#fire safety is no joke lucy

[cleromanticon]

It’s so many candles, you guys.

[paracosmicparadox]

So I finished FFXV ages ago, but I've been thinking about it lately bc you know, I elaborated the chocobros' story far further than it was meant to go and got way more attached to them than I should have. So here're some things that the game did really well and some of the things it didn't. (you don't have to agree w anything here; I'm not trying to corrupt y'all w my opinions; I just feel like talking)

Let's start with the bad to get it out of the way:

CINDY. I swear to everything holy her character had the potential to be So Cool if she hadn't been so overtly over-sexualized. Like, I'm a woman-liker too and I get it, lady mechanics are hot af, but you know what else is attractive? Safety in the workplace. Cindy's outfit was not something any mechanic would be caught dead wearing. Yeah, it was designed to be sexy, but do you know how many burns she would've accumulated from the hot oil and metal she works with? There's a reason mechanics typically wear clothing zipped up when they're actually working on something. If anything, Cindy's character design just made me uncomfortable. Her character itself? Great. No qualms there. Her design? Please acquire more than two square feet of fabric I'm begging you. I just feel like Cindy deserved to be so much more than fan service.

Luna's brief time on-screen. Yet another potentially incredible and deep female protagonist who got short change from this game. People joke a lot that Luna wasn't at all an important character because the game never really treated her like one. She was MEANT to be important, clearly, but it felt like she existed just for her tearjerking death scene? Like there was SO MUCH overlooked potential to bring her into the storyline as more than Tragic Love Interest In White, and yet?? Idk it frustrated me.

The emotional aspect of the game felt rushed. There were a lot of emotional scenes covered throughout the plotline ranging from King Regis's death to the deal with Prompto at Zegnautus Keep. I feel like the game TRIED to cover them realistically and show the characters' grief, but it didn't quite get there. It was just sort of an "Oh, how sad. I'm so upset and angry. Hm, what's that? My friends believe in me without truly understanding and I can kill someone to ease my pain? Oh okay I'm better now." I get that realistic healing cycles are kinda hard to portray within a set timeframe, but having some lingering effects of the blatant trauma inflicted would've been nice. You don't recover from shit like that in a week's time.

Character personalities tended to be one-sided. Noctis was edgy, Prompto was happy-go-lucky, Gladio was tough-guy, and Ignis was... nevermind, Iggy was great--- HE had some on-screen depth. Personally, I've developed these characters myself far more than what the game gave us, but I wish we'd gotten more canon depth beyond their surface-level traits. I love them with my whole heart and they deserve genuine complexity.

Now the things I actually really enjoyed:

The graphics were on-point. The amount of detail put into character design and into monsters was insane. You could zoom in and see individual textures on skin and hair and feathers, bringing a level of realism to the game that I personally enjoyed.

All of the Latin and Norse mythological references!! As a Latin nerd, I found little gems everywhere in this game. Esp in the names--- (Noctis Lucis Caelum = Of-the-night Sky-of-light (the genitives in there make the literal translation kinda a mouthful ik) Gladiolus Amicitia = Sword-flower Friendship (the gladiolus is an actual flower that gets its name from the Latin word gladius, meaning sword, for its sword-like shape) Ignis Scientia = Fire Knowledge; Prompto Argentum = Ready Silver (the word prompto is actually in the dative (possibly ablative), making the literal translation nonsense, but if they'd made his name Promptus, it would've sounded awkward, so I can see why they picked the dative/ablative form of the adjective for stylistic reasons and I put the rough translation instead)) WOW THAT WAS A LOT OF PARENTHETICAL INFO WHOOPS

Ardyn's character. I'm not saying this bc I'm one of the fans who fawn over him---Ardyn is DEFINITELY NOT MY PREFERRED FLAVOR OF MAN, but character-wise, he made an excellent antagonist. He was witty, slick, and classy in an I'm-gonna-outstep-you-like-it's-hopscotch sorta way. He was a poetic villain done well, which made him an antagonist you could both sympathize for and absolutely detest given the situation. He was both the master manipulator and the pawn one space away from the edge of the board. He can sway a crowd, but you know deep in your gut just by the cunning greed in his eyes that You Cannot Trust The Man. He was definitely Not a good person (tragic backstory isn't an excuse), but he was a good villain.

I loved the bond between the chocobros?? This is probably bc I'm a sucker for the found family trope, but their interactions were so amazing to me?? Like, not even the cutscene stuff. Just their little sidebar conversations during fights or while you're walking around or driving the Regalia. They're Roadtrip Buddies™ and I think that's excellent.

THE FOOD. By god, the food in this game looked absolutely scrumptious and I would like to partake. The Daggerquill Soup? Give it to me I'll pay you. The Creamy Crustacean Omelet? Stop it right now I'll eat that so fast it'll be a criminal offense. Like I know I touched on the graphics earlier, but broski I was not kidding. I guess I know why the game took so long to make it to the market bc the detail that went into these recipes is absolutely mouthwatering.

[alinalioness]

Phrases of smiling BWW characters (Part 4)

[Smiling Attilio]

Hi kid! Don't you want to hear my jokes?

What happens if you don't sleep? You will be owls!

What if animals started talking? Then they would immediately become cartoon characters.

Who is considered the most creepy? Clowns!

[Smiling Lucy]

My life is an art!

I'm going to need green paint for the grass.

Great, now it's blue for the sky.

Now let's draw the sun in yellow.

And now red for the sea... or for flowers.

[Smiling Eis]

If you want to live a happy life, know the safety rules.

Never take unfamiliar things, they can lead to terrible consequences.

Never panic and call for help.

Be careful if you see a fire and run away from it.

No, you don't have to go there. It's dangerous out there!

*A distorted scream*

[Smiling Bruce]

Hi kids, let's clean up the trash.

Just don't mix up the containers for the right garbage.

Oh, poor man, are you afraid to clean up the glass?

Don't worry, I'll quietly remove them, despite my age...

*Scream*

[heavensbeehall]

"Mockingjay", Chapter 1

Part 1: The Ashes

Chapter 1: A month after the events of Catching Fire, Katniss visits the ruins of District 12. Only the Victor's Village is still there. "800 or so" refugees survived. Gale is a hero for saving them. Dalton told Katniss that 13 just needs new breeding stock. Katniss has not decided if she wants to be the Mockingjay or not. She worries about what she will do. She finds two things in her old house: Buttercup the cat and a rose from President Snow.

Thoughts:

-- Do you think Katniss and Plutarch are on the same side?

-- Here we learn that Gale took the survivors to the lake that Katniss' dad took her to. Since this lake also figures prominently in TBOSAS, I must consider the parallels. This is the happy place Lucy Gray took Snow. But this is also where he turned on her. It's a bit similar to the Meadow of 12 but also the meadow of the song Katniss sings to Prim and Rue. An idealized safe space. So Snow leaving there was truly him chosing the material world and ambition over safety and love.

Quotes:

The citizens of District 12 had no organized resistance movement of their own. No say in any of this. They only had the misfortune to have me.

This strikes me as part of the larger theme of innocent people being caught up in the war. Prim and Rue are two other examples. 12 was not one of the districts that revolted. Yet they were obliterated. Because it's an easier target, literally. They had no weapons. No way to fight back. And those kind of people die in every war in history.

Those over fourteen have been given entry-level ranks in the military and are addressed respectfully as "Soldier."

One thing the Capitol and 13 seem to have in common is child soldiers. If the Hunger Games is Gaul's eternal war, then the Tributes--whether they are prepared or not--are the unwitting soldiers in it. 13 doesn't start them quite as young, but in my mind 14 is still too young. (Now that I think about it, 18 might be too young in my mind.) Both probably like starting young because kids are easier to control than adults.

Despite serious reservations, I had to forgive Finnick for his role in the conspiracy that landed me here. He, at least, has some idea of what I'm going through. And it takes too much energy to stay angry with someone who cries so much.

This makes me laugh a bit even though it's sad. Finnick tried so hard to befriend Katniss at the Quell. He tried being sexy at the Chariots. He made jokes during training. He saved Peeta's life with CPR. But she was still considering killing him at the Lightning Tree. But the crying worked. They are buds now that he's being real. Even if "being real" means his girlfriend is being held hostage and he's having memory and other mental health issues.

[lucygraysboy]

“lucy gray, i’m not upset. i’m just… surprised, all right?” the cowboy sighs, mulling over her words and finally reaching the conclusion that she didn’t trick him out of malice. she clearly enjoys pranks and jokes, and thinks they’re harmless — well, this one was harmless until he decided to make a serious situation out of it. “i about died in that tub, you know?” there’s still anger brewing inside his chest, a hint of it still lingering in his voice, but he tries to smother it, rationalize with himself that he has no reason to be frustrated or lecture her on honesty when he hasn’t yet revealed any of his secrets. and they’re bigger than oh, i’m fifteen! so he really should get his emotions under control. “i thought i was makin’ not-so-appropriate jokes in front of a child. you made me feel like an imbecile. you made me think someone must have taken advantage of you ‘cause you were bein’ sweet on me and seemed to know a lot about grown up business,” he grumbles, putting the blood-stained piece of glass on the washcloth so it’ll be easy to dispose of later on. that’s why he’s angry — she’d made him worry about her safety, made him a fool out of him, made him want to murder people.

pausing just as the tweezers pinch a smaller shard, he looks up at her completely stunned. he doesn’t expect her to talk back to him, very much a strange man who’s a foot taller and way stronger even in the state that he’s in, but would be lying if he said the fire in her eyes didn’t impress him. all the sudden, he has to stifle a smile. she’s something else. “i do have a sense of humor, lucy gray, but can’t certain subjects be off limits? i mean, you had me going absolutely insane,” he huffs, growing more gentle as he plucks another translucent piece out of her palm. he doesn’t want to hurt her as payback, doesn’t want to hurt her at all. he loosens his grip on her wrist, finally seeing the look on her face — is that fear? beneath all that fire? does she worry he might strike her or something? “and that was me joking. i believed you were fifteen, how could i think you were actually forty? obviously, i was teasing you. ain’t you got no sense of humor, love?” he sighs, using her words against her once more.

hearing his voice after anticipating it for the longest second of her life, she wonders at first if he’ll even trust her. if she’ll have to go dig out her birth certificate to prove it this time. but then his expressions melt from surprise to the exact thing she was fearing would happen because men always needed a reason to be angry. billy taupe reacted in the same ways, the preacher did, it was every male as far as she knew. they were all hardwire that way. her racing heart felt like it was going to come up through her throat, she shouldn’t wait here like prey. but he had her hand and tweezers and the glass did hurt, she needed rid of it. so lucy gray opted for talking sweetly, “it… was just some silly fun, i didn’t mean to upset you. i didn’t know it would.” she didn’t know why it apparently made him so upset anyway, what was so bad about it she tried to think of. was it just pride? men always stood by their pride, they couldn’t stand being made out to be a fool, especially by a girl. her brain was wracking for all the possibilities, that’s the only one that made her sense. her heart panged, fluttered in fear and nervousness. but then he said that… twisted her words around and her own brows began to knit. now she felt offense, a sudden anger of her own struck through her, clouding her fear and judgment. the softness in her tone was dropped and replaced with something firm and fiery, maybe she was the fool now for back talking. “trust is everything, but you’re not goin’ to use that against me. over a joke. unless you just don’t got a sense of humor.” lucy gray mumbles that last part, unable to refrain from smarting off. she wasn’t going to just sit here and let him manipulate her into feeling bad and guilty… she had nothing to feel guilty for. “and that’s what happens when you think i’m forty years old, that’s wh— oww,” the muscles in her calves tighten and her toes curl when her posture straightens from the sting causing her to jolt and hisses at the glass sliding out of her skin. he probably did it on purpose, which earns him an angered look of her own.

[anapotatowriter]

The Flowering Quince - Part 4

Edmund Pevensie x Reader

A/N: PART 4! THIS IS THE LAST PART (BEFORE THE EPILOGUE, THAT IS). Also, first kiss~

Summary: Edmund Pevensie and Y/N L/N have been enemies ever since they met. Can a bet set aside their differences?

Contains: Enemies to lovers, Battles, fighting, Playboy!Edmund, Golden Age AU... I don’t think anything else is there, but feel free to mention it if there are any more-

Requested: No

"Peter, Susan, Lucy," I said, grabbing all three of them and hurrying to a quiet part of the room, where Edmund was already standing. "We are in danger. The White Witch's forces are coming," I said immediately. The effect of my words was instantaneous. Their backs straightened up, their jaws set as their eyes steeled with determination. "Lucy, you need to stay in the infirmary. There might be a lot of people coming there. Susan, you are the most commanding of us all. You need to get the royals out to safety. Peter, Ed, and I will be leading the three prongs of the army for each of the main entrances to Cair Paravel," I said. All four of them nodded instantaneously.

Soon enough, everything was working quickly, and I was leading the guards out towards the south exit of Cair Paravel through the yards. When we reached, we saw the guards doing their best to keep the doors closed, and tips of knives and spears poked through the gaps between the gates. "GUARDS! TODAY IS THE DAY YOU DO YOUR DUTY AND LAY DOWN LIFE AND LIMB FOR YOUR COUNTRY! FOR NARNIA AND FOR ASLAN," I yelled as the men and women went to the doors, opened them, and charged headfirst at the hags, banshees, black dwarfs, and other godforsaken creatures. I flitted around the swords I had before diving in, my swords swinging together and getting coated by more and more blood that shone under the full moon. Surprisingly quickly, all the creatures at the south gate were killed, though some of our own men lay dead on the ground. "Half of you, go out the gate and fan out around the perimeters, kill anyone in your way, and help any injured soldiers. The other half, go help either Edmund at the Western gate or Peter at the Northern gate," I called out. I gritted my teeth at the sight of my men killed by these creatures. A new fire seemed to rip through my chest as I prepared to shed as much enemy blood as possible. I muttered a small prayer for the men before running.

I immediately went to the western gate, where the people were almost overwhelmed by the creatures. I glared angrily at a hag that was standing over Edmund. "Get. Away. From. Him," I growled, my swords held up at my sides, which I then used to cut its head. "Thanks," he huffed, flipping his head back to get the sweaty strands of hair off his face. I offered my hand to him, and he took it, standing up. "We got this," he nodded, and I reciprocated. We then started fighting the creatures again, back to back, until they were all dead. Just then, Peter arrived at the Western Gate to see all of us. "Get the wounded people to Queen Lucy. She is in the infirmary. Or else, gather the dead and we shall honor them in a week with their families," I commanded to the men, who immediately started picking up their hurt comrades. "Y/N, Edmund, survey the damage now. The royalty can go back home now. And we should all get some rest after," said Peter, and Edmund and I nodded. 

Edmund and I then started examing the castle grounds along with some of the uninjured soldiers. Edmund and I joked a bit to take out minds off of the deaths, hands entwined together. "The gardens and the training field are on fire from the flaming arrows, ma'am," said one of the soldiers, ashes covering his face as he ran towards us. Edmund and I glanced at each other before releasing our hands and running, me towards the garden and him towards the training field. When I reached the gardens, the temperature seemed to increase. All the different bushes had caught fire, and the guards were desperately trying to get rid of the fire. They worked together and poured buckets upon buckets of water which did not have any effect. I glanced at the irrigation system and immediately started it, making water litter everywhere quickly, putting out the fire. "IS EVERYONE OKAY?" I called out, and some people mustered the strength to give a weak reply as they coughed up ash and smoke. "Go rest, men! You have done well today," I called out, and everyone walked away, some of the men supporting their friends to the infirmary. 

I looked through the smoke to see if any more men were dead. That was when I saw a familiar bush on the ground. "No," I stuttered, running to the bush. The Flowering Quince was still blooming beautifully in the bush that had fallen from the trunk. The flowers were untouched by the fire, but the bark had collapsed. Soon, the whole bush would die. A teardrop streamed down my face as my hands reached out to the bush. My finger got cut on one of the thorns, making me pull my hand back as blood bloomed on my finger. I shudderingly breathed in, trying to stop my tears from flowing out. And that was how Edmund found me, dejectedly sitting down on my knees in front of a dead bush. "Y/N? Y/N, are you okay," he asked, making me jerk my head up and immediately flick the tear away. "I'm fine," I said monotonously, not wanting to snap at the boy. I stood up and turned my back on the bush, not trusting myself to look at it longer without crying. Edmund seemed to sense my sadness as he followed me, asking whether I was okay. "I said I am fine, Pevensie," I spat, making him stop for a second, frozen. "You do not seem fine to me, love," he said, grasping my hand to stop me from moving. "Let me go," I said, infuriated, trying to pull my hand out of his grasp. "Not until you tell me what is wrong! I care about you, Y/N, just tell me," he said, his words making me snap. "Let me tell you something, Pevensie. No one cares about me. NO ONE! Least of all you! You were the one who betrayed Narnia, betrayed me, betrayed your FAMILY! You betrayed them to the White Witch. And for what? RIGHT, YOU BETRAYED THEM FOR TURKISH DELIGHT," I yelled into his face, prodding his chest. The full moon shone down on his face, which was frozen in shock. His coffee brown eyes held enormous pain, which immediately made me feel guilty. Rather than saying something, I just pulled my hand out of his grasp and ran away. The tears started streaming down my face as I neared my room. I opened the door and slammed it closed, sliding down the chilly wood onto the carpeted ground.

"Fuck," I sighed, placing the base of my palms onto my eyes, the pressure keeping the tears at bay. "Don't cry," I muttered to myself,  picking myself up from the floor and going to the bathroom to wash off the blood on my body. I changed into my nightclothes and climbed wearily into bed. I curled up into a ball, the blanket not providing comfort against my mind. As I glanced around the dark room, I softly said, "I am sorry, mom." The wind seemed to whistle through the room as a reply as I drifted off into a fitful dream.

I heard a knock at the door. I groaned and checked the time. The clock showed 6 A.M. I sighed from the lack of proper sleep and stumbled to the door, rubbing my eyes while doing so. "Ma'am, some of the nymphs, dwarves, dryads, and fauns worked overnight to get the training grounds and the gardens fixed. Most plants in the garden are now growing back except for a few, including the Flowering Quince. You can continue training," he said, bowing at the end of his sentence. "Thank you for informing me. I will go and start training," I said, and the guard nodded before leaving. "I should not have gone to that bloody ball. Now all that is left of my mom is dead," I said to myself, harshly pulling my hand through my hair (if possible). "People have died because of you, Y/N. You are an idiot," I muttered out loud, pinching the bridge of my nose. "And now you have hurt the only people who actually care about you," I finished, Edmund's face flashing through my mind again, making my lower lip tremble "Pull yourself together," were the words that filtered through my mind as I went to the bathroom.

I went to the dining hall to inform Susan of training after I got ready. I knocked on the door, and the guards opened them. Edmund glanced up for a second from his food before glancing back down when our eyes met. I could see the hurt in his eyes in that split second, making the guilt in my heart twist agonizingly like a knife. "Y/N! Hey!" cheered Lucy excitedly, while Peter glanced at me and smiled. Susan, however, just glared at me. Edmund probably told her. "Susan," I started before being harshly interrupted by Susan saying, "High Queen to you." Lucy and Peter looked at her in confusion while Edmund continued to look at his bowl. "Sorry, High Queen. I just came to inform you that we have training today," I said, bowing to her. "I'll be there," she stated simply before looking away from me.

I sighed softly before leaving the room, and I could feel the pitying glances of the guards. I walked to the training field and got my blades, walking over to the training dummy. I lifted up my swords and slashed them in a cross towards the figure. I pivoted the swords from my left, parallel to each other, hitting the dummy on the side. Some of the pressure seemed to lift off my shoulders, making me swing more violently towards the object. "AGH!" I yelled, swinging my swords extremely hard, making them both clatter across the ground. I dropped down onto the ground, forcing my knees into my eyes sockets, trying to keep away the tears of frustration, anger, and sadness. I heard a metallic clatter and immediately looked up to see Susan, her foot on one of my swords. "Sorry, High Queen, I don't think we are going to be able to practice today," I said, getting up and going to leave. "Y/N. I told myself that I would not talk to you, given what you said to Edmund. But, you seriously don't seem fine. Do you want to talk?" she asked, making my heart melt a bit. I kept my calm facade and said, "I'm fine. Please tell Edmund I'm sorry for my harsh words." 

"Y/N. Talk to him yourself, and he will listen. And I know this because he loves you," said Susan, a motherly look in her baby blue eyes. "Love. Love, love, love. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing. I know enough to know that when the Universe tells you that you do not deserve love TWICE, you listen," I blurted out, crossing my arms together. "What makes you think you don't deserve love, Y/N," she said softly, taking both my hands in hers. My vision clouded as I felt the tears well up in my eyes. The tears suddenly ripped through me as I collapsed onto the ground, sobbing in a way I hadn't in years. "Y/N, dear. Sh, sh, sh, let it out," soothed Susan, sitting down. She crossed her legs and pulled me onto her lap, my head buried into her shoulder as I cried. "I'm sorry for ruining your dress," I sniffled, looking at the girl with teary eyes. "Dear, who cares? I want to know why you're crying so much? I don't think I have ever seen you cry, let alone like this," she said, running her hand through my hair soothingly (if possible).

"Fuck, Susan, I am so stupid," I cried, tears welling up again. "I regret everything. Fuck, I love him, Susan. I fucking love Edmund Pevensie! And it hurts. It hurts so much," I choked. "My heart hurts so much, Susan. I love him, and I don't know why! I don't want to love him!" I sobbed, burying my face into Susan's shoulder again. "Y/N, why don't you want to love him?" she asked, pushing a strand of hair behind my ear. "Because I don't deserve it! I don't deserve his love. I don't deserve anyone's love!" I mumbled softly, ashamed. "Y/N, everyone deserves love, most of all you! Why do you think you don't serve it," she said to me. "Maybe one day, you'll understand why, Susan. Everything I touch dies," I said, wiping my eyes with my sleeves.

"What are you talking about, Y/N?" asked Susan, tilting my chin up to make me face her. She rubbed the tear tracks off my face as I told her the story of my mother and The Flowering Quince. "Oh my, I am so sorry, Y/N. But, if I have learned anything in my whole life, I have learned that everyone deserves love. You, especially," she said, kissing my forehead. "Edmund won't listen, Susan. I hurt him too much," I sighed, standing up. "Ah. One more thing I have learned, Y/N, is that no one knows forgiveness better than Edmund," she said, standing up as well. "Thank you so much," I smiled, hugging her softly. She froze for a second before hugging my back. "I've gotta go!" I called, running out of the room.

"Edmund!" I called, walking into his room. His jaw clenched before he walked towards the door. "Edmund, please, listen to me!" I gasped desperately, grabbing his wrist. "Y/N, I do not want to talk to you," he fumed, wrenching his hand out of my grip. "Edmund!" I said indignantly. "What, Y/N?" he seethed, turning away from me. "EDMUND, I FUCKING LOVE YOU!" I yelled before slamming my palm onto my mouth. "What?" he asked, turning towards me. "Fuck, I am so sorry! I love you. I just said it again, didn't I? I really didn't mean to, I am sorry if I weirded you out, I can leave if you want me to, I just needed you to know-" I started rambling, panicking. "Y/N," said Edmund, but I continued rambling. 

A set of lips then collided with mine, effectively making me shut up. My arms wrapped around his neck, my hands going into his hair. He then split away from me, his eyes gazing into mine. "If I would have known that that's all that it took to get you to shut up, I would have done it years ago," he smiled after a few moments of silence, making me laugh, my forehead leaning against his. "I love you too," he said softly, kissing me again. "I have to tell you why I yelled at you," I sighed when we split apart, and he nodded expectantly. When I finished telling him the story, he said softly, "I'm so sorry, love." "But I think I'd rather lose you than have never held your hand," I said softly, taking his hand into mine, intertwining them together. 

"I won't abandon you, ever," he said, pressing his lips against my forehead.

< Prev    Next>

Taglist:

@jaywolf840

[ssahoodrathotchner]

Need You Here

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x Fem!Reader

Summary: You have a close call with an explosion

Word Count: 3.2k

Warnings: swearing, explosions, talk of injuries, canon-level case violence, basically just soft hurt/comfort idk there’s a happy ending sooooo

A/N: this is definitely a self-indulgent fic that’s been a wip for a while and by some miracle i found the motivation to finish it. enjoy :)

Masterlist

---

The stars are falling from the sky.

Air rushes back into your lungs in one unpleasant burst, and you choke on the bitter taste of smoke that accompanies each additional heave of your chest. Blinking rapidly, your vision sharpens and you realize that it’s not the stars that are falling, but bits of ash and debris falling through the smoke; it’s not nighttime. You hear nothing but the ringing in your ears, sounds muffled as if underwater. Slowly, painfully, you become aware of the pain radiating through your body stemming from a pressure on your midsection. Carefully turning your head to the side, your eyes find the remains of the small cabin which once held three girls captive. Where are they? Your vision clouds once more, smoke stinging its way down your throat and biting at your eyes, causing you to squeeze them shut. You can hear shouting, and you try to focus on what’s happening around you, but the sounds fade, and you follow.

You’re being pushed—pulled? —and suddenly the pressure on your chest lets up and you gasp, eyes flying open and struggling to focus. A dark head of hair looms above you, grasping your face with both hands. Emily? Her mouth is moving, but your mind isn’t processing sounds yet, and all you can do is let out pained noises that rumble through your throat before spilling out of your lips. Your head rolls to the side as Emily removes her hands from your face and places them on your torso. The small cabin is still on fire, but the flames have lessened. Your attention is drawn back to your own body with the addition of more hands pressing down on you. Morgan’s worried face peers down at you where Emily’s had been as you fully regain consciousness.

“Wha’…?” you manage to choke out before the overwhelming taste of smoke sends you coughing.

“Whoa, Princess, easy,” Derek says, stopping you from moving around as you try and turn to get a better look at your surroundings.

He smooths a hand over your forehead and you feel something smear along the same path his hand drags across. Blood.

“Where…?” your voice is rough, but stronger this time as you desperately hold Morgan’s gaze, trying to get answers.

“There was an explosion,” he says simply, but the furrow in his brow tells you there’s more than just ‘an explosion’ that’s nagging at him.

Emily comes back into view, a hard look on her face as she stares at something in the distance. She quickly glances down at you before speaking rapidly into her comms. You seem to have lost yours in the blast.

“…yeah, Hotch, we found her. She was under some debris from the house, but Morgan and I cleared that pretty fast. She’s still down, but none of her injuries seem to be too serious,” she squints at you to confirm. You nod.

Gently, you feel Derek’s hands pressing around your midsection over your Kevlar vest, and you hiss in pain once he reaches your ribs. With a frown, he pushes just a little harder, which makes you yelp in discomfort and glare at him. So much for not having serious injuries.

“Sorry, Princess, just checking. Seems like you’ve got some bruised ribs, although I’ve got a feeling more than a few of them are broken.”

“Lovely,” you grit out as Prentiss smiles apologetically at you, correcting her assessment over the comms. Sucking in a breath, you tilt your head down towards the rest of your body. “What else, Derek?”

“My guess is also a mild concussion,” to which you grunt in agreement “and a lot of superficial cuts and nicks,” he finishes, gesturing to your upper body and face.

You make a face. “Well, as long as that’s all,” you joke. “Help me up?”

Grasping your forearm with one hand, another on your back, Derek eases you upright until you’re sitting, ribs protesting the entire time.

You open your mouth to ask him more questions, but before you can make a sound Aaron comes flying around the corner of (what used to be) the house, a grim look on his face. Dropping to his knees by your side, he takes one of your hands and leans down to kiss your forehead, lips barely leaving your skin as he takes deep breaths.

“Thought I lost you, Sweetheart,” he whispers.

“Never,” you respond, squeezing his hand in yours.

“How’d you end up all the way over here?” he asks in a soft voice, sitting back to brush hair (and blood) from your hairline.

How did you end up here?

Your brow furrows and you direct your gaze away past Aaron and up towards the darkening sky, the first stars making themselves visible.

“The unsub—” you start.

“Warner. Ted Warner,” Aaron supplies.

“Right, Warner,” you let out a frustrated breath. “And the girls…?”

“Lucy Burnes, Allison Smythe, and Rowan Lucason. All nine years old,” Morgan chimes in.

“Warner was going to release one girl an hour to us as long as we stayed back from the cabin,” Emily says with a shake of her head.

You look back towards the remains of the cabin. So much for that. It’s starting to come back to you now.

Allison, running straight into your arms and you take a step back to absorb her impact on yourself and the Kevlar you’re wearing. You see a curtain twitch through the cabin window as you look over her head. She’s shaking and crying. You slowly move backwards and pass her off to JJ who then walks her over to where the medics are parked.

“We got Allison first,” you say, looking at the team above you for confirmation.

“That’s right, Sweetheart. She ran right to you,” Aaron says with an encouraging smile.

“Rowan was next,” Morgan states, his gaze lands somewhere in the distance. You know he’s reliving it along with you.

Rowan flying out of the cabin as if being chased, lands squarely in Morgan’s chest and he’s quick to wrap her in his arms and start walking towards the medics. You see Allison’s shoulders drop in relief before she pulls the blanket tighter around her shoulders and returns her gaze anxiously back to the house.

“She ran out like she was being chased by something,” you say softly.

“Or she was running to something,” Aaron says, equally as soft.

Safety.

“Then things got complicated,” Prentiss sighs.

Warner emerges, hobbling out of the cabin and dragging Lucy with him. He’s using her as a shield. They move backwards towards the woods as he shouts at everyone to stay back. You’re standing at the edge of the group of agents and officers, and in the fading light of the day, you do something you know you’ll get yelled at for later. Aaron and Rossi are engaging with Warner, trying to make him see reason, and you take your chance to slip off further to the side, easing yourself into the cover of the forest, gun drawn. Staying low, you make your way around the side of the cabin until you’re level with Warner and Lucy, separated only by the length of the small cabin. He’s getting more agitated, yelling and waving one of his arms and—there. A small remote gripped in his hand catches your attention. He raises it above his head, thumb hovering dangerously close to the buttons, and you don’t hesitate to raise your weapon and aim for his head; Lucy’s shorter than him, you’re unlikely to hit her. You pull the trigger as he clamps down on the remote. You watch Lucy twist away as he falls. No more than three seconds later, the cabin explodes. You’re thrown backwards and hit the ground hard.

“Lucy,” you breathe out, frantically looking around. “Where is she? Did she make it?”

Aaron attempts to stop you as you make a move to stand up, but you shoot him a look and he moves to help you with a huff. Supported by Morgan and Aaron, you manage to right yourself. Clenching your eyes shut, you breathe through the pain emanating from your ribcage. Oh yeah, definitely bruised if not broken. Once you’re standing, they don’t let go of you, carefully making sure you don’t collapse to the ground.

“Where is she?” you say impatiently, looking around.

“Safe,” it’s Emily who finally answers your question and you sigh in relief.

“Once she was free of Warner she took off running. She was thrown forward by the explosion, but kept moving,” Aaron says. “Morgan grabbed her and carried her the rest of the way.”

You turn to smile at Derek and he gives you a small one in return.

“And Warner?” you ask turning back to Aaron.

“Dead,” he responds in a curt tone.

You nod to yourself. “So, we got all of them.”

You take a tentative step forward, Aaron and Derek moving with you and you can see Emily in your peripheral vision keeping your slow pace.

“Yeah, Princess, we got them,” Morgan agrees. “But what you did was reckless and stupid,” he finishes.

“But—” you’re cut off by Aaron, who acts like you hadn’t started talking and instead stares straight ahead.

“Reid was the first to notice you were missing,” he says softly, and controlled in a way that relays the amount of emotion he’s holding back. “Once he alerted us, we realized none of us had seen you since Warner left the cabin. The cabin that had just exploded into flames.”

“It wasn’t until Allison mentioned you going into the woods that we put it together,” Emily says, only a tad bit louder than Aaron. “When I found you—” she pauses and sucks in a deep breath before continuing. “When I found you, I thought you were dead. You were half-under a piece of siding from the cabin and I couldn’t tell if you were breathing.”

Aaron’s hand tightens around yours. He didn’t know that.

“God, I’m sorry, Em,” you send her a weak smile.

“But you were breathing,” she says shakily. “You’re still breathing.”

Aaron says nothing, mouth pressed in a thin line, jaw tight.

You make it around the side of the still smoking house, and you’re immediately drawn to the sight of the rest of the team—Rossi, JJ, and Spencer, as they simultaneously take in your appearance with varying levels of relief and anger clouding their faces.

It’s a slow walk the rest of the way, and by the time you reach the medics, you’re gritting your teeth and focusing very hard on controlling your breathing. Gently, Morgan and Aaron deposit you on the back of the ambulance and you’re swarmed by medics in no time. The team gathers just outside the frenzy of activity going on around you, and you catch glimpses of them as you answer questions.

The medics remove your bulletproof vest and yes, your ribs hurt like a bitch. Spencer floats anxiously to Morgan’s side, asking him questions about where you were.

The antiseptic stings where it’s applied to the cuts on your face. JJ and Emily’s heads are close together, with Emily relaying everything to the blonde.

A bright light blinds you as a medic checks out your concussion. Aaron and Dave stand next to each other, arms crossed, silently watching.

Once the medics finish their evaluation, you’re told how lucky you are to only come away with a mild concussion, three broken ribs, the rest bruised, and shallow cuts that don’t (by some miracle) require stitches. Nothing that requires you to be immediately rushed to the hospital, seeing as the medics wrapped your ribs (although there really isn’t anything you can do for them besides try not to aggravate them further), cleaned the cuts (but you know there’s still blood on your face), and advised you to take it easy for the next few weeks (as if Aaron would let you do anything strenuous).

Yeah, you’re very lucky.

Aaron turns to leave once they’re done, moving back towards the three girls who are huddled together. Back to work. Derek and Rossi follow him. JJ and, to your surprise, Spencer give you short hugs before taking off after the boys. Emily shoots you a smile and pulls you to your feet, keeping an arm around your shoulders as the two of you slowly make your way to the rest of the team.

“You didn’t see him when he realized you had run off without anyone noticing,” she says quietly into your ear. “I thought he was going to run into the burning building to try and find you. I haven’t seen him lose his composure like that in the field before.”

Oh, Aaron.

Emily steps away from your side, and Allison gasps when she sees you, all but throwing off her blanket and barreling into you, closely followed by Lucy.

“You’re okay,” Allison whispers into your chest as you try not to give away how much your ribs hurt.

“Yeah,” you say softly, “Thank you for telling them where I went.”

You feel her nod against your chest and she squeezes tighter—ouch—for a second before letting go.

Lucy steps forward, shyly shifting from one foot to another. You give her a small, warm smile and she returns it.

The two girls go back to where Rowan is sitting in the back of an ambulance, and once their attention is sufficiently diverted, you grimace and hold a hand to your ribs. Oh, this is going to suck.

A hand on your back pulls you away from the ache in your torso, and you look up to see Aaron’s concerned face.

“Morgan, JJ, and Prentiss are accompanying the girls to the police station. Dave and Reid are staying here to wrap up with local PD, and we’re going back to the hotel.”

You know better than to argue with him at this point, so you just nod. Aaron guides you to a waiting SUV, and you thank him by squeezing his hand as he gently helps you settle in to the seat before buckling your seatbelt for you.

The drive back into town is quiet. You know he’s waiting until you get to the hotel room to talk to you—really talk to you. So, you give him the space and time he needs. You look out the window and watch the stars.

---

It’s when you’re in the hotel room and Aaron’s closed the door behind you that he deflates, sinking in on himself and pulling you with him until the both of you are sitting across from each other at the end of the bed.

You gently trace the lines of his palm until he takes a deep breath and begins to speak in a hushed voice.

“When Reid asked where you were,” he starts slowly, “and I couldn’t immediately see you, I thought the worst.” He looks at you, really looks at you. Desperately looks at you. “The building was on fire and Warner had told us not to get too close, so when he dropped and the place exploded with you nowhere in sight?” you squeeze his hand.

He takes a deep, shuddering breath and closes his eyes, trying to gain some sense of composure, and you let him, staying silent.

“…I thought you died. I thought he had placed explosives along some imaginary perimeter, and that you triggered them and that he blew up the cabin too. I thought you were gone.” Aaron’s shoulders start to shake as he tries to push through the sobs rumbling through him. “But the girls were still there, Morgan had just grabbed Lucy, and the local cops were trying to figure out how to deal with the explosion and all I could think was that I just lost you,” his voice breaks.

You lean forward and drag a hand through his hair as he drops his head, giving in to the tears. You move your hand to his cheek and tilt his head up so you can look him in the eyes, so he can look you in the eyes. Gently, you brush tears away with your thumb as they fall.

“I’m here, Love. And I’m so sorry for not telling you where I was going. You and Dave had Warner’s attention and he still had Lucy, and I just—” you try to find the right words. “I didn’t think about it, I just knew that I had to do something to try and save her.” You sigh. “And it almost got me killed,” you acknowledge in a whisper, as if that somehow makes it better. “But all three girls get to go home to their families tonight,” you say softly.

“But you almost didn’t,” he says. “Local PD were focused on the fire and explosion and the team was focused on you and the girls. Emily took off as soon as she could and Morgan followed her because I was caught up with the Chief of Police,” he says with so much venom you can’t help but snort; this particular Chief of Police had been a pain in the ass the entire case.

“And they found me. And then you found me,” you whisper, holding both his hands in yours, kissing his knuckles. “And here we are.”

“And here we are,” he echoes.

You tug him forward, moving your hands to his shoulders and gently catching his lips with your own. His hands cup your face with a fierceness that takes you by surprise, and he kisses back with a desperation that leaves you clinging to his broad frame. I’m here I’m here I’m here. He pulls back slightly, just enough to rest his lips on yours, eyes closed, as the two of you just exist with each other, nothing more. You move your hands to the back of his neck, playing with the hair there as his thumbs move slowly across your cheekbones.

“I love you, Aaron,” you breathe, letting your lips brush his with each syllable.

“I love you more, Sweetheart,” he whispers, softly pressing his lips to yours once, twice, three times.

You open your eyes with a sigh to find Aaron already looking at you. Moving further up the bed, he pulls you with him, laying down and gently maneuvering you until you’re half-across his chest. One of your arms resting under your cheek, over his heart, the other grasping at the fabric of the button-down he’s wearing. He has both his arms securely around you, mindful of your ribs, holding you against him as he rests his cheek on top of your head and intermittently presses kisses wherever he can reach.

In the contented silence, you let yourself relax. Your eyes drifting shut to the steady rhythm of Aaron’s heartbeat as he runs his hands up and down your arms. You know you should shower, that you smell like smoke and the forest floor and that there’s blood you need to wash off your face. You know that Aaron probably won’t let you out of his sight for the foreseeable future, and that he’ll keep you by his side during standoffs so you can’t do anything close to what you did today. You know that you love him, and he loves you.

So, for now, you rest against each other and allow yourselves the comfort of knowing that you survived another day.

--- 

Taglist: @rosesonmyheart

[psychoseal]

TAG Minibang 2021

for @tagminibang​ I got together with the awesomely talented @scattergraph​ to create a little fluff piece exploring the relationship between Gordon and Virgil and how they always have each others backs. Gordon is not known as Virgil’s wingman for no reason. I did the words, and @scattergraph​ did the most adorable illustrations! so without any further delays I present to you: Wingman. 

Gordon is bored. It has done nothing but rain all morning, and he has taken to sitting on the windowsill watching the constant pounding of the drops on the pane. The sky is bleak and grey, the clouds looking as though they will never empty.

Alan is sleeping in Scott’s arms oblivious to his big brothers discontent as he snoozes happily and Scott is watching some documentary about some project he has no interest in. If it isn’t water related, Gordon does not care!  

John is out doing a grocery shop with their mom while their dad has been left to hold down the fort, and he escaped to his office to catch up on some work before Lucy’s car had even left the driveway, because he would rather do anything than play with Gordon. Gordon knows this.

Sighing dramatically he jumps from his spot and goes to find Virgil. Skipping up the soft carpeted stairs, before crashing in through his elder brother’s bedroom door, slightly breathless and runs into the room before diving onto the bed.

“For crying out loud Gordon! Knock” Virgil tells him from his desk, rolling his eyes.

Gordon’s heart sinks. Even Virgil doesn’t want to play with him.

Seeing the devastation on his little brother’s face, Virgil’s own heart melts with compassion.

“Sorry Squiddie, what do you want?” Virgil asks kindly.

“I’m bored Virgy. I want to go swimming but daddy said I can’t because it is raining. I said that it doesn’t matter because the pool is wet already and he shouted at me to leave him alone so I tried to play with Scott and he was too busy being boring and old.” Gordon tells him almost in tears.

Virgil gets up from the desk, where he has been working on a sketch from a photograph of their trip to the beach the previous summer, planning on giving it to his mom for her birthday in a few weeks time, and joins Gordon on the bed.

“Dad is busy with work and you know the pool rules, they’re there for your safety Fish” Virgil tells him gently, wiping away a stray tear from Gordon’s cheek with his sleeve.

“But the rules are so boring Virgy” Gordon replies in disgust. “All I get all day is “no Gordon you can’t play in the rain, you’ll get sick” “no Gordon you can’t jump off the piano, you’ll hurt yourself” it’s so unfair!” He is whining, and he knows it. But he doesn’t care. Nothing in his day is going the way he planned.

Virgil nods along with him, knowing that it is easier to agree rather than argue. “What do you want to do?” He asks, thinking that if he keeps him quiet and entertained then his father will be happy.

“I want to fly” Gordon replies with a grin.

“Pardon?” Virgil replies trying not to laugh.

“I saw it on tv. We can make a plane out of cardboard and fly it down the stairs” Gordon insists getting up and dragging a box full of art supplies out from under the bed and dumping the contents on the floor. “See we can decorate the box and we will both sit inside and fly down the stairs”

Virgil just stares at his brother, making a mental note to stop him watching tv!

But his little brother’s enthusiasm is contagious and he finds himself joining in decorating their plane. He even finds some additional cardboard so that they can make wings.

Gordon writes their names on the wings in big loopy handwriting with a thick black permanent marker; “GRODON” is on the right-hand wing and “VIRGILE” is on the left.

“Virgy can we paint it now?” Gordon asks delighted with their box plane.

Virgil nods happily, caught up on their project now. “Hang on I will go and get the paints, what colours are we painting it?”

“Yellow and green!” Gordon replies automatically. Combining both of their favourite colours. “Can you get the stripy paint?”

Virgil laughs at their old joke. A hand me down joke from their grandfather who tells a story about sending an apprentice carpenter on a mission for stripy paint as a joke. “Always”

Working together the painting of the plane does not take the two brothers long, and neither of them realise that they are getting paint everywhere, it is all over their clothes. And there are great splotches on Virgil’s bedroom carpet and he knows that his parent’s won’t be happy but that is the last thing on his mind. Gordon even has a streak of yellow paint on his face, under his left eye, across his nose and running down to his chin.

“What are we going to do while it dries?” Virgil asks. This is Gordon’s project and he doesn’t want to take over.

Gordon sits back against the bed and thinks. Waving the brush still in his hand causing even more paint to fly across the room splattering the walls. “Build a fort”

Virgil grabs the blanket off his bed and climbs up on his desk and throws it over the door and propping it up with two chairs. One from his desk and the other from Scott’s room to create an opening. Gordon grabs the pillows from Virgil’s bed and places them in their fort and they get settled on the floor.

“Can you read me a story?” Gordon asks resting his head on Virgil’s shoulder.

“How about I tell you a story?” Virgil replies. Not really wanting to move now he is comfortable.

“Okay” Gordon agrees. “But I want it to have dragons and monsters who want to eat Scotty and Johnny and Allie and you and I want to be the hero who saves the dragons and the monsters from being poisoned because I bet you all taste yucky”

Virgil stretches his arm and wraps it about Gordon’s shoulders.

“What should the dragons look like?” Virgil asks.

“Big and mean and green and they can breathe fire and the monsters are bright orange with tentycall thingies sticking up out their giant heads”

“Why don’t we draw them?” Virgil asks. “We can illustrate the story”

Gordon nods happily. The plane forgotten momentarily as they draw big colourful monsters eating their siblings and tearing apart their school, only for Gordon to save the day when he takes the monsters and moves them into the barn so he can have them for pets.

“You’re so good at drawing Virgy” Gordon tells him appreciatively. “Can we go and fly now?”

Virgil crawls out of their fort and checks the plane. It is still sticky but it will do. “Sure come on” he tells Gordon, holding open the door to the fort for his brother to join him.

Together they carefully carry the plane out of the room and across the hallway to the top of the stairs.

“You get in first Virgy then I can sit on your lap and we can push from the walls” Gordon demands.

Virgil obeys his brothers commands and sits back in the box, but he can feel a knot twist in his stomach as he looks down the steep stairs. A sudden nervousness, maybe this isn’t such a great idea! “Gordon? I don’t think we should do this”

“Why? It is fun” Gordon replies.

Virgil sighs before trying to explain. “What happens if he fall out, we could get hurt Gords”

This hasn’t occurred to Gordon and he turns around in the plane to look at his big brother. Reaching out for his hand and enveloping it with his much smaller one and smiling reassuringly. “Trust me Virgy. You won’t get hurt; I would never let you get hurt”

His eyes are so wide and so trusting. Eyes so close to Virgil’s own deep amber ones that he just can’t help but believe him. “Okay my little wingman, let’s do this thing” he finally speaks up his eyebrows lowering over his face deep in concentration as he pulls his hand free from Gordon’s and grabs hold of the top of the banister to “start the engine”.

Gordon squeals in delight as the box flies down the stairs, leaving more paint on the walls and carpet as the wings brush against the wall and bannister. He can feel the friction burning his backside and legs as they shoot downwards. This is even better than the pool!

To Virgil’s surprise they make it to the bottom in one piece and Gordon jumps up laughing so hard he can’t even stand still, his legs wobbling slightly before he gets his earth legs back.

Turning back to Virgil he is delighted to see an equally large grin on his face. “Again?” He asks hopefully.

Virgil doesn’t hesitate this time. “Yes!” He replies happily jumping up from the plane and helping Gordon drag it back up the stairs for its second flight.

They are halfway down the stairs when the front door opens and their mom comes marching into the house, her arms laden with paper bags packed with groceries and followed by John who can’t even see over the top of the bag, his bright red hair is the only thing that makes him look like a human and not a grocery bag with legs!

“LOOK OUT!” Gordon’s now panicked cry causes John to startle, and he stumbles, falling over his feet.

The bag goes flying, a graceful arc over to the stairs towards the plane. A bag of flour explodes all over Gordon and Virgil and a dozen eggs shatter mixing with the flour in their hair and all over their clothes. Gordon starts to giggle. This was even better than the flight! Getting filthy if one of his most beloved hobbies.

Lucy hearing Gordon’s cry comes running from the kitchen. John is crying, tears streaming down his face from the fall and the embarrassment of dropping the groceries. And he is her priority as she carefully kneels down to his level and helps him up into a sitting position and wrapping him up in her arms for a cuddle. Gently wiping away his tears in a similar way to Virgil did for Gordon just a few hours before.

“Are you hurt Johnny?” She asks concerned.

“MY KNEE HURTS!” He wails burying his face into her shoulder while she rubs his back with small comforting circles.

“Let’s have a look” Lucy replies. Lifting up the leg of his jeans to reveal a slight scrape, with small splatters of blood oozing through the cracked skin. “Oh Johnny that does look really sore. Come with me into the kitchen and I will get you sorted out. Would you like a plaster with planets on?”

John looks up from her shoulder and nods, allowing her to pick him up and carry him away.

“You two stay where you are” Lucy tells Gordon and Virgil, not even bothering to turn around. Her mom sense kicking in that the two culprits were about to run away!

“Think we have time for one more flight?” Gordon asks.

“Mom said we have to stay here” Virgil reminds him.

“Spoil sport” Gordon replies pouting.

“Okay fine but if I get grounded it’s your fault!” Virgil replies as they both clamber up out of the plane to their feet.  

They don’t even get halfway back up the stairs before their mom comes back, and she is uncharacteristically furious. Her usually sunny features are incandescent with rage as she approaches the two boys.

Even Gordon cowers at the sight. Brave and fearless Gordon, cowers under the angry glare of his mother.

“WHATON EARTH WERE THE PAIR OF YOU THINKING?!” She thunders, her voice rattling the walls and causing both Scott and their father to come running.

“What is going on out here?” Jeff asks.

Lucy turns her fiery amber eyes on him, “YOU SHOULD KNOW. I ONLY LEFT YOU IN CHARGE FOR A FEW HOURS AND THIS IS WHAT I COME HOM TOO! VIRGIL, GORDON UPSTAIRS NOW AND START RUNNING A BATH, THE PAIR OF YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY FILTHY”

Virgil grabs Gordon’s hand and the pair race up the stairs to the safety of Virgil’s room before collapsing onto the bed laughing until tears are streaming down their cheeks.

“Come on, I think we ought to do as we are told and have that bath” Virgil tells Gordon once he has his breath back.  

Gordon loves the bath and happily agrees, following his elder brother down the hallway and into the bathroom he shares with his brothers.

The original tub has been ripped out and replaced with on twice the size of a standard tub, mainly for Gordon to play in!

“Can we have bubbles?” he asks hopefully.

“Sure” Virgil replies, as Gordon pours in the whole bottle of the strawberry bubble bath he found on the side of the tub. Virgil bites his lip, as he knows that was not a very good idea but he has had so much fun this afternoon, that his momentary moment of conscience is quickly buried.

Gordon strips off his clothes and dives into the warm bubbly water, grabbing his toy submarine so he can take it for a voyage. He is almost buried in bubbles, which are steadily rising higher as the tub continues to fill up.

“This has been the best day Virgy” Gordon tells him happily as he splashes him with water.

“Yeah it has Fish, we should do it more often!” Virgil replies with a grin, before sticking his hands in the water, and dumping bubbly water over Gordon’s head.

“VIRGY!” Gordon squeals, before pulling his brother into the tub. Virgil hits the water, which splashes over the side of the tub and hits the floor. “Oops” Gordon says giggling.

“You’re going down Squiddie!” Virgil replies laughing and splashing more water onto his brother’s face and not bothering to get out the tub. His clothes are soaking but he is having too good a time to care, and he cares even less about the water spreading its way across the floor.

Their play fight is interrupted when their parent’s barge into the room, having heard the commotion.

“WHAT ON EARTH?” Jeff roars, causing the two boys to jump in surprise.

“Hi Daddy” Gordon replies flashing his father his most charming smile.

“DON’T hi Daddy me young man, I asked you a question” Jeff’s voice is just above a whisper, a low almost menacing growl, which Gordon doesn’t back away from.

“We are having a bath Daddy, just like you and Mommy said” Gordon replies with an unrepentant shrug.

Jeff reaches across the boys and pulls the plug on their bath. Causing Gordon to squeak with indignation as they weren’t doing anything wrong. Jeff ignores his protests and lifts him out of the tub, wrapping him up in a warm, dry fluffy towel and walking him from the room, while Virgil sighs in resignation and follows Gordon and their parents from the room.

Jeff takes Gordon into his own bedroom to help him get dressed, while Lucy follows Virgil into his. Stopping in shock when she finally sets eyes on the destruction. “VIRGIL GRISSOM TRACY!”

Virgil finally stops to look at the chaos unleashed by his brother in boredom and flinches at the sight of the paint splattered walls, carpet and bedding. They have even somehow managed to get paint on the ceiling. The floor is littered with coloured pens without lids where the ink is staining the already ruined carpet, the bed sheet Virgil supplied for the fort somehow has a large tear in the side and his heart sinks because he just knows that he is in the biggest trouble ever!

“Get this cleaned up now and then get to bed” Lucy demands before storming from the room, the door slamming loudly behind her like a prison cell.

Virgil starts to clear away the fallen pens, slamming them putting back into his art supplies box with fury and returns it to its spot under the bed, when Gordon joins him, now fully dressed in his pyjamas and a dressing gown, dragging his cuddly squid behind him. Even Squid looks upset at the turn of events. This wasn’t what he wanted.  

“Virgy?” He asks tentatively.

“Get lost Gordon, I am in so much trouble because of you” Virgil replies, throwing a pillow at his brother’s head.

Gordon gets the message and flees the room, running back down the hallway to his own room and bursting into tears. He never meant for anything bad to happen and now Virgil hates him. He cries until he falls asleep, buried into a nest of blankets.

*TB*

Virgil is starving. He hates being punished but being sent to bed without any supper is the worst. This is all Gordon’s fault. He should never have listened to him, never have let him talk him into this.

It is just after midnight and the house is silent and still. The rain from earlier turned into a storm, which has finally abated leaving the night sky cloudless and clear. Stars can be seen for miles from his window, which he has opened up to tempt in some fresh air while he sits up on the windowsill gazing out at his freedom.

His reverie is broken when his doorknob slowly starts to turn and the door creaks open almost silently before someone quietly pads across the room to his bed. “Virgy?” the voice whispers. “Where are you?”

“Over here Fish” Virgil replies.

“I brung you a snack” he tells him smiling and holding out a pilfered bag of crisps.

Virgil jumps down from the windowsill and joins Gordon on the bed, helping himself to a few crisps, shovelling them into his mouth and savouring the salty flavour before swallowing.

“I’m so sorry Virgy, I never wanted to get you into trouble” Gordon tells him, his voice breaking with threatened tears.

Virgil abandons the crisps and embracing his younger brother with both arms, pulling him onto his lap. “It’s okay Fish really. I would never have tried it if you hadn’t of suggested it. It was fun. Right up until we got caught!”

“Really? You’re not mad?” Gordon asks hopefully.

“Not anymore Fish, it was partly my fault too” Virgil insists. “Come on let’s get some sleep”

The pair cuddle up in Virgil’s bed and both fall asleep quickly. Gordon trusts Virgil to always keep him safe, and for the first time since he gained a Fish brother, Virgil knows that he can always put his full trust in his little wingman.

*TB*

“And as the years go by, our friendship will never die” Gordon sings from his spot, on Virgil’s back.

Virgil rolls his eyes. He is sure that the ankle Gordon claims he has sprained is just an excuse for a lift back to Thunderbird 2 following a difficult rescue in the desert. The sun is beating down on their heads, and Virgil is exhausted.

“Come on Virg! SING VIRG!” Gordon encourages him, waving his arms around.

“Hold on properly, or I will make you get down and walk!” Virgil admonishes him with mock severity.

“You wound me big brother” Gordon replies “what was wrong with my singing?”

“Do you really want me to answer that?” Virgil replies with a grin as he continues to trudge towards the giant green ship which is mercifully fitted with air conditioning!

Finally they make it to the safety of Thunderbird 2, and Virgil unceremoniously deposits his brother into the passenger seat, before he starts to make the flight home.

Gordon yawns dramatically from his seat, having pulled one of the spare blankets up to his chin. “Hey Virg?” he calls sleepily.

“Yeah Gords?” Virgil replies glancing over his shoulder.

“Sing with me?”

Virgil sighs, it has always been this way. He can’t resist those puppy dog eyes!

“When the road looks rough ahead

And you're miles and miles

From your nice warm bed

You just remember what your old pal said…

YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND IN ME”

Gordon is fast asleep by the end of the song, which is how Virgil likes him! He may be his wingman, but there are just sometimes when he needs a break!

[swordofpevensie]

As I've seen it again, here are my favorite things about Prince Caspian (2008):

warnings: It is a very long post and I can't help but swear sometimes.

• How Caspian is confused all the time.

• Prefossor: “Don't use that until you really need to use it.”

Caspian: *Uses it the first time he is in danger.* Good job boy, good job.

• “Phyllis.” “SUSAN!” (Lucy does the same thing in tvodt *emotional voices*)

• That disappinted look in Susan's eyes when she sees Peter fighting, and they way she doesn't do anything to help him. Like girl they are beating your brother??

• Edmund comes and saves Peter by simply jumping on everyone who is trying to hurt Peter. We love a clever and quick boi™

• Lucy's little comfort to Peter. *sniffing*

• Peter's iconic hair, that rebel and sassy hair.

• “I'm not touching you!” “I'M NOT HOLDING YOUR HAND!”

• How happy they are at the beach and the way they finally can have pure fun. *more sniffing*

• Narnia is so beautiful in summer and Pevensies look so beautiful too.

• And for my own please, I'll mention how beautiful Peter looks when he is playing in the sea and walking among the ruins.

• The way Lucy holds Peter's hand to show him the way and THE TORCH SCENE GETS ME EVERYTIME.

• Everyone is like where the hell are we and Lucy is just enjoying her apple.

• And again for my own pleasure, I'll mention how beautiful Susan looks.

• “wHiCh cHeSs sEt?” “whOt?” We love a one confused king.

• That shot when they all stand in their places in the ruins and Peter says “Cair Paravel.” I'm like YES SIR I'M READY TO SACRIFICE MY WHOLE LIFE FOR YOU.

• I'm lowkey attracted to General Glozelle. (shameful sniffing)

• I like it that Edmund is the first one to figure out what might have happened to Cair Paravel. And our confused king is again like “whOt?”

• C'mon Peter is very committed to make a torch and it is SO CUTE. And Edmund watching him is so funny, he is like ‘I'm about to end this man's whole career.’

• I'll not tell my thoughts on the time Peter takes his sword. I'm trying to be a good. *choughs*

• Boom! “Drop him!” YOUR QUEEN IS BACK YOU IDIOTS! OOOH HOW I LOVE SUSAN.

• Peter jumping to the water and Lucy using his dagger to cut the ropes.

• “High King Peter, the Magnificent.” I mean if I were magnificent just like him, I'd tell it loud very frequently too.

• Edmund using sword... 10/10 His final pose 20/10. *chefs kiss and sniffing*

• “Or do I have to sit on your head again?” Narnians and humor? Count me in!

• Caspian's accent... YES SIR.

• “I'm Prince Caspian... The tenth.” and “High King Peter, The Magnificent.” are cousins and you can't tell me otherwise.

• “Running away.” Oh just come into my arms you sad and broken boi. *too many sniffings*

• Proffesor inside: Eheheh they are back. You are a dead man now Miraz.

• That underwater shot... 10/10. Peter paddling... 10/10. All of them sitting in silent, sadly... Okay this one hurts A LOT.

• “We didn't mean to leave you know.” *no more sniffing i'm crying*

• Lucy greeting and trusting in a bear is me vs. life. Susan saying a bear to stay away from Lucy is me vs. life again.

• Peter helping Lucy to stand up and her hugging Peter for comfort.

• And that bear scene is very clever to me. It shows that those bad times have an effect on everyone. How even Narnians, kind, gentle, happy Narnians turned into wild creatures because of bad times. Also Susan not killing the bear immediately shows how gentle she is and she always gives a chance.

• “I can hear you.” We love a done™ prince. And him asking questions about Narnia is so cute!

• That zoom to Caspian's face is kiLLING ME.

• AND REEPICHEEP I'd kill and die for him unless he kills and dies for me first.

• CENTAURS ARE BACK!!! Oh I love them so much.

• “You can't carry a map in your heads.” “That's because we have something in them.” LUCY DIDN'T STUTTER.

• “i'M nOt lOst.” My baby tries so hard I love him bye.

• “OH SHUT UP!” is one of my favorite Peter lines. Also he is very sassy and why is no one talking about it?? (I'll talk about it later btw, eheh)

• IF SOMEONE BELIEVED AND LISTENED TO LUCY THE FIRST TIME SHE SPEAKS, THINGS WOULD BE SO MUCH BETTER AND EASIER FOR ASLAN'S SAKE.

• And Edmund supporting Lucy? We love a supportive and cute brother.

• Caspian is so brave and the speech he gives... *CHEFS KISS* I mean I would fight and die for him too. And when Narnians believe in him, I cry even more. (++Ben Barnes' voice in that accent... Gets me every freaking time).

• The look in Peter's face when he sees the making of the bridge. He is like “Not my kingdom, you bitches!”

• The conversaion between Lucy and Susan... I hate to think their struggles, adjusting to Narnia, adjusting to England.

• Lucy telling a tree to wake up is me vs. life, again.

• The way Peter just comes and hides her out of nowhere... WE LOVE A PROTECTIVE BROTHER.

• When Caspian and Peter fights... Okay, for your safety I'll shut up but the way Peter is ready to hit him with a rock is both funny and shows how a quick and smart fighter he is.

• “PETAH!” Okay Susan, we get it honey.

• “Well if you like, we can come back in a few years.” LIKE WHY IS NO ONE IS TALKING ABOUT HIS SASS??

• “You were right to fear the woods.” IS. EXCELLENT.

• Caspian and Peter walking in the front and talking casually. My heart goes *butterlifes* *looove*

• When the papa centaur rises baby centaur's sword... *a loud sniff* .

• I love that there are pictures of Pevensies and Golden Age on the walls. It makes me feel so majestic.

• Caspian: *dramatically lights fire*

• They are looking at The Stone Table and Caspian in the back is like look at the mess you made.

• When Peter and Caspian talk at the same time.

• “There is always a first time.” THAT. SASS. AND CONFIDENCE.

• “We could collect nuts!” “Yes, and throw them at Telmarines!” Reepicheep... Love you babe.

• Okay the whole castle stuff is so freaking cool until the last minutes. Like Edmund and his torch, Susan and THE WAY HE KILLS A MAN BY THROWING AN ARROW.

• But... Caspian babe, kill your bastard uncle anyways.

• And it just should be said: I love how Narnians are always ready to sacrifice themselves because freedom is much more important than their lives. They are not afraid of death as long as it means to get freedom back.

• That poor cat... I don't know what to say.

• You are attacking a castle and your baby Caspian just casually knocks the window.

• Professor doing his best to help Caspian escape and then seeing him back in the castle again... I mean a disappointment level I can relate.

• I wish I could be woken up at night by Caspian, with a sword on my throat? Depends on my mood.

• Miraz being so done is a mood.

• They all are in Miraz's bedroom like:

• Edmund literally headbutts a man wearing a metal helmet. I am speechless.

• You don't have sword? Don't worry you have a torch... just don't break it.

• Reepicheep and his friends pushing that thing makes me cry and scream.

• “Who exactly are you doing this for Peter?” THE LOOK ON PETER'S FACE.

• When Peter screams “FOR NARNIA!”

• My Queen Susan throwing an arrow to man and killing him despite his armour. I. LOVE. ONE. POWERFUL. QUEEN.

• Sometimes I wish I was an minatour.

• Edmund kicking that dude's head by sliding. A simple and powerful move.

• OKAY SO MIRAZ PUSHING THIS MINATOUR IS VERY PERSONAL TO ME. AND I AM VERY PISSED OF.

• And that minatour holding the door. I love you, you strong and scary baby. And I always will.

• When Edmund casually jumps back, I hear Blow Your Mind by Dua Lipa playing.

• That moment when other Narnians are trapped inside and Peter and Susan watch them... MY BABY PETER HAVE HAD ENOUGH PLEASE LET HIM REST. And Edmund seeing the dead bodies...

• That agressive “HEY!” from Caspian and the way Peter and him just scream at each other, idk what to say but it is sort of funny.

• When mama centaur cries, you know I'm dead on the floor.

• King Miraz getting on his throne... Sassy and majestic af. He is a psycho but you know he has taste.

• “What do you want? Congratulations?” Okay Caspian put that sarcasm down babe.

• When my mom watched the scene where The White Witch sort of comes back for the first time, she was like “Not that bitch witch again.”

• The way Peter pushes Caspian is skcjskfsj MOVE BITCH GET OUT THE WAY

• And Edmund killing the wolfish thing is so cool, he is a very talented warrior. Also him stabbing Jadis, he gives like zero fucks.

• And when the ice is broken, they see Aslan on the wall and it is such a strong scene!!

• Can someone please explain me why Miraz and his men wear those freaking helmets?

• “And she won't be alone.” WE. LOVE. ONE. SUPPORTIVE. AND PROTECTIVE. SISTER.

• No, Caspian you may not, no matter how hot you say Miraz.

• Edmund in Miraz's place... Just perfect. That sass, that confidence, that intelligence. THAT look on his face.

• “Your brother's sword is sharper than his pen.” It is an adage in Turkish btw: “A pen is sharper than a sword.”

• “Or hooves.” Lucy, was that joke really necessary honey?

• THE LOVE OF MY LOVE AND MY ONE TRUE LOVE PETER SAYING “WELL, FEEL FREE.” AND “JUST. ONE.” WITH A BRAVE LOOK ON HIS FACE IS THE CAUSE OF MY DEATH.

• Queen Susan standing on her own, holding her bow to hunt men... YES. QUEEN.

• Proud brother™ Edmund.

• The way Peter snarls at Miraz. I mean I WOULD SURRENDER TO HIM.

• AND MAY I HAVE YOUR ATTENTION FOR PRAISING WILLIAM'S ACTING? He fights amazing and his expressions are both beautiful and real. He makes you feel what Peter feels. I just love the way he portrays Peter.

• “Keep smiling.” King Edmund just knows things.

• And the way he just doesn't listen Peter and fixes his arm... 10/10

• When he hits Miraz's wound. He is a smart fighter, and I'll not even bring up how he stabs Miraz.

• “It's not mine to take.” Me inside: *MINE IS YOURS TO TAKE.*

• Caspian just stop screaming and kill this bitch for Aslan's sake.

• “Not one like you.” WITH TEARS ON HIS BEAUTIFUL BLACK EYES. I HATE HIM SOMETIMES.

• Although I hate that they have to fight again, what the Lord did was really smart, I have to admit.

• Have I told you that I hate that ball-throwing-machines?

• Queen Susan telling archers to get ready and Prince Caspian telling “Narnians, attack!” while riding his horse. ALSO WHAT THEY DID WAS SO CLEVER. PETER COUNTING WITH THAT BRAVE FACE.

• My baby Peter fighting again. And Caspian coming out of the underground. *CHEFS KISSES*

• KING EDMUND RIDING A HORSE AND ARROWING PEOPLE?? MORE CHEFS KISSES.

• Reepicheep's tiny armour OMG

• I HATE THAT BALL-THROWING-MACHINES.

• When they all run again (Not to mention Peter has to attack and fight like for like the hundredth time) THEY LOOK FREAKING GOOD AND MAJESTIC AND KING EDMUND CUTTING MEN IS PER.FECT.

• I AM IN STRONG NEED OF HUGHING AN ASLAN.

• THE TREES ARE COMING BACK HELL FREAKING YESSS!!!

• Queen Susan killing with this bows and arrow is just perfect. I love her. Like so much.

• Ooh there is shield wall? Don't worry Narnians will jump on it.

• Peter proudly saying “Lucy,” and looking at Caspian like “Hehe did you expect that?”

• And my baby yells “For Aslan!” and goes to fight. AGAIN.

• Lucy and her dagger? FREAKING DANGEROUS. RUN AWAY.

• Welcome water grandpa, you are very cute!!!

• Aslan is like hehe this is my friend. He is very proud of his friend.

• The guilt on their faces when they see Aslan is so cute.

• “All of you.” SHUT UP YOU MADE ME CRY AGAIN.

• OH AND REEPICHEEP. PLEASE I LOVE HIM SOOO MUCH. HE'S HAD ENOUGH.

• Aslan calling him “Small one.” awWWW

• “Do you see him now?” QUEEN LUCY NEVER STUTTERS.

• Okay but the way they all look perfect during the parade. Caspian's crown and Susan's dress are my favs.

• AND THAT LOOK ON SUSAN'S FACE. IT KILLS ME.

• What the hell is Caspian wearing when Telmars go back?

• There is a talking lion in front of them and Telmarines still are amazed by a turning tree.

• Peter looks so good in blue and him giving his sword to Caspian is awwww again.

• Peter and Susan are the ones who'll not come back again and they both wear blue while Lucy and Ed wears green.

• Peter shaking hands with the centaur is an another awwww.

• The kiss makes me feel weird but I'm alright with that.

• “I'm 1300 years older than you.” is CUTE TO ME.

• Peter's proud brother smile. 10/10

• The way Lucy looks back at Aslan breaks my heart.

• THE ENDING KILLS ME. DESTROYS ME. VANISHES MY EXISTENCE. THAT LION ROAR. THAT SONG. OH HOW I LOVE THIS MOVIE AND NARNIA MOVIES... I AM CRYING AGAIN.

oooh okay, thank you for sharing this emotional roller-coaster with me. i hope you enjoy it.

love, andrea.♡

[pl-panda]

To Marry a Vigilante: Part 14

MASTERLIST || First || Previous || Next

To Marry a Vigilante: Part 14

---------

“Tt. I will cut that stupid harlot into pieces.” Damian scowled. He, Allegra, Claude, Jon, Felix, Marinette, and Chloé sat at one of the prime tables in the cafeteria. His wife just finished telling them what happened after the initiation meeting.

“Maybe we don’t immediately jump to murder?” Claude suggested.

“I agree. We don’t have a place to hide a body yet.” Chloé supplied. 

“That’s not what… nevermind.” Allegra sighed. 

“Dami! I appreciate the thought, but maybe keep it as plan Z?”

“Plan Z is where I need more than one body bag.” He grumbled but nodded. “But we can postpone it.”

“Okay. Let’s act rationally and focus on prevention. Teachers will be useless.” Felix chose to act as the voice of reason.

“I really hoped it would be different than Paris…” Marinette moaned.

“It is. If they actually catch her, she will be expelled. But you’re not exactly the headmaster’s favorite person while Erica seems to be held high by him. We would need a solid proof and she is cunning.” Claude explained. 

“Remember Lucy Hunt?” Allegra asked. “She did something to attract Erica’s wrath and she had to move to Metropolis after she had a mental breakdown. Nothing was ever proven and to the naked eye it would look like a series of coincidences.”

“So she is smarter than Lila?” The shorter Parisian asked, worried about what was to come.

“Nah. She just knows how to talk with the right people.” Claude dismissed. 

“First order of business would be to ensure she has nothing real to hurt you with.” Felix started. 

Damian and Marinette shared a worried gaze before the boy spoke. “The site is foolproof. Drake made sure to use some of the best technology we have to protect it. Not even a super AI can hack it.” He subtly nodded his head to where Max and Markov ate. Kim and Alix were with them. The skater girl looked really upset. “Same with social media. Short of an alien invasion or if someone physically broke into where we hid the servers, you’re safe on that front.” 

It clearly took a lot of weight from her shoulders. 

“Okay, now onto blackmail?”

“Tt. That’s not something to discuss where we can be overheard.” Damian quickly shut that topic down. 

“Right. Sorry.” Jon rubbed the back of his neck.

“Don’t worry, Kent. I’m covering that front.” Chloé smirked. 

“That’s great…” Claude started, but then pointed toward another table, with quite a lot of people. “Is that Erica… and you said that Sausage Hair was Layla Bossi?”

“Lila Rossi,” Chloé corrected him. “But I like Lie-la Bossi better now.”

“They seem… friendly..” Jon commented when the two girls hugged.

“I would actually expect them to be rivals, given that both want Damian,” Allegra noted. 

“Are they… crying?” Marinette asked.

“Crocodile tears.” Felix glared at them. “They are up to something. I don’t…” He never got to finish, because a purple butterfly descended from the ceiling and landed on Erica’s ring. The corrupted energy surrounded her momentarily and when it died out, her whole appearance was changed.

She now wore a black one-piece cheerleader uniform, similar to what GA cheerleaders wore, except it was black with red lines and not lilac with a white finish. On her chest, there was, in a jagged script, written ‘Gargoyle’. Her face was now in a light shade of red, with tear stains permanently etched on her cheeks. Her eyes were entirely white. Her blonde hair was turned into a messy mane and two horns stood proudly on her forehead. Her lower legs turned into that of a goat, complete with hooves. She was now holding a whip in one hand and a burning pompon in the other. Small wings were folded on her back.

“A succubus! +10 to charisma and +5 to strength!” A small Asian girl shouted from the nearby table.

“I am Weeping Gargoyle!” The Akuma spoke. “I’ve been used by the one I held dear and now I’m going to get what I was denied. But first,” the creature turned to Marinette and her friends. “You! I’m going to deal with you!” 

“Frick frack I lost me…” Claude started some rhymed joke, but a fireball sailing toward them shut him up. 

Thinking quickly, Marinette flipped over the table to use it as an impromptu cover. Damian kicked the ground and a sword popped from next to his chair. Nobody had time to question how he hid it there because everyone scattered. There was nowhere to transform in all the havoc.

“What’s going on here?” Headmaster Hammer walked through the front doors to the cafeteria to see a demonic cheerleader tossing flaming pompons that exploded. “Teenagers.” He growled. From under his cloak, he drew a saber and took a battle stance. “Fiend!” He rushed at her. The whip slashed at him, but the headmaster deflected it with an incredible show of swordsmanship. This created an opening for Damian to charge from the other side. He managed to dodge the flaming ball and slice at her hand. At the last moment, the wing shielded the Akuma and his blade bounced off without leaving the slightest cut. The headmaster was met with the same fate. 

“Stupid men!” The Akuma shouted. A ring of fire exploded from her, pushing and burning both of the attackers. 

“Run.” Headmaster snapped at Damian. “I’ll hold her off.” 

“Tt. You’re old. Get to safety.” The boy snapped back.

“You’re so getting detention for this!” Hammer scowled as the two dodged their separate ways.

“Hey! The tryouts are in the gym!” A voice spoke from a hole in the roof. A spotted heroine leaped from the hole while throwing a yo-yo at the Akuma. The cheerleader shielded with her wings before flapping them and lifting from the ground. 

“You’re not who I want! I’ll get your miraculous later!” She flew through the same hole the heroine entered through. The whole cafeteria was now on fire. Ladybug met Damian’s gaze for a moment before grabbing the headmaster and jumping outside. He was in bad condition from all the smoke. 

She laid him on the ground to make sure he was okay. He coughed several times before the professor was able to speak correctly. “What about the brat!”

“I’m going in now.”

“No need.” Black Cat appeared next to them. “I got him out. We’re lucky the main doors were still working because the rooftop fell apart after I entered.” 

“Cat! The Akuma will be on her ring. It was what created all the fire.”

“Tt. Let’s go.” The two jumped away from the headmaster, who hid a small smile.

-----------

Three girls and two boys snuck around the campus. Most of the students were already evacuated, but they managed to stay undetected and remain in the action area.

“I still think we shouldn’t go after a supervillain.” Kyle tried, but Maps made a gesture that told him to stop speaking.

“Sh! I’m telling you, it was Erica. A butterfly landed on her and she suddenly transformed into that monster.”

“I read about it. It was a demon. The Lord of Butterflies sent it to take her over. If we aren’t careful, it will turn all of us into that monster.”

“Olivia? You’ve got the crossbow?”

“Please. Demon? Lord of Butterflies?” Colton criticized. “Are you sure it wasn’t just some manga?”

“Shut up! How else would you explain what happened to Erica?” Pomeline asked. “It’s obviously dark magic.”

“Okay. Assuming it is dark magic, how are we supposed to protect ourselves? I’m pretty sure I don’t have tinfoil hats on me.”

“Fool. The only thing that can protect you from the Lord of Butterflies are positive emotions.” She spoke like it was an obvious fact, yet still making it sound ominous. 

Abruptly, the wall they were hiding behind exploded, and a girl dressed in a skintight red and black outfit flew past them. A boy in assassin garb followed. He landed on his feet and started to spin a staff fast enough to create a shield. Several fireballs flew at him, but they all smashed into the shield harmlessly. 

He noticed them cowering behind the wall.

“Tt. What are you doing here!? Get away! Now!”

Ladybug jumped up and leaped from behind him, throwing her yoyo. It wrapped over the leg of the villain and pulled the flying Akuma down. Cat charged past his partner and smashed her with his baton like it was a baseball bat, sending her into the wall. 

“Lucky Charm!” The heroine tossed the yo-yo above her head and a red-and-black watermelon fell into her arms. With only a moment’s hesitation, she tossed it to Cat, who already knew what to do. Once more playing baseball, he redirected the watermelon over to the akuma. She just managed to get it together when the fruit landed on her horns and got stuck. The change of weight made her fall, which Ladybug used to dash toward her and tie her with her own whip. She then pulled the ring from her finger and crushed it in her hand. 

A purple butterfly escaped her grasp, which she caught into her yo-yo. 

“Bye Bye little butterfly.” She then grabbed the watermelon and tossed it high in the air. “Miraculous Ladybug!” 

The item exploded into a swarm of glowing bugs that fixed everything there was to fix. It looked like the supervillain never attacked. 

“What… I…” Erica was back to normal and very confused. “There was… I remember…”

“Don’t worry. The paramedics will be with you shortly.” Ladybug calmed her. There was a bit of cold in her voice, but it was probably because she just finished fighting her a moment ago.

“I told you it’s magic.” Pomeline grinned victoriously while she whispered at Colton.

“Ehm.” Suddenly, the group was startled by the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them. “Mind explaining to me why are you here and not evacuated with everyone else?”

“Oh! Um… You see…” Maps started, but Pomeline was too focused on something else. “Where did you learn magic! Can you teach me?! I mean we go to school here and I want to help if Lord of Butterflies and his Demons attack again!”

“Lord of Butterflies?” Ladybug walked to them and asked, again startling the whole group.

“Yes. There was an old book in the library. I managed to decipher part of it and it spoke of the Lord of Butterflies and Demons he sent to possess people. But there is only so far a translator on my phone could take me. I’m not exactly fluent in Mandarin.”

“Can you lead us to it?” The superheroine was showing almost too much interest.

“Will you teach me magic?” Pomeline tried to bargain. 

“Tt. You will take us there or we return with the police and you will take us there.” Black Cat was not in the mood. Blackmail was the last thing he wanted right now. 

“Fine.” The girl scoffed and led them toward the library.

“How did you summon a watermelon?” The smallest girl asked zooming over to Ladybug. “Are you a summoner? I never played a summoner. They have some nice spells I suppose…”

Ladybug, against herself, giggled at the girl’s antics. She also noted in the corner of her eyes that Damian was also smiling under the hood. 

Nobody noticed when Erica slipped away.

-------

The library was large and dusty. It didn’t look like many people came here.

“It’s the old building. When Bruce Wayne funded a new library with new books, they decided to just keep the old one as an archive. Now only people that come here are us and Mr. Scarlet.”

“The new library totally had nothing to do with Damian Wayne getting expelled for the fourth time.” Colton joked and Ladybug giggled when Black Cat muttered a curse under his breath. 

“The book was in the back. I didn’t want to move it…” 

When they turned the corner, they saw a woman in a blue and purple dress standing over a book with a tablet. She was taking pictures of the pages. Her skin was blue and her hair purple. 

The group immediately pressed against the wall, and Pom pulled a handheld mirror to take a look around the corner without risk of being spotted. Meanwhile, Ladybug and Black Cat looked at one another and their faces took a serious expression. There was a kind of silent dialogue going on between them and they both nodded at the same time. In complete silence, Cat used his staff to up and meld with the shadows. Only his green eyes were visible until they too disappeared. 

Ladybug opened her Yo-Yo like a phone and took a photo of the feathered villain. She was turned to them, but even something as simple as that could be a major help. Kwami bless magical phones for making perfect pictures without a flash. 

With the proof needed, she aimed her yo-yo, spun it twice around before throwing it forward. The projectile sailed true and wrapped around her arm holding the tablet. The villainess was surprised and let go of the tool as Ladybug yanked on the line and made her opponent lose balance. That was the cue for Black Cat, who swooped from the ceiling, snatched the tablet, and leaped back into the shadows. 

“Ugh! Stupid peasants!” The Peacock cursed. Instead of freeing her hand, she allowed the fan to slip into her hand and unfolded it. She tried to pull on the yo-yo’s line and make her opponent fly to her. It worked, but Ladybug twisted mid-air and came at the villainess feet first in a kick. The blue woman had to block it, but she still held the line. The heroine used it for her advantage and flipped the line over Peacock’s neck and started to choke her. It also held her in place. Black Cat, who already deposited the tablet in a safe place, swept down and tried to grab the brooch, but he got kicked back by an angry woman, fighting for a breath. 

Peacock folded her fan and swiped at the line, cutting it and making Ladybug fall on her back. The Villainess took a deep breath and looked around to analyze her situation. She was outnumbered and the element of surprise was still on her opponents’ side. Even without the yo-yo, Ladybug was a formidable foe and she wasn’t sure who the new Black Cat was. She had a silent suspicion, but nothing solid. 

“Until we meet again, fools.” She leaped up and onto the shelves. Cat went in pursuit, but she saw the kids hidden behind one of the shelves and purposefully made it fall when she jumped onto it. The kids didn’t have enough time to scatter. Predictably, Black Cat went to save the kids. 

He pushed Maps from under the falling shelf but got stuck there himself. His suit and enhanced body could withstand it, but not his bruised ego. 

“Don’t be a grumpy cat. We’ve got her tablet.” Ladybug stood over him and grinned before helping him stand up. 

“Tt. We might have our first lead.” He grinned. 

“Let’s go check the book itself. The fact she was after it makes me think it has more value than I first suspected.”

----------------

Masterlist // Next

[lupin72]

Chenford fic prompt-Stuck in an Elevator

For the anon who asked for a Chenford stuck in an elevator fic. Thank you for your lovely words. I hope you like it.

"One hour to go," Lucy chirped, checking the clock on the dashboard. One hour. And then she was a full fledged cop. She had almost done it.

It hadn't been the easiest two years of her life to put it lightly. She'd been kidnapped by a serial killer, her Captain had died, she'd broken up with her first serious boyfriend, her TO was shot on the first day and months later had almost died again, she'd thought she could get a disease from a used needle and her dad had ended up in the ED.

But it had no means been the worst either. 

She was still getting to work with two of her best friends and the TO, that had two years ago seemed like he was going to do his utmost best to flush her out in a week, she now counted as a friend.

It was for that reason that, despite her excitement at being qualified, a part of her was dreading it. The voice had been getting louder all day, reminding her that even though Tim had made the last three months as hard as he could (she took it as the compliment he intended and perhaps his own care for her wellbeing) she would miss being with him. His voice, despite what it often had to say, had become a constant to her. His presence at her side was a guarantee. She hadn't realized just how much she relied on him to feel safe until she was faced with the fact that tomorrow? He wouldn't be there . 

So she had done her best to drown it out. Teasing him relentlessly about how happy he must be, counting down the seconds until she was free and he got a new rookie to torture.

Tim had remained his grumpy self throughout all of it, not really quipping back as she had thought he would.

"I can tell the time Boot and you would do well to remember, you aren't done yet." He paused as a call came in for a violent disturbance at a nearby office block. Apparently a CEO wasn't taking it too well that his company was going into liquidation.

Tim told them they were on their way.

"Is it wrong I was hoping for a bit more excitement for our last call?"

"Have I taught you nothing, Boot," Tim snarled. The venom in his voice was almost akin to their first shift that Lucy wasn't sure if he was actually joking. But it was Tim, and they were working and he had been acting strange for a week and wasn't telling her why so she knew he wasn't.

"I know Sir, no easy calls," she replied before he could finish whatever rant he was gearing up for. Thankfully, the office block was round the corner or he would no doubt have continued it anyway.

They ran from the car and into the building where the receptionist informed them they should head to the 17th floor.

A small crowd waiting for the elevator parted at Tim's demand and they jumped in .

Lucy swallowed as the doors closed in front of her. The elevator music was an awkward contrast to the fast beating of her heart and their slightly heavy breaths. It was just a short sprint and there was no reason for her heart rate to be so high. Except for the tight confinement they found themselves in.

Only 17 floors, Lucy reminded herself. They would be out soon and she had to be ready for a tantrum. A quick glance to Tim confirmed his jaw was clenched and she knew that he was definitely not in the mood for her to express her need for the elevator to hurry the hell up.

She wasn't a fool. She had forced herself onto many elevator rides, promised herself that she wouldn't develop any sort of phobia. There hadn't been a ride as long as this one though and certainly not one where the tension between her fellow passenger already made the air stiffing. 

Floor 13. The door opened. Tim had his hand already on the close button as Lucy forced herself to apologize to the waiting people rather than getting off herself. The short interlude was welcome though and the daylight from the glass offices gave her some relief. It was enough for her to focus.

Just two more minutes, if that, and they would be out.

She looked up to Tim again, deciding if it was worth trying to thaw the tension just some before they had to work as a team to calm down the CEO, when suddenly the elevator went black.

And then it shuddered to a stop.

Lucy froze as she heard Tim curse from beside her and the pressing of buttons as he no doubt hit the emergency button.

It was probably lit up for situations like this, a welcome little glow in the corner no doubt. Except Lucy couldn't see it. Because she couldn't see anything but darkness. 

And her heart just about stopped.

What relief the brief stop had brought was now gone. The oxygen in the elevator dropped to nothing. She was back in the barrel. There with only darkness. The air grew thinner.

Her legs couldn't hold her up anymore and she fell to the floor. 

  "Chen!" Tim cried, "what the hell?" He dropped immediately to his knees the cry more from shock than anger. Despite how angry he had been at her just moments before. 

All day he had listened to her gloat about her dawning freedom. All day nothing but excitement at getting to be rid of him. As though she couldn't wait. As though she hated every minute of his company.

Sure that had been his plan at first. It always was with his rookies. He made them fear him to garner respect and to test just how good cops they would be. It wasn't out of cruelty or because he didn't care, he actually tended to care a lot about them, or their safety at least. After all that was his responsibility. 

And so what if he cared more about Lucy than the others, if she was the only rookie he could now call a friend. None of his rookies had been kidnapped before. Then again none of them had cried at the thought of him dying whilst sitting on the other end of the door, or recorded him books on tape to help him learn better, or talked him out of aiding his wife, or sent him food, or taken him paintballing for fun.

None of them had made him smile so much either.

And none had collapsed in a dark, broken down elevator.

"Chen can you hear me?" Tim asked, feeling around in the dark for her. He came to his senses and dug out his phone for a light. His hand it turned out was resting on her boot and she had curled herself into a ball.

"Lucy," he wasn't sure what made him say her name. He didn't call her that often. He was a professional through and through and he liked to remind himself that. Maybe at times he had to.

She didn't respond. Instead, her breaths remained loud and labored as though she was gasping for air.

The elevator wasn't large but there was more than enough oxygen and the vent made sure it would stay that way.

Tim moved his hand from Lucy's boot to her knee, the only part he could reach that felt somewhat acceptable to touch. "What's going on Boot? Talk to me." He tried to be gentle he really did  but he knew his voice, in its desperation, sounded harsh. 

He was met by silence but it gave him enough time to get his head together. And he realized what was going on for himself. 

He cursed himself for not realizing it sooner.

"Hey Lucy, its alright," his voice was thankfully softer now, to his ears anyway, "You're in an elevator with me, you're with Tim okay? You're not back there. You survived and you're safe now. We're just stuck for a minute or two and then we will be moving and going to handle that last call you've been celebrating okay?"

His words seemed to be going unheard and if anything she was getting worse.

At a loss, Tim turned to the glowing buttons. He had pressed the help call but maybe if he pressed it again he could get them help and get her out of there. His phone showed no signal.

He shifted to his weight to rise to his feet, when he felt a hand grab onto his arm.

"Tim," Lucy gasped, feebly pulling him towards her. "Don't leave me, please, please." 

"Hey," Tim immediately fell back to the ground and shuffled closer to her. "I'm not going anywhere Boot, I promise, I'm just trying to get us help." But his excuse fell on deaf ears as Lucy kept her grip on his vest firm.

"Okay, okay," Tim whispered, letting her hold him. "I'll call on the radios then alright?"

He took a few minutes to make the call, all whilst Lucy kept a tight hold on him. He didn't mention her stare, just that they needed to send the fire department to get them out and a unit to deal with the call.

He had been tempted to ask for an EMT but decided against it. He had faith .

"Tim," Lucy croaked, she was still tight in her ball but her grip on him had loosened some. "I’m sorry but can you talk to me? Please... I-"

"You don't need to explain Boot," Tim replied, he shuffled impossibly closer and, despite the voice that told him to remain professional, he wrapped his arms around her shoulders and pulled her close to his chest. Her breathing was almost back to normal but from the tilt to her voice he knew what came next. He had seen enough panic attacks in his time and was expecting the sobs that he quickly felt her begin to shake with.

"I've got you, you're safe. Just picture those drinks you'll be having when we get out of here. Karaoke I think you said? Bit of a waste of a good night if you ask me but whatever."

He got a sort of hiccup at that.

The radio crackled and the voice announced that the fire department were on their way but maintenance was already at work. As if on cue the lights flickered on.

Lucy startled at the shock and Tim blinked at the sudden light.

She looked even more frail in the dark, curled up at his side. He had always been conscious of how impossibly small she was but seeing her curled up next to him she looked tiny. "See, they'll be getting us out soon. Trust the firemen to be taking their sweet time though."

Lucy blinked at Tim's words and he watched as she opened her eyes to look up at him.

The moment their eyes met he became aware of the intimate position they were in. But he couldn't bring himself to move. He told himself it was for her sake, he could still see the fear in her eyes, but he knew it wasn't just for her. 

She terrified him.

"Hi," he whispered. It came out more like a breath.

Lucy's breathing was still jagged, he could feel it shifting her body pressed against his but she managed her first response since the lights went out, "Hi."

Tim felt himself relax at seeing her almost back to her usual self.

"Think I can go ring that help button? I really, really want to scream at someone right about now."

A smile graced her features and Tim rose at her nod. 

He got his wish and barked at a janitor to get them out. Lucy doubted it was his words, and probably just luck, but she felt the elevator judder into action and she found that she had the strength to push to her feet. 

Tim turned to look at her and gave her a strong nod which she returned. 

They didn't speak about it until they were back in the shop.

"Sorry," Lucy confessed, "I just, it was dark and I-"

"Don’t apologize," Tim answered,  well aware this was the friendliest he had been in weeks. He didn't feel bad for it, it was all part of the Tim plan, but he knew when to switch that off. It was becoming harder not to press that switch recently. He wanted to be Tim around her more than Bradford, more than Sir. Hell he wanted so much more.

"This, the sort of mental scars you can't seem to get rid of, they don't need an apology. Not to me, not unless they effect your performance on the job. And I know they won't. If we had a perp in here, I know you would have handled it.

"Still, I'll book another appointment with my therapist, talk through some stuff, I've been meaning to anyway."

It wasn't just from the kidnapping. She left that unsaid. After her breakup with Emmet, after realizing she just wasn't ready to let someone in, she had been meaning to call.

But it wasn't just that either. She needed advice on how to change that, on how to let herself be open again because she had someone in mind who she really wanted to be open with.

When he stopped being her pain in the ass superior that was.

"Thank you, Tim. For your help in there and for well, everything else too. I couldn't have asked for a better TO. "

Tim made a signature gruff sound and his gaze remained fixated on the dashboard. Lucy followed it to see what was holding his attention and realized the time.

"You're officially free of me Chen," Tim spoke, turning to look at her. "Congratulations. And if you repeat what in about to say I'll make sure you get the worst calls for the next week but, you were right in that tape of yours. You are the best I've trained. And I think I might actually miss the constant noise. "

Lucy felt tears rise to her eyes and blinked them away. She could see he was holding something back himself but she wasn't sure what. Perhaps it was the come down of adrenaline, or the excitement of graduating but her request passed her lips before she could think it through.

"You know we were planning on going for drinks after shift, Nolan Jackson and me? Well erm do, do you want to come? I think Jackson was going to say to Lopez so it doesn't have to be weird or anything and you won't have to do karaoke but I just-"

"Yeah, I'd like that." Tim put her out of her misery and cut her ramble short. "Lucy."

Lucy blinked at the way he said her name, almost intimate. It seemed to carry an extra weight somehow, it was more than just a mark of her finishing the shift.

Maybe she could find out exactly what it meant over drinks. 

[laryna6]

FFXV AU where there are two Lucis Caelum lines and ‘King’ is a purely magical/ceremonial position with no actual political power. 

See, Ardyn was pretty busy with the whole ‘saving the world’ thing so he was like ‘I’m never home and someone has to actually like, run the country and set up anti-daemon defenses around towns to stop people from getting infected in the first place, so I’m appointing my younger brother as my Regent and he’s in charge of everything that doesn’t involve healing or dealing with the Astrals.

So Somnus got all the power and respect he wanted and negative reason to betray his brother because then the Astrals might choose him to get jammed full of ten thousand daemons, no thank u. 

Ardyn and the oracle’s kids were very magic, and Somnus taught his kids how to do all the politicking, so he managed to wrangle his line holding on to actual power and hereditary Regents became the true rulers of Lucis, as per Japan having the Emperors’ line remain intact while Shoguns ruled.

In canon, when the kings sucked the people of Lucis were kind of stuck because like, divinely ordained, but since the Regents didn’t have that advantage, eventually a democratic revolution overthrew them (although they hung on to significant power as Dukes of Insomnia) but had no reason to change the arrangement with the kings because ‘if it ain’t broke’ you can keep getting your magical healings and divine blessings (it also threw the traditionalists a bone). 

In the modern times, King Regis (KIng King’s) son is Prince Ignis, named for fire to honor his ancestor Ardyn, and Somnus’ descendent is Duke Noctis. And like, people joke they were switched at birth because Ignis is a great organizer who started politicking young trying to see what he could do to preserve as much of his father’s life force as possible and is hiding that he already controls his magic to make his father’s continued life even more valuable, while Noctis spent a few years with his legs paralyzed after the attack that killed his parents and got very very good at warping to the point that Ignis’ shield Gladio got worried about him and started beating him into actually using his astral-damned legs, so yeah, people joke that the magic talent and political talents got switched. 

Since Noctis wasn’t a prince Prompto wasn’t intimidated and the two of them became friends way earlier and Prompto volunteered as a running buddy to help Noctis’ health but had no reason to give a damn about weight loss? So he remains round and friend-shaped and huggable and the amount of muscle in there means his hugs are Powerful. Noctis appreciates that Prompto can pick him up and carry him when he’s too achy to move~

Chibi Noctis was there for the attack on Luna’s home, and warping her and Ravus to safety was what unlocked his power, but Luna had to return to the empire bc people there needed healing from the Starscourge (Regis handles Lucis) and Ravus went with her to try to help. 

The peace treaty with the Empire is that Ignis marries Luna and the Empire keeps all but one child that’ll be a heir for Lucis, bc the Empire wants their own tame ‘king’ line to hopefully do something re. the wrath of Shiva (and get experimented on...) Road trip happens, with Noctis and Prompto coming along with Ignis and his shield Gladio as friends of his and also to see/meet Luna. Post marriage Ignis needs to build a power base fast in Gralea for leverage to get their children treated like humans, and then they find that Besithia is planning to create new-gen MTs with clones of Ignis...

[anexplanationofunfortunateevents]

A Tale of Red States and Blue States

Once upon a time, there was a state.

It was a large state, with vast stretches of country between its world-class cities. It had communities rich in diversity and activism and ideas – and it had a lot of resentful white people who were just plain old rich.

The richest and most resentful white people created a terrible blight they called “modern conservatism.” They set their wicked curse on the state, and then unleashed it on the nation with two Republican presidents – one lamentable, the next even worse.

There were many along the way who sounded the alarm, but there were more who ignored the danger far too long. The spell had summoned a beast. The beast was hideous and stupid. It was no good at anything except being a hateful beast. But the dark spell had done so much damage that being a hateful beast was enough for the beast to win, at least for a time.

In one version of the story, the state is called “California.”

In another, it is called “Texas.”

It’s strange to think of now, with a decade of sneering about the “left coast” and “San Francisco liberals” and blah blah blah baked into political conventional wisdom, but it’s true. The reactionary modern conservatism which held the whip hand on the backlash to the great civil rights advances of the 1960s was born in California. California voted for Richard Nixon six times: once as their senator, twice as Eisenhower’s vice president, and then three times as the Republican presidential nominee. In between those elections, Nixon of course had to win primaries. In 1968, when he was the Republican front-runner, he faced an upstart challenger who wanted to make sure he’d be racist enough to keep conservative southerners in the tent. That person was not a southerner, but the then-governor of California, Ronald Reagan, who would go on to be the next Republican elected after Nixon.

So what the fuck happened? Well, a lot of things, and I don’t want to pretend to do justice to the generations of righteous activism that pushed back against this disastrous regime. Democrats did occasionally win state-wide – notably, California elected two Democratic women to the Senate in 1992 – even though Orange County was practically a metonym for American conservatism right up until the 2018 midterms. But the turning point that seems to have gotten your average voter to turn on the Republican party for good was in 1994. Governor Pete Wilson, a kind of hard-right proto-Trump, threw his weight behind a hateful anti-immigrant ballot initiative. It passed, even though it was so deranged that it never went into effect because a federal court ruled it unconstitutional within days of the vote, because the California electorate really was that conservative. The electorate changed, almost on a dime. Mexican-American voters organized. Their friends and neighbors and fellow citizens realized that sitting back wasn’t an option. And now the Republican Party of California is a fucking joke.

This isn’t, like, the eternal winds of history blowing microscopic chips off the statue of Ozymandias. If you remember the Clinton presidency, this happened in your lifetime. If you’re a little bit younger than that, it happened in your big cousins’ lifetimes.

Part of what makes it hard to see changes like this is that the dim bulbs in our political media see everything through a horse race lens, where who gets one particular W is the only piece of information worth retaining. You win and you’re clever; you lose and you’re a dumb sucker who tried. Who gets power is really important! But if you only care about that, then you miss the really important trends.

Take the Georgia 6th, the district once represented by Newt fucking Gingrich. Its representative joined Trump’s cabinet in early 2017, at least in part because it was such a supposedly safe Republican seat, so there was a special election for his replacement. Traumatized Democrats and Women’s Marchers threw themselves into the steeply uphill campaign of former John Lewis intern Jon Ossoff. When he came up a few points short, our blue-check media betters tried to turn Ossoff into a punch line stand-in for silly #Resistance liberal losers coping with Trump by losing some more, SUCK IT, MOM! but the other, correct, interpretation is that Ossoff only came up a few points short in a district that was supposed to protect the kookiest of right-wing cranks. His campaign had functioned as kind of an ad hoc boot camp for novice organizers, canvassers, and future school board candidates who had previously been too discouraged and disorganized to take this kind of swing, and it showed Democratic party donors that the district was winnable. So when gun safety advocate and Mother of the Movement Lucy McBath stepped up to the plate in the 2018 midterms, her campaign had the infrastructure it needed, and now she’s well-positioned to be reelected because she’s doing a great job. Meanwhile, Ossoff’s organizing chops and the enthusiastic work his supporters did for Rep. McBath are a big part of why he’s in a dead heat against incumbent Republican Senator David Purdue.

That’s why I’m keeping an eye on the South this year. The presidential campaign there is interesting, but the real story is in those network effects. There’s a rising tide that threatens to make the blue wave of 2018 look like a light spring shower if things break the right way. Just look at the Democratic senate candidates. They’re a diverse group: men and women, Black and white, preacher and fighter pilot. Most are relative newcomers to national audiences, but only some of them are young. Jon Ossoff is just 33; when he was in grade school, Mike Espy of Mississippi was Secretary of Agriculture. What they do seem to have in common is that they are having the time of their fucking lives.

Here’s Espy:

Moving and grooving in McComb. pic.twitter.com/RANCRGGpX7

— Mike Espy (@MikeEspyMS)

October 31, 2020

Ossoff:

The people of Georgia are tired of having a spineless, disgraced politician serve as their Senator. pic.twitter.com/OdaYwFKzmz

— Jon Ossoff (@ossoff)

October 30, 2020

Senator Doug Jones of Alabama:

I know you’ve heard us say it before, but when you see this clip, it bears reappearing: This guy really is clueless. https://t.co/w9YOUHegCW

— Doug Jones (@DougJones)

October 22, 2020

Jamie Harrison of South Carolina:

It's debate night and y'all know I'm going to walk it like I talk it. Let's see if @LindseyGrahamSC can do the same. pic.twitter.com/TNABxsaTEO

— Jaime Harrison (@harrisonjaime)

October 30, 2020

And the bad bitch with her eye on the big prize, MJ Hegar of Texas:

It's about time Texans had a senator as tough as we are. https://t.co/8MQ8Tykmyt pic.twitter.com/bgPr5vtgdh

— MJ Hegar (@mjhegar)

October 16, 2020

Clutch those pearls, John! https://t.co/iWej8MrhtV

— MJ Hegar (@mjhegar)

October 22, 2020

The spineless bootlicker Hegar is challenging, Senate Majority Whip John Cornyn, is currently resting his dainty patoot in the seat once held by none other than Lyndon Baines Johnson. As president, LBJ would aggressively push for some of the greatest human rights legislation in American history in pursuit of what he called the Great Society. That meant Medicare and Medicaid. It meant a revolution in environmental protections. It meant PBS. And it meant telling the one-party authoritarian regime in the Jim Crow south that America was done with their bullshit, they were going to have real democracy, they were going to do it now, and if they didn’t like it they could eat his ass.

Johnson was a complicated guy and left a complicated legacy. His project required an unusual leader of courage, conviction, and unmitigated savvy, cut with streaks of megalomania and dubious mental health. No architect but Lyndon Johnson would have built the Great Society, and no place but Texas could have built Lyndon Johnson.

Then again, Texas also gave us the Bushes in the late twentieth century. It gave us a terrorist attack on a Biden campaign bus just this weekend.

That darkness is real. So is the long, grinding slog to turn on the light. Like the GA-06 silliness, Democratic efforts in Texas get laughed at as some quixotic waste of resources by arrogant flops. In fact, the past few years of high-profile statewide elections in Texas have been on a pretty clear trajectory. In 2014, Wendy Davis, a state senator from Fort Worth who captured widespread progressive attention with her heroic filibuster of a 2013 state abortion ban, ran for governor. She lost by the ~20-point margin you’d expect in a year where Republicans everywhere did really well, but it was a vitamin B-12 shot to a perpetually overwhelmed state Democratic party. The 2016 Clinton campaign, when it was (correctly!) on the offensive before FBI Director Comey decided he would really prefer a Trump presidency, invested heavily in its Texas ground game. It was always a long shot, but even after the Comey letter and the Texas-specific sabotage by the Russian Internet Research Agency, Texas Democrats cut Trump’s margin there down to single digits. That is to say, they recruited the volunteers and taught the skills and raised the cash and registered the voters to carry the ball way down the field. And in the 2018 midterms, El Paso representative Beto O’Rourke built on all that energy to fight Senator Ted Cruz to a near draw. O’Rourke didn’t quite make it, but he did help a lot of downballot Democrats over the finish line and forced Republicans to light a few oil drums of cash on fire to save a seat that they had always assumed would be safe.

That growth has been possible because of a ton of hard work and persuasion, but it’s also been possible because there was so much untapped potential. As progressives have argued for years, Texas was less of a “red state” than a non-voting state. I’m not a person that usually has a lot of patience for people not bothering to vote, because the people who get to be loud about that are whiny, privileged assholes who can afford to be flip about the right to vote. But there are a lot of people who find it hard because they absolutely do know the weight and importance of voting, because they or their mothers or their grandfathers were beaten and terrorized to keep them away from the polls. They might make the same mouth-noises as the selfish dilettantes about how it doesn’t matter and they’re all corrupt and blah blah blah. But a vote is a tiny little leap of faith. It’s at least a skip of hope. And it hurts to know the weight and importance of that and to keep feeling that disappointment over and over again.

A key thing that Republicans in the South managed to do for a while, but California Republicans didn’t, was to let their misrule seem almost tolerable day to day. As outrageous as the overall trends were, as catastrophic the results were for a lot of people’s lives, it didn’t necessarily feel entirely irrational for lots of people to avoid the inconvenience and disappointment of trying to stop them. But if you’re just going to be a constant, unwavering shit show of incompetence and evil, infuriating people every waking minute of every fucking day for years on end, they’re not going to be deterred by inconvenience and disappointment. They're not going to be deterred by fucking tear gas. They’re going to understand that it’s worth trying to get rid of you, even if it’s a long shot. They’re going to line up to kick you in the shin just for the hell of it. And that’s exactly what millions of them have already done.

These dumbass motherfuckers radicalized Taylor goddamn Swift!

LOOK WHAT YOU MADE HER DO!

So yeah. People who had given up are fucking voting. Texas has already had hundreds of thousands more people vote than voted in all of 2016. BEFORE ELECTION DAY!

Vice President Biden likes to recite a poem by the great Irish bard Seamus Heaney. It’s about how you have to have faith that a better world is possible, even when you don’t have any rational reason to expect it any time soon, because it’s the only way you’ll be able to seize the most precious of opportunities, when “justice can rise up/ And hope and history rhyme.”

Sometimes hope and history walk into a bar to tell dirty jokes for a bachelorette party in downtown Austin. And they rhyme.

For a hundred and fifty years, unreconstructed revanchist terrorist sympathizers have threatened that “the South will rise again.” They mean the treasonous mobsters who called themselves the Confederacy.

Why do those losers get to define the South? Like, literally, they’re losers. They lost.

There’s another South. The terrorists cut it off at the knees, so it never quite rose the first time. But it’s always been there. The South the heroes of Reconstruction tried to build. The South of the Kennedy Space Station and the Center for Disease Control. The South of the French Quarter of New Orleans and the gay neighborhoods of Atlanta. The South of Barbara Jordan, Ann and Cecile Richards, Stacey Abrams, and the young women of the Virginia state legislature. The South of Maya Angelou, Molly Ivins, and Mark Twain. The South of the exiles of Miami and the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. The South of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Representative John Lewis. The South of James Earl Carter, William Jefferson Clinton, and Lyndon Baines Johnson.

Once upon a time, there was a colossus. The richest and most resentful white people feared it, for it was both great and good. So they hunted it mercilessly. They tortured and killed its most vulnerable people. They bound it and silenced it and told the rest of the world it didn’t even exist. But they knew that wicked lie was the best they could do, for something so mighty could never be slain by the likes of them.

The giant grows stronger every day as it struggles against its chains, and those chains are turning to rust. One day soon  - maybe in this decade; maybe this week – it will break free. It will rise. And it will shake the earth. Just you watch.

[raineydaywrites]

struck by the cupid’s bow

ao3 link in the source!

summary: Febuwhump day 4: Impaling

The excursion to get the Light should have been easy. It should have been just a nice day out with Lup's two favorite humans.

It wasn't.

It wasn't supposed to be a difficult excursion. The Light had landed at the top of a mountain, in an isolated region that was hard to reach by foot but easy in a ship like the Starblaster.

As far as they could tell, the isolation of the landing point meant that no one had gotten a hold of the Light, and very few were willing to try. The Light tended to draw people in, but that effect lessened the further away from it one was, and the danger of the climb combined with the distance meant that most people were able to resist the desire to acquire it.

So it should have been relatively easy. They weren't going to be stupid about their approach, of course, but they didn't have as much to worry about as usual, and they all had a lot of survival experience by now. This wasn't anything that they couldn't handle.

It was decided that Lup, Barry, and Lucretia would go after the object, while Taako, Magnus, and Davenport stayed on the ship. Merle had already been killed, and therefore couldn't help either way. An even split like that would ensure that both the excursion team and the ship were safe, and both parties were balanced, with each having one of the two heaviest hitters on the ship.

That kind of thinking was habit by this point, even if they weren't expecting major danger. It was just better to be safe.

Lup was excited about the mission, and who she was going on it with. She loved everyone on the crew, but they all had different personalities and senses of humor, and, while she certainly enjoyed a good party or low-brow joke herself, she liked to spend time with the two nerdiest members of the crew as well. Barry and Lucretia both had a tendency to be quieter and more serious, even if they definitely had their moments to the contrary, and while they weren't exactly overwhelmed by the louder voices of Magnus, Merle, Taako, and Lup herself, they didn't often fight to be heard either.

And Lup could admit to some nerdy tendencies in herself, (unlike Taako, who definitely had nerdy tendencies but refused to acknowledge them) and she enjoyed having time to discuss more academic and theoretical topics in depth from time to time.

Besides which, she always liked going places with Barry, even if this particular occasion wouldn't allow any alone time. It was nice to spend time with her boyfriend without the incessant teasing they had to endure at the hands of the rest of the crew. Lucretia might tease a little, but she was far less prone to teasing them about this than the rest of them were.

The Starblaster couldn't land right by the Light of Creation, given the rocky landscape, but it could get them fairly close, and it was a long but relatively easy hike from there. Lup had brought food in a picnic basket for when they got hungry, and there was a light breeze breaking the heat of the day. And when they were done, they'd be able to stop worrying about the Light for this cycle and just enjoy themselves and work on things they were interested in.

It had all the makings of a great day.

As they walked, they'd discussed the most interesting things that they'd noticed about this plane. When she and Barry started to discuss more sciency topics, Lucretia listened intently, scribbling in her journal every once in a while. Over the years, she'd developed her understanding of the scientific discussions that she, Barry, and Taako tended to delve into, but a lot of the time, she still preferred to listen in rather than contribute.

Lup wanted to encourage her to participate more in these conversations, but she could understand that Lucretia might just plain not be interested in the discussions. She hadn't studied science in school, and only minored in magical theory, so it was totally possible that she just didn't have fun talking about this stuff, and Lup didn't want to pressure her to do something she didn't like.

But every once in a while, Lucretia would chime in with a joke or suggestion, so Lup didn't feel like they were making her third-wheel too badly, and it was fun.

They got the Light without issue, but they took longer walking there than they'd expected, and they were only about halfway back when it started to get too dark for human eyes to see clearly.

Lup took the lead, as both the person with the most offensive magic of the three of them and the only one who wasn't hindered by the darkness around them. Lucretia and Barry had flashlights to carry, but those weren't nearly as helpful to them as Lup's darkvision was to her.

Their conversation died down a bit as they were making their way back. There wasn't much to be afraid of, really, but the dark was always a bit unnerving to most people, and almost everyone on the crew had at least a small degree of fear of the dark, after everything they'd experienced.

Poor Barry was one of the worse off though, and he kept jumping every couple minutes as he heard something or other rustling around.

"Here," Lucretia said, softly, to Barry, and Lup turned back curiously at the words.

Lucretia had grabbed Barry's hand to help keep him steady and moving forward, and the touch seemed to be helping to calm him a bit as well. Lup felt a quick wave of affection for both of her sweet humans, before turning back to keep a look out.

Even though there didn't seem to be any people coming after the Light, wild animals could still be a threat. And it was all the more important to be prepared, now that they had the Light in their possession.

It had an unfortunate habit of drawing people in, after all. And even monsters and animals could be affected by it at times, even if they were less prone to it, with their lower levels of intelligence. It was still a big, glowing ball of thrall to them, even if they didn't have the smarts to understand the potential it held.

It happened when they were taking a quick break to rest and get some water. They couldn't keep walking forever, after all, but still, Lup would be cursing the decision to stop there for weeks to come.

They were swarmed, suddenly, by some creatures that Lup had no name for, but they were clearly dangerous, with their giant claws and teeth. And they were bearing down on their group with a quickness.

Lup immediately moved to create a line of fire between them and the creatures, which would at the very least slow them down.

"Come on!" She shouted, and grabbed Lucretia's hand to pull her along, while Lucretia grabbed for Barry's hand.

Running through the dark with humans who couldn't see in the dark was not how Lup had wanted this day to end, but hopefully their linked hands would keep the other two a bit safer. She kept hearing hisses and exclamations of pain from Lucretia and Barry as they landed a bit off, but they hadn't fallen down yet, so they must be okay.

And then Barry made a sound that was much, much worse than the earlier ones.

Lup turned as soon as she heard the choked gasp from her boyfriend, only to see that he had been impaled through the chest on the claws of one of those creatures.

Lup and Lucretia immediately began firing off offensive spells, and the creature was downed before long, but that didn't fix Barry.

Lup dropped down to her knees to grab him, trying not to look at the wound too much. She'd seen enough to know it was fatal anyway, so she'd rather not have it burned into her memory any more than it already was.

Lucretia stood behind them, watching for any more of those things, but so far none had appeared. She kept her hands ready to fire off a shield spell, just in case.

"Sorry," Barry managed to say.

"You weren't aiming for this to happen, were you?" she said, with a teary laugh.

"No. Would rather not be doing this, actually," Barry chuckled. "Don't recommend. Still sorry though."

"Just two months left," Lup said. "It'll be fine. I'll be okay, don't worry."

She wasn't sure which of them she was trying to convince.

"Lup! I see more of them!" Lucretia warned, starting to cast.

"You gotta go, Lup. Get the Light back to the ship. I'm not gonna last much longer; don't risk it for me," Barry said.

"I'm not just gonna leave you, stupid!" Lup said back.

"I'm sorry, babe. But you have to. I'll be okay, you know that. I don't want to get you or Lucy or this whole plane killed over me," Barry insisted, tone taking on a pleading note.

"I can't," Lup said, tears starting to slip down her cheeks.

It was the first time in a long time that she'd had such a hard time leaving when somebody was dying. It had been hard, at first, to accept that they would come back and that it was best to get yourself to safety, but they'd all come to relative terms with it.

But this was Barry. And it was the first time he'd died since they'd gotten together. And the thought of spending the next two months without him just killed her. What kind of person just left their boyfriend to die?

"Luce..." Barry turned his head. "Take care of her, please?"

"Of course," Lucretia agreed, her own voice a bit choked up as well, but still keeping her eyes on the approaching creatures. "We'll miss you. See you next cycle."

"See ya both soon," Barry assured them, and then he reached down and yanked the claw out of his chest, bleeding much faster now.

"No!" Lup screamed, but he was gone before she finished the word.

Lucretia moved then, grabbing Lup's hand and tugging her back toward the ship urgently.

Lup let herself be dragged along, but she didn't turn, staring back at Barry's body and crying.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Lucretia was murmuring as they ran, and Lup barely registered it.

They kept running, and eventually Lup stopped crying, but she still felt numb.

The creatures must have stopped chasing at some point, because they weren't behind them anymore. Maybe they'd only wanted a meal.

The thought of those things eating Barry made Lup feel sick, but she was too numb for the thought to sink in far enough for that.

Eventually, they slowed, and Lucretia wrapped an arm around Lup's shoulders in the closest thing to a hug they could safely allow themselves while they were still out in the dark with unknown, dangerous creatures everywhere.

Lup realized that Lucretia was still softly murmuring comfort to her, and she buried her head in Lucretia's shoulders and let herself be guided and comforted.

Lup barely registered it as they arrived at the Starblaster, but at least it was warm and bright in here.

Lucretia shouted for Taako, who arrived grumpily, but rushed to Lup immediately when he'd had a moment to take in the scene.

Lucretia extricated herself from Lup's grip, and Lup whined at that, until Lucretia pushed her forward into Taako instead.

"I'll take the Light to the lab," Lucretia said, softly, and Lup felt Taako nod in agreement.

Taako started to lead Lup to his room, probably understanding that she wouldn't be able to bear the sight of her room, that was now basically her-and-Barry's room most of the time. Lup appreciated it, because it was hard enough to just keep moving with the images running through her head on repeat.

She fell asleep that night curled around her brother, and it helped, but she knew that nothing would fix the whole in her chest until Barry came back. Maybe not even then.

[mr-saturated]

So a while back in preparation for the Adventure Time series finale I thought It’d be fun to draw this piece. Basically, they’re Finn’s daughters from alternate versions of Ooo if he were to get together with any of the female cast. Even more recently, I also drew their universe’s equivalent of Jake. This is kinda going to be a long post so let's begin.

Riley the Human: Born sometime after the Gum War when the humans made a settlement on Ooo. Finn met a girl who wore a hat with bunny ears and together the two fell in love and had Riley. Inspired by her father’s many stories of his adventures, Riley strives to be a great adventurer herself but sometimes struggles to overcome her introverted nature. She wears a bear-themed hat that used to belong to Finn and her best friend is Jason, the grandpup of Jake the Dog, who can shoot concussive lasers from his mouth when you pull on his tail.

Princess Taffy:  Hailing from a version of Ooo where after the events of Mortal Folly/Mortal Recoil, Finn married Princess Bubblegum and became the king of the candy kingdom. Unlike the other daughters, instead of being born, Taffy was baked in an oven using Finn and PB’s DNA and was designed from scratch to be the perfect heir to the throne. Like her “mother” Taffy is a brilliant scientist who conducts her own experiments. But her over-ambitiousness and one-track mind tend to lead her into trouble. Her hat resembles a chef’s hat and her best friend is Jeffree, a poodle she made from cotton candy who can become as light as air.

Ventus the Vampire Princess: The result of a brief affair between Finn and Marceline, Ventus is a dhampir with the ability to travel in sunlight without burning to a crisp. She didn't see much of her father growing up since he was always out adventuring but she had a very close bond with her mother and her “Ice Pop”, Grandpa Simon.  Ventus usually displays a calm and playful demeanor, however, If she’s too emotionally overwhelmed she tends to make poor decisions. Her favorite food is strawberries after the red color has been sucked out. She wears a bat-themed hat and her best friend is Jaxter, a mischevious young imp demon from The Nightosphere who can teleport in a puff of smoke.

Lucy: The daughter of Finn and Flame Princess from a version of Ooo where the events of Frost & Fire never took place and Finn became the king of the Fire Kingdom. Due to her nature as both a fire and water elemental and inheriting her mother’s explosive temper, Lucy is critically unstable and had to be kept secluded for the safety of everyone until Finn found a way to keep fallen princess's powers in check.  Energetic and unfettered,  Lucy hates being locked away and desires to one day experience her own adventures. If only she could control her anger. She wears a roasted pig-themed hat and her best friend is Jyro, a baby dragon that hatched from an egg.

Aloe Vera: The daughter of Finn and Huntress Wizard from a version of Ooo where they got married. A resident of Wizard City, Vera is studious in magic, particularly plant magic, and dreams of one day becoming a great hero, like her father. Unyielding and with a strong sense of justice, Vera does her best to protect the weak. However, her desire to be strong causes her to block out her other feelings, developing a very black and white view of how the world works. Because of this, Vera has trouble accepting failures, becoming depressed whenever she makes a mistake. Nonetheless, She always has the best intentions. Vera wears an owl-themed hat and cloak and her best friend is a female owl named Juno, who can shoot her feathers like arrows.

Fun Fact: I also had a joke character where Finn somehow had a kid with LSP but that turned out to be...disturbing.

So which daughter is your favorite? I’m very curious to know.

[lucygraysboy]

billy has to stifle a laugh upon hearing that heavy sigh, as though he was making her give up on something wonderful. he just shakes his head and walks over to that little bundle where all her clothes and some rags are. he ignores his mother’s scarf, this time, and finds some fabrics that look clean enough and could work as bandages before returning to her bedside. “see? it’s really not worth it. growing a whole human is tough work, and then raising ‘em? even tougher.” he’s proud of her for coming to this very conclusion all on her own, sitting down on her bed with a smile. feeling a little less stressed out now. “speakin’ of winter and food, we need a plan, lucy gray.” it’s a feeble attempt at distracting her from flirting with him. “i’m not askin’ you to make up your mind right now, but you should think if you want to stay here or come home with me.” to district thirteen. he’s seen how stubborn she can be, if she decides to stay here all winter, he’ll have to either respect her choice and freeze with her or drag her kicking and screaming to safety. lovely choices. “the bar’s set real low, hm? a black bear seems like a suitable candidate,” he teases with a laugh, not trying to be mean but finding her joke incredibly heartbreaking. she’s been through a lot. “oh, i almost forgot, thanks for wakin’ me up at this ungodly hour. at least, we got the fire goin’ again, right?” he’s happy to see that she’s doing a bit better, joking and even cracking a smile here and there. he carefully moves the blanket away from her leg and pulls up her skirt, just above the knee. cheeks flushed as he does so, fingers working on undoing the knot. there’s some blood and iodine on the cloths, but there’s no rancid smell or pus — a good sign, he thinks to himself. 

“why not darlin?” hanging half way off the bed, fingers climbing up his shoulder, “you don’t know me. maybe i do love sharin’ my love.” some people really might be like that, she thinks. “sometimes people don’t need to know a man, to want them. sometimes that’s what makes it excitin’.” but it’s ironic in this case, she knew the other person who looks a lot like him already. and little does he know, she’d starve first before getting paid by sexual acts. quickly moving back up in the bed to lie on her back, letting him tuck her in again. “well, i was tryin’ to be warm. but with you.” pulling the blanket up further this time, hiding her smile. “don’t feel like i owe you. just wanted to do somethin’ nice.” grabbing reva blue, she hugs the stuffed animal tight. “how do you know we won’t love each other after it?” hiding more smiles against her bear’s head, hand takes the offered water for her dry lips and takes a sip then another then another until it’s all gone. wiping her mouth with her sleeve, she hands it back to him then pulls the blanket back. reluctantly pulling up her skirt to check, hand touching the bandage and quickly pulling it back in fear of touching it that it will hurt, “it looks a little dark to me.” saturated in a deep crimson color that makes her grimace, figuring it’ll be okay though.