you, love,” Jaskier promises. “And you’ve got this.”

***

The first time Geralt goes nonverbal around him, it’s a few weeks after Posada. They are returning from a contract, off to find the alderman to receive their well-deserved coin. Jaskier is prattling on about heroics and monsters and witchers, only interrupting his enthusiastic monologues to hum a tune, trying for a melody and always discarding it immediately.

He has grown used to silence beside him, looming and annoyed and stoic. Hums, at most, though they are always more like grunts, noncommittal and monotonous.

But then, suddenly, the hums stop and the Witcher’s ever-focused eyes have lost some of their shine. Jaskier notices these things — of course he does, he’s an artist after all! And Geralt has pretty eyes. But that’s beside the point.

“Geralt?” he asks, stopping in his tracks and watching the Witcher beside him. The same Witcher who doesn’t even notice that he stopped walking, eyes on the road before him, seemingly lost in thought.

“Geralt!” Jaskier calls again. Still no reply, but the Witcher finally stops. Stands. Looks at him over his shoulder. His eyes still not entirely right, and Jaskier doubts it comes from the various potions he has had last night.

“Something’s wrong,” he says, and Geralt glances around after a second, hand moving to his sword. Good, Jaskier thinks, he’s not completely out of it. “No,” he says and takes a step forward, noticing the sudden tension between Geralt’s shoulders. He stops. “No, I mean… With you. Are you alright?”

Geralt frowns. Well, at least there’s a constant for you.

“Are you okay, Geralt?” he asks again, gentler but really starting to worry.

Another frown, but this time followed by a nod. Which is not very reassuring. Jaskier might not know him well, but he knows right then that he’s lying. He lets it go, though, and they make their way to the town, easily finding the alderman.

A wretched man who only wants to give them half their payment, but Geralt doesn’t seem inclined to argue. Jaskier frowns and gives the alderman a piece of his mind, making a whole scene for everyone around to hear. “And if the Witchers on the whole Continent might hear from the White Wolf’s bard that you betray them, that your hand doesn’t fulfill what your tongue promises, maybe you shall surrender to the monsters then. Leshen and whatever so pleases shall feast on you, maybe that will be the day you wish you had paid the White Wolf what he was promised and more!”

Needless to say, they leave with more coin than expected, and Jaskier can’t wipe the smug grin off his face.

Geralt smiles at him for the first time, then, over their small campfire, and Jaskier smiles back.

“Is speaking hard for you today?” he finally dares to ask.

Geralt stares at him. Nods.

Jaskier nods back. Grins.

“Well, good thing you have me then, isn’t it? A bard to yell at stupid people for you. We’ll make a great team, you’ll see.”

Geralt doesn’t say anything to that, obviously. But even the next day, when the first thing he does is insult Jaskier’s fashion sense, he doesn’t mention it, doesn’t deny it. And Jaskier is sure he didn’t imagine that small smile that could have meant Maybe you are right.

Either way, he was.

***

Jaskier leaves the bed before Geralt, promising to bring him breakfast.

“You still have three other meals you can try to leave bed for, let’s have breakfast here,” Jaskier argues with a grin and a fine that brooks no room for discussion even if Geralt were up for it.

And so, they have breakfast in bed. It’s warm and comfortable and Jaskier chatters away, not expecting a response in any way. Perfect background noise, taking away the sharp edges of his surroundings, making everything a little less overwhelming and oppressive. Jaskier knows his place in the network of Geralt’s nonverbal days as he talks, keeping his voice down and calm and so, so warm. Familiar.

It almost makes him feel normal. It definitely makes him feel safe.

When he finally has enough strength to leave bed, they make their ways downstairs to sit by the hearth. Geralt has found that the warmth helps, brings him physical comfort when there is nothing else to ground him.

“Good to see you, pup,” Vesemir says and claps a broad hand on Geralt’s shoulder after looking at Jaskier for a second. Geralt smiles.

Pup. Vesemir only calls them that on the heavy days, and it’s a constant that always helps them through the worst of it.

Life still happens around him, everyone has their own tasks, and where he’s sitting in the middle of it all, he feels like he still gets to be a part of it.

There are warm foods throughout the day and a jug of something hot and spiced always appears by his side. Geralt is not completely sure how the time passes, but it doesn’t matter.

What matters is that Lambert is sat beside him, silent, offering his company. If Geralt leans into him and Lambert leans back, well, then that’s between them.

What matters is Eskel who lies down on the fur beside the hearth and gently pulls Geralt to lie on top of him, head on his broad chest, careful hand running through his silver hair. He talks, though all Geralt feels is the rumbling of his chest.

It’s all that matters.

***

The first time it happens around Eskel, they’re both still pups. Barely grown into Witchers yet.

“There are worse things than not talking, Geralt,” Eskel tells him, Geralt’s head resting on his shoulders. “I know it’s scary. It feels like there’s nothing worse. But it doesn’t make you any less of a Witcher. Or any less Geralt. You’re still the White Wolf, even if you can’t howl. I’ll howl for you, Wolf,” he promises with a kiss to his cheek. “And when the day comes, you’ll do the same for me. Because it happens. And it fucking sucks, but you’ve got this, okay? And I’ve got you.”

Geralt nods into Eskel’s shoulder and tries not to feel pathetic that the only sounds the world gets to hear from him that day are his sobs.

***

But Eskel was right then and is still right now. They’ve got each other and they take care of each other. Howl and fight and protect each other.

They do the same for Lambert on his heavy days.

And for Jaskier, years and years and years later.

For Ciri and Yennefer and everyone who needs it.

That’s what family does. Nothing has to change on the days you can’t talk, on the days that words fail you. There are always people to yell at the world for you, to wrap you in a hug and tell you everything you need to hear. Even Witchers can have that.

And Geralt has a whole family now to tell him: “You’ve got this. And we’ve got you.”

It’s really all that matters.

[acacia-may]

For the shipping bingo, Yami x Charlotte (a classic, at this point) and Finral x Finesse (not very much about them, but really sweet)

Aw hi, anon! Thanks so much for the ask and for playing bingo! 🥰

Yami and Charlotte:

(Not quite a bingo—the randomly generated cards haven’t been too kind to me 😅 But it’s a good ship all the same)

Finral and Finesse:

(Close but, alas, not quite a bingo… I love them—they deserved one 😔💚)

Discussion and headcanons under the cut (Warnings: mentions Finral’s chilhood trauma in a vague, non-descriptive way)

Yami and Charlotte:

I absolutely agree that this is a classic! To be perfectly honest, I was not expecting it at all. I remember when my sister and I were binging the anime, we actually had to pause because we were laughing so hard at Charlotte's internal monologue in the cave during the Eye of the Midnight Sun first encounter arc, when we first learn about her secret, not-so-secret affection for Yami. It was definitely one of those, "not what I was expecting but I'm totally here for it" kind of moments! They are certainly a frustrating ship in that Charlotte is so stubborn about admitting how she feels, Yami is so dense about it, and they both struggle so much to express their feelings. I'll admit that Charlotte is making progress and I'm proud of her for that, but Yami is...well...he could use a good (affectionate) smack on the back of the head and someone telling him to "get on with it already."

There is something very sweet in Charlotte who is so independent and so strong opening herself up to love and realising that it doesn't make her any less strong or independent--if anything she and Yami are stronger together. Charlotte and Yami are equally matched--they're both captains and powerful in their own right, but they both have their flaws too. Even so, they choose to care about each other. It's clear that their care is built on a strong foundation of friendship and mutual respect, not just some fleeting whirlwind of emotions which I really appreciate. The fact that they can also bicker like an old married couple just adds to the fun! 💖

I will say that I wish it wasn't played for laughs so much because I do think their relationship could be great and has lots of potential, if they'd only learn how to communicate with each other a bit better. (I'd love to see them actually have a real, honest conversation that doesn't end with Charlotte descending into flustered, tsundere mutterings and/or Yami emotionally shutting down and saying something stupid, inappropriate for the situation, and/or totally oblivious. Here's hoping!) I really think they're at their best when they're being honest about the genuine care and respect they have for each other. Those moments in the elf arc where Yami is telling "Charla" about the admiration and high esteem he has for Charlotte or when Charlotte is thinking back to the day that Yami helped break her curse because she decided to care about him are some of my favourites.

I've only written about them once (so far) because I find their perspectives difficult and struggle with writing romance in general (it's just not my wheelhouse 😅), but I am rooting for them and have been from the beginning!

Some headcanons about them:

When Yami and Charlotte finally get together, they know (and everybody knows) "this is it" and they're going to stay together. Though they expected some of their friends to be surprised that they're dating, barely anyone is with the exception of Sol who didn't really want to see it and Asta and Magna who (bless their hearts) were too oblivious to see it. The overwhelming response from everyone who knows them even remotely well is: "it's about time..."

Yami makes the mistake of hinting to his squad that he plans to propose to Charlotte, and they all jump on the topic, demanding to know how he plans to do it. Yami just shrugs and explains he wasn't planning anything special, he was just going to ask her, but his squad (resident romantic, Finral, especially) insists he can't 'just ask her'--he has to make it special. He ends up with an elaborate proposal plan including a suit, flowers, a romantic hike, a picnic with wine (courtesy of Charmy and Vanessa), and notes for a speech on some cue cards, but after trying his best to fumble his way through this 'proper proposal,' he eventually says 'to hell with it' and just asks her, like he was intending to do in the first place. Of course, she accepts.

Yami is the first of the Black Bulls to get married, and he often jokes that his squad is more excited about the wedding than he is. To be fair, Yami is looking forward to actually getting married and starting their lives together not to the rigmarole of the actual wedding itself (which is a whole lot of work, planning and details). He probably would've been happy just skipping the big spectacle and eloping, but he knows it's important to Charlotte to do things properly. The Blue Roses get more into the wedding planning than Charlotte who hadn't given much thought to what she wanted her wedding to be like, but the day turns out beautifully and goes incredibly smoothly in the end.

Shortly after getting married, Yami and Charlotte decide that they're ready for a quieter, slower paced life and retire from being magic knight captains passing their squads down to Nacht and Sol respectively. They still do some consulting work for the magic knights but, for the most part, settle down with their pensions near the Black Bulls hideout in a quaint, little house with a lovely garden.

They're the first of their friends to have children and go on to have three in total: a son, Katsu, then two daughters, Hana and Marceline, who are all positively doted upon by their Blue Roses and Black Bulls uncles and aunts.

Yami always had a strong paternal streak and is a wonderful father. Even if he can be a bit stern and surly at times, his children always manage to bring out that softer, gentler side of him. Charlotte is a great mother a well, a bit firm at times (when she needs to be) but very loving and always looking out for her children's best interests.

Yami's kids think he tells the best stories and tell all the Black Bulls cousins about it so he is constantly begged for tales from his days in the magic knights. He is fairly good at saying no to his "nieces and nephews," but if his kids ask, he'll usually concede and tell them all a story or two. Charlotte thinks this is very sweet. 💕

Even after getting married, Charlotte and Yami are fairly private about their relationship, believing it's really not anybody else's business. Neither one of them are particularly good at expressing how they feel with their words, but their actions speak louder and they are constantly doing nice things for each other as a way to show their affection.

~~~

Finral and Finesse:

Oh I'm so happy you asked me about them! I love them so much, and this ship is criminally underrated! 💕 But, gosh, I have thoughts... I apologize in advance for all of the ramblings.

I'll admit that it threw me for a loop in the beginning. No one even hinted at the fact that Finesse existed until well into the story (one of my favourite episodes (80) and chapters (126) though). Given the fact that up until that point we had kind of seen Finral throw himself at pretty much every woman he ever met, it was definitely quite the surprise to learn that he had someone in his past that he really and truly loved (even if she was now engaged to marry his brother). [And the fact that I started with the anime rather than the manga also didn't do me any favours either, since the anime almost seemed to be entertaining the possibility of Finral and Vanessa around that time. (Heck even in the same episode! The emotional whiplash was intense! What a rollercoaster...😅). The manga was much more cut and dry in this regard, in my opinion. Obviously, Finral and Vanessa are still friends but without those added things, they don't feel like much of an option there so when Finesse is introduced, it's a little more clear that if Finral's heart was with anyone all this time, then it would probably be Finesse].😊

Finral and Finesse fall into a trope that I like to call "The Boat and The Lighthouse" inspired by one of my favourite songs by Death Cab for Cutie "Little Wanderer" [You Tube link here, if you're interested. It's also on my Finral x Finesse playlist (yes, I have one of those...😅😂 It’s actually my favourite of all the ones I’ve made for Black Clover ships)]. If this trope has an actual name, please let me know, but in my terms, this is how it works: The "Boat" in the ship (the pun is just a happy accident 😂), in this case Finral, is restless and wandering, often going through a period of personal growth and finding themselves which leads them far away from home and their beloved who becomes their "Lighthouse"--a gentle, steady safe-place that the "Boat" can eventually find its way home to [one of my favourite classic Disney songs "Candle on the Water" comes to mind (also on my Finral x Finesse playlist 💕)]. The "Lighthouse", in this case Finesse, has an unwavering loyalty and deep devotion to the "Boat" and wants them to find themselves, even if it means they will be separated, possibly forever; however, they never stop lighting the way so the "Boat" can find their way home and never give up hope that the "Boat's" journey will eventually bring them together again. It's a particular favourite of mine (when it's done well) as it really is so incredibly sweet! 💖

In the case of this ship specifically, I think that Finral and Finesse met in what I imagine was a very dark time in Finral's life. Before he finally left House Vaude, the years of abuse weighed very heavily on him, and he was so beaten down and broken emotionally that it was hard for him to have any confidence at all. It's heartbreaking that he felt so unwanted at his home and felt he had no choice but to leave, but ultimately, it was really the best thing for him to break free of that toxic situation and forge his own path for a while. Though it must've been really hard for him to leave at the time--he was young and leaving his home and his family (even though they're awful, they're still his family)--in the end, as even he realized in the canon in that great moment in the sea temple (which I keep mentioning... 😅 It's one of my favourite arcs) joining the Black Bulls and having a safe place where his squad mates loved and accepted as he was, really helped him to build courage and confidence and inspired him to become the best version of himself (and a man well on his way to being worthy of Lady Finesse)!

I'd really like to think this kind of growth is what Finesse wanted for him when he left House Vaude as well. She's so kind and believes he's too hard on himself. I don't know the extent to which she understands the reality of how awful things are at House Vaude at this point, but I think she knows Finral is very insecure and suffering emotionally and hopes that leaving home will help him find himself and build the strength and confidence to come back home (and back to her) someday. I'm not sure how openly supportive she could be given the circumstances, but I think at least on the inside she would be wishing him well and believing that it's for the best that he goes out on his own for awhile. Finesse is so compassionate and knows both of her boys so well, after all. (I sometimes think she knows them even better than they know themselves--especially when they're young and pre-character development). It gives me all the warm and fuzzies just thinking about it! 🥰

As much as I love Finral and Finesse as a ship, I adore their friendship too, and I feel like it isn't discussed enough when really it is beautiful in its own right. He wants to be his best self for her and is an incredibly kind and attentive friend, and she builds him up, shows him kindness, and believes in him even when no one else does, including himself. The fact that he fell in love with her for it, does not change the fact that they have a deep affection and strong foundation of mutual respect and friendship that I believe would persist in any universe (even one where they did not end up together). After all, if the betrothal isn't dissolved, she is going to marry either him or his brother meaning that, if she doesn't marry him, she will be his sister (or, I suppose more accurately, his sister-in-law), and I like to think that, in that case, they would still be very good friends, take care of each other like family, and have a deep familial affection for each other.

In a romantic sense though, if it was just their dynamic alone, I really wouldn't have many (if any) reservations about it. I mean they really are just lovely together--what's not to love? But... all that House Vaude drama and the whole arranged marriage business really gets in the way of their potential, and I do have some issues with and reservations about how the relationship has developed, the surrounding circumstances, and the way it's been handled in the story that, I am sorry to say, leave a bit of a frustratingly sour taste in my mouth, if I'm being perfectly honest. I think most of my issues fall under the umbrella of the fact that, in my mind, there is really no believable way that Finral marrying Lady Finesse and becoming the Head of House Vaude could be mutually exclusive (they would really have to deus ex machina or 'power of love' their way out of it and I don't particularly care for those plot devices), and the idea of Finral returning to his abusive home makes me feel sick, like I've been punched in the gut. I want to believe that the love he and Finesse have for each other will weather whatever kind of hell is waiting for Finral if he takes over as the heir to the House of Vaude. Believe me, I desperately want to believe this...but the way the relationship is being handled in the canon is not making it easy (i.e. the fact that Finral is hitting his head against the wall whenever he even sees another woman and is going on these long almost desperate tirades about how Finesse is "the only one for him" (almost like he's trying to convince himself more so than anyone else...) I know it's played for laughs, but it is excessive in the anime and more than a little concerning in every medium...). Based on that, I would be lying if I said it wasn't difficult at times to quiet those fears and those questions of 'what if, what they (Finral especially) think will make them happy, isn't necessarily what will ultimately make them happy?'--and when the story wants to sell me on the fact that Finral's love for Lady Finesse somehow justifies him returning to the toxic House Vaude, those kinds of questions should not be there at all (in my opinion). So in that way, I am incredibly frustrated with the relationship--mostly because I love it so much, and it could be so, so good! I mean, I have absolutely no doubt that Finral and Finesse care for each other very deeply, but it's the nature of that love and whether or not things would work out between in them in the long term that I'm not so sure about given the complicated surrounding circumstances... I think if we had more time and more content with them in the canon, I would feel much more assured in it. It's really that lack of content you mentioned in your ask, anon, that is giving me some pause.

All of that said, I really am rooting for them and want nothing but good things for the two of them. I do genuinely and wholeheartedly believe that they can/would be very happy together since they really are just so incredibly sweet--I couldn't agree with you more, anon! I can't imagine them ever fighting or arguing, and they're both just the kindest people who generally look on the bright side and want to believe the best about others even when/if they're mistreated (though I wouldn't suggest even trying to mistreat Lady Finesse unless you want to be on the receiving end of some very powerful spatial magic that will blast holes into you and/or send you to the middle of nowhere, depending on which of the spatial mage brothers happens to be around at the time or hear of your unforgivable transgression). They are also both so incredibly generous and such natural givers--very selfless and always looking out for other people before themselves. They never really ask for much for themselves so I just love the idea of them being loved and cherished by someone who is as equally selfless and generous as they are. They absolutely deserve that level of devotion and deserve the world really! Finral and Finesse is definitely the "Fluffy Fluffy! Cute Cute!" ship of Black Clover, hands down! Gah, I really do just love them so much!! 💖🥰

Some headcanons about them:

Finesse was Finral’s first love (not sure if this is a headcanon or actually canon 😂), and despite him being incredibly obvious about his affection and devotion to her, she wasn't aware of it at the time (being humble and chalking up Finral's awkwardness to their situation of being betrothed to each other when they were practically strangers and he was still so young). The moment when he "declared war" on Langris after the elf arc, was really the first time Finesse had ever even considered the possibility that he might actually be romantically interested in her (beyond just friendship or even the arranged marriage), and one day, when he mentioned to her offhand that she was his "first love," she was caught by genuine surprise. Finral was shocked, since he was sure it had always been so obvious.

On Finesse's side of things, she had always considered him a dear friend and had made her peace with the idea that they would eventually wed one day--truthfully, she was just grateful at the prospect of being married off to a decent man who would be good to her (since she knew many noble and especially royal girls did not have this luxury). However, there was not much more to it than that, until they were much older, and he started actively pursuing her. His kindness, attentiveness, and thoughtfulness really endeared him to her, and she slowly began to fall in love with him. By the time they married, Finesse could confidently say she returned his romantic love for her just as ardently.

Langris was the savior of this relationship. He realized that Finral could make Lady Finesse happy when he couldn't, and once his brother proved he was worthy of her, Langris stepped aside and relinquished House Vaude to Finral so he could be the one to marry her. In accordance with an old Clover Kingdom law for situations where there was a question of rightful succession, Langris challenged Finral to a duel for control of their House, but he threw the match on purpose (similar to how he relinquished the Golden Dawn to Yuno in the anime), leaving Finral the victor and the heir to House Vaude.

The first time Finral kissed her was not until after their official engagement following Langris's abdication and Finral's reinstatement as the rightful heir to House Vaude. They were in her garden, supposedly chaperoned by some of the gardeners and servants but they weren't really watching. It was a short, chaste kiss (before someone noticed them and got them into trouble for breaking the very strict rules of courtship), but they were both practically beaming for the rest of the day.

Finesse loves the Black Bulls very much for taking such good care of Finral and being the family he always wanted, and they love her just as much--almost immediately adopting her right in as an honorary member. (Heck, with the way Yami gives out capes willy-nilly, the squad would probably give her one (or an honorary one) just for marrying Finral 😂).

Vanessa and Finesse become very good friends with each other right away--though Finral is a little embarrassed when Vanessa starts telling her fun and silly stories about him and their time in the magic knights. Vanessa embroiders white lilies (Finesse's favourite flower) on Finesse's wedding dress--insisting that she deserves something personal and special to her on her wedding day, and when Finral and Finesse have their daughter, they ask Vanessa to be her godmother. 💕

Since Finesse is royalty and Finral is nobility, they have to follow all the customs and traditions for their wedding which makes it a bit stuffy and stressful for Finral (who is worried he's going to mess everything up by using the incorrect fork at dinner or forgetting the proper address for a duke or something) and for Finesse (who doesn't like to be the center of attention and finds it exhausting to be in the spotlight). Even so, it is still the happiest day of their lives, and Finral is this big, blubbering mess when Finesse walks down the aisle. Luckily, she pulls out a handkerchief for him from the pocket Vanessa has sewn into her dress. 💚

Due to Finesse's often poor health, they live a slower paced life together, but it is a very happy and content one. They rarely ever disagree, and if they do, the disagreement is solved quickly. They spend a lot of time taking walks together through the gardens at House Vaude.

They have three children together: two adopted sons named Blaise and Felix and a biological daughter named Vivienne. They probably would have wanted more children, but Finesse's frail health prevented them from having a big family. For a long time, they were not sure they would be able to have any biological children at all given Finesse's illness, so Vivienne was a bit of a surprise but a very much welcomed and wished for one. 💖

Even though he was ecstatic that Finesse was expecting, Finral was a mess of stress and anxiety throughout her entire pregnancy which she spent mostly on bedrest. He and Langris would stay up late into the night in House Vaude's library researching everything that could possibly go wrong and how to prevent it. Finesse was so worried about them that she called in Vanessa to intervene, and she separated them saying they were a terrible influence on each other. Then they just stayed up late into the night researching worse case scenarios separately. 😅

Finral cried when Vivienne was born--both out of the pride and joy of a new father but also out of overwhelming relief that mother and baby were both perfectly fine. Uncle Langris may have also gotten a bit misty-eyed when he held his niece for the first time (though he would probably never admit to it).

Finral and Finesse met and adopted their son, Blaise, when they were fundraising to build a proper orphanage in Tota. He is particularly close to his Uncle Magna because they both have flame magic. His younger, adopted brother, Felix was living on the streets in the Royal Capital and using his spatial magic portals to pick-pocket and steal food to survive when he met Finral. He noticed Finral's fancy clothes and had tried to steal some money from him, but Finral, having defensive spatial magic himself, recognized/could sense(?) the type of magic and stopped him. He insisted to the local magic knights/royal guard that he didn't want to press any charges and instead brought Felix home so he could have a nice meal and a place to stay for the night. They were initially planning to send him to the orphanage, but Finral and Finesse grew to care about Felix so much that they asked him if he would like to stay with them permanently as their son. He said yes, and they formally adopted him. 💚

Finral, Finesse, and their children are all very close to each other, and love sharing meals together, going on outings, and playing games as a family (it's even better when they can get "Uncle Langris" to join in). Both Felix and Blaise are incredibly protective of their little sister, Vivienne, but all the children get along very well with each other and love when their dad plays with them and tells them stories.

Finral likes to show his love for Finesse by surprising her with little gifts and treasures--sometimes just things that he finds (like a pretty flower or a rock that is roughly the shape of a heart) and other times things he has bought (like a bracelet, book, or scarf). She'll sometimes ask, "What's the occasion?" only for Finral to reply, "There's no occasion. I just love you." Then, he always smiles at her and often gives her a kiss which sometimes elicits murmured "ew..."s from their boys. Their daughter, however, always thinks it is sweet! 💖

Thank you so much for bearing with all the ramblings and for the ask! 🥰

[erythrum]

𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝑺𝒖𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒓

𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘖𝘯𝘦

𝙋𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜: 𝘙𝘢𝘧𝘦 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘹 𝘧𝘦𝘮!𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳

𝙒𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙞𝙣𝙜: 𝘴𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨,𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘧𝘧,𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘯 𝘙𝘢𝘧𝘦,𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘹,𝘴𝘦𝘹𝘶𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘰𝘴,𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨

𝙖/𝙣: 𝘪𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺

𝙒𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝘾𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙩: 1.9𝘬 +

𝙎𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙮: 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘺𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘺/𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘙𝘢𝘧𝘦

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The boneyard was a melting pot, pogues, tourons, and kooks unalike all gathering for one of the last kegger's of summer. This mash together of kids from all over Kildare and the mainland always ended in chaos, it was just a matter of time before shit went down tonight.

Rafe had his arm thrown around my shoulders as we walked down the path to the boneyard. I could faintly see Topper and Kelce downing the cups of pogue provided beer. Didn’t matter whether or not the kooks or pogues could get along, as long as it was on the cut and alcohol was provided, the teens could get along for a limited amount of time.

“Hey y/n! What are you doing here? I thought you were leaving for college this week?” It was Sarah who yelled out to me, running up to her brother and I in her floral printed dress. Rafe’s arm dropped to his side as she came with Topper not far behind.

“Oh I just couldn’t miss my last kegger before leaving, Duke can wait on me one more day.” The two of us embraced in one of those hugs that has you shifting your weight from side to side. I guess she didn’t realize I wouldn’t leave for college for another month, but I was sure she was already too drunk for me to explain it to her that she was not thinking of the right month.

As Sarah was hanging onto me probably a little too tight, Topper was giving Rafe one of those looks that said everything but also nothing at the same time. Like prior knowledge had to be known to understand the context. I of course did not, those two always had some stupid shit planned and I can almost guarantee it had to do with messing up the pogues’ little party.

The sun hung low on the horizon after I had finished my third cup, the colors illuminating the sky so brilliantly it felt like a fantasy. I stripped off my top and headed for the water, the pinks and purples of the sky reflected in its crashing waters. It was so cold, the temperature sent shivers up my body and a familiar rush in my energy. Almost waist deep now, I submerged my body completely under the water. It was always how I remembered it, calm and refreshing.

“C’mon Rafe! Don’t be a little bitch and get in there, I see the way you look at her,” Topper spewed, pushing his friend to have a little courage.

“Man what the fuck are you even talking about?” Deny everything Rafe thought.

“Oh come on dude, you’ve been making please love me eyes at her since the sixth grade, and please fuck me eyes at her since the tenth, when are you gonna do something about it for once? You’ve got a month to make a move, or regret it your entire life,” Topper continued his monologue as Rafe tuned him out, too distracted by the girl, his girl, staring out into the Atlantic like it was calling to her.

His heart was pounding as he made a B-line for the water, a light jog, but not so fast someone would think he’s crazy, or just madly in love. He swiftly pulled his polo over and off his head before plunging into the chilly water. Topper clearly knew whatever he'd said had worked.

I heard him before I saw him, Rafe approached and submerged himself just as I had a few minutes before.

“If we get hypothermia I'm sending you my hospital bills.” He laughed, wading around in the shallow water.

“Oh shock! Rafe Cameron threatening his medical bill payments? I never could’ve guessed!” We enjoyed our few minutes of peace before talking again.

“But it’s basically impossible anyways, you get use to it after awhile, maybe it’ll calm your hot-headed ass down,” I giggled and prepared for what always came next. Rafe pickup me up around my waist, lifting me over his shoulder before attempting to sprint as fast as he could deeper into the water. His hands had been wrapped around the back of my knees for a few moments until he threw himself and I down into the deeper water, both of us completely submerged beneath the surface.

The sun was dipping below the horizon now, and the deep blue of the sky was beginning to envelop the boneyard. We had come up for air, and I began splashing him with the water around us, payback for his antics. Theres no way in hell I’d be able to throw him down into the water too, this was the best I could come up with. The two of us were laughing before Rafe grabbed my arms and twisted me around so my back was flesh against his front. I gave up on trying to fight him off. Instead I just rested against him in an attempt to catch my breath.

“Hey Rafe, can we talk about something?” Oh fuck she knows, he thought. This was gonna be it, it’s going to fuck up his entire plan.

“Yeah, uh sure, like here?” He questioned.

“Maybe not here, I think we’ve got as audience,” he knew she was referring to Topper and Kelce, they were watching from the beach.

"The truck then?" I nodded my head, not at all prepared for the favor I needed to ask of him.

The sand stuck to my feet as we headed back to where his truck was, the chilly air wrapping around my body. Rafe opened the backseat door and pulled out a towel for me, always prepared. He pulled the passenger side door and I slid into the seat, the heat of his car pumping through the interior. My heart was pounding, but I wasn’t sure if his was too. We made it about halfway to tannyhill before speaking.

“Soooo,” he said.

“You’re going to think I’m absolutely crazy, Rafe," I laughed in an attempt to hide my nervousness.

"First of all, you're already crazy, and second of all, I'm pretty sure I know exactly what you're going to say," his hands were clenching the steering wheel harder now.

""Oh really? You already knew that I was going to ask you to take my virginity?" I don't know why, but I just blurted it out.

His car came to a screeching halt on the side of the road, lunging me forward as he stared in disbelief at the road infront of him.

"Im sorry, what did you just say?"

"That I want you to take my virginity? V-card? Cherry? Damn Rafe how else am I supposed to say it?"

"And," there was a pause in his voice like he didn't believe me, "your being serious, correct?"

“Correct.”

“And, come again? I need to hear that one more time.”

“Jesus fuck Rafe, I’m being dead serious, I want you to take my virginity, what about that is so hard to explain?” It came out as more of a yell than a scream, he took a long sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. He was thinking long and hard, I knew because he always had something to say, and now he wasn’t saying anything at all. It felt like hours had past before he spoke again.

“Why?”

It was my turn for a long sigh.

“Well, I guess I’ve been thinking about it for awhile, and I want to do it, but whenever I think about it in my head the only person I can see doing it with is you. You’re the only person I trust enough with my own body, I mean shit,” I had to think for a long time before admitting what came next.

“Whenever someone, you know like Scarlet or whoever, asks about who I’m interested in or whatever it may be, not a single person ever comes to mind except you, it’s like all I see when I look at you is you, everything else is like blurred around you and whenever I think about who the love of my life will be, I always think of you, not some mystery guy that I haven’t met yet.” I didn’t plan for this to be a full confession on how I feel about him, but here I am spilling everything I’ve been holding in my heart for the last three years.

“And I know that sounds fucking stupid I know, I mean we’re still teenagers for crying out loud, but when I’m with you it always feels like I’m home.” I was nearly crying at this point, struggling to get the words out of my chest that had been waiting for so long. He was listening, deadly quiet, and I had no idea what he was thinking for once in my life.

“You know what? Just forget about it, can you take me home please?” I was definitely crying now, it felt like I’d ripped my own heart to shreds. Theres no way he could ever feel the same way about me, he protected me like I was his own blood, not like he was in love with me. My face was nestled into the sleeve of my hoodie as the tears came out. His hands had moved back to the steering wheel now, gripping onto it so tight I thought it might break. The muscles in his forearms almost looked like they were twitching, but he still had the car in park.

He wanted to just grab her and kiss her right now, the girl he'd been in love with since the sixth grade sitting in his passenger seat, her seat, confessing her feelings to him. Rafe knew it was alot for her to ask, but it meant even more to him everything that she had said after her original question. And there was no way in hell he was going to let her get away again.

Rafe reached his hand over to hold onto her tear stained cheek.

"y/n," The bother of them were breathing heavily.

"I'm in love with you," it slipped from my mouth and he leaned in to kiss me. It felt like I had a wave of electricity coursing through my body. His hand grasping onto my face as he leaned over the center console. My hand reaching for his chest, his lips on mine as we intertwined with one another. It felt like everything in my life was complete, and the tension has been released. His fingers tangled in my hair.

It was over before I realized it, and Rafe was driving me home. My breathing hadn't normalized in any way, it was like I needed to throw up my heart to get the knot out. I couldn't stop thinking about the way his had felt on me, the way his lips felt on mine, the way it felt for once in my life like I was loved.

"i'll think about it," his voice cracked.

I leapt out of his car as fast as I could with tears streaming down my face. Did he feel the same? Did he not? My brain was spinning so fast I barely made it inside my bedroom door before collapsing. I wrapped myself up in the thick comforter, a heart full of ache and a body exhauster with sleep.

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[storytellerofuntoldlegends]

an icarus and his sun: chapter 14

A/N: hello i return!! just one more chapter after this, it's so wild to think that this fic is almost over!

Warnings: kissing, self-worth issues, talk of near death situations and past injury

AO3 Link - Tumblr Masterpost

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Kissing Scott felt like Jimmy was cradling sunlight in his hands. Something that should have been impossible, and yet all the same it was happening. And now that Scott had Jimmy, he seemed determined not to let him go. Not that Jimmy was exactly complaining about Scott’s new mission to kiss him breathless- but considering not too long ago Scott was trying to make him breathless in an entirely different sense, and that the others didn’t even know what all went down… they should probably stop. So with great regret, Jimmy tried to pull away from Scott- key word there being tried.

“Scott, c’mon, let go of me,” Jimmy chuckled, dodging yet another kiss. Scott settled for pressing his lips to Jimmy’s cheek before tucking his head under Jimmy’s chin. His wings shifted to curl around the both of them, and as nice as it felt, they really needed to get up from the floor so that Jimmy could let his friends know what happened.

“Mm… no,” Scott hummed with a giggle.

“We should probably tell the others what happened- they all think you’re still fighting off the corruption, or are possessed,” Jimmy pointed out.

“I don’t see why we can’t just tell them later,” Scott pouted. Jimmy let out a fond, incredulous sigh.

“You also haven’t properly eaten anything in a few days, you’ve been living off of splash health potions for the most part,” Jimmy said sternly.

“Well, I know something I’m hungry for,” Scott teased, and Jimmy didn’t even need to see his face to know that he was smirking. Jimmy sighed again.

“And I thought you were incorrigible when we hated each other,” he commented with a chuckle. Scott pulled away enough to look at Jimmy with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“You’re stuck with me now, better get used to it, sweetheart,” he murmured. Jimmy could feel his face warm up considerably at the petname, and Scott grinned at the sight. Well, two could play that game.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing, sunshine,” Jimmy replied with a grin. Scott’s eyes went wide, and he flushed pink all the way to the tips of his ears.

“Oh you can flirt back now. Right,” Scott managed to get out, voice coming out a bit strained. Jimmy just grinned wider.

“So what do you say, sunshine? How about we let everyone know that neither of us are dead and that you’re also not possessed?” Jimmy offered. Scott made a flustered sound at being called “sunshine” again, but collected himself enough to let out a sigh of defeat.

“Fine,” he grumbled, before getting up off of Jimmy. Jimmy stood up as well- just in time to catch Scott as he suddenly tilted to one side. Scott was leaning against Jimmy heavily, and Jimmy looped an arm around his waist as he tried to keep Scott upright.

“Scott?!” Jimmy gasped, unable to keep the panic from his tone.

“M’okay- think that lack of actual food thing is catching up to me. Just stood up too fast and got dizzy, that’s all,” Scott reassured him, standing up a bit more but still holding on to Jimmy, just to be sure.

“Then we’d really better tell the others so that we can work on getting your strength back,” Jimmy said with a relieved smile. He led Scott over to the lever for the secret door, and the moment he flicked it, a group of people came tumbling in. Nearly all of them fell to the floor in a heap, except for Pearl and Pixl, who sheepishly smiled at Jimmy and Scott. Gem was the first to pick herself up from the floor, dusting off her robes and letting out a nervous laugh.

“We uh. We might have been listening for a little bit there! We just didn’t want to interrupt,” Gem explained sheepishly. The others picked themselves off from the floor as she spoke, and Shelby was the last to get up from the floor, holding a black shulker box to her chest.

“Where’d the corruption go, I’ve got a box for it!” Shelby chirped, peering around Jimmy and Scott. The two of them blinked in surprise, and Scott looked to his arm. The corruption was long gone, all that was left was a scar from the initial cut. Jimmy looked around the room, and soon spotted what was left of the corruption lying on the floor near where he and Scott had fought. It looked like a mass of red vines that twitched every so often, and Jimmy’s stomach turned with nausea at the sight. Scott seemed to notice Jimmy’s sudden distress, and followed his gaze, only for Scott himself to turn several shades paler than he already was as he clung to Jimmy a bit tighter. Shelby noticed where the two of them were looking, and quickly scrambled over to carefully gather up the corruption and put it in the shulker box.

“Hey, easy, just look at me- you’re okay,” Jimmy soothed, reaching out to gently turn Scott’s head towards him. Scott’s look seemed far away even as he was looking into Jimmy’s eyes, and he squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before blinking them open with a shaky sigh, gaze looking much more focused than before as he leaned his forehead against Jimmy’s.

“I think it’s probably good I’ve only been living off of health potions, pretty sure I would have just lost whatever I would have eaten right then,” Scott got out with a short laugh.

“So… how did you get the corruption out anyway?” Pixl asked after pointedly clearing his throat. Jimmy and Scott jumped slightly, pulling away from each other (but not far enough for Scott to be without standing support) with a pair of sheepish smiles.

“Well I uh. We were fighting, and I might’ve kissed Scott to throw him off, but it ended up being the push to snap him out of it and fight against the corruption,” Jimmy explained with a blush. Scott looked at Jimmy with a perplexed expression.

“Jimmy… I didn’t do anything against the corruption. It- before I woke up with you uh… holding me, the last thing I remembered was losing to another version of myself in some sort of red dreamscape. Your kiss saved me, not anything I did,” Scott explained. A series of adoring coos and gasps sounded from the group, and Jimmy felt his face burn.

“True love was the key this whole time?” Shelby pondered, looking down at the shulker box she held with the now contained corruption.

“Well- I- surely it’s gotta be more than that,” Jimmy managed to get out, feeling incredibly flustered.

“So a mix of love and wills, then. It sounded like Scott maybe could have beaten it on his own, he just needed the extra help!” Shelby replied with a shrug. Scott frowned.

“I don’t know, honestly. The other me- it- he?- was mostly toying with me, I think. Said something about how ‘he’ would be pleased to know that I was specifically under the corruption’s control,” Scott explained shakily.

“He?” Gem asked, brows furrowed in concern.

“The other me referred to some other person that he was sent by, maybe? Then when I asked about who the ‘he’ was, the other me said something about how I didn’t ‘remember’ and how that made me easy to control,” Scott continued.

“The corruption is sentient?!” Shelby gasped, holding the shulker box away from herself.

“And apparently sent by someone else? And seemed to already know you somehow?” Gem pondered. Scott shrugged helplessly.

“I don’t know. All I know is that it’s gone now, and I’m extremely glad for that,” Scott said, voice tight with nerves as the barrage of questions began to overwhelm him.

“And we’re glad you’re okay too!” Katherine piped up, stepping forward with a smile, clearly picking up on Scott’s discomfort. Scott blinked in surprise at her words.

“You.. are?” he asked in disbelief. Katherine just looked as surprised, if not more, than Scott did. The others had a mixture of concern and confusion on their faces as well, and Scott shifted uncomfortably at the attention.

“Why would I not be?” Katherine asked. Scott swallowed nervously.

“I- I knew about Fwhip’s plan for the ball, and didn’t say anything. Your- your castle was destroyed because I was too afraid to do anything about it,” he replied, voice barely above a whisper, as if he was afraid speaking any louder would awaken the wrath of those around him. An almost wounded expression came across Katherine’s face.

“Scott, even if I was still mad at you when we found you lying in front of Gem’s home, I wouldn’t have wanted you to die. Besides, between Fwhip’s gloating monologue and what we knew from what Pearl and Gem had told us, we know that you weren’t exactly a willing participant in Fwhip’s plan,” Katherine said softly, taking a slow step closer to Scott. His wings shifted anxiously, and Jimmy gently squeezed Scott’s arm to comfort him.

“I- you’re not mad?” he asked, voice still hushed and timid. Katherine smiled gently.

“No, I’m not. If castles can be rebuilt, so can friendships,” Katherine replied softly, holding out her arms. Scott barely hesitated at the invitation, letting go of Jimmy to instead hug Katherine tightly. Any remaining tension Scott held seemed to melt away as Katherine hugged him back. He hesitantly drew back after a few moments, a contemplative expression on his face.

“Is something wrong?” Jimmy asked. He reached out towards him, intending to put a comforting hand on his shoulder- but was pleasantly surprised by Scott taking his hand and tugging him closer so that they could stand side-by-side, fingers intertwined. Jimmy felt his face flush, and Scott smirked at him for a brief moment before schooling his expression into something more serious.

“So now that the uh- the corruption is dealt with. For now. Hopefully. Anyway what I’m trying to say is- what do we do about Fwhip and Sausage?” Scott asked. The others exchanged glances, seemingly having an entire conversation without words that Jimmy was hopelessly unable to decipher. Scott didn’t look like he knew what was going on either, and seemed a little apprehensive at that fact.

“We’ll protect you,” Katherine said firmly. The rest of the group nodded in agreement. Jimmy found himself nodding too- and to his shock, Scott seemed a little flustered.

“I- that’s a nice gesture, but not really what I meant- I was talking about them in a more general sense, not just if they try to come after me specifically. Again,” Scott explained with a sheepish laugh.

“Well I can definitely handle whatever they throw at us. Fwhip ran like a coward after I chased him away a few days ago,” Pearl said with a confident grin.

“Sausage won’t be an issue either, not with my magic to defend us!” Gem added.

“If I’m not gonna take out my rage on Scott for playing with Jimmy’s heart, then I guess I can settle for Fwhip or Sausage,” Lizzie said with a shrug. Scott paled slightly, and Jimmy frowned at Lizzie with a disapproving glare.

“Lizzie, you don’t need to be mad at him anymore, we made up!” Jimmy protested, raising their joined hands as proof.

“Think a little more than that happened,” Pixl commented dryly. Joel let out a laugh that he was quick to stifle, pushing at Pixl with one hand while covering his mouth with the other. Lizzie rolled her eyes at the two of them before looking at Jimmy again.

“Well I’m not mad because of that, but how do I know he’s good enough for you?” Lizzie said, glaring at Scott in a way that Jimmy could tell was playful, but Scott didn’t seem to realize that, wings stiffening before relaxing as he took a deep breath.

“I know I have a lot to make up for. And I know it’s not gonna be as easy as me nearly dying on you all to gain your trust again. But I’m willing to make an effort-” Scott paused, looking at Jimmy the gentlest he ever had, the ice in his eyes melting for Jimmy and for Jimmy alone- “because he’s worth it.”

“Scott…” Jimmy trailed off, unsure of what to say after all of that. Scott just smiled at him and squeezed his hand. Lizzie just blinked at them, dumbfounded for a moment.

“I was mostly just messing with you, but… I’m glad to know that you’re serious about him,” Lizzie said with a smile. Scott let out a breath of relief, smiling back before his expression settled into something more resolute.

“Speaking of serious, we should probably discuss more concrete defense plans in case of any other sort of attack from Fwhip and Sausage,” Scott said. Various sounds and mutters of agreement filled the room, and they began discussing defensive strategies- things like making moats, building walls, and sharpening their fighting skills. Jimmy didn’t contribute much to the conversation, not that he exactly had much to offer- but even if he did, he was too busy listening to Scott with rapt attention, a smitten expression on his face all the while.

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[superhero--imagines]

Part 1 here! / Part 2 Here!

* The flight feels shorter than you remember, maybe it’s because you don’t need to sleep anymore.

* When you land, you expect to see Carmen there, but instead it’s the entire Coven.

* They look like a group of supermodels, and they’re all holding gifts, you see several people staring at them. Every teenage boy’s fantasy no doubt.

* They’re holding balloons, and a woman (the one you believe is Carmen) is holding one of those giant teddy bears. They even have a sign that says “Welcome Home (Y/N).”

* You didn't think vampires could feel embarrassed.

* But here you are, living proof that they’re wrong.

* Tanya brings you into a hug before you can even be worried about being an unwanted addition.

* “Welcome home, we are so glad to have you here”

* “We have an important question for you,” the woman beside her asks, her long straight hair sparkles under the dark sky.

* Kate, you presume.

* “Which do you like more, pink flowers or yellow flowers?”

* The question catches you completely off guard, and when you look down you see she’s holding out a bouquet of sunflowers and hydrangeas towards you.

* You’re not sure if this is all a test, and maybe you’re overthinking all this, but you remember sunflowers mean loyalty.

* “Um... the yellow ones I suppose.”

* “See Irina I told you they would love the yellow ones.”

* Irina rolls her eyes, but she’s grinning. She’s the one holding a bouquet of balloons

* “I bet they like the balloons I picked out better though, they’re a nice touch.”

* “Is everything alright?” Tanya turns to you. Her eyebrows are threaded in concern. “Are you thirsty?”

* You shake your head, you feel bloated if anything.

* You’re happy, you really are. It’s just...

* “I’m just a little overwhelmed,” you admit.

* Back at the castle you did have company, but it was sparse. After you were transformed, you only saw Alec or Jane once every few days, if at all.

* So this much attention, all at once, it’s a lot to handle right now.

* “Let’s give them some space, it’s been a long day.” Eleazer nudges them all away, and towards getting your luggage in the car.

* While they’re all busy taking your things, and arguing about where they parked the car, you’re left alone with Carmen

* Carmen who is holding a very large stuffed bear.

* You gulp. You’ve been so busy worried about Tanya you haven’t thought about Carmen. Her husband disappears after he received a call from his old coven, and then he comes back with some newborn.

* You wouldn’t be happy if you were in her place.

* She clears her throat beside you.

* “Do you like bears?”

* A long second of silence passes as your mind tries to comprehend what’s happening.

* “I-yes I like bears.”

* She thrusts the bear out towards you, and you take it gingerly, balancing the two bouquets the Denali sisters had given you earlier.

* “If there’s ever anything you don’t like,” you whip your head to look at her, her eyes are focused on the horizon, they’re narrowed like she’s picking her words carefully. “Or if you would rather have a lion, or something completely different all together, you can tell me.”

* She turns to look at you, and tucks a strand of hair behind your ear.

* “Okay,” you smile back.

* It’s a long drive to their home, they live deep in the mountains.

* “We’re here,” Tanya sings from the driver's seat.

* The house is secured by an ivy ridden wall, so high you can barely see the tree branches hang over the ledge

* There’s a large iron gate at the front, and past it, what appears to be a gravel road.

* Tanya cracks her window down, pressing her finger to sensor.

* “We’ll have to add your fingerprints later, little one”

* “Tanya don’t call them that, it’s offensive,” Irina hisses from beside them.

* “Ah, sorry darling,” she meets your gaze from her rear view mirror.

* “No offense taken,” you mumble.

* The house is exactly the opposite of what the Cullens’ home looked like in the movies.

* It’s a four story home, well it’s a mansion, all dark brick, with a rugged face. You can count on one hand how many windows you currently see.

* It looks exactly like somewhere Dracula might live.

* The inside is equally intimidating, there’s actually a suit of armor near the entrance, like this is some Scooby Doo-esque castle.

* Kate leads the grand tour, walking you through their living room, fully equipped with a wall of swords, a 90 inch flat screen TV, and a family portrait hung over a roaring fire.

* She only waves at the kitchen.

* “It’s just for show.”

* She explains the living situation to you.

* “Irina, Tanya and I all have our rooms on the second floor,” she points to each room, all in completely different directions.

* “Carmen and Eleazer use the third floor,” She waves to the right end of the hall.

* “There’s also a movie theatre and another living area on this floor,” Irina adds from her other side.

* You expect to be staying near the happy couple, so they can keep an eye on you.

* You’re surprised when Kate keeps climbing the stairs,

* “On the right is the library, and on the left is a stairwell that leads to the roof”

* “And right here,” Irina grins, “is your room.”

* The second she opens the door you��re engulfed in light.

* It’s so bright.

* When the place comes into focus, you’re amazed.

* The entire room aside from the entrance wall, and the ceiling, are made from glass.

* There’s a roaring fireplace on one side, several cases full of books, a large plush armchair, and a bed.

* It’s like a queen’s bed, with mahogany spirals and creamy white bedding.

* “What’s with the bed?” It adds a nice touch to the room, but it’s not like you need it.

* “Oh well we thought maybe-“ Kate breaks off mid thought, looking to Irina for help who nods.

* “We thought maybe you might want it to pretend to sleep,” she finishes for her sister. Then noticing your confused expression she quickly adds “or as a comfy place to read, or for... other activities.”

* “Irina!” Kate shouts at the same time you cover your face in embarrassment. Sex is the farthest thing from your mind.

* “What? They need to know this is an open household.”

* “What did you mean about pretending to sleep?” You quickly interject.

* “Well you know,” Irina exchanges a look with her sister.

* “You just shut your eyes, and imagine things,” Kate finishes.

* “I did it a lot when I first transformed, helped me feel more human” Irina adds.

* “I still do it every so often, it’s a nice way to relax” Kate tells you.

* “I never thought to do that.” You mumble to yourself, sitting on the bed. The two exchange another look.

* They want to ask you questions, about the Volturi, and about your past.

* But thinking better of it, they decide to leave so you can get settled.

* As soon as they’re gone, you fall back into the bed.

* Pretending to sleep, what a strange thing, the books never talked about it.

* You turn your head to the side, looking out your window walls.

* “It really is a beautiful view.”

* The pine trees sway in the wind, the grey sky beyond it.

* You sigh, you’ll try and give that “pretending to sleep” thing a try.

* You close your eyes and imagine all sorts of things. You imagine being in your old body and doing crunches so that you could get abs. You imagine eating soup on a cold day while it rains outside, and you think about reading in the library with Alec and Jane. How you would sit in the nook, right below the window and bask in the sun.

* You’re abruptly broken out of the dream when you hear your door creak open.

* You sit upright with a start, eyes open, and your head turned to face the intruder.

* All you see is Eleazer shaking from laughter, as he hides his mouth in his hand.

* You turn to look at the clock, it’s 3 in the morning and it’s dark outside.

* “Thirsty yet?” He finally manages to say after a solid minute of laugh at you.

* You are growing a little parched.

* “We’re about to go hunt,.” Eleazer actually grins as he tells you.

* You move to stand and follow him outside.

* Tanya and Carmen are already waiting for you outside, they don’t need to explain much, it seems pretty obvious.

* Stalk the animal, and then kill, totally easy.

* Tanya and Carmen even corner a deer for you.

* You should be able to kill it, you should WANT to devour it, your throat is so dry, even a bit of relief seems nice right now.

* But when you look into it’s eyes, wide with fear, it looks just like a dog.

* You can’t do it.

* But everyone’s waiting for you to drink, how are you going to survive from here on out? There’s no Alec, bringing you a blood bag every few days, you can’t drink from humans and you can’t drink from animals what are you going-

* You’re broken out of your internal monologue by a pained scream, when you look around you, you see Carmen and Tanya kneeling on the ground.

* Crap your powers.

* The deer crumples to the floor, the fearful look in its eyes intensified.

* “I-I’m sorry I didn’t mean to. I’m sorry.”

* And then you run, you climb up the tallest tree you can find and crumple into yourself like a collapsing star.

* What was your end game here? To raise hell on this world? Right.

* How are you going to do that when you can’t even control your emotions or even feed yourself.

* Geez, even Edward managed to eat rapists and murders.

* You feel the branch you’re crouched on shift a bit and look up to see Carmen.

* She instinctively reached for you only to flinch back, your power to reaching her.

* She must notice the look on your face because she smiles and says:

* “Don’t worry I’ve felt worse.”

* Well you don’t have time to unpack all of that.

* “I can’t kill an animal,” you finally admit.

* You’re waiting for her fury, but she just shrugs.

* “That’s alright, you know, I hate pretending to be a student, so I don’t do the school thing.”

* She continues on, “Kate hates going to the grocery store, Irina hates making small talk with the mail man, even Eleazer hates having to deal with their forgery, especially when it’s time to move

* “What about Tanya?”

* Carmen scoffs.

* “Tanya hates having to see Edward,” then realizing you might not know Edward she adds, “One of Carlisle’s coven.”

* You knew in the book Tanya felt scorned, but you didn’t think she hated him.

* “The point is, we all have things we don’t like to do.”

* Ah here it comes, the whole “but we do them for the better of the coven” spiel.

* “So we do them for each other.”

* Well this is unexpected.

* “Eleazer and I get supplies, Kate and Irina handle going to school and keeping our front, and Tanya handles the big picture stuff.”

* She puts her hand on top of your own, you hadn’t realized she had gotten so close, or that you were feeling calm enough to let her get close.

* “The point is, if there’s something you don’t want to do, it’s okay. You’re apart of our family now, and we help each other.”

* You nod.

* “Come, let’s go home.”

* When you get home, you see Tanya and Irina literally draining the blood out of a bear in the kitchen.

* “Ah you’re back! Look what we got you!”

* Tanya says it like she got you a new desk, not that she’s literally draining the blood out of an animal into a reusable starbucks cup.

* “Maybe we should do this for ourselves too, it’s much more convenient, and this way my blouses won’t get dirty” Irina comments, sealing another bottle and putting it in the fridge.

* “Tanya I’m sorry about before, I-“

* “There’s nothing to be sorry for little one,” she cradled your face in her blood stained hands. “I am sorry, I thought you seemed uncomfortable, but I thought it might be the thirst.”

* You nod slowly, they’re being so kind to you. You don’t know how to handle it tbh.

* “Tanya! We talked about this, you can’t call them little one, it’s condescending.” Irina hisses, and Tanya sucks her teeth.

* “Ah yes, sorry darling, you are just so young.” She pats your cheek, and then grins. “More importantly, you are so powerful!”

* Tanya’s beaming like a pageant mom who’s child just won first place.

* “You should have seen it Irina, she had me AND Carmen on the ground! It was incredible!”

* “I’ve never seen anything like it except with-“

* “Except with Jane,” you finish.

* The similarity had been noted by Aro, the type of power that only came once a century.

* Tanya’s expression darkens for a moment, Jane had been the one to carry out the order to kill her mother.

* Then it’s gone, her eyes fill with warmth once they settle onto you once more.

* “Eleazer, what is their power?”

* You hadn’t even realised he had come into the room

* “It’s an aura” he says it all matter of fact, like everyone in the room should know what that means. Upon noticing the confused looks he elaborates.

* “Basically whatever emotions they feel are felt by those around them, right now it seems to be a limited range of emotions.” He meets your gaze, he must mean the despair you feel.

* “But given time, it can extend to all emotions.”

* Well this is news to you, does that mean one day... you might be able to give happiness to others as well?

* You take a sip of the blood and have to hide your cringe.

* It’s disgusting, what the hell was that bear eating.

* “Delicious” you murmur, taking another disgusting sip.

* “Fantastic! This finally gives us an excuse to stock the fridge!”

* Irina opens the fridge to show several bottles full of blood.

* Great.

* The next few days pass in a haze, you “dream” every so often, drink the disgusting bear blood, and read.

* Oh and you also spend a lot of time with your new family. Getting together for a morning run is compulsory

* The only cringe worthy thing is drinking that gross blood.

* If you had to describe the taste, you would say it had a rich flavour at first, but it’s masked with a game-y aftertaste, it only gets worse over time, developing into a straight up skunky after taste.

* You sit on your bed, looking out your many windows/walls, to the frost covered estate.

* You wonder if humans taste that bad when you find them at random, it makes sense why the Volturi’s main racket were wellness retreats, three days of cleansing the blood with vitamin rich food.

* And then you’re struck with an idea.

* “Hey Carmen, you said I could ask if I need something right?”

* “Yes of course.”

* “I was wondering if I could have the far most corner of the estate?”

* She shrugs.

* “Sure.”

* You spend a few days making the fence, sanding down the wood.

* It’s actually pretty easy when you never get tired, or need a break, or when you’re not afraid you might get hurt.

* And, because Alaska is known for cruel weather, you make a barn with Kate’s help.

* “If I knew you were building something out here I would have asked Esme to draw something up for you.”

* “Nah, I wanted to do it myself.”

* Between the two of you, it’s pretty quick work, but it’s basically a rickety poorly built box.

* But it will do.

* It’s a good parcel of land, at least a quarter of an acre.

* Now comes the hard part.

* You’ve finally cornered a deer, probably the same deer from a few weeks ago.

* “Do you want to be friends?” you hold out an apple, and it watches you with a curious glance before running away.

* Well, it’s not a dog, it’s not going to follow you home because you just because you gave it food.

* You repeat the process with several other deer, but you don’t make much progress.

* You repeat the process for a few days, until you finally get the deer to eat the food you offer, and another several days until one will follow you back into the pen.

* You’re not really sure why it did, it’s trembling and afraid, but you guess it’s probably close to starving at this point.

* “Here,” you give it a healthy meal, before leading it to the barn you’ve sloppily built.

* You’re about to go inside, but noticing that it’s still trembling in fear, you decide to spend the night with it.

* “Dreaming” isn’t any different in your bed than it is in a creaky, poorly built barn.

* After that night, you and the deer are closer.

* “I think I’ll name you Henrietta, that’s a good name don’t you think.”

* You get a few more after that, but none of them like you as much as Henrietta.

* They’re mostly following you for food, well at least they won’t die as long as they’re with you.

* And so three days pass, you deer have healthy nutrient rich blood flowing through their veins.

* “Hey Eleazer?”

* He hums in acknowledgement, his hands are busy nailing in the nail on his birdhouse.

* “Do you think Carlisle might visit sometime?”

* Eleazer’s hands stop moving.

* “Do you want him to visit?”

* Well of course you do, he’s the only person you know with any kind of medical experience. He has to show you how to -hygienically- extract blood from your deer without killing them or contaminating the blood.

* “I think we were making a lot of progress with my powers before we stopped.”

* Eleazer nods.

* “I’ll give him a call soon.”

* Another few days pass, time seems to move differently now. You can’t tell how much time has passed, even the nights and days start to blur together, after all the nights are so much longer here in Alaska.

* And yet, it’s peaceful, you read books, and drink your disgusting bear blood. You watch Irina and Tanya play chess, and Kate sharpen her sword. Carmen likes to embroider when she can, and Eleazer enjoys wood work.

* It’s nice here

* You’re reading in your room when you hear them, Carlisle’ss soft gentle voice from down stairs.

* You haven’t seen him in so long, you convince yourself you’re rushing to greet him because you’ll always be grateful for what he did for you.

* But you know it’s actually because you miss him.

* He was the first person to show you true compassion.

* You get to the bottom of the stairs expecting to see Carlisle, and you do, but there’s someone else.

* He’s tall, at least he’s taller than you.

* His hair... it’s -what’s it called-, not quite red, not quite brown either.

* Auburn.

* Auburn hair as thick as a lions mane, hangs around his face, deep gold eyes, and a splatter of freckles across the bridge of his nose.

* This is actually the first boy vampire around your age you’ve seen. Alec was close, but he was younger than you by a handful of years.

* If your heart could beat, you’re sure it would be drumming.

* He’s beautiful. Chiseled cheekbones, and full lips.

* You’re suddenly starting to feel very conscious of the baggy sweatshirt and leggings you’re wearing

* His eyes meet yours, and they stay there, narrowing into a glare.

* Well that’s rude.

* Carlisle doesn’t seem to notice, pulling you into a hug.

* “You look well,” he says, his eyes are so warm as they gaze down at you that you can’t help but smile. “How are you handling the transition?”

* You know he really means to ask if you’re happy now, if you’re free.

* You nod, this is more than you could have ever hoped for.

* His smile widens.

* “I’m glad to hear that,” then noticing he hasn’t introduced you yet, he looks over his shoulder.

* “(Y/N), this is the son I told you about, Edward.”

* This is Edward?

* You turn to look at him again, this amber eyes narrowed.

* It’s not a glare, it’s concentration.

* He can’t read your mind.

* “Edward, this is (Y/N), my friend from Volterra.”

* Carlisle says it in such an easy way, like he didn’t meet you in the brink of despair, when you were pleading him to kill you.

* You gulp as Edward lifts his hand, and you gingerly take in yours.

* “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

[davidmann95]

Sooo… Superman and the Authority?

magnus-king123 asked: Your thoughts on Superman & the authority Give it to me...lol

Anonymous asked: Seeing Bezos take his little trip into space the same day Morrison puts out a Superman comic that touches on how far we’ve fallen from the days when we dreamed of utopian futures where everyone explored the stars was a big gut punch. Not used to Superman being topical in that way.

Anonymous asked: What'd you think of Superman and the Authority#1?

This is far beyond what I can fit in the normal weekly reviews, so taking this as my notes on the first six pages, with this and this as my major lead-in thoughts:

* Janin's such a perfect fit for Morrison - the scale, the power, the facial expressions selling the character work, the screwing around with the panel formatting as necessary to sell the effect, the numinous sense of things going on larger than you can fully perceive amidst the beauty and chaos. It's a shame he wasn't around 25 years ago to draw JLA, but I'll take him going with Morrison onto other future projects.

* His intro action sequence is such a great demonstration of why Black actually does have something to offer, and also how he's such a dumbass desperately needing Superman to save him from himself.

* While Jordie Bellaire didn't legit go with an entirely monochromatic palate the way early previews suggested, it's still an effect frequently and excellently deployed here. And glad to see Steve Wands carry into this from Blackstars since there's such an obvious carryover from its work with Superman.

* "Gentlemen. Ladies. Others." Great both because of the obvious - hey, Superman's nodding at me! - and because it's a phrasing that reinforces that this take on him (and let's be real Morrison) is old as hell.

* I'm mostly past caring about whether this is an alt-Earth Superman until it becomes indisputable one way or another, this and Action both rule so what does it really matter? But while there are still a couple signs in play suggesting some kind of division (the Action Comics #1036 cover, Midnighter up to time-travel shenanigans) the "lost in time" quote clearly thrown in after the fact to explain how he could have met Kennedy outside of 5G that wouldn't be necessary for an Elseworlds, the assorted gestures towards Superman's current status quo, the Kingdom Come symbol appearing in Action, and that Morrison would have had to completely rewrite the ending if this wasn't supposed to be 'the' version of Clark Kent going forward as was the intent when they first planned it all say to me that no, no fooling around, this is our guy going forward one way or another.

* Janin and Bellaire making the first version of the crystal Fortress ever that actually looks as cool as you want it to.

Anonymous asked: I like that Superman and The Authority is basically the anti-All-Star; instead of the laid back, immortal Superman who is supercharged, we have a stressed, ageing Superman whose tremendous powers are fading. The former will always be there to save us, but the latter is running out of time and needs to pull off a Hail Mary. Also, he mentions in his monologue to Black that he was "lost in time" when he met JFK, so maybe he is the main continuity Clark. Or he's the t-shirt Supes from Sideways.

* You're absolutely right - the power reversal is obvious and the ticking clock in play seemingly isn't for his own survival but everyone around him as he wakes up and realizes all the old icons grew complacent with the gains they'd made and he's not leaving behind the world he meant to. Both, however, are built on the idea of preparing the world to not need them anymore - it'll still have a Superman in his son, but that'll only work because of the others he empowers and inspires. The question is what happens to Clark if he's not going to live in the sun for 83000 years.

* Clark's 'exercise' here does more to sell me on the idea of Old Man Superman as a cool idea than however many decades of Earth 2 stuff.

* Intergang being noted alongside Darkseid and Doomsday speaks to how much Kirby informed Morrison's conception of Superman.

* This isn't exactly the most progressive in its disability politics but at least it makes clear Black's being a piece of shit about it.

* It's startling how much Clark can get away with saying stuff in here you'd never expect to come out of Superman's mouth. "I made an executive decision" "Privacy, really...?" "You have nowhere to go, Black. Nothing to live for." "There are few people in my life who I instinctively and viscerally dislike, and you've always been one of them." It only works because there's zero aggression behind it, he's just past the point of niceties and being totally frank while making clear none of these assessments preclude that he cares and is going to unconditionally do the right thing every time. He is absolutely, per Morrison, humanity's dad picking us up when we're too drunk to drive ourselves home.

* The story doesn't put a big flashing light over it, but it's not even a little bit subtle having the material threat of the issue be a ticking timebomb left by the carelessness and hubris of generations past.

* Manchester keeps trying to poke the bear and prove his hot takes about Superman and it's just not working. The front he put up under Kelley is gone after decades of defeats, and as Morrison understands what actually conceptually works about him as a rival to Superman underneath the aging nerd paranoia he's exposed as what he absolutely would be in 2021: a dude with a horrific terminal case of Twitter brainworms. I was PANICKED when I heard there was an 'offensive term' joke in this, I was braced for Morrison at their well-meaning worst, but it's such a goddamn perfect encapsulation of a very specific breed of Twitter leftist who uses their politics first and foremost as a cudgel and justification to label their abrasive, judgmental shittiness as self-righteousness (plus it's a killer payoff to a joke from way back in his original appearance). Cannot believe they pulled that off when they're so very, very open about basically not knowing how the internet works.

* @charlottefinn: Manchester Black using his telekinetic powers to force someone he hates to fave a problematic tweet so that he can screenshot it and start a dogpile

@intergalactic-zoo: “Once they cancel Bibbo, Superman won’t be *anyone’s* fav’rit anymore!”

* Friend noted this issue had to be fully the conversation because the whole premise stands on the house of cards of these two somehow working together, and with three 'silent' inset panels the creative team pulls off that turning point.

* So much of this feels on the surface like Morrison bringing back the All-Star vibes with Clark, but when he drops a "That's all you got?" in a brawl you realize what's underlining that bluntness and confidence in the face of failure is that deep down this is still the Action guy too. This dude ain't gonna get wrecked in his Fortress while the other guy chuckles about him being A SOFT WEE SCIENTIST'S SON!

* Bringing up Jor-El made me realize that Morrison already spelled out that this is the final threat to Superman, what he faces at the end of the road:

"Now it's your turn, Superman."

* A l'il Superman 2000/All-Star reference with the Phantom Zone map!

* There's so much intertextuality going on here even by Morrison standards - Change or Die with the old hero putting together a team of morally nebulous folks out to 'fix' everything, Flex Mentallo with the muscleman trying to redeem the punk, Doomsday Clock with the fate of the world hinging on whether Superman can get through to a meta stand-in for an idea of 'modern' comics cynicism, DKR and New Frontier and Kingdom Come and Multiversity and Seven Soldiers and What's So Funny and All-Star and Action and the last 5 years of monthly Superman comics and Authority and probably Jupiter's Legacy and Tom Strong - but none of that's needed. You could go in with the baseline pop cultural understanding of the character and not care about any of the inside baseball shit and get that this is a story about a leader of a generation that let down the people they made all their grand promises to as inertia and day-to-day demands and complacency let him be satisfied with the accomplishments they'd made long ago, looking at a new era and seeing the ways its own activists are dropping the ball. The only thing that fundamentally matters in a "you have to accept you're reading a superhero story" sense is that because he's Superman he's willing to own up to it and listen to people who might know better about some things and try to set things right while he and those who'll take his place still have a chance. And yes, the oldster looking back on their legacy with a skeptical eye and hoping for better from the next generation, hoping most of all that their little heir apparent can fulfill the promise inside of him instead of being a provocating little shitkicker, is obviously also autobiographical.

* The overlaying Kennedy reprisal is such a great visual of a sudden intrusive thought.

* The Kryptonite secret is the obvious "This is going to matter!" moment, but "He lied about his son" is a bit that doesn't connect to anything going on right now so maybe that's important here too? More significantly, the Justice League can't actually be the villains here but that Ultra-Humanite's crew are in an Earth-orbiting satellite makes pretty clear what's up.

* I've said before that between Superman, OMAC, and a New Gods-affiliated speedster this was going to use all of Morrison's favorite things. King Arthur playing a role isn't exactly dissuading me.

* Love the idea that all the antiheroes have their own community in the same way as the capes and tights crew. They definitely all privately think the rest are posers though and that they alone are Garth Ennis Punisher in a mob of Garth Ennis Wolverines.

* Manchester's fallen so far he's gone from trying to convince Superman to kill to convince him to dunk on people for their bad takes and Clark just doesn't get it. Official prediction of dialogue for upcoming issues:

"According to these bloody Fortress scans, the only thing that can restore your powers is an unfiltered hit of dopamine. Don't worry, Doctor Black has a few ideas."

"Hmm. Maybe I'll plant a nice tree?"

"...fuck you."

* Ok I already talked about how great the Fortress looks in here but LOVE this library.

* A pair of pages this seems like the right spot to discuss from Black's original appearance that underlines both his and Superman's inadequacies up to this point:

Responding to the problem of "the government and penal system are hopelessly corrupt" neither of them has any actual notion of what to do about it in spite of their respective posturing beyond how to handle individual outside actors - each is in their own way every bit as small-minded and reactionary as the other. Clark's coming around though, and he's holding out hope for the other guy.

* Superman: Have a lovely mineral water :) proper hydration is important :)

Manchester Black: *Is a dude who can get so mad he vomits and passes out. At water.*

* That last page is the one to beat for the year, and does more to put over the idea of this as an Authority book than that Midnighter and Apollo are literally going to show up. It also feels like Morrison tacitly acknowledging all the ways the premise could go or at least be received wrong - from Superman saying 'enough is enough' to who he's bringing into the fold to go about it - in the most beautifully on-the-nose fashion imaginable. Maybe they'll save us all! Or maybe they'll drown us in their vomit.