#i wish i knew all of the eggs better to try to make actual predictions for them

[pyrosomatic-metamorphosis]

still so gucking delighted by how happy dapper was when they heard about all of bad’s killing. mad scientist baby loves loves loves to see his dad covered in other people’s blood. I can’t wait to see the other eggs’ reacts to what their parents did in purgatory. Will Richas be excited to hear all the tales of murder? Will Pomme be horrified? Is Chayanne gonna be delighted to hear about his dad and his mighty feat of saving tubbo? What about Leo? Ramon? Tallulah? their parents all went thru so much, and did so much. What will they think about it? (And will their parents even tell them?)

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Canary, Part 1

It was a good day. Why did stuff always have to go wrong on ‘good days’, Marinette thought bitterly as she rushed through the city, the rough edges of her phone digging into her palm. The message she’d been sent was burned into her eyelids.

She pushed the spiraling thoughts from her mind as she stared at the street sign nearest her. Only a minute and she’d be there and her fears would be either confirmed or denied.

She leaned against the wall to gather her thoughts. If she had messed up it had to have been today because, otherwise, he would have done something earlier. Did she mess up? She allowed her eyes to flutter closed as she thought back.

~

She’d woken up on an uncomfortable mattress on the floor and rolled off of it, the sheets sticking to her sweaty skin. It had been a particularly hot day for Gotham and she had been too concentrated on typing up a report for work to turn up the AC before her impromptu nap (translation: she’d passed out).

She rubbed her eyes until she managed to get her brown contacts out and set them in the weird not-quite-water that she had never bothered to learn the name for so her eyes could rest while she took a quick shower and changed.

Then, she’d waited. She sat in the window, eyes barely poking over the sill as she watched the building across the street. She didn’t feel like moving for a long while but, alas, the meeting was supposed to be that day and she was running out of time for that thing with Calendar Man and… yeah. Unfortunately, Marinette had to be productive that day unless she wanted more enemies.

She saw movement and her face lit up. She might get everything done soon, at least, and then she could pass out for a hundred years like she oh-so-desperately wanted to.

She checked that her gloves were firmly in place, pulled on the plague doctor (gas) mask that had accidentally become her trademark, and toed on her boots.

Then, she made her way up to the alleyway next to the building she had been watching. She’d been lucky enough to have a job right next to one of her safe houses and she kinda wished that it would happen again. It was nice to not have to travel a half-hour or more just to listen in on one boring conversation.

She pulled out her knives and, after testing to make sure they were still strong enough to hold her weight, began picking her way up to the roof.

She set everything up for the thing with Calendar Man. It took approximately five seconds. Yay her.

Alright, next thing: listening in on a boring conversation that, if she was lucky, would end in someone getting shot so it wouldn’t last too long. It was going to be even hotter inside the vent and she did not want to end up cooked. That would be embarrassing.

She crawled into the vents and dutifully wrote down everything they said on a notepad. They were negotiating a drug deal and her client wanted to intercept it to try and get both the money and the (… Big D? What the fuck is Big D?) drugs. From the sounds of it, it wasn’t possible but, hey, her job wasn’t anything more than gathering intel. If her clients wanted to die stupidly that was on them.

… maybe she’d kill her client herself, she thought angrily as she readjusted in the vent in hopes of not getting stuck to the metal. It was easy money but wow was it awful.

Or, at least, it was awful until a hand grabbed her by the hood of her leather jacket and started dragging her out. She tipped her head back, grin on her face in seconds.

“Signal. Hi.”

He sighed and pulled her the rest of the way out. She let herself hang from his grip like a reprimanded cat.

“So, what’s up?” She asked brightly, as if hadn’t just caught her listening in on a private conversation.

“Great, thanks for asking,” he said. “Even better now that I’m taking the famed Canary to Arkham.”

“We both know that’s not going to happen.”

He leveled her with a cold look for a few more seconds before splitting into a grin. “Yeah. Probably not. Got a backup plan?”

“Of course.”

“Is it even worth trying?”

“Probably not. But who knows? You could get lucky.”

She waited for a minute as he mulled over the idea in his head before he sighed. “I gotta ask: what’s with the egg?”

She swatted at his hand until he let her down and then led him over to her science experiment. “Know how there’s that expression that says ‘it’s so hot out you could make eggs on the sidewalk’ or something?”

“Yeah…?”

“Well, the pavement physically can’t get hot enough to do that and also we’re up north so: aluminum foil to try and get the process to work a little better.”

He stared at her for a while before snickering. “Need a magnifying glass? We can ‘kid with an anthill’ this.”

“Sure.”

He reached into his tool belt and started looking for his spare. Unfortunately for him, it seemed to be gone.

She could feel his sharp gaze turn on her even if she couldn’t see his eyes behind his helmet. He wasn’t stupid and magnifying glasses don’t usually just disappear into thin air unless they’re Plastic Man in disguise. She held up her hands for a quick search but, when he couldn’t find it on her, he just sighed and looked down at the science experiment. It didn’t seem to be going well. The egg was still distinctly not cooked.

Eventually, he groaned and sat down. The light around him flickered and started to move at his will. Marinette watched intently.

Ten minutes later, they had a cooked egg. They high-fived, delighted. They weren’t going to taste it, obviously, it had been out for a while without supervision and who knows what could have happened to it… but it was an egg! Yay them!

“My old science teacher would be so proud of me,” Marinette joked.

“My current science teacher would be proud of me.”

“Oooooh, going back to school?”

He smiled. “Yep! Robin is finally in college and Red Hood convinced me to go with him. You should, too, it’s actually not that bad.”

“Please. If I was going to do that I’d go back to my home country. American school is expensive and not all of us are sponsored by billionaires.”

“... aren’t you a millionaire?”

She grinned. “Of course. But why would I want to spend that much of my own money?”

He hummed his understanding. Then, she pushed herself up with a groan. “Right, we both have jobs. See you later.”

He hesitated and then held a hand out for her notepad. “Is it bad?”

She held it out of reach with ease. “Nah, just drugs. Unless someone got shot while I was gone but I doubt it. They’d been almost as bored as me last I heard.”

“If it’s nothing then let me see.”

“Ugh, do you really want to fight? It’s too hot for that,” Marinette complained. He started to square up and she, after a second’s thought, added a little something to convince him: “Also, there’s going to be a breakout today so you should really save your energy.”

“... really think I’m going to fall for that?”

There was an explosion in the distance.

“Yeah. I’d hurry. I’m pretty sure it’s Joker’s turn to get out.”

She waved him off with a smile… only for her smile to drop when she remembered her other job. She groaned again and stretched out while she still could.

Tikki floated over the side of the building, a magnifying glass as big as her head in her tiny paws.

Marinette rubbed the kwami’s head. “You’re the best.”

Her kwami sighed. “That I am,” she said.

Marinette grinned and sent the film of Signal using his powers to her computer so she could give it to Calendar Man when it was due.

People were always so predictable in Gotham.

~

She supposed she really had been tempting fate when she’d thought that. Still, that didn’t mean she liked it that Fate had called her bluff.

But, actually, it seemed that Fate was the one that was bluffing. That had been her entire day. She had finished up her work and then went to one of her more stocked safehouses for a nap. She’d woken up to the buzzing of her phone when she’d gotten the message. She didn’t think she had messed up anywhere…

Her shoulders relaxed. She was probably fine. Which meant it was just Oswald Cobblepot being annoying. As usual.

Marinette flung the doors to the Iceberg Lounge open. Every eye in the room fell on her, but she only cared about the eyes of one person.

She stalked through the lounge, pulling one of her twin karambits from its sheath and pointing the curved blade towards him.

“What the fuck do you want? You really think that, after almost seven whole years of rejecting your wrinkly ass, I’m suddenly going to say ‘oh, yeah, I guess I’ll work for him now’? Leave me alone!”

Cobblepot wasn’t concerned even as her knife came to rest under his chin.

“Canary,” he greeted, regarding her cooly through his monocle.

Guards surrounded them. Marinette somehow managed to look unimpressed without anyone being able to see her face.

Everyone present held their breath… except for the two with weapons pointed at themselves. They knew that they would never follow through with it, especially not in a place as public as this. It was little more than a warning, a reminder, that either of them could kill each other at any given moment and chose not to.

For now, at least.

Cobblepot dismissed the guards with a wave of a gloved hand and she, after a few seconds, lowered her knife.

“What do you want?”

“Currently? For you to get off my table,” said Cobblepot.

She snorted but hopped down with ease. “I meant: why did you call me here?”

“... we should go somewhere else to discuss this. I assume you don’t do all of your business meetings in public?”

“Only if I know ahead of time that I’m going to say no,” she said.

He motioned for her to walk with him to a private room and, reluctantly, she followed. He had to think he had something on her, otherwise he wouldn’t have tried calling her there. She was curious.

They came to a room with a metal door and she cringed a little. Fun.

She dropped eight knives down into a tray and Cobblepot put down a gun, a knife, and his umbrella. She let a female goon pat her down and then checked Cobblepot over herself. Nothing she could find, but she was sure he had found some way to hide one somewhere.

They stepped inside as a pair and each took a seat on opposing ends of the wooden table stationed awkwardly in the middle of the room. She leaned back in her chair and propped her feet up.

“So, what’s the job?”

“I’m surprised you’re even going to hear it.”

She shrugged. “I’m curious.”

He nodded slowly before leaning forward to rest his elbows on the table, steepling his fingers in front of his face.

“Power poses don’t actually work, you know, that’s just lies so companies don’t actually have to deal with all the discrimination.”

“Is that true?” He asked.

She shrugged again. “Probably. I’ve never worked for anyone, so…”

He chuckled. She didn’t like that.

But he didn’t say anything on that subject. Instead, he just smiled a smile that looked weird on his face and gave her her mission briefing: “I want you to figure out the bats’ identities for me.”

Marinette stared at him for a minute before breaking out into laughter. She couldn’t seem to stop. She stood up to leave, still giggling. Really? Did he really think that would work? People had asked many times, of course, and the bats’ identities weren’t common knowledge so she had to have said no. Why would she suddenly do it for him? She didn’t even like him.

She rested her hand on the knob but held off on leaving for just a second. She flashed a grin at Cobblepot. “Interesting offer. Bold. But no. Couldn’t pay me enough to do that.”

“Good thing I have no intentions of paying you, Marinette.”

~~~

And behold a new section I call ‘Marinette is a menace to society why would anyone let her on twitter’

(… the name may need a little work)

OliverQueenOfficial: Why does that one Gotham villain go by Canary? Black Canary already exists.

TheBetterCanary: if youre gonna vague tweet maybe dont put my name in it

TheBetterCanary: but anyways someone else named me that and it stuck before i could think of something to change it to

ScareCrane:… @/RiddleMeThis she’s dissing you

RiddleMeThis: LISTEN UP. IT WAS THEMATIC. DON’T ANY OF YOU KNOW ANYTHING OF DRAMA? EVER HEAR ABOUT CANARIES IN COAL MINES? FUCK ALL OF YOU AND YOUR UNCULTURED, UNEDUCATED ASSES. NOT TO MENTION IT WAS MAKING FUN OF THE BIRD THEME ALL THE VIGILANTES HER AGE SEEM TO HAVE. (1/14)

TheBetterCanary: @/ScareCrane why would you do that you knew he was going to do this

ScareCrane: Joker just broke out so Arkham is boring… needed to entertain myself somehow

TheBetterCanary: fuck you im not visiting this weekend

OliverQueenOfficial: Wow do I regret asking. I didn’t need all this family drama in my comments.

~~~~~

Next

Perma taglist: @nathleigh @peachmuses

[mycrofts-gunbrella]

Caring is the Greatest Advantage (Mycroft Holmes x Reader) Part 4

A/N- Hoping this one has come out a bit happier than the last instalment! I’m trying my best to not write Mycroft too out of character and focusing on how much more emotion he had displayed in season 4.. I have a few more chapters planned out so far and I am hoping to, at the very least, update weekly! I hope you all enjoy this chapter and, please, don’t forget to leave a comment letting me know what you think! Kind words or constructive criticism are always welcomed and inspire me to write more! Thank you!

Word Count: 4416

"Did you fancy doing anything else today? Well, this evening I suppose suits better." You asked Mycroft, clearing up the plates from dinner. Dinner here being a term used loosely- after the emotional turmoil only a few hours ago at the revelation of both yesterday's events and your inner attractions, neither of you particularly felt like cooking, or eating for that matter, and settled on a sandwich just to provide some energy.

The energy of the room had felt different now, now that everything was in the open, now that the pair of you had finally broken that barrier to move further in your relationship. It was nice, calming. The pair of you weren't children, the confirmation of shared attraction didn't mean you immediately jumped each other, or feel the need to be constantly touching in some aspect or another- but the mere idea of knowing that the attraction between you was mutual, and that you wanted to act upon that was more than enough for now. It felt incredible.

"Mmm, what did you have in mind?" He hummed back, standing from the small table in the kitchen to help you with the washing up- not that you weren't fully capable of doing so yourself, it just felt nice acting a little domestic- electing to wash the dishes himself and leaving you to dry them and put them back in the cupboard. You shrugged, closing the cupboard's door and leaning against the counter.

"St James' is just round the corner isn't it? We could go for a walk? The weather is oddly nice for September." You suggested, grinning as you watched Mycroft look down at his current attire of jogging bottoms and a band t-shirt. You didn't need the power of a Holmes to know what that face meant. "Compromise. You don't have to wear the joggers in public, but you also cannot wear a suit, I swore against it."

"If you're suggesting for me to leave my home in my undergarments you've completely lost your mind." You looked at Mycroft and allowed his brain to think a little more. "Oh bugger you can't mean-"

"You and I both know you have a pair of jeans in your wardrobe Myc. Joggers or Jeans, the choice is yours." Mycroft opened and closed his mouth multiple times before rolling his eyes and muttering something under his breath that sounded Latin. "Oi at least have the decency to do it in French so I have a chance of understanding what you say when you swear at me." You quipped, jokingly throwing two fingers up at him as he gave in and sulked up the stairs.

"Tu seras la mort de moi." His voice was still quiet, but loud enough for you to understand him.

"Et pourtant tu serais perdu sans moi." You shouted back, teasing a little. Mycroft didn't answer but smiled to himself as he walked into his bedroom, agreeing with you completely but too high in his pride to admit it. Downstairs, you rummaged through the other bags from Anthea, feeling thankful as you saw that she had equally bought you some hoodies too, pulling on a maroon one before grabbing and sliding on your boots. A few minutes later you heard Mycroft's voice from upstairs, muffled completely excluding the 'goodbye' that sounded as he left the bedroom and made his way down the stairs. "Planning my arrest were you? Should I be expected to enter the park to MI6 agents dragging me into a car and shipping me off somewhere for forcing the British government into denim?" You turned around and saw him in his change of attire, whistling approvingly at the sight of him in the dark grey pair of jeans you had bought him a few years ago- 'because you cannot walk into a pub wearing anything purchased on Savile Row, Mycroft'- and the navy blue blazer he had chosen to match with them; the small evidence of The Who's logo peeking out slightly between the lapels. It was seldom Mycroft wore such casual clothing, but feeling welcomed by your reaction certainly made him more comfortable. Maybe at some point you'd tell him it's because those jeans make his bum look incredible. Mycroft's cheeks flushed and he shook his head, ignoring the noise of encouragement you had made.

"MI5, actually, but do not be too alarmed- I've insisted they only use force if absolutely necessary." He teased, hoisting his scarf from the coat rack by the front door and expertly wrapping it around his neck. You jabbed him lightly in the arm, knowing he was joking but equally wanting to make sure the phone call wasn't from Sherlock already pestering him about something or another. "It's fine, truly. Nothing to cause government upset.. only public." You went to question what he meant but was instead caught off guard by him eyeing you up. "Are you really going out.. in that?" Mycroft gestured to your clothing and for a brief moment you felt a little insecure, frowning slightly at him. He caught on immediately and apologised. "No- I mean.. You will likely get cold, will you not? A hooded sweatshirt isn't the warmest item of clothing I can offer you." You grinned at his concern and just passed him his beloved umbrella (it wasn't raining, but that didn't make a difference) before opening the front door.

"Myc I have pulled bodies out of the River Thames wearing nothing more than a pencil skirt and a blouse, I will be fine." You grabbed his hand and tugged him outside, shutting the door behind him. He wanted to argue back but he knew any attempt would be futile- you both knew that you could be more stubborn than Mycroft and so he didn't wish to cause harm on what could be a splendid evening. You took your normal position beside Mycroft, your hand resting in the crook of his elbow, while his rested in his pocket, the other holding onto his umbrella handle. The chill of London's air brushed the back of your neck, leading you to pull the hood of your jumper over your head before continuing your walk, not allowing Mycroft to have the pleasure of knowing he was right. but also not missing the smirk that tugged at his lips as he noticed- of course he bloody did.

The short walk to the park was in a comfortable silence. Mycroft found himself thinking over today's events, how even he couldn't have predicted that this would be how it would end. He was certain you would have left earlier, he'd even prepared himself for the chances of a punch to his nose in anger, and so never in his right mind did he expect you to stay, let alone embrace him while he cried, forgive him for the unforgivable, to... kiss him. He felt childish thinking back on it, but he kept replaying that moment over in his mind. It wasn't a proper kiss, it was barely there at all, and yet, if Mycroft thought hard enough he could still feel the light pressure of your lips on his, and it left him eager for more.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Your voice distracted him as you walked down the final street before the park. He blinked, looking down at you, at your joint arms and offering a smile.

"Just that I didn't expect today to happen the way that events turned out." You opened your mouth to make a comment about how Mycroft knew everything but he cut you off. "I deduce, I cannot predict the future, Y/N."

"But you can mind read?" He raised his other hand, one finger to his mouth in a 'shhh' motion and you grinned.

"Penny for yours?" You hummed in response as you looked at yourself in the reflection of a car window and pouted, rounding the corner to walk through the park's gates.

"I look like an egg." Mycroft let out a rare laugh, caught off guard by your answer. "That you do, my dear. But a rather beautiful egg." It was your turn to flush now. Getting any form of compliment from Mycroft Holmes was a rarity, and when they did come to surface they were usually on one's intellectual skills, or the times where you'd go out to a fancy restaurant and he would claim 'your dress' was beautiful, but never you directly. Your lack of response made Mycroft nervous and he spoke again. "Apologies, upon reflection that was a very backhanded compliment." You squeezed his arm and nudged yourself in closer, welcoming in the warmth his body was emitting.

"No no, I am incredibly flattered to be deemed a beautiful egg." You laughed. "It would make a lovely epitaph don't you thi-." He tensed. "Yeah, sorry, bit soon." You continued your walk for a little further before something clicked in your mind and you stopped in your tracks. Mycroft stumbled a little at the sudden cease in movement and shot you a confused glare. "Myc.. There's nobody else here."

"Excellent observation, Y/N. I now understand why you're so well respected down the Yard."

"Git. I meant.. we're in one of the most tourist centred parts of London, in the early evening, and there's nobody here." Mycroft raised his nose a little in the air, a movement witnessed by anybody else that would be mistaken for smugness, or being pretentious. But on Mycroft you knew it meant he felt a little embarrassed, raising his head ever so higher so you couldn't see the dusting of red on his cheeks. "The phone call... Mycroft bloody Holmes did you abuse your power as a government official to rent out the entirety of St James' park so that nobody would have to see you in your jeans?" He avoided your gaze and you began to laugh, removing your hand from his arm as you wiped a tear that spilled down your cheek out of amusement before tugging him over to a bench that was a few feet away.

"Should I not have?" His tone was light, relaxed knowing that you weren't mad with him and that you found the situation entertaining.

"It's not that.. It's just that nobody else WOULD." You rubbed your numbing fingers together and tucked them inside the sleeve of your hoodie. "You. Are an extraordinary man, Mr Holmes. You never cease to amaze me." He smiled softly, tentatively reaching over to take your half sleeve covered hand into his own pale one.

"And you, are freezing." He commented. You dismissed his assessment and instead focused on the view in front of you, the slight appearance of the London Eye poking above some trees from across the Thames.

"After living here for so long, sometimes I forget how beautiful London truly is." You spoke, shuffling the rest of your hand from your sleeve to lace your fingers between his. He hummed in agreement as he watched on. "And you stole this view from thousands of visitors this evening for the sake of your own dignity and so we could be alone. What do you have? People guarding every entrance? A few loitering around somewhere to make sure there were no stragglers? Christ are they armed? It just so.. so.." Mycroft felt himself become uncomfortable.

"I can be a very selfish person Y/N, you know that."

"I was going to say sexy but now I feel as though I'm not being as sympathetic to the tourists as you were expecting me to be." Mycroft tensed again and you leant to rest your head on his shoulder. "You should probably try to get used to that. I've been waiting a fairly long time to actively be allowed to say things like that to you and it not sound really weird, so I'm making up for lost time."

"How long?" His voice was quiet, likely his mind recovering from you, for the second time that day, calling him such a thing. It wasn't that he didn't like it, he was extremely flattered, but he just found it very hard to believe that you truly thought that way about him; that anyone could. You thought for a moment, childishly using your fingers to count.

"How long since I realised I had a thing for you? As of today it's been 5 years, 3 months and 17 days.. or, in less creepy terms to not make it seem like I've been counting, 2 weeks before I broke up with Thomas. It didn't feel fair to keep dragging him along, especially when I started to look forward to meeting you for dinner much more than I did meeting him for our weekly date night. He's a lovely guy and deserved more than that. I tried for those couple of weeks to get over it but I couldn't." Mycroft stayed silent but you could practically hear his brain whirring. "How long did I wish that you somehow felt the same way about me? Probably 5 minutes after the last thought." You laughed, feeling ridiculous for sounding like a school girl with a crush. "What about you? Pining after me for long or just spontaneously after I kissed you?" You joked, trying to make the whole ordeal feel a little less embarrassing. Mycroft shifted in his seat, laying his focus in the warmth that he could feel spreading to your hand that he held in his. He wasn't the type for large exclamations of emotion, or really speaking about the way he feels at all. But, upon hearing your revelation, he bit the bullet and spoke.

"I have never been the kind of man to experience typical human emotion. Until yourself and Gregory came along, I hadn't even the experience of having acquaintances, let alone.. friends." His eyes stayed forward, watching as the London Eye rotated slowly and focusing on its movements. "Approximately 6 months prior to the time you have mentioned, I began to realise that the way I felt towards you was far different to the way I felt about Gregory, and not the same way I feel towards Sherlock. I pressed the thought into the back of my mind for the better part of a year, before Sherlock told me that you were 'obviously' experiencing some kind of affection towards me, which I told him was preposterous, but from then the thought of you in that aspect felt welcoming. I had never expected in my life to have those kinds of emotions for anybody, let alone have them reciprocated, but I still chose to ignore them. I chose to keep you as my friend rather than risk losing you at all.. Then Eurus happened. Seeing you on that.. screen. Knowing what they could do.. Knowing I could lose you anyway.. it flicked something inside of my brain that made me regret not talking to you about it sooner. I was trying to work out the right way to bring it up, but then you did it for me." The side of his mouth flicked up into a small smile and disappeared, the embarrassment of talking so much on emotion taking over.

"You still look cute when you're embarrassed." You commented, not wanting to elaborate on his wordings more. It meant everything to you that he had even said that much, so you weren't going to push him further out of his comfort zone by pestering on. "Though as much as I'd love to look at your little flustered cheeks in this moonlight, I have to admit that you were right and I am bloody freezing, can we go back?" You took your hand back from his briefly to rub against your other one, a feeble attempt to bring warmth back into your fingertips. Though warmth soon enveloped round your neck as you felt Mycroft begin to wrap his cashmere scarf around you, folding and wrapping it expertly until you felt comfortably warm, taking a moment to breathe in the scent of his cologne that loitered in the fabric.

"I'm always right." He grinned smugly, standing from the bench and offering his elbow out to you once more. You nudged it away, missing the disappointed look on Mycroft's face, before instead grabbing his hand, lacing your fingers between his and tucking them into his pocket for warmth, your other arm folding over your body to hold his arm.

"I'll prove you wrong on that at some point, mark my words." You beamed, starting the walk back to Queen Anne's Gate and relishing in the warmth of the taller man beside you. Mycroft couldn't hide the small smile that appeared on his face from your action, choosing himself to push closer and close the gap between you even more. He swiftly pulled his phone from his pocket, leaving his umbrella dangling from his wrist, as he made a quick call to Anthea.

"I suppose we better let the tourists have their park back.. at least for now." He spoke, more to you than to Anthea but nonetheless she relayed the message to security who began to pack up and reopen the gates to the public. It had barely been a minute before they had all left, all except the PA in question who watched on fondly upon seeing the pair of you leaving, fighting the urge to text the man that it was about damn time.

***

The walk back was incredibly quick and you soon found yourselves walking back through the front door, discarding layers of warmer clothing, Mycroft opting to put the sweats back on in place of his jeans.

"I'm thinking we have a cuppa and then head to bed? I'm knackered." You proposed, flicking the kettle on and settling back to rest on the edge of the kitchen counter. Mycroft hummed in agreement, reaching to grab the necessities. You quickly kicked off from the counter and wandered back into the front room, pulling Mycroft in tow. "Seems as good a time as any to have some music on, Greg made me this mixtape a few weeks ago. He said it's some classics I already love, and a bunch that I'm going to, so it sounds pretty promising." From behind you Mycroft opened his mouth to speak but you cut him off. "If you're about to chastise me for calling a CD a mixtape, don't waste your breath. Mix-CD just sounds horrendous." He stayed silent, inwardly amused at the fact you hadn't even seen his face and yet knew exactly what he was going to say, and you called him the 'mind-reader'. The Kinks began to play quietly through the speakers, 'Have a Cuppa Tea' fittingly being the first song to play on shuffle. Usually you despised any type of mixtape, or 'best of' albums, claiming rather strongly that they defeated the point of artists bringing out the original albums, ruining the story behind each one. But when it came to Greg you trusted him completely with music taste and had never been disappointed thus far. The click of the kettle in the kitchen sounded, making you walk into the other room and prepare your drinks- you hadn't bothered asking Mycroft the way he had it, you had that burnt to memory years ago. Perching back onto the sofa besides Mycroft, you handed him the beverage and sighed in content.

"You missed the Sex Pistols. Forgive me if I cannot hear you for the next 20 minutes, I have a feeling that my ears have bled." He teased, taking a sip of his tea and settling it on the table beside him. Before you had a chance to answer, another Kinks song began to sound in the room, the slower rythm of Waterloo Sunset.

"You're going to pay for saying those things, you know I love the Sex Pistols." You pouted, moving your own tea to the coffee table. "I think, Mr Holmes, you need to dance with me in ways of apology." You grinned, standing up and holding your hand out to him. "It's a rare slower song from Lestrade's musical repertoire so I'm not expecting you to start headbanging or anything.."

"Do people slow dance to Rock music normally?" He asked, smiling.

"No they don't.. but when have you ever been a man who follows the rules of normality?" He took your hand at that, standing himself up and leading you to an emptier part of the room, tea forgotten. You softly placed your hands on his shoulders and rested your head on his chest, his reaching round to settle on the small of your back as you began to sway together slowly, the only sound that could be heard was the music and Mycroft's erratic heartbeat that he was sure meant he was going to have a heart attack. "See, this is nice." He hummed in agreement, the vibrations of his deep voice reaching his chest and vibrating against your cheek. "We could have done this years ago.." You commented, thinking on all the lost time you had with Mycroft, all of the years you had listened to music together and could have danced, holding each other as close as you were now.

"We'd have struggled being as Gregory only gave you this CD a few weeks ago.." You laughed and swatted his shoulder.

"You know what I mean.. oh the power of cowardice and fear." You closed your eyes, holding onto this moment as though you had never wanted it to end. Alas, the song began to come to a close, and yet neither of you made an attempt to move. The instrumental introduction to your favourite Clash song began to play and you grinned. "Now this is a song. I'm surprised Greg put it on here, I'd have thought he'd be sick of it by now with the amount of times I play it at work." As the vocals began you felt Mycroft stiffen in your arms, the fingers on the hands on your back began to dig into your skin slightly, not painful, but protective and his heartbeat picked up pace even more.

"Could we skip this one? Please?" His tone of voice was different this time, not the calm, relaxed voice that he had earlier, nor the playful one he had only moments ago. He sounded.. unsettled.

"You're joking right? Mycroft this relationship will have a rocky start if you force me to turn of The Clash at all, let alone bloody 'Death or Glory.'" He tensed again hearing the song's title.

"Please.. it's the one.." Your brain began to piece together his words and you lifted your head from its position on his chest, looking up and seeing the pained expression on his face. Of course, out of every song in the world, this was the one you were listening to when Mycroft said he saw you on the screen, inches away from death. You closed your eyes and sighed.

"I'm not letting this happen. I'm okay, I'm here, alive. This is my happy song, and I have so many wonderful memories from it." It wasn't a lie. The sound held memories of countless car rides with Greg, it was the song that played when you had the phone call about your promotion at work. It had even been playing when your sister phoned up to let you know that she was pregnant with your niece. Both times. It was a bloody good song. "I understand why you don't like it, but you just need to associate it with something better, give it a new memory." You moved your arms from his shoulders to wrap around his neck, shifting one hand to place onto his cheek as you reached yourself up on your tiptoes to become closer to his height.

You caught his focus, making his eyes land on your own rather than being dazed as his mind went back to you dancing on that screen. You leaned yourself in closer, just enough for your lips to ghost over his own, before closing the gap. Unlike the last peck you had given him, this was a far more passionate kiss, giving him the emotion you had kept pent up for the last five years. His grip on your back softened, one hand reaching to your upper back to push you closer to him, his lips moving against yours beautifully. His body began to relax, the tension in his shoulders disappeared as he leant himself forward, easing you back flat on your feet. Had you have not known any better, you would have never guessed that Mycroft had never kissed somebody before; he was just a bloody quick learner. You ran your tongue along his bottom lip softly, grinning as he let out a quiet moan. The need for air soon took over and you allowed yourself to separate, not moving any further than leaving your foreheads touching. "There. Now when we hear it, that's what you need to think of instead. Christ knows I will be." You laughed, your hands guiding themselves from his neck slowly down his chest and pushing him back slightly. "I'm going to go shower, so meet me upstairs? I know I promised more Hardy but I would really like to go to sleep if it's all the same to you." Mycroft only nodded, feeling you peck his lips once more before disappearing out of the room. The song had finished by now, having been replaced by who Mycroft believed were The Rolling Stones, but he wasn't really listening.

He stood still in his spot, mind replaying over the moment as he smiled fondly to himself. He could hear the shower running upstairs along with your voice, muffled but clear enough to understand that you were still singing along to the last song. Placing his fingers against his lips, Mycroft tried to imitate the pressure you had placed on them moments ago, thinking about how your lips felt against his, properly this time, not just the two second thing on the sofa this morning. His chest felt warm, stomach flipping and in a rare moment Mycroft felt genuinely happy. In all his life up to this moment, caring had never been an advantage, had always led to him getting hurt. But maybe, just maybe, you were right about how you were going to prove him wrong one day. And he hoped to whatever sentient being that may or not be watching over him that you were going to prove him wrong about that.

[katzkinder]

London Bridge Is Falling Down

Envy Pair version of my Counting Sheep series! Himiko is my headcanon for the name of Mikuni's mother. Since Mikuni's name contains the character for "kingdom," I thought this name belonging to an ancient queen suited his mother well.

Mikuni is annoying.

That’s something Jeje has always known, ever since Mikuni was a child, ever since the first time he saw him, bounding around his mother’s skirts and throwing himself into Lily’s arms to be held and cuddled and fawned over while Jeje had slunk back to the cellars. Himiko had been so bright, back then, the rot of Envy not yet showing in a visible way, that tiny baby that would grow into his brother’s Eve gurgling happily in her arms.

Jeje was the one who had found him. Himiko had wept when she saw him, all the anger and hate leaving her at once, vanishing as if it never existed when she laid her eyes on the fragile little bundle, swaddled in soft fabrics with little gloves on his impossibly tiny hands. She had sobbed all the harder when she took the crying child from him, her hands shaking while she cradled him close, useless apologies spilling from her pretty lips. The body of the babe’s mother had rapidly been growing cold on the carpet, and little Misono… Would remember none of it.

(Jeje remembered all of it, though. He doesn’t think a single moment will ever fade from his mind, no matter how many eons pass)

As Mikuni had grown, with Jeje watching over him as a silent, imposing, guardian angel, always behind the boy’s mother while she had read bedtime stories to him, always so aware of those bright, bright, too bright eyes, Jeje had also become aware of a number of other things, and those things remained true into adulthood. Mikuni has all of his mother’s gorgeous looks (and some from his father, but admitting as such is just asking to be choked), her stubborn brightness, her sharp tongue and wit, but more than any of that...

Mikuni is annoying.

...Because he never listens to what’s good for him. Just like his mother before him, he had taken Jeje despite his warnings, and some bitter, sick part of Jeje had wanted him to. The same part of him that had given in to Himiko herself.

But, well, he’d always known Mikuni never listened, too.

He wonders if Lily knows, though he doubts that he’s aware, of those golden afternoons when Mikuni would sneak down to his hiding place and find him lurking near the boilers, the excited, terrified whispers of Lily’s children, his human children, chasing after the young heir as he confidently hopped down, step by step, into the “monster’s” lair.

They had talked. About nothing. About everything. Well, actually, Mikuni had talked, seemingly not caring that Jeje never said much back, incredible and beautiful and… Well, there was a reason everyone called Mikuni brilliant.

Jeje knew better, though.

***

The most annoying thing about Mikuni, in his opinion, is not how loud he is. It’s not his contrariness, or his capriciousness, or his constant, gnawing curiosity causing him to make mischief.

The most annoying thing about Mikuni was how badly he wanted people to think he was naturally good at everything.

See, Mikuni was smart. Jeje would give him that. But he was also very stupid. It wasn’t as if he lacked common sense, though sometimes Jeje wondered, but it was like Mikuni wanted people to resent him.

More than anyone Jeje had ever met, his Eve was a hard worker. Someone who hated owing others a single damn thing. It was that useless pride and sense of responsibility for things that couldn’t possibly be Mikuni’s fault, things Jeje suspected, no matter how much he denied it, Mikuni had learned, had internalized, from his father and from Lily, that was why Jeje refused to call Mikuni brilliant like everyone else.

...But he did shine. Like a candle in a darkened room. Like a beacon. Warm, and inviting, someone to warm himself beside, even knowing that that flame would burn him up, just like a moth.

The question was... Who would that flame melt into nothing first?

Jeje would be damned twice over if he let it be his Eve.

Turning away from way he had been watching the other man work late hours, hunched over Nod’s ledgers and planners and Mikuni’s own personal notebooks, where his pen scratched across the surfaces of each calculating profits, expenses, bills, new products and designs and promotions and planning trips, Jeje silently makes his way to their kitchen.

Burning the midnight oil just means you won’t have any left when you truly need it.

A snort, reaching for their cabinets. Of course, that’s what Mikuni had him for.

***

He’s gotten very good at brewing tea. Jeje isn’t much of a chef at all, but living with Mikuni for so long, it was practically guaranteed he’d learn to at least make a semi-decent cup, and thank god he had. He would have truly killed Mikuni by now if he hadn’t, he swears, the man is just as persnickety about his tea as Lily is with his coffee.

...He’s also gained a new appreciation for the stuff, but maybe that comes with the territory of spending hours upon hours listening to Mikuni’s one sided argument about the best ways to drink it. It’s hard not to be impressed with all the little details that goes into brewing what’s considered a perfect cup (by Mikuni’s standards, anyway), and even harder still to not feel a fondness for something that draws such genuine passion out of his once charge, now equal.

...It’s such an odd thought. He knows what people think. That Mikuni has always had a stranglehold on him. That Mikuni has always been in charge. That Mikuni has always been someone… Grown up.

Again. Jeje knows better.

He sets the temperature on their electric kettle, one purchased on one of their many visits to the British Isles, sits at their kitchen table, and waits. Thinks.

Mikuni has been grown up for a long time now. And he will continue to grow, and people will continue to think, no matter Jeje’s efforts, that he is a no good, conniving schemer who would sacrifice them all on a wish and a prayer and something like a maybe.

And, well, perhaps they aren’t wrong. Perhaps Jeje is a fool. But if he’s a fool, he’s a court jester, and as court jester he will make absolutely certain this time that the king does not make his mistakes without someone there to make fun of him for it, even if only behind closed doors, even if only between the two of them.

To everyone else, he is a dictator’s executioner, and that’s fine with him. Everyone else doesn’t matter.

His eyes drift to Mikuni’s favorite cup, one made of glass and painted with delicate, swooping strokes of gold, with lilies and a taupe lacquer surrounding all but a window through which one could admire the lovely colors of their favored drink. He takes it into his hands, so much larger than this tiny cup, and finds himself smiling as he turns the joint birthday gift from the Lust pair over and around, admires those intricate, fancy details that speak of quality and knowing down to the letter exactly what Mikuni’s tastes are.

Well.

Almost everyone.

***

The teapot has been warmed, the kettle filled with mineral water and piping hot, and by the time Jeje finishes steeping the loose leaf tea, their little kitchen clock, kitschy and cute and shaped like a cartoon chicken hatching from an egg, reads 2:17 in the morning.

Jeje picks up the cup, the container of melatonin supplements Mikuni has taken since he was twenty at his Servamp’s behest, and carefully carries both back to where he knows the other man will still be completely absorbed in his work.

True to form, Mikuni is still at it. The predictability of his late night, sleepless habits, of his need to do something with his time, makes Jeje’s frown deepen, ever so slightly.

He wishes Mikuni would just rest. Close his eyes, not do anything, just lie there and let Jeje guard him, just be still, be quiet, like did when he was a child.

… He knows better than to think a mind as stubborn and that moves as fast as his Eve’s could ever achieve that, but he can dream. He can also just sicc the Lust pair on him.

That’ll put him to bed real fast.

“What’re you grinning about over there?”

He startles, not having expected Mikuni to acknowledge his presence, and nearly sloshes hot chamomile with lavender onto the pretty little matching saucer that accompanied the cup. It’s a miracle it didn’t fall over completely. Jeje lets out a breath, so quiet it’s inaudible, and curses himself for forgetting that Mikuni can see him right now.

Then again, even if he was wearing his mask, Mikuni would have seen right through him.

He always does.

His Eve is watching him still, waiting for him to move, and then his eyes flick down to what Jeje has in his hands. His lips twist.

Jeje ignores it and continues to make his way over to where Mikuni had been peacefully working. They don’t speak a word to one another, and no sooner than Jeje sets his cargo down, he’s going back the way he came, knowing it’s useless to try and ply Mikuni with words or favors.

The man is annoying in his stubbornness, too.

He hears a sniff behind him, the scratch of pen on paper once more, but it isn’t long before that little noise stops again. A sigh. Jeje chances peering around the doorframe, smiling, just a tad, as a clearly frustrated Mikuni slaps his pen down onto the counter and picks up his cup, no doubt tempted by the smell of his favorite night time blend.

A swallow. Two.

Mikuni unscrews the lid on the melatonin gummies. Pops a couple into his mouth. Chews, and swallows. The tension leaves his shoulders. He allows himself to savor the warmth in his hands.

Jeje leaves him be and heads upstairs to their room, knowing Mikuni now won’t be far behind.

“Jeje,” Mikuni calls after him, voice soft in that way it sometimes, ever so rarely gets, so quiet Jeje almost misses it. “... You still really suck at this.”

Mikuni is annoying.

[yourneighborhooddisaster]

Ravenous

Touch Starved Patton! I haven’t actually written stuff like this before, and I guess it could be read shippy, but it can also be read completely platonic. I would say warnings, sympathetic janus and remus, but they’re blessings. 

Warnings: touch starvation, angst, hurt/comfort (kinda), not everybody really gets along but that’s okay

Comments and constructive criticism are appreciated!!! Reblogs are cherished!! Also I’m just really excited I was able to stick to a deadline!

Fic under the cut. Please ask to be tagged! I’d be honored. Also you are always able to be removed from the taglist if you read something you don’t like or is triggering!!! I won’t be offended!

@genderfluidmoma @emiisanxious (that’s what you meant right? if not sorry)

All of the sides had needs.

They weren’t people. They were fully aware that they were all a fraction of a person, and they all cared for Thomas very much. They didn’t envy being a person, especially through all the wild stuff that was going on in the world right now. Technically, the sides didn’t need to eat, or sleep, even though it was possible for them to do so, as long as it was imagination food or during the night when Thomas was already asleep. But they did have needs.

Everyone was fully aware of Roman’s needs. Stimuli. Some sort of creative fuel. Even watching a documentary with Logan and Thomas could help him if he was in a particularly bad block. That’s part of the reason he loved Disney so much, and Patton always made sure they had time to watch a cartoon before bed when Roman was feeling down.

Logan’s primary need was obvious, although he hated to admit that he needed things, insisting it was to help Thomas. It did help Thomas, but not as much as it helped Logan. Logan needed structure and rules. It made a lot of sense. So sometimes when Patton noticed Logan’s smiles becoming tight, or when Patton felt he might not be listening to him enough, he would grin and ask what was on the schedule for that day.

Virgil was under a lot of stress lately, and that was because, as much as a lot of social interaction could overwhelm him, Virgil needed positive interactions with Thomas’s friends. Patton suspected that the sides may also be in that category, but he didn’t quite know, so he didn’t want to assume. He would often bug Thomas to call or text Joan, knowing Virgil wasn’t the best at bringing his own issues up.

Janus was tricky. Patton’s first instinct would be that Janus needed Thomas to take care of himself, but they all needed that, and Janus hadn’t seemed to suffer more than the others when Thomas missed the callback. Patton didn’t know Janus too well, but he knew him enough to finally understand that he was a little like Logan. Janus needed to be listened to. So if Roman and Janus had fought and Janus was sulking, Patton would insist that Janus pick a movie to watch with him. (And if Roman slunk out to watch Hamilton with them, well, two birds with one stone, right?)

Remus should have been a difficult one, and Patton would never admit that he had known right away. But Remus was simple. Patton didn’t really understand Remus’s thought process, and he probably never would, at least not all the way. But Patton understood Roman’s, and he wasn’t oblivious, no matter how much he was portrayed that way. Remus needed attention. He needed time, he needed the sides, he needed Thomas, and most of all, he needed to talk. So when Patton was up for it (and even sometimes when he really wasn’t), he would invite Remus to bake with him, as it was something they both, surprisingly, enjoyed, and something they both, unsurprisingly, were terrible at.

All of the sides had needs.

Patton wished he didn’t.

His was simple. Predictable. Expected, even. But it was just… so embarrassing. Because Patton needed physical touch, and didn’t that sound clingy and awful. Of course he could try to play it off, and he did. He was just happy pappy Patton, soft cuddly Patton, just your Dad Patton trying to give you a hug, kiddo! He felt so guilty all the time. And it hurt even more now that he was trying not to repress his negative emotions, because when he did admit he was feeling sad, everyone treated him as if he was made of glass. He dreaded when they asked him if he wanted to be alone, because no, he absolutely did NOT. And he says yes anyway. He wants to be normal, so why wouldn’t he? He knew none of the other sides wanted - needed this. It was okay though. He could always get in at least a hug or a high five in a day.

Until now.

Patton slumped against his door. He hadn’t been touched all day. He was frighteningly cold, but he didn’t want to go get a blanket. He had lent all of his to Virgil after he had a panic attack, and he wasn’t going to ask for them back. He wasn’t heartless. 

“Thanks Pat, but… could I please be alone for a while?” The words rang in his ears, nearly deafening, though their speaker was quiet and polite. And Virgil was being polite, he had phrased it in the kindest way possible. It was just something wrong with Patton. He shook his head, tears finally rolling down his cheeks. He put on his hoodie to help with the cold, but it didn’t help with the hunger clawing right below his skin. Logan was reading, Roman was editing a video with Thomas, Remus would probably just make him feel worse. And he didn’t want Janus to sense all the lies he’d been telling. The most accessible of the sides was Logan, but Logan would hardly appreciate the interruption, especially as Patton wouldn’t be able to explain exactly why he was interrupting.

He was going to have a long night.

>><<

Patton hummed softly as he flipped some pancakes. He had managed not to burn them this time, even though the shapes were not really circles. Pancakes were easy. At least, he was better at making pancakes than anything else.

Logan’s better at it though. 

Patton shook away the thought. It made sense that Logan would be better at something as adult and precise as cooking. Baking was where Logan was in need of help. Measurements usually fluctuated more in baking. Though Patton wasn’t really good at that either. He was usually a disaster in the kitchen, probably because he represented Thomas’s inner child, which was why he wasn’t offended when Logan declined the offer of pancakes, instead going to the commons to help Thomas schedule the day. Well, maybe a little offended. But not much. Logan had been under stress lately too, as quarantine tended to blur all the days together. So Patton dug into his pancakes himself, covering up all potential mistakes by drowning it in cheap quality maple syrup.

“Ooh, did you make pancakes, Patty-cake?” Remus all but bounced into the room. Patton put on a wide beam and nodded. Remus was still wearing his pajama pants and was shirtless, though he was definitely a morning person, so it was likely he’d already been up for a few hours. “I want some!” Patton laughed at that, pointing at a plate right next to the stove.

“The hot ones are over there, and make sure to tell me if you want anymore. If we do end up making more though, you’re on egg duty.” Remus half pouted, even as he shoveled pancakes onto his plate.

“But I like it when you get the shells in. It makes it crunchy.” Patton huffed, pretending to be offended. “Oh come on Patton, you know I compli-meant it!” Patton stifled a giggle, though a little unsuccessfully.

“Oh, that was bad even for me…” Remus shrugged, utterly unashamed. A lock of hair fell into Patton’s face, and he instinctively brushed it away, not really noticing his sticky fingers making a shiny trail up his cheek.

But he noticed when his fingers were replaced by something else.

Patton froze, his face hotter than the pan on the stove. (He should turn that off, his brain registered dumbly, but he was too much in shock to care if the mindscape could burn down.) Remus was clearly satisfied, grossly swirling his sticky sweet spit in his mouth. Tears pricked at Patton’s eyes, and he knew he was being stupid. Remus was lewd and touchy with everyone. He wasn’t special, and Remus certainly didn’t need this like he did. Remus just loved to be loud and obnoxious and throw everyone off.

Then why’d it feel so intimate and wonderful?

Why would he want such a gross touch?

“What’s got you so nervous Mr. Moral Compass?” Remus was watching him with a self satisfied smirk. “Did I do something to upset you?” That should have been reassuring, that Remus was happy and just his normal self. If everyone was happy, Patton would be happy, because he had no reason to be sad. No reason at all…

Patton broke out into loud ugly sobs. Crumpling to the floor, he was vaguely aware of Remus panicking, and no, he really didn’t want to burden him, and it just became worse when more people ran into the room. He couldn’t hear anything over the rush of blood in his ears, and blurry tears distorted his vision and fogged up his glasses, which were slowly sliding off his nose. But then two hands gently grabbed his wrists, and they didn’t let go, and his wrists were burning but all he could think was more, more, more. And then a hand landed on his shoulder, but it was much too hesitant. Another hand over his heart, and that seemed to do it ever so slowly. The tears stopped and his breathing slowed.

But he may have preferred the rush of blood in his ears to the stressed silence. He made a move to wipe at his eyes only to find his hands still restrained. A blur of yellow - Janus - removed his glasses, cleaned them, and wiped the excess tears away before placing them gently back on his face. He was surrounded by faces, but only Logan and Virgil were touching him, and he felt so, so clingy, because this definitely wasn’t enough even though he should be grateful they were even still touching him. Thomas looked terrified. Patton dropped his head in shame and guilt.

“I’m-”

“Don’t,” Roman replied quickly, already knowing what Patton was about to say. “You have nothing to apologize for. My brother, on the other hand-” “No!” Remus was still looking panicked on the sidelines, and what Roman would’ve said next would have everything even worse. “It’s not his fault, he didn’t do anything.” Patton squirmed, his whole body on fire. Virgil made a move to retract his hand from Patton’s chest. And Patton. WHIMPERED, SO EMBARRASSINGLY LOUD. Virgil froze. “No, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, of course you guys don’t have to touch me if you don’t want-”

“Patton.” Janus spoke calmly and slowly, as if he was trying to understand something. “So the problem is you want people to touch you, and you aren’t getting that attention you need, correct?” Patton nodded, biting his lip bloody so he wouldn’t make such a weak, embarrassing little noise again. All heads swiveled towards Janus, but he simply, albeit hesitantly, took off his gloves and cape and moved closer. Virgil and Roman glared defiantly at him, but one look from Patton and they stepped aside, and Logan gently released his hands, leaving Patton nearly about to cry again about the loss of contact. “I know this normally would be a little… inappropriate, considering our only newfound truce, but…” Janus spread his arms open wide. It was preposterous. Why would Patton hug Janus, even with their agreements? A ridiculous notion. (Now he was starting to sound like Logan.)

Patton jumped into the other’s arms.

He was suffocating, choking on air and new tears but he buried his head into the all encompassing warmth around him. Six arms squeezed him so tight and so close he felt like he was in a vacuum, but he didn’t mind at all. After a few minutes it started to get to be too much, but Patton didn’t want to ever let go at the same time, and he was just so confused. Janus seemed to sense this and he broke away. His hands were still holding Patton’s forearms.

“Hey, you’re not going to feel that bad ever again, okay? We won’t let that happen,” Janus murmured soothingly, and Patton shakily nodded because he didn’t even care if it was all a lie because it was so pretty and it felt so good. “Do you want to hear about what that was or would you rather just come watch a movie?”

“You know?” Janus nodded at Remus.

“Wait, how come you know and I don’t?” Logan was rather flustered and panicked looking. They all were, Patton realized.

“It’s touch starvation. Patton’s been lying to himself about it for a long time. He has a crucial need for physical touch.” Virgil inhaled sharply, and Roman glanced over Patton, but refused to quite meet his eyes. Logan gasped.

“I’m so sorry, Patton.” Patton blinked at the sudden and quick apology from Logan, who always struggled with admitting he was in the wrong. “I didn’t realize that by limiting my physical affection towards you I was harming you in any way. Can I… can I do anything to fix my behavior?” Patton smiled sadly.

“It’s okay Lo, I know you guys don’t really need it like I do. We’re sides, not people. You wouldn’t have assumed I was affected by things like that.”

“What - what did I do?” Remus asked tentatively. “I mean, I know I was being gross and all, but I touched you. I’m a very touchy person. So what happened to make you all snotty?” He immediately winced at his own wording, but Patton knew this was rather gentle for him.

“I just… I guess I couldn’t handle that you were only doing it to get a rise out of me… And it’s kinda started to burn when I get touched because I feel so cold the rest of the time.”

“Overstimulation,” Logan supplied helpfully. Patton nodded, and their conversation lapsed into silence. Then Thomas walked towards Patton, Janus helping him to his feet and guiding him into Thomas’s arms. He was exhausted but even the much looser two armed hug sent his heart and skin and mind spiraling into fireworks. They settled onto the couch.

“We got you, okay Pat? We’ll be more careful from now on.” 

And Virgil would just have to trust that Patton understood, because before he replied, Thomas and Patton had fallen fast asleep.

[hold-my-hand-kuroo]

the soulmate au i thought i wouldn’t write

aka the soulmate au where everyone is born with a book quote on their chest, and soulmates are people who share the starting and ending lines from the same book, and kuroo’s just unlucky

so basically,,,i took that devastating headcanon that kuroo’s parents are divorced and combined that with a faulty soulmate system and a quick little something on it while still promoting my neighbors to lovers bullshit-

pairing: kuroo tetsurou x reader

i.

It’s one night after Kuroo’s visit home that he lies restless in bed. Soulmates. He hates the very essence of the word, especially since his own possibilities are so unclear and vague. He thinks he’s cursed, just like his mother, for having such an unbelievably common line etched on his chest.

“It was love at first sight” was found in countless novels, novels that were never Kuroo’s cup of tea, but he read them, read as many as he could find out of curiosity. It wasn’t because he liked the idea of running into a special-someone after single meeting; in fact, he despises the very idea, as he finds it a little shallow and unsubstantial to a developed relationship after a culmination of encounters, but that was just him. Rather, it’s his frustration working against him, making him count every different quote, every different fragmented line that could’ve matched with the one forever stuck to him.

It’s far too much, and frankly, Kuroo hates feeling uncertain.

“You’ll love him,” his grandmother had told him upon welcoming him at her door. He almost froze in her warm embrace. “He matches exactly with you. It’ll be great!”

It wasn’t great as it turns out, but Kuroo had predicted that way before his supposed soulmate entered the door with his grandfather, and over a lackluster, silent meal, Kuroo left convinced that this man was absolutely not his soulmate. He even goes through the trouble of looking up the book that his lines came from, and he’d much rather not be associated with its contents after reading the quick summary. Out of courtesy and respect for his grandparents though, he does take the man’s number with the promise of speaking to him once again.

“Maybe it’ll take some time,” his grandmother reasoned, patting his shoulder gently. “It’s different for everyone.”

He wonders if she’s right but can’t imagine how much time it’d take. He likes his relationships, whether it be romantic or not, to start naturally, to grow with interaction and conversation until they flourished. There’s something manufactured to him about an arranged meeting with the intent of spending the rest of his life together with a stranger that he knows nothing about. A stranger that he simply isn’t interested in getting to know, not that it was the man’s fault. It’s Kuroo and his fear of ending up like his parents that keeps him alert and unwilling to pursue anything beyond just acquaintances before getting to know someone well.

“So? Are you planning on calling him back?” you sigh through the phone. It’s almost 5 AM, and you knew that when your phone buzzed at your bed side two hours ago, your best friend needed help. “

“Kitten, I lost that number the moment I walked out of the house,” Kuroo lies, stifling his yawn. He knows he should’ve been asleep, and he knows even better to let you sleep, but time passes far to quickly when he’s being serenaded by your speaking. “I just wish she’d stop setting me up with people. I swear it’s a new person every week.”

“It is,” you correct matter-of-factly. He can practically hear your eye-roll through your voice. “Have you talked to her about it? I’m sure she’d understand if you mentioned something.”

Kuroo groans. “I can’t do that to her. She’s been trying so hard, and to be honest, I’d feel a little bit bad since she’s been with me from even before I started playing volleyball.”

“Prior to conception?” you ask, raising a brow.

“Are you saying that I played volleyball in the womb, Y/N?” he asks, laughing. Finally.

“I’m just saying that you were a brat since birth.” He continues laughing softly much to your pleasure. “Now that you’re finally feeling better, can I go to sleep now?”

“It’s almost sunrise, though. Why not come take a run with me instead?” Kuroo offers. He knows you won’t, but he finds pleasure in teasing you over your lack of will to move. “I’ll even walk while you’re jogging to match your pace and give you a running start.”

“Very funny, Tetsu.” You swear that you’d hang up on him one day. A day that was better than whatever slump Kuroo found himself currently in. “You know I can’t run for my life.”

“It’s never to late to start practicing a healthy lifestyle,” Kuroo tsks. You retort back with something about sleeping properly, but he ignores it. “I’ll be out at 6. Would love to see you waiting for me.”

Kuroo knows that you won’t show up, and he doesn’t blame you. Not everyone could bring themselves to run right at dawn, especially people who slept very little thanks to him. He means it as a way to get back at you, to sound fine and normal again so that you won’t have to waste time worrying about him, and he believes that it works when you bid him a ‘good early night’ and go back to bed.

That is, until he sees your very grumpy and very disheveled appearance waiting for him outside on his sidewalk, tapping your foot impatiently on the pavement. He thinks he’s dreaming, taking no time to rub his eyes multiple times before he realizes that yes, you are indeed outside waiting to go on his morning run with him.

“After this, you owe me,” is all you say before getting your promised head-start. Kuroo walks steadily behind, making sure to take extra slow strides so that he won’t pass you.

The sun, just peeking through from the horizon outlines the back of your figure, shining on your hair and skin. Kuroo watches, gaze intent, and finds himself spacing out. He wonders how it’d feel to do this every morning, to wake up and spend more than just a run with you, but hugs in bed and breakfast too. Even if he hates cooking for himself, he thinks it’d be fun to do it with you. Would you be a morning person? He’s always kept you up at ridiculous hours on the phone, so when was morning for you? And how did you prefer your eggs to be cooked? Kuroo’s not a chef, but he prides himself in his healthy, balanced meals. If you ate with him everyday, he’s sure that he could-

Kuroo knows. He knows that he’s falling, been falling since forever, but he’s too scared to say anything to you. In a world with hundreds, maybe even thousands of books that started or ended with the same cliche line, “It was love at first sight,” he fears the idea of risking your happiness for his own sake. It seemed far too convenient for the two of you to be soulmates, and the thought of pursuing a relationship with you with the high risk of failure and keeping you away from finding your true fated one is a strong reminder for him to control himself.

He watches your fleeting figure in the distance and walks even slower.

ii.

“The knife came down, missing him by inches, and he took off.”

From the start, you had the sinking suspicion that Kuroo’s quote matched yours. Even without realizing that his was the exact first line to your last line, there was something that just felt so incredibly natural about Kuroo. The fact that he was always there to listen to you and vice versa ever since your middle school days is a strong affirmation that Kuroo is indeed much more than just a friend to you.

You think back to the late night talks via phone cup, the two of you still in your adolescence, as Kuroo would vent to you about the fights his parents were having. The two of you were too young to know back then that the fights were just the start of something far bigger. The conversations would grow longer into the night, each day seemingly to grow worse and worse. Sometimes, you’d find yourself falling asleep right at your desk in the classroom of your elementary school.

“Hey, Y/N,” Kuroo had whispered to you on one fateful night. You raised an eyebrow at him, waiting for him to finish properly. “Uh, over.”

“What? Over,” you responded, trying to be as quiet as possible.

“Today I learned how to make things quiet….over,” Kuroo answered, grinning from his window. You remember your confusion and raised brow as you watched him run away from the cup and back, suddenly with two pillows. “Check this out.”

You watched curiously as he stuffed the two pillows on the sides of his head, almost as if they were to serve as ear plugs. That was the beginning of the mess that was his hair, you suppose, as ever since that night, you’ve never seen him look put together again. Not even during important ceremonies like graduation did he bother fixing his bedhead. Rather, it was impossible to do so, and you knew from first hand experience, trying to tame the mess almost every day during high school. Secretly, you enjoyed raking your fingers through his hair and enjoyed the physical contact.

“Hey, are you even paying attention?” Kuroo whines, snapping you out of your thoughts. From beside you, he turns his head to look at you, raising an eyebrow. “It’s getting to the good part.”

You roll your eyes. “Tetsu, this is the fourth time you’re making me watch this crime documentary, but for what?”

“But the DNA-“

“Nerd.” If you think hard about it, you can pinpoint the exact moment when Kuroo changed drastically. He wasn’t always as charismatic and as hardworking in his childhood, but you know for sure that it’s because of volleyball that he flourishes. He’s not an idiot, he never was, and you recall one fateful day in middle school when you visit him in his house to find him actually studying instead of playing games.

“I have to keep my grades up or else I’ll get kicked from the club,” he had said simply, but when you caught him tutoring his other teammates during his lunch break, you understood that it was a completely different story. Before you knew it something had triggered Kuroo into maturing quickly, working tirelessly at becoming all-rounded in his studies and sports. Whether that something was volleyball or the little bit of hope that Kenma gave him every time he showed up to practice, you weren’t sure, but you knew in your heart that Kuroo’s sudden improvement and change in attitude was what made him the captain of Nekoma later on in high school.

High school was a little lonely, you have to admit. Between exams and nationals, you felt that day by day, Kuroo slipped away from you. You watched his games whenever you had time, visited him at practices, and even studied with him whenever he offered, but he felt so distant. You didn’t blame him, though. You’re more than pleased to find him so involved in something, and whenever you heard his hyena-cackle from the gym, you thought about the quiet boy who once hid inside his room all day to avoid his parents. It was for the best.

You were always worried if he got tired of practicing until sunset and studying until sunrise while also keeping his team from falling apart, but even when you sat in his room during the weekends, waiting for him to wake up, he seemed content. Exhausted, yes, but upset that he could finally bring the people around him to stay together and rise? Never.

“If I knew you were going to be this bored, I would’ve picked something else,” Kuroo mumbles, breaking you out of your train of thought again.

“Kuroo, I was bored the second time you made me watch this.” He chuckles a little bit. “Crime documentaries are only interesting the first time.”

“I don’t agree with that, but I’ll put something new on, okay?” Scrolling lazily through the options on Netflix, you sit back and sigh. It doesn’t go unnoticed. “Something wrong?”

“Just thinking about how cool you’ve gotten,” you reply, trying to sound as sarcastic as possible. But it’s true. He started as a childhood crush that you merely dismissed as something part of growing up together and talking every day, but it had spiraled out of control before you could control it.

“Falling for me?” he teases with a wry grin.

“I’ve been falling, Tetsu.” It comes out of your mouth almost instinctively. Perhaps you were getting frustrated with the weird limbo that the two of you found yourself in, stuck in the area of something more than friends but not quite lovers. You bite the inside of you cheek to stop yourself from saying anything else.

He’s silent. You wish he weren’t. It’s foolish, but the smallest part of you hopes he’ll say that he feels the same, but you also know about his circumstances, his parents, and his worst fears. It’s selfish of you, and you take his silence as an affirmation of that.

“I’m sorry,” you murmur, getting up from the couch. “I’ll get going.”

As you walk quietly outside of his house, you feel a pang of hurt. He doesn’t try to stop you, and you don’t blame him after crossing the unspoken boundary that he’s worked so hard to establish and maintain. But still, you miss him by your side walking you home, lending you a jacket if it was too cold. It’s your first time walking home alone in years, you realize, and you suddenly understand how quiet the night can be without the occasional rambling about chemical compounds or impressive volleyball matches.

When you get home, you almost forget about why you’re feeling so upset in the first place and try to call him before realizing that shouldn’t. You promptly hang up.

iii.

Kuroo dislikes conflict, especially when it has time to grow into something bigger. That’s why, the moment you walk out of his house, he considers his options. He could walk right out of his house to chase you, but what would he even say? He doesn’t like his throat feeling dry, and he definitely does not enjoy not having the proper words. It’s not something he can take lightly, because they’re your feelings, and he can’t step on them any longer.

He supposes that option two would be to wait for things to cool down so that he can apologize for being scared, for loving you so much that he’s afraid to waste your time, get you hopeful, and then let you down. He wonders if you for exactly how long he’s wanted to tell you his feelings and thinks back to his lonely childhood when you were the only one who offered to listen to him, the only one he could rely on, his savior. He didn’t dare to say anything then, and neither did he in high school, but he secretly hoped that teenage impulse would’ve taken the reigns then. It never did.

Instead, he’d just spend his every waking moment thinking about you and his every free weekend by your side while slowly, steadily creating boundaries to prevent himself from acting dumb. It’s a paradox of struggling to stay close to you but keeping you away just enough so that Kuroo won’t give in to instinct. Whether or not the two of you could go back to normal now wasn’t clear to him, and that’s exactly what he despises. Kuroo appreciates clarity and supported answers akin to a well-written research paper or the sound of a volleyball after a cleanly killed spike. He likes to know things, to be sure.

But most importantly, he values settling arguments in a quick and timely manner. He wills to learn from his parents’ mistakes, but the pit of fear he feels as he’s running toward your house close to midnight is a sign to him that he’s just the same as the people he doesn’t want to be like. Perhaps had he cared for you less, he wouldn’t have bothered to make amends. And perhaps you would’ve moved on and found a soulmate that you knew for sure was fated for your love and affection.

He throws pebbles at your bedroom window, hoping that you’re still up. He’s never seen you sleep before 1 AM, but he’s still nervous. When you don’t answer, he tries calling instead. Multiple times.

“What is it?” you mumble quietly, and he finds himself feeling oddly relieved. You open your bedroom window and squint, faintly making out Kuroo’s figure on your yard.

“I wanted to talk,” he replies slowly and takes a deep breath. You don’t say anything, so he takes it as a cue to continued. “I, uh, well first off, thanks. I appreciate it.”

“For someone who breaks into the weirdest motivational speeches I’ve ever heard in my life, you’re sure making this awkward, Tetsu.” Well at least you still had the humor in him to tease him. That’s a good sign.

“There’s not an easy way for me to tell you how much I don’t want to hurt you,” Kuroo answers. Even though it’s dark outside, the dim streetlight lets you see that he has his head hung down low. “Y/N, I like you. And I’m sorry.”

You feel your head spinning. You’re not even sure what he’s trying to say, so instead, you grip your phone tightly. “You better not be talking about liking me as a friend, Tetsu.”

“Yikes, do you really take me for someone like that,” he winces. “I mean it romantically Y/N.”

“Then why are you apologizing?” Your question comes out in shock, and you’re sure that he can hear your heart beat from outside of the window. He looks up at you, smiling.

“Because I don’t know if I should’ve told you,” Kuroo admits. “I don’t know…if we’re meant to be together, and I don’t want to fight with you every day.”

“Tetsu, we’ve known each other for years now, and whenever we fight, we always talk it out,” you say softly into the phone. There’s a brief pause, giving time for Kuroo to deliberate. You bite the bottom of your lip, feeling uncomfortable when he doesn’t say anything back. “I know you’re scared, and I understand why. I’m not gonna force you into something you don’t want to do. We can stay as friends, you know?”

“But I do want something more,” he argues back almost instantly. You hear him tsk under his breath through the line. “Do you…do you know how long I’ve wanted to hold your hand? Y/N, everything I look at reminds me of you, even the little cracks on the sidewalk. But what if we end up hating each other? We can’t even go back to being friends if that happens, and I-“

“Or we fall madly in love with each other.” Kuroo thinks your answer through carefully. Sure, that sounded more likely than his worst-case scenario, but he’s sure that’s what his parents thought too when they started dating and got married. He can’t say for sure though since the only time he’s seen them together was when any sort of affection they used to hold for one another was already gone.  

“Tetsu, we’ll be fine. I know it.”

And just like that, he feels his restraints break apart, years of love and adoration for you spilling out. “I’ll do my best—no. I promise I’ll never hurt you.” He silently makes a mental list of vows, swearing himself to never leave you crying alone, to never drag on arguments for weeks, to never throw anything at you.

“Yeah?” you murmur and take his words to heart. Kuroo’s a man of his word, loyal to a fault. It’s why you fell for him in the first place. “Now, care to come in and tell me exactly what about the sidewalk cracks reminds you of me? I’d like to know.”

iv.

“Babe, last chip,” Kuroo offers, handing you the nearly empty aluminum bag of Lays. You turn away from the movie the two of you are watching to look at him skeptically.

“What happed to my chip-hog, Kuroo Tetsurou?” you ask, feigning shock. He rolls his eyes so hard that you think they’re going to get stuck at the back of his head and starts to take the bag away from you. “Kidding, kidding. Thank you for the last chip. Your generosity is very much appreciated.”

“I’ll have you know that I usually eat healthy, unlike someone I know.” You can’t argue that and instead try to reach for the chip, feeling around the oily inside. You notice Kuroo’s keen gaze on you, unusually keen.

“If you wanted the last bite that badly, you can have it,” you laugh, but he shakes his head, offering a weak smile. You’re about to ask why he’s so strangely before your finger tips feel something solid against the bag. After a little bit of further investigation, you realize that it’s round and metallic and not the last chip. “Tetsu…”

“Sorry, I already had the last chip to be honest,” he confesses rather awkwardly. “There is a leftover though.”

You pull out the item and hold it against the light. The ring itself is just a little bit oily after spending some time in the bag, but it glimmers brightly. Kuroo holds his breath, waiting for a more vocal reaction from you, hands balled up into fists so tightly that his knuckles turn white. Your eyes dart back and forth between the silver band and his face contorted with anxiety as if he was expecting rejection.

You can’t believe it.

“Tetsu, I love it,” you murmur, awestruck. You take one of his fists, open it up, and place the ring into his palm. “Put it on for me, please.”

Kuroo’s hands are shaking as he gently grabs your fingers, sliding the ring on with ease. He let’s out a sigh of relief upon seeing that the fit is correct, but that isn’t enough to stop his excitement. He hears his heart beating in his ears and feels his eyes become dangerously wet as he looks at you. You smile and then laugh.

“Why are you crying, Tetsu?” you ask. He’s heard your voice thousands of times now, but there’s something about it now, it’s honey-like quality, that makes him melt even more and falls in love all over again. Pulling you into his chest, he buries his face into the crook of your neck so that you can’t see him crying, but you sure can feel the dampness from his tears and his shaking body. “Hm?”

“I didn’t think you’d say yes.” His voice is just above a whisper, tickling your ear. You feel him press a slow kiss onto your neck before continuing. “I dunno…I thought you wouldn’t want to do the whole marriage thing with me.”

“Why not?” You’re devastated that he’d even think that and wonder what you haven’t been doing to give him that boost of confidence. Kuroo notices your sudden change in tone, nuzzling further into his neck while making a sound of disagreement.

“It’s not your fault,” he mumbles. “It’s just…why would you marry someone that isn’t even your soulmate for sure?”

“We’re soulmates even if our quotes don’t match.” You say it with so much confidence that Kuroo’s heart almost stops. He knows that neither of you can be sure, not with so many people with the same engraving in his chest, but he feels as if he can believe you. “What about you? If anything, I thought that you didn’t want to do the whole marriage thing.”

Kuroo doesn’t reply. Instead he thinks back to the first major fight you two had. It started as something small and trivial but grew faster than he had anticipated into something much more serious. He remembers the yelling, the words exchanged that neither of you truly meant, and the door slamming and the lonely night he spent sleeping on the couch that followed. He had thought that it was over, that the two of you weren’t meant to be together, and it crushed him. Without noticing, he had become greedy and wanted to desperately keep you in his arms at night instead of letting you slip away to another possible soulmate, so when you finally left your room the following morning and broke into a conversation, compromising and talking over the events from the previous night, it was a weight off his shoulders.

But more importantly, it convinced him that the two of you were already far better than his parents who had left their problems unsolved. He could do this, and so could you, he reasons, and that was exactly what he thought when he bought the ring.

“I just love you a lot and wanted to try something new, you know? Maybe it could work out, like you said,” he finally answers, leaving his thoughts behind. He leaves his spot at your neck to face you, eyes fond with a grin. “And to be honest? I don’t think I’d be able to let you go that easily. Soulmate or not, you have me wrapped around your finger.”

You laugh and trail your fingers across his cheat. “I’m glad you think that way, because I’d hate not being forced to watch these boring movies every weekend.”

“You seemed pretty invested a little while ago though,” he teases back, pecking you on the cheek.

“No way.” You return the action by kissing the tip of his nose and raking your fingers through his hair. You swear he purrs but choose not the ruin the moment. “I was just thinking about something.”

“About me?” he says with his goofy smirk.

“Yeah,” is all you say, but before you can respond with something witty, Kuroo presses his lips to yours. He feels your eyes flutter shut and hums in content, smiling a little at your reaction. The two of you would be much more than just okay, he thinks, finding your hand once again to run his fingers over your ring. And then, feeling a little bit courageous, he find himself imagining a petal-adorned aisle and ringing bells, all with you standing by with him.

[smkkbert]

Last Wish (3/13)

Oliver feels like his life is crumbling when his best friend reveals that she is sick. Desperate to help her through the toughest time of her life, Oliver puts all his energy in fulfilling the wishes on Felicity’s bucket list. His hardest challenge - Felicity’s last wish on the list is getting married.

Previous Chapters: 1 2 

* * *

Chapter 3: Avoidance

“It is a pity.”

Raisa sighed when she took the plate from Felicity and trashed the scrambled eggs, toasts and mushrooms. It was the fifth morning in a row that she had to do this. Since the last thirty minutes of picking in the food while Raisa had tried to encourage her to try at least a bite hadn’t helped to stimulate Felicity’s appetite at all, she knew that there was no good in waiting any longer. Felicity wouldn’t touch the breakfast.

“I’m sorry, Raisa.” Felicity rubbed her fingers over the top of her chest. “You shouldn’t need to trash what you cooked for me and-“

“Don’t worry about that,” Raisa interrupted her with a soft shake of her head, “because that is not what I meant.”

Felicity looked at Raisa doubtingly. She knew how much Raisa loved cooking and Felicity certainly wasn’t the first person to be unable to eat any of the delicious food she had cooked, but it still felt terrible to see the food being trashed.

“You used to have such a great appetite,” Raisa said with a soft smile, “which really made it a pleasure to watch you eat.”

Felicity smiled at Raisa’s words, knowing that she was right. There had been times when Felicity had devoured food. She had started with a big breakfast, had had sandwiches for lunch, some snacks in the afternoon, pizza for dinner and finally some midnight burgers when she had managed to convince Oliver to take her to Big Belly Burger. Felicity missed those times. She missed enjoying food.

Lowering her eyes, she just shrugged her shoulders. She knew that she would never get her appetite back, so there was no good in reminiscing about it. It would only make her pity herself, and she couldn’t have that.

When Raisa rested her hand over Felicity’s, squeezing it comfortingly, Felicity lifted her gaze. Raisa was smiling at her softly. She exuded a deep calmness that wrapped Felicity in like a warm blanket.

“How are you feeling?” she asked. “Apart from the missing appetite I mean?”

Felicity had been asked this a lot lately. Everyone who knew how sick she was now, asked how she was doing. It was almost a little exhausting to repeat the same things again and again, but she knew that the people around her really just wanted to check on her. They wanted to hear how she was doing, so they could estimate the current status of her health. Just like Felicity had predicted, living with someone that you knew was going to die was not easy.

“The mornings are always the worst,” Felicity replied with a shrug of her shoulders, “especially with the nausea, the headaches and the dizziness.”

While she always had dinner with the Queen Family, she was taking her lunch and her breakfast alone if she ate anything at all. The increased show of symptoms in the mornings were definitely one reason for it. That Robert and Moira usually left the house before eight o’clock was another one. With the little sleep Felicity got, she didn’t waste any second of it, so she just slept in instead of setting an alarm.

“My arm is getting worse too,” Felicity added quietly, looking at her fingers that twitched even with Raisa’s hand holding them, “and I guess it will get worse constantly.”

Raisa squeezed Felicity’s fingers once more. Her smile grew even warmer.

“It’s a good thing that Mr. Oliver convinced you to move in here. You are exactly where you are supposed to be.”

Felicity felt her smile breaking a little bit. As much as she still appreciated his offer and as comfortable as she was feeling here in the Queen Manor, Felicity still wasn’t sure if it had been the right choice. The symptoms were still quite shallow in comparison to what was about to come. She wasn’t sure if Oliver or his parents would be able to deal with it.

“You are where you are supposed to be,” Raisa repeated, “because this gives the Queen Family the opportunity to give back what you have given them in the last years.”

“I don’t need them to give me anything back. I liked to help them.”

“And they like to help you.” Raisa smiled. “Don’t take that away from them because you think that you have to protect them.”

It was almost scary how well Raisa understood what was going on inside of Felicity. Felicity barely knew anything about Raisa other than that she had been working for the Queen's like forever. She had helped raise Oliver and Thea, being like a second mom to them. She was part of the family and not just an employee.

“And I will continue trying to find some food that your stomach can take,” Raisa added and patted Felicity’s hand briefly, “because breakfast is important. It will help you to get back onto your feet.”

Well, at least for now Felicity was still standing. She thought it only to herself quietly. She knew others didn’t want to hear that. For Felicity, it was important though. She had to ready herself.

“Do you have any idea what could work?” Raisa asked. “Is there anything you’d like to eat?”

Felicity shook her head. “Not really.”

“Don’t worry. I will find something then.”

Felicity didn’t doubt that. Raisa would move heaven and hell to make it work. She’d cook a thousand different breakfasts until she had finally found something that Felicity would give a try eating and that would actually stay in her stomach.

“You know, the only food that has never disappointed me is BB burger.”

Raisa perked up her eyebrows. “For breakfast?”

Felicity shrugged her shoulders. “They never disappointed me.”

A quiet laugh made Felicity turn around to see Oliver leaning in the frame of the door. His body was shaking slightly from the laughter he was trying to bite back. His eyes sparkled with amusement, and it actually caused Felicity to smile too.

“Raisa, I have tried to have a good influence on Felicity’s eating behaviors, but it is really hopeless,” Oliver said with a deep sigh and shook his head. “She is a hopeless case.”

“Oh, we will see about that.”

Raisa winked at the both of them before she left the kitchen, leaving Felicity and Oliver alone. Felicity turned around on the stool completely, so she was facing Oliver. He crossed the distance towards her and kissed her temple.

“How did you sleep?”

“Like a baby.”

Oliver narrowed his eyes at her. “A very young baby that does not sleep through the night yet, but actually wakes up again and again?”

“Exactly.”

Although Oliver chuckled, he didn’t look half as amused as he had looked before. Indeed, the amusement wasn’t in his eyes anymore. He could pretend to be amused about how little sleep she had caught this morning, but it didn’t change that he actually hated it. He hated that she didn’t catch sleep lightly because he knew that she was most likely in pain and the little sleep exhausted her even more than she was exhausted already.

Felicity cleared her throat and lowered her gaze. She couldn’t see the pain in Oliver’s eyes. She didn’t want to.

“I guess you haven’t slept very well either,” Felicity said, knowing that distraction was the best way to deal with this, “or why are you in the kitchen at a time that you usually consider to be in the middle of the night?”

Oliver shrugged his shoulders and pushed his hands into the pockets of his pants. “I have actually been up for an hour or two already.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I got back from Verdant early last night, so I didn’t need to sleep in?”

Felicity frowned. “You came back early?”

Oliver rarely ever came home from the club early, at least he didn’t do so alone. At least one of his employees had once mentioned something like that. She had tried to ask Oliver about it, but he had changed the subject quite quickly. Apparently, although they were friends, he didn’t feel comfortable talking to her about something like that.

Anyway, Felicity knew Oliver well enough to know that he’d usually stay until the next morning when everything had been taken care of and prepared for the next night. He always arrived at work first and was the last to leave. It drove his managers insane, but he liked to be in control of things.

This, her sickness, was something he couldn’t control at all which Felicity guessed was part of the reason that he had wanted her to move in with him for the months she had left. As long as she was right in reach, he felt like he did have some control over the situation. Felicity was sure that his

“I think I was in bed at around twelve.” Oliver shrugged his shoulders. “Anyway, I used the last hour to prepare a surprise for you.”

Oliver smiled secretively, holding out a hand for her. Felicity frowned slightly, looking from his hand at his face and back down at his hand.

Of course it was nice that Oliver had prepared a surprise for her, but she wasn’t sure that it was a good sign. He had invited her to live here to have her close. He was skipping hours that he usually spent working to prepare a surprise for her. Those were just two little things, but Felicity felt that it wasn’t a good sign.

“Come on, Felicity,” Oliver pleaded with her, “you will like it.”

She knew that he wasn’t nearly ready to talk about the future he’d have to live in without her. Felicity wasn’t sure what stage of grief he was at exactly. She felt like he showed signs of denial as much as bargaining. Maybe it was something like that. Either way, Felicity knew that Oliver wasn’t nearly ready to move on.

Felicity rolled her lips over her teeth and put her fingers in Oliver’s hand. He didn’t hesitate, linking her arm with his and leading her towards the large doors that led out onto the terrace.

Felicity had to squeeze her eyes shut at the glaring light. The summer wasn’t helping her to feel any better at all. It seemed to reach right into her head and squeeze the epicenter of her headache. She also felt forced to move even more slowly and carefully as her bones and muscles felt wobbly from the unbearable warmth. Like wax, it seemed to melt, losing all tension or all ability to carry her.

Instinctively, she moved closer towards Oliver, resting more and more weight on him. It didn’t go unnoticed by him. Instead, Oliver’s muscles tensed a little as he did his best to keep her upright.

When he led her towards the stairs, Felicity released a deep sigh and said, “I fear that you gotta be patient with me. I might need some time to get down there.”

“If there is one thing we have, it’s time.”

Felicity already took in a breath to reply, but she quickly changed her mind and bit back on her comment instead. Oliver wasn’t ready to really talk about her disease. He certainly couldn’t hear her joke about it either. She would have to give him more time before she could start making fun of it which, admittedly, was her way of dealing with this.

“You know, if you have trouble with stairs, I am sure my parents wouldn’t mind installing a stair lift,” Oliver said, holding onto her hand tightly and doing his best to give her leverage on their way down the stairs, “if it makes things easier for you.”

Felicity waved it off. “I doubt that it will be worth the cost. I won’t be using it for long anyway.”

She could feel Oliver’s muscles tensing even more at her words. His face showed pain although he really did his best to hide it. His Adam’s apple jumped high in his throat when he swallowed hard at the words.

Felicity bit down on her tongue. She hadn’t thought about it before she had said the words. They had just been on the tip of her tongue, so she had just said them. Of course Oliver had caught up on the dark thought that was beneath it.

The stair lift wouldn’t be worth it because she wouldn’t be able to use it for long. Because she was going to die. No matter how hard they tried to avoid it, it would never stop being true.

Stopping on the broad staircase on the middle of the stairs, Felicity turned around to Oliver. She put her hand around his, holding them gently. Her thumbs stroked over the back of his hands slowly. She was rubbing small circles into his skin, trying to comfort him.

“I am sorry,” she whispered quietly, “I shouldn’t have said that.”

Oliver shook his head. “It’s okay. I guess you are right. I mean you are sick and-“

His voice broke. As much as Oliver tried hiding it, Felicity could see how much all of this was taking a toll on him. Talking about how sick she really was just brought back to the surface what he had been tried to push down since the moment he had known about it now.

It was part of the reason why she had figured it would be better to move into a hospice than anything else. She wanted Oliver to have the time he needed to process what was going to happen to her. On the other hand, maybe a little bit of shock therapy wasn’t bad either. There was going to be a point in the not-too-far future when she didn’t have any control over whether or not Oliver got any time to process after all.

Maybe, as long as she had control, she should still use it though.

“I will try to be a little gentler with you anyway.”

Felicity put her hand to the side of Oliver’s face, and he leaned it into her touch instinctively. He closed his eyes and leaned his nose against her wrist like he needed to breathe her in.

It only took a moment, Felicity couldn’t say how long that moment was, until Oliver opened his eyes and smiled at her. It didn’t quite reach his eyes, but it was convincing enough for Felicity to know that he wanted to change the subject.

He nodded towards the foot of the stairs, and Felicity nodded her head in agreement. It was time to move on from this conversation. She let Oliver lead her down the rest of the stairs and further into the garden. The thick oak trees down there, planted next to each other, offered some badly-needed shadows.

While they continued their path deeper into the park-like garden of Queen Manor, Felicity felt her body filling with more energy. Her muscles didn’t feel as wobbly anymore. The cool breeze coming through the leaves of the big trees around them energized her as much as the shadows alone did.

Back before Felicity had shown the first symptoms of cancer again, she had been so excited for summer. As a true Vegas girl – as a woman grown up in Vegas, not a Las Vegas showgirl – Felicity had always loved summer. She loved being woken by the sun and having it tickle her skin the moment she stepped outside.

Now that her health was in trouble, Felicity wished that it was winter again. Cold didn’t rob that much energy as being in the sun did. Her muscles grew so stiff that her legs would be unable to give in from right under her. She missed that feeling although she hated the idea of winter. She just wasn’t used to it, and she doubted that she ever would.

While she and Oliver were continuing to walk down the path through the garden, Felicity watched his face. He looked a little nervous which made her pucker her lips slightly and narrow her eyes at him.

“Okay, what exactly is your surprise?”

“Just wait another two minutes.”

“I would if I didn’t know you this well.”

Oliver perked up his eyebrows, turning his head towards her. He didn’t have to ask for her to know that he wondered what exactly that comment was supposed to be.

“Well, remember that one time you said you had a surprise for me, blindfolded me and took me right in front of that kangaroo habitat although you knew how scared I was of kangaroos? That really didn’t help me to trust you when it comes to surprises.”

Felicity remembered it thoroughly, and Oliver’s slightly amused and maybe even a little bit guilty smile told her that he remembered it too.

“Firstly, you deserved it,” he told her, “because you hacked my facebook account and posted all those terrible cat memes there-“

“-only because you got in the way of my date with that guy from the party and basically chased him away-“

“-because he was an idiot and certainly not nearly good enough for you, but you didn’t want to see that because he was a geek like you,” Oliver replied matter-of-factly, tapping the tip of his fingers against the tip of her nose playfully. “Besides, you should be thanking me. You got shock therapy for free. You are cured of your fear of kangaroos for a lifetime now.”

“I wouldn’t necessarily say that,” Felicity mumbled, “but-“

When they turned around a corner and Felicity saw what looked like a small building site, she stopped and frowned.

“Are your parents doing any renovations here?”

“Yes, they replace the path through the garden,” Oliver replied, taking Felicity’s hand and linking her arm with her, “which is quite convenient because it made it easier to put my plan into action.”

While Felicity still frowned at him, Oliver led her closer to the building site. He took her hand and pulled her down next to the concrete that still wasn’t completely dried it seemed. Felicity frowned.

“I don’t think I understand?”

Oliver chuckled. “Since we are paving the path through the back of the garden, I thought it was a nice idea to leave a little mark of our own here and with a mark of our own I mean your mark, so I asked the workers to help me do this. You can write into the concrete and we will add the stone to the path later.”

Felicity felt speechless at the idea. Oliver always had those sweet ideas and this one specifically warmed her heart for a lot of reasons.

“I think we both should do it,” she said eventually, “since it is your garden.”

Oliver hesitated briefly before he nodded his head. “Sure, why not?”

While Oliver started drawing random patterns into concrete, Felicity just stared at it and pressed her lips together. She had no idea how Oliver could so easily decide what mark exactly he wanted to leave here. It was a big decision, especially since it would be part of the Queen Manor for quite some time. Well, at least it would be part of it until Moira found it. Felicity doubted that she’d be too happy about this mark.

“It’s not a life-changing decision, Felicity.” Oliver bumped his shoulder against hers playfully. “Just go with your heart.”

Felicity looked at Oliver, who winked at her instantly. When he continued to turn back to the patterns he was drawing into the concrete, Felicity watched him for a moment longer. Soon, she turned her gaze back towards the yet untouched concrete right in front of her. Taking in a deep breath, she just moved a finger into the drying material and just wrote what came to her mind first.

Shalom aleichem

The words almost seemed to be staring at her. Those were the words she was going to leave here. When Oliver had kids once and Moira wouldn’t erase their marks here before that, he would maybe tell his kids about her and show them these words she had just written into the concrete.

Felicity felt a sudden wave of sadness washing over her and quickly pushed it away.

“What does that mean?” Oliver asked, leaning over to her and nodding towards what she had written into the concrete. “I do know that shalom means ‘peace’, but the rest?”

“It means ‘peace be upon you’,” Felicity explained, “which is something I figured would be nice for people who cross the garden to read. It looks like such a peaceful and almost paradise-like place, so wishing peace upon people feels like the right thing to do.”

Oliver nodded his head. “It really is.”

While he was looking at her writing in the concrete, Felicity watched his face with a small frown. Of course she knew how very well Oliver knew her. He was the best of her friends, the one she had felt closest to since they had become friends. Still, at least so far, she hadn’t believed that he knew how to read minds.

Felicity looked back at the words she had written and the patterns Oliver had drawn next to it. It looked pretty together almost like it had been supposed to be there together, complementing each other.

“I always wanted to write in wet cement,” she whispered eventually, “leaving something that lasts longer than myself. I think I developed that dream when I first watched Oliver & Company which is a little ironic because you are Oliver. Not that Oliver obviously, but one Oliver. My Oliver. I mean-”

“I know.”

Surprised, Felicity turned her head and looked at Oliver. She was quite sure that she had never told him about it. She couldn’t say why, but she was really sure that she had never said it. She would probably remember if it had been different.

“How did you-?”

Felicity stopped when Oliver reached around the tree next to him and revealed a pink book that she was very familiar with. Her fingers brushed against the cover of the book gently. It had been so long since she had last held it in her hands.

“I almost forgot this existed.”

Back when she had had cancer the first time, she had started doing this book. She had written down everything that she wanted to do in life because it should have been able to help her dream about that. She had never thought that she would get a chance to actually fulfill these dreams for herself.

When she had learned that the cancer was starting to leave her body, she had sworn to herself to make them all come true. It hadn’t taken long until she had forgotten about that though. She had been too ambitious and too focused on making a career to keep chasing the dreams she had made as a child.

Felicity smiled to herself sadly. Maybe she should have put more focus on chasing her dreams. Maybe that way she wouldn’t regret this now.

“I’m sorry for breaking into your privacy if you feel like I did do so by reading this book,” Oliver explained carefully, his voice a little hoarse, “but I wasn’t sure that you would have let me do this for you if you had known.”

Felicity bit down on her bottom lip. Oliver really did know her very well.

“You are already doing so much for me.”

Oliver scoffed. “I asked you to live in my parents’ home where our maid is taking care of you. What am I really doing for you?”

“You are here,” Felicity replied softly, taking his hand and squeezing it, “and you are my friend.”

“It’s not nearly enough.” Oliver shook his head. “I want to do more for you. I want to help make these next months maybe not the best of your life, but definitely not the worst either. I want to make your dreams come true.”

“That’s really generous of you, but-“

Now it was Oliver squeezing her hand. He looked at her intensely like he tried to reach right into her soul. He even put on that puppy expression that made it impossible to say no to him. As much as she tried to force the word out, it wouldn’t get over her lips.

“I don’t even know what I wrote in there,” Felicity said, trying to buy some time until she finally found it in her to resist Oliver’s puppy eyes, “because it’s been so long since I wrote it down. I think I haven’t taken a look at this in the last seven years. It was right after I graduated college because it made me realize that there was a time that I thought I would never get a chance to do that.”

Once more it hit her how much these last years have really been a gift to her. There hadn’t been missing much for her not to have them. These next months were kind of another gift to her. Maybe this time she should really make something out of it.

Looking at Oliver once more, she figured that he was still looking at her with his puppy eyes. She would never be able to say no to him as long as he looked at her like that.

“Fine,” she said with a long sigh, but please don’t do too much. If something doesn’t work, it doesn’t work. That is okay. If you lose interest in helping me to work on my bucket list that is okay too. Just… just don’t feel forced to make it work for whatever reason.”

“Promise,” Oliver said and framed her face with his hands, peppering some kisses onto it, “promise, promise, promise.”

Felicity chuckled about how happy Oliver was at this. Since children were full of fantasy, she was sure that she had found quite some creative wishes which meant that there was a lot of work ahead of Oliver. After all, she knew him well enough to know that he wouldn’t do this half-heartedly. He would do everything he could to make her dreams come true. He was dedicated like that if he really wanted something.

Lacing his fingers with her, Oliver looked at their marks in the concrete. Felicity followed his gaze. It really was a beautiful sight, and it did make her weirdly happy that this dream had come true although she had forgotten about it until a couple of minutes ago when Oliver had reminded her about it.

“Have already made yourself feel at home here in the manor?” Oliver asked Felicity eventually, looking at her with a soft smile. “I know it’s not really a place to feel at home, at least not easily, especially when you haven’t grown up here.”

“It does feel a little like living in a castle.” Felicity chuckled lowly. “Yesterday I caught myself afraid to use the banister because I didn’t want to leave scratches in the wood. Everything is so-“

“-old and scary?”

“Nobel.”

Oliver waved it off. “I slid down the banister regularly when I was a child, and nothing ever broke. It’s the good thing about old, scary, noble things. They don’t break that easily.”

“I will try to get that into my head.”

Oliver chuckled at that. “I am sure it won’t be that hard since you are pretty smart.”

“I am,” Felicity replied, “although I do feel like I have lost a lot of my brain cells since this tumor started growing again. It’s weird, but I can almost feel the tumor growing inside of me which is probably just me losing sanity, but I swear to god, sometimes my head feels like it will explode because the tumor is trying to make room and-“

“If you need anything, just say it.”

Oliver’s interruption took Felicity by that much surprise that she almost swallowed her tongue at the attempt to fall quiet. She looked at Oliver, eyeing him. He was avoiding her eyes, looking at the concrete instead. As much as he tried to hide it, Felicity could see how uncomfortable he was feeling though.

Once more it hit her how he was nowhere ready enough to talk about how sick she really was. He knew that she was dying, but he hadn’t progressed at all. He didn’t even want to progress it. He was avoiding thinking about it or anything regarding her terrible health. That was also why he wanted to help her with her bucket list. It was going to distract him from facing the truth.

A little part of Felicity was sure that she should make sure Oliver started processing this before she was actually about to die. She just found herself being unable to do so.

“I don’t think I need anything other than a few more days to get used to this,” she told him, “but thank you.”

 * * *

 Opening the door as quietly as possible, Oliver glimpsed inside. The hallway didn’t spend enough light for him to see Felicity’s face. He could barely see the silhouette of her body under the blanket. Her chest was rising and falling evenly, telling him that she was probably fast asleep already.

Oliver hesitated before he stepped into the room and tiptoed to her bed. His eyes needed a moment until they were adjusted to the dark. Soon enough, he could see her face though, and he couldn’t stop a soft smile from spreading on his lips at the sight of how peaceful Felicity looked.

Sitting down on the edge of the mattress, Oliver just watched Felicity for a long moment.

It was only eight thirty, but she was already fast asleep. She didn’t have much energy. She usually got up early in the mornings after she had had little to no sleep in the night. Usually, she napped after lunch, but Oliver had kind of kept her busy all day, trying to make every second with her count. Too late, he had noticed that him keeping her busy had only resulted in her having even less energy to make it through the evening. She had gone to bed right after dinner.

Oliver sighed softly, lifting his hand and stroking his fingers over Felicity’s soft skin. She was running a slight fever, but he knew that it was normal given what she and her body were going through. He had read a lot about it since she had told him about it. Eventually, he had stopped because it had just been too depressing and too scary.

Looking at Felicity now, he couldn’t believe that any of what he had read could possibly happen to her. She looked too peaceful. She looked so damn peaceful that he couldn’t imagine that she was going through bad headaches already. She’d suffer from changes in vision. She was having trouble with nausea already, and she’d start vomiting regularly too. She already had problems with balance, but they’d get worse, and she might even lose the ability to move the way she wanted to if the tumor was in some specific part of her brain. Her behavior might change and the consciousness would be reduced. She would become a shell of the woman she was, the woman he loved.

Just thinking about it made him feel like he was dying right with her. He wanted to die right there because without her there was just no reason to live at all. She’d take all the light that was in his life with her when she went to heaven.

When Oliver felt his throat starting to burn and tears welling in his eyes, he leaned over and brushed a kiss against Felicity’s forehead. She sighed sleepily and snuggled deeper into the fluffy pillow.

“Night, Oliver.”

Oliver smiled. Even in her sleep, she could feel that he was there with her. That was how well they really knew each other.

“Night, Felicity,” he whispered, tugging the blanket a little closer around her because he just knew that she was feeling a little cold despite how hot it really was, “have sweet dreams.”

With that, Oliver got up and left her room. He closed the door as quietly as possible, wiping away the tears that were still welling in his eyes. With quick steps, he walked over towards his room on the other side of the hallway then.

As soon as the door was closed behind him, he leaned back against the wood of the door and closed his eyes. He couldn’t let all the emotions that threatened to drown him in, at least not yet. He wasn’t ready, not as long as Felicity wasn’t dying because, as long as she wasn’t dying, Oliver knew that he had a purpose. As her best friend, it was his duty to make sure that her last months were going to be everything she could hope for. It was his obligation to make her dreams come true.

With that thought in mind, Oliver released the breath he had been holding slowly. He nodded his head to himself slowly, letting the thought sink in. He used it like a mantra.

Felicity deserved everything in the world. She deserved to have her dreams come true, so he would make them come true.

He repeated those words to himself again and again. At first, he just said them in his head, but it didn’t take long until his lips were chiming into it. He whispered the words, letting his ears hear them until his heart and brain believed it.

Taking in another deep breath, Oliver sat down at his desk and switched on the small lamp that was there. Felicity’s pink book was still resting on the desk, so all he had to do was pull it closer and open it eventually.

He had been reading Felicity’s wishes at least a dozen times since he had found the book, but he read them again nonetheless.

When he reached the fourth page, the one that said that she wanted to write in wet cement, Oliver took a red pen and put a little tick in the bottom right corner. He had made it. He had made the first of her wishes come true.

Felicity had already had the sleigh ride that she had always wished for. She had also graduated college. She had even visited Bethlehem. All those three wishes had been fulfilled. Writing into wet concrete had been the first wish he had made come true though, and Oliver felt incredibly proud of it.

Looking at the other wishes, Oliver already had some ideas. He knew how he wanted to handle some of them, while others were more difficult, he guessed. It didn’t matter if he didn’t have good ideas for some of them yet. He couldn’t prioritize her wishes given how quickly he thought he could put them into action. He had to prioritize them depending on how fit Felicity needed to be for her to enjoy them.

She wanted to take self-defense lessons. That wish had replaced her graduation from college, so Oliver guessed that it was the last wish she had written into that book. Now it would be the first to come true.

Oliver already thought about what techniques he would teach her when he wondered if he was even the best choice to train her. He would love to be the one because it meant that he got to spend quality time with her. He just knew that John would be a much better trainer. He had trained him, so Oliver knew exactly what a good teacher he was.

As much as Oliver hated the thought, he guessed that he should ask John to train Felicity. He could still be there with them and spend time with them. He didn’t have to leave everything to John. They could-

When Oliver reached the last page of the book, he stopped. What he had assumed to be the last page was stuck with the page after that. Carefully, Oliver pulled the two pages apart to reveal a tenth wish that he had never noticed before. It was written with the same handwriting of a child that all those first wishes had been written with.

Reading that wish made Oliver’s thoughts come to a sudden stop and his heart skipping a beat.

I want to get married.

* * *

@fannaz @promiseyoullbepatientwithme @bytemegeekette @felicity-said-just-in-case @phanseptiic @orangeisorange @mspotatohead14 @whentheheavenfades @emmaamelia95 @smoakingskye @seaolicity @ourwritinginvein @1022bridgetp @felicityqueenforever @leagueofolicity17 @yryssss @myhauntedblacksoul @sherlock44 @sinceriouslybea @olivyflavescentdeer @olicitys-castle @ofnothingcharming @vaelisamaza @smoakedandcharmed @alexisa1206 @mysaudadespt2 @florence-bubbles @addictiontelly @queens-of-arrows @memcjo @hysterical-for-joshifer-blog @oswinelevenforever @olicitylovemaking @bandanab310 @mymusiclove101 @lynslogic @scarletqueen23 @olicityshipper19 @alex-wesley @arrows-4ever @unabashedlynerdypatrol @louehmysoul @ligiapimenta @chattyyana @charlie-leau @coal000 @samcrowleys @ishippolivia @julianegomesqueen @malafle @miriam1779 @charlinert @melaux @ontheolicityship @myshipperlife @wrightainsley @lexi9515 @ladygreenwood @multi-fandom-crazy-fangirl @morinamel @mje-thomas @kebarry @canadianheartgirl @nannett2307 @almondblossomme @kathrynelizabeth89 @imdfabulous @mrt2501 @arsipaci14 @salasvia @brandis91 @cainc3 @morganmiguess @pr0fessi0nal-fangurl @iamisalima @nessafrancis-blog @jonhdiggle @niki-is-amazing @universed-posts @hopeful-warrior @senoritaswiftie @bellemmie @green-arrows-of-karamel @iheartarrow @olicityovereverything @oliverfel4 @olicity-in-the-heart @fullychippedcreation @geemarie @everything-but-normal-cat @myarroworld @tjmartinez @pleasantfanandstudent @j69confessional2 @scentedcolorpirate @icanica74 @tjmartinez98 @certainmentalityface @tatianadamaceno @ryelew @wildwillowzepplin @missafairy @letsplaymurde-r @lipizette @positivepiper @nuttymilkshakehologram @laksagirl @turnupthemusicandscream @pumpernickle93 @onceuponanolicity @1106angel @jaspertown @fadinglands @morganashimi83 @mochababychristy @omglovechrissie @mariejr88-blog @thetaufactor @onceuponanolicity @speakandseethetruth @bri206 @aglasgo @geemarie @pineprincess @nerdgirljen @eternal-olicity14 @allyouhadtodowas-stay-stay-stay​ @lovelycssefan @tsseract @flowerandsunshine @dcnmarvelgamergeek​ @blondeeoneexox​ @monetsmark​ @bb-olicity @mashamarty​ @rulerofsilence​ @erika-amber​ @nothingmorethanmyotps @kayleenyc​ @tonto16​ @olicityfluv​ @olicitea1990​ @haahaaa2408 @pattid1​ @faegal04​ @24karatgem​ @wrldtravler​ @readerkas​ @olicity-beliver @greencoffeecups @snorlaxishere

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alrighty, play-by-play recap time!

“A shining civilization, until it fell...INTO THE SEA.” Something about that line/delivery makes me laugh

Kind of wish we had seen them solve to clues to Mervana

Why was this Huey’s quest? He doesn’t end up doing much. Did he chose this adventure?

“I like them.” “We know, Webby.”

Scrooge and Huey nerding out together is ADORABLE

Louie is already done

“Cool, now there’s two people who want to put us in constant danger.” Donald understands your pain. We need an episode focusing on Louie and Donald

I NEED to know why Della hates fish 

Why is Della piloting the sub if she hates the ocean? I feel like Donald would be more qualified

“HEY, KNOCK IT OFF!” That was SUCH a sibling moment

LP isn’t here because he needed a break after last week’s episode OR something went down when he was with Oceanika and he can’t be in the ocean for some reason

Louie knows how this shit goes down

So according to Louie’s chart; Huey has been sacrificed the less with 10, then Webby with 15, Louie at 23, and Dewey at 63 

“DEWEY’S ON TOP!” Sweetie, that’s not a good thing. How many of those times do you think LP saved him?

I bet Donald had/has a tally sheet too

Webby is PRECIOUS

“Life’s not some fairytale filled with happy endings and...” “MERMAIDS!” Webby is SUCH A MOOD this episode 

It’s so cute how in AWE all of them are...

Except for Della

One more Della moment in the theme

Poor Donald

Those things in Aletheia’s headband look like eyes and I can’t unsee it. Also, STARFIRE THE MERMAID!

BEAST BOY THE MERMAN! He pretty much looks like a duck/mermaid version of Greg. It’s great

“So, speaking as a mermaid, WHAT’S IT LIKE TO ACHIEVE MY DREAM?!” WEBBY IS ME

I know the “suffering builds character” line is a joke, but it rubs me the wrong way

How is Scrooge’s hat not floating away?

Della’s reaction to saying fish is how I feel about eating fish

“Look at this stuff, isn’t neat!” THAT’S MY GIRL! I bet The Little Mermaid is Webby’s favorite Disney movie

This was much less dangerous than the last time Webby played hacky sack

Scrooge 100% DONE when they say that he’ll have to give up his worldly possessions

 THERE’S THAT ONE MERMAID THAT LOOKS LIKE GOSALYN! I’m gonna pretend they are distantly related

Why is Honestus’ statue so BEEFY?

 Louie is ALREADY calling bullshit

NO ONE MAY TOUCH THE DONALD

“Wow, a laid-back society where everything is free. Sounds PERFECT for you!” “It’s too perfect.” I love when Louie and Webby are paired off. They have pretty much opposite views of the world

“IT’S. A. TRAP! And take it down a notch, Beakley!” “Sorry, I was trying to drown out your nonsense.” You’re harshing her vibes, bro

 “These hippies are harmless!”

Donald playing drums is adorable

“Operation Flower Power was...groovy.” FIRST THAT SUMMER IN PARAGUAY, NOW THIS! TELL ME YOUR SECRETS! Beakley probably has fucked as many people as Launchpad, possibly more

The face Louie makes after Beakley leaves is great. He knows Beakley fucks and does NOT want to think about that

I want to know all the warnings on the cave. My favorite of the ones I could see was NAAAAAHHHHHHH!

“Those MER-MURDERERS” Alliteration is fun, kids!

Digging the more proactive Louie, even if it is just to keep himself from dying

Donald is digging the vibe and Dewey is SO FOCUSED on playing the drums

FUCK YEAH, ARTS AND CRAFTS! Dewey was like “MY TIME HAS COME!” And Donald seemed pretty happy about arts and crafts too

Donald was TOTALLY checking out his own ass

Dewey is SO FOCUSED. Arts and crafts are SERIOUS BUSINESS

He looks SO PISSED when Scrooge takes the tail

Why do they have toxic markers? Hell, where did they even GET those markers?

“They’re ALL our markers” That face she makes is great

Dude, the harp fucking DRAGGED Honestus! We stan!

“It’s a beautiful castle made of coral and shells...” Webby, those are ruins

I knew that fish monster was Honestus. He had a crown and everything. Also they call him a sea serpent but nothing about him is serpent-like 

“This is a chase” Is that really any better than a trap?

BEAKLEY TO THE RESCUE

“I’ve never been happier to see an adult!”

“Same thing we are-snoopin”

Webby ended up being spot on that the Mervanans had no idea what was really going on

“Something is going on here.” And Louie raises his arms in victory

I want more Beakley and Louie episodes. They are both cynical but deal with it in different ways, especially when it comes to Webby. Plus Louie has a unique position when he’s been the one that had secrets kept from him

“Her optimism is her strength!” “You can’t hide the truth from her forever!” “I kept her in a mansion for a decade, that worked out pretty well.” I don’t know why but this reminds me of how the Crystal Gems and Greg dealt with Steven

I love that Huey’s tail has the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook logo on it

Me and my sister agreed that Donald’s tail looks like an Easter egg

DONALD IS OUR LORD AND SAVIOR! NAMASTE, MY FRIEND

Dewey has flames on his tail because of course he does

“Man, these are hard to get around in. And off I go.” He just accepts that he’s falling

I’m with Louie, FUCK STAIRS

Della has that dumbass energy. We stan. Also, she and LP need to hang out. I feel like they’d somehow both lose in a game of Go Fish. Stupid, beautiful pilots :’)

“MOM LOOK AT MY SUPER COOL FINS!” “*gags* I have no family.”

CAPITALISTS DO NOT GET TO KNOW TRUE PEACE

Donald and Huey nodding after Aletheia calls Scrooge a judgemental boomer, beautiful

“I don’t want inner-truth, I want outer harp!” That’s a good line

“Scrooge, back to the arts and crafts section!” And then his face! Golden!

Louie clinging to Beakley’s arm is so cute

I LOVE YOU, HARP LADY!

“But I only tell the truth, a thing the merpeople used to value.” I feel like that could apply to other (current) situations

Whenever Honestus speaks during the song I lol

Also, what hard work was going on above the sea? Was there like a war or something? I need more!

I think the Harp and Honestus were a thing at one point

If the merpeople become more monstrous the longer they stay in the water, why are the ones who have lived their ENTIRE LIVES in the ocean still humanoid? How long was he gone? How many generations have come and gone? Why didn’t he age? I NEED MORE INFORMATION

Poor Webby. The person she trusted the most has been lying to her for who knows how long! I think we know what Webby’s arc for the season will involve

Louie does NOT want to be in the middle of this

MER-MURDER-MAIDS!

I want to PERSONALLY THANK the GENIUS that had David Tennant use hippie slang. You did the lord’s work

The face Scrooge makes when he thinks that they are gonna take his money is PRICELESS

I feel bad for the Mervanans. They were left to fend for themselves. They did pretty good for themselves all things considered but still

Della taking baby steps only to be pushed right back into her comfort zone, I felt that

She’s just like, nope

“Gotta get harp down. Gotta save family. Maybe sell the harp later.” The kid has his priorities straight

The way the Harp acts when Beakley picks her up is a mood and I ship it

“Is that what I sound like? Oh, boy.” I love the way Bobby says “oh, boy”

“We would never!” “Yeah, we’re vegan.” At least these merpeople actually flat out say they don’t eat fish, unlike other merpeople who act all high and mighty even though they probably eat fish too

I love the one dude who just kinda flaps out of the water

“I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS.” “CORRECT!”

DUDE, DON’T INSULT THE MAN’S COOKING SKILLS! IT’S YZMA, KRONK, AND THE SPINACH PUFFS ALL OVER AGAIN!

I think Donald is just always angry ala Bruce Banner

Donald is me when someone says the wrong thing to me on an already shitty day

He just slings Dewey over his shoulder and drags Huey. I feel like a family meeting about chili is in their future. Though the Harp didn’t say whether or not Dewey was lying so...

“Our king returned and tried to eat us.” In the words of Zuko; that’s rough, buddy

“We’re all monsters on the inside.” “WE ARE?! GET IT OUT OF ME!” Vero is having a very bad day

“Mervana isn’t a place. It’s, oh boy, it’s in your heart!”

Louie and Webby make each other better and that’s what’s great about their team ups

“We need your inner-truths to move from your hearts to YOUR FISTS!” WEBBY WILL FUCK YOU UP

“WELCOME TO MERVANA” BITCH!

Poor Harp. It’s not her fault that she only has one setting

I WANNA RIDE A MERMAID! No, not that way! ok maybe that way too

Webby’s eyes sparkle when the merpeople get to land

DROP ON THE DECK AND FLOP LIKE A FISH

“TIME TO SEND THIS FISH BACK TO SCHOOL!” Della knows how to one-liner

Her Naruto run is great. I bet she’s been watching it with the kids

Della is gonna wash her leg SO HARD after that

I don’t think Honestus should have gotten off so easy. The dude’s a dick who only cares about himself. I know that wouldn’t mesh with the moral of the episode, but I still hate him

Della looks so fucking confused, like LP usually does. THEY ARE MEANT TO BE BESTIES

Dewey kept his tail. So cute!

“She’s kinda harshin’ my vibe.” I know, my dude, I know

“And it’s finally where it belongs.” “Telling shiftless hippies to get a job!” Scrooge is harshin’ my vibe. Stupid capitalist

The head kiss Beakley gives Webby GIVES ME LIFE! SO PURE

Well of course she’s fibbing! Beakley is/was a SPY! Her job was secret keeping!

I really enjoyed this episode. I, like Webby, ADORE mermaids so I wasn’t gonna complain there. I liked that the merpeople weren’t actually evil because that would have been predictable af. It really ties in with the legacy theme of this season. Just because the people who came before you were jerks doesn’t mean you have to be. I think I enjoyed the other episodes a bit more but that’s probably because they were a bit more focused on a single character and only introduced a few new characters. I give it an 8/10, not enough Launchpad and not NEARLY ENOUGH fish puns

[homespork-review]

Homespork Act 3: Insane Mindscrew Haymakers (Part 1)

BRIGHT: Before Act 3 proper starts, we see a message from Nanna to John, written in the front of the Sassacre’s joke book from Dad’s safe. The message is somewhat bizarre. For one thing, according to Nanna, the book it’s written in will end its journey on the day she dies...and still carry on for a while. For another, it talks about game elements we’ve encountered already, and hints at more to come. Overall it’s a nice bit of detail, enough to whet the reader’s interest.

You are no doubt reading this as a handsome and strapping young man! Why, the mangrit needed to lift the book is itself a sign of your maturity, not even to speak of the wisdom needed to grasp the nuance of Sassacre's time-tested mischief. I am so proud of you, grandson! How I wish I could have delivered this heirloom to you in the flesh. But I am afraid it wasn't in the cards! For you see, John, like you, this book must yet take a journey! Its journey will end on the Final Day of my life, and even then will continue some. Though I suppose that will be up to your Father. Perhaps he will discuss it with you one day, when he and you are ready. But it is your journey I am writing about to wish you luck! There will come a day when you will be thrust into another world. And once you arrive, that is only the beginning! You will soon delve even deeper into a realm of Warring Royalty in a Timeless Expanse. A realm of Agents and Exiles and Consorts and Kernelsprites. Of toiling Underlings and slumbering Denizens. A realm where four will gather, the Heir of Breath and Seer of Light, the Knight of Time and Witch of Space, and together they will Ascend. John, if only you knew how important you were! I regret my passing came so early in your life. And yet I feel in my heart we have already met. But what I know for sure is that we will meet again! Until then, John, I do hope your Father keeps you well fed!

FAILURE ARTIST: As I said earlier, Hussie has artfully defaced books, including one antique one about an expedition around the world. Defaced books show up again in this comic.

CHEL: Particularly, it implies that Nanna also had knowledge of the game during her lifetime, somehow, and refers to the gathering of four heroes. This is our first introduction to the classpect system, which now rivals Hogwarts houses as a method of personality description in fandom at large. I think at the time I didn’t realise who it was referring to… Anyway.

Next, we officially meet GG, the fourth and final member of our gang, a “silly girl” with a cheery grin, sleeping in a greenhouse full of vegetables and spirograph-shaped flowers. Since she’s sleeping and can’t object, she’s referred to for a while as FARMSTINK BUTTLASS, but she’s way ahead of us; under her hand is a note admonishing the reader and declaring her actual name to be Jade Harley. I think she’s the cutest of the kids, myself - just seeing her first appearance makes me happy! All its weaknesses aside, Homestuck’s pretty great at creating painfully cute character designs and attaching a good range of personalities to them.

FAILURE ARTIST: Jade Harley was considered a “Mary Sue” when she was first introduced. I don’t know why. Yeah, she has a lot of eccentricities and unusual possessions but so do the other characters.

Farmstink is a reference to an old comic Hussie did about this dude obsessed with the stink of farms. Hussie’s early work is really weird.

CHEL: The reader attempts to wake Jade by dropping a pumpkin carved with an animal’s face on her head, but the pumpkin disappears; as we know, WV now has it. Fortunately for the pacing, Jade wakes up on her own. Look closely, and you’ll notice the symbol on her shirt changes each page; that turns out a bit later to be due to her hi-tech WARDROBIFIER. If I recall correctly, Hussie intended to settle on one chosen by reader vote, but ended up on a cycle of three different ones.

FAILURE ARTIST: Jade settles on three icons to appear on her shirt. However, eventually just one icon stays on her shirt. The WARDROBIFIER doesn’t get much use with her, though a later character has the same thing.

CHEL: Jade is also wearing COLORFUL REMINDERS on her fingers, and when the view pans out it’s revealed by the view from the window that her GARDEN ATRIUM is on a high floor. She plays the flute badly for a while in a Flash game; apparently it’s not her preferred instrument. Also fortunately for the pacing, we think, she knows how to use her sylladex, and prefers to set its retrieval function in the form of a memory game because you seem to have a knack for always guessing right on the first try! On checking her reminders, she remembers to wish John happy birthday, gathers some fruit, and heads upstairs by means of a teleporter.

Jade’s bedroom proves to be full of various disturbing-looking plushies, albeit not nearly as disturbing as the Smuppets, hanging baskets and potted plants, a bass guitar, and G-rated furry artwork, including a piece obviously drawn by Dave. Franchises depicted in her toy and poster collections include GREEN SLIME GHOST (the apparent copyright-friendly source of John’s T-shirt and pogo ride), MANTHRO CHAPS (mustachioed human faces on plush animal bodies), and SQUIDDLES (adorable octopi with magnets in their bellies which stick together as Tangle Buddies!). Her favoured weapons are rifles, though she would never shoot an animal, and she has various gadgets on a worktable, including a thing that looks like a disconnected window not unlike those shown in Rose’s book, which she apparently hasn’t been able to get to work.

FAILURE ARTIST: Manthro Chaps is a reference to Hussie’s particularly disturbing set of comics where he plays around with anthropomorphization. Like having an anthro chicken man lay anthro eggs.

CHEL: The comic in question, Humanimals, can be found here; warnings for extreme body horror and general grossness.

FAILURE ARTIST: Jade is told by a forum prompter to Lose interest in fauna and never speak of it again. Jade refuses to in a beautiful little speech but she denies she’s a furry. Oh, if she only knew what was coming for her.

Jade looks out the window and we find out she lives somewhere next to a volcano.

CHEL: The very same one which appeared in the animation at the end of the last act, in fact.

Your grandfather is a WORLD RENOWNED EXPLORER-NATURALIST-TREASURE HUNTER-ARCHEOLOGIST-SCIENTIST-ADVENTURER-BIG GAME HUNTER-BILLIONAIRE EXTRAORDINAIRE. He has taught you everything you know.

Grandpa is heavily coded here and in his appearance a bit later as a Great White Hunter, an upper-class European guy who goes to faraway countries in order to shoot the animals there. Of course, non-white people can certainly do that, but white is what people will immediately picture upon seeing the trope. Also note we have another ridiculously wealthy family here. Since all four of the kids have now been introduced and we’ve had a lot of WSP points from their races and financial statuses already, here we get another HOW NOT TO point as well.

The Country Club Here every single character is white and middle-to-upper class. Unless your novel is taking place in rural Sweden, this will eventually give the reader the eerie feeling that some form of ethnic cleansing has taken place. HOW NOT TO WRITE A WEBCOMIC: 14 WHITE SBURB POSTMODERNISM: 7

One could argue that some form of ethnic cleansing is taking place, since these are the kids who are surviving the apocalypse, though that’s not actually fair because there are plenty of other SBurb sessions all across the world which might also succeed.

Jade opens her GADGET CHEST and produces several more items pertaining to her interests, including her computer, which she keeps in a Squiddles lunchbox. Several fortune-telling items are included among them, but according to Jade they are not the source of her abilities. The Magic 8-Ball is apparently usually wrong, responding to being asked whether it’s John’s birthday today with NOT EXACTLY, and the Magic Cue Ball is supposedly always right but is impossible to read, making it completely useless.

FAILURE ARTIST: There’s another Problem Sleuth reference (or rather Problem Sooth) but what’s important is the Magic Cue Ball. Unlike her Magic 8-Ball, it has no window where one can read the prediction. If only Jade had a special vision. Perhaps an eightfold vision.

Jade goes to feed BEC. She has some sylladex trouble until she finally just takes a steak out of her fridge.

CHEL: Once again, the sylladex shenanigans waste several pages.

GET ON WITH IT!: 9

Bec’s identity is as yet unknown, but recall that Dave called him a “devilbeast” in an earlier conversation, and when he suggested shooting Bec Jade said she didn’t think she could if she tried. He also apparently eats nothing but steaks (lucky Grandpa’s a billionaire), so Jade is living on an island with apparently minimal supervision from her guardian and an allegedly dangerous carnivore running wild outside. Like Dave, at this point it seems to be very lucky she’s a cartoon character.

FAILURE ARTIST: Using a special oven she irradiates the steak. Umm, I think Bec can take that but I worry about Jade.

Jade finds and plays her elaborate bass and she’s much better at it than with the flute. During the flash, the camera pulls out and we find out where she lives: in a tower on a small volcanic island with a frog temple in the lagoon. An airplane goes by and drops a package.

Jade uses her super high-tech “lunchtop” to have a conversation with John. Nothing special about that but we see on her chumroll a bunch of unfamiliar handles. Hmm.

CHEL: The unfamiliar handles are listed in the “Trollslum”, which one presumes is a blocklist. I think you have to see just how hi-tech the lunchtop is:

"Jade: Get down to business." (Watch on YouTube)

Hussie’s really coming into his own with the animations by now.

FAILURE ARTIST: Dave has sent her some messages begging her to wake up and unfortunately one line has the f-slur in it.

CLOCKWORK PROBLEMATYKKS: 7

In the end, he decides she’ll probably forget what he says.

CHEL: Begging her to wake up” doesn’t exactly cover it.

TG: youre asleep again arent you TG: or do you even know if you are TG: i still dont know how that works TG: its like nothing means anything

Apparently Jade sometimes talks to him while she’s sleeping.

FAILURE ARTIST: There’s a little flash where you can listen to some of Dave’s tunes. When you’re done with that, you can join her in looking at mspadventures.com. A crude John wearing a wizard hat is sitting on his lawn with the caption

It begins to dawn on you that everything you just did may have been a colossal waste of time.

What the hell is going on here? Is Jade reading what John is doing right now?

CHEL: I think it’s just a fourth wall joke, but it’s certainly accurate, considering our GET ON WITH IT count.

FAILURE ARTIST: Next, we get this flash called Midnight Crew: Act 1031. If you are watching it in 2019, the song playing is Dead Shuffle by Mark Hadley. However, the song was originally Nightlife by Bill Bolin. Unfortunately, Bolin had a dispute with Hussie over Hussie using music that Bolin considered WIP. Bolin blew up and called Hussie “unprofessional” and in a very professional move posted a photo of himself giving the double deuce. It’s a shame this happened since Nightlife is a jauntier and more appropriate tune.

CHEL: The Midnight Crew, to be specific, are gangsters with card-themed names who bear a striking resemblance to WV, living in a mysterious purple city full of towers, pitted against the Felt, another gang of odd-looking green fellows who wear bowler hats with numbers on them, in the colour schemes of a set of pool balls.

Hussie did make reference in the previous page to a “weird tangential intermission [which] clearly advanced the plot in no way whatsoever”, implying that it actually is relevant, and the purple city and its shiny black beady-eyed inhabitants look very familiar, but since as far as we know at this point the Midnight Crew is just a comic-within-a-comic, you know which counts get added to.

GET ON WITH IT!: 10 WHAT IS HAPPENING??: 2

Just for the record, the leader of the gang is named Spades Slick, and yes, we’re aware that “spade” is a slur against black people, which makes it slightly unfortunate to be applied as a name to a black-shelled alien creature. However, we’re not counting that as PROBLEMATYKKS because Hussie and the Crew’s original writer certainly did not intend that. It’s not that commonly used a term from what I’ve seen, the playing cards would be the more likely immediate association, and with the other characters being Clubs Deuce, Hearts Boxcars, and Diamonds Droog, it’s just an unfortunate coincidence. If he was a black human, then I’d object more strenuously.

FAILURE ARTIST: Jade talks with Dave (I think the conversation is a repeat?)

CHEL: Yep.

GET ON WITH IT!: 11

FAILURE ARTIST: Finally, we get the flash we’ve been waiting for: Dave strifes with his mysterious guardian. Or rather, he strifes with Lil Cal while Bro is a speed blur.

BRIGHT: Unlike the other strifes up to this point, the reader can’t do anything other than watch, because Bro slices the command box in half right at the start.

TIER: In the world of Homestuck, the parental units are overall just really weird! Like dad Egbert severe overabundance of cakes and mom Lalonde's drunken dysfunction. It's overall all hilarious, fitting with the tone and humor of the story well!

But then we have our lovely outlier. The one, the hated, The. Bro “a huge bastard honestly” Strider! A.K.A basically the one guardian whose questionable parenting gets the Real Consequences treatment later on in this tale. Peculiar that.

CHEL: Now, under most circumstances, an adult man beating the hell out of a barely-teenage kid, on the precarious rooftop of a high-rise building no less, would be horrifying. However, Bro chooses to hit Dave with his puppet, which… is frankly hard to take seriously. Obviously it would still hurt if a real person did that, but it looks so stupid that the immediate assumption is that it’s a joke.

BRIGHT: Particularly when earlier strife moves like Rose’s ‘Empty Suicide Threat’ were intended to be humorous. This is about on the same level as that, in terms of severity!

TIER: Being smacked around by the flopping noodle limbs of a freaky puppet is honestly hard to take seriously. Hell, this entire sequence is chock full of outlandish “Rule of Cool” bullshit and I am Peeved that I was apparently supposed to look at this sequence of ridiculous events and go “OBVIOUSLY THIS IS FUCKED UP AND ABUSIVE”.

ARE YOU TRYING TO BE FUNNY?: 7

CHEL: I could kinda see that with hindsight from the rest of the comic, but definitely not “OBVIOUSLY THIS IS A LOT MORE FUCKED UP AND ABUSIVE THAN THE OTHER AWFUL FAMILY CIRCUMSTANCES”, which is what was apparently intended. And we also get another HOW NOT TO point, which we’ll give now even though the official “reveal” comes much later.

A Novel Called It - wherein an abusive parent exists Bad parents are everywhere in unpublished fiction. Whole cities of abusive fathers and sneering mothers live in the pages of books that can’t be sold. While occasionally, and notably in the horror genre, this sort of material can be made good (Carrie, V. C. Andrews), most cruel parents in fiction are just as much fun as they are in real life. HOW NOT TO WRITE A WEBCOMIC: 14

That damn puppet gets creepier every time, admittedly, more so now that Bro is moving so fast that the thing appears to be dancing on Dave’s head under its own power. Dave’s expressions look more annoyed than afraid or hurt, however, in my opinion.

FAILURE ARTIST: Anyway, we go back to Jade. Rose is pestering her.

TT: I require a font of frighteningly accurate yet infuriatingly nonspecific information. TT: Do you know where I can find a wellspring of this sort?

Very business-like, isn’t it? Rose and Jade’s relationship is a big missed opportunity in this comic. They’re more like friends-of-friends than friends.

CHEL: I don’t know, that sounds to me like how Rose talks to the boys too; facetiously formal. Still, they don’t converse nearly as much as the boys do with each other or them. Male writers in particular tend to do this, and it’s not entirely their faults. People are socialised to think women talk a lot more than they do, so he probably didn’t notice.

TIER: A real shame honestly, we were fucking robbed of some peak interactions between a sunshine flower child and a “dark and brooding” baby goth. Fucking. Robbed.

FAILURE ARTIST: We find out that Jade was the one who had the idea of playing Sburb. She had told Rose that the game would answer some of Rose’s unnamed questions. Rose wants more information on this Big Day. Jade says the game will not be what Rose thinks it is and will answer questions Rose hasn’t thought of yet. On that mysterious note, Jade says goodbye.

CHEL: We check in briefly with Rose in the present, confirming that she’s found the secret passage and is escaping the fire, bringing the corpse of her cat along with her, then to John, who is doing much worse. The ogres (the giant tusked imps) have cornered him, and while he flails frantically about with his Pogo Hammer it doesn’t do much good. They beat the snot out of him with the old Sassacre book and the tire swing, then send him flying into the abyss; fortunately, Nannasprite is able to catch him on his bed and provide healing, allowing him to flail uselessly at the ogres again and get beaten up again, ad infinitum.

Back in the desert, a giant worm-like creature emerges from PM’s bunker and chows down on the cart full of mailboxes. PM is displeased, and puts a hand on the hilt of an ornate black sword.

Cut back to the FAQ, which John has found time to edit with information about the punch card system. He doesn’t know if anyone is left alive to play the game, but Rose asked him to add to it, so he will. He’s figured out with his 133t h4x0r 5k1llz that the captcha code on the back of the cards is converted into a binary-based pattern on the cards, 0 being blank and 1 being a punched hole. Overlapping the cards functions like a bitwise AND operation, causing both to be enacted. The 48-hole card system allows for 300 trillion combinations, but John lampshades the fact that this couldn’t possibly cover every conceivable captchable item, and that various combinations of overlapping cards would just produce the same combination. This is just adding to my conviction that the system ought to be reworked; the totems alone would probably allow for a much wider range, if one gets down to the atomic level of their shape. Then again, those would be a lot harder to merge… Still, I’m sure there’s some way to work it.

BRIGHT: This section was kind of surprising to me because up to this point we haven’t had much if any description of John being into coding, so the section came out of left field somewhat. Not bad, necessarily, just jarring.

CHEL: Actually, he did mention in his intro that he likes to program, albeit not very well, he had some coding books on his shelves, and the icons on his computer are named in a way which implies they’re some of his attempts at coding. However, this interest never really comes up again later that I remember.

Meanwhile, the secret passage Rose followed led to her mother’s laboratory, which bears the logo “SN” with a stylised atom and a spirograph pattern in the loops of the S. It seems Mom Lalonde knows more than she’s letting on about the game. Inside the laboratory is an enormous HUBGRID of devices into which the laptop can be plugged.

FAILURE ARTIST: Rose uses that ol’ r-slur when she says she won’t go on the pad so that’s another point.

CLOCKWORK PROBLEMATYKKS: 8

CHEL: Jade uses the TRANSPORTALIZER to travel most of the way down to the ground floor, but not all the way down because the one on that floor is blocked. As she walks down the last couple of flights of stairs, we see Grandpa’s own collections of stuff; taxidermised animal heads, suits of armour, mummified corpses (made by pasting in photographs to the cartoon background, it’s creepy as hell), and his BLUE BEAUTIES, or the DAUGHTERS OF ECLECTICA; sun-bleached portrait photographs of beautiful women. On the final floor, we are confronted with the thing blocking the final portal; a gigantic preserved monster with a white head and green serpentine body. It took me till just now to figure it out but I think the white part is supposed to be a human torso on the snake tail; at first it just looked like a snake wearing a stocking mask. That’s what happens when the humans don’t have arms.

Jade thought she had logged off from Pesterchum, but suddenly it pings again, and here we are introduced to an entirely new section of the cast. We’re probably not spoiling anything by not being mysterious about them at this point in the fandom’s history, but just in case, we’ll stick to doing the reveals when the comic does. The person talking to Jade is one of the names from her TROLLSLUM, under the handle carcinoGeneticist; they gloat about being “BETTER AND SMARTER THAN YOU, FOREVER” when asked how they’re still contacting Jade after being blocked, and mock her about today being “FINALLY THE DAY YOU FUCK EVERYTHING UP”. Angry, Jade blocks them again.

FAILURE ARTIST: I had forgotten that “they” appeared so early.

CHEL: Well, “appear” is stretching it; the TROLLSLUM only make contact through Pesterchum for a while yet. And when they show up, we’ll have both plenty of skilfully-written points to pick out and plenty of counts to apply.

[snkpolls]

SnK Chapter 120 Poll Results

The chapter 120 poll closed with 1,375 responses. Thank you to everyone who participated!

RATE THE CHAPTER 1,314 Responses

This chapter is less popular than most, possibly due to its abrupt ending and feeling of incompletion. Still, 86.5% of the fandom rated it a four or five making it another solid contribution to the series as a whole.

PATHS are awesome, but I hope there's a satisfying narrative payoff to its inclusion

A lot of mixed opinions on this chapter from everybody, but I personally loved it. It went by fast but it's something you gotta read a few times just to get a good feel on it.

Best chapter since Attack on Liberio

I LOVED this chapter. Paths explained! Baby Eren! Little Mikasa! The OG Levi Squad! School caste Armin and Mikasa!!! I literally began to cackle when Eren straight up told Zeke his plan was stupid. I loved it, I've been waiting for that moment ever since ch114.

Character expressions were beautiful. Isayama's art keeps improving. 

Easily one of my top 5 favorite chapters. The artwork was fantastic, the double crossings had me shook, & the Paths converging at the Coordinate is Yggdrasil. Love it!

Felt way too short and paths just got more confusing

I actually had to count the number of pages because I couldn't believe it was over yet. Seemed so short! But at the same time, many questions were answered.

Timeloop theory is out, multiverse theory is in! :)

This chapter was a gift from Isayama to all the Jaeger fans. Thanks Isayama.

WHICH OF THE FOLLOWING WAS YOUR FAVORITE MOMENT? 1,342 Responses

18% of the fandom was thrilled to see Eren reiterate his “born into this world” sentiment as he rejected Zeke’s ideology. 16% found themselves moved by Zeke hearing Grisha apologize to him in his dreamstate. 14.6% were excited to see Eren rejecting Zeke’s plan, and at a near-tie 9.9% most enjoyed Zeke pulling a double betrayal on Eren, while 9.8% loved the moment when Eren woke up to see the Coordinate in front of him.

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF ZEKE CATCHING EREN’S HEAD? 1,323 Responses

It was a meme, and now it’s canon. What did you all think of the resolution to last month’s cliffhanger? 42.2% felt it was a bit goofy but still worked, 29.5% thought it was amazing, 16.5% liked the moment but wish it had flowed better and not cut up over chapters, and only 7% thought it was absolutely ridiculous.

All those times playing catch with Mr Xaver really paid off!

It wasn't bad but just hilarious how memes have predicted it

I guessed it would happen after finishing reading chapter 119. In AoT nothing goes the way the characters want it, except for the Yeager bros.

I thought it was really heartbreaking and absolutely traumatizing.

I was very sad for Zeke at that moment, he seems in deep despair, there was no way to know that it would work to make Eren's survive. It was obviously more instinctive like Colt wanting to hug with his brother while he knows it will cause his death than reflexive

I totally called it and was thrilled it really happened

It was expected, but I believe we can't fully know how to feel because it's still a moment in development. I mean, it makes sense, it was the only move. We all saw it coming but it doesn't take anything from the awesomeness

Great payoff to Zeke's obsession with baseball

Eren could have given him a heads up... Zeke almost didn't catch him

WHICH ‘FROZEN IN AN INSTANT” MOMENT ARE YOU MOST EXCITED TO SEE PLAY OUT? 1,330 Responses

When the action returns to the battle, the majority of the fandom are eager to see “Armin and Mikasa vs. The Cart” (27.4%) and “The aftermath of Gabi’s shot” (26.7%) play out. On a more lighthearted note, was “that one bird” (3.7%) received more votes than “Niccolo and the Braus family” (1.6%).

WHICH TITAN MEMORY MOMENT WERE YOU MOST EXCITED TO SEE? 1,328 Responses

“Mikasa from chapter 1” was not only the largest memory shard, but also the moment we were most excited to see (24.3%). “Present day Historia” was our second choice (19.9%) and “The mysterious dark haired boy” was third (12.4%).  At the other end of the spectrum, once again “those birds” rule, beating out “the horse” (0.4%), “the ocean” (0.8%), “that bowl of food” (0.2%), “the colossal titan peering over the wall” (1.1%) and “that one person in the bottom left (1.1%) Faye (0.6%), the blimp (0.1%), the basement key (0.4%), Jean’s horse face (0.9%) and even Hange (0.5%).

WHO IS THE BOY NEXT TO MIKASA IN THE MEMORY SHATTER? 1,303 Responses

“A child from the Mid East Alliance” has taken the majority (31.8%) with Rod Reiss and Tom Xaver following, each with about a quarter of the vote. Eren Kruger was fourth with 11.5%. We also had plenty of write ins. 

A child from the Mid-East Alliance, as he's wearing a Fez. It's probably a memory from Lady Tybur's youth, as we know the Tybur Family had connections with nations all across the world.

All the memories here have been from either te Attack Titan or the Founding Titan.  Thus I don’t think this is a boy from Warhammer Titan’s memories. Possibly it is Eren Kruger’s memories, in which case this cannot he Tom Xaver as it’s much too young for them to meet. Eren met Tom when Tom was a doctor and able to falsify his blood documents is he could join the Marley police. This is a new character.

At this point i really don't know it could be fucking king fritz himself isayama would probably do it

Eren's future son

Frieda’s brother

I think he's ms. Tybur's friend, eren's memories in here kinda mixed up so it makes sense he sees tybur's memories

It’s rod. You can tell by the vest he’s got on. But I do like the few people calling him the Arumika lovechild.

Probably Eren Kruger's friend / brother / child idk, or a future character that we don't know yet.

Someone from Ymir Fritz's time

The child from the last рanel

DID YOU LIKE THE INCLUSION OF CASTE ON TITAN CHARACTERS IN THE SPREAD PAGE? 1,249 Responses

Let’s be real… The manga has had a depressing tone for quite a while now, and some humor (assuming that’s what this was!) is probably good for us. 72% of poll respondents agree with this notion, and loved the inclusion of Armin and Mikasa from the high school AU. 18.3% weren’t quite so keen to see this easter egg, however. 

I knew Isayama said something along the lines of incorporating this AU in the canon so it was nice to see that. Whether he plans to make a reincarnation AU out of this or just an easter egg is up to him.

I think it's cute. It's small and out of the way so it's not like it's disturbing the story.

Idk I'm confused. Isayama really likes to play with us

If you mean Nerd!Armin and Goth!Mikasa, yes I did like it. Could you PLEASE call it Highschool AU or similar, I spent like five minutes trying to understand what 'Caste on Titan' meant!

WHAT DO YOU THINK THE BEST IN-STORY EXPLANATION IS FOR CASTE ON TITAN BEING INCLUDED? 1,266 Responses

Well over half of the fandom agree that the inclusion of Caste on Titan (AKA the high school AU fake previews) in the memory shatter was merely an easter egg for the fans to enjoy, rather than Isayama canonizing anything. 20.9% feel differently, feeling that Isayama has canonized Caste on Titan as an alternate universe. 10.7% feel that it is a possible future or reincarnation. 

Above Ymir Fritz, in a dimension higher than PATHS, lies the one true God and Creator Isayama-sama, who casually screws His people's minds on a monthly basis with images like these.

It is the actual reality

Canon?? FUTURE?? WHO?? WHAT??

Reincarnation AU is canon, baby

I have never heard of Caste on Titan.

Really it's probably just an easter egg, but it also kind of canonizes AUs which is fine by me.

WHAT DID YOU THINK OF THE LOOK AT THE PATHS DIMENSION IN THIS CHAPTER? 1,331 Responses

What did the fandom think of a whole chapter focused on paths? 80.2% loved the deep dive into them, 15.3% liked the information but don’t love paths as a story mechanic, and 2.1% dislike paths immensely and just want to go back to the battle.

Being someone who loves time-travelling stuff, I'm intrigued. I see a lot of theories around and the loop seems a little weird to me. I believe Isayama has a great, unique concept and I'm excited to fully comprehend it.

Enjoyed it a fair bit, but we need to know more! Especially about how this dimension came to be in the first place.

I can't wait to see this in the anime!

I sort of wish it was more alluded to and not shown too much

I wish isayama was good enough a writer so that he wouldnt have to rely on this bullshit for long-term, grand-scheme storytelling

It's awesome, we need a break from battle, right? I can't wait it'll be animated beautifully just like Ymir one back in the season 2

The most fascinating aspect of the story by far. I just want every single one of their mysteries to be revealed.

I really want to know more about the PATHS. But not from Zeke. I think he is definitely lying about some things here. And I loved that double betrayal. 

I didn’t know what the heck was going on

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT THE COORDINATE AS SHOWN IN THIS CHAPTER? 1,321 Responses

A part of the in-depth look at paths this chapter was a visualization of the coordinate itself. Just over half of the fandom are excited that the theories of Norse Mythology influences might have paid off with the coordinate appearing similar to the mythological tree Yggdrasil. 18.2% of you are unsure what Yggdrasil is and how it relates to the story, 16.5% think the coordinate is supposed to look like a tree but Yggdrasil isn’t a direct influence, and 13.1% think it’s just a beam of light that branches off.

I just thought back to most of the depictions in books of Ymir and the Devil.  A good number of them had an object behind Ymir, that being a tree.  Coincidence?  I think not!

It really does have Yggdrasil vibes, and sorta looks like a tree branching off, but for now I can’t quite put it anywhere. Looks dope though.

It symbolizes a tree, and I hope it in turn connects to the tree Eren sat against in Chapter 1

Yes! more norse mythology references! Yggdrasil baby!

I loved how the trails in the path sky were the expanding branches of the Yggdrasil tree from SnK. Different space, different rules of time and matter...

It's shiny, glowy and pretty, and gives rise to loads of amazing fan colorings. Seriously, that full-page panel with Eren standing in front on it is a work of art.

It's the Tree of Life, Yggdrasil but also the Sephirot, among others. Norse Mythology confirmed with the name Ymir, the Norse proto-giant whose body was used to create the nine realms.

Maybe it's Yggdrasil, maybe not. I like the symbolism, but I can't confirm it actually is Yggdrasil.

Tree of life, much original, v cultured

PATHS converging as ROOTS.

BETRAYAL! WHAT DID YOU THINK OF EREN TURNING ON ZEKE? 1,331 Responses

Who doesn’t love a predictable but good betrayal? 70.5% of respondents were more than happy to see that Eren didn’t agree with Zeke’s ideals, even going so far as to support the demeanor in which Eren delivered the blow. 20.9% are happy he doesn’t agree with Zeke, but feel he could have gone a little easier on him. A small percentage feel he should have sided with Zeke…

Expected but still immensely satisfying. Kinda felt a little bummed for Zeke getting rejected like that.

I loved the twist which was made even better with a double-twist!

Assuming Eren wants to go through with the Rumbling, then both plans are crazy

Eren revealed his cards too early. Although, I can see Eren making that mistake.

It was what I'd hoped would happen eventually, however, it's still another example of Eren doing whatever the fuck he wants without consulting his plans with anyone and hurting people as a consequence

Harsh, but Zeke had it coming and it felt kind of great on an emotional level in terms of a true loss to Zeke, who has done some pretty shitty stuff.

Eren’s plan is stupid, you could’ve told Armin and Mikasa about this but nooooo you gotta be an ass.

I knew Eren wouldn't go through with Zeke's plan. But Zeke also deserves to see the errors in his plans, that he has no right to euthanise his fellow Eldians!

I'm not surprised about Eren's betrayel, it was obvious from the start that he would never agree with Zeke's ideology. But currently I feel very bad for Zeke. For first his parents only want to used him for their plans, because of his royal blood and Eren only used him for the same thing. Poor Zeke ;___;

Zeke had a lot of time the overthink everything that has happened in the timeless paths realm. Even if Zeke did not realize before, he definitely thought about the betrayal during said time.

DO YOU THINK ZEKE IS CORRECT THAT THE GIRL IN THE PATHS DIMENSION IS OG YMIR? 1,331 Responses

Zeke assumes, along with 76.5% of readers that the girl we see roaming paths is Ymir Fritz.  However, 19.5% of readers disagree with Zeke on this one.

I was but, after reading a theory posted days after the release, it makes sense that she's actually the OG Christa.

I think it’s Ymir, I don’t think ymir is who they think she is

I think she is indeed Ymir... But could also be the Earth devil.

Hearing all these theories about Eren asking Zeke how he could know, and Zeke just responding with (while logical) a not for sure answer makes me mixed

It seems wierd to me that the Founder has no will or personality of her own, it seems to me that shouldn't be the case, but well... I was hoping she would have some more additions to the story of the titans but she seems like a walking corpse

It's the most likely answer, but the fact he's just assuming makes me not want to claim for sure. Yams likes to seize on assumptions.

Kind of, it's the person they call Ymir but it's really the character of Christa

No. At least not fully, many characters have claimed what happened in the past, but none of them have been entirely right. I don't see why I should see Zeke as entirely correct either.

An empty shell of ymir caused by King Fritz messing with the cordinate

I think Zeke, Eren, Historia and this girl (I think it's Eren's daughter) are all Ymir.

WHY DID YMIR PASS BY EREN? 1,328 Responses

Over half of the fandom (57.7%) agree with Zeke’s theory on this one - Ymir gave Eren the brush off because the Founding Titan is basically a pawn of the royal family. 28.1% are suspicious and believe that she’s got other plans we’ve yet to be clued in on.

Nepotism over cronyism, I guess

She's being controlled by Zeke due to his royal blood so she probably got no choice. Maybe if she gets released she'll cooperate with Eren

The grown woman-child doesn't like boring edgy teens, maybe?

In his time in the paths, Zeke gained enough control over them to make since illusions for eren.  This chick is just as illusory as his chains.  Zeke is using her to manipulate Eren because he needs Eren to control the founder.

Zeke is technically alive. Eren isn’t. She’s going for the living shifter.

Eren is too hot for her, she can't handle the Yeager

That’s not not Ymir.

She really dosnt have a free will and is being controlled by an even higher power

Zeke has created those chains and that girl to trick Eren

Ymir herself is a slave to the royal family. The royal blood in Zeke calls out to her.

WHAT MEMORY OF GRISHA’S DID YOU ENJOY THE MOST? 1,335 Responses

With lots of heartwarming moments to choose from this chapter, 32.7% most enjoyed seeing Grisha turn away from the Reiss chapel and choosing instead to focus on being a good husband and father to his family. 28.8% enjoyed seeing how Grisha spent his time in the basement and the possibility of him seeing Zeke from the future. 19.7% got the dokis over seeing Grisha be there for Eren’s baby milestones.

Loved baby Eren and it was really nice seeing Grisha so caring for his family (I missed Carla too, so good to see her again)

Baby Eren is the cutest baby in the whole universe and if you disagree you need glasses

IN LIGHT OF THIS CHAPTER, HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT GRISHA NOW? 1,330 Responses

Nearly half of the fandom (47.2%) admire Grisha’s ability to change and work to become a better father and husband after learning from his mistakes. 21.1% are glad that he was much better with Eren, but still can’t look past the way he treated Zeke as a child. 19.3% have always had faith in Grisha and enjoyed his character. 

One of the reasons why SnK is as good as it is. The way goodness and horribleness exists within him at the same time, the way it makes him so imperfect, so deplorable, so sympathetic and so human, it's a testament to how well he is written. I love him. I love him so much.

I didn't like him before, but now I have a little more sympathy. I felt like crying when he was dreaming about Zeke and wanted to see him badly. I hope they will have a chance to talk in paths.

I'm amazed by the forgiveness other readers are giving him. It's as if they're ignoring what he actually believed and did. I don't believe many people are beyond redemption, and the fact that Grisha managed to get caught before he could actually murder anyone works in his favour, but I hold him to the exact same standard I would any real person who tried to bring back a regime he himself believed was exceptionally violent and bloodthirsty (before the Owl delivered the 'nice' history of Eldia). Overall he *could* be forgiven, but so far...holding your cute chubby son and choosing not to commit your original sin *again* is not it.

No matter how much he learned from Zeke he still cursed them both with 13 years at the end, so it doesn't really make a difference for me.

For the longest time I didn't know how to feel about him but this chapter cleared up a lot of things and I absolutely love him now

While he ultimately failed at parenting twice, it is good to see he learned from some of his mistakes and that his actions here reflected that. In the end, he still went for the royal family before the breach of the Wall and treated Eren to the serum instead of spending his time looking for a better, less 'child' host for his titan.

DID BABY EREN SEE OLDER EREN AND ZEKE? 1,335 Responses

While it may not impact the story, the vast majority of the fandom (70.9%) feel confident that baby Eren was able to see his future self. Only 2.8% selected “No” for this question.

DID GRISHA SEE ZEKE AT THE END? 1,333 Responses

We don’t really know how it happened, but it sure does seem like Grisha saw Zeke at the end of the chapter when he noted his aged appearance. 79.1% agree that this appears to be the case. 2.7% disagree, chalking this up to nothing more than a coincidence. Eren and/or Zeke being able to interact with the past in any way has some striking implications, so hopefully we get some answers soon!

WILL ZEKE CHANGE HIS MIND ABOUT GRISHA? 1,333 Responses

46.3% of respondents feel that the narrative is pushing Zeke to forgive his father and let go of what happened in the past. 38.6% see the potential for him to forgive Grisha, but don’t want to say with confidence that he definitely will. 11.5% believe that there is nothing that will ever cause Zeke to forgive his father. 

At his core, Zeke wants his father to love him and treat him as a son instead of a tool. Knowing that Grisha still thinks of him and feels guilty about the way he raised him must have stirred something in him.

Partially. Yes, Grisha grew from that. But it just meant that Eren got the childhood he wishes he had and that in his eyes Eren got preferential treatment.

If anything I think he's mostly going to be jealous of Eren and regrets not being born at the right time. That being said they haven't reached the memory where Grisha passed his titan to Eren.

Might lean more towards him not changing because of his very single-minded way of looking at things. Maybe a smaller chance, don't know how I'd feel about it, though in terms of storytelling.

I hope. I am so ready for a Zeke redemption to take place even if the chances of it happening are low. I want to see the Yeagerbros working together.

I don't think so. If Eren shows him the next memory in which Grisha gave his titan powers to Eren and forced him to end his mission by going to the cellar and learning to control that power, Zeke would think that he was right about his father that he brainwashed him. Maybe Grisha was a good father in Eren's younger years but at the end he shouldered his burden to his second son and gave Eren a new reason to continue the cycle of hatred, to avenge his mother. I don't think that Zeke will change his mind so easily...I have the feeling that Eren has to convince his Brother otherwise, but I could be wrong.

While his opinion about Grisha May change slightly, that won’t change his opinion about euthanasia.

I love how that in the midst of all the plot development and the PATHS, it still boils down to the characters and their relationships in the end. The Zeke/Grisha parts make this chapter, imo. The boy who wants so much to be loved by his father, who vilifies his father as some sort of coping mechanism, realizing that his father loves him, misses him and regrets the way he treated him, realizing his father is only human... it never fails to tug at my heartstrings. I can't wait to see where Zeke will go from here.

WILL ZEKE’S MIND BE CHANGED ABOUT WHAT THEY SHOULD DO WITH THE FOUNDING POWER? 1,329 Responses

As we step away from the action-centric battle, we move into a battle of philosophies, outlooks, and plans. Zeke has attempted to sway Eren, but will Eren be able to convince Zeke to change his mind about what to do with the power they now possess? 38.8% think he will in fact be able to do just that; and only at about 1% behind, 37.9% don’t know what the outcome will be, and 20.3% don’t think Zeke’s plan will change.

Zeke's mind is already made up. What may change is his motivation. He just may lose all will to execute his plan and let Eren do his thing.

His euthanasia plan is instilled into him primarily by Xaver, his father-figure, someone whom he holds very much in high esteem. So if Zeke should change his mind about that plan, it has to be through changing his current opinion on Xaver.

It will seem he agrees with Eren. And then, out of rage and despair of his ideals being broken and Eren getting the life he wishes he always had, he'll cause the Rumbling to lash out at the world for how cruel it was to him.

No, he's far too stubborn for that. But he still needs to return the powers of the Founder to Eren somehow. So I can see him being cornered in a way that makes him realize there's no happy ending.

Probably, but it shouldn't be because of some Grisha shit, it should be because Eren has a better plan

Yes but he‘s still an ass who had fun in killing. Maybe he‘ll redeem himself by showing remorse but whatever, he just rubs me the wrong way.

I sure hope so, because eugenics really doesn't make sense even if you support the reasoning. If it can be done by a royal titan then it can be undone, and they're literally planning to keep a pack of royals as spares.

I hope so, because I really want to see the brothers work together. Zeke has done a lot of terrible thing (including what he did to poor Levi) but I want to see his redemption arc

I think that Zeke will come to the realization that he is doing to same thing to Ymir as Grisha has done to him.

WHAT DOES EREN WANT TO SHOW ZEKE? 1,324 Responses

This chapter ended abruptly with Eren about to lead Zeke into “The next memory.” But what could that be? 36.3% think he’s going to show Zeke scenes from his own life, 32.1% believe there will be an even deeper dive into Grisha’s past, 19.7% think it will involve Tom Xaver, and 8.6% think Eren Kruger will get more time to shine.

A mix of all of them: More of Grisha's memories up to his death, his own life and experiences (Attack on Titan greatest hits coming for the 10th anniversary chapter), and then finish off with some Xaver reveals if he indeed worked with Kruger.

Bit of Kruger's, Eren's memories, and little bit of Grisha's. Maybe Ymir's or Karl Fritz

Definitely something involving Xaver, probably him in cahoots with Kruger to fool Zeke.

Don't feel like he wants to show Zeke something, just telling Zeke to move it along

His true motives and what lead him down the path he’s been taking since chapter 91

That one exchange between Grisha and Frieda in the cave we still didn't get to see when Eren kissed Historia's hand.

The memory where Grisha turns Eren into a mindless with added dialogue to hit us all in the feels.

Warhammer memories

I hope it could be something around Kruger and Xaver, and finally enlightening Zeke view of his "dad" and their plan. From here they could move around some really interesting scenarios, there are so many possibilities and I AM HERE FOR IT! ("If you want to save Mikasa and Armin..." quote for example idk).

Fall of wall Maria, Dina eating Carla

Some hype ass shit.

WILL EREN BE DEAD AFTER THE INSTANT IS OVER? 1,327 Responses

The majority (77.8%) are confident that Eren will find a way to make it out of the paths dimension alive, while 11.5% are much less optimistic about Eren’s fate. A smaller percentage believe that he’s already dead without any chance of coming back.

I have this weird theory: since a shifter's consciousness can be transferred into the spine or in the Paths dimension in some capacity, what if the consciousnesses of two shifters can be "exchanged" in the Paths dimension? Zeke may end up dying (willingly or not) while Eren lives.

I don't know. I think he'll either come back alive, or find a way to communicate with at least Mikasa and/or Armin before he dies.

Zeke promised that he will never abandon his little brother. Even if their ways differ in the end and Zeke’s mind isn’t changed, I don’t think he would leave his brother to die. He has already stated that he will command Ymir to reconstruct Eren’s body. No way he would treat Eren like that

No. Eren recovered in paths just like Zeke did so there's no reason for him to be dead

It would be a fresh plot twist and I would like him to stay dead because of it but I doubt Isayama has courage to do it.

i think it would be weird for eren to die right now, especially before seeing Armin & Mikasa again

DO YOU THINK ZEKE WILL COME OUT OF THE PATHS DIMENSION ALIVE? 1,328 Responses

Zeke was in pretty good shape when he went into the PATHS dimension, so it only makes sense he would make it out alive - or at least that’s what most of us (81.9%) think! A minority (18.5%) think (or hope?) he will not be so lucky.

WHAT ARE YOU HOPING TO SEE NEXT CHAPTER? 1,339 Responses

More than half the fandom wants chapter 121 to be the continuation of A Zekemas Carol. 18.9% would rather take a break from the PATHS dimension to see what’s happening with Levi and Hange.

Been wanting to see Annie, Levi, Historia for many chapters.  Now just want these amazing memories to continue!  This part of the story is incredibly powerful.

I know this paths fuckery will continue for another chapter or two but after that yams pls gib annie i beg

A moment of silence for the amount of hope I had to see Hanji and Levi, if you will. It will be missed.

All I'm asking for is one panel with Levi and Hange... Is that too much?

Annie in paths Annie in paths Annie in paths Annie in-

Eren in the next chapter is going to open a door from Eren Krugers past showing interactions with Tom Xaver

Heh, as much as I want to see Hanji & Levi, I'm 99% certain we're staying in PATHS zone :)

I feel bad that I didn’t choose Annie for any of these answers, but this moment in the story is literally the only thing I’ve wanted to see for years

I just want to know Levi is alive 

I want to know who Ymir really is and what her motivation is! I want to see the story through her eyes!

I don't care about Zeke. Please show me the Present Day Historia memory. I beg you OG Ymir. Amen.

whatever it is im gonna pee myself regardless

WHERE DO YOU PRIMARILY DISCUSS THE SERIES? 1,263 Responses

While Reddit and Tumblr continue to make up the majority of our respondents, the Attack on Titan fandom is everywhere. Wherever you choose to discuss the series, we appreciate your support of the chapter poll!

ADDITIONAL THOUGHTS ON THE CHAPTER? 

"Where's the rest of it?" - Zuko

I liked Eren's "surprised Pikachu" face when Zeke broke the chains.

Great fucking chapter, Eren and Zeke are a riot as a brothers duo.

Why is Grisha so attractive 

Boy am I glad Xaver trained Zeke in baseball instead of football.

Grisha Redemption Arc, let's go!

a chapter without reiner is automatically a bad chapter 

At the beginning I thought it’d end up being boring but the ending showed me otherwise. Attack on titan never disappoints

Awesome, beyond my expectation. We get more info about PATHS and yeager moments that i nearly don't care about others lol. The cliffhanger is more painful than previous chapter tho 

Chapter in a nutshell: "I have more resolve!" "No, just kidding. By doing this I have MORE resolve!" "Well guess what? I have a piano. End of discussion, I have the most resolve." 

I kind of dislike the whole concept of the Paths. I really dislike the "enslaved little girl builds Titans out of sand" angle when there was so much potential for a science fantasy explanation instead. At least Eren's acting like Eren again, that's all I'm asking of this manga at this point.

How did Ymir have three daughters when she looks 13 years old and presumably died 13 years old?

I put a 2/5 due to how empty and anticlimatic this chapter was. I'm more than okay to explore the pathverse but I didn't expect 10 pages of filler and recollection, 10 pages where the brotherly betrayal gets quickly resolved with both Eren and Zeke's emotions being turned down (Zeke just told Eren he had no freedom in his decisions ffs) and the rest being Daddy Issues TM.

Dope. Loved it. Answered so many questions. So, the PATHS meme is a little less true now. It'll probably become even less so with the next chapter and so on. 

Eren and Zeke this chapter were basically that one spiderman meme you know the one.

Glad the memory manipulation theory was wrong, didn't expect this walk through memory lane however. I'm excited to see if and how Zeke's outlook on his father and whole ideology will change.

Eren out here playing 5D chess against Zeke when he was playing 4D chess and thinking Eren was playing 3D chess. Eren a legend

Eren’s sarcastic attempt at convincing Zeke was a welcome reprieve from the “excuse-me-what” nature of this chapter

Every time Eren appears in a panel I stare in awe at how beautiful he is. Shaven face + Hobo hair = Peak Eren. 

I love how abrupt the ending is, specially if Isayama's going for what I'm thinking. I suspect chapters 120, 121, and 122 will all feel connected as one single big chapter, with action outside paths only unfreezing at the end of 122. The main issue is how some parts of this chapter feel like stalling for the inevitable anniversary chapter next month, but I believe it's gonna pay off.

I was laughing like a maniac by the end of the chapter. Eren is truly an incredible little sh*t, and I'm super excited to learn more about his actual motivations. Interestingly enough, Zeke won't shut up about Grisha the father, and seems to have conveniently forgotten (which I did as well) that one of Eren's biggest motivations in his life has come from his mother, who told Shadis all those years ago that Eren was special BECAUSE "he was born into this world". As much as I reeeeeeally wanna see an update on Levi and Hanji (IT'S BEEN SIX MONTHS, ISAYAMA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO US), this walk down memory lane is turning out to be the most entertaining part of the arc so far 

I'm SO HAPPY to see Eren talking again and to see that fiery determination and his snarky attitude! Go Eren!

Just . . . I'm really tired. Now Grisha's father of the year all of sudden. I'm still waiting for Eren to like, suffer real consequences for his war crimes and his shitty treatment of his "friends." And Annie is probably never going to be relevant, Historia is going to stay stuck in her chair. Like, the whole point of this series was that it's hard to tell what the truth is, right? And now there's MAGIC and Eren can literally take Zeke into his memories to show Zeke EXACTLY what happened with Grisha as if that's the real truth? Isayama's gone soft or given up, I dunno. I'm just tired.

Anyone else expect Isayama to just carry on with these flashbacks for four chapters just like the basement.

This chapter hurt me. In fact, this whole arc has. I think the point where I started being really confused was when Zeke got resurrected. I get the point of it. You wanna show what PATHS is? Ok. You wanna show how titans are built! Sure! You wanna explain that this is a pocket dimension and time moves by super slow? Perfect. You wanna show the person making the titans? Cool. But the mechanics with the royal family are so inconsistent. IF ZEKE CAN BREAK THE WILL, WHY CAN’T FRIEDA OR URI OR LITERALLY ANYBODY. Is it because he isn’t the direct founding Titan? Is he bluffing?? I don’t know. I want Armin and Mikasa please.

One redemption for the monky boi, please.

So Eren did all he did, sacrificed so many lives, hurt his friends etc. just because he only hoped he’ll be able to use the Coordinate? Seriously that was his plan? Give me a break please. I’m very disappointed Erwin was not there in the ‘important moments’ page - he was one of Eren’s childhood heroes after all and the person without whom Eren would’ve never gotten this far. 

[preface2adreamplay]

Under Your Spell (Chapter 24) - A Most Elegant Impediment

Summary: A Jared Padalecki/OFC /Oscar Isaac fiction.

Stef spends time with Oscar in New York. Old friends and new feelings?

Chapter warnings: Swearing, angst, fluff.

Chapter WC: 2,699

I want to be in every corner of your heart

To haunt your every waking moment

You close your eyes and live and breathe in me

Plucking at the strings mindlessly, Stef hummed a tune she had been working on. Curled up on the sofa, her bare feet tucked into the insides of her knees; something that Oscar had always found freakish, but she was supple, she couldn’t help it. 

It was snowing hard outside. 

Gazing out the patio doors, she was entranced by it, not hearing Oscar walk into the room, his boots making no sound on the carpet. Leaning in close to her he whispered, ‘what are you up to?’ Pulling back and holding his arms in front of him as Stef leaped off the chair and swung her arms around at him. ‘You jerk! You scared the life out of me.’

He laughed at his own mischief, grabbing her hands while she tried to playfully slap his chest. 

‘Sorry, I had to. You were goofing off.’

‘I could have been writing the one masterpiece of my career, and now I’ve forgotten it.’ Stef scrambled over the back of the sofa to get at him. Oscar held his arms up higher in protest. 

‘No, don’t start!’ He warned, grabbing her wrists as she fell over and toppled onto him. 

Playfully grappling with each other, Stef tried to use her teeth on his fingers. Oscar was giggling, deciding that grabbing her waist and spinning her around was the best way to beat her.

Finally, he had her in a grip that she couldn’t get out of. Both of them were breathing hard, laughing. 

‘Truce?’ Oscar asked.

‘Truce,’ Stef agreed, but he knew by her voice, she would attack as soon as he released her. He was broader while she was slimmer and weirdly bendy, but he had speed she didn’t have, when he pulled his hands away, sure enough she was after him with a war cry. Running through the dining room and into the kitchen, he found refuse behind the island. ‘You promised me a truce!’ He cried. 

‘I lied, you should know by now that I like to get my revenge.’ The mischievous grin on her face put a bit of fear in him. She was capable of grabbing something and hitting him with it, she’d done it before. 

Oscar eyed the door out to the garage, feigning a sprint to that side. She fell for it and lunged at the left side of the kitchen island while he slipped past her. Laughing with delight as she yelled in frustration behind him.

She appeared in the dining room holding a sieve. 

‘The fuck you gonna do with that?’ Oscar dived for the fly swatter by the windowsill, dodging the sieve that whistled by his ear. 

Drawing his hand back he hit her right on the round of her ass with a loud thwack.

Stef screamed, doubling over to laugh. Oscar had his hand raised to strike her again, but stopped on seeing her fall to her knees. 

‘OK truce, you got me.’ 

Oscar raised his eyebrows, ‘I don’t trust you.’ Neither of them could breathe very well through the exertion. 

‘Just don’t come at me if I put this down,’ Oscar reasoned, lowering his arm, still on guard. 

‘Nah, I’m done.’ Stef promised, holding up her hand for Oscar to help pull her to her feet. 

‘I’m so thirsty after that,’ Stef ran her tongue along her bottom lip.

‘There is beer in the fridge,’ Oscar kept his eyes on her, unsure if she really was finished or if she were only pausing before she attacked him again.

‘Bit early for beer.’ 

‘Egg nog?’ Oscar raised his eyebrows suggestively.

‘Ohhh, yes, that sounds better.’ Stef led the way to the kitchen, the next thwack of the fly swatter against her ass really took her by surprise. Oscar had run well out of sight. Stef cursed loudly at him, hearing him tear up the stairs and into the safety of the upstairs bedroom.

‘Don’t think I won’t go up there and get you!’ Stef yelled.

Filling two glasses with egg nog, waiting for Oscar to come out of hiding, Stef checked her phone, there were no messages. It had been a couple of days since she had spoken to Jared, a few texts had come through saying that he missed her, asking what gifts she had gotten. No pictures though and she missed seeing his face. 

She missed him, the heat of him against her, his long arms around her. Mostly, she missed his sweetness, when he gave her kisses she wasn’t expecting, or running his fingers lightly over her spine while she lay next to him, knowing it would make her squirm.

‘Penny for your thoughts.’ Oscar was munching on chocolate when he appeared by her side.

‘What?’

‘It’s a saying,’ Oscar replied, his mouth full.

‘I know what it means, you just caught me by surprise.’ Stef looked back down at her phone, locking it, she put it in her pocket. Out of sight out of mind.

‘He still hasn’t called?’

Sounding as if he were talking to his daughter rather than his ex lover. 

Stef didn’t answer, she took a sip of egg nog and tried to look past him into the garden. 

‘We should go out. You’ve been cooped up for days.’ 

Stef groaned, ‘I like being cooped up, it’s better for my mind. Besides,’ she added, seeing Oscar frowning, ‘last time I loosened up, as you said, I started an affair with a married man.’

Oscar rolled his eyes, ‘yeah you did.’ He sounded exasperated. Stef really wished they weren’t having this conversation.

‘You still have friends here, you could go see them if you don’t want to go somewhere with me.’

‘Nik said he was home for Christmas, actually. I wonder what he and his wife are doing.’ Stef pulled her phone out of her pocket again, typing a message to her bandmate. 

‘There, message sent. Happy?’ Stef teased, sipping her egg nog.

‘Happier,’ Oscar grinned, transferring the warmth of his humour into her, she couldn’t help smiling.

‘Thanks for letting me stay this week.’ Stef said bashfully.

‘Well, you always stay, why would this year be different?’

‘Darius is getting older.’ Stef sighed. ‘I’ve been thinking every day about him starting his own traditions and not hanging with us anymore.’

‘Don’t think about things before they happen. Why do you think about shit so much?’

‘Well, it’s gonna happen! I’m tormenting myself with thoughts, I know, I know!’ Stef leaned against the counter, wrapping her free arm across her stomach, chewing on her finger, watching Oscar’s brown eyes disappear while he closed his eyes and reached out for her drink.

‘Come here.’ 

Dropping her glass on the kitchen island, he pulled her into a tight hug. ‘You’re welcome here, always, Effie.’ He was rubbing circles into her back, his hand reached up to her neck, holding her close.

‘Even if you get married and have another family?’

She felt Oscar’s shoulders move as he laughed silently. ‘Even then. But, I doubt I’ll be having a family any time soon.’

Stef released herself from the hug and looked at him, ‘Why not?’

Oscar laughed again, ‘you sound like my mom used to when I told her I didn’t do my homework.’ 

‘Well homework wasn’t your thing, if I remember correctly.’ 

‘Don’t scold me!’ 

‘Why won’t you have another family?’

‘Do you want me to have another family?’

‘No,’ Stef started, not really sure how she was going to ask. 

‘Listen, I have no woman in my life right now. Maybe I’ll meet someone, I can’t predict those types of things. But I have no marriage plans.’

‘You said you wanted more kids though.’ Stef felt sullen.

‘I did, I said I wouldn’t mind if it happened, but I’m not on the hunt for a woman with roomy hips, Effie.’

Stef shrugged. 

‘You and Darius are my family.’ Oscar grabbed her hand and pressed it to his lips. 

Stef watched his mouth kissing her hand, she didn’t want to say anything, if she broke the silence between them now, while his dark eyes met with hers, would she say something foolish?

She decided to say nothing and just give him a weak smile. 

Her phone buzzed, taking her hand from his warm grasp she checked her phone.

‘Look at that! Nik says he’s at home, his parents have gone out shopping with his wife and we should come over for beer and play some guitar.’

Oscar leaned in to see her screen, ‘Nik never says that much in a text, I don’t believe you.’ 

Stef giggled, ‘well, he said that just with less words. You game?’

‘Yeah I’m game. Let’s go!’ 

***

Oscar was in the yard on the phone to Darius while Stef pulled out another photo album from Nik’s various boxes in his mother’s kitchen.

‘How do you still have all this stuff?’ She asked, flicking through the sleeves. 

‘Mom won’t throw them out, I’m glad though, coz hey look at your outfit in that one!’

‘Oh fuck,’ Stef laughed, ‘the 90s were something else.’

‘But look at Oscar’s hair! Fuck me. Where is he? Get him in here so we can laugh at him instead.’  Stef ran a finger across a photo of herself and Oscar, they were just kids back then, it wasn’t too long after they had started dating. This one brought back sweet memories, she was laying across his lap on Nik’s sofa. 

‘You were obsessed with him.’ Nik piped up.

‘Was not.’

‘You fucking were! You two were inseparable.’

The next two pictures showed exactly what Nik was talking about, Stef was again draped across Oscar while he was speaking to someone out of shot. The other was Stef holding his arm in a photo with the early band line up.

‘Good god, you’re right. I was a bit full on wasn’t I?’

‘He loved it.’ 

‘You think?’

‘Well, he did pursue you.’

Stef snorted, ‘I remember that, he’d spin around in his seat in class and try talk to me constantly.’

‘Well, it worked. You wouldn’t see you without him or the other way round.’

‘I’m gonna grab the guitars from the basement, please don’t burn any of those photos, you’ll love them when you’re old and ugly.’

‘Thank you, Nik.’ Stef leered at him as he walked away, just as Oscar came in from the yard. He put his hands on her neck.

‘You’re freezing, get your hands off me.’

‘Or what?’ he teased.

‘Or there will be a repeat of earlier today.’ 

Oscar held his hands up and looked at if he were going to take a step back until he saw the photos Stef was looking at.

‘Wow, look at my hair!’

‘It’s no different now, you just got it cut.’

‘And I have more greys.’ Oscar’s face lit up seeing the pictures. ‘Oh man, that’s a trip down memory lane. Hey, look at your outfit!’

‘Nik just said the same thing, I looked cool!’ Stef didn’t really need to defend herself, teenage pictures were never good. 

‘Man, I remember this, we were together a few months. Already I felt like we were gonna be together forever. I’m pretty sure I wrote that on my music book, hey, we met in music class!’

Stef chuckled at his face showing his range of emotions, realisation to good memories to the more embarrassing ones. ‘That’s probably why I wrote Oscar loves Stef 4ever on it.’

‘I think so. That was cute,’ she added softly. ‘But wait no, you showed up in music class and stared at me the whole time. We didn’t ‘meet’ there. You introduced yourself to me at lunch break about two days later.’

‘Yeah, it took a couple of days of talking to your friends to see if you were cool or not. You were cute, I swear I fell in love right then and there when I saw you that first day.’ Oscar rested his head on her shoulder, watching as she flicked to the next set of photos. 

‘Uh oh, pregnancy photo.’

‘Oh, I may have to take this one, we don’t have any pictures of you like this.’ Oscar pulled it from the plastic film.

‘I’m sure we do.’

‘Nah we don’t,’ Oscar interrupted. ‘I don’t even know how we even managed to have a kid, I wasn’t allowed in your house if your mom wasn’t in the room with us.’

Stef giggled, ‘Yep. I think it was the ‘fucking any chance we got’ that did it.’ 

Oscar’s nose crinkled while he laughed. ‘You know, I think we almost did do it everywhere, since I was never allowed in your bedroom. In fact, I’m almost certain we did it on Nik’s sofa.’

Stef’s eyes widened, ‘oh we did, didn’t we.’ 

‘What are you two giggling at?’ Nik came back into the room, holding a guitar in each hand. Oscar and Stef both coughed at the same time, trying to cover their giggling. 

‘These pictures, man, they’re hilarious. I need to get that picture of Effie pregnant, I need to show it to Dar.’ 

‘No problem, take it. Show him how NOT to dress.’

‘Shut the fuck up!’ Stef turned the photo album around to show Nik a photo of him wearing a long, black leather jacket paired with board shorts. 

‘Well, at least some things have changed.’ Nik screwed up his face.

‘You still have the jacket?’ Stef asked.

‘Yep,’ Nik stepped out of the room. ‘I still have the jacket and you two are still in love.’ He hollered as he climbed the stairs two at a time.

Stef didn’t need to see her face to know that she was turning bright red. Fumbling with the photo album, some pictures dropped out of the back. 

Oscar grabbed them quickly, turning them over. 

‘Oh hell, check this one out.’ Oscar said steadily, as if he didn’t hear Nik. 

The first photo was Stef on stage, dressed as a nurse for a Halloween show. The outfit didn’t leave much to the imagination. ‘That was after we had Darius, my god, the size of my tits in that!’

‘I remember, they were awesome!’ Oscar was smirking down at the picture, Stef nudged him with her shoulder.

‘Ever think of dressing up on stage?’ 

Stef was going to give him another nudge and tell him off when she saw the look on his face. His cheeks were flushed, his lip pulled between his teeth. There was lust in his eyes, but it was more than that. It was the look he used to have on his face before he would lean in to kiss her when they first started seeing each other. When every kiss would turn her inside out, every touch was electric. 

‘Uhm, I haven’t really…’ she stammered, trying to pull her gaze away from him.

‘I’m keeping this.’ He slipped the photo into his back pocket before Stef had time to protest.

‘And this one is interesting.’ Oscar held the other photo between his fingers, Stef was dressed as Lara Croft, Nik was Beetlejuice and Oscar was a pimp, top hat and cane had been lost at some point during that night. 

‘Wow, I still hadn’t lost the tits.’ Stef grumbled.

‘I want to know why Nik had the sexiest photos of you at the back of the photo album.’

‘Hey Nik,’ Oscar bellowed at his friend, who was coming back down the stairs, struggling with an amplifier. 

‘Why do you have sexy pictures of Stef?’

‘I have sexy pictures of Stef?’ Nik lumbered through the room, setting the amp in the corner, plugging in his beloved Ibanez iceman. 

‘Yeah, Halloween from about 20 years ago.’

‘Ohhhhhh,’ Nik laughed, ‘spank bank? Don’t tell my wife.’

‘You’re on a warning, buddy,’ Oscar teased.

‘A warning?’ Nik cackled, ‘she ain’t your girl anymore, man.’ 

Oscar snorted, stuffing the photograph into his back pocket. 

‘Why are you taking them?’ Stef whispered.

Oscar winked in response, causing Stef to groan inwardly. 

‘Right, come on dudes. Let’s jam!’ Nik switched on the amplifier.

[damnitstartrek-blog]

“Where did you get that love bite from?”| McCoy x Reader

Prompt: “Where did you get that love bite from?”

Pairing: Leonard McCoy x Reader

Words: 875

A/N: I haven’t written anything in over a year but my love for star trek has been reborn so forgive me if this isn’t the best! Feel free to send me requests :)

“Can you stop look around like you’re undercover?”

“Shhh! Be quiet and look natural!”

Leonard rolled his eyes as he glanced at your panicked face, “that’s rich telling me to look natural while you’re looking like you’ve sold the Enterprise to the Klingons.” His hand rested on the lower of your back trying to soothe you. You had only spent the night in Leonards quarters, desperate to be with him after a demanding few weeks. The two of you have only been together for a short period of time so the prying eyes of the crew still felt alien. The first thing you noticed in the mirror before you left was a mark that he had ‘generously’ given. Bloody bastard was actually smug about it which only made you want to hit him. 

“Why don’t you have anything to heal this? Aren’t you the chief medical officer aboard this ship?” This was the first time you wished that Starfleet uniforms came with a turtleneck. No matter how much you tugged at your collar it wouldn’t cover the purple mark on your neck.

“I don’t have a complete medical kit within my quarters.”

“Well maybe you should!” The canteen doors swished open, as predicted it was busy which gave the slight hope that the two of you could hide in the corner.

“How kinky do you think I am that I need that sort of equipment so close to my bedroom?” You opened your mouth to return the sassy comment but suddenly a voice cut through, “Oh look who it is!”

The two of you spun around to see Uhura gesturing for you to sit at her table, which was occupied by Sulu and Chekov. Oh great. Your lips were forced into a smile as Leonard quickly abandoned the situation to get you both something to eat. Play it cool – you quickly told yourself.

Maybe it would have been better to make a quick trip to sickbay for Leonard to treat the bruise however, you thought that it would have looked sillier with you both stumbling into his work after the crew knew you had spent the night with him…on reflection maybe that didn’t seem so bad now that you were faced with Uhuras’ knowing eyes.

“Where did you get that love bite from?” Uhura teased while Sulu almost choked from trying not to laugh. 

“I-I-It isn’t a love bite!”

“We should have Dr McCoy take a closer look at it.” Chekov played along, “we wouldn’t want you dealing with any unnecessary pain.”

“Maybe that’s her thing.” Muttered Sulu into his coffee. There was no hope. The three of them had made a silent pact to tease the hell out of you. The room only felt less dizzy when Leonard finally sat down, slipping a tray of food in front of you. Silently you were begging that they would focus their attention onto him, he was stronger at dealing with their playfulness.

“She is more than welcome to come to sickbay for Miss Chapel or myself to examine her. “

Uhura commented, “I think you have examined the bruise already. You could probably already tell us the origin of the mark.” It was now a game of who was going to die of awkwardness first, McCoy or you.

“Drinks!” Leonard suddenly exclaimed, “I forgot to get some water.” Your hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him to sit back down. He couldn’t leave you again with the gossiping vultures.  

“Leonard, you aren’t thirsty-” you desperately tried to convince him to stay.

“No, I think he got his thirst quenched last night.” Chekov landed the final blow.

“Now you listen here Mr Chekov!” Leonards southern accent getting deeper as did his annoyance. “It is no one’s business what either of us do in our private time. Leave the poor girl alone before I smack a bruise onto that young face of yours.” God he was hot when he got angry, however you found yourself smiling at Sulu and Chekov, they warmed your heart with their schoolboy antics. Uhura quickly tried to change the conversation by discussing the days schedule. Glancing at Leonard you could tell he had given up, now focusing on eating his breakfast while looking on glaringly. Smiling, you squeezed his thigh letting him know you weren’t taking anything seriously. If anything, you started to enjoy their teasing, it showed they treated you like a close friend and were comfortable with you. After all you were relatively new to the ship so adjusting to everyone’s personality was going to take awhile. Besides, you knew that shore leave was coming up…you made a mental note for both Leonard and you to tease the hell out of Chekov and Sulu if they tried flirting with the locals.

“Is having a private appointment with Dr McCoy going to included in your routine today?” questioned Sulu, curious to see how far he could push his luck before Leonard ended up in sickbay with a heart attack. Uhura kicked Sulus leg from under the table while Chekov snorted in amusement. Smirking, you leaned forward and gave Leonard a peck on his flushed cheeks.

“Just eat your eggs,” grumbled Leonard acting like a father scolding his children at the dinner table.

[hilamaxy]

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that can take the weight off at a slower pace, however is simpler to follow, balanced, healthy, and something you’ll be able to befits year once year, which is superior? If diet A gets 30 lbs off you in thirty days, however by next year you have gained back all 30 lbs, however diet B gets twenty lbs off you in the next three months with another 20 lbs 3 months when that and the weight stays off by the end of that year, that is the higher diet

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[phantomphangphucker]

The Substitute Ghost - DannyMay - Day 12 History

Summary: Phantoms the teacher and you will learn, or so help me.

(spiritual successor to my fic The Lessons A Mother Gives)

“So you all want Phantom... a ghost. To give this lesson?”

Pretty well half the class nods or claps excitedly while Valerie looks like she might just crush her pencil. Danny is having a hard time not laughing but at the same time, what if they actually ask him? Like sure he’s better at duplication now but uh, it’s hella risky to have Phantom and Fenton in the same room. Though yeah, he’d honestly prefer a ghost, or half-ghost in his case, teach ghost history than his parents. Heck! They really didn’t know anything about ghost history if he was honest. Meanwhile, Danny had lived a bit of it, and ClockWork was a damn good mentor. So he knew pretty well every major and quite a few minor things, be kind of sad if the ghost king didn’t know ghost history. Danny can’t help but chuckle to himself, at least ghost history was way more eventful and interesting. Even if most aren’t for humans, or even other ghosts, to know.

Danny gets startled out of his head by Mr. Lancer, “What do you think Daniel? How much do your parents know about ghost history?”. Again Danny can’t help but chuckle before responding, “they’re scientists and hunters, not historians. It’s unlikely they know much of anything. If they do know a bunch, they never talk about it”, obviously the class likes this as most of them are grinning, even Valerie seems to nod at that. 

And honestly, even if his parents were super knowledgeable on this, he’d really rather they not be the ones to teach others. Because unlike his parents, he wasn’t biased against ghosts. It would be like having a mouse teach the history of cats; an actively cat hating mouse. Danny has had to sit through his mom being a guest teacher before and that was on something she was actually well knowledgable on. He still can’t believe how much she managed to restrain her anti-ghost crap, though if he remembers correctly, she still rubbed that class the wrong way. Heck didn’t Mr. Lancer even voice displeasure with her directly to Danny himself? Yeah, Danny’s pretty sure he did. 

So he’s not too surprised by Mr. Lancer's response, even if it means he’s going to have to figure out how to do this, “then I’m inclined to agree with the near entirety of the class. Phantom is a friendly Ghost and many of you have already met him in person”. Danny almost feels bad for Valerie as she slams her head on the desk loudly, earning glares from a good portion of the class. Pretty well everyone knows she doesn’t like ghosts nowadays, which has actually made her way more of a social outcast than even the weirdo trio. Pretty much everyone else at school is majorly pro-Phantom, though Danny thinks he might just be starting to get on little Red’s good side.

Paulina shoots up her hand, “I’ve got an idea! Why don’t we just find some ghost and get it to chase me? Phantom will always save me because why wouldn’t he?”. Even Danny glares at Paulina, because first off she shouldn’t be willing putting herself in danger and secondly, she does that to an annoying degree just to get his attention.

“No, we will not be doing that. I’m the teacher and the adult, I’ll get him”, Danny’s pretty sure he’s not the only one that catches Mr. Lancer mutter, “somehow”. Seeing as it looks like Paulina’s decided she has another idea, “well what about Fenton? Pretty sure hunters have ghost tracking stuff and Phantom shows up around him all the time?”. Danny has to force himself to not glare holes straight through her head, since that would be a bit suspicious, seeing as pretty well the whole class is looking at him questioningly now; with some even nodding thoughtfully. Seriously wishing Paulina had kept her mouth shut as he responds, “trackers aren’t that useful on Phantom unless he lets you track him. My parents get frustrated to no end over his ability to randomly become undetectable”.

He’s not about to give them actual ideas since he’s not sure if teaching a class, especially one that he’s in, is such a good idea. Though apparently, the class is choosing to ignore Mr. Lancer statement to let him get Phantom as Mikey speaks up, “we could just ask him? Just wave him down after one of his fights? It’s not like he’s never around”. Danny definitely glares at Mikey, because no, don’t stick around a fight; that shit’s dangerous. But how often does Danny actually hang around town as Phantom outside of fighting? Outside of patrolling and flying, pretty well never. Guess that does make him a bit of an elusive bastard.

Thankfully Mr. Lancer agrees that idea isn’t the best, “that’s far too dangerous, even Phantom gets hurt in those. And we all know ghosts are much more durable, so no one is to be near a fight just to talk to him”. A few people snicker, including Danny, at how Mr. Lancer glares specifically at Paulina; who, predictably, rolls her eyes.

Danny jolts a bit as Tucker kicks his chair and leans over, whispering, “dude, you should probably just bite the bullet on this one. Before someone actually does one of these dumb ideas. And pretty sure you’re not actually trying to talk them out of this, can’t say I really blame you on that though”. Danny sighs and shrugs at Tucker, he knows he’s probably right. It’s too bad he hasn’t figured out how to duplicate invisibly yet, otherwise, he could just do that and have a Phantom duplicate pretend to be thrown through the class wall. Let it stick around long enough to get asked before zipping off like he has a fight to finish.

And leaving class is out of the question, asking to go to the bathroom and then having Phantom show is just way too suspicious. Maybe he should start a blog or something, as Phantom, so people can actually contact him? Sure he’ll end up with lots of fan crap, even if that is enjoyable; it’s nice to be liked and needed you know. But it would help for situations like this, which are bound to happen again.

Blinking as he gets an idea, sure it’ll bite him in the ass a little but that’s better than someone getting themselves hurt chasing after Phantom, and he thinks it’s believable enough. Heck might even be able to use it as a way to explain Paulina calling him out earlier, “well, you all seem pretty set on this. This all stays a secret from my parents though”. Pretty well the whole class is nodding and Mr. Lancer is giving him a quizzical look while Valerie speaks up, “yeah even I don’t want them barging in or going off about ghosts”. Valerie stares Danny a bit before continuing, “what idea you got Danny. Clearly, you have one”. Danny smirks, knowing full well she’s going to be a bit pissy at him and the rest of the class is going to pester him. Flipping out his phone as he shrugs, “I’ll just call him”.

Everyone predictably gapes at him, while he pretend dials and Tucker tries damn hard to keep his laughter from being audible.

“You have his number!”

“He has a phone?”

“Why would he want a Fenton’s number?!”

Danny can’t help but snicker at the questions as he has a pretend conversation with himself. Coming up with random code words on the spot to make this seem more routine.

“No, no eggs”

“You could say weirder sure. Apparently, you’ve got a teaching job now. Well, for one day anyway”

Danny intentionally laughs, though it’s actually genuine since this is rather absurd.

“No forwarding involved. Just a teach wanting ghost history”

“As if, still a blt”

Danny mouths “when” at Mr. Lancer, who promptly starts checking the schedule and calendar.

Danny rolls his eyes and chuckles a bit, pretending he can hear Phantom eating or something on the other end, before Mr. Lancer responds a little bit frazzled, “tomorrow actually works out best”.

Danny gives a little nod before continuing the fake call,

“Oh yeah they can and do. Whole class”

“Of course”

“Dude, not even a little kid is enough of an idiot to give out your number”, Danny glares at the class hoping they get the message and don’t pester him for Phantoms’, aka his, number.

“Class six-b, a bit after ten”

“Yeah, welcome to schools, everything’s stupid early”

Snickering a bit, mentally pretending Phantom made some comment about drowning himself in the noddles he was eating, “well you get right on that then, later”.

It only takes a couple seconds after putting his phone away for some to ask, “why do you, of all people, have Phantoms’ number?”. While someone else mutters, “guess it would make sense he’d have a phone though”.

Danny rolls his eyes and crosses his arms, “non-ghost hating Fenton here. Living with people who constantly make new anti-ghost stuff and whom frequently converse with those GIW morons”. Danny can’t help but chuckle as it’s clear he needs to make this more obvious, “dudes gotta have a way to know what all the anti-ghost stuff is and does. You’re looking at it”.

Danny can tell Valerie’s not impressed as she gapes at him, “so you’re helping him and basically spying on your own family. For a ghost”. Danny rolls his eyes but can’t help but snicker, in a way he is actually spying, “he's the good guy Val. The GIW are idiots and my parents are beyond biased. They wanted me involved in the family business, they got it. Just not the way they’d planned”.

Mr. Lancer shakes his head a bit even if it’s clear he’s smiling, “well I think it goes without saying, that this conversation stays in the classroom. I’ll request that no one brings recording devices tomorrow or tries taking photos. You’re here to learn, it’s not a meet n’ greet”. While Danny’s thankful and hopes they’ll actually listen, the rest of the class groans.

Danny doesn’t even get a chance to walk out the class door before Valerie springs on him, “seriously Danny? I’d have thought you of all people would know ghost everything is dangerous. And helping a ghost? Really?”. Danny makes a point of holding himself proudly, “just walking into Fenton Works is dangerous. There’s no getting away from ghosts for a Fenton. Again, Phantom’s good. Most folks help him, I’m just a bit more helpful”.

Danny’s not sure if it’s his stance or words but Valerie just sighs and shakes her head before walking away. Though she does look over her shoulder and the pair share a slightly hurt wistful look.

Tucker slaps him on the back as they sit to eat, “dude, eggs? Forwarding? Blt? Congrats on being confusing”, Danny can’t help but snicker. Finger-gunning as he responds, “emergency ghosts or gear. Aka ghost fight or new Fenton tech. When people forward emails there’s that little “FW” symbol, like Fenton Works. And blind living town, as in no one knows about some secret or another”. Tucker looks genuinely impressed, “those, those are actually useful. Damn”. While Sam just looks utterly confused, “ok what happened now?”. Tucker slaps Danny on the back again, “Phantom’s a teacher now and-”. Tucker gets cut off by Kwan, “Fenton, dude! Phantom’s spy? That’s got to be cool! Bet you have, like, codes and shit?!”. Danny rolls his eyes while Sam tries to not look shocked, “you know the point of “spy” is to be a secret?”.

Kwan actually has the decency to look guilty and just scurries off, while Sam mouths “what?” at Danny. Leaning towards her, “Lancer wanted someone to teach ghost history and everyone was determined it’d be Phantom. The running story is, Fenton has Phantoms’ number and is keeping tabs on the Fenton’s and their gear for him”. Sam nods readily accepting this while Tucker smirks a bit. Because really, the two of them are Phantoms real little spies.

Danny, as Phantom, phases through Mr. Lancers’ ceiling, “so ghost history?”. Danny can’t help but laugh as Mr. Lancer jumps; Danny’s got to get his mischievous side out somehow. Besides this kind of crap is what ghosts do. Mr. Lancer clearly agrees as he doesn’t even give Danny shit, “yes, I imagine you know it better than any human? Though I hope it’s not too much trouble”. Danny waves him off as he comes to stand in his teachers living room, which is a bit surreal, “you’re not wrong. Heck! I’ve been at the forefront of some of it. And yeah pretty well everything any human knows is either only half the story or wildly biased”. Mr. Lancer nods with a frown, “I suspected as much”, he sips his tea before continuing, “since this is for only one class, because I don’t doubt we’ll draw negative attention if we do this for multiple days. Stick to the bigger things. Leaders, any major battles or wars, important ghosts and why they are or were important, major traditions and how they came to be, and so on”. Danny knows full well he’s going to have to omit some things, like who the current ghost king is. Though really, it’s almost sad that it isn’t obvious. He’s literally flying around with a crown and cape, that shit is pretty damn noticeable. But until someone asks or flat out calls him out, he’s not saying shit. Nodding at Mr. Lancer, “and obviously people are going to asks me stuff. But somethings with ghosts, in general, are need to know only, so there's some info I’m just not going to give”.

“I’d expect as much. Humans and ghosts don’t exactly get along. Yet anyway”

“Yeah, though I’d like for that to change. Someday maybe. Stuff like this might be a good step”, Danny’s almost sad that didn’t hit him before. People fear what they don’t know and ghosts are a pretty big unknown. Humans might be able to relate more knowing ghosts actually have their own history. He’s sure some folks just think ghosts don’t do anything other than toy with humans.

Mr. Lancer nods with a bit of a smile, “my thoughts exactly. Though I doubt you’re exactly experienced with teaching or are a historian”. Danny laughs and shakes his head, “course not! But I know a thing or two. There’s a lot of aspects to what I do. Not just here but in the Zone as well”. Mr. Lancer only gets to nod as Danny’s ghost sense goes off, “well duty calls, toddles”. Danny hardly heard Mr. Lancers “have a safe night” as he waves and flies through the wall.

Danny Phantom high-fives Danny Fenton, it was a pretty easy choice to make the clone play the role of Phantom. Since Phantom just up and disappearing suddenly isn’t exactly all that weird.

Fenton patting himself down as he leaves the bathroom, while Phantom flies and sits invisibly in the classroom.

Sitting down, Fenton’s sure he’s the only one who knows Phantom’s here. Well, until Valerie comes in, glares at her sensor before glaring at the front left corner of the room.

Mr. Lancer raises his eyebrow questioningly at Danny Fenton, so Phantom takes that as his cue to pop into visibility. Scaring the crap out of half the class and Mr. Lancer, even Valerie snickers at that; while Fenton, Phantom and Tucker smirk. Danny seriously hopes that the attention stays squarely on Phantom him as Phantom starts talking, “so obviously I’m not actually a teacher. And I’m a fly by the cuff kind of guy so don’t expect this to be structured”. Phantom, shrugging at Mr. Lancers raised eyebrow, “what? I’m not a planner”, before turning to the class and deciding to just start this before he gets bombarded with questions, “I’d figured I’d start with Pariah Dark, since you’ve all actually met him in a sense. That and he’s old”. Most of the class looks confused already, so clearly, Danny’s doing a great job here. Phantom, chuckling, “Pariah’s the guy who transported Amity into the Zone for a while. He’s one of the oldest ghosts around and once held the title of ghost king. Though he was a tyrant, ruled through power, fear and destruction of other ghosts lairs. Originally defeated by a group of, now unknown, ancient ghosts”. Danny really hopes Paulina has an actual question not a confession of love, as Phantom calls on her, “but didn’t you defeat Mr. Floaty face alone?”.

“I had a strength-enhancing suit but otherwise yes. Hopefully this time he’ll stay sealed away”, Phantom elects to move one before they ask if there’s a new king, “we do have other rulers though, some areas of the zone are kingdoms or nations. Those places all have a ruler or leader of some kind. Most have ruled their entire existence, like Pandora and Frostbite. Queen of Mythos and Leader of the FarFrozen. So there’s really no stories there. Ghosts don’t have elections or change leaders the way humans do”.

Phantom smirks as he crosses his legs, floating in the air, it’s really no surprise to him that his classmates are actually paying attention. “Queen Dora is an exception. She actually overthrew her brother, after he tried to forcefully wed a human and that human-made her see that she didn’t have to tolerate her brother’s abuse anymore. Aragon, her brother, was and still is a basket case. He trapped his whole kingdom in the dark ages and pretty much hated technology and happiness. Dora undid that though, so the kingdom of dragons is much happier now”.

Fenton can’t help but laugh a bit, only managing to school Phantoms’ expression as he overhears someone mutter, “wow, what a dick”. Phantom, tapping his chin, decides he doesn’t really care if the Observants don’t like it. He’s gonna talk about them, possibly just to bug them, “we also have another more universal governing body, kind of like checks and balances. The Observants, they watch pretty well everything every ghost does or is going to do. Acting as judge and jury, but never actually interfering. They just make others do their dirty work”.

Mr. Lancer shakes his head, “so like our government then”. Phantom nods as he points at Kwan’s raised hand, “well why didn’t they do something about that ghost king guy? Or get someone else to do something?”.

“Because they knew I would, that and Pariah wasn’t a zone or earth destroying issue. The Observants only meddle in the most extreme things. Pariah instilled fear not destruction, on ghosts. So he likely wasn’t much of a concern to them”, honestly Danny feels they really should have done something. That guy was pretty well fucking with everything, but Danny did defeat him so he can’t complain too much. Plus, if he were to ask ClockWork, he’d probably say Danny needed to become the ghost king and that had been the only way; or the least unpleasant way.

“Do you work for these guys?”, Danny can feel the mistrust and accusation in Valerie’s voice. “No, I’ve never done any work for them and I don’t work under them. Only one ghost actually works for them, but they can and will ask pretty well any ghost to do a job. I wouldn’t be too surprised if they eventually ask something of me”.

Phantom floats to the floor laughing a bit as ClockWork pops up, waving his hand at the time ghost, “yeah yeah I get it. I’ll shut the hell up. And you know I wouldn’t tell them about you, or Dan”. ClockWork still bops him on the head with his staff for good measure, “Oh I know, and yes the Observants are thoroughly bothered”. Both of them smirk as ClockWork takes his leave, Danny’s going to just assume he was about to say something stupid to the class. No clue what but that’s expected really. That or someone was about to ask something stupid, and Phantom suddenly changing positions instantly would catch them off guard enough to not ask.

Phantom turns his head back to the class, who all look a bit confused. Phantom just smirks more, “there was a visitor, nothing to worry about though. Friendly fellow”

“Can ghosts sense each other!?”, Danny’s honestly surprised it took this long for someone to ask more general ghost shit. Though Mr. Lancer glares at Mikey a bit, sighs and turns to Phantom, “you don’t have to answer that. This isn’t a q and a”. While Mr. Lancer’s right, Danny can’t really blame them. Heck, he’d probably get bombarded with questions if he actually stuck around after fights. Well, that and get shot at. Though he knows that if he really indulges the question he’ll be inviting more of them, “you’re teacher’s right, but that ability is unique to me. Anyway, that’s pretty well it for ruling ghosts. Most ghosts are loners rather than living in an established group. But we do have an overarching society. Mostly just norms everyone follows, like not destroying others lairs or making your name known to a worthy opponent. And there’s really only one real holiday, rather than the many humans observe”.

Danny can tell Valerie is suspicious of something, not sure what but still. So he calls on Dash’s raised hand before she can say something, “that must be one big holiday and party then”. And Danny catches one of the geeks' mutter, “bet is Halloween or something like it”.

Chucking Phantom addresses the Geek, who clearly didn’t expect his comment to be heard. more so than Dash, “while I have a soft spot for Halloween, it’s actually Christmas. Known as the Christmas Truce, like with humans Christmas used to be called Yule and was started by some of the first ghosts. As a way to instil unity and decrease the, at the time, near constant fighting. No fighting is allowed and ghosts all get together with friend and foe alike, for food, drink and merriment. Skulker’s renowned for his unusually good lemon Creme pie”. Danny catches a few people muttering, surprised, about how ghosts actually eat food. Danny apparently didn’t do a good enough job at distracting Valerie as she points accusingly at Phantom, while Fenton groans and mouths “here we go” at Tucker. Both Fenton and Tucker turn and mildly glad at Valerie, as she talks or more so snaps, “ignoring the idea of ghosts being “merry” and cooking in their spare time. With ghost rulers, I’m pretty sure you glanced over yourself, unless that crown is just for kicks”. Danny can tell she’s feeling smug as a couple people look at him and nod. Though Mr. Lancer looks like he wants to interject again, as Mr. Lancer remembers that Phantom warmed somethings would be off limits, so Phantom shakes his head at him.

Danny’s not about to give Valerie the satisfaction, and there’s really no good reason to not respond. People are going to keep asking, eventually, “I was wondering how long it would take for someone to call me on that. I intentionally left myself out purely to see how long it would take. I enjoy a bit of harmless mischief you know”. Smirking at Valerie’s annoyed grimace before actually answering her question, “and really the answer is why I even know all this stuff. Ghosts generally don’t know much of our history, we don’t get taught it after all. Most only know what they’ve actually been around for. Though any ghost who wants to know the publicly available bits of ghost history could do so easily, most simply see no need to”. Now Valerie’s just plain annoyed with Phantom and Tucker is trying hard not to laugh while giving Fenton discrete thumbs up. Both Danny’s smirk at Tuckers’ clear approval of dragging this out just to bug Valerie.

Phantom, shrugging exaggeratedly at the class, “I’ve been taught it because, after all, it would be pretty sad if the Ghost King didn’t know his subjects and worlds history”. Mr. Lancer’s the first to audibly react, choking on his tea a bit and staring at Phantom incredulously. Danny’s classmates are quicker to accept this as true and Valerie looks flat out pissed off. Half the class nearly shouting at him, “what!”. While Tucker and Fenton both put their heads on their respective desks in an attempt to muffle their laughter. Danny’s trying to get all his laughter out through Fenton, since he doesn’t want Phantom to look mocking. Though he can’t keep Phantom from snickering and laughing a bit as well, “that was my original reaction!”. Composing himself a bit and giving a lazy smile, that he hopes is reassuring or comforting, “but yes, I pretty much usurped Pariah from power and thus took his place as Ghost King. Even if I didn’t even know that was possible at the time”. Phantom gives Valerie the best subtle, I’m-not-a-power-hungry-asshole look he can; without making the rest of the class suspicious.

Mr. Lancer is clearly a bit frazzled, as he adjusts his tie, “that is a bit startling Mr. Phantom. But I guess you really were the best choice for this then”. Meanwhile, Star whispers at Fenton, “oh my god, you knew”. Fenton only nods while wheezing and Phantom forces himself to not comment on that.

Instead addressing the whole class, “indeed, really if you need any ghostly info I’ve probably got it. Doesn’t mean I’ll actually tell you though. And if I’m refusing to give you certain information then it’s not something you should, or want to, know”.

“You're a ghost. No reason to trust you on that”, most of the class, including Fenton, rolls their eyes at Valerie. While Danny decides to have Phantom pretty much do his job and mediate between the species, “true, I am a ghost, but that matters not. You’re coming from a place of opinion not reason. But that’s expected. Listening to what I have to say, whether you agree with it or not, is well enough. Somethings I know should not be known by others, not because it could harm ghosts, but because it could damage the timestream, reality itself, or drastically increase the chances of mass destruction”. Danny’s not sure what to make of Valerie’s facial expression, like a mixture of shock, confusion and complete annoyance.

Knowing full well he’d rather not have another incident like when the GIW tried to destroy the zone, “Further, anything that seriously damages the Ghost Zone will have the same effect on earth. Our worlds exist in duality, due to that only certain ghosts known everything. Ghosts that get along with humanity or at least don’t wish to harm humanity. In a sense part of my job is this, keeping the peace and making sure nothing serious happens to either world”.

Giving Valerie a soft smile, “I may be the Ghost King but I am also earths protector. From uniformed human actions, to truly evil ghosts, and outside forces”.

This seems to pull the rest of the class into normalcy a bit though,

“Who’s the most powerful ghost?”

“Do you have servants?”

“Castle?”

“Can you make people knights?”

“Do you rule over Amity too?”

Mr. Lancer actually stands up at this and puts his hands up, “enough, enough. None of that has to do with history”. Phantom shrugs a bit, “well technically anything to do with me is history, or will be. My very existence was even prophesied and I’m worshiped as a god by some, I’m pretty well the only ghost worshiped by other ghosts. But I’m not here to talk about myself. So any history questions that aren’t specifically about me”. Danny does overhear a couple people muttering, “he’s a god?”, and, “just how many titles does this guy hold?”. But he doesn’t want to feed that train of thought, otherwise, this is going to take way too long. Specially if he was fully honest, which he can’t be.

“Has there been any other ghosts like the Pariah Guy? That had to be removed or sealed or whatever?”

“Are there things besides ghosts that are important? Like how the Statue of Liberty is?”

Danny’s not really surprised it’s the geeks with the questions, as Phantom responds, “yes there have been, three of which I’ve dealt with myself. Vortex, the one responsible for the really strange weather for that short while, UnderGrowth, the one responsible for all that vine and plant stuff everywhere, and the last one isn’t to be talked about”. Phantom frowns to emphasise his point before continuing, “other than that, Betrex is the only other. Betrex enslaved a large portion of humanity back in the human dark ages. Both Betrex and Vortex were dealt with originally by the Observants. And there are lots of different artifacts that are important, but most are supposed to be kept a secret so that no one uses them. But there are some I can talk about, for one Pandora’s Box is very much real. It’s used to siphon out evil energy from the zone”. Mr. Lancer looks thoroughly pleased with this which makes Phantom smirk.

“That’s the only one you’ve likely heard of though. But you have seen another one, the red crystal ball staff that circus gothica guy had. Staff Of Minds, it’s called, it can mind control ghosts. Make slaves really, it’s destroyed now”. Phantom shakes his head and chuckles, “really Freakshow has a bad habit of getting his hands on powerful ghost artifacts. He also had the Reality Gauntlet, which is what Thanos’s Infinity Gauntlet is based off of”.

The geeks in the back row look like they’re having a field day so Danny decides to be a bit of an ass, “which has also been destroyed”. Yup, the freaking out geeks look decently crushed, “but it was one of the more important artifacts. Since it created the Ghost Zone, the Reality Gauntlet can completely control all of reality. So it’s vastly more powerful than its comic book counterpart”.

Valerie is pretty much the only student that doesn’t look impressed, instead she just looks horrified, so Danny decides to make a bit of a point, Phantom looking at her while running a hand through his hair, “technically I didn’t have to destroy it but I decided it wasn’t worth the risk of someone stealing it from me. It was enough of a pain getting it away from FreakShow as it was”.

Tucker decides that’s the time to speak up, pointing at Phantom, “it did look good on you though”. Both Fenton and Phantom nod, completely agreeing. Honestly, sometimes he wishes he kept it. Sure he’d never use it for anything more than fun and to fix major fuck ups. But it really was better destroyed.

“Everything looks good on you”, Paulina barely bothers to whisper and Danny has to stop both of himselves from groaning. Valerie, however, flat out groans; though she’s eyeing Phantom a bit confused.

“The only other major items I can really talk about is the Ring of Rage and the Crown of Fire. Both of which Pariah used to strengthen himself. You need both to use either. Basically, the wearer has accesses to infinite power, but it’ll destroy the wearer if they’re not strong enough to handle the base power of the items”, Valerie looks drastically more horrified and Danny can’t blame her, she was literally wearing the ring. Phantom points at Dash, “dude, then how the heck did you even defeat him? How do you defeat infinite power?”.

Phantom smirks, “he could only access the amount his own power and body could handle. Just because you have access to infinite power, doesn’t mean you can actually use all of it. The suit I had, amplified my strength a hundredfold, which was only barely enough”.

“So this suit is stronger than the crown and ring?”

Phantom screws his face up a bit, “no, not even kind of. That suit nearly destroyed me, and it would have killed any human who used it. I destroyed that as well. The suit was a hundredfold but the crown and ring is easily, for me, over five thousand fold”. This time Danny catches Valerie actually look for the ring on him, which he is of course wearing.

Glaring at him, “you’re wearing them”. Even Mr. Lancer looks at him worried due to Valerie’s remark. Phantom smirks, “of course, they’re also known as the kings crown and rulers ring for a reason. Technically, they’re a requirement. A painful one, but still”. And this is why Danny’s glad he’s got an absurd pain tolerance. Though it clearly startles his family sometimes.

Mr. Lancer clearly wants to change the subject at this point and it’s also clear he’s cringing a bit, “well, we’re running short on time so any other important events or people?”.

“Basically all the important ghosts I can talk about are rulers so that’s a no. As for events, the blood blossom purge was a big one and the Bermuda Triangle caused a war for a good ten wars. Basically, anything that disappears there, shows up in the Ghost Zone. And it causes an issue every time. Ghosts fight over what to do, and if anyone owns the random things”.

Frowning a bit, “the Blood Blossom purge was more serious. It’s a plant that was intentionally driven to mass extinction. From pictures, it looked a lot like book burning but with plants. Still to this day, it’s basically a requirement that if anyone finds one of those flowers they have to destroy it. Not doing so is pretty much the harshest rule you could break”. Valerie smirks a bit, “those plants must be pretty harmful to you guys then”.

Phantom glares at her a bit, “in a sense. And while ghosts really don’t care about, mind or will even encourage ghost hunting gear. Anything Blood Blossom related isn’t tolerated. If, say, a human, whether hunter or not, had Blood Blossoms and was making it difficult or impossible for ghosts to destroy it. The Observants would get involved and would have no problem erasing that human from existence. Either by flat out killing them, making it so they were never born in the first place, or destroying the entire town. There’s a reason no one likes the Observants, they do not care about anyone’s existence. They see only the bigger picture, if they decide obliterating half the zone or killing off hundreds of humans is what’s best, they’ll see it gets done; unless someone makes doing that impossible”. Danny’s sure he went a little too hard there but, based on Valerie’s face, his point was made.

Tucker whispers to Fenton, “a little overboard dude”. Turning around to him a bit, “you should have heard CW’s speech. The big O’s are more than just serious about this”. Tucker and Fenton share a grimace.

Aiming to soften and lighten the mood a bit, “I’ve already had to get in their way once, so they don’t exactly like me and I don’t care for them. Even if they are needed and do their jobs exceptionally well, they just have wonky priorities”. Snickering a bit, “pretty much every ghost who knows about them intentionally bugs them. Annoying them is the original reason I even mentioned them, and they can’t do anything about. Even if there is around five thousand of them”.

Mr. Lancer shakes his head a little startled, having not expected ghosts to be quite so powerful, “I can’t say I like these guys either, Mr. Phantom”, turning to the class, “does anyone have any final questions. Questions that are actually relevant please”.

“Do you guys celebrate the creation of the Ghost Zone? And what about birthdays?”

Phantom can’t help but chuckle, “deathdays actually and yes we celebrate them. It’s up to the individual ghost how though, and before you ask, don’t ask a ghost when they’re deathday is. It’s insanely rude, and no I won’t, or more specifically can’t, tell you mine. Very few actually know when the Ghost Zone was created for sure, so no we don’t celebrate it”. Danny can tell the class is torn between finding “deathday” funny or unpleasant. Though Danny’s just impressed that Valerie actually puts her hand up this time.

“What about the existence of hal-”, Danny knows where this is going and Phantom promptly cuts her off with an ecto-gag. Because it’s way better to be a bit suspicious than having her blab about that while his human form is within easy comparison sight.

Glaring at her, “you’re being quite the trouble maker. That’s pretty well one of the number one things that are not to be talked about. So keep that to yourself unless you want to get people killed”. Thankfully, Valerie only glares as the gag dissolved while Tucker covers up his gaping mouth with his hand.

A couple people mutter, wondering what it is Valerie knows but promptly shut up at Phantoms mild glaring. “I’m not going to withhold information or keep something secret without a good reason. So don’t go questioning her about this”. Pretty well everyone nods as the bell goes off, but Mr. Lancer motions for Phantom to stick around. Which leaves Danny even more glad he’s gotten good at this.

Phantom floats, legs crossed, in the air as Mr. Lancer sits back down, “I’ll admit, I learned more than even I expected here. I don’t think I grasped just how powerful of a ghost you really are”. Phantom smirks, “yeah my small size and general light-hearted demeanour can be a bit misleading. I don’t act remotely as strong as I am and I have no interest in doing so. I only exercise major power or my position when it’s really needed”.

“You’re a very surprising fellow, Phantom. For seeming so young, you’re clearly wise. I’m glad the position of king fell on someone like you and thank you for coming in”, Mr. Lancer reads Phantoms slightly amused face before asking the question that Phantom knows he wants to, “feel up to doing this again sometime? Obviously not on a specific schedule, too risky for you”.

Phantom smiles lightly and nods, “I’ve had lots of experience with lots of things. And experience begets wisdom so to speak. But sure, I’d be up for it. Though dealing with any ghost issues comes first so don’t be surprised if I occasionally cancel or suddenly leave”.

“But of course, I wouldn’t expect anything different”, with that the two wave as Phantom phases through the ceiling.

Meanwhile, Fenton promptly gets corned by Valerie just outside of class. “question, do you know what I was talking about in there? Before I was rudely cut off by your “friend””, Danny can tell she’s unimpressed and still very much not fond of Phantom. “If what you’re thinking of involves a little girl, then yes. If the wrong people hear or find out about that the gov will destroy her. So seriously don’t”, obviously Valerie takes Fenton more seriously and nods curtly.

“All right Danny. I’ve got no problem believing you and that does make sense. Still don’t like that you’re helping a ghost. But it’s your life I guess”. Chuckling, “you don’t know the half of it”.

End.

[lunawings]

King of Prism SSS Episode 9 commentary (Alexander)

FINALLY!!!!! Finally I can talk about a few big things from this series I have been dying to talk about....

...............What did I sign myself up for. 

A quick rundown of what it says here: More and more people are becoming interested in the street-style and choosing to be street-style stars since the Prism King Cup. In the graph, the gold portion is academy-style and the silver is street-style, before -> after the Prism King Cup. Below it points out that Kazuki and Hiro’s “sparking” scores from the Prism King Cup (the Prism Watch data) were equal and suggests Schwartz Rose needs to step up their game in the street category. 

Every time I laugh at this. 

Every time I feel kinda bad afterwards. 

But

So Ace was entered as an official participant. It says “reserve”, but still. I guess that may have helped to make Joji’s score possible and not break the system. 

(In between writing my episode 5 commentary post and now, I got to read the interview with the director in spoon2Di where he confirmed that Joji’s high score was only because Ace joined in what was supposed to be a solo show.)

Flashy, huh. We’re going with flashy this time for “charachara”.... Okay. (Better than gaudy I guess.)

I love this so much. Kakeru coming outside just to watch Taiga exercise and get all sweaty and all that. I wonder how long he stood there. Or rather I wonder how long he watched with binoculars after heading back inside. 

I’m such a dumbass. After episode 3 aired someone pointed out that this is Taiga’s mom vs. Alec’s mom, and my excuse for not noticing then was that it’s in the background and such. (Can’t pause the movie in the theater and didn’t think to check it afterwards.) But here the camera actually pans over them slowly, so yeah I have no excuse. 

But regardless. Amazing!! 

Another thing I didn’t catch in the theater. But I have never had a reason to know the Japanese word for asthma before. I’m glad that gave him an actual reason for being sickly instead of just.... sickly child syndrome. 

As long as you’re happy, Victoria. 

But really though, their relationship is pretty damn interesting. 

I wonder if she knows he borrowed her clothes. 

No I don’t know why these grown-ass men have nothing better to do than pick on an actual seven year old child...............

So uh. This line confused me for the longest time. The way he says it, I really thought he was giving “Daikokuno” as another last name and I thought it was some kind of DJ KOO reference I didn’t get or something. 

But thanks to Crunchyroll I finally realized.... ITS A PLACE. He’s just saying where he’s from, and that’s how Alexander is able to find him. GOOD LORD IM SUCH A DUMBASS.......... Another point for Crunchyroll. 

HE BIKED ALL THE WAY FROM YOKOSUKA TO YOKOHAMA

Okay so now that I have the luxury to pause this, as soon as I did I opened up Google Maps in another window, zoomed in and....

WELL THEN 

At least I finally know where it is

BUT DAAAAAMN

Fuck asthma am I right

It wouldn’t give me the cycling time, but yeah, you can imagine. 

They only have this one image of Rei doing a jump and gosh darn they are gonna use it to the fullest. 

So during this scene and the next people cheer for Rei in the theater, but nobody really knows what color he is. There was a whole lot of variation at the beginning before people (in Nagoya at least) finally settled on red. (For the flames maybe? I don’t know if it’s official.....)

Alexander actually had a flashback to this moment on Prism Rush during the Road to SSS 9 event. I reblogged it recently on my @prism-rush blog trying to disguise it as part of my Alexander birthday spam. (It wasn’t.)

YEAHHHHHHHHHHH BOY

So if you have no idea where the heck this egg came from and what it is..... Rainbow Live.

But anyway. 

I can finally FINALLY talk about this!!! Even though I knew it would probably be all over Twitter, I really wanted to protect this spoiler on Tumblr if I could. It was such a big deal to me when I saw it in the theater and I really wanted you guys to have the opportunity to be as blown away as I was. I could not possibly think of anything to say about it that wouldn’t be a hint, so all I could say all this time was just that Alexander’s episode has “a surprise” in it.... SURPRISE!!!

But yeah, when I saw this for the first time I thought it just came out of NOWHERE. Total shock! I thought this was not predictable at all!

But then it hit me. All of a sudden I remembered something. Something important.

Again, in Road to SSS event 9....

So, for folks who follow my @prism-rush blog, remember that one Alexander PR where he was looking into a box? And nobody knew what was in the box? But  there was something weird following him? I even mentioned it and my confusion over it in my summary of that event. WELL GUESS WHAT.

We finally know what was in the box don’t we.  

I asked a friend to see the card story to fill in the blanks and see if there were any obvious hints to what was going on at the time, and it’s just mentioned as a strange animal he picked up. Alexander struggles with what to do and not really wanting to take care of it, but then he asks himself what Rei would do..... (Whether he could see Momo at that time, I do not know ahah....)

So in the beginning after seeing Part 1 in theaters I said on Tumblr that the Road to SSS events from Prism Rush didn’t have much to do with the SSS anime, and most of them didn’t and still don’t. All of course except for Road to SSS 9, just that one, which ended up being way more important than I would have ever imagined. And this isn’t even the only reason either, there is also--

SO UH anyway Road to SSS 9 took place in June, so this flashback is taking place in June DURING Road to SSS 9. A very roundabout way to dating the episode, but really cool. I like how Road to SSS was significant after all. 

And another surprise for me. In the theatrical version he’s not glowing here. They wanted to emphasize that he’s powering up I suppose eheh. I was really freaking out about this in the stream chat. SO COOL.

To the right of his little dragon house you’ll see some “dorayaki” because.....

Although they never actually mention it in the anime, his name is Dorachi. (Confirmed on Twitter.) 

(Note: Dorayaki is also the favorite food of classic Japanese character Doraemon.) 

Even though Dorachi doesn’t talk in this episode, in the theatrical special video for Alexander he talks A LOT. An UNFAIR amount. So much I do not remember most of what he said since I only saw it once and it went by so fast. 

But his real name is very long (like the manager names from PriPara) and he talks about spreading the prism sparkle. I’m sorry, that’s honestly all I remember right now.

Will he show up again in the main anime before the end?

(Okay yes.)

And at least they gave you guys was a bit of original(??) art of him in the new ending. 

WHATEVER THEY MAKE OF THIS CHARACTER I WILL BUY IT 

Okay moving on....... 

Urrgh..... okay so.............. When I first was watching this with you guys in the stream I was like UGH because I don’t think “flashy” fits here at all. I really wished they had stuck with “playboy” since it would work better with this scene. 

But then when I watched it again, I realized they already used “flashy” once in this episode to describe Kazuki’s sweater, and it did kinda work there. 

If we go back to my episode 3 commentary, my main complaint with Crunchyroll’s  translation of “charachara” was actually less about the words they used, and more about how it just wasn’t consistent. 

This episode..... is consistent.

..................

................................

Another point for Crunchyroll. 

I officially cannot complain about the subs in this episode. 

Another little thing in SSS I have spent way too much time thinking over is how Joji got here. 

In every episode up until now, it’s always been Louis seen walking beside Jin like his pet. But in this episode. JUST THIS EPISODE.... it’s Joji instead. 

I think the reason is because Louis is performing next, so he has to rest (since he’s not exactly in the condition he once was.....) So Joji scooped up the opportunity. 

Whatever the reason, I find it really interesting. 

HERE IT IS

My all time favorite Alexander face

In a weird way I actually think he’s cuter here than in the Prism King Cup

This song.... was not quite what I was expecting for Alec, but I love it. No part of me anticipated he’d just launch into a ballad but WOW. I just love how they picked something that really shows off his beautiful voice like this. Alexander is in my top three singing voices in King of Prism (1: Hiro, 2: Taiga, 3: Alexander) so I loved hearing him belting this out. 

Now time for my like.... 4th(?) embarrassing confession in this post.... I had no idea this song was a cover until like AN HOUR before this episode aired. You guys were playing TRF songs in the stream, the original came on, and while y’all were like “what should we watch next” I was sitting there like “!!!!!!!!FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF”

Well, it’s a new song to me. And I think it’s perfect for him. 

Poor Joji and his inconveniently timed fruit. 

He finally gets to spend time with Jin, and he just can’t get a break. 

I love the generation gap here. Kazuki’s existence has been so big to Taiga he can only think of Kazuki. But Kazuki and Hijiri are able notice the subtle differences that make this an OG Rei move. 

I could certainly spend a whole lot of text speculating why Alexander did not change into his battle suit, but I won’t waste your time and just admit I have no idea. I’m glad he doesn’t, since it keeps the spotlight on Alexander since HE CAN’T PERFORM ONE GODDAMN SHOW WITHOUT TAIGA BARGING IN ON HIM BUT MMMRGGHGHG

TAIGA YOU SHOULD HAVE KNOWN BETTER

Yeah I was SO MAD about this when I first saw it at the midnight showing.

A lot of people change to green when Taiga comes out, but I do not. This is the only battle where I cheer for Alexander the whole time.  

Not only was I mad at Taiga for being so dumb, but just mad at the whole concept of Taiga barging into Alexander’s one show to do basically the same jumps we saw in Pride the Hero again..... 

But.....

Nowadays I forgive my idiot son. And I hope you do too. 

This wasn’t the moment I forgave him. No, that’s coming later. I was mad at him for an entire month. But yeah. 

He’s just so confident and everyone believes in him................................

So Alexander breaks the street-style curse and gets a damn good score. Higher than Taiga’s original score. 

But just like Joji’s score was due to Ace, I can’t help but think Alexander’s score was a good deal due to Taiga.........

I had a feeling this would happen. 

I knew long before Part 3. 

Even back when I had only just seen Part 1.... I just knew the tables would turn in this episode. 

Maybe it would be difficult to guess by watching week-to-week, but for me having Alexander’s episode as the last episode of the theatrical Part 3 just seemed like it would be WAAAAAY too much of a coincidence otherwise. So I had a strong feeling Schwarz would come out ahead at the end of this one. (I didn’t guess the reason would be because Taiga would get a penalty, but yeah.) And especially because the performances are kind of out of order to make this work? Up until now I thought all of the Schwarz Rose boys performed first, but Yu was up before Alec? And Louis is up next. Maybe it wasn’t a guaranteed thing that the Schwarz Boys always go first, but I noticed it.  

So up until now score has not mattered much as Edel Rose has just sailed on though. But now it does. It matters a lot. 

So this is the second surprise of this episode, and why I was saying it’s the beginning of the chain of events that lead to the end.

But about score mattering now, one of the reasons I have been questioning Taiga’s score the whole time is because I knew this was going to happen. So I just.... I just hope Taiga’s score wasn’t lower to begin with on purpose for mathematical reasons so they could get their desired progression of the overall score or something. IDK.

I don’t blame Rei for not figuring it out right away. Even though I KNOW this is Alexander, I still have trouble connecting his younger and older selves. I mean, getting muscular doesn’t make your eye shape completely change does it....?

Poor Kazuki. He doesn’t care.

So if I interpreted this episode correctly.... 

This was Alexander’s official transition from an antagonist to a protagonist. (Or just to a normal rival at least.)

During the first two movies and for a good long time of Prism Rush, he always played the part of the villain. But once Road to SSS started that began to change. We saw him reminiscing about Rei, making awkward conversation with Louis, struggling over forming a duo with Joji, etc. So I had a strong feeling they were taking his character in this direction, but this right here was the official turning point I believe. 

No more destroying stadiums. From now on he’ll be spreading the prism sparkle with Dorachi. 

And still trying to beat Kazuki but you know. 

So I don’t have a source handy (if someone challenges me to find one I’ll dig it up) but I remember I read one time that Alexander was actually originally a character that was only created for the first movie. But then they realized they had to keep him on when he was just so popular. 

So if you have ever supported Alexander, this episode was for you. Fans make King of Prism possible. 

So.... one more thing I guess. Something I learned from the Minato episode was that even if I ignore controversy and specifically state I don’t want to talk about it, it still finds its way into my inbox anyhow. So I might as well get this over with I guess. 

After Young of Prism Alexander was revealed to have light skin, someone told me a theory that mixed race children are sometimes born with lighter skin which darkens as they grow older. So up until her design was revealed, I had always imagined Alexander’s mother as a black woman. 

So yeah. I don’t know the reason for his darker skin color now. 

But I’d like to point out that in this episode being pale was associated with being weak and unhealthy, while darker skin was associated with being healthy and strong and just leave it at that. 

And thus ends Part 3. 

Next week begins.................. what I have been dreading for a long time............

So...................

So up until now I have been pretty tight-lipped about spoilers. But once episode 10 airs, the floodgates will pretty much be open. Episode 10 and episode 11 are so connected it’s really hard to talk about one without the other. I mean, once you know about episode 10, I seriously might as well. So after episode 10 airs, at the bottom of my commentary post and after a warning I plan to share some episode 11 spoilers. 

Because I have been through this......

And I know how it’s gonna make you guys feel......

And since I was lucky enough to get some answers right away, I’m going to give you guys those same answers for those who want them so you don’t have to just sit on episode 10 for a week. I am not that kind of a monster. I won’t put you guys through that. 

So after episode 10 ends, take a deep breath, cry it out if you need to, and get some tea. 

I know how you’re gonna be feeling. I know. Don’t send me a panicked anon ask right away. Give me a little time. Hold on. 

[urdbell18]

A Seed Hidden in the Heart Chapter 16: The One With a Little Hope

AN:I'M BACK!!!!!!!!!!!! And with a brand new chapter for you guys. Was it worth the wait? I don't know but here it is! Enjoy!

Since the summons arrived Zelda entered into a state that was a combination of depression and catatonic. She walked around like a zombie, a shell of her former self that could perform her basic humanly functions. Though not lacking in her duties as a teacher her students noticed that Zelda wasn’t herself and Rosalind and Theo asked if there was anything they could do to help but not even Mary knew how to help Zelda beyond just being there. Mary wouldn’t begin to say she understood what Zelda was feeling, yes she loved Vida like her own but the connection that Zelda and Vida had was something deeper. That connection was why whenever Vida was around Zelda painted on a smile to allude that nothing was wrong, acted like everything was normal when every night after tucking Vida into bed Zelda cried. All Mary could do was hold her and wish that there was something that she could do. It came to her one afternoon on a Saturday in April.

That day had been particularly bad. Zelda wouldn’t stop crying, she couldn’t even muster enough energy to get out of bed. Mary shuffled Vida out, saying Zelda was just a little sick and she was okay. Vida looked at her like she didn’t believe her, and to be honest Mary didn’t even believe herself, but she agreed and headed downstairs. In the kitchen Mary and Hilda shared a quick look and a slight nod. Hilda will take care of Zelda, Mary will handle Vida. Armed with a list of errands Mary and Vida left. After stopping at the pharmacy and the home improvement store for some fertilizer the last thing on Hilda’s list was to fix a clasp on a watch of hers that broke. Mary loathed to go into the shopping district on a weekend but wanting to give Hilda as much time as possible she decided to suck it up and go.

The bell on the jewelry store tinkled when Mary entered shaking off her umbrella as it started to rain lightly. Vida who was decked out in her raincoat with matching boots and hat shook her head when Mary took her hat off, causing red ringlets and little droplets of water to fly everywhere. Mary smiled and fussed over Vida’s hair to make it somewhat neat. A salesperson came over and asked how they could help them. When Mary explained that she needed a watched to be fixed the salesperson led her over to one of the glass cases to have a closer look. At first Vida was next to her, holding onto the side of her leather trench coat but becoming bored at having looked at everything in the case started to wonder. Mary was two seconds away from calling Vida back but stopped. Other than her, Vida, and a few other employees there were only two other customers and Vida was smart enough to not go with anyone or out of the store so Mary turned back to the sales person but kept an ear out for the slight ‘squelch’ that Vida’s boots made on the shops carpet. After several minutes of looking through watches they eventually found something that could match the original fixture the sales clerk went into the back to talk to the person who did the actual hardware work Mary turned to find Vida.

Vida was standing in front of a glass case filled with little charms and pendants for necklaces and bracelets. The charms were all arranged by shape, grouped together by metal type, gold and silver mostly, and gemstone options. Mary quickly recognized the birthstone gems as the pieces were arranged in neat double rows of six. Vida was, of course, fascinated with the little bear pendants. The pendants were about half the size of Mary’s finger tip but the detail was impressive. The 3D bears had little eyes and noses and a tail on its sitting bottom plus soft carving marks to resemble fur. On one foot was a small round gemstone that fit perfectly with the pad of the bears paw.

“What do you have here baby bear?”

“Look at the little bears Mamma they’re so cute.”

“That they are.” The longer Mary stared at the bears wheel started to turn in her head as an idea started to form. The sales clerk that was helping them with the watch came back pulling Mary away from the bear pendants. The watch was fixable and Mary filled the work order so Hilda could pick it up later.

“Is there anything else I can help you with Ma’am?” Mary thought about it for a minute. The bear pendants came back to mind.

“There is one thing.” Mary took the clerk over to the bear pendants and he pulled out the little shelving they rested on out so she could have a closer look. The bears were, as Mary predicted, part of the stores birthstone collection so each bear had a different gemstone. A gold bear with a 36 inch chain was almost $200, a little steep but for Zelda it was worth it.

“What do you think baby bear?” Mary picked up Vida so she could see the bears more clearly. “Should we get one for you Mom?”

“Yes!” Vida then told the sales clerk when her birthday was, May 16th, and he pulled out a pre boxed bear with an emerald gemstone.

“Would you like to get it engraved? It’s $10 and we can do it today in about an hour.” Tempted Mary agred, she and Vida could get lunch and come back to get the necklace. Mary told the clerk what she wanted. When she came back for it the necklace was wrapped up nicely in a little box with a blue ribbon.

After some debate Mary decided not to wait until Mother’s Day to give the necklace to Zelda. That next day she recruited Vida to make their special breakfast, french toast light on the powdered sugar and syrup with some egg whites, a small cup of fruit, a lightly buttered biscuit, and a mug of coffee. Balancing the tray Mary and Vida brought it back upstairs to surprise Zelda. Mary hung back with the try as Vida, after setting down the mug of coffee that she was entrusted with on the nightstand, climbed up onto Zelda’s bed to wake her. It didn’t take much, Zelda hasn’t been sleeping well either and it only took a little prodding to wake her.

“Surprise!” Zelda looked at Vida then at Mary as she placed the breakfast tray.

“What is this?”

“Me and Momma made you our special breakfast. To make you feel better.” Zelda gasped a little in shock, she didn’t know that Vida picked up on her mood, but hid it well.

“Thank you baby.” The bed dipped as Mary joined them on the bed and they shared breakfast. When the tray was empty Mary handed Vida the small box that held the necklace.

“We got you this Mommy.” Zelda took the box, not sure what it could be or why she was receiving this gift. After untying the ribbon the dark blue box opened with a soft crack. Zelda’s eyes widened and she gave a faint gasp. “Do you like it Mommy?” The tiny gold bear looked so much bigger cradled in the soft lining of the box, tiny emerald catching the light. The new addition to the bear, the thing that had Zelda almost in tears, was a tiny engraving on the bears other paw that said ‘V.S.’

“I love it.” Vida smiled and snuggled into her mother’s side. Zelda handed the box to Mary so she could place the necklace on her. Sweeping Zelda’s hair over her shoulder Mary fastened the necklace around Zelda’s slender neck. Though not big the bear stood out against Zelda’s pale skin, the pendant resting lightly on her chest. When the necklace was securely in place Zelda turned back to face Mary and brought her close to share a kiss. Mary returned it, making it just a little deeper and longer.

____________________

After that Zelda was in a better mood. She wasn’t 100%, Mary believed that wouldn’t happen until this whole mess was over, but she stopped crying and could muster real small smiles. She also realized that she couldn’t ignore the inevitable anymore. She needed to hire an attorney. Over the next week or so Zelda contacted several law firms that looked to be in her price range and could help her. None of them, even after a respected waiting time, responded back. Zelda started to panic, she knew that Faustus would have an attorney that would destroy her in a single breath. If she wanted even a snowballs chance in hell to keep her daughter she needed her own representation but with no responses she was starting to go back into her depressed state. Just as it seemed that hope was lost Zelda received a very interesting email on Saturday afternoon.

Dear Ms. Spellman,

I heard from the grapevine that you are looking for an attorney for an upcoming custody case. My name is Daniel Webster, I don’t have a law firm nor work for one but I do have a license to practice law with a decade worth of trial experience. An old friend of mine from one of the law firms that you contacted pointed me in your direction and gave me your email, I hope you don’t mind. I would like to take your case pro bono. To prove that I am not a scammer we can meet in a neutral location on your terms and I have attached some links to a few of the cases that I worked on. Write me back when you can.

Signed, Daniel Webster

Deciding to take a leap of faith Zelda wrote back to Mr. Webster that she would meet him at Hilda’s book shop just after breakfast. Vida was with Mary, Zelda dropped them off at the park with a promise that if they got tired or if the weather turned bad to come to the store. Dr. Cee allowed her to use his back office for the meeting, it was quiet and it plus the tea that Hilda gave her helped her remain calm. At five past ten Hilda let in a middle age man with short white hair and beard and dressed in a nice but not flashy navy blue suit.

“Ms. Spellman.” Mr. Webster held out his hand and they shook hands for a brief moment. Hilda asked Mr. Webster if he would like anything but he said no. With that Hilda closed the door behind her and she and Mr. Webster were alone. Mr. Webster opened his briefcase and took out a legal pad and pen. “So let’s begin. According to court documents a Faustus Blackwood is suing you for full custody of your daughter.”

“Yes.”

“Is he the child’s biological father?”

“Unfortunately.”

“And when did your relationship end?”

“About a month after I found out I was pregnant.” After she gave her answer Mr. Weber straightened up.

“You have had no contact with Mr. Blackwood before now?”

“None whatsoever.”

“Good. We can use that. Do you have the girls birth certificate?” Zelda pulled out a folder from her purse that contained all of the important papers regarding Vida. Each family member had their own folder in a locked drawer in the credenza next to the kitchen. Zelda handed Mr. Weber Vida’s birth certificate. Mr. Webster scanned over the document and his eyes widened. Zelda didn’t know if this was a good thing or a bad.

“Ms. Spellman we have nothing to worry about.” Zelda’s heart stopped in her chest but it was a good stop. A huge wave a relief blew over her and she felt like she could breathe again without this crushing weight against her. She didn’t know why she had so much confidence in Mr. Webster but she did and if he said she didn’t have to worry than she won’t. She really hoped he was right.

With their meeting concluded Zelda went out to the main area. Mary and Vida weren’t there, they still must be at the park. Zelda, after debate decided to walk the short distance to the park. The weather was nice, sunny with just a bit of cloud and a nice breeze that was refreshing but not knee shaking. When she arrived at the park Vida was hanging from the monkey bars with Mary close to her ready to spring into action if Vida needed her. Zelda was impressed as Vida made the last four bars to the landing on the jungle gym set. Though too far away to hear Mary said something that made Vida flush with pride and she ran off to the higher part of the jungle gym. When Zelda reached Mary she took the other woman’s hand, lacing their fingers together.

“Meeting went well?” Zelda nodded and rested her head against Mary’s shoulder. Given hope Zelda could relax enough to enjoy physical contact with Mary. Mary let go of Zelda’s hand to drape her arm over Zelda’s shoulder. They stayed that way until Vida called out to them, she was standing at the opening of a slide. Zelda moved to the end so that when Vida reached it she scooped her up. Vida giggled as Zelda pressed her close and kissed her cheek.

“Ready to go?” Vida nodded and they, after Zelda took Mary’s hand again, walked back to the car to go home.