#i cannot force you (or can i) to not tag her that but full disclosure next time im blocking it just ruins my mood

[lottieurl]

saw #samantha groves in my notifs. a jumpscare

[welldressedllama]

Fave characters from the last 5 things I’ve watched/read/seen/etc:

I was tagged by @a-lil-bi-furious forever ago, and I’m finally doing it. Yay. Go me. Long rambly post ahead.

1 - Isabelle Lightwood (Freeform’s Shadowhunters)

Izzy, Izzy, Izzy. There are so many good things to say about her. I love that she's so versatile; she's one of their best warriors, she's the Weapon's Master, she's a skilled forensic pathologist. She's incredibly intelligent and strong and also unabashedly feminine. She's faced demons and warlocks and rogue shadowhunters, and she beat them all in five-inch heels.

I love that she's so in control of and unashamed in her sexuality, despite her mother's and other's comments and snipes about it. She's gorgeous and enjoys sex and she owns it, and I'm so proud of her. I wish she got better love interests (like Clary), because I realize I didn't particularly like Raphael or Simon.

One of my favorite things of the whole show is her love for her family, most showcased with Alec. Her unwavering support in him, and trying to help him be his best, authentic self, is so pure, and her supporting him and Magnus is so refreshing compared he rest of their family just...not.

2 - Bonnie Bennett (The CW’s The Vampire Diaries)

Bonnie was my favorite from the moment I started (and probably one of my favorite characters of all time), and it broke my heart how the show treated her. She was a bold, brave, and powerful black Bennett witch who was controlled by racist writers and manipulated by selfish vampires.

But even with those obstacles, she did some incredible feats. She went up against (and beat) Originals multiple times, the first after she'd only been a practicing witch for a few months. She singlehandedly held back hellfire for a time and saved Mystic Falls (and all its residents' undeserving asses) numerous times and never got the appreciation she deserved.

She deserved her happy ending with Enzo and I will never forgive Plec (or Stefan) from taking that away from her. Even with everything she went through, she was kind, she was compassionate, she was understanding, and she was more forgiving than she probably should have been. Her interactions with Nora in season 7 warmed my heart.

3 - Maria DeLuca (The CW’s Roswell, New Mexico)

As Liz said, “Maria DeLuca is her own savior, every damn time.” And it's really unfortunate that the show (and the fandom) really make her keep proving it. This woman has so much on her shoulders, a sick mum and running a business. She's constantly alone, left out, and used as a prop for other's stories, and I hate it. Making her the obstacle for the fandom's favorite-gay-ship™️ was a bad move on the writers' part, and the treatment Heather Hemmens has received in playing her is horrendous.

With all that, Maria is still lively and outgoing and fun. Her wit is phenomenal, and any scene with her and Isobel snarking at each other is a hoot. Her little interactions with everybody are my favorite honestly. She's fiery and strong and bold, but I also so appreciate when we get to see her vulnerable. (Also, she looks like a goddess in that first gif.)

Full disclosure, I had a hard time deciding between Maria and Jenna Cameron as my favorite, and they literally have had like two scenes together at the end of S2 but I ship them hard. So if the show could just get on that, that'd be appreciated.

4 - Olivia Baker (The CW’s All American)

Words cannot describe how much I love Olivia. Just gotta get this out of the way, Samantha Logan is exceptionally gorgeous, and even my gay ass can't decide if I should pay more attention to Olivia or her brother when they're both on screen. But that's not important.

Something about Liv and her story just really resonated with me, and episode 1x12 had me bawling. Watching this good, kind, bright girl feel so alone and isolated was heart wrenching. She deserves the world, and I'm glad she's finding a good support system.

My favorite thing about Liv is how much she cares. If she sees something wrong or unjust, she does not hesitate to call it out, and if something is happening to her family or friends, she does everything she can to help. And that's a good thing, but I worry she focuses to much on others, at the expense of herself. I'd love if, in the coming season(s), she learns how to and is allowed to work on and take care of herself.

5 - Anissa Pierce (The CW’s Black Lightning)

My kick-ass superhero baby. She's a black, lesbian medical student and part-time teacher. Her love for her family is undeniable, as is her hatred if injustice. This drives her to become a vigilante superhero after only days/weeks of discovering her powers, and she fought her dad to a standstill (neither of them knew who the other was, but he was far more experienced than she was).

She's shown to be perhaps the physically strongest in the show (which I fucking love), and her fighting prowess is near unmatched. So like, that's obviously all cool, but it's only part of why I love her so. She's a force to reckoned with no matter what identity she's in (Anissa, Thunder, or Blackbird). She's passionate and loving.

Speaking of loving, her and Grace own my heart. An interracial wlw badass superpowered couple is basically everything I could want. They (and this whole damn show) are SO GOOD.

I'm tagging @rosaortecho and @wonderdoves, but like, no pressure. Or anyone who wants to, just say you were tagged by me so I can see y’alls opinions.

First Bonnie gif is from @bob-belcher, second from @imaginingxmen. For some reason I cannot get the formatting done with hers, just the others, so.

[douwatahima]

Turns out I have some more feelings about the manga I finished yesterday. Not naming it so this doesn’t end up in the tags. Please don’t read this, lol. The fourteen year old version of me jumped out.

I think the thing that bugged me most about this last stretch of DN Angel is how much it felt like Yukiru Sugisaki was just...done with the whole thing. Like everything felt very rushed towards a specific, easy conclusion that didn't address a lot of the interesting pieces she had previously laid down.

Like, I remember reading those last few chapters before the eight year long hiatus and HOLY SHIT there was so much! The Dark/Risa relationship all of a sudden becomes an actual threat, not just to Daisuke/Riku, but to Daisuke himself! Satoshi completely lets his guard down around Daisuke, trusting that the person he loves will make this huge sacrifice for him, and when Daisuke refuses he POINTS A GUN TO HIS OWN HEAD. AND THEN WHEN HE GETS CAUGHT HE GOES OFF INTO THE FOREST WITH. THE. GUN!!! AND THEN!!!! RIKU FINDS OUT DAISUKE IS DARK!!!!!!!! IT'S WILD AS FUCK!!!!!!!!

And then we come back and a lot of this is immediately dealt with in a comedic fashion and we just move on. Dark and Daisuke don't talk about that Risa interaction. No one goes after Satoshi. Daisuke comes up with some excuse and Riku is satiated for now.

Then we got the whole dream circus arc. Which was honestly alright. I enjoyed Daisuke coming to terms with the fact that he cannot separate himself from Dark. They are one and the same, for better or worse. And honestly, at first I thought this arc was going to lead us somewhere interesting. Because if Daisuke and Dark now understand that they are a package deal, how do they deal with the whole Riku and Risa thing???? (The answer is they basically don't but I'll get there). I was 100% ready to love this arc and then they did...the thing and I...

Okay, look. Full disclosure, I've been a DN Angel fan since I was like, fourteen. It is linked to me in a way that can only happen when you're obsessed with something at the height of your awkward teen years. And the thing that continues to be my favourite part of the whole story is the relationship between Satoshi and Daisuke. They were my number one ship, not just at fourteen, but...honestly probably through all of my teen years. Like, remember when people used to make jokes on this website about someone asking about your otp and you pull out your binder of reasons? I literally made a Satodai binder. That's not a joke. They were it for me.

And, don't get me wrong, there was never a point where I honestly thought the manga was gonna have Daisuke leave Riku and end up with Satoshi. I dreamed about it, but didn't honestly expect it. BUT I loved the way the manga addressed Satoshi's feelings for Daisuke. This is someone who Satoshi treasures above all others. The person who makes him believe the world can be better. The person he would do ANYTHING for. Like, Satoshi LOVES him.

Which is why it's so frustrating to me that Yukiru Sugisaki decided it would be better for Satoshi to have a two second dream about Risa that changes all of his feelings instantaneously. Like, I'm not here to shit on Satoshi/Risa fans, and I'm happy y'all got your ship. Honestly. But, the two of them have barely spoken before this and then Satoshi has a dream and literally says, "oh I guess my feelings have changed now" like...two volumes before the end! AND THEN THEY DON'T EVEN TALK UNTIL THE VERY END OF THE SERIES. FOR WHAT????

It honestly just read to me as, the mangaka wanted to end the series and Satoshi continuing to be into Daisuke was too emotionally complicated to quickly wrap up so he loves Risa now. And hey, that clears up the whole Dark/Risa thing, right? I'll get to that.

ANYWAY, so then we jump into an elongated story about some past Niwa/Hikari drama which would've been fun if I hadn't been growing more and more confused as I noticed how few chapters were left and we were STILL ON THIS. Like, I love when DN Angel gives us fun new characters to talk about. Hell, the Freedert arc and the Argentine arc are two of my favourites. But, when you only have a limited amount of time...It just felt like this was something Yukiru Sugisaki was maybe sitting on for awhile so she didn't want to skip it, but she also wanted to finish the story as soon as possible so the ending comes IMMEDIATELY after which makes this whole arc feel...weird. Like...we could've spent our last few chapters on the characters we know and love but...instead...

Then we get to the endgame. So, quick poll, do we think the mangaka already had this ending in mind before the anime came out or do we think she decided to do the anime ending because she had no idea how to finish the story. I'm really not sure, but either way it felt soooo anticlimactic given that we've had the anime ending for almost 20 years. Like...what was I waiting around for if you were just gonna do the same thing????? And look, I honestly never finished the anime because I couldn't stand the way they chose to characterize some of my favourite characters (most notably Satoshi and Risa) and I'd read what the ending was and hated it lol. But I digress.

The thing about the ending that gets me most is that it all comes on so fast. Like, you wanna do the anime ending? Okay. Don't love the idea, but okay. BUT it all happens in like... 2-3 chapters. Like, all of a sudden the Black Wings is sucking up power from the artwork and, oh no, here comes Krad ready wreck shop. And then we, randomly at THE END OF THE MANGA find out Satoshi's adopted Dad is actually his real Dad and also he's a piece of artwork which makes Satoshi half a piece of artwork???? Why are you telling us this now???? Then Satoshi and Daisuke seal Dark and Krad into the Black Wings the end. Like...????? That's it?????

OH ALSO I FORGOT TO MENTION THAT THE HARADA TWINS ARE MOVING TO ANOTHER COUNTRY. HONESTLY PROBABLY BECAUSE IT FEELS LIKE YUKIRU SUGISAKI FORGOT TOO SINCE THERE'S NO CLOSURE ON THAT?????? (Honestly, I'm laughing because I literally forgot about this fact until just now. AGAIN WHAT WAS THE REASON LMAO!!!)

Okay, so the story's done but where does it leave our favourite characters???

Daisuke and Riku have figured their shit out and are...presumably going to do long distance??? Idk, they never really address whether they're staying together or not as far as I can remember???? Like, this is the relationship I thought we would get the most closure on but ?????????

Risa just gets to be sad for awhile I guess. It's honestly so infuriating to me that we got this awesome moment before the hiatus where Dark asked Risa if she would love him no matter what and she says yes with her WHOLE CHEST and that's enough for Dark to almost, like, take over Daisuke's body permanently. Like, her love for Dark is as real as Riku's love for Daisuke but she's not allowed to have a happy ending like her sister. She gets to see Dark one last time where he kisses her and hopes she'll always be his best girl and then he flies off into the night while she begs him not to leave. Then, she gets to cry in the street, trying to remember him while everyone else is forgetting. Well, at least she has Satoshi, right????

But like, we don't even know if she likes Satoshi that way. There's been...no indication that she does as far as I know. And as he's hugging her, Satoshi is having these thoughts hoping she'll be able to remember Dark because he knows how meaningful he is to her. So their ending is LITERALLY Risa gets to be horribly heartbroken and Satoshi gets to pine for someone else who, at this point, doesn't love him back.

Like, once again not to shit on Satoshi/Risa fans but...is this the ending y'all wanted????? Because as someone who stans them both this just felt horrible. It reads as a feeble attempt to "pair the spares" (since in the story the mangaka wanted to tell, neither of them could be with who they originally loved) but, like, even then this is the saddest way to do that. OH! And once again, if Risa is moving, ARE THEY EVEN GOING TO BE TOGETHER????? Like, what are we supposed to get from this what is the REASON??????

And then there's Dark and Krad being stuck in the Black Wings for eternity. The biggest reason I didn't like this ending in the anime. Like, look. I get that you have to end your manga somehow. BUT if your plan was to reunite Dark and Krad in this way I don't understand why you would write a whole interaction, mere chapters before, having Dark say that that's the LAST thing he wants to do. HE SAYS THAT THEY AREN'T THE SAME ANYMORE AND THAT HE DOESN'T WANT TO RETURN TO HIM. AND THEN HE'S FORCED TO DO JUST THAT. FOR. WHAT?????

Like, Dark isn't a villain. He's one of our main protagonists and has been this whole time. I get that in stories sometimes characters have sad endings. (I've already argued that I think both Satoshi and Risa's endings were bittersweet at best). But to have Dark say mere chapters before it happens that he categorically DOES NOT want to rejoin Krad and then force him to do just that feels like such a needlessly cruel thing to do to this character we're meant to love.

Once again, it just felt so much like Yukiru Sugisaki wanted to end the series as quickly as possible. I get her wanting to come back to it; she's kinda notorious for not finishing things so I get the impulse to just drive through and get at least one story done. But, it felt like so many things were skipped over or changed just because it made getting to the end goal easier and less complicated. Not addressing some of the cool shit she laid down before the hiatus, completely morphing Satoshi's feelings in a dream, writing off Risa's feelings for Dark, telling us all of the Satoshi backstory stuff at the last goddamn minute, giving Dark his worst nightmare as an ending, so many of these things done just to move things along towards a specific end goal as fast as possible.

Honestly, there's a part of me that wishes she hadn't come back and finished it at all. I was happy enough with the ending I had written in my head and would've preferred it to what we ended up getting ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Anyway, to anyone who actually read this (and a part of me hopes no one does lmao) thanks for listening to me ramble. And if you're a Satoshi/Risa fan, uh, sorry I hated on your ship lol. You're cool.

[let-it-raines]

Second in Command (Ch. 20)

Summary: Life as the "spare to the heir" isn't all that it's cracked up to be when you're the supposed screw-up of the family, but people don't know what really happens behind closed doors.

Rating: Mature

A/N: Full disclosure, I have never been huge on royalty. I’ve always thought it was interesting watching the glamorous lives they lead, but it’s not generally my cup of tea. That said, I somehow sat down and wrote all of these words about a fictitious royal family simply because I needed an interesting way to keep two characters from being together. Who knew it would spark my imagination and pique the interest of you guys the way it did?

So it started with a man getting caught in the rain and wandering into a pub, meeting a woman, and it’s ending with a woman wandering into a chapel, marrying a man. 

You guys are the best, and I can never thank you enough. This story is crazy and all over the place, and I most definitely put off writing this chapter because I didn’t want it to end...so look out for the small, multi-part epilogue because I have no chill. Seriously, thank you. 

Also, the cover is for those who asked for visuals. 

Found on AO3: Beginning | Current

Tumblr Chapters: |1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17  18 | 19 | 20 

Tag List: @nikkiemms @resident-of-storybrooke@kmomof4 @wellhellotragic @profdanglaisstuff @ekr032-blog-blog @bmbbcs4evr @onceuponaprincessworld @jennjenn615 @a-faekindagirl @mayquita @captainsjedi @captswanis4vr @teamhook @skyewardolicitycloisdelena91 @branlovesouat @dreadpirateemma @alys07

He cannot sleep, the anticipation of tomorrow morning keeping him up while Liam snores away in the next room. It’s not that he hasn’t tried to fall into a slumber, knowing that no matter how much adrenaline is running through him that tomorrow – or is it today now – will still be a long day. Because he has tried, lying down in bed and shutting his eyes as he endeavored to force himself into sleeping for hours on end. Giving up, miserable staying still as his entire body screams at him to move around, he gets out of bed, grabbing his phone and a sweater before going to walk back and forth out on his balcony.

It’s perfect for his pacing because no one will see him, and he can simply be alone. He doesn’t really want to be alone. He wants to be with Emma, but he can’t exactly do that right now. He can, however, text her. He doesn’t expect Emma to be awake. He wishes her to be asleep so she won’t be as bloody exhausted as he is tomorrow…today…but he’d really just like to talk to her right now.

Killian: You up?

He barely gets a chance to put his phone back into his pocket before he feels it vibrate against his thigh.

Emma: Why Your Highness, are you requesting a royal booty call the night before you’re to be wed? How scandalous.

He can just imagine her saying the words, teasingly batting her eyelashes as she twists her hair between her fingers and softly smiles at him. He chuckles to himself before sitting down on one of the lounge chairs and looking up at the night sky, inky black above the vast land that stretches out ahead of him, the only light coming from the stars above and lanterns at the corner of each balcony railing. He understands the tradition of being separated the night before the wedding, but he’s really hating it right now as he texts her back.

Killian: Not a booty call, but maybe just a call.

His phone rings within the next thirty seconds, and he answers immediately, propping his phone between his shoulder and his ear as he hears Emma’s voice.

“So you requested a call but not of the booty variety?”

A laugh passes through his lips while warmth settles within his chest. If he can’t be with her, this is good enough. “Why aren’t you asleep, love?”

“I think I could ask you the same question.”

“I can’t sleep,” he admits, a slight breeze gusting over him, and he idly hopes that the weather forecast for later stays pleasant and there’s no repeat of the rain from earlier.

“Me either.”

“Are you nervous, Emma?”

“Not nervous to be marrying you. Like, that part I’m okay with. You might even say I’m excited about it.”

“But?”

“I’m nervous because of all of the people watching. I just keep reminding myself that it’s just you and me, just us.”

“Just us.”

It’s silent for a moment, restlessness fading away as he stretches out on the lounger, before she speaks again. “Is Liam snoring?”

“Bloody hell, yes,” he snorts, curling his legs into himself, “but he’s in the other room. How are your roommates?”

“Fast asleep. I’m currently sitting in the bathroom talking to you.”

“Well, the acoustics are better there. I’m sitting out on the balcony.”

“Damn,” she laughs, the sound making him feel like maybe they’re not actually in two different places. “That would have been a much better plan on my part. There’s a couch in here, though.”

“A couch in the bathroom?”

“It’s a very fancy place your dad has me set up in. It’s almost like he likes me or something.”

“He’s not the only one.”

“Goofball.”

Eventually he settles back into the softness of the unfamiliar bed, the mattress dipping underneath the weight of his body, as he and Emma continue to talk until suddenly her voice goes silent on the other end of the phone, just soft breaths coming through the speaker until he disconnects the call and manages to fall asleep as well.

When he wakes a few hours later, his head stuffy from his lack of sleep, he still somehow feels calm and rested, like he could go days without sleep and be fine today, sod what his anxious self told him earlier this morning when he couldn’t sleep. He wouldn’t say no to some coffee, though, and when there’s a knock at the door of his suite and a tray of food with a pot of steaming hot coffee waiting for him, he thinks that it may very well be some kind of wedding day miracle, especially because Liam’s still asleep and Killian can keep this all to himself.

It’s a beautiful day outside already, the summer sun shining across the well-groomed grass and making the pool several floors below shine in his eyes while he goes about eating his omelet and fruit and drinking the sweet, sweet nectar that is coffee this morning. When he places his mug back down, he sees an envelope underneath his plate, a small bit of Emma’s elegant script poking out underneath it, and she seems to have had the same idea that he did this morning in sending breakfast and what seems to be a letter.

He smiles before opening up the envelope and pulling out a piece of stationary marked with Emma’s hotel and the slightest coffee ring stain.

Killian,

I finally feel as if my life is a bit of a fairytale, and before you get your hopes up that it’s you making me feel that way, it’s more the fact that I’m sitting in a bathrobe while my toes are being painted writing you a letter on actual stationary with a pen that might as well be a quill. It’s just missing a feather. It makes me feel as if I’m in one of those historical romances I so often force you into watching, but I also know that I’ll probably text you this morning as well, sending you my own little modern day love letter in addition to this one.

Or maybe just a text about how hungry I am because I’m not sure I can eat this breakfast you sent me.

It’s not that it’s not good food. My stomach is just doing summersaults with how excited I am.

The coffee is good, though. Thanks, babe.

I was woken up at five this morning after, as you know, just a few hours of sleep because I was on a “not booty” call until the early hours of this morning, and I feel like my body hasn’t been left alone since. Anyways, enough complaining about how the birds and deer are dressing me because I really did mean to write something actually romantic. You’re not the only one who can be a regular Mr. Darcy, babe.

Six years ago today, at about this time really, I was trying to fall back asleep after waking up and being just absolutely tormented with the fact that I’d kissed this guy who I really liked despite all of my attempts not to, and then my dad had walked in on us when things were really getting good. You’d gone away, to Scotland if I remember correctly, with your mom for a few days, and in that time I just completely lost it thinking about how the hell could I ever trust a man again with my heart, especially someone with your position in life. It was like torture, the war taking place between my heart and my head, and then you just showed up at the pub and all of my feelings spilled out because I was already so comfortable with you in our months of knowing each other…or bickering and teasing each other at two in the morning when we were both delusional and exhausted.

Telling you about my past that day, taking down a stone or two of my walls and reservations, was one of the best decisions I ever made. We met by chance, but we’re together by choice. Loving you and having you love me in return has been the greatest adventure full of laughter, hardships and heartbreaks, and most of all, happiness.

Killian Michael Philip Louis, my love, I love you with all of my being, and I’ll see you in just a few hours. I don’t think you’ll be able to miss me. I’m going to be in a very fancy white dress.

Love always,

Emma

He picks up his phone immediately, calling her with just the goofiest of grins on his face. He knows how much it means for Emma to be the one to write and say sentimental things. It’s not that she doesn’t do it, as she has grown in her confidence in her words the longer they’ve been together, but he still remembers the woman who only showed her true affection through physical acts instead of words.

“Hello,” she greets, but she’s yawning when she’s saying it so it really just sounds like one long lo. He can hear Ruby talking to Mary Margaret in the background as someone tells Emma not to move her eyelashes or the glue will be messed up.

“Hello, darling. You got any plans today?”

“Just a little thing, and then I’m free, ya weirdo.”

He hums before taking another sip of his coffee as the sun settles a little closer to the middle of the sky while the time passes on. Emma’s apparently been up for hours while he’s still in his pajamas and hasn’t seen a soul all day.

“Good. So I got a curious piece of mail this morning.”

“Did you now?”

“Yeah, it seems that I have an admirer who loves me very much.”

“Funny, I got the same type of letter this morning. Though, I’m sure the one you received was much more romantic and well-written. Something that should be preserved for historical literary significance.”

“I’m thinking about having it framed.”

The two of them talk for a few minutes longer until Emma’s makeup artists tells her she can’t be moving her lips, and he lets her go, heading inside to his own room to find Liam standing there already getting dressed in his uniform for the day, buttoning his jacket and adjusting the medals on his chest.

“Well, good morning. Nice to see you’ve finally come inside from your sunbathing.”

“Don’t be jealous that I ate all of the food, brother.”

“There was food?”

Killian laughs before heading into the bathroom and hopping into the shower, letting the water wash away the day before and wake him up so that he can dress in his uniform, something more uncommon to him than his suits as he only wears it for special occasions and really only on St. Patrick’s Day. It feels different draping the red coat over his body and even weirder when the blue sash is put across his chest while gold pendants and multi-colored medals are attached to his chest and his shoulders. Liam’s wearing the same uniform but in black, and his medals include the honors he earned while serving instead of the ones he was granted by his father for simply being born.

He has to leave his phone with his aide before they walk out of the hotel, so he texts Emma one more time to tell her that he loves her and he’ll see her soon before handing his phone off and being disconnected from Emma until she’s at the alter with him.

God, until she’s at the alter with him.

He’s got to be at the Church grounds a little after eleven, an entire hour before Emma even arrives, and he and Liam are dropped off on one of the paths so that the two of them can greet some of the crowds gathered outside of the gates of the palace. It doesn’t seem to be too much of a crowd as he and Liam chat and wave while managing to move along so that they’re on time, knowing that this entire day is on a tight schedule, but when they turn the corner, he can see the long stretch of road on which Emma will ride down with David absolutely packed with onlookers who erupt into cheers when he and Liam come into sight. To put it in a word, it’s insane. There’s nothing else for it, and even if he experienced something similar on the day of Liam’s wedding, nothing could have prepared him for this mania surrounding him.

“It’s a bit wild, don’t you think, little brother?”

“Younger,” he corrects automatically, clapping onto Liam’s shoulder as they continue to walk, gravel crunching underneath their feet. “You have to call me younger from now on.”

“Maybe when you’re married, Killian.”

He laughs at his brother’s cheekiness before stopping to see a few more people, eternally grateful that they all care about him enough to wait outside for what he’s sure is hours or days ahead of time to stand here at the front of the path. He even spots a few people from last night, their clothes the same and hair a bit disheveled, and he makes sure to give them a wave and smile.

“Good morning, everyone,” he shouts, waving to all of the people outside, trying to avoid staring into the television cameras that seem to be as numerous as the crowd. “I’d stay and chat, but I’ve got someone who needs me inside on time.”

The waiting is pure agony, seconds feeling like minutes and minutes feeling like hours. Liam tries to distract him, chatting with Killian about anything and everything, and as much as he appreciates it, it doesn’t help. He’s honestly not sure what Liam’s said, the words flowing in one ear and out the other. He hears the music change before he sees Mary Margaret walk into the Chapel, a brilliant smile on her face as she takes a seat, giving him the most subtle of nods before straightening out the imaginary wrinkles in her dress. The anticipation only increases then because he knows that Emma is on the palace grounds with Abigail and Ruby and all of the children, and he feels like he may burst if time doesn’t pass more quickly. He probably looks like the most anxious man alive, all jittery and antsy, and he one hundred percent should have had a small glass of rum before showing up today.

When his parents walk in, he knows that they are the last to arrive before David and Emma, and this is the home stretch. He can do it.

A fanfare sounds to announce Emma’s arrival, and he cannot help the smile that blooms on his face as he waits for her to walk through the mahogany stained archway and onto the black and white tiled floor. When he sees the first hint of white, even if it’s not quite clear, his heart begins thumping in his chest, his entire body warming even as something pleasant becomes lodged in his throat. As she and David get closer, he beams, the happiness – and he’s sure that’s what the emotion lodged in his throat was now – radiating from him as she comes into view.

She’s gorgeous, her skin tanned against the white lace snugly covering her entire body, her blonde curls falling down her back as they’re pinned back by the tiara he knows is gracing her head. He can’t see her face quite yet, still too far away that he can’t see her through the sheer material of her veil. As she gets closer, he sees Alexander walking with all of the other children behind her, Ruby holding Emma’s veil and corralling the kids, and Killian knows that Alex is probably itching to be the one standing with Emma because he doesn’t quite understand what’s happening here. He’ll have to make sure to hold Alex later to make up for the confusion.

God, he loves her so damn much.

He can’t believe this is happening.

Finally, finally, finally, Emma is near the alter, her face completely visible to him, and she’s the most beautiful woman alive. Really and truly. Who cares how biased he is? He certainly doesn’t.

“Hi,” she mouths to him before she steps up onto the alter, squeezing David’s arm before he lets go and joins Mary Margaret in the pews.

Killian takes her slightly shaking hand, helping her step up where he is, and all of the anticipation has totally been worth it for this moment alone when he lifts the veil over her head and there are no barriers left between the two of them. “You look stunning, love.”

“You look – ”

“I know.”

She laughs the smallest bit before the Archbishop calls for their attention and the ceremony begins, the two of them being united as man and wife within the next fifty minutes as hymnals are played, sermons are preached, and vows are promised to each other.

“First,” the Archbishop begins, and Emma squeezes his hand just a little more tightly knowing what moment this is, “I am required to ask anyone present who knows a reason why these persons may not lawfully marry, to declare it now.”

The Chapel is blessedly silent, and while there was no real risk of anyone saying anything, with all he and Emma went through to get here, it’s a bit of a relief, Emma nervously chuckling when the Archbishop moves on.

“The vows you are about to take are to be made in the presence of God, who is judge of all and knows all the secrets of our hearts; therefore if either of you knows a reason why you may not lawfully marry, you must declare it now.”

When neither say anything, Killian knows that it’s his turn to make his vows, the schedule of the day drilled into his head even with the mess of emotions coursing through his body.

“Killian, will you take Emma to be your wife? Will you love her, comfort her, honor and protect her, and, forsaking all others, be faithful to her as long as you both shall live?”

“I will.”

Emma smiles at him before looking down, her eyelashes fluttering against her cheek, while she suppresses a laugh. He’s got no idea what she’s laughing at, but he has to bite his bottom lip to contain his own when she looks back at him with mirth dancing in her eyes.

“Emma, will you take Killian to be your husband? Will you love him, comfort him, honor and protect him, and, forsaking all others, be faithful as long as you both shall live?”

“I will.”

The entire congregation is invited to support and uphold their marriage before everyone prays and his mother’s cousin Lillith reads several verses in the Nave as the choir sings. Emma’s bouncing a bit even under the weight of her dress, and while he can’t hold her hand quite yet, they’re almost there.

“You okay?” he whispers when the song begins to wind down.

She simply smiles, and it’s the smile she reserves for him, soft and sweet and happy.

Finally, after her bouquet is placed on a side table, he’s able to take her hands, grasping them as they stand in the middle of the alter again and officially make their vows to each other.

“I, Killian, take you, Emma, to be my wife, to have to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part according to God’s holy law. In the presence of God I make this vow.”

Emma squeezes his hand before she begins, her thumb brushing over his knuckles, and it’s then that he realizes that she has on her sapphire ring on her right hand. He knows for a fact that she wasn’t supposed to wear any jewelry on her hands, even her engagement ring, and he smiles thinking about her likely slipping it on at the last minute.

“I, Emma, take you, Killian, to be my husband, to have to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part according to God’s holy law. In the presence of God I make this vow.”

The Archbishop prays over their exchange of rings before Killian slide’s Emma’s wedding band over her ring finger, his gaze only leaving hers to make sure that he doesn’t drop the ring or slide it onto her middle finger.

“Emma, I give you this ring as a sign of our marriage. With my body I honor you, all that I am I give to you, and all that I have I share with you, within the love of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”

Emma beams at him, her smile practically reaching up to her eyes as she slides his wedding band onto his ring finger, holding it there as she repeats his words.

“Killian, I give you this ring as a sign of our marriage. With my body I honor you, all that I am I give to you, and all that I have I share with you, within the love of God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.”

The Archbishop takes their hands, joining them together, and he runs his finger over the gold while their marriage is blessed to the crowd, and right now he really and truly hates that he cannot kiss her quite yet like every other man and wife would be able to do at this moment. Instead they’re hurried into a small room where they sign the registrar and officially become man and wife in the eyes of the law and of his father, their titles being changed into The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Emma’s hands shake a bit as she signs first with her given name and then when she signs with her new name and all of the history and responsibility behind it.

When it’s official, the two of them finally get to exit the room, everyone maneuvering around Emma’s dress and veil as they all exit the doors and walk back down the aisle, waving at everyone and smiling with Emma’s hand wrapped around his bicep while her other hand holds her bouquet as they exit the Chapel as husband and wife.

Finally.

“This is insane,” Emma gasps when they walk through the double doors and back out into the sunlight to the sounds of church bells and cheers of all of the people from his patronages that they invited to stand outside of the Chapel, and he laughs that Emma had the exact same thought they he had when he was walking inside with Liam. That seems like a lifetime ago, and maybe it was.

“I know, but a good kind of insane, yeah?”

“The best.”

When they reach the stairs, standing under the archways of green foliage mixed in with blooming white magnolias and a few of the flowers people gave he and Emma yesterday, Emma turns to him, leaning in close, before whispering, “Can I kiss you now?”

“Absolutely.”

They lean into each other before their lips finally press together for a fleeting moment, Emma as soft and as warm as she always is in this gentle caress. He knows there’s the sound of cheers and trumpets all around them, and while he can hear them, he doesn’t care. All he cares about is the fact that he’s currently getting to kiss his wife.

When they pull back from each other, instead of pulling away, Emma rests her forehead against his and speaks against his lips, “I love you.”

“I love you, my darling.”

They’re loaded into a red and gold laden horse-drawn carriage, with white horses leading them, and even as they’re driven into the crowds, more people surrounding them than ever before the further away from the Chapel they get, it’s the first time he and Emma have truly been alone together, relatively speaking, since their goodbyes yesterday evening.

“So, this whole being married thing,” he teases, interlacing his fingers with hers and bringing her hand up to press a kiss against her knuckles before resting it in his lap, “is it treating you well?”

Emma snorts, actually, legitimately snorts as her free hand waves to the crowd. “I mean, I think it’s going well, but who knows what’ll happen when we’re alone together without all of these people? I might totally change my mind. Though, I do love a man in uniform, so that may be working in your favor today.”

“You’re already the best wife, darling. I mean, I don’t have a lot to judge on, but you’re doing great.”

Emma turns from looking out at the crowd to looking at him, giving him the smile she reserves just for him again and returning his kiss to her knuckles by leaning down and kissing his shoulder. “You’re a pretty good husband, too.” She shrugs before winking. “Not a lot to judge on, but you’re doing great so far.”

Their ride is at least twenty minutes, and he just takes it all in. His life is not normal. He’s well aware of that, and if he wasn’t, the fact that he’s in a horse drawn carriage leaving his wedding and waving to the masses would be a pretty good clue otherwise. But it is normal in the way that he and Emma always have been. They love each other, and that’s all there is to it. About halfway through the ride, Emma leans over and starts questioning all of the different ways there are to wave, demonstrating them and laughing as he joins in. They look ridiculous, but his chest is heaving with laughter and a tear escapes Emma’s eyes for the very same reason.

Maybe it’s the sleep deprivation, or maybe it’s the jubilation at being here in this moment.

After their loop is finished, the two of them are ushered back into the Palace in order to take official portraits while their guests wait for them at their first reception. Emma has to have her makeup retouched while he goes to greet their families in the sitting room where they’re taking pictures. He sees Abigail first as she’s squatting down talking to all of the children, but she doesn’t see him. Alex does, though, squealing at a volume that could break glass over him being in the room.

“Hi, buddy,” Killian grins, picking him up and pressing a kiss to his cheek, “are you having fun?”

Alex shakes his head from side to side, and Killian has to laugh at the very honest answer of a toddler. He imagines it’s probably not fun for them to be stuck in small suits and dresses with no toys or entertainment for such long periods of time. Hell, there were times during the ceremony when he was bored out of his mind, and he’s nearly thirty years old, not three.

“Well, that’s okay. You’re almost ready to go home.” He places Alex back on the ground to join everyone else before pulling Abigail into a hug and kissing her cheek. “Hello, love.”

“Hello, Mr. Married Man. Where’s your bride?”

“Getting her hair and makeup touched up before the portraits because it was a little hotter outside than she was expecting. That, or she was just too nervous and started sweating.”

“She was as calm as a cucumber, Killian. Not even I was that calm. God, I was a mess before I got married.”

“You were beautiful, Abi dear. Thanks for being with Emma today.”

She squeezes his bicep and gives him a reassuring smile that settles somewhere in the pit of his stomach, his gratitude for this woman never ending. “I love you both. I can’t imagine having anyone else as my family.”

“I love you, too.”

He greets the rest of his family as the camera crew sets up, and just as things begin to calm down, Emma comes into the room, her train and veil still taking multiple people to transport while moving around. He has no idea how she moves in that thing, especially with how it clings to her body with every step, but she does.

“Oh my baby,” Mary Margaret cries, rushing over to Emma at the same time that Alex cries out an Emmy. “I can’t believe you’re married.”

Emma chuckles before grabbing onto her mum’s wrist and squeezing. “I know, Mom. But you were with me when we got here. You knew it was happening.”

“But you weren’t married then. It was so surreal watching the two of you up there.”

Emma goes around greeting everyone else, or really, they greet her while she stands in place for pictures. They’ve got to get everyone out of here before they take pictures on their own, and wrangling children is no small feat. But pictures are done despite that and his father’s joking around with David.

When everyone is shuffled out to the reception, he and Emma take their official portraits, standing together in stiff poses, before being moved out to the gardens to take more casual ones. It reminds him of their engagement pictures, the only differences lying in the fact that it’s bloody hot instead of freezing and that Emma’s dress is a little more complicated. She’s taken her veil off, their aides transporting it for safe keeping, but the tiara still remains in her hair, the sun glistening off the pearls and diamonds.

“How do you move in this thing?” he jokes while helping her sit down on a set of stone steps.

“Very carefully and without breathing. I’ve got a corset on under here, and that thing is going to be ripped open and never used again.”

“Well, I was planning on doing that, but it’s nice to know you agree.”

Emma scrunches up her face, her nose wrinkling and her brows furrowing together before she pats him on the leg and lets out a breath. “Get all of your inappropriate jokes out now so you don’t say them later.”

“Well, the same could be said to you. I say we sprinkle them in to prepare everyone for Ruby’s speech.”

“I’m pretty sure there’s no preparing for that.”

When they’re finished with pictures – at least for now as the photographer says – he helps Emma to the dining hall, stopping just outside and pressing her against the wall before running his lips against her jaw, never staying anywhere for too long before his lips finally land against hers, soft and sweet and everything he’s wanted to do since they were announced as husband and wife.

Damn is that still weird to think.

Damn is that nice to think.

“I love you, Emma. You are gorgeous and wonderful and amazing.”

“So are you,” she whispers before running her hands against his hair, pushing the pieces that fell against his forehead back and keeping her fingers against his hairline. “You ready to go have some more people stare at us?”

“And to eat some damn good food.”

“That too.”

The sounds of glasses clinking distract Killian from his meal and his conversation with Emma to see David standing from his spot at the other end of the table with a glass of champagne in his hand and a smile on his face.

“Good afternoon,” David begins into the microphone that’s been set before him, his voice shaking the slightest bit. Killian places his fork on the table before reaching over and twining his fingers together with Emma, running his thumb back and forth over her wedding band and recently added engagement ring. “First, I’d like to thank His Majesty for hosting this wonderful reception, even if we all know he’s not the one who picked out the food and flowers. And then I’d like to thank all of you for coming to the wedding of our daughter Emma to Killian. I’ve been told that I can drop the formalities with him, which is good, because I didn’t get to know Killian as His Royal Highness, I got to know him as Killian, frequent pub patron and rum drinker who happened to have a crush on my daughter. Now, I don’t know how many of you knew Killian at twenty-three, but he wasn’t nearly as smooth as he is now. And he most definitely couldn’t hide the fact that he was smitten with my daughter.”

Killian turns to look at Emma, and she’s watching her father with cautious eyes, like she’s not sure of what he’s going to do next, and a timid smile tugging at her lips. Honestly, Killian’s not either, but he trusts Dave not to say anything too embarrassing…at least not at this reception.

“Emma was the slightest bit better at hiding her feelings, but six years ago today, my daughter started dating her husband, who is, I think, more importantly my son-in-law and one of the absolute best men on the planet. And while I could go on and on about the adventures and misadventures of Emma and Killian throughout the years, I’m not. I’d simply like to wish them a blessed marriage, through the good, through the bad, and through it all.”

David raises his glass as everyone else does the same, all of them echoing “to Emma and Killian” before settling down to a hushed tone of chatter across the hall as he and Emma continue to eat. His father also makes a speech, but it’s more to thank all of the diplomats in the room before the luncheon goes on a little too long and everyone gets too antsy sitting around without anything going on.

“So,” Ruby drawls, coming to squat down between he and Emma, “how much longer is this thing going on before we get to the real party with, you know, all of the alcohol and the celebrities and the music? Because I know you guys tried to keep the fact that David Beckham and George Clooney are here from me, but don’t think that I didn’t see them. I’d like to meet them and dance with them both at one time.”

“Not that much longer,” Killian answers while Emma tells Ruby, “both of those men are happily married, Rubes.”

“Well, so is Killian, but I’m still going to be dancing with him tonight.”

“I’m looking forward to it, lass.”

After the luncheon, the two of them are allowed an hour alone together before having to get ready for the reception his brother is hosting for them at Frogmore house, and as soon as Emma’s dress has been removed and Ruby and her mother leave, he’s on her, cupping her face and running the tips of his fingers against the hair at the edges of her face before pressing his lips against hers and really getting to kiss her, devour her while her arms cling to his back. It feels like liquid pleasure running through him when she kisses him back, moving her lips with his, but they can’t go any further than that even with the hour alone so he’s forced to pull back.

“As much as I’d like to continue this particular activity, especially with what I know you have on underneath this robe,” he fingers at the silk material of her collar, revealing the white lace underneath that she put on after taking the corset off, “we can’t get sweaty. Plus, not to make you doubt my abilities, I’d really rather spend the next hour drinking coffee with you.”

“Babe, I think that’s the best idea you’ve ever had.”

It’s their first hour alone as a married couple, and the two of them are sitting in his room at Windsor in nothing but robes drinking copious amounts of coffee and filling each other in on how they spent their mornings when not with each other. He would say that it’s an odd choice, but it’s really not for them. He’s incredibly attracted to his wife…God, his wife…and he’d like nothing more than to plow into her and say sod to the next reception full of all of their friends and liked family. But what they’re doing right now feels right. It’s their wedding day, something they’ll never get again, and this will be the last time today that it’ll simply be the two of them and no one else until they’re back in his hotel room from earlier.

Plus, he really, desperately needed the caffeine after all of the adrenaline began to fade away.

“So we’re married, huh?”

He nudges his feet against Emma’s on the ottoman in front of the couch they’re sitting on, acknowledging her statement while he inhales the fresh aroma of his caffeine, the hot liquid running down his throat and causing him to think that this is equivalent to gold.

“We are,” he agrees. “Do you feel different?”

She laughs before putting her coffee down and resting her head on his shoulder and running her hands up and down his arm.

“Not in the slightest.”

“Yeah, but I can call you my wife now, so that’s something new.”

“I still accidentally called you my boyfriend last week, so I think it may take awhile for me to get used to our new names. Also, how weird is it that my last name isn’t Nolan anymore?”

“You’ll always be Nolan to me, love.”

“How much time do we have left before I’m forced back into a tight dress and heels?”

He pulls his phone out of his pocket to check the time, ignoring all of the texts filling up his home screen that he hasn’t checked since his aide gave the device back an hour ago. “Thirteen minutes.”

“Alright, babe. I’m going to make out with you one more time and get you all hot and bothered before you have to change into your tux.”

“You’re evil.”

“I love you,” she laughs before taking his drink out of his hand and straddling his thighs, “and your discomfort is a cross I’m willing to bear.”

He never thought he’d be so thrilled to put on tuxedo, but he is absolutely delighted compared to the uniform he had on earlier. It’s much less stuffy, and his shoulders don’t feel as heavy with all of the tassels and dressings of his earlier outfit. Emma’s still having her hair curled and makeup redone while he simply sits on the bed and waits for her. He’s got a pair of diamond earrings in his pocket that he should have given her when they were alone, but it somehow slipped his mind.

They’re his grandmother’s, and while Emma never got to meet her and he was never particularly close to her, he thinks that they’re very much Emma’s style. Simple and classic and entirely unassuming even with their shine.

A bit like Emma.

Damn is he sentimental and overly gushing today.

“You’re looking a little bored, Killian.”

“It’s riveting watching your hair curled, love. I’ve never been more entertained.”

“Do you guys see why I married him?” She asks her hairdresser, the girls giggling with her. “He’s totally kidding, but I’m going to choose to think that he actually finds this entertaining.”

When Emma’s finished getting ready, her hair pulled into a high ponytail with tendrils framing her face, she slips into her new dress, this one a strapless lace gown with a scalloped top and a cinched waist. It’s gorgeous, but then a white cape is added over her shoulders, making her look like some kind of bridal superhero.

“A cape, darling?”

She shrugs, raising her arms so that the cape moves with them. “I thought it was unique.”

“It is. You going to take it off for the dancing?”

“After I twirl around once or twice, you bet your ass I am.”

He gifts her the earrings before they leave, and the smile on her face warms his heart. She immediately takes out the earrings she had on before, replacing them with the small studs, and presses a kiss against his cheek before straightening his bow tie.

“You look so handsome. I’m glad we went with the blue tux.”

Before loading up in the car to drive to the reception, they stop and wave for the photographers, knowing that this is the last time they’ll have to do that today. After they’ve posed enough, Isabelle telling them to go on, he opens Emma’s door and helps her in before walking around to his side and driving them away, a tent full of the people they love waiting for them.

When they walk into the tent, his eyes trail upward to the lights strung across the tent’s ceiling, casting everything in a soft white glow while the sun sets outside in a mixture of pinks and oranges. When he looks down, he can see columns with greenery wrapped around them, tall vases of colorful flowers sitting at all of the round tables while people mill around talking and chatting, the band playing softly in the background.

He only gets a moment to look around before they’re noticed, cheers and wolf whistles mixed in with the sounds of hands clapping together as he takes Emma’s hand and raises it in the air between the two of them, the cheering only increasing as they fully step into the tent and walk through the people until they reach their families at the center. This is the one thing he and Emma didn’t completely plan themselves, and taking it all in, he feels every weight he’s ever had on his shoulders drop away.

They’re here. They’re together. They’re married.

It’s everything.

After Liam greets them, clapping Killian on the back and pressing a kiss against Emma’s cheek, Liam gets up on stage, asking for the microphone from the band leader before speaking.

“Good evening, everyone! I hope everyone hasn’t already imbibed too much that you’re all not interested in what I or anyone else has to say. Somehow Killian and Emma have so many people who like them that there’s a lot of people making speeches. Or maybe everyone just wants to embarrass them. After all, Killian is so handsome when he blushes.”

Emma snorts beside him, and he wraps his arm around her shoulder before pulling her closer and kissing her temple, resting his cheek there while they watch Liam.

“Now, Killian is quite a bit younger than me, and while we haven’t always gotten along, we do now. At least most of the time. He ate all of the bloody breakfast this morning, and he’s got on quite a bit of makeup covering the black eye that’s blooming on that handsome face of his because of that.”

“Bloody wanker,” Killian mumbles under his breath, and Emma laughs against his shoulder, pressing another kiss there like she’s been doing all day.

“Killian’s always been known to bat a little above his league. There were the sports he tried to play, the novels he’d read when he was seven and had no idea what was going on, lasses he’d ask out while in school. But there has never been a time he’s batted so much above his league than when it comes to Emma. She has been kicking his ass for six years, and she’s been kicking my ass for the past year. She’s a bloody brilliant spitfire, and not a one of us in this family deserves her. Well, maybe my children, but that’s it. So everyone go get something to drink, and let’s celebrate Killian and Emma.”

“That was really nice,” Emma whispers, but he can barely hear anything over the sound of the people around him and the sound of his heart beating in his chest. Liam may have glossed over some things there, but Killian knows that every word he said, he meant.

“Yeah, yeah it was.”

When Liam reaches them, he’s got a broad smile on his face, and Killian immediately envelopes him in a hug, burying his face in his shoulder and holding him there for a minute. “I love you, Liam.”

Liam rubs his back up and down before patting him and pulling back, and Killian sees his eyes when he says, “I love you too, younger brother.”

“Look at that. You said that right words.”

“Well, I did say I’d call you that when you were married.”

Liam lets him go, turning to find Emma behind him with two glasses of champagne in her hands while she talks to a few of his friends from University, Robin included, and he takes a glass out of her hand, taking a sip while they talk. For awhile, it’s person after person, each one wanting to talk to them and give them their congratulations. He knows all of them while Emma doesn’t, but you’d never know with the way that she’s comfortable speaking, not freaking out or shaking as she speaks to some of the well-known guests like Ruby’s personal favorites of George Clooney or David Beckham (he sees Ruby circling around trying to find a way to look talk to them, and he hopes that conversation is somehow recorded and mass released).

She’s amazing.

Always.

Emma’s hand never leaves his, and as they’re asked to walk to the dance floor for their first dance, her fingers only tighten around his while they begin to move back and forth, taking small steps and twirling in circles. He spins Emma around as How Long Will I Love You is sung in the background. He likes to think that their dancing has improved, that they know what they’re doing out here, but he doesn’t really care. And as the song goes on, Emma drops all pretenses of trying to dance, releasing his hands to wrap her arms around his neck and sway with him, their bodies pressed together while they chat with each other. It’s quiet and intimate, and no part of him is focused on the people watching him.

When they finish their dance, he leads Emma up to the stage, the blush rising on her cheeks visible under the white lights surrounding them. She hooks her arm around his while he moves to the microphone.

“Good evening. I promise this is going to be the last speech of the night. I know most of you have probably been bored to tears all day, but after you all let me wax poetic about my wife, feel free to drink and dance and play any of the games we have set out in the back. I know some of you may think games at a wedding are a little odd, but we’re mixing in tastes here. If you hate it, blame Emma.”

She squeezes his arm before leaning over and speaking into the microphone. “Hey, beer pong is a hell of a lot of fun when you’ve had a little bit too much to drink. Of course, that was supposed to just be a ping pong table, but Ruby’s already taken over.”

“Damn right,” Ruby yells from the crowd, everyone erupting into laughter.

“Anyways,” Killian calls coaxing everyone’s attention back to him, “we will get to all of the beer pong in a minute. So I know that everyone in here was a little shocked when they found out I’d been dating someone for so long, but I like to think it worked out. In Emma, I found a friend, a confidant, a lover, and as of today, a wife and lifelong partner. She’s an ordinary woman who is actually quite extraordinary. She’s beautiful, and she’s shown herself to be resilient in all of the hardships that life has put her through, both before me and because she’s with me. She’s also shown herself to be witty and passionate and kind. Mostly, she’s shown me that I can have someone love me and face the world with me, hand in hand.”

The room erupts with the sounds of clapping and a few yells of kiss her, but before he can dip his head and kiss her, she’s grabbing his cheeks and pulling him in for a searing kiss before pulling back and resting her forehead against his.

“I love you, too. I wish that I had said something other than defending beer pong.”

“Well, I’m sure if you tell everyone they’re free to go have a good time now, you’ll be a huge hit.”

“I was talking about saying nice things to you, but that sounds like a good idea.” She leans over into the microphone, “You guys ready to celebrate?”

The rest of the night is a blur of talking, drinking, and dancing. There’s a dinner served, but he and Emma never get to eat it, always be dragged somewhere else by someone who wants to talk, drink, or dance. It’s crazy, it’s fun, and the hours pass with the sun completely setting outside so that the lights inside the tent reflect off of the darkness outside. He and Emma play cornhole against David and Mary Margaret, her parents absolutely crushing them as they toss the bags, before moving along to play the aforementioned beer pong, Ruby leading the game only to be dragged away by George to dance. Emma laughs so hard at the face of shock Ruby makes that she leans over on the table to hold herself up with tears coming out of her eyes. The laughter is contagious, and he loses it along with everyone around them.

Eventually his parents leave along with Emma’s, and they’re left with the sounds of the band and the movement of all of their guests. Sweat pools at his temples as he and Emma dance with everyone, Ruby twirling him around like she promised she would. When Ruby moves on, Emma comes to wrap her arms around his neck as she moves against him, his hands splayed against her hips while they talk to everyone around them, but always coming back to each other.

When they walk out of the tent, it’s to fireworks going off in the sky, his brother’s penchant for the dramatics really showing, and when Emma whispers to him that the fireworks were most definitely Liam’s idea, he barks out a laugh before kissing her and leading them to the car that’s going to drive them back to their suite.

It’s long past midnight when they walk back into the suite, and instead of being rushed to strip each other out of their clothes, it’s slow getting there. He guides Emma into the room, holding her hand while she takes her heels off, her dress dragging along the floor as she shrinks next to him. She excuses herself to the bathroom while he sits down at the edge of the bed, kicking his own shoes off and slipping out of his jacket, laying it over a chair as he unbuttons the rests of the buttons on his shirt that Emma didn’t get to at the reception. Before he can slide the material off of his shoulders, Emma comes out of the bedroom, her dress still on but her hair falling in soft waves across her shoulder.

He beckons her closer, and she comes to stand between his splayed knees, her palms coming to caress his face. He tilts his head and kisses her palm, lingering there and breathing her in before he grabs her wrists and slides his fingers into hers, his thumb soothing her knuckles and running over her ringers. When she begins to move away, he tightens his legs around her, keeping her there so that she looks back down at him with her lips tugging up on one side.

“What are you doing?”

He simply hums, staring up at her and admiring her beauty. They’d both imbibed with alcohol tonight, but neither of them is drunk. Maybe a bit dulled and exhausted, but he’s aware of every one of Emma’s movements and the way that her breath catches when he leans forward and kisses her knuckles right above her wedding ring.

“Killian?”

“Yes, darling?”

“Will you help me out of my dress? I tried to do it in the bathroom, but I couldn’t get the buttons undone.”

He chuckles before pressing another kiss against her skin and spreading his thighs apart so that she can turn around and he can deftly unbutton the clasps on her dress, the white material falling from her body and exposing the tan skin and white lace underneath it. He’s seen her like this more times than he cares to count, but it’s no less of a stunning sight watching her hair fall against her nearly bare back. She’s so beautiful, so wonderful, and he wonders if he’ll ever fully adjust to this woman being married to him.

It’s only been a few hours, and it all feels like some sort of surreal dream.

She turns around when the dress hits against the floor, her hands on his shoulders underneath the material of his shirt while her head dips to capture his lips with hers, soft and smooth and tasting of wine and the lemon cake she grabbed on their way out of the reception. When she pulls back, she stands up to her full height and smiles down at him. His hands move from her hips where he’s been fingering the lace of her thong, up her waist, feeling the smooth, soft, muscled skin of her stomach until his fingers rest just below the scrap of material that barely passes as a bra.

“You should wear things like this more often, darling.”

“Well, mister,” she croons, pushing his shirt off of his shoulders so that it falls against the mattress, “you are in luck because I have lots of little things like this for the honeymoon.”

“Do you now?”

“I do.” She traces his skin with her fingers while his thumbs begin to trace the tops of her bra, pulling the material down so that his fingers can rub in circles against her nipples, hardening them while Emma gasps underneath his touch. He can feel his length hardening in his pants, the pressure beginning to build in his spine as he watches her chest heave and thinks about what she just said. “But also unfortunately for you, those pretty little scraps of fabric go away after that and it’s back to my ugly white bra and mismatched panties.”

“You tease.”

“Nope. You married me bud. I don’t have to be sexy for you any longer.”

He laughs at her teasing and pulls her closer so that his lips can press against the skin of her stomach, his tongue following behind them as he traces the lines of her muscles with the freckles scattered across her skin like a constellation of stars. His hands move back down to her hips, pulling her forward and on top of him until he rolls her onto her back, crushing her body into the mattress while he presses himself into her, rolling his hips into hers and allowing the friction to build the pressure, savoring every movement and every sound.

Emma’s quiet tonight, so he makes up for it by constantly whispering things to her, different words of affection mixed in with dirty little nothings echoing throughout the quietness of the room as they move together in a dance they’ve done much more often than their wedding dance. He stands to undo his pants, letting them fall to the ground with Emma’s dress as Emma unclasps her bra, her breasts exposed to his gaze while he’s entirely exposed to hers. Grabbing her ankle, he begins kissing up her leg, only stopping when he gets to her inner thigh so that he can slide the lace covering her down her legs, the both of them bare before each other.

His fingers find their way into her folds, feeling the slickness that’s gathered there while Emma gasps at his touch. He teases her for awhile, slightly thrusting into her while his thumb runs against her bundle of nerves and his lips kiss her hips. Just as he’s about to replace his fingers with his lips, Emma grabs onto his hair, pulling his gaze up to hers.

“Not right now, babe,” she smiles, encouraging him to climb up the mattress so that his length presses against her thigh and his lips against her cheek. “But later, okay. We’ve got all of the time in the world.”

Slowly, slowly, slowly he slides into her, gritting his teeth as he braces himself against the mattress, palms digging into the sheets while Emma throws her head back against the pillow, hips arching up and driving him absolutely mad with pleasure. She’s so warm, always so warm and welcoming, and his body hums at finally being connected to hers after this day. She reaches up to hold his biceps, running her hands back and forth over his muscles while he begins to rock inside of her, the hair of his chest brushing against her hardened nipples.

He’s deliberately unhurried in the way that he moves inside of her, letting the both of them enjoy this moment and this time together. He could do this for hours, moving against her and staying connected in this way. They know each other so well by now, only the occasional instruction needed as to how to please the other, but tonight, there’s none of that. Emma trusts him as he sets their unrushed pace, her tongue caressing his in a languid motion that matches his thrusts.

Emma wraps her legs around his ass, pushing him further inside of her so that he’s tightly buried within her core. Emma moans into his mouth as her nails dig into his shoulder blades, leaving crescent moon scars in his skin while his own mouth moves to leave a mark against pulse point, her skin tasting of sweat and smelling of her flowery perfume. He could get lost in it, lost in her, but he wants to be here for every moment of this.

“You’re so perfect,” he whispers into her ear, making sure that his scruff rubs against the sensitive spot below her ear. “I don’t know how, Emma, but you are. You’re so bloody perfect for me.”

Emma gasps before moving her hands from his shoulder blades to his hair, fingers caressing his strands until she grabs onto his scalp and pulls his lips back to hers. “I love you,” she murmurs against his lips, the sensation of them touching almost feeling like brushes of air.

“I love you, sweetheart.”

He continues to slowly push and pull inside of her, Emma’s reactions only spurring him on, and when she begins to tremble and shake beneath him, her walls contracting around him, he moves against her at a furious face, letting her hold onto him tightly as she falls apart, soft sounds emanating from her lips as she whispers and curses his name and her love for him to his neck. Her reaction increases the pleasure and pressure that’s been building in his spine, spurring him on while Emma comes back to herself. She’s kissing him when he falls apart, pulsing inside of her and spilling himself into her while her lips slant over his to capture any words that he could have possibly said in the midst of his orgasm.

Afterward, he rests his head in her lap while she plays with his hair, stroking his cheek with her other hand while he holds onto her wrist and keeps her hand there. He’s exhausted, but he in no way wants to sleep. In a few hours, he’ll have been up for an entire day, Emma too, but he’s content to stay in this hazy state of bliss that they’re in.

“You know,” she murmurs, her hands still moving in his hair, “this has been a pretty fantastic day.”

“A fantastic life, really.”

She slaps the back of his head. “You’re a cheeseball.”

“I’ll have you know,” he rolls over until he’s propped up beside her, the comforter pooling over their waists, “you are every bit as much of a cheeseball as me. And you married me.”

“That I did.”

“Any regrets?”

“Not yet. Give me a few hours though, babe.”

He laughs before they both crawl down into the bed, finally letting sleep wash over the two of them as their voices quiet and are replaced by the soft sounds of their breathing. When he wakes in the morning, Emma’s wrapped around him, their legs a jumble of limbs beneath the covers, and he feels every bit as warm and as happy as he did yesterday. Her eyelashes flutter against her cheeks, lifting to reveal her emerald eyes staring up at him. He brushes her hair behind her ears, his thumb running underneath her cheeks and brushing away flecks of mascara that remain there.

“Still no regrets, my love?”

She hums before pressing up and kissing his chin. “Just the one.”

“And what’s that?”

“You haven’t gotten me breakfast yet.”

They eventually scramble out of bed, wasting too much time in the shower exploring the lines of their bodies that they already know by heart. He can’t stop smiling, not quite believing that his life is real and that this woman has agreed to be by his side forever. He loves her so damn much, even when they’re arguing and don’t like each other very much, and he’s forever thankful for his partner in life. The water begins to cool, Emma shivering with it, and so they step out, getting ready for their flight while eating the breakfast he ordered.

Emma takes longer than he does to get ready, as always, but when she comes out of the bathroom with her damp hair twisted into two braids that run down her oversized sweater covered chest, he smiles thinking about how beautiful she looks just like this. She was stunning yesterday, something he hopes to never forget, but in all honesty, he prefers her like this. He can’t help but stare as she crosses her purse over her chest and puts on her sneakers. He knows that she can feel his eyes on her by the way that blush rises on her cheeks and her eyes roll as she ties her laces. He’s being, as Emma would say, cheesy. But he doesn’t care.

When she comes to stand next to the door with him, threading her fingers between his, her palm as warm and soft as always, he inquires, “You ready to go, my love?”

Squeezing his hand, the tightness lingering a second too long, she answers, “I’m ready.”

[wxldchxld]

🔥 🔥 🔥

Unpopular Opinions as Told by Mary

🔥

Ummmm Daenerys’ dragons look really fuckin stupid. Yeah. Sorry. This one isn’t going to be super in depth or really even justified by any arguments. I respect the Game of Thrones developers for going for it, and like the execution of it graphics wise is actually really impressive given its a TV show and all, but the model is so bad. Did GRRM make it? I really fucking hope not. From a distance when I see them in shots I’m like “yo cool” and then I see their faces and they look so stupid to me and it just ruins it. I’m really picky about dragons so this probably doesn’t come as a surprise. 

Also side rant, why is it so popular to give dragons a weird bottom jaw where it like, protrudes. They did it with Smaug and to a lesser extent they do it with Dany’s dragons. What the fuck is that modeled after? It’s not a snake. It’s not crocodilians. The only thing I can think is maybe some species of monitor lizards? And I’m only granting that bc I really don’t know due to the fact that there are a lot of monitor lizard species. Including this dope one that I’ve modeled dragons after on my dragon blog. 

I guess what drives me nuts is like I feel like there’s no originality in the design. I haven’t read Dany’s parts in the books but from what I have been told at least the coloration is more intense. There are so many species of reptiles, real and extinct, that they could have pulled from to make something that looked really cool…but they didn’t.

 🔥

The words “alpha wolf” need to die in a fire. And I’m not trying to come at some of the people I know follow me that use that term. It’s just become this really huge thing that infects so much of lore that has to do with modern day werewolves (such as in The Originals) and even bleeds over into things like the Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire fandom and just about anywhere you see wolves you eventually hear the term alpha.

The term in and of itself is annoying because it’s not a thing that exists. Wolves don’t live in a pack where they just automatically submit to the strongest wolf, nor do they live in social structures that cause them to battle with one another to see who is on top. Wolves live in family groups usually run by the breeding pair and the offspring of the last few years. The only reason we ever really thought that “alpha wolf” was a thing was because a couple of researchers massively popularized its usage after studying primarily (in fact I think it was exclusively) captive wolf packs where individuals were brought in from various places in the world and forced to live together. And while I’m not saying that all studies should be thrown out if they’re done on captive bred wolves, I think it’s poor practice to say “this is how all wolves are” when you haven’t taken into consideration what natural family groups do. 

So it’s annoying, because it’s not a thing, but it’s also—-really boring to me. We miss the fact that these incredible animals have evolved to have things like a sense of fairness and the ability to cooperate, but the thing that we focus on is that “this is the alpha and its very important to them.” Family is important to them. I’d love to see more media that involved wolves that represented not only how their family groups actually work, but also didn’t make that such a central point for their plots. 

I’m not going to go into uses of the term outside of fiction or address the A/B/O fanfiction. My point is that I personally as a reader find it overused and boring. I understand that since its fiction, there will be inaccuracies in order to fit your narrative. Hell, I have some with Beck and the animals that pop up on this blog. My problem isn’t the inaccuracy alone, it’s the inaccuracy being used to beat a long dead horse (and occasionally as a method of god modding but—I won’t go further into that either). 

🔥

And since I’m just going all in on the GoT shit tonight (sorry guys) Also this is going to make an already very long post massive, and I’m sorry.

… Yara Greyjoy is actually a good character and her book counterpart isn’t nicer nor is she just “better” for some vague undefined reason. She’s not a perfect character, she’s not a necessarily nice person, but Yara Greyjoy is arguably one of the better characters on the show IMO and I wish that she would have gotten way more screen time than she really did.

The worst part of this weird like #notmyAsha argument (and I’ve seen that tag used before it was hilarious) is that people complain that she’s not nice to Theon and that because she either doesn’t have or cannot convey compassion and empathy regarding his trauma, that it’s somehow a valid plot point for her to be tortured so they can bond over mutual trauma. This is gross and I hate it.

Full disclosure Theon Greyjoy is one of my favorite characters in show and book canon, but he is kind of a garbage human being and I love him in spite and often because of that. Now onto our feature presentation: 

Yara Greyjoy doesn’t owe her brother shit. Not even a little. She has zero reason to do anything other than perceive him as unstable and a threat to the position she hopes to claim. Don’t complain to me about how mean Yara is to Theon while simultaneously ignoring the fact that he only stopped treating her like garbage once he’d been horribly traumatized. He was TEN when he was taken from the Iron Islands, and she was older than him and he—didn’t recognize her. So yeah she manipulates him, but he could have very easily put a stop to it if he remembered her or if he just wasn’t such a horny prick in general. He tries to demean her in front of their father, insults her, and shouts at her. Not saying she didn’t deserve it, but you can’t exactly paint him as the saint in the situation either.

I could go on with a million reasons Yara is actually a lot nicer to Theon in the show than the books, and why she’s not obligated to do anything for him at all, but I’d be here for hours. 

What bothers me is the conclusion that because Yara has been mean to him that she somehow deserves to be punished by being tortured or that she needs to be tortured in order to ever like understand her brother. Both of those things are like the craziest logic in the world to me. 

First off: no. Yara tried to save Theon. It’s not Yara’s fault he got in that situation, it’s his own, and she tried to rescue him. Then she allowed him back into her home at a critical time, and rather than being ashamed of him for being “weak” she brings him with her to political meetings and presents him as what is essentially her version of a “hand.”

Second: y’all that’s not how mental health works. Theon’s not ok, and if they write him as ok they’re bad writers. You don’t get over trauma that fast. Especially not because of like one conversation you had with your sister while she made out with a topless hooker in a brothel, and a fight on the beech where you got kneed in the balls you don’t have. Theon is still traumatized and he deserves a plot where his sister learns to see that, acknowledge it, and try to understand him. You don’t throw two traumatized people together and just say “well they have both been horrifically abused… they understand one another.” and then things get better. If anything those people are more likely to be self destructive and dangerous because neither of them are in a good place mentally to make sound and rational decisions. 

So yeah, the point I was trying to make but got really distracted from because I’m very salty about all the Yara hate I see is that she’s actually a good character in comparison to the others in the show and it’s not ok to wish she would be tortured just for the sake of making Theon ok bc a) that won’t work and b) for the millions time: it’s gross.

[ladystylestores]

#MeTooSTEM founder admits to creating Twitter persona who “died” of COVID-19

Enlarge / Twitter drama erupted over the weekend when a much-beloved online persona supposedly died of COVID-19 complications—only to be exposed as a fake account/catfishing scheme by controversial neuroscientist and #MeTooSTEM founder BethAnn McLaughlin.

A segment of science Twitter was rocked over the weekend by the discovery that a long-standing, pseudonymous online member had died of COVID-19-related complications. But grief quickly turned to shock, hurt, and anger when the deceased turned out to have never existed. Rather, it was a sock puppet account that we now know was created and maintained by BethAnn McLaughlin, a neuroscientist and founder of the #MeTooSTEM advocacy group whose Twitter handle is @McLNeuro.

“I take full responsibility for my involvement in creating the @Sciencing_Bi Twitter account,” McLaughlin said in a statement provided to The New York Times through her lawyer. “My actions are inexcusable. I apologize without reservation to all the people I hurt. As I’ve reflected on my actions the last few days, it’s become clear to me that I need mental health treatment, which I’m pursuing now. My failures are mine alone, so I’m stepping away from all activities with #MeTooSTEM to ensure that it isn’t unfairly criticized for my actions.”

This certainly isn’t the first time a fake persona has manifested on social media. Way back in 2003, controversial American Enterprise Institute scholar John R. Lott Jr.. was outed by The Washington Post for creating a sock-puppet online persona, “Mary Rosh,” purportedly a former student, and using it to mount spirited defenses of his work online. In 2017, there was the case of “Jenna Abrams,” who boasted 70,000 Twitter followers; the fake persona was so convincing that she managed to spread a viral rumor that CNN’s local Boston station had accidentally aired 30 minutes of pornography late one night in November 2016.

In 2019, we had the strange case of Eugene Gu, a former surgery resident at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who went viral on Twitter a few years ago after taking a knee in his hospital scrubs in solidarity with Colin Kaepernick. An investigation by The Verge revealed evidence that Gu operated several sock puppet Twitter accounts, most notably one under the name @MaryLauryMD (since deleted). And just last month, The Daily Beast exposed a network of fake op-ed writers who had been placing editorials on Middle East policy with conservative outlets, such as Newsmax and the Washington Examiner.

But the particular case of @Sciencing_Bi is unique because of its unusually long duration—the Twitter account was created in October 2016—and the absence of any obvious financial motive that is a common feature of catfishing scams.

“I’ve been acquainted with that account for years, and nothing seemed unusual about it,” Greg Gbur told Ars. He’s a physicist at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and he interacted occasionally with @Sciencing_Bi on Twitter. He never noticed anything amiss. “She seemed like a nice person, passionate about STEM representation. No indication of a scam for money or anything like that. It’s all a bit mystifying.”

Tweets and sympathy

Screen cap of @Sciencing_Bi tweet detailing her struggles with COVID-19.

Greg Gbur

@Sciencing_Bi tweet: “Anyone want to guess my hospital bill for my in patient stay in the ICU for 15 days?”

Greg Gbur

@Sciencing_Bi tweet: “I need a solid comeback to people telling me how lucky I was to get COVID-19 early.”

Greg Gbur

@Sciencing_Bi tweet: “Still struggling hard with recovery”

Greg Gbur

@McLNeuro (BethAnn McLaughlin) tweet announcing death of @Sciencing_Bi.

Jennifer Ouellette

@McLNeuro tweet: “It just didn’t occur to me that she’d die.”

Jennifer Ouellette

@McLNeuro tweet: “She wanted me to get a tattoo that matched hers”

Jennifer Ouellette

@McLNeuro tweet: “She was forced by her university to teach in person until April.”

Jennifer Ouellette

@Sciencing_Bi, identified on her profile only as “Alepo,” claimed to be a female bisexual Native American anthropologist at Arizona State University who was involved with combatting discrimination and sexual harassment in the scientific community. She had a modest follower count (about 2,400) and interacted frequently with several well-known scientists, science writers, and science communicators on Twitter. (Full disclosure: while I never interacted with the account myself, I know many of those on science Twitter who did.)

In April, she announced that she had contracted COVID-19 and subsequently documented a months-long struggle with the disease. She specifically blamed her employer, ASU, for her plight, and she claiming that she and other teachers, staff, and students had been forced to remain on campus well into April. She also asserted that the school had cut her salary by 15 percent while she was hospitalized. Then on Friday, July 31, McLaughlin tweeted that @Sciencing_Bi—purportedly a close friend—had died of complications from COVID-19, followed by a series of impassioned tweets eulogizing her late friend.

There was the usual online outpouring of condolences and grief alongside outrage at her plight and purported mistreatment by ASU. McLaughlin even set up a Zoom memorial service for @Sciencing_Bi; those attending included noted University of California, Berkeley, biologist Michael Eisen and Melissa Bates, a physiologist at the University of Iowa.

Huh.

That’s when things got weird. Both Eisen and Bates were surprised that only five people, including themselves and McLaughlin, attended the virtual memorial—no former students, no colleagues, no friends, and no family members. As Bates noted in a twitter thread, “This is a community. And if this person was part of the community, where was the community?” Bates’ suspicions were aroused in earnest when McLaughlin told her that Sciencing_Bi had mentioned her in her will. “You don’t leave sh*t to randos on the Internet when you’re first gen and you’ve got an undocumented family,” Bates tweeted. “You do everything for your familia.”

Additional details revealed during the service seemed didn’t seem to add up. Several photographs that @Sciencing_Bi tweeted turned out to be stock photos. And while @Sciencing_Bi had been well-known online to many in the sci-comm community, it turned out that nobody had actually met her in real life—except for McLaughlin.

Others found it odd that there was no outside confirmation of @Sciencing_Bi’s death from ASU or a local obituary. “We have been looking into this for the last 24 hours and cannot verify any connection with the university,” ASU spokesperson Katie Paquet told BuzzFeed News on Monday. “We have been in touch with several deans and faculty members and no one can identify the account or who might be behind it. We also have had no one, such as a family member or friend, report a death to anyone at the university.” ASU also denied that there had been any salary cuts and said that, like most other educational institutions, the university had shut down in March and switched to online classes. By Sunday, Eisen and many others publicly acknowledged that they’d been had: the person they had known as @Sciencing_Bi had never existed.

Attention next turned to identifying the person behind the fake account. For Twitter sleuths, McLaughlin was the most obvious suspect. McLaughlin is a polarizing figure within the community after having risen to prominence as an advocate for victims of sexual harassment in STEM. She shared MIT Media Lab’s Disobedience Award in 2018 with biologist Sherry Marts and #MeToo movement founder Tarana Burke. She also founded #MeTooSTEM.

Twitter sleuths on the case

Melissa Bates tweet: “The weirdest sh*t went down.”

Jennifer Ouellette

Rachel Leingang tweets image of her email exchange with BethAnn McLaughlin.

Jennifer Ouellette

Isabel Ott tweet: “I have seen no credible evidence that this was a real person.”

Jennifer Ouellette

Isabel Ott tweet offering evidence of stock photos tweeted by @Sciencing_Bi.

Jennifer Ouellette

Screenshot of tweeted group photo in which @Sciencing_Bi was tagged, but not shown.

Jennifer Ouellette

Isabel Ott tweets “more stock photo weirdness.”

Jennifer Ouellette

Amber Barnard tweets screenshot of Google doc invite from McLauglin on behalf of @Sciencing_Bi.

Jennifer Ouellette

Isabel Ott tweet: “There is still no evidence that an ASU lecturer died last week.”

Jennifer Ouellette

Jacquelyn Gill tweet: “I’m now convinced @Sciencing_Bi was a fake account.”

Jennifer Ouellette

Shrew tweet: “A lack of credibility, consistency, and accountability, is a problem no matter who you are.”

Jennifer Ouellette

But allegations soon emerged that McLaughlin bullied and harassed others, especially people of color. She also faced accusations of a lack of transparency. The entire #MeTooSTEM board would eventually resign, leaving just McLaughlin herself and a single volunteer listed on the site.

Could McLaughlin actually have concocted the @Sciencing_Bi persona? There were strong hints this might be the case. For instance, a July 2018 tweet in which McLaughlin claimed to be with @Sciencing_Bi at Yosemite National Park was accompanied by a photograph, but the partially obscured person in the picture turned out to be McLaughlin’s daughter, not @Sciencing_Bi. (McLaughlin admitted as much to Gizmodo.)

@Sciencing_Bi was tagged in a group photo at a 2019 academic conference, along with several others, but she was not depicted in the photograph. Analytical chemist Amber Barnard tweeted about a 2019 exchange with @Sciencing_Bi when she volunteered to help with a campaign last year to get McLaughlin’s tenure restored at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. @Sciencing_Bi promised to send access to a Google doc, but when the invitation came, it was from McLaughlin’s account.

All of this is technically circumstantial evidence, of course. But most of those who were duped were soon convinced that McLaughlin was behind the account, even though she initially denied the allegations. Gizmodo’s Ed Cara spoke with McLaughlin on the telephone, reporting:

She stuck by her claim that @Sciencing_Bi had died from covid-19, as far as she knew. When I asked how she had learned of the death, she only would say that it was through a family contact. I then asked if she would be willing to reveal the identity of @Sciencing_Bi, and she said no. She also denied being the creator of the account. McLaughlin did admit, however, that she had access to the @Sciencing_Bi account, though she went on to state that it was not her who made the account private.

Her response to BuzzFeed was more succinct: “I’m not going to dox anyone. Thank you for your interest.” Now, of course, she has doxxed herself with her admission of guilt to The New York Times.

Both McLaughlin’s and Sciencing_Bi’s accounts were suspended late Sunday night by Twitter for violating the platform’s terms of use, and the Twitter account for MeTooSTEM has been slapped with a “suspicious activity” label. As BuzzFeed, Gizmodo, and Arizona Republic reporter Rachel Leingang all noted in their reporting, Twitter declined to elaborate further regarding the evidence on which its decision was based (e.g., whether there was any hard evidence linking the two accounts). McLaughlin has since been removed from the editorial board of the Journal of Neuroscience and no longer has access to the associated rogue joke account Twitter, according to editor in chief Marina Picciotto, a Yale neuroscientist.

The aftermath

Josh Fessel tweet: “No matter what the truth turns out to be, my heart is broken.”

Jennifer Ouellette

McLNeuro tweet: “I’m going to say something and be quiet.”

Jennifer Ouellette

McLNeuro tweet: “I’m in a position of privilege to be able to use my real name on a real account.”

Jennifer Ouellette

McLNeuro tweet: “It will likely get worse before it gets better.”

Jennifer Ouellette

Screenshot showing @Sciencing_Bi account suspension notice.

Jennifer Ouellette

Screenshot showing @McLNeuro account suspension notice.

Jennifer Ouellette

Screenshot showing #MeTooSTEM account temporarily restricted notice.

Jennifer Ouellette

Rachel Leingang reporting Twitter’s confirmation of the suspension.

Jennifer Ouellette

Marina Picciotto tweet: “BethAnn is no longer on the editorial board of the Journal of Neuroscience.”

Jennifer Ouellette

Michael Eisen’s screen cap of McLaughlin’s admission of guilt.

Jennifer Ouellette

It might be surprising that so many smart people fell for what, in retrospect, seems to be a fairly obvious hoax. But the online science community has a long history of incorporating pseudonymous personas going back to the earliest days of science blogging, when many scientists—especially those without tenure—wanted to avoid being penalized by their departments for blogging. (I still occasionally think of science writer Bethany Brookshire by her early pseudonym, Scicurious.) So the inclination to give someone the benefit of the doubt for using a pseudonym was already established. All McLaughlin needed, according to Eisen, was plausibility, a connection, and a good hook to gain the community’s trust. The @Sciencing_Bi persona had all three elements.

“It’s not like we don’t know there are trolls and sock puppets, etc.,” Eisen told Ars. “But this account was good. It had a backstory. It had a reason for being a pseud that we all accepted easily because we understand how people who aren’t straight feel in a tenuous position with regard to employment, and a pseud is a natural for them. We also saw that people we know exist said they knew her. That was enough to pretty quickly elevate this person to reality. She just seemed like one of us.”

The account was so convincing that nobody who interacted with her on Twitter thought to verify her various claims, many of which were easily checked. For example, Eisen admitted that he naively took @Sciencing_Bi’s word for odd claims like the 15 percent paycut from ASU. “I was willing to excuse various idiosyncrasies of the account because I could chalk them up to her not being totally forthcoming in order to protect her identity,” he said. “Plenty of people either obscure or fake their institutional affiliations to maintain anonymity.”

But why?

McLaughlin’s motives for creating the sock puppet account are also puzzling to many. Here, one can only speculate. But attention on social media is a form of capital in its own right; we’ve all experienced the occasional rush of dopamine from a positive online interaction—or the shot of adrenaline when our sense of outrage is triggered. In McLaughlin’s case, it seems she sought to counter criticism for her alleged harassment of people of color by creating an indigenous sock puppet—a cool bisexual Hopi scientist—to defend her.

“‘I have POC friends’ is a line used across the racist spectrum, but inventing your POC friend is next level,” a researcher and organizer who frequently deals with misinformation, but asked not to be identified, told Ars.

McLaughlin also may have derived satisfaction from manufacturing a series of personal crises for @Sciencing_Bi in order to provoke an outpouring of sympathy without having to reveal her true self. The New York Times article quotes psychiatrist Dr. Marc Feldman, who specializes in what he has dubbed “Munchausen by internet.” This is the virtual version of Munchausen syndrome by proxy—and a behavior that he is seeing more of during the ongoing pandemic. “I think it happens online more than offline these days because it’s so easy to mislead people via social media,” Feldman told The New York Times. “Nobody wants to be near a Covid-19 sufferer so they say, ‘We can’t meet.’ There’s no way to arrange a face-to-face meeting.”

Ultimately, McLaughlin’s fatal mistake was the decision to kill off her @Sciencing_Bi persona and make false, easily disproven accusations against ASU. That drew the attention of actual ASU faculty members on Twitter, among others, who quickly weighed in to correct the record and sparked widespread suspicion. Twitter drama may be most effective when it’s relevant to the current sociopolitical discourse, but too much relevance risks real scrutiny—and the @Sciencing_Bi persona wasn’t created to withstand such scrutiny.

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[dragonnan]

Big, Ginormous, Awesome, Epic Fic Rec!!

I’ve decided to share a pile of some of my favorite fics from multiple genres.  There’s no way I’ll get them all here but I’ll do my best to fill this post with as many as possible!!

Also, I’m gonna include a few of my own works at the bottom :D

**************************

Anime:

The Lucky Ones by Terri Botta (Isilwath) (Inuyasha) Sometimes Fate hands you a gift you never thought you’d ever get, and it’s up to you to accept it for what it is. [Hand’s down the BEST Inuyasha post-series fanfic I’ve EVER READ!!! One note - this series was begun before the anime was completed so there are a few canon divergences.  As it is, I prefer the way this story brought things to a close so I have no problems with that.  Also, this is a MATURE story with good reason! Lots of sexy times throughout - but wonderfully written and absolutely crucial to the story progression.  I never felt the sexy parts were thrown in purely for the smex.] 

The Coyote Child by Terri Botta (Isilwath) (Inuyasha) Sequel to The Lucky Ones. Inuyasha and Kagome are asked to adopt a coyote-hanyou baby from Arizona. [WIP but worth it!!!!]

You're not Alone by Of Memories Past (Inuyasha) After the final battle with Naraku the well seals, forcing Kagome back to her time for good. Only Inuyasha knows a way for them to be reunited again, and it doesn't involve the well...

Always My Soul by dragonfly-rising (Inuyasha) Why is it always my soul people mess with? Kagome asked herself in a moment of hopeless annoyance.The attack had come with no warning. And in the end Kagome could find no reason why she, Inuyasha, or Miroku should have seen it

Stricken by Scribe Figaro (Inuyasha) A single blow fells Sango and reveals to Miroku a nightmare to which the Kazaana cannot compare.

Purity by Sueric (Inuyasha) Naraku is gone. Kagome has the jewel. After seeing InuYasha's torment, Kagome faces 'the truth' of his feelings. Kagome does the unthinkable, and in a final act of love, Kikyou offers InuYasha one chance to fix it. But is he too late? [Explicit rating but not pwp.  Excellent first story in a long series.]

Two Good Legs by Harukami

Balance of Power by multiple writers (Fullmetal Alchemist) Full disclosure- I am one of the writers, though I joined the project well into its creation.  Look, this thing is MASSIVE.  And still has 3 arcs to go - though its been on indefinite hiatus.  Still, what is there is basically complete and SOOOOOOOOOOO worth the read!! I assure you!! Time travel. Conspiracy theories. Leylines. Pop culture crack and bad movie references. Hackers, ghost hunters and detectives, oh my! When crossing the gate, be sure to look both ways...

Taken by Confusedrambler (Fullmetal Alchemist) An Ed!Torture fic with actual plot; A hurt-comfort story that explores the underbelly of Central. No Yaoi/Yuri. No inappropriate language. Rating changed to 'M' as of Chapter 6 "Turn" for violence and mature situations. Brotherhood/Manga-verse.

Giving Tree by Chrissy (Fullmetal Alchemist) ‘“Can you give me a house?“ asked the boy. “I have no house,” said the tree. “But you may cut off my branches and build a house. Then you will be happy.” And so the boy cut off her branches and carried them away to build his house. And the tree was happy.’ –The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein

Heroes Don't Exist by Brigidforest (Cowboy Bebop) A multichapter story following the oneshot: It's 2072, four years after Faye woke up to find out the world of Cowboy Bebop was all a dream. Ch 12: Spike Spiegel hated Earth.

The Story of Us by ChiisanaAnisa (Cowboy Bebop) This is a sweet song written from Faye's point of view on one year she spent with the members of Cowboy Bebop.

Avengers (and related MCU films):

Best Laid Plans by Sholio (Guardians of the Galaxy) Post-Vol. 2 fixit fluff, with blankets and huddling for warmth.

Hugs in the Aftermath by F-117 Nighthawk (Avengers) Following the Battle of New York, Tony Stark ends up with a penthouse full of Avengers and a damaged arc reactor. But everything's instantly bearable when Pepper arrives.

Break by blewoutthestars It’s Thursday and the last time he looked at the clock it had just gone three in the afternoon, but the rainclouds are making it dark and it feels later in the day than that. Tony’s been sitting in this armchair by the window for a good two hours, flipping the pages of a book but not really reading anything. Hell, he doesn’t even know what book it is, but turning the pages gives his hands something to do as he stares at the words and then stares out of the window and doesn’t see a damn thing in front of him.

Of Directions and Morning Runs by DinerGuy Alternatively titled, “Why Only Natasha Will Work Out with Clint Anymore"

Something Old, Something New by Sokaless It's been weeks since Sokovia and Tony has accepted that JARVIS is gone. Really, he has. Barring a few nightmares and sleepless nights, he's fine.Or, he thinks he is. And then, one night, the Vision shows up in his tower with an offer that's too good to be true.

Unscheduled Meetings by roboticonography A chronicle of the early years of the career of one Virginia "Pepper" Potts.

Finite by cat_77 (Avengers) It was right and logical and the math, as always, worked. That, at least, was something he could rely on when all else failed.

Human Resources by OracleGlass Perhaps she should have asked what the nice man at Stark Industries' HR to define what he meant by "eccentric."

Blind Opening by Skysalla When Clint's undercover assignment goes to hell, he finds himself thrust into a new mission without SHIELD's permission or approval.

Remaking by MusicalLuna I bet Clint was on a mission.

Next New Message by fabrega "YOU HAVE THIRTY. SEVEN. NEW MESSAGES," Clint Barton's phone announces. That can't be good. Spoilers for The Winter Soldier.

Comrades by Nefhiriel Five times Thor defended his friends from people who should've been on their side, and one time his friends defended him.

Give You Shelter by MusicalLuna Tony doesn't really understand what Steve's doing.

What Here Shall Miss by sheafrotherdon Tag to Iron Man 3: spoilers throughout. Warning for description of anxiety attacks and discussion of PTSD.

Gone Too Soon by Zelos A victim should not grieve his murderer, however unsuccessful the attempt.Tony Stark, and the process of grieving Obadiah Stane. (Or, five times Tony grieved for Obadiah, and the one time he stopped pretending to.)

9/11 by spockside Pepper Potts had only been working for Tony Stark six months when she found herself running away from the destruction of the World Trade Center.

All the Anger That They Eat by ClawR Tony agrees to see a therapist for his, you know, fairly obvious issues. No one is more surprised than he is. Written pre-Avengers, but remarkably canon-compliant.

Live Through This (Every Day) by tessercat (nekonexus) Tony Stark lives through a lot of shit, every day.

Survival Instinct by roguewrld When Tony leaves to get coffee, Bruce is eating breakfast. When he comes back, Bruce is gone and the Hulk is sitting on the floor.

Take a Drink by cydonic Tony's always wanted to prove to his father he was worthwhile. He never got the chance.

Five Times Pepper Potts Took Care of Tony Stark (and One Time Tony Stark Took Care of Her) byzauberer_sirin In Pepper's defense she really did try to keep things professional.

come on friends, get up now by jumpfall It won't be easy and it won't be pretty, they don't say. You're going to hurt faster than you heal and lose more than you win. The Avengers have one thing in common. They all sign on.

Eleven Other Bathrooms by PutItBriefly "It's our five week anniversary," he says, like its the most plainly obvious thing in the world. It isn't even true. They agreed to try this experiment in romance on a Saturday and today is Tuesday. Their five week anniversary was three days ago.

Leader of the Pack by windscryer During a fight, Steve goes down and Tony has to step up. It’s about as hard as he expected it to be (which is not hard at all) but he’d still rather never have to do that again, is that understood, Steven?

Crossovers:

The New New Yorker by kattahj (Doctor Who & Beauty & the Beast original series) The Doctor and Donna visit New Earth and are saddled with a responsibility they don't quite know how to handle.

Holosuite Avengers by marmolita (Star Trek DS9 & Avengers) Julian has a new holosuite program that he wants everyone to try.

Pay No Attention to the Men Behind the Curtain by JeziBelle (X-Files & Avengers) Phil Coulson died to save the world. Now he needs a place to start over, a cold beer, and some eggs.

Fishing Job by amcw177 (Burn Notice & Avengers) Michael gets some help and an unexpected offer.

It Starts Out Like an A-Word (As Anyone Can See) by Amy (Avengers & Sesame Street)  This fic is brought to you by the letter Y, the number 12, and the Avengers' decision to help fix what Loki and the Chitauri did to destroy parts of Manhattan. (Mostly that last part.) [No, seriously, this is precious!!!!]

Blown Away by Maryilee (X-Files & Early Edition)

Patchwork by Lynse (Quantum Leap & Doctor Who - has multiple sequels) Sam's leaped again, but this time things are different. The original history's in flux, and Sam is left trying to puzzle out the mystery of one Doctor John Smith who seems to be caught up in the middle of it.

An Unexpected Partnership by Riverfox237 (Kim Possible & Danny Phantom) Kim gets a mission one morning to find a stolen 'interdimensional portal'. She ends up getting more help than she expected.

Like Paper In Fire by Calico (X-Files & Silence of the Lambs) Agent Starling is asked by an old friend in the FBI for some help. It may or may not lead to Dr. Lecter.

Danny Phantom:

Beyond Beasts by CatalystOfTheSoul Danny's abilities are getting less reliable by the minute, Tucker can barely keep up with damage control, and it doesn't help that Dash decided to tag along. There's something fishy about this vacation, and it's not the lake. The forest is playing tricks, water is appearing in places it shouldn't, and evidently there's a vacancy expected at Algernon's Summer Camp for Boys.

Phantom of Truth by HaiJu Locked away in a secret government lab with Phantom as her subject, nothing stands between Maddie and the truth... except, perhaps, herself. 

Shadow of a Doubt by HaiJu The truth was supposed to save Danny. Fix things. The lab, the experiments, the lies, those were all in the past. Weren't they? Sequel to Phantom of Truth.

Doctor Who:

Time With Mother by Laurawrzz The newly regenerated 10th Doctor finds himself trapped and injured with Jackie in the stairwell of a shopping centre on Boxing Day, where they find they've got a little more to talk about than the sales. Maybe Jackie doesn't come at face value.

A Step in the Right Direction by flutterflap Back on the TARDIS, the Doctor needs a rest after the events of “Midnight.”

Voiceless by Veldeia "What if that thing took his voice with it? What if whatever it did was permanent?" An AU that branches off from Midnight.

Beneath the Midnight Sky by HiddenTreasures for badwolfrun The Dimension Cannon finally locks onto the Doctor’s position. When Rose makes the jump to him, she finds herself in for more trouble than she bargained for.

Vacation, Interrupted by shyday He closes his eyes, wishing for the TARDIS. Wishing for Donna. In his mind, the creature that was Sky screams as she's torn out into space. Missing scene for Season4 "Midnight."

Novi et Veteris by IuvenesCor She had the shadows of memories from times when every face he wore was hers, but not this face. Not whomever it was that she would now discover behind those beautiful, sad eyes. Change is a shockwave— and Clara is caught in its wake.

Spinach Shock by Goldy, mrv3000 The Doctor has a bad reaction to spinach.

Were He Not Romeo Called by Butterfly Human society does require a name more specific than 'Doctor'.

The Devil You Know by rosa_acicularis Better the devil you know. Rose and the Doctor after Journey's End.

The Difference by themuslimbarbie "He isn't you!" Rose cries. "He looks the same, sounds the same, usually he acts the same, but he isn’t you. He isn’t the Doctor. Not really." The Doctor suddenly looks so very old. She can see all of the love and pain and regret flashing in his eyes. "But," he answers slowly, "I'm not him."

The Old Have Bad Dreams by kashinoha Rory makes a late-night discovery. Takes place in season six, some unspecified time between Night Terrors and The Girl Who Waited.

Transfixion by tardisjournal After their latest adventure nearly gets him killed, the Doctor goes into a healing trance, but neglects to tell his Companions what he's up to. Nurse Rory tries to help. Things go terribly wrong.

What Is Essential by eve11 Rory has to put his trauma skills to use when he and the Doctor are trapped on the front lines of a planetary conflict.

Let Her Under Your Skin, Into Your Heart by starlingnight  Someone’s figured out a way to save lives that involves painkillers, regeneration, and a lot of surgery. It’s not much fun for the Doctor - but it's saving people, and isn't that always worth the price?

Balance of Power by eve11 The Doctor has a plan to save a xenophobic society from itself. If only he could remember what it was.

The First Attack by DW_NuTs The Doctor is bitten and suffers excruciating mental attacks, but he doesn't know who his attacker was. As he grows weaker, it's up to Rose to find the cure. 

The Scientist by orange_crushed He can barely remember that apartment; just the sensation of the neon lights from the deli across the street, glowing green and blue through the bedroom windows at all hours, soaking into his eyelids and coloring his skin.

How to Train Your Dragon:

To Save a Rider by  nightfurylover31 

Leið by AvannaK Astrid and Hiccup's "romantic flight" comes to an abrupt end when the Red Death follows them out of the nest. Following an unexpected and desperate fight, Astrid finds herself stranded on an island, injured, with a crippled and comatose Hooligan heir and his overprotective Night Fury. She's going to get them home—all three of them—or die trying.

Occupational Hazard by MidnightEternal During the failed siege of the Edge, Hiccup is hit with an arrow. Stoick knew his son was reckless, brave, but reckless. He just didn’t know how much. Until he saw the scars.

A weary leader by MidnightEternal Hiccup’s leg is hurting after a busy week, Snotlout is there.

Get Well Soon by Eastofthemoon Since arriving on Dragon’s Edge, the teens of Berk have had to face many challenges...but none as hard as attempting to care of a sick Hiccup.

A Normal Snoggletog by wingedflower When Hiccup somehow manages to break his other leg on Snoggletog Eve, he is sure the holiday is ruined. But that's what friends are for, right?

Small, Thin Fingers by LenleG Hiccup, 20 and suddenly the chief of Berk - exhausted, bruised, overworked and just generally having a really, really bad day (the whole ridiculous yak problem notwithstanding). He can't help but think his Father would have handled all this so much better. He tries to hide from it all in the forge, but he was never counting on Gobber being so... Gobber.

Growth Spurt by Eastofthemoon After getting a growth spurt, Hiccup had to make a new foot to go along with it. However, the kids realize that's not the only thing that has changed about Hiccup.

Lost and Found by sanctuary_for_all He had to make sure he wasn't dreaming.***Spoilers for "How to Train Your Dragon 2"***

Most of Him by Elfpen The battle is over, the day has been won. The Green Death is dead, the three-hundred year long war has finally ended. But even the greatest of victories always come with cleanup, and sometimes it can be rather gruesome. Follows directly after the battle sequence in the movie. Rated for gore.

Psych:

Latent by InsaneTrollLogic (deathfic) In Shawn Spencer’s six-year tenure as SBPD’s psychic detective, they’ve solved cases that wouldn’t be closed anywhere else in the country. But in a missing persons case with no leads, it looks like their luck might have run out… with Gus.

Never could get the hang of Tuesdays by Liviapenn The thing about Shawn is that he's brilliant, but you can never tell him that.

There’s A Sixteen Percent Chance That At Least One Of Us Is Going To Die by lapsus_calami The bad guy from their recent case forces Shawn and Gus to play a game of Russian Roulette. It’s about as fun as it sounds. Which is to say not fun at all. 

There's A Thirty Two Percent Chance That At Least One Of Us Will Need Therapy by lapsus_calami In the weeks following the events in the basement Shawn finds his usual coping methods less than effective and struggles to admit that he might actually need some outside help.

The Last Man At The End Of The World by watanuki_sama It's 3:30AM and yet again, Carlton has no idea what Spencer is talking about.

A Whisper to the Living by Xparrot Ten years after the Psych agency closed, Shawn Spencer returns to Santa Barbara.

You Say My Brain's Bleeding Like It's a Bad Thing by Kansas42 This is what Shawn would be saying, if Shawn wasn't too busy having his skull sliced open.

For more of my Psych faves, visit the following link to Psychfic

Star Trek (various series):

Lessons by pimpmypaws As much as McCoy appreciated being given a project, did it have to be this one? Someone in Starfleet had gotten the damned fool idea that a machine would make a better doctor than a human. aka McCoy contributes to the EMH program by teaching him to be grouchy.

Is This the Real Life by halloweenjack21st What might have happened as a result of the events of the episode "Eye of the Needle".

New Beginnings by Jacks Post-Endgame, the Doctor finds life in the Alpha Quadrant very different from life on Voyager.

The Price Of A Memory by Marauder-In-Disguise There's only one thing in the world that the Doctor really wants...

Circle by VesperRegina Communications officers. A look at Hoshi Sato and Nyota Uhura.

Sisters by Orangeblossom If you took all the recurring female characters from TOS, TNG, DS9 and VOY, you'd have a whole command crew. Wouldn't *that* make an interesting show?

Supernatural:

Until It Sleeps by Scribblesinink (Scribbler) Who knew cravings for Cheetos and a turkey sandwich could be dangerous? When Sam and Dean stop off at a gas station to stock up, they pick up a teenage runaway – and a whole heap of trouble.

Lost by CIFan812 (PLEASE PAY ATTENTION TO WARNINGS) This was the only way to make sure that Sam lived and that they would both be okay without me dragging them down. *Final Chapter is up.* Rated for sexual & nonsexual violence, rape & language. No Wincest.

The Woods are Lonely, Dark and Deep by Zatnikatel (WARNINGS FOR NON-CON) Missy Bender was three things. She was obsessive. She was insane. And she was in love – with a tall, beautiful stranger who looked real purty when he was hurting. But unfortunately for Dean Winchester, one thing she wasn’t was still locked in the closet…

One Night In Pasadena by Tempestt A woman targets Dean, but they soon find out who is the more dangerous predator. Rated for violence and sexual content. DARK FIC

X Files:

The Ghost in Her Life by Joyce (Alysswolf) An accident radically changes the partnership between Mulder and Scully while opening Scully up to extreme possibilities.

Seasons: Fight The Future by: BeshterAngelus The work of five years for Dana Scully and Fox Mulder is gone. As they face what this means for their partnership, Scully becomes a tool yet again to strike Mulder the final blow in his quest for the truth.

My Works:

Asgårdsreia by dragonnan (How to Train Your Dragon WIP) Berk is preparing for the annual Fyr Bal. With the Dragon Riders back home for the festival, it's sure to be fun for everyone! However, between Stoick's awkward prying into his personal life and the pure boredom of being away from the Dragon's Edge, Hiccup needs a vacation from his vacation! Turns out, there are, actually, worse ways to take a break.

The Big Stink by dragonnan (Supernatural WIP) Monsters, demons, rouge angels, the Devil, freaking Leviathans. Whatever comes down the pipe, we can handle it. Gank it or box it up for later. This is no different. Same crap, different day, man. But, dude, for the record? This freaking sucks.

How You Get There from Here by dragonnan (Avengers & related films) A collection of missing scenes from Avengers and related films. Many will be Tony-centric. I write a lot of hurt/comfort so expect a lot of those types of stories.

Fades to Gray But Never Away by dragonnan (Avengers & related films) Written for a prompt/request involving Tony Stark and sexual harassment.

Did You Make it to the Milky Way to See the Lights all Faded by dragonnan (Avengers & related films) If anything it was peaceful. All that black filled with stars. This other world. And vicious eel riding aliens. Couldn't forget those. Like literally couldn't forget them.

Simple Math by dragonnan (Avengers & related films) Had Obadiah hated him that long? Years? His whole life? Or was it an absence of emotion? Was he just... inconvenient?

Obie's Dilemma by dragonnan (Avengers & related films) Never should have let others do the job for him. This was his responsibility. He'd been there at the start. It only followed that he should end it too.

Not the Hero Type by dragonnan (Avengers & related films) Maybe that was why he hadn't been paying attention. Or, maybe he'd been looking for this. He didn't know. He rarely cataloged his reasons for anything. He fired from the hip and most of the time it struck dead center. But when he missed, oh it was a spectacular miss.

Of Bonding and Baking by dragonnan (Avengers & related films) Welcome to the Island of Misfit Toys. Here's a cookie.

Play Me Some More of that Old Blues by dragonnan (Cowboy Bebop) Some things forgotten, some things remembered. Faye and Jet thought they were all that was left. Something from the past returns.

Find all of my Psych stories HERE