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inoreuct · 11 months

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zosan with abba's super trouper.

is this essentially a pop star au? yes. bear with me anyway.

so the entire vinsmoke family are pop stars and they're perfect in the public eye but actually toxic as HELL, and sanji's sick and tired of it— so he breaks away from them and joins another agency, and zoro's assigned as his bodyguard.

they fight SO MUCH at first. i'm talking screaming and yelling and throwing things across the room (mostly sanji) and being stubborn and straight-up refusing to talk after a certain point (also mostly sanji) and then apologising with food and gifts and not words (mostly, well, both of them). they're like flint and steel; putting them together is just asking for trouble, but the years pass, and somehow through the endless bickering they end up best friends. who would've thought? their sharp edges have softened just enough and they're both too old and too tired and too busy to have cold wars anymore. they know more about each other than perhaps anyone else, and they care.

(they're also both in love and refuse to admit it. idiots.)

and then sanji goes on tour, and zoro has to leave for a training refresher course thing, and sanji's MISERABLE. luffy's with him as a bodyguard instead and it's fine, he's great, sanji loves him— just not the way he loves zoro. he feels fucking homesick in a way he never has because he's never really had a proper home and he knows, he knows it's because zoro isn't here with him. sanji turns around to tell him something and is met with empty air. he keeps trying to order double portions of food and booze before he catches himself and maybe he's being dramatic, but it feels like he's missing a fucking limb.

nami, his manager, has to yell at him to stop moping because all he's doing is eating chocolate and binging french soap operas in his hotel room and huddling up in the big leather jacket that zoro left behind. he just wants to get back to his tiny apartment and curl up on his shitty couch to eat pizza and watch Mean Girls for the hundredth time as zoro complains and gets invested in the drama all over again anyway.

he's nearly dead on his feet as finishes yet another exhausting show, trying to take comfort in the fact that it's his second last; his shoes are kicked off to the corner, his makeup barely removed, and just when he's about to turn in for the night his phone rings and when he sees the caller ID he SCRAMBLES to pick up.

"hey," zoro says, low and rumbly and so achingly familiar that sanji doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.

"you have no idea how good it is to hear your voice," he breathes, and he means it. he means it more than he even knew he did and it hits him all at once as soon as the words leave his mouth. he misses his best friend, no matter everything else that zoro is to him.

zoro's chuckle is a balm to his soul. "i'm coming to see you tomorrow."

sanji sits bolt upright from where he'd been laid back against the pillows, eyes going wide. "are you serious?" he can't help the hope and excitement that unspools in his gut, the warm rush in his blood as zoro laughs.

"yeah. i'm done with the course. speedran the fucking thing and scored so well they had no choice but to let me go. couldn't miss the last chance i had to see you on tour, could i?" sanji can hear his grin through the phone. "i'm flying in tomorrow morning."

"i'll come pick you up from the airport."

"like hell you will," zoro retorts immediately. "you have a press conference at ten."

shit, he'd forgotten about that. "how'd you know, huh?" sanji counters, faux-petty and reclining back against his plush bedding. god, if there was one good thing about being on tour, it was the fancy hotels.

"been talking to nami," comes the reply, amused and teasing, and sanji groans. "what's this i hear about you acting like a widowed husband?"

"you fucking wish, you moron," he snaps, curling up on his side and hugging a pillow to his chest. the bed is awfully big and awfully cold.

zoro sighs, and there's the sound of something zipping up briskly. "missed you too, curls. look, listen— i gotta get to the airport. see you tomorrow night?"

"...yeah," sanji says, because there's so much he wants to tell zoro and no idea how. he doesn't know where he'd start. he doesn't even know what he wants to say. "yeah, i'll see you. you'll be in the crowd, right?"

"mhm," zoro confirms, accompanied by what sounds like the chirp of an electronic lock. "you just sit tight, curly. i'm coming home."

they exchange a few more words before the line cuts off, but sanji's mind is stuck on three specific words and the possible space for three more after. i'm coming home. but he isn't home right now; he's in a foreign country, in a bed that isn't his, and zoro's flying to him. this isn't home to either of them. unless... and that silence afterwards, like zoro had wanted to say something that would have fit right in. something that would have been a natural end to that string of syllables.

sanji takes a deep breath and does his best to push all thoughts of i love you, spoken or not, to the back of his mind.

still, he can't help but let it all boost him up like a buoy bobbing merrily on the sea. one call from zoro, one short conversation, and he's fucking effervescent; he wakes up smiling and breezes through the press conference with effortless charm. he's bouncing on the toes of his heeled boots even before he steps onto the stage, thrilled by the thought of zoro being in the audience. thousands of eyes on him, thousands of people screaming his name, and he only cares about one. he takes a deep breath as the lights change and the platform he's on begins to rise, fingers tightening around his mic. it's his last night here. he's doing it all for zoro.

it turns out to be the best performance of his life, if he does say so himself. he powers through the entire two hours with ease and hits every note perfectly. he enjoys himself for the first time in a long time, soaks up the glitter and glamour and blinding lights, lets the atmosphere wrap him up and tousle his hair, and he wonders just how it's possible that one person's presence could change so much.

(he doesn't need to wonder. he already knows.)

when he says his final goodbyes for the night he's breathless, heart pounding, anticipatory. the hands patting at his back in congratulation backstage are superficial compared to who he knows is here, and he spares nami a few seconds for a rare squeeze, pausing for a few more when she whispers i'm proud of you in his ear.

and then sanji sees him, and nothing, nothing else fucking matters.

he sprints forward and they crash together and something slams into place inside of him. zoro sweeps him off his feet, squeezing him tight enough that he laughs, bright and merry and real as they spin around and around and he's so dizzy when he's set back down, light-headed and his heart full. he doesn't care where he is, he's home.

zoro takes his weight as easily as anything, tucking sanji to his chest. "god, fuck, you were amazing up there," he says breathlessly, the words pressed into sanji's bejewelled hair. "you were incredible."

the words rumble through his chest and sanji clings tighter, holding zoro desperately around the waist and taking in deep lungfuls of laundry detergent and the fancy pine-and-sandalwood body wash he'd given zoro for christmas. "you're here."

"'course i am," zoro replies, matter-of-fact. "said i'd be here, so i'm here."

his earrings press against sanji's cheek. "can we go get pizza?" he asks meekly.

zoro's answering laugh pours into the horrible aching pit that's been gnawing away at him, fills it up with liquid sunlight as he answers, "we can do whatever the hell you want."

they get pizza. sanji lets zoro pull him around town swearing at the Google Maps on his phone before he finally takes pity and steers them towards the little pizzeria he'd found when he'd snuck out with luffy on their first night here. the tongue-lashing from nami had been worth it, but even so the experience back then had been dull. muted, at best.

now it's like he's seeing the whole world through a whole different lens; the fluorescent sign in the window beams charmingly as the bell above the door chimes, and sanji doesn't even care about the raised eyebrow zoro gives him when he wiggles into the booth seat with undisguised glee. between them they put away a large four-cheese pizza and a frankly massive slice of apple pie à la mode, and sanji's feeling pleasantly stuffed as he finishes up his vanilla milkshake and successfully fends zoro off from stealing sips when he isn't looking. he has plenty of experience with that, after all.

the walk back is filled with comfortable silence. sanji doesn't need anything else— zoro here with him is more than he could ask for. scary dog privilege aside, the man next to him is sanji's best friend, and he loves zoro more than he can, or will, ever say.

zoro drops him off at his room and hugs him goodnight. sanji strips down, blasts the shower as hot as it can go, and scrubs the gel out of his hair along with any of the remaining dregs of emptiness he resolutely tells himself are not there right down the drain.

it can't stop him from thinking, though. of zoro. of compression shirts and cargo pants and worn black boots. of the nights zoro had taught him self-defense and the time sanji nearly broken his jaw with a roundhouse kick neither of them had known he was capable of; the other had grinned up with him with blood all over his teeth, proud and raring to go, barking again! and sanji had glowed. his mind swims with it all even as he towels off and slips into his silk pyjamas— memories of late-night talks with wine and beer, sometimes tea, quips all around, beds shared back-to-back under unspoken agreements when neither of them wanted to sleep alone.

three knocks sound on his door.

sanji hates the way he rushes to the peephole and yanks it open as soon as he confirms who it is. zoro stands there, one hand on the back of his neck, looking bored yet unsettled in his baggy tee with his damp hair sticking up everywhere. "jetlag?" sanji asks, raising an eyebrow as zoro grunts.

"you could say that."

he steps aside in a silent invitation, and zoro looks around as he goes in. sanji topples onto the bed with a sigh of relief and crawls under the blankets, patting the space beside him as he switches on the television. "mean girls?"

"god, i fucking hate you," zoro groans, but he settles in anyways, and sanji grins triumphantly.

it's still not his apartment or his shitty couch— but zoro's here, so it's the next best thing.

they make it through the movie without incident. zoro parrots the dialogue and cheers when regina gets hit by the bus like he does without fail every time. sanji knees him in the thigh for it with a scowl like he always does and it starts a fierce kicking battle under the sheets that results in zoro dangling half off the mattress and sanji laughing so hard he can't breathe.

when they've mostly calmed down, sanji sighs out one final chuckle and sinks back into the pillows. "think you can fall asleep now?" he murmurs, turning to look at where zoro has his head propped in one hand.

"maybe," the other allows, and sanji swallows before he smiles.

"goodnight, marimo."

"goodnight."

the flick of the light switch feels like finality. in regards to what, sanji doesn't know, but now that they're in the darkness and zoro begins to get comfortable behind him he cannot deny that he wants.

he wants those arms around him. wants to sleep even better than he does when they're back to back, wants to fit within the circle of zoro's embrace like he belongs there. wants to belong there. wants zoro as his best friend and everything more. it manifests as a tight ache in the centre of his chest, a knot around his heart that he knows he cannot untangle by himself. sanji curls up into a ball and hugs a pillow to his chest, biting his lip— because zoro is right next to him instead of thousands of miles away, and he's still untouchable all the same.

he's on the cusp of restless sleep when he feels zoro shift, and he prays that the hitch in his breath is unnoticeable. he forces the rise and fall of his chest to stay even as the blankets are smoothed securely around his shoulders, a callused palm brushing his hair away from his face; a soft kiss is pressed to his forehead, a hand cupping his face tenderly and trailing away with the brush of a thumb over his cheekbone. "sweet dreams, curls," zoro whispers, before light cracks in from the hallway as his room door opens and shuts.

the electronic lock beeps, and sanji's eyes fly open. the white ceiling swims as he stares at it, unseeing, and the sheets on the right side of the bed are still warm. there's an indent where zoro's body was and sanji gasps as he drags himself into it, huddling down and pulling the covers over his head until all he can smell is zoro.

his heart stutters, mind racing, fingers tightening in the plush duvet. he's confused, so confused. hopeful. a little mad, if he's being honest, and his next breath trembles out of his lungs. mostly still confused, though, because what the fuck did that mean?

he'll find out, he swears. he will. he'll storm his way to zoro's room and break the damn door down if he has to. but for now, if he hides for a little while until he stops feeling like he's about to cry—

well, that's a secret for his hotel room to keep.

#inspired by @bidisastersanji’s zosan lay all your love on me post #lemme know if yall want me to continue this #actually please ask me to continue it i’m already working on the next part LMAOOO #THEY’LL SORT THEIR SHIT OUT BY THEN I PROMISE #zosan #zoro x sanji #op zosan #zosan au #one piece zosan #one piece zoro #op zoro #roronoa zoro #op sanji #one piece sanji #black leg sanji #one piece #sanji #zoro #ino writes

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thatyellowfinch · 7 months

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So state of the union happened today

This crisis began on October 7th with a massacre by the terrorist group Hamas.

this has been going on for 75 years 75 years of Palestenians being murdered by the Isreali state but go off I guess Biden

The deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

so that's a straight up lie

1,200 innocent people women and girls men and boys slaughtered, many enduring sexual violence.

not to mention this has been debunked several times by Israeli news sources

Israel has a right to go after Hamas.

they don't have a right to kill civilians, bomb hospitals and masques, and starve an entire population

Israel has an added burden because Hamas hides and operates among the civilian population. But Israel also has a fundamental responsibility to protect innocent civilians in Gaza.

A responsibility they ignore and blatantly disobey. Or did the story of Hind Rajab not tell that story clearly enough. Didn't realize a five year old girl alone with her family's corpses and trapped in a car was a Hamas agent

This war has taken a greater toll on innocent civilians than all previous wars in Gaza combined.

All wars in Gaza, in Europe, in the fucking world. More children have died in Gaza since October than in the Holocaust

No U.S. boots will be on the ground.

there have already been reports of US Soldiers in Gaza why do you think Aaron Bushnell felt such an urgent need to do what he did?

Unrelated to Palestine:

Thanks to our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, 46,000 new projects have been announced across your communities – modernizing our roads and bridges, ports and airports, and public transit systems. Removing poisonous lead pipes so every child can drink clean water without risk of getting brain damage.

FLINT STILL DOESN'T HAVE CLEAN WATER

#state of the union #president biden #palestine #from the river to the sea palestine will be free

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meyerlansky · 1 month

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👋👋in a pokemon au, what type of pokemon do you think Curt and Bucky would have? Bucky would definitely have like 2 Rapidash, but I dunno about the rest. And do you think they would be like gym leaders or something else?

Good luck at the airport!✌️

OOOOOOH THIS IS SO FUN ANON i love a good pokemon au 😍

okay so. bucky has a corviknight for SURE, and i'm inclined to say his rookadee -> corviknight is his partner pokemon actually—i like giving people relatively common partner pokemon ngl, it feels more realistic than Everyone Getting A Special Starter. and while i feel you on the rapidash, may i suggest instead of a second one a zebstrika? bucky just gives me electric-type trainer vibes, on top of the flying- and steel-types everyone in mota's gotta have. To That End i think a boltund would be a good fit too, plus a kilowattrel—i'm lowkey tempted to give him a togekiss because It's A Plane, but i don't think it really fits with the lore and kilowattrel's probably a better fit in that respect. i think also it'd be funny if he has a braviary that Does Not get along with his corviknight.

curt's got a pancham and a purrloin who are his two partner pokemon [he gets two because he's My Special Guy] and evolve into pangoro and liepard around the same time, a perrserker, a pidgeot, i swear i am not giving him all pokemon that start with p on purpose, and rounds out his team with a bagon who evolves into salamence during flight school and, after Shit Goes Down, a marshadow. fighting-types as his optional type, and two dark types for the way he uses people underestimating him to his advantage. marshadow because there's gotta be at least one ghost type on his team. /evil

as for what they do... hm! gym leaders/elite four make the most sense of the options, but that does feel kinda easy? i think the line up that'd track best in that case is curt towards the end of the gym circuit, seventh or eighth with flint/volkner kinda vibes, and bucky, gale, jack, and a fourth guy [croz? bill veal? red???] as the elite four, difficulty order up for debate, and rosie as region champion because Come On. but like... surge was apparently in A Military? so maybe there is in fact A Military for them to be in? Secret Pokemon Wars IDK MAN

#if not gym leaders/elite four... rangers? ace trainers? battle tower/frontier opponents???#what else do adults in pokemon DO #anonymous #asks #mota #masters of the air #pokemon #pokemon au #bucky egan #john egan #curt biddick #this ain't about him but gale's tertiary types are ice and water

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cr1mson5returns · 1 year

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I fell down a sudden and spiky rabbit hole wondering where exactly in my home state of Kansas the fictional town of Smallville is supposed to be. I checked the DC Wiki for comic book information and got nothing. Kinda pissed me off, because I didn't want to have to randomly assign a plot of land to Smallville. But when I checked the Smallville Wiki (TV series Smallville, that is), I found out that the show gave it the zip code which corresponds to Chase, KS. Chase is in Rice County, which is a few hours west of Wichita on the highways, putting it pretty solidly in South Central Kansas.

And guys.....as a bitch who was born and raised in South Central Kansas, you have to know that we're some characters out here. I can't speak for Rice County, never lived there, but there's this hilarious smattering of accents scattered about the south central part of the state. Some people have that flat Midwestern/Wichita way of speaking, where you can almost pretend they're not Midwestern if they didn't unironically say "lemme just squeeze by ya" so much. But other people have that Rural Kansas drawl that isn't quite as Southern as you can hear the closer you get to the Ozarks, and despite that you'd still be able to pick them out in a crowded room because they sound a touch out of place amongst everybody else. They say "color" like "collar" and talk about "y'all down on Green Street" and they warsh their clothes while they're drawling some pictures. And that's just the way we talk, don't even get me started on the very rigidly Baptist morality and the tense feelings about whether we should even root for the Kansas City Chiefs since they're Missouri's team, anyway.

Armed with this knowledge and context, I present to all of you: Clark Kent who hauled hay in severe thunderstorm warnings as a teenager because fuck, it had to get done somehow and half the time the National Weather Service was just being cautious. Clark who learned to drive at age 12 on the farm and the county sheriff saw fit not to ticket him when he was 14 and took Pa's truck into town to pick up some last-minute ingredients for a birthday cake at the store. Clark who went to Wichita State for a journalism degree and thought Wichita was a big city and complained about the stupid ass layout of the streets between clearly historic districts and newer developments. Clark who got on a domestic flight at Eisenhower Intercontinental Airport and took off for Metropolis intent on getting out of Bumfuck Nowhere. Clark who comes back to Smallville when it's all too much because the city's great, and Lois and Jimmy and everyone else are just as great, but Kansas has the most beautiful full moon nights and not as much light pollution on the horizon, and he can fly through the Flint Hills and pretend he's a kid again and things aren't so noisy and weird and terrifying.

#i do love my home state but i do also have complicated feelings about it #i think a lot of us who grow up here want to leave forever someday #but then many of us never do and it's not because we're stuck #it's because we found beauty here #kansas #smallville #clark kent #superman #superfamily #cr1mson's thoughts

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okcoolthanks · 6 months

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AIRPORT!!!! if ur at flint then i have been on the same moving walkway as you. head in hands

NO FUCKING WAY OUUUUUUUHHHHHH

#DUDE IF WE CAN SEE YOU IRL THAT WOULDD BE FUCKING INSANE OH MY GOSLD #NOT TO DAY THAT WE HAVE TO BUT LIKE IT WOULD BE RLLY RLLY COOL #I LIVE AIRPORTS BUT SECURITY SUCKS I HATE DOING THE SHOES AND THE BOX THINGYS #DUDW IF WE SEE YOU I #WOOOOOAHHHHH

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gretavangroupie · 2 years

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Bloom (Chapter 7)

Chapter 6

Official Bloom Playlist

Warnings: Fluff, Smut. 18+ ONLY. Minors DNI

A/N: Please make sure to check out the playlist above for the full effect while reading this chapter. As always, thanks for reading!

“It’s always and ever, only you.” - Butterflies Rising

Flying with famous musicians is an experience, to put it lightly. The recognition of the guys ebbing and flowing throughout the day. Every once in a while a group of girls would quietly and nervously approach and ask for a photo with them, you offering to take it, and the girls walking away absolutely giddy. Josh, Sam, and Danny doing most of the talking throughout the interaction, Jake saying as little as possible but still happy to take a photo. Somehow you all ended up on the exact same flight into Flint. I guess that’s what happens when they are all from one of the smallest towns in Michigan.

You had never been to Frankenmuth, Josh has been telling you all about its endearing qualities leaving out the part about freezing temperatures of course. You had packed and repacked probably 10 times, you were so nervous about having the perfect outfit for Thanksgiving. You would be staying with Josh, Jake and Sam, at their childhood home for the weekend. You could tell the guys were already relaxing and looking forward to it with all of the horsing around and jokes they cracked the entire plane ride from Nashville to Flint. You and Josh sat in front of Jake and his girlfriend, Sam and Danny sitting next to each other across from you and Josh. They talked through the seats and across the aisle the entire hour and 45 minute flight. After telling the guys to calm down approximately 37 times during the flight, and waiting 30 minutes to find your suitcases on the carousel, you were finally stepping out the doors of the airport and walking to find your rental car. Jake offered to drive since there was snow on the ground and Sam had one too many inflight beverages. Danny left you all at baggage claim when his family arrived to pick him up. You, Josh, and Jakes girlfriend, all climb into the backseat, Sam in shotgun of course, claiming that his ‘legs were too long for the backseat’. You head down the road, with the car full of rowdy yelling guys, thanking the lord its only at 30 minute drive to Frankenmuth. You are speechless at the beautiful snowy landscape you see from the windows. It almost looks like a scene from a Hallmark movie. No one in the car understanding your surprise since they all grew up here. This is just normal to them.

Josh places his hand on your leg and leans into you to whisper into your ear, as you continue to stare out the window, “isn’t its beautiful here?”

You turn to him and reply, “its gorgeous, I can’t believe you grew up here.”

He smiles and pats your thigh, “I am so glad you got to come with me, this is going to be a great weekend.”

A few minutes later you all pull up to the Kiszka house, Jake stating “Ahhh yep just how we left it huh boys?”

“Yeah, let’s wreck some shit!” Sam jokes.

After collecting your suitcases from the trunk you all trek through the front yard up to the front door, where Josh’s mom is bursting through the door, “My babies are hooomeeee!” she squeals.

Josh releasing an exaggerated sigh “Mother, must you do this every time? You saw us three weeks ago!”

“Yes, I must do it!! You’re my babies!” She says hugging Sammy’s neck. His face making a playful choking expression behind her back.

You make eye contact with her nervously and you clam up not knowing what to say, but thankfully she says it first.

“Hi! You must be Joshy’s girl! I’m Karen!” She says pulling you into a hug, you’re so glad she is overly friendly.

“Hi, yeah I guess you could say that!” you say laughing and introducing yourself. She turns to Jake’s girlfriend pulling her in for a hug as well, “Hi sweetheart so glad to see you!”

“Mom we just came from Nashville, I know you probably think we are still sporting our thick Michigan skin but we aren’t and it’s 27 degrees out here, can you please let us in?!” Josh jokes.

She ushers you all inside the house which is much warmer than the front porch. The house is homey and smells like baked goods. There are photos adorning every wall of the home of Josh, Jake, Sam and a girl you haven’t met yet, through various stages of life. One in particular catching your eye of Josh and Jake probably around the age of 3. Jake holding a plastic guitar, and Josh holding a pretend microphone. Smiling to yourself knowing that photo was a small glimpse into the future.

Karen leads you around the house giving you the grand tour, pointing out where each of you would be sleeping during your stay. You all drop your bags in your respective rooms and the guys immediately bolt leaving you and Jakes girlfriend with Karen. You are a bundle of nerves being alone with them without the guys as a buffer. You all walk into the kitchen and Karen hands you each a cup of coffee. “This should warm you right up!” She says.

Both of you thanking her for inviting you for Thanksgiving and letting you stay in her home.

All of the sudden you hear a loud crashing noise from what you’re assuming is the basement. “Ope, here we go! Haven't been home 5 minutes!” Karen says. You decide to make your way down the basement steps to see if you can catch a peek at what is transpiring. The boys are physically wrestling each other on the floor. Sam and Jake are going at it as hard as they can. Jake may be smaller than Sam but he is totally kicking his ass. Josh is standing off to the side egging them on. You meet his eyes across the room and he winks before yelling “Rip his leg off Sammy boy!” In a macho sounding voice.

After a minute or two more they both stop and sit back on their haunches. You playfully ask, “Are you two trying to kill each other or…”

“Well Josh has his ear thing, so he can’t participate but loser has to shovel the driveway.” Sam says. “Currently... it’s a draw.” Eyes squinting at Jake.

As the words leave his mouth Jake tackles him to the ground and sits on his head and counts to three. “That’ll do it boys.” He says standing up and running up the stairs.

“Ugh, every time!” Sam says before storming up the stairs to find the shovel, leaving you and Josh alone in the basement. You begin to walk around exploring the many curiosities in the room. You spot a section on the wall where each child has been measured over their lifetime and rub your finger over the carved panel. “Awww you were so little…” you say smiling over to Josh.

“Some would say I still am!” He jokes, walking over to meet you. Clutching your coffee mug in your hand you take another sip of the perfectly warm liquid and hear a female voice ring out from upstairs, “Oh brotherrrrr…”

“Oh, looks like my sister made it home.” Josh smiles at you.

“Your sister?! You have a sister?!” You ask shocked.

“Yeah, Ronnie, well Veronica but don’t call her that, she’ll get mad.” He says jokingly.

“Oh gosh I was not prepared!” You say.

“You’ll do fine angel, just be yourself. Everyone can’t help but to love you. I would know.” He says interlacing his fingers with yours.

Ronnie makes her way down to the basement and down the stairs, practically leaping into Josh’s arms. “Hello Ronnie…” Josh says.

“Hi Josh! I am so happy to see you! How are you feeling? Is your ear okay? Is this your girlfriend?!” She spouts off.

“I am feeling fine, my ear is… well its been better, and yes this is my girlfriend.” He smiles proudly at you.

“Cute, nice to meet you!!!” She says excitedly.

“Nice to meet you too!” You reply before she bounds up the stairs.

“She is energetic…” you say.

“Yeah, and that is her as an adult…” he laughs.

“Thanks for bringing me here Josh, its really nice to meet your family and spend time with them.” You say shyly.

“Angel, I wanted nothing more than for you to be here with me.” He says bringing his lips to yours. You realize you have hardly kissed him today because of all the traveling and the proximity to his brothers. This makes you kiss him back a little harder to make up for it. Your hand finds its way up to his face your fingers sliding into his hair. He has shaved the sides of his head down again and the little hairs feel like velvet. As your tongues make their way into each others mouths you are quickly reminded that his mother is upstairs probably wondering where you two are. You pull away before diving back for one small quick kiss.

“I’m not done with you angel.” He says seductively pulling you closer to him.

“Well it will have to wait because there is no way we are doing this in your parents basement.” You reply.

“Fine, come on I want to show you something.” He says.

Taking your hand he leads you up the stairs and down a hallway lined with photos. At the end of the hallway on the right you step into a small bedroom. You know instantly this is Josh’s room. The walls are blue with movie posters stuck into the wall with thumbtacks, and various photos from high school taped together in a collage. His wooden queen size bed sits against a wall adorned with freshly washed blue plaid flannel sheets. Across the room is his matching desk with an outdated laptop sitting proudly atop, a handheld camera and a stack of notebooks. Josh walks over to the desk, sits down in the chair and flips through a notebook until he finds what he is looking for.

“Ah ha, here it is, in all her glory, the first logo for Greta Van Fleet” he laughs.

You look at the scribbled drawing of a ‘GVF’ melded together into a hieroglyph style drawing.

“You guys have really come a long way since that huh.” You smile up at him.

“Yeah, it’s crazy it all started right here too. Jake sat on that bed right there, guitar in hand and said ‘we should start a band’. That’s it, that’s all it took. He had just started really getting good at guitar and he had always helped me with my film projects so what skin was it off my back to help him with his dream? I dragged Sam along, and then came Danny. What I didn’t know then is that it would turn into this. His dream coming true and me getting to experience it along with him. All this. Its’s always been for him. I know he would have done the same for me so I never questioned it.” He says emotionally. You can tell that the emotions of being home and back in his childhood bedroom have taken ahold of him.

“Well, he’s your brother baby. Your twin actually. Your natural response is to care for him, he’s partly you, and you, him.” You reply sitting down on his lap.

He kisses your neck and whispers “How did I get so lucky?”

Your heads snap up as you hear Karen’s voice from the hallway “Joshy! Jake! Sammy! Ron...Lets go!”

You make your way to the kitchen and it smells divine, Karen has made dinner and this time when you see her, a man is attached to her side, who you know to be Josh’s dad Kelly. You had seen a video of him once that Josh showed you on his phone. After introductions you all are handed a plate of food and guided to the dining room table. You spend the rest of the evening laughing, chatting and getting to know each other around the Kiszka family table. You offer to help Kelly and Ronnie clean up the dishes and Josh puts a record on the record player.

The sounds of Yes’ ‘I’ve Seen All Good People’ ring through the sound system filling the house.

Jake and his girlfriend begin to dance, Jake twirling her around the room, her dress spinning in the air. Sam and Karen following suit, Sam dipping her in an exaggerated fashion. Everyone is laughing, smiling, and enjoying the moment. It seems like time is moving in slow motion around you. Josh makes his way up behind you, as you're drying dishes at the sink as Kelly hands them to you. Josh slides his hands around your waist hooking his fingers through your belt loops and kissing your neck. You throw your head back on top of his shoulder laughing and squirming and you wonder if this is how it’s always supposed to have been. You and Josh, here in this moment, together.

Sipping wine out of solo cups in the basement, the crew has gotten restless. Jake and Sam are in a heated game of Mario Kart and Ronnie and Jakes girlfriend are talking about where they want to go Black Friday shopping. Josh is laid out on the couch with his legs lazily draped over you. You feel his eyes burning into your skin. Looking over at him, his gaze locked in on you. A lot of alcohol and a little bit of freedom from his everyday life has sent him into a drunken spiral of lust, and it's directed at you.

“We are going to head up for the night, we will have a long day of shenanigans tomorrow.” Josh announces.

He stands up offering you his hand to help you up. He takes his red plastic cup and places it under yours, stacking them together before throwing them away in the trashcan. Leading you up the stairs and down the hall, you both make pit stops in the bathroom before walking to his bedroom. He quietly opens the door, letting you walk in before just as quietly shutting it. “We can’t be too loud, my parents are across the hall from me, of course.” He whispers.

“Okay.” you whisper motioning you zipping your mouth shut.

“I like that, I can work with that…” he says suggestively.

Rolling your eyes you pull your pajamas out of your suitcase. A pair of grey flannel pants with a matching button up top.

Josh has stripped down naked, and pulls on a pair of sweatpants. Turning off the overhead light, he flips to switch on the lamp on his bedside table.

“Better...” he says quietly.

You begin to take off your clothes, the cool air causing your skin to cover with goosebumps. You quickly pull on your pajamas, relieved at the warmth of the fabric.

Josh pulls the comforter back and crawls in, you can tell he has always slept in the same spot as the bed slightly dips on the left side. He lets out a sigh of comfort and you turn off the lamp and crawl in next to him, aligning your body with his as the little spoon.

“Just like I remember it.” He says, “but with one new addition.” he adds as he kisses the back of your head.

“Do you get to come home very often?” You ask.

“No. Not nearly as much as I want to. I can usually make it home for Thanksgiving, Christmas and a week or so around the middle of summer, if we aren’t touring.” He replies sadly.

“But when I do get to come home, all of the stress in my life just melts away. It’s something about the air here. It’s clearer and calmer. Having you here with me just makes it that much better.” He says softly.

Turning over to your back you roll to face him and reach your hand to his face. You rub your thumb over his lips before gently pressing a kiss to them and whispering “I love you.”

“I love you too angel.” He says kissing you back with just as much love care and tenderness as you felt in his words. His left hand finds the skin of your stomach and slides up to cup your breast, massaging your supple skin.

Your hand migrates down to the hem of his sweatpants, slowly dipping below the surface and grazing the smattering of hair right above his base. You grab his length wrapping your hand around and squeezing gently, a silent plea that you want this to progress.

His hand makes its way to your center, feeling your warmth through the fabric of your pajama pants. His fingers gently untie the bow at your waist and begin to slide the pants down your legs. Once they are successfully off, his follow.

“Turn over baby, gonna have you like this...” He whispers in your ear.

You are back in a spooning position, the tip of his dick resting on the crotch of your panties.

“You have to be quiet, silent actually. Im going to fuck you, slow and deep and you’re not gonna make a sound. Okay?” He says.

“Okay.” you reply breathlessly.

His fingers find the crotch of your panties and two fingers dip underneath the fabric and graze through your wetness before sliding up to circle your clit a few times. A small whimper escaping your mouth.

“Hush baby or i’ll spank you next time.” He says into your ear with a bite.

His fingers pull your panties further to the side and he aligns the tip with your core. Thrusting his hips forward his dick slides into you easily with a little more tightness than usual from your side laying position. “Fuck angel, you are so tight like this.” Hey says.

“Hush baby...” you mock back at him.

He pumps into you hard one good time “oh angel are you mocking me?” He says thrusting again.

“Mmmm” you respond.

His hips begin to move slightly faster, and you feel your orgasm growing in your belly.

“Never did I think I would be fucking the most gorgeous girl I’ve ever seen in this bed.” He grunts out.

“Shhhhh…” you reply.

“Oh baby you’re asking for it now.” He replies. His hand reaching around, fingers diving into the front of your panties pushing your hips back and holding you there as he continues to thrust into you. His fingers circling your clit.

“Josh I’m close, I’m gonna…” you breath out.

“Another sound and you're over my knee at the next opportunity baby, make your choice.”

One more hard thrust and you throw your head to the side, your mouth connecting with his as your orgasm runs its course inside of you. Your soft moan echoing into Josh’s open mouth.

He pulls you into him harder and pumps twice more before a grunt leaves his chest and you feel his cum wash over your insides.

“Tomorrow, while my family is in the house enjoying the lovely day, I am going to spank your ass and then I am going to fuck you over the amps in the garage. Bet on it angel.” He says pulling out of you.

He smoothes the hair away from your neck giving you a gentle kiss, before saying “also, love you so much and goodnight.”

Shaking your head smiling, you say “can’t wait and I love you too you, goodnight Josh.”

Pies. Waking up you smell pie. You realize Karen must already be up and started on cooking for Thanksgiving Dinner. You open your eyes and roll over and are greeted with the beautiful sight of Josh sleeping soundly next to you. The sun from the window splaying perfect yellow rays on his angelic face. His lips are slightly parted, and you silently think to yourself how unfair it is that his lips are so naturally plump and pink. You can see his eyes moving beneath the lid and realize that he is dreaming. The corners of his mouth begin to turn upward almost like he is trying to smile. You lay your head further into the pillow and just watch him for a few minutes. He is easily one of the most beautiful people you’ve ever seen and you can’t believe he is yours. You also think about how the identical, darker, broodier copy of him is in the next room over. Lighting struck twice. You make it a point to try to get to know Jake better this weekend. You have only had a few exchanges with him, but he is Josh’s twin, and his best friend and that makes him just as important to you. As you sit in your thoughts, a commotion from the kitchen rings through the house followed by a ‘sorry’.

Josh’s eyes slowly open and he smiles sleepily at you, stretching out his legs before pulling you over on top of him. “Good morning my beautiful *kiss* beautiful *kiss* girl.” he says affectionately. “How did you sleep?” He asks.

“I sleep like a log, I was exhausted.” You reply.

“Have you been up long?” He asks.

“Maybe 15 minutes?” You respond.

“You were just laying here waiting for me to wake up?” He asks.

“Kind of, I was watching you sleep and daydreaming. You were dreaming and smiling.” You say.

“What were you day dreaming about?” He asks.

“I was thinking about how beautiful you are and how I can’t believe that you chose me.” You reply.

“I would always choose you angel. And I always will. In a crowd of people the only face I see is yours.” He says with a kiss.

Smiling at him you roll off of him and stand up, starting to dig through your suitcase for your toiletries and the outfit you have carefully selected for the day.

A camel brown vintage style corduroy skirt, a cream colored cable knit sweater and knee high riding boots, finishing off with a cream and maroon plaid knotted headband.

You collect your items, blow Josh a kiss and head for the bathroom in the hallway.

After your shower you’re feeling immensely better. A quick curled blow out and simple makeup and you’re ready to socialize.

As you pass Josh in the hallway he has showered and is walking around in a towel heading for his bedroom.

As you enter the living room, you see the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade playing on the TV over the fireplace. Kelly, Karen, and Ronnie are in the kitchen elbow deep in a turkey, who is about to meet its fate in the oven. Sam opting to sit this one out on the couch. You grab a cup of coffee and join him on the couch. Josh, Jake, and his girlfriend slowly filter out one by one until all of you are in the living room together, commenting about the performers and the gigantic balloons floating by. You spend much of the day with the group of siblings playing games in the basement, singing along to songs with Kelly in the kitchen and and chatting about shopping with Karen and Ronnie. Around 4 o’clock Karen announces that it is time to eat and you all collect in the kitchen to watch Jake cut the turkey. Apparently this is his thing, and he has done it for years. You all plate your food and select a seat at the beautifully set dining table.

Everyone is mostly done with their plates and just chatting with each other when Karen suggest going around the table and talking about the highs and lows of everyones year. Each family member taking their turn, discussing the hurt and pain and the joys and triumphs of their past year. As Josh begins on his turn his hand finds yours under the table squeezing it for support.

“It has been one of the hardest years of my life. I have had a few unthinkable things happen to me throughout the course of this year, jeopardizing what all of us here have worked so hard for and sacrificed so much for. I can truly say that I am immensely grateful for the love and support that you all, my family, have shown me this year. I wouldn’t have made it with out you…” he turns towards you “and If it weren’t for this girl right here, bringing me out of a fairly dark place when things were tough, I would have surely thrown it all away. The best decision I have ever made is sitting right here at this table with us, and I hope that she will continue by my side for years to come. Anyways, I love you all very much, and Happy Thanksgiving.” He finishes. Your eyes welling up with prideful tears for your love. You feel so lucky to be sitting at his side, and you too hope that you’ll be sitting here for years to come.

After the emotional experience that was Thanksgiving dinner, you again help out the girls with the dishes. The guys going down to the basement to have their ‘shenanigans’ as they keep calling it. As you finish the dishes, the girls decide to watch a Christmas movie, already excited about the impending holiday. You decide to go down to see what the guys are up to. As you reach the bottom of the stairs the smell of weed hits you like a ton of bricks.

“Ah, I see now what shenanigans are...” You laugh.

“Babyyyy” Josh exaggerates, “come take it hit, it will be fun.” He implores.

You decide what the hell, and sit down on the carpet with them, “alright, let me have it Sammy.” You say reaching your hand out.

“Alright, good girl isn’t so good…” Jake says with glazed eyes and a smile.

You take a small pull from the diminishing joint and inhale it into your lungs before slowly letting it leave your lips.

“Oh Jesus, that was hotter than I expected it to be.” Josh says. “everyday you surprise me.”

Shaking your head laughing you pass it over to Jake. The circle continues until the joint is dead. All of you absolutely gone when all is said and done.

Jake and Sam head upstairs to find out what leftovers there are to eat and you and Josh are left in the basement.

“I think I am ready to make good on my promise pretty girl.” Josh says swiping his thumb across your lips.

“And what promise is that?” You ask.

Your head floating you stare directly into his eyes and you swear you can see his brain at work.

“Lets go.” He says standing up and pulling your arm with him. You walk up the stairs, through the kitchen and out the side door. The garage is detached and sits slightly away from the house. You walk down a gravel path that leads to a door on the front of the garage. Josh grabs a key from over the door jam and unlocks the door before placing the key back. Stepping inside he flicks a light switch and an old fluorescent light audibly flickers on. This isn’t just a garage, this was their music space. There is a rug in the middle of the garage, a small black drum kit, and two sets of stacked amps on either side of it. Josh shuts the door behind you pushing out the cold air. He pushes you up against the door, his mouth desperately finding yours. Your hands grabbing at the tiny curls at the back of his neck, you arch your neck giving him access to your throat. He pulls your skirt up around your waist and slides your panties off, shoving them into his pocket. His hand returns and his fingers slide through your slick. The moan that escapes you is louder than usual, and you aren’t sure if it is the weed causing this but you’re fairly positive it is. Your senses are heightened and you are feeling things more intensely than before. Spreading your legs with his knee he squats down and wraps his arms around your thighs, his mouth connecting to your core. His tongue ricocheting in continuous motions against your clit. A scream crying out of you as the assault continues. A “mmmm” vibrates again your center as Josh says “you taste even better now than you normally do.” This sends your head spiraling and you are loosing yourself to the beautiful kaleidoscopic patterns forming in your closed eyelids. “Josh fuck me now before I cum.” you beg.

He stands up and leads you over the stack of amps. “Im going to make good on that promise angel. Remember, you made this choice last night.” Bending you over the front of the amplifier, he positions him self behind you and with a crash a slap rings out on your ass. “Count” he says.

“One.” You say.

“Good angel, again.” He breathes before delivering another harsh blow.

“Two.” You cry.

“Ahh so beautiful pretty girl.” Another blow lands on the red welting skin.

“Three.” A tear forms at your eye.

“One more baby.” He says delivering the final blow to the bright red skin.

“Four.” You choke back a sob of pleasure.

Leaning down kissing the throbbing skin Josh says “You did so good, baby. I love the way your body responds for me.”

Suddenly you feel Josh’s dick sliding into your dripping wet center. “You love it don't you baby... You are soaking wet for me.” He says. “We have to be quick, they will be coming to find us any minute.” You agree nodding your head.

Placing his hand firmly on your shoulder he begins to thrust into you pounding away at that sensitive collection of nerves inside of you. Your brain foggy from the weed begins to notice that your orgasm is already quickly approaching, “Josh I’m close. Please harder.” You beg.

He begins to drill into you harder your skin connecting and echoing off the garage walls. He moves his hands to either side of your hips pulling you to him and thrusting hard into you, his moan setting off your orgasm as you scream loudly into the cluttered garage. “God damn it angel, that was so fucking good” he says with a few more deep thrusts. “Im going to cum inside of you. Make you mine.” He says “Im cumming, god i’m cumming, fuck” with an explosive jolt you feel him fill you.

Hearing voices faintly outside, Josh quickly pulls out and pulls his pants on, tucking his sensitive dick in the waistband of his pants. He quickly throws you your panties and you slide them on and pull your skirt down just as the door knob rattles, feeling his cum dripping out of you.

Jake, his girlfriend and Sam and Ronnie step into the garage and stare at you.

“Oh god were you fucking?” Jake says in a grossed out voice. “On my amp, dude??” he says placing his hands over his head and walking out.

You and Josh smirking but not responding.

“Gross.” Ronnie says.

“Anyways… we were coming to find you to see if you wanted to jam in the basement for a while, Danny is heading over.” Sam says.

“What do you think angel, shall we?” Josh asks.

“Yeah, let’s do it.” You reply.

You all make your way out of the garage and lock it up before making the walk back to the house and into the basement.

The guys have been playing and messing around with new sounds for well over two hours. Everyone is a little bit drunk off hard seltzers, causing the giggles. The guys have played through some new music they are working on, no words written yet of course. Jake leans over to Josh and holds his hand up to cover his lips moving, and whispers in his ear. A smile erupting across Josh’s face as he nods his head. They telephone the secret message to each other until all of the guys are aware of the situation. Suddenly Jake starts playing his guitar, a soft and sweet melody ringing through the room. The rest of the guys come in and complete the sound.

Josh relaxes into the chair, and starts to softly sing playfully staring right into your eyes with a smile. As he makes it to the chorus you are feeling your smile in your cheeks. You are smiling so hard, and you notice that Josh’s eyes haven’t left yours this whole time as he continues to sing.

‘You’re the one I have, so come on back to me…’

As they wrap up the song Jake looks at the rest of the guys and says “Been a while for that one.”

“Too long, but now it’s right.” Josh says reaching his hand towards yours, lacing his fingers with yours he stands up and pulls you to stand with him.

“Goodnight.” He says tipping his head at everyone, you shrugging your shoulders smiling towards them.

Making the way to his bedroom he throws his arm over your shoulders pulling you into his side to walk side by side. Passing Karen in the living room she shoots you a soft smile and you can see the joy on her face, seeing her son so happy.

You enter the bedroom, softly lit by the side table lamp. You both change into your pajamas and you crawl into bed and turn off the light. The relaxed feeling from the weed, sex, and alcohol has turned your body into a useless collection of limbs. Josh throws his arm over you pulling you in tightly to his chest. “I meant every single thing I said today. You are so important to me, and I care about you so much. I hope you’re here with me for everything from now on.” he says “You fit in perfectly with everyone. They all love you. They told me.” He says in your ear.

“Who told you that?” You ask.

“Jake…” He replies, “My mom, Ronnie, Sam…” they have all pulled me aside today to tell me how wonderful they think you are. I can’t help but agree.” He says kissing your head.

“What did Jake say?” You question further. You have been the most nervous about him accepting you. He is Josh’s better half and his voice of reason, his guiding light, and Josh his.

“I cant tell you exactly what he said, that’s between us. Just know that he wants you to stay as much as I do.” He says.

Content with that answer you let it be. “I love you Josh, I am so glad I found you.” You say with a drowsy voice.

“Ahh angel, I love you too. So much. A place in my heart will forever belong to you.” He says with another kiss snuggling his head into his pillow. The next thing you hear is the even breaths from his perfect lips.

#josh kiszka #josh kiszka smut #josh kiszka fanfiction #joshua michael kiszka #josh kiszka x reader #josh gvf #gvf smut #gvf fic #gvf series #jake gvf #sam kiszka gvf #greta van fleet #greta van fic #greta van fleet fan fiction #greta van fleet smut #greta van smut #joshua michael monday #greta van fleet fanfic #greta van fluff

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drifting-pieces-blog-blog · 1 year

Text

Breaking down the comics: The Stranger.

Moon Knight, Issue #15: Ruling the World from His Basement.

Look at how beautiful that cover is!

This is an interesting one. A weird villain, political and racial issues, and some deep Moon Knight issues with trust, identity, and betrayal.

So the comic opens with a Japanese Envoy being shot in the arm. There is narration here, but it isn’t the usual sort. It makes it clear that 1. These are Japanese "jerks" and we aren't supposed to really like them. 2. This is not the first assassination attempt. 3. The fleeing figure that shot him has a very familiar silhouette. A moon shaped sort.

Cut to Central Park, we see Moon Knight chilling in a tree.

"Man do I feel aweful. Too much stress, too many hours riding around in Lockley's stinking cab, not enough sleep or food... All combining to send the sledgehammers crashing on my skull."

Moon Knight once again asserts that he is not Lockley, Steven, or Grant. And he's feeling stretched thin. They aren't taking care of the body.

At this point, they don't have their jobs. There is no real gate keeper, care taker, protector... There is only fighting and Marc who holds all the trauma and self destructs at the drop of a hat.

So here he is, called to meet in the park at night by Detective Flint and someone new.

Sargent Gwenn is with Flint. He tells Moon Knight about the assassination attempt on the Japanese trade minister.

They mention that "after Lennon, Reagan, and the Pope, you can understand why we weren't thrilled."

Yeah, the 80s weren't great for people with power.

Turns out, the meeting is a trap! They're there to arrest Moon Knight for the assassination attempt!

"Did my homework. Learned you once worked freelance. Took on jobs for hire. An odd little group called The Committee was one of your clients. Anybody can turn bad. Especially someone who was semi-sour in the past." -Flint.

This takes us back to Werewolf by night. Moon Knight was hired by The Committee to track down Jack Russell.

Which shows that Moon Knight himself used to work for hire. Much like Marc Spector.

One has to wonder about that. Perhaps it was when they first came back from the desert and the death experience. Marc only knowing one way of life and trying to do better than mercenary work but not knowing how. Moon Knight blending? Still unsure of his own individuality?

Anyways, the cops surround Moon Knight and Flint walks away.

Moon Knight feels betrayed by Flint. "You're making a mistake, Flint! And you're going to regret it!"

He easily fights off the cops. They don't have the training he does.

They open fire on him and he easily avoids the bullets. Perhaps instincts from their time on the battlefield.

"I mean it Flint...You're wrong! Dead wrong! And I'll be hanged if I'm going to pay for your mistake!"

Moon Knight is not in a good mood. Probably could have handled things better, but at this point he is feeling persecuted and attacked. The body already is feeling terrible and now it's in danger.

He runs off only to see the cops put a woman in danger when they shoot down a tree that starts to fall towards her.

He saves life and still manages to get away.

The police remark on the fact that Moon Knight just saved an Indian woman. Flint asks Sargent Gwenn "Are you sure it was Moon Knight you saw at the airport? Absolutely certain?"

He comments that it doesn't make sense, but he's been around a while and "anybody can turn bad."

Moon Knight makes it to Jake's parked cab and quickly changes back to Jake.

The headache continues, but Lockley heads out to try to figure out why he's being accused of something he didn't do.

He heads to Gena's diner. He apparently gave her phone number as the one Flint can use to reach him.

While he's talking to Gena and Crawley, you see a Japanese family in the background complaining about the service. They eventually leave after being ignored.

An interesting thing to include. Especially with the Japanese dignitary in town.

And while it is written and displayed to show them being a bit rowdy and demanding of service, it also clearly shows Gena only interacting with Jake and Crawley.

While talking about the incident at the airport, Jake complains about his headache getting worse.

Gena asks him when the last time he ate was, as it's after 9pm.

"Nine! I forgot about Grant's charity shindig at the mansion!"

He runs out without eating.

Back at the mansion, we find an extremely upset Marlene. It's after ten.

"Tell her ta hold her horses just a little longer till I can change ta stuffed shirt Steven Grant." He mutters at Samules as he parks his cab.

When Marlene comes at him for his tardiness.

"Please, Marlene. I've got an excruciating headache and I'm in no mood!"

"Trouble, Steven?"

"Only as Moon Knight. Grant, Lockley, and Spector are just fine, thank you."

"I'm sorry, Steven. I shouldn't be so selfish. I know the pressures you're under. Trying to be four different people... But you're not really having trouble again, are you-Psychological trouble?"

"No, Marlene, I'm not. You helped me out of THAT dark hole...And I'm still standing on firm ground."

Ohhhhh he's a liar.

Liar liar, Steven! Denial is a strong one here.

Marlene takes a cheap shot and it hits home here:

"I know YOU'RE alright, Steven... It's just Marc Spector I worry about...And sometimes Jake Lockley... Even Moon Knight... I know it's stilly, but I sometimes think you won't be able to keep them all under control. That they'll do something to spoil what we've made of you."

OOOHHHH snap. With as much infighting as they already do, that was a call to arms and Steven heard it.

Moon Knight was already complaining about Lockley's cab, lack of sleep, and lack of food. Lockley was resentful of fancy pants Steven. And now she's gone and put the fear of Marc ruining things into the mix.

I'mma say it: Marlene is a complicated character to like in early Moon Knight.

You are supposed to like her. She's self sufficient. She can handle herself. She can fight. She puts up with all the Moon Knight stuff. She rescues them on more than one occasion. She's compassionate and often comforts them and seems to help stabilize and ground them.

But she is also pretty toxic a lot of the time.

She plays favorites, makes them question who they are and what the others are up to. She even often makes them question their own mental health.

Steven joins his party and greets his guests. He puts on a show of the socialite but:

"Privately, behind the social mask, he is still haunted by Marlene's words."

The next day, we see a man at the toy shop purchasing doll clothes. He says they are for his friends. Many many little friends.

I'll say it, he's a white man and it's clear he's in the upper class part of town. He smiles and greets all the fellow white people around him.

As he walks, we have narration.

"In this section of the city, you can't notice it. You'd almost think the problem didn't exist. Indeed, it's almost like it used to be...

But as he nears his home, it becomes more and more apparent, the grim reality facing him and every other god fearing American."

We see pictures of a smiling black man, a black woman, an asian man.

"Yes. Here the problem is all too obvious. The fragmentation and disintegration of American society. It's gotten so an honest working man can't even live where he belongs. He's forced now to live among the very filth which is causing the problem."

He enters his home and goes to the basement where he has control of his environment and rules his own world.

It goes on to mention that here, he isn't alone. His friends give him ideas much like the TV and bible do.

He pulls out the doll outfits he bought, little army outfits.

"Time to face the problem, my friends, and I have some gifts which should help us. We all know what the problem is, don't we? Foreigners. Foreign Devils. Slowly but surely extinguishing the light of America."

He rants about the "invasion of America". About the dilution of American blood and the fragmentation of the economy.

He talks about the underselling of American made goods with cheap and inferior products, forcing American businesses out of the market, lost jobs, crime waves, drugs...

He then talks about a hierarchy of ethnicity. How "blacks have been here so long they're almost American". He talks about how because of the Asians taking all the work, the Blacks have to turn to crime.

He dresses the rats as soldiers.

He then talks about Moon Knight. Moon Knight saving the life of the Indian woman, in particular.

"He's been stained, blemished. He's evil. I hate him. They're wrong, of course, but they tell me it's called Xenophobia. A fear of strangers... Of any one different..."

He claims he will kill them all.

Side note: This is still relevant. I remember growing up in the 90s there was a huge "Made in America" movement. It comes back every few years. Encouraged to purchase American made only to support our economy as if there aren't other problems with big business vs. local small business.

I also remember the increased news and feelings that were pushed on us about the foreigners taking all the jobs.

This is still happening. There are still too many people that feel and teach this. 1980s is still relevant today.

Anyways: Back at Grant Mansion....

Moon Knight is suited up and ready to go. But Marlene and Frenchie tell him not to go. The police are still after him!

But Moon Knight has learned that the Japanese minister is supposed to go do something big soon and the threat on his life is still there.

"The three of us have worked hard to make Moon Knight worthy of respect. What do I do with my respect if I don't even try to stop that assassination?"

Marlene and Frenchie have nothing to say. They hate it, but they let him go.

But as he flies away on the chopper:

"His primary goal, of course, is to prevent a death- But even as the chopper lifts him from the roof, he feels the nag of a secondary goal as well... To prove that last night's headache was just that- and not the residue of a memory blackout. God help him if he has to fight himself."

OH FUUUUUUU---

Memory blackout headache? Fighting himself?

Things are not fine at all in Moon Knight land. The fact that he is aware of time loss and headaches being a symptom is just… This is fucking amazing. DID was not classified properly at this time, much less well researched or discussed. And the fact that Moon Knight is aware of it means that this is a problem the system has encountered before.

As much as the system is in denial and covert, it’s just one more little special little nod to the fact that Marc Spector has been dealing with this for a lot longer than since he was killed and brought back.

Here, we arrive at City Hall where the Japanese minister is about to give a speech.

The Mayor talks about the important of maintaining relations with Japan. About how we accept imports into New York and send exports to Japan.

He talks about friction with 'some Japanese Imports..."

Again, I'll say it. 1980s. There was a lot of asian racism taking place that lasted well into the 90s. Along with the 'red scare' and cold war, we were not on friendly terms with China. Vietnam had just ended. Korean war was glossed over and forgotten.

Not to mention that most Americans can't tell anyone apart. Today, the tensions have subsided, but there is still a lot of Asian racism present in America.

Moon Knight arrives at the scene. He...He does his thing...

Frenchie: How will you approach zee scene?"

MK: Only way I know how.

With Style. That's how.

He lurks on the roof tops and waits.

And he sees a man dressed as a giant rat with a gun running towards the stand.

He dives down, but the police spot him.

The rat calls himself "Xenos". (Little on the head there).

The bodyguards manage to protect the Minister until Moon Knight tackles the rat.

The rat makes a run for it and dives into an open sewer!

But the police are closer and head in before Moon Knight can add a count to his sewer man tally. (I was so disappointed).

The police lose him in the sewer. But now the police at least know he isn't Moon Knight.

Later at Grant Mansion, he's watching the news and has a sudden realization.

"Not disappeared... But blended in."

The rat is pissed and decides Moon Knight is the problem and must first be eliminated before he can go after the foreigners again.

But here we see Moon Knight heading to a house.

"Getting this address wasn't easy. Steven Grant had to tug pretty hard on more than a few strings..."

It's a cop's house!

He slips inside easily. He starts to look for signs that this is the cop he's after.

He browses the book shelves, noting that he seems like a bit of a "Right-Wing nut".

Then he finds a scrapbook.

Yeah... The "Holocaust propaganda". This...This is a big deal. This is dangerous. This is even more of a problem today than it was in 1980s and that's depressing. I won't go on about this, because that would be quite extensive and long.... But just know that including this in a Moon Knight comic was pretty important.

(also history lesson! "The House of Rothschild". A 1934 American film.

It's about a Jewish banker with five sons and how they went on to become a powerful bank. It's based off the real Rothschild. It discusses using financial backing in times of war to make money and eventually become the richest, most powerful people/bank in the world. (a very very basic summary)

It was supposed to be an attack on Nazism and anti-semitism while Hitler was coming to power. It was made by non-Jewish people and cast with non-Jewish people. The Jewish Anti-Defamation League had major concerns about the film.

It won a lot of awards and some Jewish leagues and papers endorsed it.

However, a scene from the movie was used in German antisemitic propaganda and it seemed to encourage fears and resentment of Jewish people holding all the money and belief that this was the reason Germany lost WWI and fell into depression.

So... That's interesting! )

Moench had a lot to say with his Moon Knight comics.

He wrote for other comics, of course, but I feel like he only really said things like this and included things like this in his Moon Knight run.

Anyways, Needless to say, Moon Knight is not thrilled.

He finds a hidden room with a makeup table for his disguises.

"A makeup mirror. It fits...But what scares me the most about this guy is the similarity between us. We both play roles adopting different guises to--"

He doesn't get to finish his potentially destructive thought as he's immediately hit in the head by a jar of goo.

He realizes that it's rat food he's been covered in, and the rats are hungry!

Two things I want to say about this page.

There he is face down on the floor again.

He spends the next few panels rolling on the floor.

There is no way that the rat guy can know that Moon Knight is Jewish. But what he says to him is heavily coded. Things Marc probably heard a lot growing up when bullied by antisemites. It’s a little too close for home.

Moon Knight has a little freakout here. He rolls around, flinging rats everywhere and yelling "Get off me!"

He's been under a lot of stress lately.

Now he's trapped in the house of someone that idolizes Hitler and tells him that he deserves to die while under threat of being eaten by rats.

This is not going to do wonders for his mental health and stress. Not to mention past trauma.

He calls up Frenchie to give chase to the rat guy.

He rips off the rat mask and finds someone he doesn't know. He is unsettled at first until he realizes that he's wearing makeup and a fake beard.

(Considering Jake wears a fake mustache I'm not sure why he's so surprised)

And the rat Xenos man is Sargent Gwenn!

They fall into a hardware store and Gwenn gets the upper hand! But then he steps on a rat trap and Moon Knight manages to punch him out.

He drags Gwenn out to the police and finds Flint.

"I'm sorry. Gwenn was a good man. But like I said. Anyone can turn bad. Even a cop. There are stresses. Frustrations."

"Yeah. I know all about it. Now if you'll excuse me, Flint... I think I feel another headache coming on."

He returns back to the mansion and you see him talking to Marlene and Frenchie, still in his Moon Knight outfit with the mask off.

"--Not that I ever actually BELIEVED I was the assassin, but...Well, like a certain cop has said...Any Mind can go bad, and maybe, in a way, I did do it... We seem to be living in a nightmare these days. Maybe in a way, we all did it."

Frenchie: A sobering thought, Marc.

Marlene: Yes, but at least you have the strength and sense to admit something like that, Steven. Maybe if we keep at it, keep trying, we'll all wake up someday soon..."

Here the comic ends.

So let’s look at this issue.

Go back to the asian family sitting at the diner asking for service and eventually leaving because they are ignored.

The Indian woman that was put in danger by the police.

The use of Holocaust denial.

The rich white neighborhood that fades to the poor crime ridden and predominantly black neighborhood.

The hero of our story is the son of Jewish Immigrants that fled genocide. On the surface, he is a white man and fits into Xenos' little fairy tale.

All while the story of tolerance, racism, antisemitism, classism, and genocide is taking place….Moon Knight is struggling with his mental identity and overall health.

The topic of taking care of the body and communication between the four of them is not resolved, but we get to see him talking about his fear that he has a new unknown alter that is hurting people.

It’s the current day trope of “There’s an evil alter” that has done so much harm to the DID community. But in this case, it’s Moon Knight that is afraid. He has reason to doubt himself and with his fear of Marc and what Marc can do and does to himself, perhaps he was even afraid that it was Marc causing harm.

A lot of people are afraid of the mentally ill (DID, bipolar, Schizophrenics, and PTSD in particular) and their reason is that they are afraid the afflicted person is going to hurt them.

Many times, when surrounded by this ideology and considering the time period where it wasn’t uncommon for someone to be deemed hysterical and locked up for failure to blend into society… A lot of people internalize and start to believe things about themselves.

Told over and over again that something is wrong with him, that his sanity is fragile, and that he is being watched like a hawk for any slip up of not knowing who he is, Moon Knight starts to doubt himself.

Xenophobia was the topic of this issue and that means “Fear of Strangers”.

Moon Knight’s fear was fear that the stranger was himself.

This issue wanted to show that anyone and everyone is capable of racism. Just because you are not white does not mean you cannot be racist. Just because you fall into a persecuted person category doesn’t mean that you can’t prosecute someone else.

We can all do better. The first step is recognizing it and trying.

#Moon Knight #Moon Knight comics #Meta #analyzing the comics #Marc Spector #Steven Grant #Jake Lockley #marlene alraune #moon knight meta #The comics got deep #Sitting here screaming about Moon Knight #LOOK AT EVERYTHING HE MANAGES TO FIT INTO THIS ONE #This issue was a real treat #Someone give Moon Knight a hug #He and Flint better make up #Ya'll thought this was just a comic #This stuff is everything #I could scream about this all day

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wild-moss-art · 11 months

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Last night I had a dream that I was trying to get on a plane with bunny and a rat I used to have, but I didn’t bring carriers for either of them. Bunny was calm and I placed him in a tupperware, but rat kept like jumping off me and flying thru the air and I had to constantly catch her. They both really like people so they were trying to go snuggle random people and I wasn’t allowed to get on the plane. I was in the detroit airport so I tried to walk to flint where a friend lives(a 90min drive— the walk was fucking terrible) and eventually convinced them to come pick me up

#prophetic dreams tag #bnnuy #squeak

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brookstonalmanac · 5 months

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Events 4.25 (after 1940)

1944 – The United Negro College Fund is incorporated. 1945 – World War II: United States and Soviet reconnaissance troops meet in Torgau and Strehla along the River Elbe, cutting the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany in two. This would be later known as Elbe Day. 1945 – World War II: Liberation Day (Italy): The National Liberation Committee for Northern Italy calls for a general uprising against the German occupation and the Italian Social Republic. 1945 – United Nations Conference on International Organization: Founding negotiations for the United Nations begin in San Francisco. 1945 – World War II: The last German troops retreat from Finnish soil in Lapland, ending the Lapland War. Military actions of the Second World War end in Finland. 1951 – Korean War: Assaulting Chinese forces are forced to withdraw after heavy fighting with UN forces, primarily made up of Australian and Canadian troops, at the Battle of Kapyong. 1953 – Francis Crick and James Watson publish "Molecular Structure of Nucleic Acids: A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid" describing the double helix structure of DNA. 1954 – The first practical solar cell is publicly demonstrated by Bell Telephone Laboratories. 1959 – The Saint Lawrence Seaway, linking the North American Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean, officially opens to shipping. 1960 – The United States Navy submarine USS Triton completes the first submerged circumnavigation of the globe. 1961 – Robert Noyce is granted a patent for an integrated circuit. 1972 – Vietnam War: Nguyen Hue Offensive: The North Vietnamese 320th Division forces 5,000 South Vietnamese troops to retreat and traps about 2,500 others northwest of Kontum. 1974 – Carnation Revolution: A leftist military coup in Portugal overthrows the authoritarian-conservative Estado Novo regime and establishes a democratic government. 1980 – One hundred forty-six people are killed when Dan-Air Flight 1008 crashes near Los Rodeos Airport in Tenerife, Canary Islands. 1981 – More than 100 workers are exposed to radiation during repairs of at the Tsuruga Nuclear Power Plant in Japan. 1982 – Israel completes its withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula per the Camp David Accords. 1983 – Cold War: American schoolgirl Samantha Smith is invited to visit the Soviet Union by its leader Yuri Andropov after he read her letter in which she expressed fears about nuclear war. 1983 – Pioneer 10 travels beyond Pluto's orbit. 1990 – Violeta Chamorro takes office as the President of Nicaragua, the first woman to hold the position. 2001 – President George W. Bush pledges U.S. military support in the event of a Chinese attack on Taiwan. 2004 – The March for Women's Lives brings between 500,000 and 800,000 protesters, mostly pro-choice, to Washington D.C. to protest the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, and other restrictions on abortion. 2005 – The final piece of the Obelisk of Axum is returned to Ethiopia after being stolen by the invading Italian army in 1937. 2005 – A seven-car commuter train derails and crashes into an apartment building near Amagasaki Station in Japan, killing 107, including the driver. 2005 – Bulgaria and Romania sign the Treaty of Accession 2005 to join the European Union. 2007 – Boris Yeltsin's funeral: The first to be sanctioned by the Russian Orthodox Church for a head of state since the funeral of Emperor Alexander III in 1894. 2014 – The Flint water crisis begins when officials at Flint, Michigan switch the city's water supply to the Flint River, leading to lead and bacteria contamination. 2015 – Nearly 9,100 are killed after a massive 7.8 magnitude earthquake strikes Nepal.

#Events

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mrsbradshaw-seresin01 · 16 days

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A New Home

I hope you enjoy chapter one of my story

It’s the day after we get off of the Hogwarts Express and I’m with the Flint family at an airport. I’m glad Lex didn’t stay in Britain, because I’m safe now. I hope she lives close to my fathers and brother, some part of me screamed that I didn’t want anyone, but those who already knew, to know about the identity of my family. Besides it wouldn’t be safe for my plan to go to my fathers to get out from under the Dursleys and Dumbledore’s thumb, to speak of it anywhere where Dumbledore could hear and try to stop me. We already had to be super sneaky in order to get me a passport, until I can get my dual citizenship approved. Pops said that shouldn’t take long once him and dad get custody.

“Flight 742 to San Diego, California boarding,” The woman’s voice says over the loud speaker.

I give Josephina a hug saying goodbye before Marcus and I board the plane. Marcus insisted on coming with me until things settle down. We already mailed my shrunken belongings to Pops yesterday, so magical items didn’t have to go through security and neither would Hedwig. Marcus just has a carry on duffel bag with muggle clothes that we got him so he would fit in. I’m just glad Rori taught me how to make my wings retract before school. I have both magical and muggle clothes customized with special unnoticeable slits in the back for my wings. Marcus hugs his mother, “I’ll see you guys soon.”

“We love you,” Josephina tells her son before telling me, “And you Gracie are welcome at Flint Manor anytime.”

I smile, “Thank you.”

“Come on, don’t wanna miss our flight, sióg,” Marcus tells me. We go and board the plane, I have a window seat in first class with Marcus beside me. Pops and Dad are supposed to be picking us up from the airport. We have a fourteen hour flight ahead of us, but we managed to by some miracle get a direct flight. I don’t want to have to deal with a layover.

~~~~

“Sióg, you’re practically vibrating over there,” Marcus laughs as we walk off the plane.

I say, “I’m sorry, Marcus, I’m just so excited.”

“I know you are,” Marcus says looking around, “And I think I see them.”

I ask, “How do you know?”

“Well, one of them is holding a homemade sign that has Gracie Potter written on it. He leads me through the crowd until I see them too. The sign is very glittery, Gracie being in purple glitter and Potter in green glitter.

Marcus has no chance of stopping me as I take off in a sprint towards them, excitedly. Marcus and his long legs are right behind me. I come to a sliding halt right in front of the three men. I beam, “Hi, I’m Gracie Potter. That’s Marcus Flint.”

“Merlin’s beard, Gracie! Did you have to take off like that?” Marcus scolds.

I state, “Yes, I in fact did have to.”

“I doubt that,” Marcus huffs.

I nod, “I promise it was.”

“Fine, you win,” Marcus says, “Only because, I don’t think anyone wants to listen to this argument for an hour.”

I smile cheekily at him, “I win!”

“I’m Pete Mitchell-Bradshaw and this is my husband Nick Mitchell-Bradshaw and our son, Bradley Mitchell-Bradshaw,” Pops introduces.

Marcus is all charm, “It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

“It’s really nice to meet you,” I giggle.

Before anything else has the chance to happen I am enveloped in a bear hug. I feel the rumbling of Bradley’s chest, “I warned you that you were going to get the biggest hug known to man when you got here.”

“That you did Brad-Brad,” I say offhandedly.

He groans, “Brad-Brad, really? You just had to go with Brad-Brad!”

“Big mistake, you just gave her a reaction. You will be called that, intermingled with other nicknames forever. She lives for chaos,” Marcus chuckles.

Bradley releases me from his hug and I’m pulled into a hug by Pops next. My brain to mouth filter is having a malfunction, “So I get the short gene from you, huh, Pops?”

“You called me Pops,” He pulls back a bit.

I nod, “Yeah, you told me I could.”

“I know, but you always addressed your letters to Maverick. I thought you just weren’t comfortable,” Pops says.

I giggle and pull away from the hug completely, “I’ve been calling you Pops in my head since that first letter you sent. I just wanted the first time I called you that to be where you could hear it.”

“Yeah, she’s been practically vibrating with excitement for the last month. It’s a shock that Dumbledore didn’t catch on,” Marcus teases.

I swish two fingers in his direction behind my back and can tell my stinging hex hit him when he grunts and chuckles a bit behind me.

Pops gets a good look at me and his eyes that are identical to mine light up, “You’re beautiful! She’s beautiful! Goose, look we have the same eyes!”

“She is beautiful, Mav. You do have the same eyes,” Dad appeases Pops, “I mean did you think she’d be anything but she has the best genes.”

Dad hands Bradley the sign with my name on it and pulls me into a hug of his own, “Hi, little one. We’ve been excited as well. I’m pretty sure your Pops threw up last night, he was so excited and nervous.”

“This is the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Dad… also, it’s a crime that you and Brad-Brad kidnapped all of the tall genes,” I pout playfully.

Marcus points out, “It’s not entirely their fault that you’re 4’9. I mean being short is normal for pixies… though his genetics didn’t help, seeing as you’re short even for a pixie.”

“Why do I even like you? You’re mean to me,” I huff.

Marcus states, “That’s the wonder of having older siblings, sióg.”

“None of our other soul siblings are so mean to me,” I say pulling away from Dad.

Marcus says, “Yeah, well all of you have called me an arse… so let’s just go with I’m an arse, but nobody else will mess with you, sióg.”

“That’s true,” I agree.

Dad chuckles and moves back to my teasing comment at him, “Well, any child with Mav’s genes is bound to be cursed with being vertically challenged.”

“Fuck you, Goose. Gracie, what were your final grades like? You said in your last letter that you’d been stressing over finals,” Pops says as we begin our trek to the car.

I notice Marcus discreetly putting up a privacy ward around our group so muggles can’t hear what we’re saying. I beam proudly, “Straight Os, even with the fact that I was taking every class. I did decide to drop some of them though… it was actually insisted upon by Professor Snape and all of my friends.”

“Yeah,, because we caught you sleeping in the common room with books and notes surrounding you far too many times for comfort, Gracelynn-Euphemia. Have you decided which classes you want to keep?” Marcus asks.

I nod, “Hey! You guys already scolded me for that! I have to keep all of the core classes at least until I take the O.W.L.S. as you know. Which means History of Magic will continue to be a point of torture for me. But for extracurriculars, I’ve decided to continue with Arithmancy, Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. I found Divination to be boring, didn’t challenge me in the slightest and Muggle Studies is wildly outdated and they wouldn’t listen to me so I cannot be in class.”

“I was surprised you didn’t drop Divination after the first week in Trelawney’s class,” Marcus chuckles, “The only reason I kept it was the easy O.”

I roll my eyes, “You shouldn’t take a class just because it’s an easy O. You should really be thinking about what your interested in and what you want to do as a career.”

“I’m going to be a professional quidditch player, so it doesn’t matter, sióg,” He informs me.

I sigh, but keep my mouth shut. He’s already retaking his seventh year. Dad shifts the focus back to me, “So you must be a wiz kid, huh?”

“I mean, since I haven’t gone to school with Dudley, I haven’t had to throw my grades, so I can genuinely do my best,” I say, “I wouldn’t call myself a wiz kid though.”

Marcus clears his throat, “She wouldn’t call herself a wiz kid, but I will, this kid is a genius. On top of her magical classes she’s been keeping up with her muggle classes since first year. She talked to Professor Snape about how to make it happen and he and Professor Flitwick helped her get into the program. She also gets top grades in all of her muggle classes.”

“Knowledge is power Marcus,” I tell him as we get into the car. Pops informs us that in America they say no-maj instead of muggle. He explains why as well.

Pops nods, “Yeah, I’ve always known I wanted to be a naval aviator, so I had to keep up with my no-maj classes when I started at Ilvermorny.”

“I don’t quite know what career path I want to go into yet,” I say, “In all honesty there’s enough funds in the Potter vaults alone that me and four generations after me could decide not to work and we’d still be fine. I do think I want to get a mastery in potions though and maybe charms too.”

Marcus assures, “You have plenty of time to think of that you’ve only just finished third year.”

“How was your first year at Naval Academy, Brad?” I ask.

Bradley says, “It was pretty great. I made some friends and a kind of maybe friend. Natasha Trace, Javy Machado and Jake Seresin. Natasha is my best friend though, without a doubt.”

“Are you excited to see the house?” Pops asks me.

I nod, “Yeah, I’m hoping it feels more like home than Privet Drive or the Flint manor.”

“I will admit that Flint manor is quite stuffy. Feels like a showcase of our power and wealth,” Marcus says.

Pops says, “Well, we’re about to pull up. I hope you love it as much as we do.”

We pull up to a nice sized two floor house that has gray siding and a long driveway leading up to a garage. Dad says, “Welcome home, little one.”

We pull into the garage and all pile out of the car. Pops says, “Come on, we can show Marcus to the guest room and you to your bedroom.”

We follow Pops, Dad and Bradley up the stairs. The first door we come across on the right, Dad pushes open the door, “This is the guest room. The guest bathroom is downstairs.”

“This is Bradley’s room,” Pops says pointing at the next door to the left, “Right across the hall is yours, Gracie. Our bedroom is on the main floor.”

I move forward to open the door. As I step inside I’m greeted by violet walls and a misty green ceiling. The floor is the same espresso hardwood that is in the rest of the house. There’s a full size bed with a sleigh bedframe which like the rest of the furniture is in walnut with bedding in purples and greens. There is an antique wardrobe, a dresser, an antique vanity and a shoe rack. There’s also a bookshelf, a display cabinet, a chest and a desk with a chair. There is a bay window with a green cushion as seating and purple curtains framing it. The light is a crystal chandelier fan. Each nightstand has a purple lava lamp sat atop it. In the display cabinet there are a few knickknacks including a model of a F-14 jet, a glass goose, a glass, circinae, a glass osprey and a snow globe of San Francisco. I look around in absolute wonder at everything, “Wow.”

“Do you like it?” Dad asks.

I get so overwhelmed I start to cry. Pops panics, “Oh no! You hate it don’t you? You can change whatever you want.”

“It’s absolutely amazing. I love it and don’t want to change a thing. It’s just nobody’s ever cared enough to do something like this for me before,” I sob.

Pops and Dad pull me into a group hug. Dad says, “We love you so much it hurts, little one.”

“I love you guys too,” I whisper, scared that if I say it any louder this great thing I’ve got will be taken away from me.

After I finish crying, I notice that Marcus is no longer looming in the doorway. Bradley says, “He decided to go get settled and give us some family time.”

“The knickknacks all have meaning,” I point out, “If I remember correctly, the F-14 is what you guys flew, the goose represents dad’s callsign, the circinae is Pops’ patronus, the osprey is my patronus and the snow globe for our home.”

Pops nods, “We figured you’d also want to add some more stuff to give your room a more personal touch. So, we left plenty of space for you to do so. We can go shopping sometime in the next couple of weeks if you want.”

“That sounds great,” I say, “I’ve been thinking about getting into photography. I learned how to brew the developing solution so I can make moving photos too.”

Dad says, “When we go out, I’ll help you pick out a camera.”

“Okay,” I nod, “Do you guys mind helping me unpack my trunk? I’d like to spend more time with you.”

Pops says, “It’s almost dinner time but, I suppose we could order take out to be delivered. Do you know what you like?”

“No the Dursleys never let me eat take out or any restaurant,” I tell them.

Dad suggests, “How about we start with pizza? Bradley, you mind ordering?”

“Sure, what do we want to get?” Bradley asks.

Pops chimes in this time, “Large pepperoni, large cheese, large meat lovers, large supreme and a couple orders of garlic bread.”

“Okay, I’ll be back after I order,” Bradley says walking out of the room, pulling out a cell phone.

Once he gets back, we get to work unpacking my belongings starting with my clothes. I made sure to put my custom undergarments in a drawer, doing my best to make sure none of them see the different sorts and such. Dad hangs up my shirts, dresses, hoodies and robes. Pops puts up my pants and skirts. Bradley puts my singular pair of shoes on the shoe rack and then starts helping - read bugging - Dad and Pops with their tasks making them take longer even as I actually help. By the time we get done with that dinner has arrived, so we go downstairs along with Marcus, who was reading a quidditch book in the guest room.

Pops, Dad and Bradley stare at me as I try my first bite of pepperoni pizza. I’m mildly uncomfortable, but the pizza is amazing. Bradley asks, “What do you think?”

“I think I love pizza,” I say. I look over at Marcus who is doing what he always does at dinner, around new people; eating in silence, trying to keep himself from making an absolute fool of himself by eating like Ronald Weasley.

We all continue to eat laughing and talking, even Marcus chiming in now and then once he gets more comfortable. After I end up eating a slice of pepperoni and cheese with half a piece of garlic bread, I’m full, my stomach not used to so much food. I don’t push it further like I so want to, I always make myself sick the first night back at school because I binge eat and I just can’t do that to myself right now. Once we’re all done eating I ask, “Marcus are you sure you’re okay chilling on your own or do you want to come help unpack my things?”

“I’d rather not see your undergarments, sióg,” Marcus teases.

I sass, “Those are already put away, brute.”

“Doesn’t matter, take a bit more time just you and your family before we add me into the mix to an extreme,” Marcus insists, “I’ll be reading or sketching.”

I smile at him knowing that means, he’ll be reading about quidditch or sketching out plays for the quidditch team. I go up to my room with Dad, Pops and Bradley. The next layer in my trunk is my hair stuff that the girls helped me pick to keep my hair at least somewhat manageable. I put the accessories in the drawers of the vanity and the serums and such on the vanity top. Next layer are all of my books from first - third year and my other books that I’ve gotten as gifts or bought as extra. At the top of the books is the photo album of mom and James that Remus put together for me, he gathered pictures of them and a few with them and me as a baby. Right beside it is an album of me and my friends and soul siblings that Candace put together, one for each of us. With that is my sketching supplies. I pick the two albums up and set them on my nightstand gently, “Those are photo albums. One is all mum, James and their friends from before I was born until they died. The other is my friends and I from first year of Hogwarts until now. We could go through them together later if you want.”

“We’d love to see them,” Dad says. The other two men, nodding in agreement. I move to set my sketching supplies out on my desk.

As we start putting my books on the book shelf, talking and laughing the entire time. Really getting to know each other. I organize them by subject, reluctantly, because I will never admit this out loud, but Lex has a point about it being frustrating when you can’t find the book you;re looking for because of my poor organizing. She has told me quite bluntly that just because I’m chaos incarnate does not mean that I don’t need some organization. I laugh at the thought letting a little smile settle on my face.

“What’s making you all giggly?” Bradley teases.

I explain, “I hate organizing… normally using the excuse that they’ve all called me chaos incarnate on multiple occasions. Well, I was thinking about how Lex has been telling me since first year that I need to organize my books better because not being able to find a book due to my complete lack of organization is frustrating me. Saying that just because I’m chaos incarnate, does not mean that I don’t need at least some level of organization… and I would rather die than admit this to her, but she’s right about that.”

“You get that from Mav,” Dad says, “He’s always been an agent of chaos.”

I grab my satchel hanging it in the wardrobe, “Last thing.”

“No other personal objects?” Bradley tilts his head, “No knickknacks? No comfort items?”

I shake my head, “No. Petunia and Vernon wouldn’t let me have anything, the only reason the books were safe was because they are wizarding books that were kept in my trunk at all times. Until I was eight, I had the blanket I was wrapped in when I was left on the Dursleys’ doorstep. Petunia burned it in front of me after a particularly large outburst of accidental magic. I didn’t know what I had done to deserve such punishment, but they told me freaks don’t deserve comfort. I mean up until my Hogwarts letter came addressed to the cupboard under the stairs, that’s where I lived. I was locked in most of the time and all that was in there was a crib mattress from Dudley’s crib, a bunch of hand-me-down clothes from Dudley and a couple toy soldiers I managed to swipe from Dudley without notice. The clothes fit me horribly, I’ve always been a smaller girl and Dudley has always been quite the large boy. Until I went to Hogwarts, I had never had clothes of my own and that was just school uniforms which I wore at all times, just using Dudley’s hand me downs as pajamas during the school year. It wasn’t until I went through my creature inheritance that I got a complete wardrobe and had it custom made for my wings. I wasn’t even allowed a blanket.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring it up,” Bradley apologizes, “I didn’t even really think about it being a possibility.”

I force a smile, “It’s okay, I’m not there anymore and I won’t ever go back.”

“Gracie… You, Goose and I will have to go to MACUSA and get the paperwork in the works.,” Pops says sharing a concerned look with Dad, “We have an appointment set for tomorrow. We’ll do some stuff together this week too. Goose and I are out of active duty for the most part, Goose completely as an admiral. I’ve taken up a teaching position now at top gun now, along with testing new planes, but at least I hardly ever get deployed anymore. Luckily Goose and I got granted time off when we informed the higher ups that I had discovered I had a daughter and she was coming to see us.”

I smile, “That’s like the ministry of magic in Britain, right? I’m so ready to be away from the Dursleys forever and not being able to be forced back there by that crackpot old fool that shouldn’t be allowed to be headmaster, let alone all of the other titles he harries as well. I’m just scared, he’ll be able to stop us somehow.”

“WE won’t let you go back to those people, Gracie,” Bradley says, “Right Dad? Pops?”

Pops and Dad both nod firmly. Dad says, “We will never let them hurt you again. No matter what it takes, we aren’t going to let you go without a fight.”

“And those people will regret the moment they so much as thought about harming one of our children,” Pops says with a deadly calm voice. His eyes promise pain and suffering for those that have hurt me. Tears well up in my eyes… I’ve been crying a lot lately. I guess that’s because I finally feel safe, even with the threat of Dumbledore stopping us hanging over my head. My thoughts begin to race around my head. What if they decide I’m more trouble than I’m worth? What if they aren’t comfortable with how expressive I can be? What if they decide that they don’t like me? What if they decide they don’t want me?

Dad seems to notice my downward spiral right away. I’m standing at the bookshelf completely motionless, it feels as though I’m not even breathing. Dad comes over and with a gentle touch turns me toward him and gently pulls me into his arms. My knees buckle, legs giving out and Dad supports my body as he sits us down on the ground, cradling me in his lap, “I’m so glad you came, sweetheart. You’re our daughter. You are a part of this family. You’re stuck with us. We will always love you unconditionally, Gracie. A parent’s love knows no bounds. Our love for you knows no bounds, little one. You will always be a part of our family, you always have been. Even when we didn’t know about you, you’ve always had a place with us. We are and always will be your home. I love you so much.”

“I was so excited when we found out about you. We always have wanted more kids. The timing, just, was never right,” Pops says sitting beside us, running his hand through my hair, “So when we learned of you… it was the happiest moment of our lives, tied only with the moment we held Bradley in our arms for the first time. You are the last puzzle piece that completes us, our family. I love you.”

I fiddle with my hands, needing to do something with them, even as I soak in the love my family, my blood is showering me in. The love and affection I’ve been denied, starved of for far too long. Bradley sits on dad’s other side in front of me. He holds out his right hand, in invitation. I hesitate, only for a moment, before grabbing his hand and playing with my big brother’s fingers, him giving me the last thing I need to clear my mind of my worries, “I begged for a little sister for years. I am so glad that I finally got one. I just wish we had more time before I go back to the Naval Academy and then you go back to school. I love you, I have since I read that first letter you wrote us and it’s only grown over the time we’ve been exchanging letters. You are my baby sister and I will love and protect you forever, even after you find your soulmate.”

We end up sitting there, on the floor, wrapped up in each other, for hours. Pops doesn’t stop stroking my hair, Dad doesn’t let go of me, Bradley doesn’t pull away and I don’t stop playing with his fingers. Eventually the world goes dark as I slip peacefully into dreamland.

~~~~

(Nick)

I feel Gracie’s head drop to my chest. Her breathing having evened out a while ago. I’m just happy we could offer her some comfort. Only a minute later I feel Bradley’s head drop on my opposite shoulder. It’s not even a second later that Mav joins them, laying his head on my shoulder, next to our daughters. I lay my head atop my soulmate’s, joining my little family in dreamland.

~~~~

(Marcus)

It has been hours since Gracie and her family went to continue unpacking now, the sky has darkened and I have not heard a noise in a while. I put aside my sketchbook(quidditch play book) and stand up. I walk quietly to Gracie’s open door, the light is still on and as I walk into her room, I notice why it’s been so quiet. The little family has their backs to the door Bradley and Pete’s heads on each of Nick’s shoulders, Nick’s head resting on Pete’s. I walk around and see that they’re all sleeping soundly, Gracie holding onto Bradley’s hand, Pete’s hand in Gracie’s hair and Nick’s arms wrapped protectively around Gracie. I smile at the sight in front of me and remember that I put my camera in my bag so Gracie would have pictures to show her friends and our soul siblings. I sneak off to get it and come back taking a picture of the sleeping family. Once it comes out of the camera, I take out my wand and whisper, “Geminio, geminio, geminio.”

Now there’s a copy for each member of the family. I use a cushioning charm on the floor. I gently lead them to lay down, still in essentially the same position as they were in, there is mild protest from the men, but Gracie is a deep sleeper when she feels safe. I set the photo on one of the nightstands and throw the comforter from the bed over the sleeping family. I turn on the lava lamps and turn off the overhead light, knowing she can’t stand being in total darkness due to the years of being locked in the cupboard under the stairs. As I leave the room I close the door behind me.

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