#even worse- Opal's brother and her boyfriend are in on this too

[wilcze-kudly]

She's everything to me

favorite character from any media BUT it has to be a woman. in the tags now go (pls talk to me about your favorite fictional women pls pls pls pls)

[thebenriksai]

Big lore post. Vs Alex. Part 1: Morality.

As already mentioned in this post, Alex is the main villain in AU. But at the same time, she pursued good goals - to save Xen creatures, scientists from the military, and take Lee, Nicole, and Toby to a safe place. What went wrong? Well, actually....everything went wrong.

Alex, that got used to her authority, influence and the fact that everything always worked out, suddenly encountered something that knocked her out of her rut. She lost control over the situation. Her own brother suddenly became her enemy. The former victum for bullying, Nicole, became her best friend. And her beloved person disappeared.

But all of this, in fact, was the fault of Alex's irresponsible brother and his new "boyfriend". Because of them, Alex's whole life turned upside down. And she seemed to have landed on her back. While everyone had a happy ending (not knowing what had happened to Benrey yet), Alex could not calm down. She didn't take revenge. She didn't save the lives of her loved ones, except TSST. Nothing.

After restarting the whole process, Alex tried to get her happy ending back. She started it over with her team. Hearing discontent and confusion, despair suddenly grew in the woman. Why was it so difficult to understand everything? Why were these people so selfish? It seemed that the fight started with these thoughts. Alex lost herself in trying to make them go through everything again, and her mind clouded with envy, sadness, desperation, and aggression towards everyone. And so, a harmless fight turned into a battle to the death, while Alex, with hysterical cries, tried to destroy everything she envied.

Nicole stopped seeing Alex as a threat or enemy. During their adventure, they grew close, so close that they could call themselves friends (You can read about their previous relationship in this short fic). Of course, Nicole knew more than anyone how it felt to lose everything. She felt sorry for her friend who was getting worse and worse. No one believed that John was gone or dead. Everyone supported each other. But Alex could not handle the pressure. She had other problems too and had already strained relationships with Benrey, as well as rejection from society. And then, such a tragedy happened.

When Alex delivered an ultimatum in the form of a fight, Nicole took it as a joke at first. It was difficult to take it seriously, even considering the woman's unstable psyche. But nevertheless, this was not a joke. But still Nicole refused to hurt her friend. She avoided her attacks and maneuvered as well as she could. All she wanted to do was stop Alex. Not kill her. Help her.

Lee, who had always been hiding Toby, came to help. The girl was terrified by these news. An extremely responsible and confident woman began to cry from inner pain and try to kill everyone. Lee didn't know what to do. Maybe it was her fault? Since her arrival in the family, things had been bad between Alex and Benrey. But the guard pulled herself together quickly, pushing selfish thoughts aside. She knew that Alex needed help.

Teaming up with Nicole, Lee tries to find a way to approach the woman and remind her about the good times together. When necessary, she used her immortal shell and drew all attention to herself. Nicole had only one goal: to help Alex and save her from suffering (and others too).

(Our sketches of this battle)

Thank you for reading it!! It's a really important piece of our lore, hehe. Until next time!! Byeeeee!

-Blue Opal / Alex

-PigelOn

[jazy3]

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 17X7

SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

They did it! I can’t believe it! They actually killed DeLuca off! I’m so happy right now! As long time readers will know I have never been a Andrew DeLuca fan and I speculated back in the summer that they might be planning to write his character off after it was revealed that the planned finale for Season 16 included an explosion that was supposed to claim the life of one of the characters. I speculated that DeLuca was the most likely candidate with Tom and Jackson being the most likely runners up because I felt that they had gone as far as they could with DeLuca’s character and there wasn’t much left for him to do on the show.

Add that to the fact that the actor who plays DeLuca said a bunch of stuff to the press last year where he spoiled some pretty major plot points and stated that he knew things about where the show was going when he hadn’t even read a single script for the season yet and I was pretty sure his days were numbered. That being said, the show had teased us a bunch of times about firing, killing, or writing off the character during seasons 15 and 16 and they never went through with it so a big part of me was skeptical that they ever would.

But it turns out I was right! His days were numbered and they wound up killing him off in the Mid-Season Premiere! I’m still in shock. It hasn’t really sunk in yet to be honest. This episode honestly made me wish we’d gotten to see the remaining episodes and finale of Season 16 as planned. Based on what we know it looks like the plan was for Richard, Bailey, Meredith, and Carina to stage an intervention, DeLuca was to go away and get treatment and return to the hospital only to die tragically in an explosion.

Season 17 would have opened with the characters finding out about that and mourning his death and I think it would have been interesting to see Meredith navigate that as in the Finale Hayes asked her out and she said yes. It seems likely that if the COVID-19 Pandemic had not hit when it did and shut down production and altered filming for this season we would have seen Meredith and Hayes go out for a drink and start dating.

Seeing Meredith navigate the loss of her ex-boyfriend who she was no longer close to while in the beginning stages of her relationship with Hayes would have been very interesting and I’m sorry we didn’t get to see that. I’m also sorry that due to safety restrictions Meredith and Hayes haven’t had much screen time this season, but it looks like that’s about to change as I’ll get into a bit later.

Back to the episode at hand. I never liked DeLuca as a character and I hated him with Meredith so I’m glad that they killed him off and that we never have to deal with that nonsense again. I’m glad that they caught the human trafficker Opal and took those people down. I was never super invested in that storyline so I’m glad they wrapped that up. I feel so bad for Carina though. She’s a great character and is wonderfully acted by Stefania Spampinato.

My heart broke for her in this episode because while I won’t miss her brother I know that she will and will be absolutely gutted when she finds out that he’s died especially after she worked so hard to get him help and treatment for his Bipolar Disorder. I’m glad she has Maya there to support her.

LOL at Bailey sleeping through the whole damn episode! What did I miss indeed! That poor woman slept through DeLuca getting stabbed, almost dying, not dying, having surgery twice, and then actually dying as well as the other shenanigans going on at the hospital. I loved that she was asleep at Meredith’s bedside especially after they spent a good chunk of Season 16 fighting.

I also feel really bad for Richard in that he’s obviously grateful that DeLuca helped save his life and wanted to help and when Owen turned him down because it wasn’t a good idea for him to scrub in Richard lurked in the background in the OR gallery the whole time to make sure that everything was okay. Plus he can’t talk to Meredith about it right now because she’s in a coma which must be so difficult for him. The extra stress also puts his sobriety at risk and that worries me.

I got to be honest I am struggling to understand Teddy’s point of view this season. She’s being really awful! She’s being cruel to Tom. She was cruel to Owen. I don't know what Teddy expected to have happen. Both Cristina and Amelia walked away from their marriages to Owen and moved on with their lives in large part because they realized Owen was in love with Teddy and always would be.

And then she finally gets what she’s wanted all these years and the minute she realizes Amelia’s baby might be Owen’s and not Link’s she runs back to Tom and has a several months long affair with him and then drops him like a hot potato as soon as she realizes that the baby is Link’s and after Owen finds out about the affair she refuses to talk to Tom for months and then comes crawling back to him and wants to be his friend after Owen makes it clear he wants nothing to do with her. WTF?

I feel bad for Tom. I really like his character. He’s super interesting and complex and he deserves better than someone who treats him like that. Tom is a good man at heart and he treated Teddy like gold and in return she’s done nothing but break his heart and stomp all over him when he’s already down. He deserves someone better. I’ve never been an Owen fan, but honestly Teddy is behaving so horribly I’m on his side on this one.

They had some great scenes in the OR together, but Teddy clearly read too much into it. Every time he gives her a crumb she’s convinced he’s forgiven her and wants to give her a second chance and that’s not it at all. Owen has been clear. He doesn’t forgive her and he doesn’t want to get back together with her. All he wants is to co-parent peacefully and work together as colleagues because he values her skills as a surgeon. That’s it.

It was cute to see Teddy Face Timing with Leo. I’m glad they are finding safe ways to incorporate the kids into the story. Speaking of which, the scene where Amelia and Maggie tell Zola that her Mom has been placed on a vent and she might not come off it was heartbreaking. That kid has grown into her own as an actress and really holds her own in that scene.

Her line about how she didn’t want them to tell Bailey or Ellis yet because they’re too young to understand broke me heart. Zola’s only a few years older than them but she’s old enough to understand the impact of what’s happening in a way that they can’t. And she remembers how hard it was when Derek died. When Cristina left. When Alex left. She doesn’t want to put her siblings though the same thing especially when Alex’s departure is still so fresh for them and they never got a chance to really know their Dad. The fact that Zola can recognize that at such a young age is raw and heart breaking.

We saw Winston and Maggie reconnect this episode which would have been super hot and enjoyable if Meredith hadn’t just been put on a ventilator! The scene where Jackson showed up looking for Maggie was too funny! I loved the scenes with Jackson, Link, and Winston in the backyard having beers! Winston has a great sense of humour and seems to be a calming presence. I like the idea of those three being friends.

Link’s face when he realized that Winston doesn’t know that Maggie and Jackson used to date and are also step-siblings. I’ll be interested to see Winston’s reaction when that comes out. I loved Link’s rant about how worried he was about Meredith and what her declining health and potential death was doing and would do to Amelia. Did anyone else catch that he called Amelia his wife? I’m calling it. They’re foreshadowing an Amelink wedding!

I liked hearing Jackson talk about how Meredith is family and they’re all worried and Winston’s comments about how all they can do is just keeping moving physically and metaphorically. I’m also loving Amelia and Maggie’s wardrobes this season. Their sweaters in this episode were gorgeous! Hats off to the wardrobe department! They’re looking good!

I loved seeing Jo and Hayes work together again because I love their friendship, but to be honest I was expecting more of the friendly teasing and banter of last season where she egged him on about Meredith and they traded barbs. Their scenes in this episode were a lot more intense and agitated. She totally played him with that line about Meredith.

He kept saying no to taking Luna to see her Mom and so Jo made it personal for him. If Meredith asked to see her kids Hayes would never say no and he would move heaven and earth for her. By making that connection Jo got him to agree to her plan. I also love that the reason he kept saying no in the beginning was because of what happened to Meredith.

She went from laughing and joking to being put on a vent and he doesn’t want to run the risk with any other patient and it’s obviously eating him up inside. He misses her. He cares about her and he’s clearly terrified about the possibility of her not waking up. That being said, Jo’s line where she compared Alex leaving her for Izzie because he found out he had kids he didn’t know he had and sending her a heartfelt letter to Hayes spending years watching his wife and the mother of his two boys die of cancer was way out of line. Super not okay. I really think that Jo is going to adopt that baby. I think that’s why they are setting up her interest in OBGYN.

In other news, Nico is still a terrible boyfriend to Levi. I honestly don’t know why Levi puts up with him. Levi really shone in this episode I think. He felt responsible for what happened, but instead of bungling things and making things worse like he might have done in the past he got out of his own way and asked Dr. Khan who was a vascular surgeon in Pakistan prior to immigrating to the U.S. to take his place.

I feel like this episode implies that the Beach is limbo now as I don’t know how else DeLuca could have ended up there as he wasn’t someone who was close to Meredith the way that Derek, George, Richard, and Bailey are. Not sure how I feel about that as I was kind of liking the is it a COVID dream is it the afterlife ambiguity.

Onto next week’s promo! I’m not excited that they appear to be setting up an episode in which the other characters mourn DeLuca’s passing as none of the other characters apart from Carina were really that close to him. They spent the last two seasons establishing that everyone hated his guts, considered him a nuisance, and only put up with him because they had to. So to me the other characters mourning him doesn’t feel authentic or real. It just feels forced.

There are several things I am excited about though. Seeing Maggie’s reaction to his death I think will be interesting. She was visibly upset and ran to his side when Alex beat him up in Season 13 and mourning the loss of your ex-boyfriend who you were no longer close to while being in a committed relationship with someone new I think is an interesting dynamic. She’s kinda standing in for Meredith here because she’s on a vent.

I’d like to see Catherine support Richard and make up for her horrible behaviour last season. And the best thing of all: Hayes!!! In the promo trailer we see Hayes sitting at Meredith’s bedside talking to her about how she needs to fight and how they all need her to fight. Bring it on! It’s about damn time! And Derek’s back and he’s … fishing? I’m excited to see what happens there and if they actually get to talk and have a real conversation this time. It has also been announced that Sarah Drew will be returning for a cameo as Dr. April Kepner this season so I’m excited for that!

Until next time!

[sun-summoning]

#1 Reunion Note: Canon-compliant; surely geriatric!Zutara happened

When news of Toph’s failing health gets out, Zuko picks Katara up from the South Pole to ensure she can be at their friend’s bedside as soon as possible. They enter Toph’s room, rushing past the grandchildren and their friends. Lin leans against one wall while Suyin sits beside Toph. Zuko grits his teeth at the sight of her, laying in her bed with her white hair sprawled over the pillow. Katara chokes on a sob and sits when Suyin stands. 

“Sugar Queen,” Toph croaks. “Is that you?”

“Yes,” Katara replies. “I’m here Toph.”

“And Sparky? Did he come?”

“You didn’t hear me run in?” Zuko tries to smile, but he’s lost so many people he loves in the past few decades. It’s been so long since Aang and Sokka passed. He doesn’t know how he’ll cope after the loss of Toph. And to lose Katara -- Zuko takes a breath. “Losing your touch in your old age, champ?”

“Not at all.” Satisfied with the amount of mourning taking place in the room. Toph sits up. She raises her arms to get a good stretch and soon cracks her back.

“Um,” Opal’s dopy boyfriend says. “Um?!”

“Spit it out, boy.”

“Mother, what are you doing?” Toph bats Suyin away as she tries to ease her back into the bed. With her feet planted on the ground, she can feel her daughters’ concern, Opal and her boyfriend’s confusion, and, as expected, Katara and Zuko steadily growing annoyed.

“Toph,” Katara begins, using a scolding tone that brings Toph back to her childhood.

But Lin cottons on first. “Mother!” she hisses. “Did you...did you fake health issues to bring former the Fire Lord and Master Katara here?”

Toph cackles only a little bit. “You bet I did.”

“Mother!”

“What?” Without Suyin trying to get her back into the bed, Toph stands. She can feel Katara glaring at her and is certain Zuko is looking up at the ceiling wondering why this is still his life. “How did you get here so soon, by the way?” Toph asks Katara. “I thought I’d be stuck faking it in that bed for another week!”

“Zuko and Druk picked me up,” Katara replies dryly.

“Heh, I bet this isn’t the first time you rode Zuko’s dragon.”

“Toph!”

“What are you, twelve?” Katara grumbles.

“Nah, we both know that when I was twelve, my preferred jokes were about you handling his sword.”

“I was handling his sword! He said he’d show me how to use one!”

Toph ignores Katara in favour of waving her hands at the various non-elders in a shooing motion. “Anyone under the age of seventy needs to get out of here.”

Opal has to pull her flailing boyfriend through the door as he raves amount them being the original Team Avatar. Suyin is most certainly cross about this turn of events, but Lin is the only one muttering about it. When she’s finally alone with her two oldest friends that are still alive, Toph plops back onto the bed. 

“I thought they’d never leave.” Neither Katara nor Zuko say anything, so Toph sighs. “So are we going to make small talk or should we get straight to business?”

“I happen to like small talk. How is your family?” Katara asks pleasantly, no doubt to spite Toph.

“Oh, don’t be like that, Sweetness.” Toph shrugs. “You just saw my girls. I’d say they’re sufficiently pissed. The grandkids are fine too, I guess. Anyway--”

“Izumi and Iroh are well.”

“--you two were in love when we were younger and you’re still in love now.”

“Toph!” Zuko yells.

“Wow.” Katara sighs. “You’re really doing this.”

“It’s just the three of us now.” The statement renders them all silent. She remembers how devastated Katara was to lose her brother and husband in such quick succession. Toph is happy on her own in the swamp, but Katara and Zuko always surrounded themselves with the people they loved and she worried about them being alone. Sure, Zuko did have his daughter and grandson, but Toph needs them to open their eyes to more. “You guys can be happy now.”

It’s an old argument, really, and one Toph has only ever had with them separately and only a handful of times. She’s also never been so direct. Zuko and Katara love each other. Zuko and Katara have been in love with each other for over half a century and were both too committed to their perceived duties to act on their feelings anymore than looks of longing and a scant few secluded meetings back in their early twenties.

“I was happy, Toph. I am happy.” Katara glances at Zuko. “We both are.”

“It’s not the same,” Toph says. 

Neither of them deny this. 

“I’m the only person whose ever heard the way your hearts race when you’re with each other.” Toph snorts. “It’s sickening. I can hear it right now.”

“Toph...”

“All I’m saying is that...I don’t know, you guys have my blessing.”

“Thanks,” Zuko mutters wryly.

“And if any of the kids put up a fight, send them to me. They can deal. You’re both super old now.”

“Thanks.”

“You’ve given so much of your lives to saving the world and keeping its peace and making sure everyone else stayed happy. It’s time to be selfish, okay?”

Katara and Zuko stay silent, and Toph knows she’s finally getting to them. She understands why they never wanted to act on their feelings even when the timing was finally right. Still, that’s dreadfully unfair and Toph refuses to let the universe deny them any longer. 

They’re both thinking about it, Toph knows. They’re both finally thinking about it.

Zuko breaks the silence. “I always wanted my own tea shop.”

“Your tea has only gotten worse, Zuko,” Katara scoffs. “You can’t have a tea shop.”

“Well how else would we spend all our time, Katara?”

Toph shakes her head at their lighthearted bickering. Katara sits on the chair while Zuko remains on the foot of the bed, the two planning out a not so hypothetical future together. Toph lays back on the bed and closes her eyes. She might not have been as sick as her daughters thought she was, but she’s still old and tired. And although she’s not as young as she used to be, listening to Zuko and Katara finally moving forward all because she played them, Toph knows she’s still got it.

[cinnamonzor]

BrattyShipping Headcanons Pt. 5

Previous Posts: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4

Teen Years

- After returning from the Isle of Armor, Victor opts to keep his hair at its newly grown-out length. This decision is partially influenced by it giving him a new comfort device for his anxiety and partially because he quickly discovers he loves Bede playing with it when it’s loose.

- Bede also enjoys it more than they’d wish to admit to anyone but Victor. Their brain temporarily short-circuited at how good the new style looked on him when they first saw it. If the prior notes didn’t convince Victor to keep it grown-out, Bede’s flustered reaction most certainly succeeded.

- Bede is SUPER touch-starved. Against most people’s expectations, they revel in Victor’s naturally cuddly behavior, accepting hugs and snuggles whenever possible. However, neither of them are particular fans of PDA, still preferring to keep their relationship on a need-to-know basis (i.e. their friends, family, Pokemon, and pretty much every significant character from the game).

- Opal’s one problem with Victor is his general lack of style, as all he really looks for in clothing is comfort. She takes several opportunities to insist he accessorize and/or throw some more pink into his outfit. Bede eventually decides enough is enough and gives him a necklace with a pink, berry-shaped charm on it to appease her (and if they enjoyed watching Victor’s face light up, so be it).

- Victor’s heard enough of Opal’s unsolicited fashion advice to figure out his significant other’s ulterior motive, but loves the gesture anyway. He attempts to find an accessory-related gift for Bede as well, settling on a cozy scarf with a little Hattenna logo on the end. They now wear it as part of both their casual outfit and gym uniform.

- While Victor’s social anxiety and tendency to overthink still act up from time to time, he’s still fairly secure in their relationship. They don’t openly admit to it, but Bede is actually the most insecure in that regard. Their past mistakes and the numerous fans Victor has meld with their abandonment issues and leave them frequently worrying Victor will leave them just like everyone else.

- Bede begins to slowly integrate into the friend group formed by the Postwick Trio and Marnie. They’re still reasonably wary of Gloria, but they grow to tolerate each other. They find themselves on much better terms with Hop and never really had any problems with Marnie in the first place. Victor still regularly finds himself mediating, though it’s not much worse than when it was just the original three.

- It takes some digging, but Victor manages to find out when Bede’s birthday is (personal headcanon: August 13). They’ve never bothered to celebrate it since before they arrived at the orphanage and have mostly just written it off ever since. Since birthdays have always been fairly significant in Victor’s family (a trait he himself retains), he takes it upon himself to ensure Bede enjoys theirs from then on as well (usually with an outing or meal and a thoughtful gift as the basis).

- Bede finds out about the twins’ birthday (personal headcanon: February 27) through Gloria insisting they arrive in Postwick to celebrate. She admits she’s not the hugest fan of having them over at a party that’s half for her, but she recognizes her brother is head-over-heels for them at that point and how much it’d mean to him if they came. She makes it particularly clear that their attendance is not optional.

- Their first major fight since their relationship begins is spurred by Victor’s concerns that Bede is still holding him at arm’s length after over a year together (rarely expressing themselves beyond surface value, waiting for Victor to reach out more often than doing so themselves, etc). Bede attempts to play it off as being due to their busy schedule as a gym leader, but Victor sees through it fairly easily. He mostly just tries to accept it, but it leaves him feeling particularly dejected and things are fairly awkward for a bit afterward.

- After a couple weeks (and, of course, some “guidance” from Hatterene), Bede admits to holding Victor at arm’s length and starts to open up a bit about their trust and abandonment issues. Victor also apologizes for prying too much and reminds Bede that he’ll always be willing to listen when they need it.

- Bede ends up taking Victor to the post-season League banquet as their plus-one when both are around sixteen or seventeen. The media assumes he came as his sister’s (who is still very much the Champion) and that Bede invites Opal as theirs. In truth, her invitation never ceased to be issued even after she retired.

- Everyone else who is invited is well aware at this point. Raihan, Nessa, Leon, and Sonia end up debating the plausibility of their blatantly contrasting personalities working well together. Piers doesn’t bother to join in, but silently agrees with Nessa and Leon based on the stuff he’s heard about their dynamic from Marnie.

- Victor’s favorite part of the event is the amazing catering and relatively low-attention atmosphere. Bede’s favorite part is how amazing Victor looks in a suit.

- Bede and Gloria end up facing each other in the League Finals that year. When Victor goes to congratulate them afterward, the three are mobbed by press and he starts having a panic attack. Both his sister and significant other go into “angry protective mode” and attempt to angrily tell off the paparazzi.

- Gloria tries to lead the press away while Bede gets Victor into the locker room to calm down. They haven’t actually seen him in such a state since the opening ceremony of their League challenge (and even then it wasn’t this bad), mostly since he’d figured out methods to cope with his crowd-induced anxiety and misophonia by the time it would have acted up around them. They have no idea what to do for the most part, but their presence manages to help ground Victor enough to employ the calming techniques he’s had to learn over time.

- On their way out, Bede is still pissed at the paparazzi for rendering their boyfriend in such a state. Taking advantage of Hatterene’s particular skill-set, they covertly send her out to inflict them all with migraines in spite. Gloria notices from across the crowd; her respect for Bede doubles that day.

- By the time both finish growing, Victor is a couple inches taller than Bede. Their hair makes it seem closer than it actually is, but it’s still not the most drastic height difference.

- Bede eventually figures out how to incorporate their puffer coat into their gym uniform. But before that happens, they return to their locker room one day to find Victor waiting for them while bundled in it. They nearly have a cuteness-induced aneurysm.

- It’s around age seventeen when Bede learns that being nonbinary is a thing and immediately clicks with it. When they come out to Victor, he spends a full day researching gender-neutral terms to refer to them by online. He’s wary of calling them his “partner” in fear of it sounding too serious, but Bede personally approves of the term themselves.

- After growing incredibly accustomed to Victor making food for them, Bede attempts to surprise him by trying their own hand at cooking. While they have much less experience, he adores the thought they put into it and informs them that it’s surprisingly good for a first try. He offers to teach them some tricks he learned and cooking together ends up being a favorite activity of theirs from then on.

- Bede accidentally left the Vengeance Board up the first time Victor saw their room later that day. It was at that point when they realized how potentially creepy having a bunch of mementos of their boyfriend tacked to a corkboard labelled “vengeance” looked, but Victor thought it was adorable and took a picture (with a few playful snarks thrown in, of course).

- That was also the first instance of them sharing an actual bed (instead of the couch that one time), falling asleep cuddled in each others arms. They groggily bid each other good morning when they wake up, only for Opal to throw in a “good morning” of her own from her chair next to them. Just like the first instance, there was some screaming involved (and a couple empty threats on Bede’s part).

- Bede isn’t prone to using cutesy nicknames, while Victor’s nicknames for them are “Love” and “Sprite.” Hop once jokingly used the second one after seeing it as their contact name in Victor’s Rotom Phone. It took three whole minutes to fish him out of the river.

- Upon nearing his goal for gaining funds and cooking experience, Victor ultimately plans to open his restaurant in Ballonlea. The quaint, whimsical nature of the town makes it an ideal location for both his desired atmosphere and projected business (since large crowds are less likely in a smaller town, but the sights and gym challenge will attract enough customers).

- After showing Gloria, their mom, and Hop his notes to assure them he thought everything through, he brings up the idea to Bede. They’re caught off-guard at first, but after thinking it through with Opal’s help, they inform Victor that they want to help with the preparations when their schedule allows and move in above the restaurant with him when its ready.

Still not done! Like hell I’m missing out on writing the domestic fluff!

[lemon-writings]

Hamish Update: Hamish Pt. II

Genre: Adult literary fiction // Status: Rewriting // Progress: 53,548 words

Pt. I

I’m back with chapters IV-VI! Hoo boy, is it an event.

Chapter IV

Epitaph: “The things that go unsaid are often the things that eat at you--whether because you didn't get to have your say, or because the other person never got to hear you and really wanted to.”-Celeste Ng, Everything I Never Told You

This is the chapter where we meet Ofelia! She is one of my favorite characters to write for. She is beautiful and wonderful and a goddess and I adore her. (I’m reading myself for filth through the character of Ofelia because she is literally both my type and the woman I’ve always wanted to be.) Ofelia is the Queen of Roasts.

There are also some confrontations between Hamish and his mother, which I live for.

Excerpts: 

First of all, I love Ofelia. Ofelia Bello, if you are free this Thursday, I’m free to hang out any time. Again, Ofelia Bello, if you are on Thursday, I’m free to hang out. Please.

She’s a goddess. Literal goddess.

She looked at me, eyes large and all-seeing, more like fire opals set into the bronze of her face than eyes. I felt as though she were seeing into the very essence of my being, judging me like a god. Ofelia was one of those people who would never be referred to as mortal. She was Prithvi; she was Freyja; she was Persephone. She was anything but mortal, made of fire, flowers, and knowledge.

And a savage. She’s That Bitch every moment of every day, even when she has her “perfect daughter and sister” persona on. And when she doesn’t? Well...

“You could fight back,” she said. “You could make yourself known, reveal who and what you are. Scream, I’m a person, not a thing.” Ofelia fixes the wisps of hair arranged around her face into a perfect frame. 

“I’m not a fighter,” I said.

“No,” Ofelia said, watching me carefully. “You’re a runner.” She uncrossed her legs and stretched them out. “He doesn’t like fighters. That’s me. That’s my brother. He loves runners. If you can confront your issues, you won’t stay for long.”

Hamish confronting his mother when she dismisses his childhood trauma is honestly *chef’s kiss*. Writing my characters being savages is one of my favorite things to do, right after dramatic, floral descriptions of women. 

(TW: referenced child abuse!)

“Ungrateful for what? My nightmares? My feelings of abandonment? My hatred of authority? Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for me, mother. Without yours and father’s amazing parenting, I would’ve grown up to be a well-adjusted adult.”

And the trademark Soft Moment of the chapter. 

(TW: death mention!)

“Don’t die,” you whispered, hot and damp against my face. “Please don’t die.”

“I won’t,” I promised you, so open and honest it felt like I’d cracked open my ribs to expose my child’s-heart to you like a blossoming flower. 

The tension between all the characters has increased so much in this chapter and tbh the anticipation is killing me, and I know what happens in this book.

Chapter V

Epitaph: “At parties I point to my body and say This is where love comes to die. Welcome, come in, make yourself at home. Everyone laughs, they think I’m joking.”--Warsan Shire, “The House”

This chapter begins with Hamish and Horacio in an interview about their “relationship”. There’s something lovely about the way that Horacio and Hamish talk about each other, even if it is built on half-truths. Then we’re introduced to Leon, Ofelia’s brother, and oh boy. Oh boy. Is that a wild ride.

This is also the chapter where Hamish begins planning how he’s going to get Claude to confess to the murder, via a PowerPoint presentation. Yes. Yes, good.

Excerpts:

The first is when Horacio is asked when he knew he was in love with Hamish. It’s just... soft. As a former theatre kid, this really is the dream.

“No,” I said, tearing my eyes from you. “We were in Theatre 101 together, and he was reading Doctor Faustus and playing all the parts. He was jumping around and doing different voices, being really dramatic and having the time of his life. It was the first time I’d seen him act young instead of like a wistful old man.”

I didn’t tell her that you’d been wearing a black hoodie with the moon phases printed on it, the strings following you as you leaped from place to place, sticking your tongue out when you fumbled a line, your tongue stud glittering in the lights. It felt too intimate to share with the world. When I saw you in the lights, being a goofy young man for even just a moment, in your purest state of adorable in your glee, my heart expanded well past the confines of my too-tight ribcage.

Here’s Horacio’s mention of his past ex-boyfriends, because he can hardly believe that he is in a semi-functional relationship with anyone, even if it’s fake.

(TW: sex and abuse!)

It was simple symbiosis: I was a parasite, and they were the hosts, defending themselves against me with violence. I don’t think any of them ever loved me, just loved using me while I would use them, trying to nibble on their scraps of affection between beatings and the rough sex.

Leon is... a lot. He’s sort of obsessed with masculinity, like someone who watched Fight Club without really realizing it’s meant to be satire and wants to punch whoever talks shit about him.

Leon was one of those guys who either believed he was better than you or you weren’t worth his time. Sometimes, in his more complex moments, he would believe both at once; at his most simplistic, he would believe neither. 

The further I go in this work, the more difficult it gets to pick excerpts!

Chapter VI

Epitaph: “Even still, we run. We have not reached our average of 57.92 years without knowing that you run through it, and it hurts and you run through it some more, and if it hurts worse, you run through it even more, and when you finish, you will have broken through. In the end, when you are done, and stretching, and your heartbeat slows, and your sweat dries, if you've run through the hard part, you will remember no pain.”--Lauren Groff, The Monsters of Templeton

Hamish gives the presentation. It goes about as well as you can assume. Now that Genoveva and Claude know he’s onto them... it’s game time. There is so much plot that happens in this chapter that I can’t really mention much of it, other than this being the point where the work goes from a slow-building horror to more of a thriller. It’s a major turning point and climax. Whoo!

Also, Ofelia and Horacio bond, which is awesome! I love the dynamic between them. They have the sort of friendship where you can tell that they really enjoy each other and their company.

Excerpts:

Most of these are from the portion where Ofelia and Horacio are talking in the woods because 1.) it’s the least-spoilery part of this chapter and 2.) their friendship is one of the most light-hearted parts of this work. Please, allow me to indulge.

Ofelia isn’t necessarily a “bean”, but she’s still babey. I adore her.

Ofelia gave me a mysterious look, full of night sky and brilliance, then added a crescent of a smile. She began climbing, one foot and then the other, effortlessly lifting herself up the branches as if she was built to do nothing but ascend trees, her tights protecting her modesty from me as I struggled up after her, unused to the climb. 

And then Ofelia describes a dream of mine every wlw: going a group of young women and becoming the modern Sappho. 

“I think I’ll buy a house somewhere by the ocean. Live with a group of girls who love books and pictures. Become my own Sappho, create my own Lesbos.” 

Then there’s this astute observation from Horacio about how Hamish views himself. Hamish doesn’t have a very good self-image. At all. Then again, neither does Horacio. 

You’d make yourself into an object sometimes, a cyclone of emotions and pain, held together by frozen flesh and string. 

So that just about wraps up these chapters. IV-VI really is the most intense part of this work, and writing it is is just as intense as the chapters themselves. 

Songs:

The music is mostly what I’ve been listening to while editing this post, since I already wrote these chapters, but they’re still jams

Your Love (Deja Vu) - Glass Animals

In the Heat of the Moment - Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds

Blood In the Cut - Seattle Sessions - K.Flay

Peach Scone - Hobo Johnson

That’s all for now! Part III will contain the falling action/the part where it gets Real.

Tell me if you’d like to be added to the tag list! :)

[mandowh0re]

The Universe Takes, and It Gives

CH 1

Summary: The war with Thanos is over, but some sacrifices still need to be made. Will Steve and Tony ever get their happy ending?

Warnings: language? Look you should know by now that all of my fics have that. Angst, unhealthy coping habits, mentions of suicide, eventual fluff.

A/N: In this fic, Thanos happens earlier, Civil War didn’t happen, and Peter is a baby. I also made up the name of the orphanage because I didn’t want to do research. The irondad part of this will be in the next chapter okay thanks for coming to my ted talk.

Word Count: 1554

Happy reading!

In order to destroy the soul stone, someone had to sacrifice themselves.

Steve and Tony stood on the edge of the cliff on Vormir, with Red Skull and Strange waiting behind them.

“A sacrifice for a sacrifice.” Skull had told them.

They had been standing there in stunned silence for the past two minutes. Finally, Steve spoke up.

“It should be me.”

Tony’s head snapped up, his eyes meeting Steve’s.

“What?? No. It needs to be me-“

“The world needs Tony Stark,” Steve interrupted, “It needs its best defender. It doesn’t need Captain America anymore.”

“But I do, Rogers! You can’t just… You can’t just leave! I can’t lose you!”

His voice broke at the end, and by this time tears were streaming down his cheeks and he was choking back sobs.

“Tony,”

“What about everything we wanted? What about the future we talked about! I- I had a ring, dammit! I had a ring for you when this was all over with and I… I can’t do this! Please, you can’t do this,” Tony was full on sobbing now, no longer caring who saw him.

Steve was doing his best not to cry. He didn’t want Tony to see him cry, to see that he was scared. Or that he too, had a ring.

Steve opened one of the many zippers on his pant legs and pulled out a small black, silk bag with a red string that kept it tied shut.

He gently placed a hand on Tony’s cheek, the smaller man leaning into the touch, and kissed his forehead, then his lips. He placed the small contraption Tony had created to hold each infinity stone into his lover’s hands, along with the tony bag.

“Keep the world turning. Because it doesn’t stop without me.”

Tony’s eyes flew open, “Steve, no, please-!“

Tony reached out with his empty hand, but it was too late. Steve had let himself fall back off of the cliff. He watched with horror as the love of his life fell to his final death.

A world war, a fight with a psychopath with a tesseract, a plane crash, seventy years in ice, a fight against aliens, a fight against a HYDRA super soldier and the rest of the murderous group, only to die by his own sacrifice.

The next thing Tony knew, he was sitting in the water, a ways away from where he had previously been a just few seconds ago. In his hand was the purple infinity stone, shattered and no longer glowing.

Taking a few moments to gather what had just happened, he tossed the pieces into the water and opened the bag that was now soaked.

Tipping it upside down, a beautiful silver band tumbled out onto his calloused hand.

Tony’s breath caught in his throat.

Carefully turning the ring, he caught sight of inscription on the inside.

You have been in every way, all I could ever want. I love you.

Strange ended up having to come get him, opening the portal and the cloak carrying most of Tony’s weight as they walked back to Earth.

As soon as the pair came into sight, it was immediately obvious that Steve wasn’t coming back. Nobody spoke a word.

Bucky did, however, fall to his knees. Natasha and Sam went to help him.

Strange handed Tony off to Rhodey, who took him back to the compound to try and sleep, and told the others to meet up there later.

Of course, Tony didn’t sleep. He didn’t eat. He didn’t tinker. He stayed in bed and cried, sometimes showering, and only because Rhodey threatened to use sedatives and give him a sponge bath.

After two weeks of unhealthy habits, starving himself, little to no sleep, and hardly getting any sunlight, Tony’s body shut down.

He was sitting at the table in the dining area, attempting to stomach the noodle soup Rhodey made for him when his vision began to blur and his hearing began to ring. When he tried to say something, he fell to the floor.

The first time he came to he couldn’t open his eyes, and his hearing was muffled, like he was underwater.

“-blood sugar is way too low… gurney up here…”

“-carry him…”

“-heart attack?”

Then he was out again.

The second time he came to he was laying on something softer. But he still couldn’t manage to open his eyes, or even move, to attempt to figure out his situation.

And to make matters worse, this time his hearing wasn’t even clear enough to make out any words around him.

Just an annoying rapid beep.

And what seemed like shouting.

Then he was out again.

The third time he came to, he woke up on the shore of the most beautiful beach he had ever seen. The sand was pink and the water was crystal clear. The sun was high and glittering off the water. There were shells scattered about. But not the tiny, broken, malformed shells you usually find. No, these were fully shaped, brightly colored shells, along with sea glass and sea dollars.

He looked around, finding he was the only one there.

“Hello?” He called out.

“Hello.” Answered an angelic voice.

He turned back around towards the water to see a woman walking out of the water onto shore. She was glowing, literally. Her dress was tan and seemed to flow with gold. Her hair was loose down her back, and a tiara sat on her head perfectly. Water droplets glinted off her dark skin.

For the first time in a long time, Tony was rendered absolutely speechless.

The woman smiled at him, stopping a few feet away.

“I have been so excited for this day. To finally meet the great Anthony Edward Stark. The mortal who defied all odds.”

Tony cleared his throat, his brain finally kicking into gear.

“I- I’m sorry. Who are you?”

“I do not have a name. Nor am I a being. I simply am.”

“That… Actually is the furthest thing from an answer.”

The woman chuckled.

“I am everything. I am the universe. But for the sake of making things easier, you may call me Celeste.”

Tony raised an eyebrow, “You’re the universe… Like you control all things and are all things?”

Celeste shrugged, “In a sense. I am here to help you-”

Tony scoffed, taking a step back, “Help me? Help me?? I’ve been suffering my whole life; I lost my parents, was blown up, tortured, ripped open, backstabbed, poisoned, beaten, lost the love of my life, and now you want to help me??” By now Tony was pacing, his heart pounding in his ears.

Celeste sighed, “Please believe that none of that was my doing. There is good and bad in the universe. As you already know. I am in control over the good. My brother is in control over the bad. Since you were born, we both knew you were destined for greatness, but we both wanted your greatness to amount to something different. When you became a hero, he became angry.

But when you destroyed the infinity stones and defeat a monster who was out to destroy half of of our being, he gave in. I can finally give you what you want most.” She spoke with confidence and power. She outstretched her hand and a white light moved from her palm to Tony, manifesting itself into Steve’s Captain America helmet.

“Steve,” Tony whispered.

But it seemed too good to be true.

“There is just one thing I ask in return,”

“Anything,” Tony looked back up at her.

“There is a boy. He is just over a year old. He lost everyone in this war. He needs someone. You and Steven will adopt him. Raise him as your own. This boy is special, and will grow up to change the world.”

Tony deflated, “Are you kidding me? I can’t just, become a parent! I’m not built to be one! Have you seen me lately? My boyfriend commits suicide to save the rest of us and I’m nearly killing myself.”

The woman only nods, “In time, it will come to you. Just like fighting, it is all in your instincts. You are a smart man, Anthony. You have many people by your side. And you would have Steven as well.”

Tony pulls at his hair and squeezes his eyes shut.

Get Steve back, and adopt a baby?

Maybe it wouldn’t be too bad. They’d finally have the little family they’d always joked about.

“Fine. Fine. I’ll do it. Just, please, give me back-“

***

“Steve!” Tony sat straight up clutching at nothing.

“Woah, Tony, calm down.” Bruce gently pushed Tony back against the medical bed.

“But S-Steve he sh-should have-“

“Yeah, he’s in the next room. Cho’s checking him right now.” Tony relaxed and Bruce made himself busy with checking his vitals, asking him basic questions, and checking his reflexes. Finally, he brought up the elephant in the room, “He just… Appeared out of nowhere. I thought you said he was dead?”

Tony stared at the wall, then at the TV which was displaying the news on mute.

At that moment, the name Queens Heart of Children Orphanage came across the screen, making Tony’s heart squeeze in a way he didn’t quite expect.

“Yeah,” he replied, “He was.”

***

Iron Dad tag list: @tranquility-or-chaos @a-black-pegasus @phiauniverse @justsomeone-notimportant @do-you-downey @ididntdothatnope @marvelbased @superlock-dispatch @terriblygoodrockandroll @love-every-fandom @starkaroos2034 @prism-opals @howisavebrainspace @multifandom-slytherin

Permanent tag list: @a-place-to-blog-marvel-stuff @yaarthoetree @yes-iamironman-blog @paradoxicalblueberry @irondadstan5687 @the-regal-warrior @transparentparadiseglitterzombie @marvelgem @propertyofmarvel @avngrsinitiative 

Strikethrough means I couldn’t tag you.

[allysartstuff]

Note: This has been drawn as a reference guide which is free to use if you wish to draw this character. However, please do not repost or claim as your own, thank you.

Finally, more Next Gen! Here's the ninth born and the eldest of The Young Five. Lucky Bug

Personality: Inquisitive, sarcastic, excitable, nervous, smart, easily embarrassed.

Likes: Insects, singing, wild adventures, camping, pretty things (and mares).

Dislikes: Discord’s interest in his love life, his eyes and horns, ponies staring, getting wound up.

Story;

Lucky Bug is the eldest son and second born of Fluttershy and Discord. He is the middle child, younger brother to Upsy Daisy and older brother to Hullabaloo.

Lucky was born out of unusual circumstances. He wasn't conceived inside the womb like Daisy was. In fact, Fluttershy and Discord were very careful not to have any more ‘accidents’ again. However, that was not meant to be. For a long time, Discord kept experiencing terrible stomach aches. According to the doctors, though, he was perfectly healthy. They were completely baffled as to where the source of the pain was coming from. It had gotten so bad that Discord sometimes couldn't get out of bed. Fluttershy tried her best to help her husband but nothing seemed to ease his pain. One day, the family were having breakfast when suddenly, Discord doubled over in pain, twitching and writhing until finally, he fainted. On the chair where he was now sat a large green and red dragon-like egg. Fluttershy, shocked and in a tizzy, rushed to get the vet, doctor and Twilight over while Daisy attended to her exhausted father. Nopony could explain why or how Discord developed an egg and laid it, not even Discord himself.

Nevertheless, once it was revealed that there was a Pegasus embryo inside, the pair made preparations for a new baby, despite their exasperation at another accident and Daisy’s confusion as to where babies actually come from. The egg was placed in an incubator and kept a close eye on for several months.

And in those several months, a lot happened. Eight year old Daisy was kidnapped and tortured for a week and even after she was rescued, she developed bad PTSD and other mental health problems and anxieties that would stay with her for the rest of her life. Starting a day after her rescue, Daisy hid in a kitchen cupboard for a month. She only came out once she realised the egg was beginning to hatch but it was struggling to do so. She helped the egg hatch properly and out popped a wailing green baby pegasus with pink hair. It was only after that did Daisy begin to get better mentally and went outside to see her friends. Baby Lucky didn’t know it, but he just about saved Daisy’s life.

Despite his unusual beginnings, Lucky enjoyed life as any ordinary pony would. He became best friends with the children of his parents’ friends, Berry Bubblegum, Lickety-Split, Opal and Forelle. As a foal, he was teased relentlessly by the local bullies about his red and yellow eyes and the fact that his coat was slowly turning yellow. This did unfortunately cause him to be very image conscious about these small things he couldn’t control but he always relied on his best friend Lickety-Split to chase those bullies away.

Lucky is the least chaotic out of the Fluttercord children. He had chaotic powers, sure, but rarely needed to use them and was a relatively well behaved kid. He only every got into serious trouble once. Like his mother, Lucky can talk to animals but he seem to only use this ability to communicate with insects. Fascinated by what he learned from the insects, he poured himself into learning everything and anything he could. To say he was utterly obsessed was an understatement and his bedroom became a safe haven for all things creepy crawly. When Lucky was ten, he went of exploring to find more bugs, both to observe their natural behaviours and to add to his collection. He was gone for two days, sleeping in the woods with no shelter and feeding of wild berries and mushrooms, yet he loved every minute of it. However, he didn’t tell his parents before he left. Discord and Fluttershy were beside themselves in panic, fearing he had been taken as well. Discord’s magic didn’t work on his children so he couldn’t locate him. They were hugely relieved when Lucky walked through the front door, smiling with mud in his coat, twigs in his hair, carrying his various bugs and a brand new cutie mark of a ladybug on a leaf on his flank. He was also super grounded once he told them where he had been.

His early teenage years were challenging. Despite hating his eyes and horns, Lucky was (and still is) considered to be very handsome by many mares at school. Some even find his eyes and horns attractive in an edgy way, even though, personality-wise, he is far from that. However, he did develop a liking to pretty mares but was far too shy to ask them out himself, prompting Split to literally shove him into his crushes just to get him to talk to them. Lickety-Split wasn’t always the best wingman but it was far better than Lucky’s own father. Once Discord caught Lucky staring dreamily at Opal, Rarity’s daughter. He immediately made it his new life mission to set them up, pushing him to talk to her, magically conjuring gifts for Lucky to give her and setting up this most romantic dates ever. Each attempt embarrassed and irritated Lucky more and more. Discord even got Upsy Daisy roped into it, but only because she saw this as another opportunity to wind up Lucky.

Thankfully, Opal didn’t mind too much. She actually did develop feelings for Lucky during the two dranconequis’ meddling and she really wanted a nice guy after being treated like dirt by the rich famous jerks in Canterlot. After another one of Discord and Daisy’s date set ups, the pair managed to sneak away. They had their own ‘not-really-a-date’, exploring the forests around Ponyville on a midsummer night. It wasn’t long before they confessed their mutual feelings to each other and began dating. Discord still takes full credit for the success, much to Lucky and Fluttershy’s annoyance.

In the current timeline, Lucky is eighteen and in his last year of school. He would like to study insects and bugs as a career and plans to go to university once he is done with school. He is still dating Opal. Unfortunately, Discord has yet to stop pestering Lucky about that.

Bits and Pieces

The reason for Lucky’s existence didn't come to fruition until many years after he hatched. Twilight found a very old scroll on dragonequi, which explained a very rare instance of reproduction in the species. If a dragonequus feels the deepest and truest of love for another, it begins to create an egg made of that love, regardless of gender or if the other is a different species. Otherwise, dragonequi make babies the normal way. Discord didn't know about it as he hadn't been around his own kind for a very long time. After learning this, both Daisy and Lucky were afraid of the same thing happening to them when they were in their own relationships but luckily that never happened.

Lucky and Daisy care for each other very much, especially since Daisy considers Lucky to be her life saver. However, Lucky is just far to easy to annoy and Daisy finds it very funny.

Lucky wasn’t born with horns. One day, he complained about having a terrible headache all day, which got worse after bedtime. In the morning, a sleep deprived Lucky, trudged into the kitchen with his family staring at him. He had literally sprung up two identical goat horns overnight. Mortified at the thought to going to school like this, he begged Discord and Daisy to remove them when his attempts failed. But no matter how many times they made them disappear, the horns grew right back immediately. Like his eyes, he has since learned to live with them but that didn’t stop an embarrassing day at school with everyone staring and giggling at him.

Lucky has a draconequus from but he prefers his pony image.

As a baby, Upsy Daisy was quiet and never fussed at night. Lucky was the opposite. Every night, he would scream so loud, Discord had to soundproof the cottage as to not wake all of Ponyville again and brake every single window. Both parents had very restless night in those early days.

Lucky uses his chaos powers for his bug research, such as shrinking down to an ant’s size to interact with a colony.

Lucky was born green, like his grandfather and uncle, but the green gradually faded to yellow as he got older.

Like his mother, Lucky has a beautiful singing voice, though he is more comfortable singing in front of others. He and Fluttershy like to sing together a lot. When Opal has had a bad day, she asks Lucky to sing for her and it soothes her every time.

Lucky’s godmother is Treehugger. While Treezy loves to hang out with her little dude of a godchild, Lucky is a little uneasy about her. Sure, she loved nature just as much as he did but she was all about spirit, embracing, chakras and other strange things while he was into studying nature and insects for research. Not that he hated her, she was just too...odd for him (ironic considering his family).

Lucky’s romance with Opal is ridiculously sugary sweet and playful. Despite their differing interests, they adore spending time together, teasing and flirting with each other while taking picnics together. However, unlike Opal’s brother Ace Dany and his boyfriend Bramble, they strictly keep their flirtiness private.

Lucky is terrified of Fluttershy’s stare, something that’s impervious to Daisy and Hullabaloo.

Lucky Bug © Me

My Little Pony © Hasbro

[gdialex]

Hello, Ms. ALEXANDRA TAYLOR. My name is Detective Booth and I’m handling this case. I don’t need to go into details; you know why you’re here, and we already have you down as a suspect in her death. We’ve got witnesses to corroborate and a budding timeline, but we need more information from you directly. Make my day easier and cooperate with me on this, will ya’? I just need you to answer these questions for me. Do me a favor and don’t lie – you’re talking to a trained professional right now, I’ll be able to pick up on certain things whether you realize it or not. Lying will only come back to bite your ass later on. Just some food for thought. Let’s begin.

alex didn’t break the rules; that was her thing. she always did the responsible thing, the practical thing, the right thing. she was dependable. i.e.: she wasn’t the kind of girl that you’d expect to see being questioned in a police station. maybe that’s why her palms couldn’t stop sweating––or maybe it was because she broke the rules everyday, and she just hadn’t been caught yet.  

Q: I’m gonna’ start light. I hate interrogators who go straight into the hard stuff, ya’ know? I find it impolite. So, tell me a little about yourself. Give me your full name.

she cleared her throat and wiped her palms on her jeans before quietly murmuring, “alexandra penelope taylor.” she twisted her mother’s opal ring around her finger a couple times, looking up from her hands when the detective didn’t respond. he was looking at her expectantly, pen carefully perched in his hand, so she cleared her throat again and added, “i, um, i’m on the soccer team. my major is biochem. i don’t know...i’m not really that interesting.”   

Q: Alright. Tell me your date of birth and age.

“august 29th, 1999––so i just turned twenty.” these were supposed to be the easy questions. she wasn’t sure why she could feel her heart jumping up her throat.   

Q: Where did you grow up? What was your home life like? Tell me about your family and your upbringing. Give me your story.

alex shifted in her seat and reached for her ring again, stroking the pad of her pointer finger over the smooth surface of the iridescent stone. “i don’t really see how that’s relevant to morgan’s death,” she mumbled. detective booth gave her another blank stare, and alex sighed softly under her breath. “i’m from here. i grew up with my dad, my sister, and my brother. my childhood was pretty average, you know, peewee soccer, skinned knees, homemade volcanoes...the usual.”   

detective booth arched his brow and stopped writing, “and your mother.”    

alex set her jaw and tried not to look too defiant, “she wasn’t around.” booth started writing, and alex’s heart started creeping up her throat again as she went through every serial killer with an absentee parent in her mind, bottom lip tucked between her teeth. the detective waited for her to continue, but alex kept her lips firmly pressed together this time. she didn’t need to get into her family trauma in order to prove that she wasn’t a murderer.   

Q: Tell me about the most impactful people in your life. I’m not picky – they can be good or bad impacts.

she wanted to protest the relevancy of the question again, but detective booth didn’t look like he was in the mood for her technicalities anymore, so she folded her arms over her chest and leaned back against her chair, “gerty cori, marie curie, audrey evans...” her cheeks flushed as booth cleared his throat, scratching the back of her neck. “i suppose if you meant people i actually know, that’d be my best friend shiloh sinclair’s parents. maura took me prom dress shopping and taught me how to use a tampon, and piers took me to cubs games and taught me how to fish.” she smiled a little at the popsicle-stained memories and bit down on the inside of her cheek,  “...and shiloh, too. he makes me a better person. he makes me want to be good enough to be his friend.” she forgot for a moment that she was talking to the man investigating shiloh’s dead girlfriend’s murder. she quickly wiped the dopey, lovesick smile off of her face. 

Q: What are your goals in life? What would be your ideal final ending? What would help you reach these goals?

“i want to be a surgeon. ideally, chief of my chosen field.” alex smiled a little and shrugged her shoulders slightly, “i’m kind of an overachiever. i already have a ten-year plan set in place, so i don’t really need to worry about how i’m going to reach my goals.”  

Q: How would you describe yourself?

alex blinked a couple times and chewed on her bottom lip. she hated that question with every fiber of her tiny being. she knew what she wanted people to think about her, and she knew what people actually thought about her––but she had no idea what she actually was. she’d been playing pretend for such a long time; it was hard to remember which face was real.  “responsible,” she finally said, brushing her fingers through her hair, “and tenacious. i’ve been told that i’m more than a little stubborn sometimes, too.” 

Q: What do you do in your free time? What’s your idea of fun? What sports or extracurriculars are you in at Hyland University?

detective booth’s impatience be damned, alex sighed and pursed her lips, “i really don’t see how this is helping you figure out who killed morgan. i play soccer––does that make me a killer? do all psychos have a penchant for futból and science, or are they more into golf and chess?” 

Q: Do you drink? Smoke? Take drugs of any kind? Answer carefully on this one, kid.

alex had to put a lot of effort into not looking guilty, into not thinking about the bottles of pills stuffed underneath her nail polish drawer. for someone who lied all the time, she was really bad at it. “coach would kick my ass if i jeopardized state.” 

detective booth narrowed his brows, “is that a no?”

she narrowed her brows back at him and met his gaze, keeping her chin steady, “that’s an emphatic and resolute no.”  

Q: Tell me about the relationships in your life. Friendships, romantic, everything in between. 

she bit down on the tip of her tongue to keep herself from letting out a large groan. he was almost as bad as the shrink her dad made her see after her mother left. “i’ve been kind of seeing this guy. it’s not serious––and i really only have one friend. shiloh’s been my best friend for as long as i can remember. he’s the only person i can count on no matter what.”    

Q: What’s the best thing that has ever happened to you? What’s the worst? Q: Let me throw in a fun one, lighten up the mood. Would you rather only be able to tell the truth or only be able to lie?

arching her brows, alex drummed her fingers on top of the interrogation table. she hadn’t been sleeping well, and she was beginning to let her irritation get the best of her. “are you using psychology as your main source of evidence ?? because it’s totally bullshit. you should really get your forensic team in here to ask me relevant questions that could actually catch a killer.” 

Q: Did you kill Morgan Parrish? 

alex folded her arms over her chest and leaned back in her seat, snorting, “has that ever actually worked for you?” detective booth didn’t look impressed, so she sighed and added, “no. of course not.” 

Q: Let’s get some background information on this. How do you know Morgan Parrish?

it didn’t seem wise to mention all the ways that morgan had ruined her life before she was murdered, so alex twisted a strand of her hair around her finger and said, “we met on the cheer squad freshman year. we were friends, good friends. she kind of took me under her wing.” it wasn’t a lie. she just...wasn’t telling the complete truth.    

Q: Explain the extent of your relationship with her. Was it platonic? Civil? Rocky? Romantic?

“like i said, we were friends.” she paused at booth’s almost isdecernatble frown, “we sort of drifted apart the couple months before she...passed on.” 

the sound of his pen on paper was really doing a number on her heart-rate. “define drifted apart.”

“it’s pretty self-explanatory, and it happens all the time. life just got in the way, and we didn’t really have much in common after i quit the squad.” 

“except her boyfriend.”

alex’s eyes went sharp for a brief moment before she painted a docile expression on her face,  “we were all good friends, yes. ask anyone. we used to hang out together when i wasn’t too busy at the lab or with homework.”

Q: In your own words, describe Morgan Parrish to me.

“she was...unforgettable. a real force of nature, you know?” that wasn’t even a lie. it was one of the many things that alex was jealous of. it was no wonder why people gravitated to her. she had her own gravitational pull, and alex would always be stuck in someone else’s orbit.   

Q: Would you say your life got better or worse upon meeting Morgan Parrish?

“depends on the day.” she tried for a wry grin, but detective booth didn’t look convinced, so alex added, “if it weren’t for her, i would’ve have met a lot of the most important people in my life.” she also wouldn’t have lost a lot of the most important people in her life, but that seemed irrelevant.   

Q: What was your favorite thing about her?

“she was brave. she did whatever the fuck––sorry, she did whatever she wanted, and she didn’t care what people thought about her. i really envied that about her.” saying something nice about morgan left a bitter taste in her mouth, but she covered it up with a soft smile. for the first time in her life, alex was grateful for her baby cheeks. people always said that she had a trustworthy face. 

Q: What was your least favorite thing about her?

“she...could be insensitive sometimes. she didn’t think about other people’s feelings when she really wanted something.” or ever. 

Q: Where were you the night of her murder?

“i don’t really remember. probably studying––i’m always studying if i’m not at practice or the lab. it’s probably a safe bet that i was with shiloh, too. do people actually remember where they were on a random day of the week almost a year ago?” 

Q: Where were you the day before?

“like i said, probably studying. i don’t really have much of a life outside of my major and soccer.” 

Q: Where were you after?

alex just stared at him for a long time before he started writing again, hopefully picking up on the fact that she ,,, uh ,,, didn’t fucking remember. 

Q: How did you feel about her passing?

“it was a tragedy,” alex repeated the party line numbly, flashing back to just after she found out. truthfully, she wasn’t sure how she felt. maybe she was a little relieved––happy, even––but mostly she felt sick, so fucking sick at the thought of being turned into someone that could be happy about the death of a person she once knew.    

Q: What do you think about the way she died? Just as a refresher, Morgan Parrish was drugged, strangled, beaten, and then shot.

alex winced as she pictured all the blood and swallowed hard, curling her fingers into her palms. “i think...that no one deserves to die like that...no matter what they’ve done.” 

Q: Did you make any sort of tribute to her death and put it on social m-

Another interrogator walks into the room. She’s holding a folder with your picture clipped to the front. She opens it in front of Detective Booth and whispers something into his ear. He shoots you a look and then excuses himself from the room. He returns twenty minutes later, features stony. He quickly writes something down on his notepad and then caps the pen.

Q: Change of plans. I’m going to scrap the questions I had prepared and ask you what I see fit. Where were you exactly the night Morgan Parrish died?

alex looked around the room wildly until her eyes landed on a very old picture of herself. she looked younger (( if that were even possible )) and frowned at the thickness of the folder. “i, uh, i just told him that i don’t know. i mean, i don’t remember. it was a long time ago.”   

Q: Tell me all the details you can remember from that night.

dropping her head into her hands, alex massaged her temples and closed her eyes to keep the migraine forming at bay. she could really fucking use a pill right now. “like i said before, i was probably studying. maybe i was working in the lab. i’d have to ask my boss for the schedule––if she even kept the schedule from last year.”  

Q: Were you intoxicated at any point?

“of course not. i rarely drink, and if i do i don’t get drunk. i’m not a moron; i have a lot of plans for my liver.”  

Q: Are there any witnesses able to corroborate your story?

“maybe my co-worker steven rich...if i was studying, i might’ve been alone.” 

Q: I feel like you’re leaving things out. Tell me all the details you can remember from that night.

“you can ask me as loudly as you want; that’s not going to magically make me remember a totally insignificant day.”

Q: … are you telling me the truth, kid? We got six other students we’re talking to today – sure would suck for you if one of ‘em was able to prove that something you’re saying is false. 

“only six? i’m shocked. morgan knew everyone on campus. did you even check the greek life roster?”  

Q: What was the last thing you said to Morgan?

alex’s smirk faltered for a moment, and she absently started drawing little circles on her kneecaps. the last thing she ever said to morgan was that she hoped that she dropped dead. sometimes, she still felt a little guilty about it. “probably that i’d see her on campus,” she finally said in a small voice.  

Q: Have you ever gotten into a physical altercation with Morgan before?

she gaped at the detective for a moment and then shook her head, “of course not. she would’ve kicked my ass.” 

Q: Have you ever fought verbally with Morgan?

“...friends fight sometimes. it’s not that weird.”  

Q: Would you say you felt safe around Morgan?

alex would actually say that she never felt more unsafe than when she was around morgan, but she absolutely did not say that. instead, she said, “i don’t...i don’t really feel completely comfortable around anyone.” her lips twitched into a soft smile, “except for shiloh.” 

Q: Do you wish you had never met Morgan?

tilting her head slightly, she pursed her lips together and shrugged her shoulders, “i wouldn’t be the person i am today if i hadn’t met her.” and who didn’t love being riddled with carefully implanted insecurities?  

Q: Do you own a gun?

“what? no. i’m very anti-gun, did you know that in switzerland––” 

Q: Have you handled a gun before?

she glared at the detective as she was cut off and tossed her hair over her shoulder,  “obviously not.” 

Q: Do you know someone who owns a gun?

“i’m pretty sure the president is carrying. why don’t you ask him if he shot morgan. he has quite the temper.” 

Q: Have you gotten into physical fights before?

alex snorted and glanced down at herself, “yeah, ‘cause i look like the kind of person that thinks they could take someone in a fist fight.” she rolled her eyes as the detective waited for her to actually answer her question, “no. i’ve never gotten into a physical altercation––unless you count the time some girl broke my nose on the field, but i’m pretty sure the definition of fight entails that i fought back.” 

Q: Is there anyone who can prove where you say you were on the night of her death?

“like i said about ,,, uh ,,, seven times, check with my boss. i’m pretty sure that i was working. her name is professor stroud.”

Q: Do you think Morgan deserved to die?

“no, of course not.” they really didn’t have the time to get into a deep discussion on the ethics of death, did they? because alex had some complex thoughts on the subject.

Q: Do you wish she was still alive?

“i don’t know.” alex let out a dramatically wistful sigh and shrugged her shoulder, “maybe she’s in a better place.” 

Q: Do you miss her?

she blinked, surprised at the instinct to say yes, and chewed on her bottom lip. there was a time when they had been close. morgan was...awful, you couldn’t deny that, but she also had a way of making you feel incredibly special sometimes just because she was putting up with your miserable existence––or maybe that was just alex. “more than i ever thought i could.” 

Q: Has your life gotten better or worse since her death?

“i don’t know. it’s just different. different different.” 

Q: If you could bring her back to life, would you?

“that’s an extremely illogical question, and i refuse to answer on behalf of rationalists everywhere.”  

Q: Are you hiding something from the people of Hyland? From your family? From me?

she wiped the sweat off of her palms onto her jeans, “nothing pertinent to the investigation.” 

Q: Have you been telling the truth this entire time?

“yes.” 

Q: Did you kill Morgan Parrish?

“no.”

[zupeiza]

Korrasami Month 2018 - The Race

Once upon a time, Atalanta was a powerful huntress that had made a vow to never marry. Surrendering to her father insistence, she offered to marry anyone who could outrun her—but those whom she overtook she speared. In one race Hippomenes was given three of the golden apples of the Hesperides by the goddess Aphrodite; when he dropped them, Atalanta stopped to pick them up and so lost the race.

Jinora closed the ancient book she was examining and sighed. After putting it back on the shelf, she pondered where to look for reading material next. Republic City Public Library had seriously taken its toll after Kuvira's attack, and to make things worse, becoming the hiding spot for a particularly vicious gang of firebending crooks reduced the amount of salvageable books and scrolls to less of a hundred.

The young master airbender looked outside through the newly-restored windows. If only they could access to all the knowledge they had in Wan Shi Tong's library... They wouldn't even need to bring the originals with them, maybe just... copy them? In some format that was not so flammable, if possible? She made a mental note to talk with Asami about that, she would probably figure out a way to manage it.

But until then, maybe visiting Wan Shi Tong's library was enough. Maybe the librarian would allow them just browsing the material. After all, the Unalaq debacle had happened years ago. And yet, she was reluctant to try. But she glanced the single shelf with all the remaining reading material they had. It was time to at least try.

She sat cross legged on the floor. The library was empty and the restoration works had managed to turn it back to its silent state. It was a good place to meditate. Better than home, even, without Ikki and Meelo interruptions. She concentrated, and in the blink of an eye there she was, in the middle of her favourite place of the spirit's world. Some knowledge-seeking foxes were startled by her apparition, but they went back to their business, and Wan Shi Tong was nowhere to be seen. Well... maybe she could just take a look to some of the books there, before she faced the scary owl spirit.

She looked around. The aisle where she had appeared was as good place as any to begin her search. The banner at the head of the aisle read "Greek mythology". Uh-huh, whatever that is, let's find out - she thought. She took a beautifully decorated volume that called her attention, it had really detailed illustrations of people - nude people in some cases, she realized, blushing - with strange-looking robes, nothing like she had seen on any of the Four Nations styles. Also, the animals, or spirits, were different to what she was used to. "Maybe 'greek' means 'fantasy'" she muttered to herself. She opened at a random page and began reading. "In Greek mythology Atalanta was an Arcadian heroine-"

***

"I don't care what you want, father! Just because you want a heir for Future Industries, it doesn't mean you get to decide who I marry with!"

Asami stormed off her father's office slamming the door. She was sick of it, of all the self-absorbed, full-of-themselves suitors pursuing her day and night. Sometimes it was charming, granted, but very soon, every time, she discovered that they weren't interested on how she was but what she was, a heiress. And she wasn't just that! Not to boast, but she was a brilliant engineer, a more-than-capable fighter and an excellent driver and...

"That's it!" She stopped on her tracks and went back to Hiroshi's Sato office. She opened without knocking only to find her father lost in thought.

"I'll marry... whoever beats me in the racetrack." Hiroshi's brow arched, he didn't expect that. "But if I win, you have to make those candidates of yours to stop pursuing me, and you will not ever attempt to force me into any marriage". Asami crossed her arms awaiting a response.

Hiroshi pondered for a moment. Yes, she was her best satomobiles tester, but that didn't mean she was the best driver in the world. He was starting to feel desperate with his attempts to secure his legacy, and the look in Asami's eyes made her think this was no bluff but an ultimatum.

"Very well, it will be as you wish" Asami dropped her arms as she wasn't expecting her father to agree so quickly. "But this will require some time to prepare... " He looked at the calendar in his desktop and browsed through its pages "It will be in three months from today."

Asami nodded, and started planning her practice schedule. Three months was more than enough to achieve perfection. There was no way she was going to lose this. There was just too much at stake.

***

"You won't believe what Huan just told me!" Opal announced stepping into the training grounds of the Air Temple Island. Bolin and Korra stopped their training session and looked at her. "My brother Wei is entering the road race to opt to Asami Sato's hand!" Bolin and Korra remained silent and exchanged an amused look. "What?" Opal exclaimed, throwing suspicious glances to both of them.

Korra shrugged and said nonchalantly "Nothing! I just thought Wei of all people wouldn't be so interested in... *ahem* ... plus isn't he a bit young for marrying?" Bolin sniggered beside her, not really helping the Avatar to get out of trouble.

Opal decided it wasn't worth to feel offended, in fact she had thought very much the same when receiving the news. "Well, it seems like Mr. Sato is trying to establish some sort of industrial empire, so he has been contacting most of the big families throughout all four nations searching for a *worthy* heir for his daughter, and that includes my own one. But apparently there is a catch, and it's that she has only agreed to marry if she is beaten in a road race. And according to this article it will take place in less than three months" She showed the newspaper in her hand to her boyfriend and Korra. Korra held the article but couldn't tear her eyes from the picture of the Future Industries heiress even if Opal continued with her explanations "But you're right, and I just think this is a last resort kind of thing for Mom trying to marry off Wei..." Opal finished sheepishly. Her mother seemed to be very open in other aspects of life, but when it came to her children she was adamant to let them live their lives freely. "Well, I'll leave you to it, sorry I interrupted your training!" and with a swift of air she flew out towards the air bisons barn.

Bolin noticed Korra was still transfixed with the newspaper article. He waved his hand in front of Korra's eyes to break the spell, but she seemed lost in thought. Then Korra raised her eyes from the article and muttered "Bolin, I think I'm in love". Bolin looked surprised to his friend, looked at the dark beauty picture in the newspaper and back to his friend. He started jumping up and down and screamed "OOOOHHHH!! This is so goophhhh mmhhh!!" Korra muffled his mouth bending a chunk of earth to silent him while shushing her excited buddy. Bolin tried to look outraged while he spitted the soil out, but he couldn't help to be happy for her. He stopped moving and putting his hand in Korra's shoulder he whispered "Okay, but you know we need a plan, right?". Korra grinned, noticing he supported her, no questions asked, and then she leaned into him, murmuring in a conspiracy tone "I think I have a solution that will work out just fine for Wei... and for me".

***

"The answer is no." Beifong's answer was curt, and she went back to her paperwork.

Bolin looked exasperated and tried to elaborate "But... but... How can you say no? It's a noble cause! Love! Young Love!” Bolin looked at his brother for help. The Chief of Police was actively trying to ignore them but they needed her, if they wanted to have a chance in all this craziness. Mako sighed and tried a different angle. "Chief, I agree all this... is nonsense,” Bolin frowned “but think about your nephew. He's being forced to compete for something he doesn't even want! I can't believe you agree with that".

Lin stopped writing and held the bridge of her nose. The two brothers looked at her expectantly. "All right, I'll do it! But only because you two nosy punks won't leave me alone!" Lin looked up to them, they were smiling and Bolin was tempted to initiate a hug, but realised it wasn't a good idea. The chief dismissed both with her hand, and they complied quickly before she changed her mind.

Wei had already agreed to their plan in the phone. He would train his driving skills back in Zaofu to avoid suspicion, but once in Republic City for the race event, Korra and he would swap, leaving her compete in his place. Having Chief Beifong onboard granted they wouldn't have any issue infiltrating the race, and more importantly, she would be a perfect coach for Korra's driving lessons. Everything was going very, very well.

***

"Brake! BRAAAKEEE!!!" Metal squeaked when bent to pull the satomobile to a stop. Korra, with her knuckles almost white on the wheel, pouted. Lin grunted, and tried to compose herself. She turned to the back of the satomobile to find Mako and Bolin, all color drained out of their faces. "This is not working, kids" the Chief of Police said without emotion. "And at this point I'm not allowing her in a car, much less in the middle of a car race! She is a hazard for anyone in her way!"

Mako ignored the Avatar indignant cry and offered "Maybe if she isn't driving?" His audience turned to him, waiting for an explanation. "I know Varrick has been working on some kind of autonomous mechanism for satomobiles, he has been blabbering about it for weeks in the press. Maybe he could put one of those in Korra's satomobile, and at least she would be less... dangerous?" Korra huffed again, but again she was ignored. The date for the race was only a few days away, and it was a fact that Korra's advances driving were mostly non-existant. For an Avatar who had managed to bend four elements, it was astounding how incapable she was to manage mechanical devices.

Bolin nodded "That might work, I'll talk to Varrick later. He owes me some favors from the times we were together in the movers business, so I think I can bring him onboard." He was getting excited again, and that made Korra abandon her pouting face, but Lin just shook her head. "If that works, that would solve the fact that Korra doesn't run anyone over - which frankly, would make my life much easier - but we also need Asami to lose, and she is a really accomplished driver. And I don't think we can tamper with Asami's car, they would find out about any attempt to sabotage."

Mako nodded in agreement, "Then we need to distract her. But how?"

***

"Raava, I need your help" Korra's inner voice murmured during her meditation.

The light spirit made her presence known to the Avatar, and prompted her to make her request. "Avatar Korra... What is bothering you?..."

Korra gulped. "I need to know about a human, Asami Sato... " Korra fiddled with her hands, suddenly thinking this was not such a good idea. "I need to know her weak spots... but it's for a good cause!" Korra extended her hands, trying to justify herself. The light spirit made something similar to a sigh sound, their connection had made clear what kind of good cause was pressing the Avatar to ask for her help.

"She is a builder, but she is no bender. She needs tools..." the spirit voice was getting weaker, but before disappearing Raava imprinted an image in her mind. It was a workshop... a Future Industries workshop... and inside there was a cabinet containing a box... a toolbox marked with an anagram "A.S.". And as quickly as it came, the image disappeared from Korra's mind.

Korra woke up from her meditation. She was back in her room and Mako and Bolin were looking at her with expectation. Korra cocked her head. "I'm gonna be needing... tools?"

***

Mako didn't feel proud. He was a cop, he was supposed to catch trespassers, not become one of them. And yet here he was, holding a cloth with a wrench, a screwdriver and a hammer belonging to Asami Sato. He handed the evidence to the Avatar, embarrassed. Korra opened the package, examined its content and hugged her friend. She knew the effort he had made to break the rules for her.

The race day had arrived. Varrick had done a good job automatising the car. They had a trial the day before and it worked seamlessly. They had even managed to make a decent mark, with Chief Beifong driving remotely. Korra put on her helmet and pulled the zipper of the overalls Wei had just taken off. Together with the scarf and gloves, nobody would notice the deceit.

She hugged a last time her two friends and a very relieved Wei, and left the locker room for the starting grid. There were six other participants, but she had sneaked into their practice and she knew they weren't rivals to her - thanks to Varrick's device, that is. Korra took the seat of her satomobile, nodded towards Chief Beifong who was half hidden in a secluded box seat, and got ready to start.

Asami Sato was the last participant to reach her car. She flipped her long, raven black hair before fitting her googles, and looked back to her competition. She smiled smugly, and sat down in her seat.

All engines roared, ready to start. Ikki held a chequered flag by its pole, and upon Hiroshi Sato nod, she waved it down, with Meelo merrily floating in a small hurricane made by himself at her side.

The satomobiles sped up, wheels rotating at a burnout before shooting off. After just a few seconds, Asami Sato red roadster was clearly in advantage of all her suitors, with Korra's silver roadster following closely.

Asami sight was focused on the track, but her peripheral vision caught a glint of something shiny in that next opponent. She frowned when she recognised one of the hammers of her personal toolbox. The other driver threw it aside to the road margin. The distraction made her slow down, allowing her adversary to take the lead.

Korra was ecstatic, the plan was working! She laughed, exhilarated, until she noticed Asami's roadster was again at her level. Korra frowned, and got ready to use her second "secret weapon". She took the screwdriver, and purposedly wiggled it for the engineer to see. Asami was alternating looks to the road and to her opponent now, and Korra smiled at the heiress gaping mouth when she realized Korra had another tool of hers in her power.

Again, Korra threw the screwdriver to the road margin, allowing herself to mouth "Oops!", very much to Asami's anger. The engineer had slowed down again, but the rage towards this... this... dirty... Beifong scumbag... made her regain her focus and push to the metal. She managed to get matched again. There was absolutely no way she was going to let herself lose to some cheater.

Korra made a long face, but she still had her last ace up the sleeve. The wrench she had in her hand looked the same quality than the other tools, but much more worn away, probably a favourite for the engineer. Again she made sure Asami was looking at her, and shook it in front of the heiress eyes.

Asami couldn't believe it. "No, not Wrenchie, how do you DARE!" She was so dumbfounded she didn't realize until she saw the other car's rear plate that she had given up so much advantage. From behind, she could see how her nemesis threw her dearest tool to the side of the road. She was fueled by her fury and hit the gas as much as she could.

Korra winced. What she saw in the rear mirror was a very VERY angered Asami speeding up. Well, she would really have to make amends afterwards. She crossed her fingers and prayed that Chief Beifong floored it as much as she could. The finish line was closing, and Asami's roadster was still a little behind. "Come on... come on..." Korra was muttering to herself now, and then, all she could see was a the chequered flag waving again, and a red blur passing her after the line. She had won. Unbelievable.

"Wooohooo!!" She cheered and threw her right arm to the air, trying to maintain her cover. When the satomobile stopped, she jumped out of her seat and started to bounce up and down.

Asami Sato was making a beeline towards her. Maybe she was no firebender, but Korra could feel fire glowing from her green eyes. She was even more beautiful in person, Korra thought. "You cheater! How did you get hold of my tools! How do you d..." Asami seemed to lose her train of thought when Korra took her helmet off. The Avatar tried her best smile, and it seemed to be working.

"You are not Wei Beifong" Asami stated puzzled. And then something made click in her head. "You're the Avatar. You're the Avatar!" This outcome was not bad after all. Asami licked her lips, smiled and flipped back her hair. "But you really are a cheater, don't think I'm forgiving you so easily"

"So... I guess me winning means we're engaged now?" asked Korra with a goofy grin plastered in her face. Asami laughed and, knowing her father was approaching them, she took the Avatar's face with her hands and kissed her.

"What do you think you're doing?"

***

That wasn't Hiroshi Sato's voice. Jinora blinked twice, before recognising her surroundings, and Wan Shi Tong voice. She gasped, and closed the book she had fallen asleep upon. She smiled awkwardly and raised to her feet. Wan Shi Tong was in front of her, extending his wings to make himself more frightening. Bowing, she tried to calm herself, and appeal to the owl spirit knowledge hunger. "Honorable Wan Shi Tong, do you know how satomobiles work?"

Atalanta's myths are told, among others, in Ovid's "Metamorphoses". It's actually quite a cool character, one of the toughest chicks of the Greek Mythology :)

I'm not sure if it is a canon divergence... but dreams sometimes diverge from reality, so...

Comments, edits, suggestions... are very welcome. I hope you enjoy it!

[passednote]

Iwan on Halsted Street

This story is a bit more on the recent side. Please note that this is an adaptation of events, and therefore details have been altered or recontextualized. I am not an impartial actor in this or any story, and will not pretend otherwise.

Iwan is an architect, and the youngest son of Lucjan and Francesca. His two brothers are Tymon the Eldest and Marcel the Middle. Born in the city of Chicago, Iwan was twelve years old when the first cases of HIV were reported in the United States in 1981.

Tymon, Marcel, and Iwan were taught to play baseball, go to church, and never watch the news. The baseball diamond was just about as sacred as ground would get for the three brothers, whose heads were filled with promises of future greatness, given enough practice. Unfortunately, Iwan found himself unable to focus long enough to remember to catch the ball.

In class, Iwan would be distracted by the improper mixtures of colors on wallpaper, the ever so slightly crooked arrangement of desks, the incorrect distribution of windows to classrooms. He would dream his way into detention once or twice a month. He was fickle and flighty, with a tendency to prefer the company of his girl classmates.

When his English teacher told him to shape up or he’d catch the gay cancer, Iwan knew better than to ask Lucjan. Instead, he brought a book of medical conditions home from the library. After skipping dinner to pour over its contents in search of answers, there was a gentle knock at the door. Francesca always thought it polite to knock first, though she never waited for a reply.

She asked Iwan what he was reading while commanding him to eat the green beans she had brought from the kitchen. Iwan ate, but refused to tell Francesca what he was researching. All he had learned of defiance had come from Francesca, and she was unused to seeing it turned against her. Grabbing the book from her son, Francesca skimmed its worn pages. Iwan looked at his toes when she asked who was sick.

Tymon graduated from high school that spring, and asked his brothers to play one final game of baseball before driving to Sioux Falls for college. It was at this game that Iwan met Husam. He was as clean a pitcher as they come, and as dirty a lover as Iwan would ever know. The memories of that summer with Husam would linger in the middleground of Iwan’s mind long into adulthood, particularly the lush feeling of fingertips on his back and the bitter euphoria of each night's goodbye kiss.

Lost in the sea between his brothers, Marcel began to invite himself along to movies and bike rides with Iwan and Husam. When he was there, the hand-holding and the glances of intimacy were tucked away as a polite secret. Before long, there was no oxygen between Iwan and Husam and their lust withered into a cordial friendship, two points on a triangle deemed never to intersect. At summer’s end, Husam moved back to Akron. Neither he nor Iwan would recall their last kiss, or when it was that their spark fell away.

Many years later, Husam would marry a beautiful woman named Adrianne. Marcel and Iwan were both too busy to attend.

Now in his freshman year of high school, Iwan quit baseball and began discovering a world of arts, culture, and current events that flooded him with indignation and inspiration. He would drift silently through his classes, sketching his best impressions of Atwood or Wright, whose architecture dominated the city. More and more, he snuck out at nights to Halsted Street, drinking up liberation at Opal and the North End. There he began to see a world brimming with context and vitality, and learned the feeling of yearning.

It was Iwan who first discovered the lumps in his mother’s neck that would not go away with tea and a long night’s rest. He had been taught the first signs of HIV by a group of men on a sweaty night at Sparrows, and implored Francesca to get tested. By the time she listened, she was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer and worsening fast.

Marcel and Iwan grew cold and harsh in the following years, accusing the other of abandoning their mother. Marcel would follow Iwan out at night, stalking his brother on crowded trains, only to lose him in the evening rush. Both siblings avoided Francesca’s company, lest their bottled up terror and hope and tears fall out in front of her. She would sleep by herself as Lucjan took the living room couch as refuge. They were each as far from home as they had ever been when Francesca was brought to hospice.

Tymon took a break from school to visit. All four boys were given their time alone with Francesca, singing half-remembered songs they’d made up years ago and squeezing every bit of memory they could into those final days. Iwan came in one afternoon carrying a model he’d built for class. A delicate contradiction of foam arches and garish cardboard asymmetry held up in defiance of gravity, the tiny house that garnered him scholastic praise remained at Francesca’s bedside for the rest of her stay. Before passing from her body, she remarked that we would all be so lucky to live in Iwan’s inconstant world. She thought the colors were funny, too.

Francesca’s funeral took place just before Iwan’s senior year. Tymon remained for a few weeks to help Lucjan sort the affairs before returning to school. For the second year in a row, Marcel attended a score of baseball tryout camps without success, and had gotten a job selling cars. His cheeks flushed bright red each morning when Lucjan dropped him off at the dealership in his ‘75 Pacer on his way to the office. Iwan too entered the daze of affecting life, dancing with his father and brothers around an abyss of loss.

As the months dredged on, Iwan and Marcel’s simmering reached a constant, never-ending breaking point. Distrust seeped onto their skin. Their room became a space thick with loathing, neglect, and unspoken pain. Both began spending nights in far away clubs and on the couches of friends. Lucjan quietly continued to sleep on the living room couch. So it came to be that the house’s four beds lay empty.

The first lonely Christmas came and went without much flare. After New Years Marcel announced he would not be trying out for teams in the coming season, and Lucjan softly nodded before commenting that his office was hiring. Iwan saw that what his brother had really wanted was a father to tell him anything beyond the passive acceptance of life washing him deeper and deeper into its tides.

That January was an especially dark and cold winter, and the three men found themselves trapped inside for several days as the snow beat down relentlessly. Exhaustion overtook them as the two brothers found themselves unable to sustain their anger throughout the storm. Annoyance at the other’s idiosyncrasies turned to nostalgia, and the card games they played served to bring a crack of a smile on their faces rather than simply another knife to slice past the time with. Lucjan presided over the tepid reconciliation of his sons, two men whose capacity for hurt had been well and truly spent.

Marcel became the first member of his family Iwan came out to, shocking himself in the process. Marcel said it didn’t change anything, which as far as responses go was better than feared and worse than hoped. Lucjan’s response was more to be expected: a horror quickly deflected but that crawled up inside him and squirmed throughout his heart. He was a stone of Hades, for whom even the lyre of Orpheus could not shake him awake.

Lucjan silently vowed never to speak on the topic again. In turn this led to very little speaking on any topic for the remainder of the school year. Iwan waited for his father or brother to give him a response, even the hint of an opinion that never came. Graduation came in silence, and the following day Iwan loaded up all his belongings onto a bus to Providence, where he would begin classes in the fall.

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Many years later, Iwan returned to Chicago to begin drafting the remodel of Comiskey Park, then called U.S. Cellular Field. He found it difficult to focus on, as inevitably he would wander into memories of playing games in backyards and tiny parks with his brothers. Exasperated and nearing his deadline, he dialed Marcel’s phone number.

They sat on the rickety bleachers deep behind third base. Neither man had grown to have much use for small talk, so they waited there until something was ready to be said. After some time, Iwan said that Marcel would have hated being a baseball player. Marcel agreed, he didn’t like traveling. Iwan wondered aloud what Marcel did like.

Sundays in October. Driving down LSD as it bends around Lake Michigan. Ice cream in the wintertime. The feeling of waking up in the middle of the night and knowing he had four more hours he could sleep.

Of course, he didn’t say so. Instead, Marcel murmured that he liked his family, which was also true. After a moment he added that he hoped Iwan was happy and liked his family too. (Iwan had just broken up with his boyfriend of ten years the month prior. Not that Marcel knew that.)

There were many nights since leaving for college that Iwan wished his father and brothers told him he’d burn in hell, to stay away from their funerals. He’d fantasize it’d be easier that way, to know that they cared enough to hate him.

Indifference is as bitter a poison as any to swallow.

It was not in Lucjan’s nature to take so great an interest in the damnation of others. Far safer to just bob along and see where the river ended. Marcel, on the other hand, found the current far too fast for his liking. How could you possibly have the time to care?

They sat. The sun’s last light had fled the sky, but the field’s fluorescent lights stayed off. Marcel asked what the new park would look like. Iwan confessed he didn’t know. Marcel suggested leather seats for the lower box. Unable to help himself, Iwan blanched in horror.

​

Suggestion after suggestion poured out of Marcel’s mouth, and the gears in Iwan’s mind unstuck, ready to parry each idea with a retort of palettes, shapes, structures. He began to see the new stadium, making mental notes to himself to include in drafting. Marcel joked that Iwan never found a subject he didn’t have an opinion on.

For a few more minutes they talked, starting points crystallizing in Iwan’s mind for the next day’s work. A jab here, some nostalgia there, and then Marcel and Iwan caught sight of something in the other’s eye. A softness of some sort. All of a sudden, both men realized the lateness of the hour. Iwan contemplated offering to buy Marcel a late dinner, but thought better of it. Marcel feared the look he’d seen from his brother, and feared even more that it might disappear forever if he asked Iwan to come meet his kids.

They shook hands, promising Christmas calls and birthday gifts next year. It would have to be enough for now.