#i'm beginning to think I can cure a rainy day

[anghraine]

Update: let me upgrade that to "what if 'Spock's Brain' was good?"

So, I really, really enjoyed this one despite disapproving of its existence on a certain abstracted artistic level.

Like, do I feel that "oh actually he's not really gone" undermines the power of Spock's sacrifice in The Wrath of Khan? Well, yes. Do I want a series like Star Trek to risk something that big and then hurriedly back away and jettison every new development? Well, no, generally not.

But. But. While it's not the movie The Wrath of Khan is in certain ways—not as self-contained, not as substantial—I ... well, I've got to speak my truth. I actually like it more than The Wrath of Khan.

I HAVE REASONS OKAY.

For one, I much prefer it to both of the preceding movies aesthetically. The costuming is consistently fantastic; the leather jackets are god-tier, especially Sulu's, and the beige sleepwear aesthetic of TMP and the highly militarized one of TWOK are blessedly much less prominent. The Vulcan outfits rule. Kirk has this, like, fluttery eighteenth-century blouse at one point that's fantastic. There's something incredibly vivid and distinct about the details of the settings that I love, especially on Genesis and Vulcan. I love the choreography. The use of intensely vibrant color palettes again is just deeply refreshing. I was genuinely surprised to read that most of it was filmed on sound stages and not on location.

The supporting characters are generally good: the Klingons are fun villains and more memorable than ever before (I love their sarcastic description of the idyll beneath the Federation flag, lmao, and the understated exchange between the lady Klingon and the commander). Our heroes get to outwit some Federation people who aren't evil or anything, but range from mildly disappointing to obnoxious as hell (the Excelsior captain ... heh). David Marcus goes from one of my most hated characters in TWOK to a consistent delight who goes out like a champ. The major let-down is Saavik, who was fantastic in TWOK but is just kind of fine here.

[super long ramble below the cut!]

(I do not like the random pon farr with Saavik, I will admit, just given how much of a mentor-very young protégée dynamic Spock and Saavik had in TWOK. And also the fact that he functionally doesn't have a brain. It's puzzling to me that a barely adolescent Spock would go through pon farr when TOS Spock obviously went through his first in his late 30s, anyway, and I suspect it's mostly there for the usual horny Star Trek reasons.)

But most of all, I find the characterization in this one far more consistent with the details of the established characters than TWOK had, while projecting probable, intriguing character developments into the future for those people. And for me, that makes the arcs and emotional beats hit a lot harder.

TSFS is one of the best Star Trek stories for McCoy, period. He's carting around Spock's soul for nearly the entire movie, and it's both comedic and just really delightful to see McCoy shift between fully himself, or fully Spock, or blurred somewhere between both. I love the bar scene where he's grumpily yelling about how illogical the people trying to deal with him are. I love the switching between very McCoy lines and very Spock expressions on his face. I love the scene where he admits to Spock's body that he cares about him and wants him to be okay. I love his awkwardly respectful involvement with Vulcan mysticism that's got to twig him out, his explicit agreement to risk himself to return Spock's soul, and then the very McCoy aside of "hell of a time to ask."

I think this is one of the first narratives in which his bigotry pretty much vanishes (which makes perfect sense in context, but it's very welcome after him still carrying on the xenophobia torch in TMP and TWOK). It also just feels really nice to see DeForest Kelley get a chance to shine as an actor, which he very much does here.

I was actually thinking about how, IMO, McCoy is not only overshadowed by Kirk and Spock and their relationship in fan perception, but often enough, in how the various TOS narratives are structured, and even in the in-story dynamics. In both TOS and the films, I think McCoy is presented as having strong, fundamentally affectionate, fraught, but ultimately close ties to both Kirk and Spock, and as offering an important counterweight to them in perspective and temperament. At the same time, though, I think he's also kind of stuck on the outside of their little hyper-intense binary system with regard to each other. It makes the triad dynamic of these characters messy and complicated and compelling to me in a way that a more neatly balanced central triad often isn't; McCoy's role is so fundamental, yet the Spock-Kirk-McCoy dynamic so often seems unbalanced in favor of Kirk and Spock within the story in a way that McCoy visibly struggles to navigate at times.

Kirk and Spock undoubtedly care deeply about McCoy—we certainly see them show it—but I don't think that they are at all consistently on his wavelength (or him on theirs) in the way that they're frequently on each other's. I don't think McCoy relates to them in the way they relate to each other. In TOS, Kirk and Spock regularly seem to forget other people are in the room with them, including McCoy; they're mutually puzzled by McCoy's choice to stay with his wife and mutually come around to understanding; McCoy tries and fails to get Spock to back down from repeatedly risking hundreds of people's lives in desperate, likely fatal attempts to save Kirk; McCoy is much more hesitant to accept that something is very wrong with Kirk in various episodes where Spock correctly leaps to red alert; etc. Kirk's matter-of-fact statement in the series finale that Spock is closer to him than anyone else in the universe would not even slightly surprise McCoy himself, IMO.

Even in the movies, McCoy is shocked and enraged by Spock's initial coldness in TMP, where Kirk is visibly much less surprised (though disappointed—he seems to have known what to expect in a way McCoy and the others didn't). McCoy raises reasonable (if mistaken) doubts about Spock's loyalties that Kirk refuses to consider despite rising evidence. Spock bids farewell to the Kirk-McCoy-Saavik away party with an intense "Jim, be careful!" that ignores McCoy and Saavik (as McCoy himself points out), blahblahblah.

I'm not sure McCoy would even want to be part of Kirk and Spock's whole deal—he's typically framed as a more normal person who represents natural human decency, emotion, reasoning, and attachment where Kirk and Spock are (I say with love) kind of unhinged beneath their more measured demeanors. But it's got to feel weird to be McCoy. So having him be the one carting Spock's katra around (and not really liking it, but doing his best) feels interesting and unexpected and strange—and very funny at times—in a way I suspect it wouldn't if it were Kirk in that role. After McCoy's been kind of ... uh, assigned third wheel at birth for so long, there's something rewarding about him getting so much of the spotlight, and very admirably bearing up under the strain of a truly weird-ass situation while Kirk spends most of the film sliding towards the deep end.

Speaking of whom: my main complaint about TWOK was that, especially with Kirk, it tended towards inventing new traits wholesale, and building the film's central arcs around those traits for the duration of the movie, rather than engaging much with the established character. For instance, as I mentioned the other day, a major thread of TWOK was the idea that Kirk is someone who's spent his life evading any serious confrontations with the inevitability of loss or death by refusing to allow them as possibilities, instead relying on being clever and daring and ingenious and determined enough to avoid seriously encountering death/loss/failure. This is not even slightly consistent with TOS Kirk, who has experienced horrific losses over and over and over, and is painfully aware that death is a very real possibility in many situations.

The use of "the good of the many outweighs the good of the few, or the one" is powerful and effective in TWOK, but honestly it is much more the philosophy of Kirk in TOS than Spock. Kirk is not always written evenly in TOS, but his preoccupation with the welfare of the hundreds of people on his ship above his own interests or desires is a very persistent feature of his character. Meanwhile, TOS!Spock is entirely ready to risk those same hundreds of people and his own better judgment if it means even a slight chance of saving Kirk. Spock just ... refuses to give up trying despite the risk to many people, in order to save one(1) man. In fairness, it's entirely possible that "the good of the many..." is a philosophy Spock generally subscribes to on a cerebral level and he just launches all his principles out the airlock when it comes to Kirk specifically. But honestly, I don't think the characterization swap is really about that or about much of anything in TOS, it's about what works for movie Trek.

That's fine enough in many ways (ST historically has had a healthier, looser approach to continuity than other franchises) and TWOK is fantastic in its own right. But the characterization in The Search for Spock feels very TOS to me, despite following directly from the events of TWOK. Like, TWOK has Kirk preoccupied with aging and feeling tired (he uses reading glasses, God forbid). It ends with him being grief-stricken by Spock's loss but facing it, and in doing so, feeling alive and young again. That works for TWOK, but I don't really believe it's where Kirk as a person would be at emotionally at that point, tbh.

I think it's entirely plausible, however, to interpret original Kirk's relationship with death and loss as flawed and unhealthy. It's not that he's been able to evade death and loss by refusing to accept the possibility of them, rejecting the reality that he might ever not win, whatever; rather, Kirk avoids truly facing the horrific scale of death and loss he has experienced by not letting himself dwell on them. He generally represses sorrow, focuses on what can (or should) be done in pragmatic terms, and coordinates his people into solving problems until it's time to move on to something else he can occupy himself with. TOS Kirk knows how to endure, how to reinvent himself, how to keep going. I'm not sure he knows how to grieve.

Certainly, the episodes that deal most directly with grief and trauma make it clear that he has never really moved on, just repressed guilt/rage/whatever in favor of being capable and charming. We see it in "The Conscience of the King," we see it in "Operation: Annihilate!", we see it in "Obsession," it's a whole thing.

Of course, people can't just endure forever. And in The Search for Spock, we find a Kirk who has finally reached the limits of his ability to power through loss. The first bit of the film, showing us a Kirk devastated by grief and blankly going through the motions of Performing James T. Kirk, is some of the best of movie Kirk IMO. To me, it feels like this is a limit that TOS Kirk was always going to hit someday, and Spock's death makes perfect sense as the thing that would leave him just kind of lost.

His attempts to present a good front are visibly strained from the outset, and while he tries to hang onto his principles throughout, he is more of a loose cannon in this film than he's ever been, more determined to let nothing stand in his way, more prone to extremes, more cavalier with life, more enraged but also colder and more calculating. There are times in this film where he seems a thread away from snapping; the effect is not This is who Kirk always was but This is Kirk pushed beyond his limits.

I love Sarek showing up and being accusatory (in a very Sarek way) towards the initially muted, lost Kirk. It's ... well, it's really hard not to describe Sarek as his judgmental father-in-law, not only for TOS shipping reasons, but just the intense "in-laws handling mutual grief poorly" dynamic. The fact that it literally never entered Sarek's mind that Spock would have passed his katra to anyone but Kirk only reinforces this, along with Kirk's quiet "We were separated" explaining why it didn't happen. Yes, of course it would have been him if he'd been available, duh, but he wasn't there.

(I can only imagine what the Kirk-Sarek mind-meld must have felt like, damn. Neither of these men have the faintest idea of how to process something like this.)

ANYWAY. I also really appreciated the pacing of this one, the places where it lingers and where the action crackles from scene to scene. I loved the destruction of the Enterprise and the icily cheerful insouciance of Kirk's "c'est la vie" about the deaths of the Klingon crew (something that at another time might have allowed him to see commonality between himself and Kruge). Loved Kirk both giving Kruge a chance to live and grating out "I have had enough of you!" when he brutally smashes his boot into Kruge's face and kicks him into the lava; you feel he is really on the edge of becoming someone else. I also love that he's smart and resourceful enough to then transport into the Klingon vessel by the simple expedient of knowing how to speak Klingon and impersonating Kruge through a communicator.

I loved the original stealing of the Enterprise and the various crew members getting some moments to shine (justice for Uhura at last, though I think she should have joined them!). I loved the Vulcan ceremony and how it showed the difficulty of the ritual through the offscreen passage of time, and visible general exhaustion, with most of the Enterprise crew having fallen asleep by the time the ritual finished. Loved Sarek coming as close as he ever will to admitting he loves Spock (in, again, the most Sarek way possible) and acknowledging that Kirk made monumental sacrifices to restore Spock's katra to his body.

Loved how there's still a cost to Spock's sacrifice; he's there, he's Spock, but so much is absent. Loved his blankness as he passes his former friends and the bittersweet quality to this after all that was lost to bring him back, the sense that things might never be wholly right, though there's hope that they will. But I also loved him turning back and recognizing that he knows the name ("Jim") that goes with Kirk's face (the only one of them he appears to recognize at all, though it's enough for everyone to break into rejoicing). Love the raw joy in Kirk's visibly tired, dirty face in that moment, even though there's such a long way to go.

So, well. It's my favorite!

J and I are about to take up our ST watch with The Search for Spock!

me: If you think about it, a significant portion of this one is "What if 'Spock's Brain' wasn't terrible, right?

J: oh God. You're not wrong.

[lonesomedreamer]

I expect nothing, Mr. Scott. It is merely logical to try all the alternatives. Doctor McCoy, a reading on the atmosphere, please.

STAR TREK | The Galileo Seven

[harrykim]

By golly, Jim, I'm beginning to think I can cure a rainy day.

Leonard 'Bones' McCoy in Star Trek (The Original Series, Original Series Films, The Next Generation, and the Alternate Original Series Films) | ID in ALT

For @torsamors

[anemcia]

Eyyyy, Cyto, uh... how much brotherly contempt are you willing to stomach? If I, an impartial observer transcending time and space, sometimes think Nucleotide just outright hates you, then I can only wonder what it's like being on the receiving end of all that envy.

... what's your take on it?

Send my muse anons about their relationships - [ACCEPTING]

His conflicted eyes averted from the stranger's gaze, the question churning deep within the recesses of his mind. It was a thought he dreaded, a truth he didn't want to confront about how his brother truly felt about him. There were times when Cleo had been curt, a bit too physical with discipline, or scathingly harsh with his remarks… But never to the extent that would raise red flags in their relationship. Or so Cyto had assumed.

But to think his brother could hate him so profoundly? It struck a devastating chord, as if he’d been hit with an agonizing sorrow. Those cold, rainy nights spent in his brother's embrace as a toddler, the long days and nights hunting animals and catching fireflies, reading old fantasy stories, learning different art techniques, crafting trinkets, playing simple games together, training side by side… Did any of it matter? Could Nucleotide be so callous as to discard all those memories, allowing envy to overshadow their brotherly love?

Cyto's face twisted in silent fury, a wrath tempered by sheer willpower. The notion of betrayal gnawed at him, a vile sensation that he clearly despised.

"My brother is flawed in more ways than one, and I accept that. I accept that he may feel envious because I'm not dying a slow, painful death. I can accept that he hates me for being closer to Father than he may ever reach, or be nearly as powerful physically. There are many reasons to feel envious of me, and I know I could never begin to understand how he feels. How could I? We're not the same person."

"...But we ARE brothers, blood and all. Cleo is someone I have always admired, cherished, and wanted to protect ever since I learned about his condition. I would give anything to keep him living another day by my side, and it is the sole reason I give him parts of myself to consume. It might not be enough to stop the disease, but it gives us time to find a cure, I would hope."

"If Cleo finds that I am no longer enough, I will gladly remind him why I will not accept his hatred. If it means we must fight, so be it. I would never regret doing so, because he will always be my brother. No one, not even Father, could ever take that from me."

[wizardingdiaries]

🥀 angst | ☁️ fluff | ✨ faves | 🔥 smut

🪐 already on notes | 🍂 to be read

Sebastian Sallow 1

By sebswebs

Rekindle ☁️🥀✨

Mon Amour ☁️🥀

I feel your absence 🍂

What You Do To Me 🔥

Piggyback 🍂

Reckless 🍂

By spaceyaceface

All I can think ☁️

Snow, Scarves, and Schemes ☁️🥀✨

I'm Right Here ☁️🥀✨

forehead kisses ☁️

By secretjeon

ONLY YOU 🍂

By festivalsofmargot

Pining in Potions Class 🍂

Pretty Thoughts 🍂

By forbidden-amortentia

Them Cuddling ☁️

By cuffmeinblack

Between the two of you ☁️

Stolen glances 🍂

Open arms ☁️🥀

By sebsatianswallows

Fluffy shower 🍂

By arthenaa

triwizard tournament ☁️🥀

By sebluvi

Normally ☁️🥀

By wastelandmoony

Things We Lost in the Fire 🍂

By awkwardauthorwrites

Somebody Else 🍂

Jealousy, jealousy 🍂

Violets and Verbena ☁️

The Devil Doesn't Bargain ☁️🥀✨

Friends Don't 🍂

Protector ☁️🥀

Wildest Dreams 🍂 one | two | epilogue

I Think He Knows 🍂

By latoyalestrange

ghost of our love 🍂

enough 🍂 one | two

something in common ☁️

dessert fairy 🍂

stay 🍂

By sybwss

Made for Each Other 🍂

By emptycauldron

A Rainy Reunion ☁️✨

The Rumour 🍂 one | two

And we wait until one of us caves. ☁️🥀✨

Quality Time 🍂

The Days That Followed 🍂

By imagrindylow

stroking their hair ☁️

By fierymiasma

Five times 🍂 one |

Tear You Apart ☁️🥀✨

By applinsandoranges

The Time We Have 🍂 one | two | three | four - what if sebastian was cursed and not anne?

Not Alone ☁️🥀✨ - Sebastian just needs a hug.

Sweet Dreams 🍂 - MC inviting Sebastian over for christmas holiday on her house and he is just so happy and in love.

Too Many Favors ☁️ - Sebastian starts feeling neglected because MC has been spending all her free time helping everyone across the valley.

Healing Touch 🍂 - based on the song I see fire by ed Sheeran.

Aranshire 🍂 - how Sebastian might react if MC had a little crush on the charming Edgar Adley.

Mistaken ☁️🥀✨ - MC finally being able to cure Anne by the beginning of their 7th year and she starts avoiding and distancing herself from Sebastian after that.

Amortentia 🍂 - A male friend gives MC chocolates that, unbeknownst to her, have love potion infused.

The Champion's Treasure 🍂 - Sebastian entering the tournament because he wants to be worthy of MC.

Divination ☁️ - MC who just has lovely, soft hands despite always dueling.

A Reward for Your Efforts 🍂 - MC doesn't know how to read and Seb teaches her.

Crucio ☁️🥀✨ - Seb protects MC from a crucio curse because he can't stand to see her go through it again.

Pig 🍂 - MC fights with her shitty boyfriend and Seb is there to help.

[prettywitchiusaka]

Ironically, this is one of my favorite moments with Bones in Season 1;

"Jim! I'm beginning to think I can cure a rainy day!"

That line makes me giggle! 😁

my name is Bones heer wut i say now i ken cure a rainy day the Horta’s saefe i fix the rock too bad i can’t do much for Spock

[borgcast]

Classic lines.

McCoy- "I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer."

M- "I'm beginning to think I can cure a rainy day!"

[piers-wifey]

This idea randomly popped up in my head, lol. None of this is "canon" btw. I just wanted a softer moment between Rachel and Piers.

~~~

Piers: *plops down on his sofa with an irritated groan* This woman will be the death of me, I swear!

Jackson: *sitting on the other side of the room with his phone in his hand* Sounds like my sister got you again, eh? *chuckles*

Piers: She's horrible. Probably the most repugnant woman I've ever dealt with.

Jackson: Aw come on, she's not that bad. I know she can be difficult sometimes, but she's actually a great person.

Piers: "Sometimes?" She's trying to irritate me every fucking day! Growing up with her must've been hell on earth.

Jackson: *frowns, his usually cheerful expression replaced by a more serious and almost gloomy look* She wasn't always like that.

Piers: Hard to believe if you ask me.

Jackson: Good thing I didn't ask you.

Piers: *surprised by Jackson's sudden gruffness*

Jackson: *puts away his phone with a sigh* Look, I know my sister can- ...is rude and snarky. But that's not because she hates you or wants to hurt you. She's actually very fond of you as a person and has a lot of respect for you. It's just... you remind her of herself. Young, aspiring, fierce and most importantly, loyal and fueled by the desire to make the world a better place. That's why she's pushing you away, but also trying to look out for you and guide you. She doesn't want you to make the same mistakes and end up like her.

Piers: Are you.... are you being serious?

Jackson: I am.

Piers: I... didn't know that.

Jackson: Of course not. My sister is not the sentimental type. She actually hates thinking about the past.

Piers: Why?

Jackson: *smiles sadly* Because it's nothing but a collection of what we could've had and of what could've been if things would've been different.

Piers: I still don't understand.

Jackson: *takes a deep breath before he begins to speak* When we lost our parents, Rachel was only fifteen years old. I was nine. We had to live on the streets for four gruesome years and during that time, Rachel did everything she could to feed me and keep me warm and safe. She'd starve herself for days and give me her jacket when the days got cold and rainy. And at night, she forced herself to stay awake. In case someone tried to attack us. She got beaten by other people for stealing food and water and blankets to keep us alive. On her lucky days, she only came back with a bloody nose and a few bruises. *sighs heavily* Rachel always tried to hide it from me, but I knew she was afraid and in pain. People can be cruel and we had to learn it the hard way. They don't care about you and if you're not careful, they just try to kill you. In their eyes, you're either a rival or a worthless piece of scum no one would miss.

Piers: *looks at Jackson in horror and disbelief, his mouth wide agape* That's horrible! I... I didn't know you two went through something so... so...

Jackson: It's okay, Piers.

Piers: I'm so sorry this happened to you.

Jackson: Thank you.

Piers: *looks away with a sad and thoughtful expression*

Jackson: What are you thinking about?

Piers: Nothing. I just realised how much of an asshole I was to your sister.

Jackson: How so?

Piers: I always mocked her for her rudeness and called her a mongrel and a tramp. I even asked her if her parents are proud of her for being such an awful and reckless person. I can't even imagine how much those words must've hurt her...

Jackson: *hums softly*

Piers: No wonder she despises me.

Jackson: She doesn't. I told you, she likes you. She values whatever you two have going on a lot. Why else do you think she risked her own life to save you in Lanshiang? While you were unconscious, Rachel fought tooth and nail to get the authorities to cure you. Chris even had to drag her out of the office, cuz otherwise she would've strangled every single one of them with her own hands.

Piers: That's the first time I hear that. I've always been told that it was Chris who threatened them, not Rachel.

Jackson: I know. It was my sister's idea. She didn't want you to know.

Piers: Why?

Jackson: *shrugs* To avoid any weird situations I think.

Piers: I see.

---

*the front door opens*

---

Penelope: Dad, we're back! *rushes into the living room and jumps onto the sofa to greet her father with a big hug*

Piers: Easy tiger. You're gonna break your old man's bones. *chuckles and hugs the little girl* Did you have fun?

Penelope: *nods* Rachel taught me how to imitate the call of a loon!

Piers: *surprised* Did she? *looks at the older woman standing in the doorframe* I didn't know you could imitate animal sounds.

Rachel: Oh, there are plenty of things you don't know about me, hotshot.

Piers: *unconsciously tightens his grip on Penelope* Yeah.

Jackson: *watches them attentively*

Rachel: *notices Piers' tension and rolls her eyes* Don't worry, Super-Dad. I didn't teach her anything bad nor did I let her do anything dangerous. She was as calm as a toad in the sun.

Piers: *hums softly, obviously thinking about something*

Rachel: *sighs* No need to dig for anything to complain about, I get it, you don't like me spending time with your kid.

Piers: I wasn't-

Rachel: Jackson, come on, let's go.

Jackson: *surprised* You wanna go already?

Rachel: Yeah. Before I have to listen to one of Mr. Superdaddy's complaints again.

Piers: *wordlessly lifts up Penelope and sits her down next to him before getting up on his feet* Rachel, can I talk to you for a second?

Rachel: *looks at him with furrowed eyebrows, letting out an annoyed huff* Here we go again.

Piers: *gestures Rachel to follow him outside*

---

*outside*

---

Rachel: What is it this time?

Piers: *surprised* What do you mean?

Rachel: *scoffs* Oh please, I know you didn't just took me outside to show me the bright blue sky. So tell me, what did I do this time that made big daddy Piers mad?

Piers: Nothing.

Rachel: What- ...then why did you ask me if you could talk to me in private in the first place?

Piers:

Rachel: Great response, Lieutenant. Now I know everything and nothing. Can I go now?

Piers: *softly* I'm sorry.

Rachel: Excuse me?

Piers: I said I'm sorry.

Rachel: For what?

Piers: Everything.

Rachel: *frowns* What's gotten into you? You're acting very odd today.

Piers: *looks at Rachel, his eyes full of regret and pity*

Rachel: *takes a step back, suddenly feeling uncomfortable* If that's all you wanted to say, fine. I guess that means I can go now.

Piers: No! Wait! *swallows hard, surprised by the urgent undertone in his voice* There's one more thing I want to tell you.

Rachel: *stares at him cautiously* Go on then.

Piers: *takes a deep breath before he takes a step forward and then another one and another one, until he's standing in front of Rachel who, to his surprise, hasn't taken a defensive stance yet*

Rachel: *crosses her arms in front of her chest to build a protective shield as she carefully examines the younger man* You don't have to get so close to me, you know that, right? My hearing is perfectly fine.

Piers: I know...

Rachel: Then why- *gets interrupted as a pair of strong arms suddenly pull her in for a tight hug, which she probably would've protested against, if it hadn't been so unexpected and somehow comforting*

Piers: You're not an awful person. I'm sorry I said that to you.

Rachel: *frowns and awkwardly pats Piers on the back* It's okay, kid, really. I guess that's what you get for being an insufferable bitch.

Piers: You're not insufferable! Or a bitch. I'm really sorry for calling you that.

Rachel: *breaks away from the hug to give the younger man a playful slap on the chest* Hey, it's fine. I hate to break it to you, but I don't curl up every night and cry myself to sleep like a lovesick teen just because you called me a witch. I'm not sensitive or anything. My skin's too thick and my ego too big to let such things get to me.

Piers: I know.

Rachel: See? No need to apologize then.

Piers: Mhmm.

Rachel: *sternly* Lighten up, Lieutenant! Your daughter wants to tell you about her day and you don't want to make her upset by looking like a soaked poodle, do you?

Piers: *can't help but smile* No, ma'am, I don't.

Rachel: That's better. Now if you excuse me, I'll go get my brother and then we'll leave you two alone. *turns to the door and reaches for the door handle when she suddenly gets stopped by Piers' hand, causing her to look up in confusion*

Piers: Why don't you and your brother stay for dinner? I'm sure Penelope would love that.

Rachel: Now that's weird. Since when do you want us to be around?

Piers: I just think Penelope would be happy if she could spend more time with the people she considers her family.

Rachel: I mean, she's really grown on me and Jackson. We'd both die for the little rascal.

Piers: Is that a yes?

Rachel: It is.

Piers: *smiles* Great. *opens the door and gestures Rachel to enter* After you.

Rachel: Playing gentleman, eh? *chuckles* Thank you.

Piers: *laughs softly as he follows her back inside*

---

*bonus*

---

Penelope: *peeking through the curtains* What a bummer! I really thought dad was going to kiss her...

Jackson: *holding Penelope and peeking through the curtains as well* We'll get them next time, snips.

~~~~~

@rosaria-rose @sassiest-captain

[upset-to-dead]

Him bordering on a panic attack when Kirk tells him to perform surgery on a rock followed by the god complex "I'm beginning to think I can cure a rainy day" after he actually fucking does it.

I'm not sure if it's canon compliant but giving Bones an anxiety disorder makes for such an interesting dynamic. I mean. This man will not bat an eyelash when an augmented war lord tries to strangle him but has to perform breathing exercises before he uses a transporter. Exceptional

[villainsandvictimsalliance]

You made me imagine Shigaraki trying to explain his family to like, Spinner or something.

"This is Hana, she's my big sister. I accidentally stole her hands when I got my quirk so she's technically the only person allowed to mess with me."

"This is Himiko, she's...I guess my little sister? I think we might've tried to kill each other when we first met. She's cool."

"This is Eri. We only have custody of her every other weekend because the heroes keep finding our hideouts. I'm pretty sure she's our baby sister, but Dabi is convinced she's either my kid or Hana's."

OKAY BUT BUT BUT ANON, THIS GIVE ME AN IDEA FOR AN AU. HERE ME OUT:

In this au, AFO doesn't exists (what a blessing) and Shirakumo Oboro is still alive.

The night Tenko's quirk manifest, Hana prevents him from doing anything using her quirk: if someone touches her skin recently, she can freeze that person's movements for a short amount of time.

Some years later, Shirakumo saves them both from their abusive family. Kotaro goes to jail, Nao goes to a mental institution to recover from the trauma and Oboro adopts the kids.

Welcome to the Cloud Family.

Shirakumo, a sort of vigilante now, keeps saving and adopting people that were forgotten by society.

Around that time he meets a girl maybe two years older than Hana. Her name is Magne and she ran away from her home because they didn't wanted her for being trans. She ask Shirakumo is she can stay with him, helping him raise the kids. He allows it, thankful.

Magne immediately becomes Hana's best friend. Both girls are an amazing duo and they help Tenko learn how to manage his quirk.

While Hana and Tenko study and Shirakumo works, Magne stays with the home duties, goes out with friends, lives her normal life being who she truly is.

She's cleaning the kitchen one morning and when Shirakumo breaks in through the window, holding a little girl in his arms. The girl looks younger than Tenko and it's covered in mud and blood. She's smiling big, fascinated with Shirakumo's quirk, like she's just taking a ride.

Shirakumo found her playing inside a trash can in the street. She was looking for something to eat. Her parents, some rich bastards, had abandoned her aftering finding out their kid liked to bite living animals and drink their blood. They kicked her out of the house and faked her death.

To cover up his vigilante identity, Shirakumo opens a bar. It's small, comfortable, perfect to hide from heroes and villians. He has a contact named Giran, who redirects to him all those people who need a hero but can't trust in the law.

Magne is the one managing the bar with Shirakumo, whevener he's not working. Hana, Tenko and Toga go to school.

Let's take a minute to imagine Hana and Touya being classmates. Imagine Hana and Touya arguing and even fistfighting. They become rivals. Which is pretty funny because you have Fuyumi trying to stop hee brother from insulting her best friend.

Little Hana hating Endeavor. Preach.

Natsuo and Tenko study together. They bond over trains and having idiotic parents.

PLEASE TOGA AND SHOTO BEING CHILDHOOD FRIENDS.

I mean, I've always headcanoned that Shoto and Toga are both neurodivergent so imagine then bonding over that.

Toga is considered a weird kid but Shoto likes being around her because she doesn't look like him like he's unreachable. Toga is always telling how his fire is so pretty, nothing like Endeavor's fire. Also Shoto, who's always bleeding thanks to his training, doesn't understand why it's a big deal that Toga asks him for some. He just gives her and they pretend to be twins when she uses her quirk.

The day Touya goes to Sekoto peak, Hana is looking for him because Shirakumo insists that she should invite him to have dinner with them. She goes with Shirakumo to Endeavor's house and from there they go look for him at the peak.

When the fire begins, Oboro flies over and rescues Touya. However, they both get pretty burned. Shirakumo scapes with the kid and arrives at the bar. Magne contacts an illegal doctor to cure them both.

Hana tells Fuyumi that Touya is alive but she refuses to tell her where he is. She will only tell her if Fuyumi tells her about Endeavor. Hana knows she's being cruel but she also knows them, and she knows something bad is going on with them.

Hana takes Fuyumi to where they keep Touya once she admits Endeavor's abuse.

But Touya refuses to go back. He's barely healing, slowly, and he hates his dad. He is full with hatred and anger and hurt. Shirakumo fears for his life, but he can't simply fight Endeavor.

Fuyumi returns home, troubled. Finally she talks with Rei and the woman visits Shirakumo in secret. She visits her son.

They reach an agreement: For the world, Touya Todoroki would be dead. Only his siblings and his mother would know the truth, along with the Cloud Family. Dabi would be just a kid without a family, someone who grew up in Shirakumo's bar.

And so they did. The Todorokis would visit him regularly with the excuse of the todosiblings being friends with the cloud kids.

When Hana and Fuyumi started college, Dabi stayed behind with Toga and Tenko. They started training together, and before anyone could notice, they were already a team.

The final adoption of the cloud family happened when a woman gave a little girl to Shirakumo one rainy night. She was terrified of the child. In the hurry, she told him to take the kid to a mafia boss and left, but Shirakumo couldn't do it.

Shirakumo already had experience raising little girls and raising children with problematic quirks, so she fit perfectly in their family of weirdos.

The yakuza never knew about this.

Eri grew up glued to Tenko, because they look a like a lot, so people didn't doubt them being siblings.

Shirakumo turns into a reformed pro-hero just to start teaching at UA along with his old besties, Aizawa and Yamada. He's in charge of teaching the kids about how the villians think and work.

Hana ends up studying to be a lawyer, but only to cover up her family whereabouts.

Toga and Shoto starts studying at UA together (or the AU where Toga replaces Mineta at class 1-A). Toga calls Aizawa "uncle Eraser".

Magne keeps the bar with the help of Tenko aka Tomura and Dabi. Which is just a lie because Tomura and Dabi follow the vigilante path together, creating the Anti-hero League. Bonus point because Natsuo has to constantly use his medical skills on his older sibling and his best friend, since they are both reckless idiots with self-destructive quirks.

Fuyumi works with Eri on learning how to control her quirk. Turns out Fuyumi is an amazing teacher and Eri completely adores her.

Rei is responsible for Shoto's scar but this time is totally an accident. She still goes to the hospital BUT Dabi exposes Endeavor and together they all sent him to jail.

Compress, Spinner, Twice, Mustard, Giran.. They all find their way to the Anti-hero League and most important, to the Cloud Family. Shirakumo is proud as fuck because his son is just like him.

Which takes us to Tomura having to explain he has four sisters to Spinner.

And this is the story Tomura told him and the reason why Spinner keeps losing his mind every time he sees them all on the family reunions.

The end.