#it’s canon Stephen told me so

[sqeeebus]

After they defeat It Richie gets a tattoo across his hip bones that says “Certified Clown Killer”

And it’s a remembrance of traumatic events but it’s also a dick joke and Eddie really hates it (he loves it)

[flanaganfilm]

Hello and Howdy Mr. Mike Flanagan! I'm excited to see you here on our humble hellsite. I have so much to say and ask about your netflix shows but for the moment, I want to ask about Doctor Sleep because I enjoyed that movie immensely - it filled me with a pleasant sense of dread, which possibly makes no sense, or a lot of sense.

What was that creative process like? Reconciling book and movie canons, following Kubrick's legacy, working with Ewan and Rebecca and Zahn and everyone else. I'm obsessed with King adaptations and I'm just fascinated with Doctor Sleep.

Alright! Buckle up for yet another long read.

Thank you for your question, and for this opportunity to go back and talk about DOCTOR SLEEP. It's a very special film to me, and a very special time in my life as well.

It all started with a general meeting with Jon Berg at Warner Bros.

The meeting itself started pretty wild - Adrien Brody walked out of the office as I was waiting to go in. Jon introduced us and we chatted for a few minutes, and I was a little out of whack for the rest of the meeting because I had a very potent "wow that was Adrien Brody" buzz going.

We were meant to talk about DC Comics and see if there was anything to do there. I was really hoping to chat about a horror-slanted Clayface movie, and about my favorite superhero: Superman.

Neither conversation went very far. I had just finished GERALD'S GAME, and Jon was a King fan, so he asked about the production. And then he asked if I'd ever read Warners' script for DOCTOR SLEEP.

I had. In fact, I had tried very hard to get a meeting at the studio when the book was first published. Warners owned the rights to DOCTOR SLEEP outright - it was part of their deal going all the way back to THE SHINING - so they immediately began looking into movie options when the book was published. Akiva Goldsman had written a script, and it was one of the first projects I asked about when I signed with WME as a client years before. "That isn't going anywhere," they told me. "I don't think that movie gets made."

They had tried to get me the meeting anyway, but no one at Warners responded. I never got in the room.

But now, here I was. What did I have to lose at this point?

"I did read it," I said. "I'd take a different approach." Jon sat back and smiled. "I love the book, Rose is one of the great villains of all time," he said. I agreed. He probed. "What's wrong with the script?"

"I don't think it follows the book closely enough."

"What would you do?"

"I'd do the book. Streamline it, combine some characters, and you'd have to rethink the True Knot a bit. But otherwise, just do the book. As long as it's a three-hander between Danny, Abra and Rose it'll work. With one big asterisk."

"What's that?"

"I think you have to bring back the hotel. Kubrick's hotel, I mean."

Jon smiled wider. "Yeah, it's a bummer the hotel burned down. King goes out of his way at the start of the book to emphasize that - no Overlook, look no further."

This was my biggest gripe with the book.

I said "When I read the book, all I could see was Kubrick's hotel. I think you do the book as close as you possibly can, until the big fight at the end. Instead of it taking place in an empty field, let it be in the hotel."

Jon: "Do you think King will be upset if you change his ending? You know how feels about THE SHINING, right?"

Me: "What if we gave him THAT ending? What if we let Danny have Jack's ending? Jack sacrificed himself to save his family and destroy the Overlook - why not let Danny do that? Change the ending, sure, but give him the ending Kubrick denied him."

We shook hands, and I called my producing partner Trevor Macy to tell him it was a good general, but nothing was coming out of my DC meeting. By the time I'd made it back to my car, though, Jon had reached out to Stephen King and asked if he'd be interested in me taking a swing at it. Steve, who had enjoyed GERALD'S GAME, said yes.

I was immediately petrified when the call came in that they might want to engage me on a rewrite of DOCTOR SLEEP, with a directorial attachment. I'd have to rewrite the script from scratch, and I kind of felt like they were calling my bluff. But the deal was made and quite suddenly I was adapting DOCTOR SLEEP.

First order of business was to make King aware of what I intended to do. I had just established a tentative relationship with my hero over GERALD'S GAME, and the last thing - the very last thing in the world I ever wanted - was to upset him. We weren't in direct communication, we spoke through agents and emails at this point - but I had to make him aware of the Overlook thing.

I put together a proposal that outlined what I wanted to do - use Kubrick's visual language, and keep the Overlook standing as a setting for the final battle. The initial feedback we got was "no." King really, really didn't like Kubrick's film, and his priority was to adapt DOCTOR SLEEP - not to revisit THE SHINING.

I told him that if he didn't want me to do it, I wouldn't - I'd walk away from the movie before I made something he hated. But as a last ditch effort, I said "imagine the Overlook, decrepit and rotten. And imagine Dan Torrance having walk in to 'wake it up,' the lights coming on above his head as he walks the halls. He finds his way to the Gold Room. To the familiar bar, where an empty glass is waiting for him. And we see a familiar bartender ready to pour for him, saying 'good evening Mister Torrance.' What if that bartender is his father?"

After a bit of a delay, King got back to us. "Do it," he said.

Writing the script was tough. I immediately felt like I had stepped into a very unsafe space. "This is going to piss everybody off," I figured. Kubrick fans would be livid that the movie was being made. King fans might be angry that Kubrick's imagery was being homaged. There was no way to please everyone, so I set about writing the movie I wanted to see most.

It was a slightly nauseous feeling that would stay with me until the movie came out.

I sat down to write with a hardcover copy of DOCTOR SLEEP to my right, and a hardcover copy of THE SHINING to my left. I read both cover to cover, sticking post-its throughout the pages with ideas, or flagging lines of dialogue (or even prose) that I wanted to protect. I managed to put together a basic outline for the movie, which was intimidating and sprawling.

I finally finished the draft and sent it off to Warner Bros. and King at the same time. I was shooting THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE at the time, and thought it would take a long while and a few more iterations before SLEEP would go anywhere, if it ever did.

Warner Bros. shocked us all by coming back with a green light. I've been told that it was one of the fastest green lights in the recent history of the studio, and I believe it.

It happened so fast, in fact, that Steve hadn't read the script yet. I got an email from him on a Friday saying "I read the first half, and I absolutely love it - my son's getting married, so I'll pick it up in a week or so and finish it, but great so far!" I was nauseous... because I knew everything that King was likely to hate was in the second half.

When he finally did finish reading it, about a week later, he reached out and said:

"I think it's really good. In my experience, this is the kind of script studios don't make, because it's TOO good. Hopefully I'm wrong. But no matter how it turns out, thanks for treating me so well. - Steve"

I had the distinct pleasure of being able to write him back and tell him that Warner Bros. had just greenlit the movie. And we were off to the races.

The pressure was enormous. They were spending a lot of money on this movie, and because of the insane box office success of IT: CHAPTER ONE, expectations were very high.

We were given access to Kubrick's blueprints for the Overlook hotel set, which were still held at Warner Bros. While we set about rebuilding the sets, our attention turned to casting.

For Dan, we met with a handful of actors: Dan Stevens, Chris Evans, Matt Smith, and Jeremy Renner all came in to chat about the movie. But Ewan McGregor, who himself was eight years sober (just like Dan), was the obvious choice. "Let's not talk about the Shining yet," he said. "I want to talk about recovery." He was the guy.

For Rose the Hat, we talked with several actresses, including Anne Hathaway, Nicole Kidman, and my dear friend Karen Gillan - but Rebecca Ferguson knocked our socks off on a 90-minute zoom meeting, and the part was hers.

Finding Abra Stone was more difficult - we auditioned more than 900 girls for the part. We'd narrowed it down to a half-dozen very promising and successful young actresses, including Lulu Wilson (who I'd worked with several times before and adore), but Kyliegh Curran's self-tape audition rose to the very top of the pile. Ewan flew to Atlanta to read with our final picks, and when Kyliegh - who lived 15 minutes from our office, was local casting, and had never booked a job before - finished reading, he turned to us and said "I mean it's her, right?" It absolutely was.

When we cast her, we invited her back to the office after school one day to get oriented. The crew was so excited for her that they decorated the production office in her honor.

As the rest of the cast fell in, we started doing our camera tests and getting excited about what we were putting together. My feeling over overwhelming nausea only got stronger.

We started shooting in September of 2018. The shoot was long, but never exhausting. The cast and crew were uniformly pleasant and happy to be there, and after the soul-crushing slog that had been THE HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE, it was a relief to enjoy working again.

Kate was pregnant with our daughter Theo at the time. She visited as much as she could, but finally couldn't travel any more. Being away from Kate and our son Cody was hard, but I'm so grateful that we got to share some time on set together.

All things considered, this was a smooth shoot. But something happened for me while we were making it that would change the course of my life forever.

See, THE SHINING is about alcoholism. King wrote it while in the throes of his own addiction, and it is a novel about the anxiety he felt about what he could potentially do to his family if left unchecked. It's one of the reasons he was so upset with Kubrick's adaptation - all of that was taken away. This is a profoundly personal story for King.

When he wrote DOCTOR SLEEP, he was decades sober. The story of DOCTOR SLEEP is the story of recovery. This was something that Ewan knew very well, and why he was perfect for the part. He knew what the journey felt like. He wasn't alone - there were a number of cast and crew members on this shoot that were sober. In fact, just about all of the actors who played main characters were sober. I was still drinking at the time, though it had already become obviously problematic in my life, I hadn't taken any meaningful steps to change it.

This photograph was taken on 10/12/2018. This was taken on the day I got sober. I quit cold turkey, in the middle of production. I was clinging to vices at the time. Note not only the cigarette in my hand (I was smoking almost 2 packs a day), but the ash tray that had been rigged to the top of my viewfinder by the camera department. (I don't smoke anymore either, just about four years without cigs as well... and I still miss them.)

I had been writing about addiction for a decade. It was all over my work, going all the way back to ABSENTIA. I didn't realize just how much I was writing about myself, and I still can't believe it took me this long.

I vividly recall writing the scene between Dan and Jack at the bar. My wife pointed out to me after the fact that she could see it then, that something was changing in me when it came to drinking. Something was waking up, and I was processing a desperate need to sober up. That scene represents an internal conversation that is profoundly personal to me. It's still my favorite scene of the movie.

I've been sober now for over 4 years. DOCTOR SLEEP helped me finally make that decision. I finished the shoot sober, and came home to my life with a lot of uncertainty and insecurity. But with the unflinching support of my incredible wife, and some amazing friends, my life started to really blossom. It was pretty immediately evident that this was one of the best decisions I'll ever make.

Meanwhile, though, I had to finish DOCTOR SLEEP.

I LOVED the movie we'd made, but I was still terrified of what King would think of it - not to mention Kubrick's estate.

When we finished the cut, I flew to Bangor to screen the finished film for Steve. It was the first I'd meet him in person, and one of the most insanely exciting and humbling days of my life.

We watched the movie together, and I was acutely aware of each and every little reaction he had throughout.

(With Trevor Macy, my producing partner at Intrepid)

When the show as over, Steve turned to me and said "You did a beautiful job." And ultimately, he added that this film had made him warm up to the Kubrick movie as well.

A week later, we heard from Kubrick's estate that they had also loved the movie.

With King's blessing, and Kubrick's family, I felt that nausea finally subside. I said to Kate, "that's it. That's all that matters. Doesn't matter if the movie crashes and burns - we already won the important battle."

And then, the movie crashed and burned.

A group of us went to see it opening night at Arclight Hollywood (my favorite theater). We were just about the only people there. And I knew immediately that we were going to have a bad weekend.

The movie didn't perform very well. Warner Bros. was disappointed, and ended up scrapping the Dick Hallorann movie we were planning, as well as the Overlook Hotel prequel.

I was pretty crest-fallen. I'd spent years tossing and turning over whether audiences would be divided between the King and Kubrick camps. I'd been petrified that they'd be furious, venomous, run me out on a rail... I'd never considered that they'd be utterly disinterested. Apathy wasn't even on my radar.

Steve called me the Monday after opening weekend with some words of encouragement. "I remember when THE SHINING bombed," he said. "And SHAWSHANK. Give it some time. It'll find its audience. It's a really good movie."

That has turned out to be true. While it didn't set the world on fire theatrically, the movie has over-performed on VOD and streaming. And when Warner Bros. released the Directors Cut (I'm still so grateful that they did that), it popped even more.

So yes, to answer your question - the pressures were enormous. I hope this paints a little picture of what it was like. The biggest gift I got out of it, though, was sobriety.

I reached out to King a year later, on my first sober birthday. I hadn't told him I was sober, but it felt like time to do it. I got to thank him. "I never told you this, but I sobered up while we were shooting DOCTOR SLEEP, and I don't think I would have done it without your words. Living in that story, and marinading in the concepts of recovery and redemption made it possible. I just want to thank you."

He wrote back his congratulations, and then mentioned "as it happens, I'm off to celebrate 30 years myself. It only gets better and better."

And he is absolutely right.

DOCTOR SLEEP was the perfect project for me after the nightmare that was HAUNTING OF HILL HOUSE. I fell in love with making movies again. And I found a new and wonderful gear for my life. It has only made everything better - my marriage, my work, my experience walking around on planet earth. I'm so grateful for it.

When I think of DOCTOR SLEEP, I think of Ewan sitting at the bar and looking at the glass in his hand. "Man takes a drink, drink takes a drink... and then the drink takes the man. Ain't it so, dad."

Ewan understood those words better than I did when I typed them into the script. I understand them much better now.

There isn't a day that goes by that I'm not profoundly grateful for my time at the Overlook. And for myriad of ways my life has been changed because of it.

[gojoswhitebabydolllashes]

A multiversal wolverines mind and her declining sanity

Logan howlett x reader

-

DEADPOOL AND WOLVERINE SPOILERS!!!!

-

Warnings: major Canon divergence.

-

Cassandra's lair was made of the armoured corpse of Antman. Not exactly the most subtle lair on earth.

We stood as six before God knows how many, I knew we shouldn't have come. Logan knew it too, and secretly, I bet everyone else did too.

"Your all soooooo brave for coming back here" Nova taunted.

Her stupid fucking face pouted in faux. Stupid fucking bald headed bitch with stupid eyes and stupid clothes. Pathetic.

"I'd say your all so brave for not running away quicker" I stated.

In that moment, Logan pulled out both sets of claws and I had summoned my hand blade.

"Because we're about to fuck you all u-"

Before I could finish my sentence, I felt something protruding from my face, something like fingers. A hand crawled around my skull, invading my facial muscles.

It felt like Charles all over again.

"Your poor thing"

My memories began to zoom around my mind. Logan. Xavier. Scarlet witch. Loki. The TVA. Logan.

-

🧠

"Your not listening to me!"

I kicked and banged against the jail bars.

"LET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE YOU PATHETIC FUCK!"

They were going to find Logan. They were going to kill him.

-

'Aw, I don't think that's what we're looking for now, is it?' Nova laughed darkly ', let's look again, shall we?"

-

🧠

It was sunny today. Finally, the sun had shone. I held logans calloused hand as we watched our small dog, Felix, run around in the field. The grass was waving and emerald, the sun rays were golden and heavenly.

"You know Logan. If anything ever happens to you-"

"Ah," he put his finger on my mouth, silencing me instantly "nothing will ever happen to me"

Nothing will ever happen to me

Nothin

Nothi

Noth

Not

No

N

Will ever happen to me.

-

"AHHHHH!" I screamed as I impaled nova with my blade, holding her in the air forked through the stomach.

"You vile, vicious, pathetic little bitch!"

She could only laugh. Dark and vile.

The rest of her henchmen, or whatever the fuck she called them, gathered around us. I let novas body slide off my blade and thud on the ground.

"Youknowhowlongibeenwaitinfordis? Hooimboutamakanameformaselfere"

Again, I didn't know what the fuck gambit was saying. But oh was this gonna be fucking fun.

-

🧠

For some reason, I barely remember if i had any memories of logans memory loss. I know I was there. But what I did during it was information. Not even a mind reader could get out of me.

I remember, while working at the TVA, I met Doctor Stephen Strange. He was looking for a missing girl he said could travel across the multiverse.

Of course, no one believed him, but I remember seeing his face. Grey streaked beard. Classy red cape and blue robes. The time stone in his amulet. Something in me watched his panic, and I understood how we felt. I got it. I got that fear.

So I told him where she was.

And still to this day, no one at the TVA knows.

-

I was awake. That's all I knew. And I could move. I heard two different voices. I was lying on the grass, it was wet and cold but the air was warm.

One voice was that was of Wade.

Another of Logan

"Holy fuck balls she's awake!" Wade Gasped.

I sat up and got massive deja vu all over again. As I gained back my vision, I passed the blurriness, I first saw Logan and dare I say he looked mildly concerned.

"What the fuck happened?" I groaned loudly

"We were at bald Freaks lair and now we're in God knows where"

"Westchester," I said instantly.

I finally gained the strength to stand up and look around. "Were in fucking Westchester"

Wade looked around, while Logan looked at me and I looked at him.

"Why the fuck are we here?!" Wade threw his hands up in the air, acting defeated.

I turnt to Logan. "You alright?" He asked, not that he actually cared. "I'm fine" I replied "listen I think we've gone back into the past, in the time of the x mansion"

"Oh what the fuck?!" Logan grunted and punched the tree beside him, shattering it completely.

"So we're gonna find rolly polly here?" Wade put his hands on his hips.

Rolly polly obviously meant Charles.

"We just might yes"

-

[lokisprettygirl]

Under his influence (Post Avengers! Loki x female reader)

Read chapter 36 here/ Series Masterlist

Chapter 37

Summary : Loki reminds you of the time you were made to forget.

Warning: 18+, Smut HUGE Canon divergence (Just me making shit up), timey wimey stuff topics dealing with cheating and falling out of love, infertility, discussion of pregnancy

Since you met Loki things have been strange to say the least, turns out Stephen hadn't invited him to his birthday party for no reason, there was a threat looming over everything in the name of a mad Titan named Thanos but they fixed it, Avengers did, and Loki was one of them now. His popularity had increased since then, he was a hero, he was the one who knew all about Thanos and helped Avengers come up with a plan, he finally had his chance at redemption and you had a feeling he'd forget all about you slowly once he realizes what earth had to offer to him but he didn't.

After the war with Thanos had ended, he was there at your door bruised and hurt, his eyes were teary, for a moment you thought he'd kiss you but he didn't. You had no idea how hard it was for him to resist.

After tending to his wounds-even though he didn't need it, you grabbed a towel and passed it to him and you had no idea why his eyes welled up when you ruffled his hair and asked him to wash his hair. Maybe he didn't like it when you told him that he looked like a pine tree.

The more time you spent with him the more he felt like a dream come true, he was soft and precious but he was also protective and fierce everytime he was in public with you, he wasn't afraid to be seen with you, he treated you as if you belonged to him in every possible way and you didn't know how to feel about that.

He was famous now and you didn't understand why he'd choose you of all people but the way he looked at you at times made you feel as if you were loved so deeply by him but why would he love you that way? It has merely been two months since he knew you.

There was a celebration at the Avengers tower and he wanted to take you with him, you weren't his girlfriend, not yet, so you felt really nervous about it, however you didn't deny the offer, you just wanted to be around him as much as you could, you wanted to cross all the lines of decency and devour him but something held you back, maybe it was fear, you feared that he'd lose his interest in you once he had you in that way.

You had been in the same situation a plenty of times before and you didn't want to ruin this friendship you had built with him so you stayed quiet and kept your feelings to yourself.

---

Loki knew he had to tell you the truth sooner or later but he wanted to wait for the right moment, he wanted to gain your trust, your forgotten memories would feel too much at once and he didn't want to scare you away from him or make you feel as if he'd harm you or manipulate you in any ways.

That night at the tower as you accompanied him to the celebration he took you to his room, the room you both had been in countless times in other realities but you didn't remember, that's when he showed you his real self, his jotun form.

He just wanted to see how you'd react when you weren't really in love with him in the way you were before but the moment you hugged his giant blue body so tightly and showed no sign of discomfort, whatever miniscule amount of insecurity he had vanished as well.

You were made for him, just for him and he'd never let you go again.

"Happy birthday darling" you smiled as you heard his voice on the phone, so deep and raspy, his voice was one of the many countless reasons you were awake at night these days with your fingers playing with yourself.

"Thank you mister..you said you'd come see me but I don't see you here" you mumbled softly, you were in the kitchen making a cup of tea for yourself, you weren't really enthusiastic about turning 37 but having a new friend in life, a friend that actually cared about you was nice, you had no idea how you'd get over him if someday he'd leave you as well.

"You'd see me if you come to the door" as soon as he said that you leaped towards the door and there he was, in a fancy suit while you looked your usual homeless self. That was another thing you didn't quite understand, he never made you feel as if you had to pretend to be something you were not in front of him.

"What's the occasion?" You asked him as you looked at his fancy self so he smiled and walked closer to you to kiss your forehead.

"It's your birthday and I want to take you somewhere"

"I have to get ready?" you groaned so he cupped your cheeks and kissed the top of your head this time, his soft little kisses always made you yearn for more.

"You can come with me just the way you are love, you look beautiful" he mumbled in your ears as he kissed your cheek, you felt your skin tingling, one of these days you were going to cross all those boundaries you had confined yourself in.

"I'm not going out like this lo" he chuckled as you said that, you asked him to sit down on the couch as you went to the bedroom to change.

He liked this new place you had now but he didn't like it as much as he liked your old tiny apartment. He missed that place and if he was going to tell you the truth, it would be right there. That's where he had ended up the first time, that's when he had seen the prettiest girl in all of existence.

The place that had changed the course of his life should also be the one to change yours.

Once you got ready he teleported you both to your old place, just outside the door.

"Are we here to see Mrs Geller?" You chuckled as you asked him so he shook his head and took out a key to open the apartment you used to live in for what felt like ages ago.

"Why do you have the key?" There was a look of confusion on your face so he smiled to assure you, he hoped he wasn't coming across as a deranged killer.

"I own it now"

"You do?"

"Yes sweetheart"

As you entered the apartment you couldn't believe your eyes, you had left this place when you got married to Stephen, other tenants arrived and left in the meantime so you were surprised to see it look the same way you used to keep it, the furniture and by furniture you meant that ugly little sofa was still there, it even had the tiny little bed you had bought for yourself which surprised you because you had a feeling the other tenant had replaced it..

"I used to live here"

You turned around to look at him so he smiled,

"I know..do you trust me?" he asked you as he approached you so you nodded almost immediately. You trusted him with all your heart.

"What's going on lo?" You asked him softly, you did feel a bit apprehensive of the situation but it wasn't because of him, deep down in your heart you knew he'd never hurt you.

He hesitated before speaking, trying to find the right words to convey what he needed to say. "I need to tell you something important," he finally began. "It may be a lot to take in, and I know it's not easy, but it's something that happened to us, to me and you"

He looked at you with a mix of nervousness and excitement , not wanting to overwhelm you

"What do you mean? I don't understand" He cupped your cheeks and placed his forehead down on yours, his thumbs grazed over your cheekbones gently,

"Have you ever felt as if you were missing something, a part of your life that you couldn't remember?" He asked you softly and he could see the conflicting look in your eye,

"I did..all my life but more since I got older..i ..what's going on lo?" You asked him, suddenly feeling extremely anxious about what was to come..

"This is going to feel a lot at once my darling, but I need you to put your faith in me" Before you could say something else his fingers grazed over your temples and you finally recalled everything you had forgotten. Was it really forgotten or you never ever lived it at all? You couldn't figure it out just yet, he wasn't wrong it did feel overwhelming.

You saw it all, you went back to 2012 and you were here in the kitchen threatening him with a knife and then you remembered everything that had happened between you two after that. The friendship that bloomed, falling in love with each other..visit from Stephen and other Loki, reversing the timeline and then losing him again and then again, you suddenly had all those memories including the life you had lived in the past few years.

Your head was threatening to explode so you took a step away from him, he could tell that you felt scared of the situation and were trying to rationalize it, that's why he had to remember you because this would have been so much more difficult if he didn't.

"Princess"

You broke down into a fit of cry as he addressed you like that, the memories hit you like a wave in that moment and you weren't sure if you wanted to hold on or get swept away in it. It was like being pulled in two directions at once - you wanted to hold on to the memories and not forget, but at the same time, the pain and heartbreak that came with those memories was almost too much to bear. You weren't sure if you wanted to cling to the past or let it go, but either way, you knew that this moment would change everything.

"What is going on" you gulped as you questioned him, voice choked on your own tears, that was all you could manage to say to him.

Seven years you had been separated from him, for seven years you had to suffer just so the world could go on and be the way it was destined to be.

"I know it's a lot to take in sweetheart"

"You bet it is..i ..I don't...Oh god" you felt dizzy and he was immediately by your side to grab a hold of you, he'd never let you fall again "How did i…how could I forget you like that? Lokiii ..how couldn't i remember you..whyy didn't i remember you?" you whimpered as you looked up at him.

If you loved him so deeply then how did you forget?

"Because that's how it was supposed to be my love.. none of this was your fault" he placed his forehead down on yours and allowed you to cry because he knew after this he'd never ever make you cry like this again.

When you didn't remember him you felt so hollow and it all made sense now but now that you did remember him you couldn't fathom how you had gone seven years without him. It felt impossible.

"Please tell me we are going to be okay now, please I can't..I can't do this again baby" the pet name rolled off your lips so naturally that it didn't even make you flinch, all of a sudden you felt as if the life you had been living in the past seven years was an alternate reality that has never happened to you,

"I'm never ever leaving you again..I gave you my word didn't i? I'd tear apart the multiverse if it means I'd get to have you by my side"

He assured you and as he felt your arms around him everything was back to how it was supposed to be. He picked you up in his arms and walked towards the bed to lay you down on it, your face looked swollen from all the crying and he found it so adorable, as he took his jacket off you thought he was going to make love to you but as soon as he laid down next to you and snuggled himself against you, you knew he just needed to hold you in his arms. And you needed it desperately too.

That's how you both stayed there for what felt like hours even though it's barely been minutes..

"Lo?"

"Mmm"

"Who made you remember? Did she come?" You asked him so he looked at you and his eyes were filled with tears,

"She didn't have to make me remember" he propped himself on his elbows as he rubbed his face with his hand,

"What do you mean?"

"My memories weren't erased, i wanted to remember" you sat up on the bed as he said that, he had a feeling this would make you upset.

"Why? Why did you remember?" You asked him, you were shocked to say the least,

"So I could make you remember me when the right time would come..i didn't want to live without your memories.. didn't want to take a risk . I wanted to make sure I'd end up here with you" your eyes teared up so you crawled towards him and hugged him tightly,

"You remembered? How did you..god lo" you couldn't understand how he went seven years this way, waiting for the right moment to come back to you, you don't think you'd have been so strong and able to do the same and maybe that's why you had to forget him.

As you pulled away you kissed him as lovingly as you could and he pressed his head between the crook of your neck to suck on the soft exposed skin, your eyes fixated at the kitchen area and it felt surreal.

Time had come full circle.

Being here with him in the apartment where you had seen him the first time felt unreal, it felt like a dream but it was your reality, a beautiful reality that you'd get to live now.

"Do you want to do this?" He asked softly, always needing your consent even though his fingers were already fiddling with the zipper of your dress, instead of answering him with words you took his shirt off and that was all he needed.

He laid you down on the bed and he didn't even need to do much, you were already dripping wet for him so he waved his fingers and there was a condom in his hand,

"It's old..I sure hope it won't rip sweetheart"

You chuckled as he said that before your eyes teared up as you remembered something.

"It's ok..I can't..ummm I'm not really fertile" you gulped as you told him that but instead of a frown or worry there was a smile on his face,

"You are perfectly fertile my love"

"No you don't understand – with Stephen ..we tried ..i–" he placed his finger on your lips as you began to stutter.

"Shhhhh don't remind me of the fact that he got to touch you like that"

"I'm sorry..I'm sorry..did you ummm..did you sleep with other people?"

"Nooooo.."

"You haven't had sex in seven years?" Your eyes widened in surprise as you questioned him, sure he remembered you but he was a man, with needs, how did he not give into the temptations?

"You really think I'd betray you like that princess?"

"Lokiii..i wouldn't..god i love you" you wrapped your arms around his neck as you pulled him closer to you to kiss him, a gasp escaped your lips as he slipped his cock inside you at the same time, building up a slow rhythm he kept his eyes on you, reeling in every second of this glorious moment..

"Haven't you noticed something?" He asked you so you looked at him intently,

"What?'

"You haven't aged a day since you turned thirty?"

"I have..I'm older now lo" you giggled and norns he had missed all of this so badly he still felt as if he was in a dream.

"You feel that way but you don't look so" your eyes flickered in confusion as he said that, "That last day..the last time we fucked against your wardrobe, I did something to you.. without your permission and I'd apologise but I'm not even apologetic about it"

"What do you mean?" You smiled as you questioned, nothing he said would faze you anymore he had figured but he needed to come clean.

"I didn't use contraception that night, you remember?"

"Mmm" you mumbled as you tucked his hair behind his ears,

"I took you as my mate, not just as a god but as a Jotunn. We are a different species altogether, destined to have one partner for life, one to wed and mate with until death do us part. I planted my seed within you, it's waiting to be flourished whenever you'd become ready to be the mum, and from that moment on, you became my chosen one, unable to have another man's children"

Your mouth stayed open as you processed the information, that's why you weren't able to get pregnant even though your body was completely healthy "I'm sorry I made that decision for you, you can choose to leave yourself out whenever you desire princess, I'd never ever force you to be with me"

"Shutup ..lo" you flipped him underneath you as he said that, your hips rolled back and forth as you began to ride him slowly. Was this supposed to make you upset? You didn't know, Maybe you'd have felt so if it was some other man but you knew loki would never ever do anything to hurt you "You could have just told me lo"

"You wouldn't have remembered"

"I know..did you do it to stop me from aging? Holy shit am I immortal now?"

"Not immortal..you'd just age the same way I do"

"Thousands of years…together?" Your eyes teared up as you looked at him so he cupped your cheeks and as his thumb grazed over your lips you sucked on his digit and an indecent moan escaped his throat,

"Forever my love, you'd be mine forever..that's not why I did it though" you looked at him confused as he said that, "It was atrocious enough that I had to watch you belong to another man for those years, there's no way I'd have allowed him to breed you in such a way"

You smiled as he said that, he was so possessive and you loved that. As you made love to him all night, you still felt as if you were in a fever dream where everything was going your way and you were living the life you had always desired but for once life was on your side. For once time was your friend.

It all made sense now, you were destined to be his forever, that's why you had felt so lonely all your life, feeling as if you were missing a part of your existence, now you knew he always had it with him.

"I dated Mark Johnson" your eyes widened as you remembered that, before you married Strange you dated this other doctor for a while, he was nice but he wasn't the love of your life, none of them were.

Everything made sense now, you gave Loki the fake name in the first timeline because you were supposed to date a man with the same name in the future, the future Loki you met in the first reality one was this same Loki that was underneath you at the moment who went to the alternate reality to warn him of his own future.

"Marry me darling..I can't take it no more..I need to tell the world you belong to me" he asked you as he pulled out a ring out of nowhere, you remembered the ring, it was the same one he had given you before, but this time you knew he belonged to you the way you belonged to him, he had waited and he was only yours for seven years.

All the fears, the trauma, the insecurities you had vanished in that moment. You knew you'd marry him for the reasons this time.

You remembered what Loki had told you, your loki, this loki, he knew.

"So will we really get married in the future?"

"In six months of meeting each other"

It all made sense now.

💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚

Note: Just one more chapter left/ more like an epilogue.

Taglist

@annoyingsweetsstranger @mcufan72 @nixymarvelkins @stupidthoughtsinwriting @fictive-sl0th @eleniblue @violethaze @anukulee @ladymischief11 @12-pm-510 @wolfsmom1 @whylokiissocute @pics-and-fanfics @daddylokisqueen @olivertwistrabbit @blog-the-lilly @prettylittlepluviophile @vanilla-daydreaming @somewiseguy @yaaamadaa-blog @dragonmurray @elthreetimes @gruftiela @thenotoriouserg @greep215 @yallgotkik @janineb86 @sflame15-blog @nyxlaufeyson @lokidokieokie @purplekitten30 @nikkig496-blog @frozenhuntress67 @qardasngan @rosecentury @lokiswife-dark-fox-queen @hrefna-the-raven @jennyggggrrr

@cosniffee @lotsoflokilove23 @oreo-cream @aesonmae @salvinaa

[flyinghassassin]

I used to love you

Summary: Wanda and you were a couple,but after Westview everything changed.Now Strange needs your help so your former lover doesn't end up destroying the multiverse

Word count: 2500ish

Warnings: Canon violence,angst,fluff,slight spicy stuff.

Masterlist

"I need your help." Strange's voice cut through the silence.

"Stephen? What are you doing here? What happened?" you asked worriedly.

"It's about Wanda."

"Wanda? We haven't been a couple for over a week now. Why do you want to talk about her right now? After everything that's happened?"

"You remember the Westview anomaly, don't you?"

"How could I not remember Stephen? It was the reason Wanda and I broke up, so I'm going to ask you one more time," you said, waving your hands and activating a spell. "What are you doing here?"

"Wanda has found a book, the Darkhold." "It is an extremely powerful book,filled with dark spells, that will give its user everything they desire."

"Let me guess: Wanda has its power and is using it to try to get her children back,right?"

"That's right, Y/N; how do you know?" asked Strange.

"I know her, Stephen." "I was with her for almost 2 years; I know how she thinks," you said with a sad tone, clenching your fist and disabling the spell you had ready.

Stephen walked over and rested his hand on your shoulder.

"I need you to help me stop her from doing more harm to other people." "She has destroyed Kamar-Taj in her stampede."

"I guess she's looking for something there."

"That's right.She's looking for America Chavez, a girl capable of traveling across universes, and Wanda craves those powers to get her children back."

"I'll help you," you said,your voice marked with determination. "I can't let Wanda hurt anyone else."

"Thank you, Y/N." Prepare whatever you think is necessary to meet with her and Wong and devise a plan.

You nodded and went into the cabin you lived in to prepare your things.

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

"You must be America Chavez." "Wong has told me about you," you said, offering your hand to her.

"I assume you are Y/N. Wong has told me about you, former sorceress of Kamar-Taj and former lover of Wanda Maximoff."

"That's right."

"Hello, Y/N, welcome back to Kamar-Taj," said Wong tensely.

"Wong," you replied in the same manner, "long time no see, huh?" "Now you are the sorcerer supreme; congratulations," you said.

"Mhm, thanks, Y/N. I hope things are not tense between us after what happened in Kamar-Taj. I just wanted to..."

You cut him off by raising a hand.

"I'm not spiteful,Wong,that's water under the bridge. Now we have more important things to attend to:Wanda and the Darkhold. Do you know where she's hiding?"

"We think she's in Wundagore." "We'll need your help to get there safely, plus your magic and affinity with Wanda will be able to help us."

"Wanda and I are no longer anything, Wong," you snapped. "We stopped being when she became obsessed with power. I'll help you because it's the right thing to do,but I don't want you to mention Wanda in front of me." You said walking out of there.

You walked a little bit around Kamar-Taj, the place that had been your home not so long ago, and sat down on one of the ledges there, letting your feet dangle in the air.

"At what point did everything get so screwed up?" You thought sadly, "It wasn't that long ago I was dating Wanda, and now I'm keeping her from destroying the universe. Before,everything was simpler," you said,allowing your mind to wander through the memories.

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

"Y/N,this is Wanda Maximoff, a new member of the team. We rescued her after the battle with Ultron,which cost her brother his life. Now she's a little lost; please try to help her," said Steve.

"Sure, Cap," you said, looking at her, "Welcome to the Avengers."

Wanda simply nodded, her eyes full of sadness and grief.

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

"Did you really do that?" Wanda laughed.

"At the time, it seemed like a good idea," you defended yourself. "I knew my powers were still a little clumsy, but it was the first thing that came to mind."

"I'm sure the Chitauri were terrified to see an army of 3-foot-long rabbits approaching them."

You groaned and turned your attention back to the pot, which was steaming.

"If you keep this up, I'll leave you without trying my amazing pasta recipe."

"Oh no, terrible punishment! Please don't!" said Wanda teasingly.

"You're a meanie," you said, hitting her head with the wooden spoon.

"Ouch!" complained Wanda, rubbing her head.

"That's what happens when you mess with my amazing pasta." "Try it," you said, holding the spoon up to her mouth.

Wanda did, and she let out a hum.

"Tastes good."

"Well, that's too bad, because I'm not giving you anything for messing with my amazing recipe."

"Now you're the one being a meanie."

"I'll give you pasta if you give me a kiss."

Wanda walked over to you and grabbed your jaw, causing you to look down and blush slightly.

"No problem," she said, giving you a kiss on the cheek. "Now give me some pasta, please," she asked with puppy-dog eyes.

"How can I say no when you ask me like this?" you said, smiling.

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

It was 3:00 a.m. when you heard an insistent knock on your door.

You groaned, got out of bed, and went to open the door.

In front of you stood Wanda, her eyes puffy and watery, her lip trembling slightly, and signs of distress on her face.

"Wanda?  "What happened to you?"

"I-I-I-I had a nightmare," she said, breaking into tears again.

"I'm so sorry," you said sadly. "Come here." You opened your arms for Wanda to hug you,which she did without hesitation,crying against your chest. "I'm so sorry, Wands," you said, stroking her hair. "Do you want to sleep here today?" you offered.

Wanda nodded and sniffled her nose,coming over and crawling into your bed. You followed her immediately.

Wanda lay down on your chest, and you slipped your arms around her waist, grabbing her hand and tracing circles on it to reassure her.

"You want to tell me what it was about?"

"It was about my brother." "I watched him die over and over again, and I couldn't do anything about it," she said, turning to face you.

"I'm so sorry, Wands," you said, hugging her tightly. "Don't worry, I promise that as long as I'm here, nothing bad will happen to you," you said, joining your forehead with hers.

"You promise?" said Wanda in a broken voice.

"I promise," you replied, intertwining your pinky with hers. "Pinky promise."

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

You were in your room, enjoying the comfortable silence.

You were stretched out on the bed with Wanda's head resting on your lap, and your hands were occasionally scratching her scalp, making her sigh contentedly.

While Wanda seemed extremely relaxed, your mind was racing with a thousand thoughts all at once, all of which were focused on one person: Wanda.

Your little crush on her was growing more and more each day, and you had been planning for several days how to tell her how you felt, waiting for the right opportunity, and it seemed that day had arrived.

"Wanda?"

"Yes?"

"Uh, I have a confession to make," you said, sitting up in bed.

Wanda turned to look at you, resting her head in the palm of her hands.

"I like you a lot; would you like...?"

"Yes," Wanda's voice cut you off before you finished speaking, "I would like to be your girlfriend."

"How did you know? I hadn't finished talking yet."

Wanda put her hand to her forehead and tapped it a couple of times.

A blush began to cover your face.

"You already knew? This makes my confession a little more embarrassing; surely you've known for a long time," you said, blushing even more.

"You are incredibly cute, Y/N," said Wanda, straddling your lap. "I've known that for a few days now,your thoughts can get pretty loud,detka."

"Well,at least you know," you said, cupping Wanda's head and kissing her deeply. "I love you, Wanda."

"I love you too, detka" said Wanda, kissing you with the same intensity.

You leaned back on the bed and continued kissing Wanda,who responded to you with the same, if not more, intensity.

Your hands moved up and down her hips, caressing the soft skin.

Wanda took off her shirt and tossed it carelessly into the corner of the room, continuing to kiss you.

"Do you like what you see?" said Wanda teasingly.

"You're fucking beautiful," you replied, pulling her body closer to yours and depositing kisses on her neck,making her moan slightly.

"I love you, Y/N,with all my heart."

"I love you too, Wanda."

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

"You were thinking about her, weren't you?" The voice of America cut off your thoughts.

"Yes," you replied, "There are times when I can't help thinking about her. We spent almost two years together; that's something you don't forget."

"I understand" said America, sitting down next to you. "I'm sorry it's come to this and that you have to fight her because she wants my powers."

"Hey,take it easy,it's not your fault," you said, grabbing her hand and rubbing your thumb gently against her palm. "Wanda has gone too far,and even if it hurts, I have to stop her".

"We're ready." You were interrupted by Strange's voice. "We have prepared some basic protection spells in case Wanda or another creature attacks again. Wong is waiting for us at the entrance."

You nodded and stood up, offering your hand to America.

"Let's go."

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

This was not the Wanda you remembered; if you had been told it was someone else, you would have believed it, except for the little details on her face that indicated it was Wanda, your Wanda.

"Please, Wanda, you have to stop this," you said, tears welling up in your eyes.

"No one is going to stop me, Y/N, not even you. I've been reasonable long enough; it's time for me to stop being reasonable," Wanda replied, launching a blast of her powers that hit a column, causing fragments to fall on top of Wong and Strange.

Quickly, casting a spell, you made the stones turn to foam rubber, causing them to fall harmlessly on top of them.

"Good one," said Strange.

You nodded and continued to cast spells, trying to destabilize Wanda to slow her down, but they were dismissed without complications for her.

Wanda approached America with a crazed look in her eyes, but before she reached her, you casted a spell on her, causing Wanda to fall to the ground from the surprise of the blow.

"Get behind me and prepare a portal," you said to America, resting your hand on her chest and making her walk a few steps backwards.

Wanda quickly got up and sent some creatures at you, but you reduced them, while Strange and Wong cast spells at Wanda, but the attempts were useless.

"It's not working," said Wong, sweat covering his forehead.

"I have a plan," you said. "I'll hold her off, and you guys will leave. Wanda and I were a couple after all; she may not attack me with the intention of killing me."

"Are you sure?" asked Strange.

"Yes, go now that you can."

"If you need a home, Kamar-Taj will be there for you," said Wong with a certain sadness in his eyes. "I'm sorry for what happened between us."

You nodded as you looked at America,who was trying to create a portal until she finally succeeded.

Just then, Wanda cast a spell in your direction, which you managed to barely stop.

"Quick, go," you said, holding back Wanda's spells and casting yours in her direction.

"Thank you, Y/N," said Wong, looking at you. "Kamar-Taj is grateful to you."

You nodded, and just then Wanda's spell hit you, making you fall to the ground unconscious.

"Y/N!" said America, advancing towards you but being held back by Strange's arm, causing her to enter the portal next to him and Wong and disappearing,leaving you alone with Wanda.

"Poor, little, little Y/N. Your friends have abandoned you to your fate," she said, her voice laced with venom. "Now what are you going to do,huh?" She continued,walking towards you and tapping your body with her foot.

Blood dripped from your head, falling rhythmically to the ground.

"Y/N?" asked Wanda again,striking your body with her foot with more force. "This isn't funny anymore."

"Sorry, my love,I got too much into the role," you said, smiling. "Good acting by me,but I think you shouldn't have hit me so hard," you said, touching your forehead and wincing slightly.

"Let me see," said Wanda,kneeling down to be at your height and grabbing your jaw to see your forehead. "It's bleeding a little. Sit on the altar so I can disinfect your wound," said Wanda,standing up and holding out her hand for you to take so you could stand up.

Wanda took a first aid kit that was in the corner of the temple and straddled your lap to get a better look at the wound.

With a cotton swab, she applied a disinfectant liquid, causing you to wince.

"Don't complain, detka,it doesn't hurt that much," said Wanda. "Do you want me to kiss it better?"

"That would be nice," you replied, smiling broadly.

Wanda deposited a couple of kisses on your forehead, being careful not to hurt you, and rested her forehead on yours.

"I love you so much, detka"

"I love you too, Wands; I always have," you replied, giving her a kiss and caressing her hips. "The new suit looks great on you, by the way".

"Oh, thank you, honey," said Wanda, smiling.

"You look so hot," you said, kissing her again, this time more deeply. "You always look great," you added,depositing kisses on her neck,making Wanda moan.

"Not now, honey; you must rest and let your wound heal," said Wanda between moans.

"I don't feel like it," you replied, stroking all her skin up and down and caressing the curve of her ass.

"Y/N,lie down and rest," said Wanda, frowning. "If you don't, you'll go two weeks without cuddling."

"Hey,that's not fair," you replied, pouting. "Fine, you win, but sleep with me; I haven't slept cuddling with you in a while."

Wanda smiled and nodded,grabbing your hand to guide you to her room so you could sleep in a comfortable bed.

"The spell worked, by the way," Wanda said, smiling. "Now we know America's position at all times. It was a good plan to pretend we were nothing anymore and get you closer to Strange and Wong so we could get to America."

"Thank you," you smiled. "We'll get there soon, Wanda," you said, grabbing her hand and kissing it. "Soon everything will be alright."

[cecilysass]

Hello! You once told me that I could always ask you for fic recs so here I am! I’ve only seen up to S2E17 so idk if you have anything that doesn’t deal too heavily after that. Minor spoilers/references are okay, just nothing major. I’m also not a smut person generally. If you can’t think of anything that fits those criteria, feel free to ignore this! I hope you have a lovely day:)

Okay, I am SO EXCITED about this question, but also nervous, because I don’t want to accidentally include something that will spoil you. I am going to throw a few recs out, and maybe others will think of more?

Universal Invariants by syntax6 This is so, so good. It’s a classic. A novel-length casefile, plus an AU riff on season 1 and 2 through the abduction arc, so I think you are entirely good with spoilers. The big change from canon is that Scully is still with her boyfriend, Ethan. (If you don't know Ethan, he is a character that was originally in the Pilot but cut from the actual show.) There are... other changes from canon, but you’ll see. There's some smut, but it’s not the focus. And there's a sequel to this, too, which you will definitely eventually want to read, but you're going to have to finish season 5 first.

the progression (and regression) of first names by skuls Scully works through some early identity issues in relation to Mulder. This author (skuls) is always delightful, always recommended.

Center Mass by kateyes224 This fic provides a painful, in character explanation for what might have happened between them after the Pilot that could have resulted in so much subsequent slow burn. Hot and angsty, but not really smutty.

Early On by sunflowerseedsandscience This is also an AU season 1 with Ethan, but this one is more focused on Scully slowly feeling her attention stray from Ethan as her relationship with Mulder develops. It's a series with ten (short) parts. It's very engaging. There are some smutty parts.

Eight Things That Could Have Happened In Oregon by Stephen Greenwood No spoilers here, only things that didn't happen but might sound like spoilers. This is wistful, a little sad, beautiful, odd. The First Year by mldrgrl Their first New Year's Eve, not long after the Pilot. I love the hesitant vibe here.

Still Feeling My Father Ascend - cecily_sass This is my own fic, so I am being kind of a self promoter recommending it to you. But it’s a Beyond the Sea post ep, and I know my own work pretty well lol, so I know there’s no later spoilers, or only really minor things that won’t be meaningful until later. It was written for a prompt for an early season fic exchange.

And I'm not going to recommend it exactly, but I do want to mention that one of the first works of XF fanfic was actually written in 1993 and published online in 1994, so during season one. It's called The Sound of Windchimes by Sarah Stegall. It's got some serious CW (noncon) and some pretty wild content (I've read it), but if you're brave or curious and interested in fan history, you can check it out. Here's the fanlore page, which includes links.

***

Obviously I can come up with SO MANY MORE fics as you get further along. So just let me know. I would say most XF fic is probably written about seasons 5 / 6 / 7 for whatever reason, so once you're in that range, everyone can give you tons. Anyone have any other favorite early season fic they can recommend? It's sometimes tricky because sometimes early MSR has later details embedded in it...

[ninja-muse]

At last, a month where I feel like I read enough! The trick, clearly, was to pick up graphic novels and other very short things. Will this trend continue in November? Almost certainly not.

Followers might have seen my review for The Dollmakers by Lynn Buchanan last week but that's not actually my top read of the month. That honour goes to Jane Austen's Bookshelf by Rebecca Romney, which I got as an ARC from work, told myself I wouldn't read just yet, then promptly picked up after The Dollmakers and all but burned through. It's about the female authors we know Austen read and why they were bestsellers in their day but are barely known now, with all sorts of publishing and book industry history thrown in, along with a dose of memoir. Needless to say, I was the target audience and I've added a good handful of classics to my TBR. (It's out in February, in case you're interested.)

The rest of my top reads are there for just being solidly good. The Disappearing Spoon gave me all the fun science history I wanted. The Angel of Indian Lake gave me a good horror trilogy ending. The Tropic of Serpents gave me more Lady Trent adventures. And so on. I only really had two misses: The Aeronaut's Windlass, which felt very by-the-books epic fantasy without pushing boundaries, and Wordhunter, which I'm actively recommending people don't read. It was utterly average and kind of trying too hard to be edgy, and then it needlessly introduced sexual violence against women and children and handled both badly. How a book that lets a pedophile off with a warning got published in 2024, I will never understand.

In happier news, my book haul! Two books this month: Sorcery and Small Magics, sent by the publisher, and another volume of The Unwritten, meaning I only need to find one and I've got the full run. Hurray! (If you ever spot Vol. 9, folks, lemme know.)

All that reading means that I haven't done much writing. I need to get back to that, but at least I know what was blocking me and am working to rectify the situation. I am, however, starting to get seriously envious of authors who were able to write during the pandemic and are now getting those novels published. I stopped writing entirely for a year and a half, for various reasons, and now I feel like I've fallen behind.

Someday I might return to the Not-Quite-Urban Fantasy but I'm still too raw to handle the edits even now.

Oh, the worlds of might-have-been!

And now I've gone and left this on a down note. There'll be more positivity next month, I promise. In the meantime, here’s my list of everything I read this month, in the rough order of how glad I was to have read them.

Jane Austen’s Bookshelf - Rebecca Romney

A rare book dealer explores the literary histories of Austen’s favourite female authors, and how they didn’t make the English canon the way Austen did. Out in February.

8/10

reading copy

The Disappearing Spoon - Sam Kean

An entertaining history of chemistry, atomic physics, and the elements of the periodic table.

8/10

library ebook

The Tropic of Serpents - Marie Brennan

Isabella Camherst travels south to Bayembe to study savannah dragons, but finds herself caught in politics and sent on a mission to the swamp of Mouleen.

7.5/10

African-coded secondary characters, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (asexual)

library book

The Dollmakers - Lynn Buchanan

When Shean of Pearl receives, and refuses, an artisan dollmaker license, she sets off for a remote village to prove she and her dolls have what it takes to be guards against the Shod. If this means luring the monsters in, so be it.

7.5/10

reading copy

The Angel of Indian Lake - Stephen Graham Jones

Jade Daniels, now Proofrock’s history teacher, has put slasher cycles behind her. Except it’s looking like another one’s started anyway.

7.5/10

Blackfoot protagonist, 🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (sapphic), Black secondary characters

warning: blood, gore, death, murder

reading copy

Reluctant Immortals - Gwendolyn Kiste

Lucy Westrena and Bee Rochester are trying to get through the days in 1967 LA when their exes return in San Fransisco.

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (sapphic), Jamaican-British secondary character

warning: abusive relationships

reading copy

Bury Your Gays - Chuck Tingle

After Misha refuses to kill off his queer leads for the season finale, he finds himself stalked by horror villains he created.

7/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (gay), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary characters (bi, aroace), 🏳️‍🌈 author

warning: death, murder, torture, homophobia, child abuse

library book

Ms. Marvel, Vol. 7 - G. Willow Wilson with Mirka Andolfo (Illustrator), Takeshi Miyazawa (Illustrator)

Kamala Khan faces two difficult foes: gerrymandering and a sentient computer virus.

6.5/10

Pakistani-American protagonist, Muslim protagonist, Pakistani-American secondary characters, Muslim secondary characters, 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (sapphic), Black secondary character, secondary character with limb damage and a cane, Muslim author

warning: outing

off my TBR

Paladin’s Grace - T. Kingfisher

Stephen is a paladin whose god has died. Grace is a perfumer trying to keep her past buried. Witnesses to a failed assassination, they now must work together to navigate a world of intrigue, poisoners, and zealots. It’s a good thing they like each other.

6.5/10

off my TBR/ebook

Plain Jane and the Mermaid - Vera Brosgol

When Jane’s potential fiancé is kidnapped by a mermaid, she descends into the depths to rescue him even though she can never hope to compete with true waifish beauty.

7.5/10

warning: body shaming

library book

Sorcery and Small Magics - Maiga Doocy

Leovander Loveage and Sebastian Grimm get along like oil and water—which makes it all the worse when Leo's hit with an illegal curse and they must work together to break it.

6.8/10

🏳️‍🌈 protagonist (achillean), 🏳️‍🌈 secondary character (achillean), 🏳️‍🌈 minor character (ungendered), minor character with dark skin, minor character who uses a cane

gifted by publisher

Dictionary of Fine Distinctions - Eli Bernstein

Illuminating and illustrated definitions of commonly confused words.

7/10

library book

Days at the Morisaki Bookshop - Satoshi Yagisawa

When Takako finds herself adrift in life, she accepts a room in her estranged uncle’s bookshop.

7/10

Japanese cast, Japanese author

library book

Wordhunter - Stella Sands

A spiky forensic linguistics student is tapped by her local PD to help find a kidnapped teen, but that brings up a missing person’s case from her own past. Too close, too soon.

2/10

Black secondary character

warning: drug use, alcohol abuse, rape and an odd attitude towards its aftermath, pedophiles given a pass

library book

Picture books

All the Books - Hayley Rocco

Piper loves books so much she takes her whole collection everywhere, but when her wagons tip over in the rain she discovers … the library!

9/10

DNF

The Aeronaut’s Windlass - Jim Butcher

The cold war between Spires Albion and Aurora is heating up, and something uncanny is showing itself. Caught in it all are Captain Grimm, late of the Predator, a handful of trainee guards, and a prince of cats.

library ebook

Currently reading

The Price of the Stars - Debra Doyle and James D. MacDonald

When Beka’s politician mother is assassinated, her father gives her his warship in exchange for her tracking the assassins down. But when someone has it in for your family, sometimes one must take drastic measures.

off my TBR

The Empress Letters - Linda Rogers

A mother in the 1920s writes her life story in a series of letters to the daughter she’s searching for in China.

🇨🇦, Chinese secondary characters

warning: fetal remains, anti-Chinese racism

off my TBR

Music from the Earliest Notations to the Sixteenth Century - Richard Taruskin A history of early written European music, in its social and political contexts.

The Penguin Complete Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle Victorian detective stories

disabled POV character (limb injury), occasional Indian secondary characters

warning: racism, colonialism

Monthly total: 14 + 1 Yearly total: 106 Queer books: 3 Authors of colour: 2 Books by women: 9 Authors outside the binary: 0 Canadian authors: 0 Classics: 0 Off the TBR shelves: 3 Books hauled: 2 ARCs acquired: 3 ARCs unhauled: 4 DNFs: 1

January February March April May June July August September

[lesfir]

Astarion past of corrupt Magistrate

A bud that didn't bear fruit, not one that was cut off.

There was no time to realised in the game that Astarion was a very, very bad, corrupt elf in power. The beginning of the story hasn't been rewritten, the key idea remains - for April 2024.

I have a couple words and sources for it. The latter I found recently, and it has a story of its own. Sources from Larian's internal kitchen is extracted by hacker methods.

Let's start with just that In the fall of 2023, the Larian Discord leaks happened. Leaks of Welch chat, Larian's narrative designer (in the past), and co-writer of some scenes with Astarion. As of April 2024, the narrative designer of the romances. You can read about their unprofessional acts here. For me, it also plays a role that it's not even their character, it was worked on long before them, another author and creator. So that kind of statement who understood what about the character is so... ridiculous.

And the question arises why we should trust the word of a very unprofessional person? That's right. Because: 1. These are not their personal words, interpretations and "I feel like". It says what Larian was planned for Astarion's story, but didn't have time to show. 2. Welch came to work at Larian well after Early Access. This backstory of Astarion was already told before Larian hired Welch.

The other few sources that tell of Astarion's backstory. Their sequence and nuances are also important.

1 - Info from the publication VICE The year is 2020, February 28. First presentation of the Baldur's Gate game by the hands of Swen Vincke. Astarion already Astarion as he is, white hair, fangs, a vampire spawn. (no horns and no tail) I watched it all and dont find that Swen is no information about Astarion's past. I don't think the publication is running a fake. So I'm assuming this is a site exclusive-lure about the key points plot of the game.

„A disgraced nobleman who used his position as a local magistrate to serve a vampire clan by feeding them prisoners, he was eventually too corrupt even for them and was effectively sent to serve as the personal slave of a powerful vampire”

I haven't seen it abandoned. After a while, the artbook confirms corrupt-taste for power-past.

So, a person who has been following the story closely notices that some of the information is incomplete. However, " feeding them prisoners" could very well be a plot twist for new playrs, and it should be left out in the exclusive. All the more reason: • Corrupted elite - used his position of magistrate • Taste for power. Desires, eternal life - for luxury, influence, eternal beauty, more power, vampires. • How vampires came to be? Why do vampires need a magistrate? - prisoners, it's easy to take outcasts for food. They also didn't forget to mention decadence. There is no reason for a person to think that a key moment in history has gone away.

2 - Artbook I found the first mention in winter 2022 (edit if I find it earlier) Baldurs Gate 3 Collectors Edition Pre-order for the physical collection, including artbook $269.99 Next February 2023. It mentioned that BG3 Digital Deluxe Edition will be available to Early Access buyers. With this artbook. That is, the information passed from edition to edition. Weird, giving irrelevant information that will confuse you for free! Yet you have to pay for the physical irrelevant information, 270 bucks. Did Larian give any warning about this? 270 for non-canon. Enjoy the game.

Astarion. Decadent and Dangerous Two hundred years ago, Astarion was a corrupt elite of Baldur’s Gate with a taste for power and a hunger for eternal life.

3 - unprofessional employee revealed the internal workings of the kitchen and what Larian, as an entire company - that's Astarion's author, Stephen Rooney, actors, animators - didn't have time for previously mentioned Astarion backstory. Confirmation of what was already known.

escuisi: I've been thinking about how in act 1 there seems to be a setup for more info on the gur incident/cazador conveniently being there to turn him but then theres no reference to it later on? Like, Astarion's all mysterious about it in a way that clearly implies he did something shitty we would find out later ("they had taken issue with a ruling i had made") but its never expanded.

Baudelaire Welch (larian): lol I did want to more fully explore the 'ACAB * definitely * applies to Astarion' angle but there wasn't really time for it.

The concept of "learning not to be racist" I am a building is shot down, probably by other writers. Not copstarion, that predates Welch. Of course. It would have taken two more acts - just an understanding. Overall it would still look... cheap and strained. The only evil male companion in this game. Astarion is about the darker sides of humanity, balance of fun and darkness. He must be asshole about something. The recent "I'm sure" posts are already more of a personal piece. Doesn't invalidate the information gained, which is verified by past sources.

Headcanon is a fan fiction that never hasn't been mentioned in any way in the media. Which there is no basis for, fiction. Like the dark-haired Astarion, mortal eye colour, for example.

The entire 1st act is precisely done and presented in 2020 with Astarion's backstory - all his approvals, reactions, all the lines. 2022 winter - pre-order of the physical edition with this artbook is open. The artbook that is promised as a gift to players by EA in February 2023 half-year before the release in August 2023 also confirms and includes information about the corrupt past. Approvals, most reactions, some of which are remade in PAD format, but not cut remain in the August 2023 release. The game gives hints and later coquettishly silent. Nothing logically erases this backstory of Astarion in the game And then in autumn 2023 there is a leak where it turns out that there was not enough time for Astarion's backstory.

The artbook is the grail. It always has been in my case in any fandom. In an artbook, every word is very precious. These are the key ideas author for the reasoning of the story. Maybe it's not the fans, but the way Larian treats the information he's given for thought. I find their pitching a clumsy. -- wasn't enough time to do -- abandoned the idea and cut it out are different things. If the wording was: we didn't have time, so we cut off, so this story is no longer relevant - then yes. Now it's: we didn't have really time to fully explore (emphasized the other part, this part was left unrevealed). For me, this story of Astarion levitates in the air, not gone, but not realized either.

There's nothing in the game plot that contradicts that Astarion's past was exactly that. Astarion would never say he was a corrupt arsehole when he wants Tav to help him, though with his barbarians, "raising the dead is easier than catching slaves, don't care slaves or building material", luxury, wealth and power that Astarion remembers in the his original, "mercy, please", vagabonds... Vice versa. It's all coming together.

That's the puzzle. Judge for yourself. Because the main thing that's missing: definiteness. For me, zero reasons to rate that this backstory is burned at the time of the release of the Bladur's Gate 3 game and for April 2024. It's would be hidden as a secret inside the story. A bud that didn't bear fruit, not one that was cut off.

Now Larian is doing a new artbook I really hope the situation is at least clarified. Stephen Rooney has left Larian, he said that in the spring of 2024, so it was always going to be an issue now. Unless of course they do CTRL+C CTRL+V.

Here.

[doctorofmagic]

hello, I hope you’re doing well! I was wondering if you can clarify something for me that I’m just a *tad* confused by.

I know Stephen and Clea separated on good terms a while ago because they had responsibilities to attend to (but obviously they still love each other). but did they ever get officially divorced?

thank you in advance. I hope it’s not a difficult question. I’d just love to make sure I’m not forgetting/misunderstanding anything. :)

Hello! I'm doing good, thanks for asking! How about you?

Answering your question... No, they never got an official divorce. Even in the cursed Fearless Defenders, when Clea requests one, they never touch the subject again.

They give "divorced" vibes in Cates' and Waid's respective runs, but truth be told, they are not your typical married couple since they are from different dimensions and their cerimony was more like a spell that binds their souls.

So, in short, no divorce. Their souls remained bound and they never had a chance to talk about it except for this issue (Doctor Strange v4 Annual #1).

This is so true that, in Jed's run, they treat each other as spouses as soon as they reunite, as if their status as a separated couple was never officialized. Or at least this is how the chronology for this specific issue works haha.

I hope I was able to answer your question. It's confusing but if you read all their interactions after Sorcerer Supreme, this is the best you'll get when it comes to canon.

Thank you for passing by!

[brabblesblog]

Writer Interview Game

Thank you for the tag, @kittenintheden <3

When did you start writing?

So I've written short stories as a kid, maybe once in second grade. Then it was a lot of essays and thesis papers. I've done a bit of RP in my younger days as well. I officially began writing around September 2023 right after finishing BG3!

Are there different themes or genres you enjoy reading than what you write?

I love horror. Stephen King is one of my favorite writers, and I absolutely devour his books, but I have no desire in writing for that!

Is there a writer you want to emulate or get compared to often?

I don't think I've ever been compared to another writer. I don't think I'm anywhere near good enough to actually be compared to anyone of note!

Can you tell me a bit about your writing space?

My side of the bed. Right by a window, with my phone in hand, bundled up in sheets. That, or my desktop, which has a mousepad with corgis and a pink keyboard and mouse set.

What’s your most effective way to muster up a muse?

For me, inspiration comes and goes. A good lift can get me there sometimes. There's also music. But sometimes even if it isn't there, I push on.

How do you want to be thought about by your readers?

I suppose as someone who tried. That's all I can really ask for. Someone who put their heart into a story they wanted told.

What do you feel is your greatest strength as a writer?

I don't know, honestly. I know what I enjoy, though. I like writing dialog, and painting a more nuanced characterization than what was given in canon, using it as a launching pad for more.

How do you feel about your own writing?

To be completely honest I don't think of my writing much, or at all. I try not to, or the impostor syndrome hits. I try to take it day by day.

When you write, are you influenced by what others might enjoy reading, or do you write purely for yourself, or a mix of both?

I write for me. Whither was written with an ending for my self-insert in mind. With @editing-by-night's help I also now am able to write ideas that expand further and make it more entertaining and far more cohesive a story, but at heart, it's always been for me.

no pressure tags: @astarioffsimpmain @vixstarria @carmsgarms

[olderthannetfic]

I had an incredibly odd moment last night at an event night for my dorm. Basically this girl and I were the last people left painting after everyone else had finished, the conversation was going well, and then she mentioned fanfic and how cringy and bad it was. Confused by my fellow nerdy type disliking a core part of nerdery, I admitted that I wrote fanfic, that I loved canon-divergent AUs and I wasn't sure what was wrong. "It's equally fictional either way," I said, which she did seem to pause and think about before acknowledging that was true.

Then she clarified the problem was Boku No Hero Academia. (For full transparency, I have not watched it. Confused, I said, "Isn't that just some shounen series? What's wrong with that? I like shounen." So then she hits me with, "The fandom is gross. That write things that shouldn't be depicted or portrayed." I stared at her, confused. "Like pedophilia."

I admitted, because I felt comfortable with her, that I had written fanfic about CSA and a survivor finding hope for the future, a therapist, true love and his abuser eventually getting his comeuppance. She looked at the painting and not at me. I couldn't tell if she was mad or not. So I added that, over the course of the year and a half of writing it, nine people had told me that reading it had helped them either decide to seek out therapy or helped them realize what happened to them was abuse and that it mattered. And I think it's worth it to make something that makes someone uncomfortable if it helps other people out, and also, the back button is right there. No one has to read something.

Looking upset but affect flat, she said that BNHA fans write things that "glorify" pedophilia. And I, because I am a dick with no social skills, went, "Well, don't read it." She clarified it shouldn't be allowed to exist because it "does harm to people". I said that abusers are responsible for abuse they commit, and nothing they read makes them do it. Psychologists, I reminded her, since several people in her family are psychologists, study and witness things much more horrible than we can imagine, which abusers often say are necessary, justified and sometimes kinda cool, and they don't do any of it. Stephen King didn't commit any murders as a run-up to writing about murder.

She went back to staring at the paint and said I didn't understand the harm it was doing, because it was normalizing it. So I pointed out that no amount of movies where killing the bad guy is a cool, glorious, badass thing to do has made murder socially acceptable in society. "But that's killing," was the objection. "Which is violence," I said in return, "just not sexual violence. But if a hundred years of killing the person who wronged you in cinema didn't make people fine with murder, I don't think a fanfic is going to make it that way." She scoffed and looked away. In a gentler tone, I finished with, "I don't think all of the socialization someone goes through in life and everything they've been told in their entire life can be undone by some anime characters."

She did not say anything to me for the rest of the painting time. She left without a word. I thought for sure she was angry with me and we weren't going to take anymore.

Today, she smiled and waved at me on campus like everything is fine and nothing uncomfy happened.

I don't understand. I am, however, neurodivergent, and therefore bad at social signals, so I may be missing something, here. She was never visibly angry at me when we talked, nor did she raise her voice, so I don't think that I was awful, here. However, not saying anything to me for a full forty minutes or even looking at me indicates to me I had said something that made her upset.

Neurotypicals, please advise. What is going on, here?

--

Well... probably she just had her dumb assumptions challenged and wasn't sure how to feel about it in the moment.

[urhoneycombwitch]

omf i need to hear more about this background with prince!steve and prince!eddie

reader is destined to marry prince!steve in an arranged marriage but she falls into love with his brother prince!eddie

gonna expand on this I love the concept… so in my canon reader is the daughter of the court’s hired soothsayer. you’ve lived at the castle for most of your life, on the outskirts of Stephen and Eddie’s lives for years.

crossing paths every so often, in the kitchen and out in the courtyards. brief scuffles, joking exchanges with them both, but most of all: you were drawn to the boy with chocolate brown eyes and black ringlets that bounced like a living entity on his pretty head. every time he winked at you it was like lighting prickling at your fingertips!! ⚡️💕

one day you were old enough, at 13, to start as a ladies’ maid for Lady Robin, a cousin from the Harrington house. you and her became fast friends (if perhaps a better friend than her parents would hope for someone of non-royal status) and your bedroom was moved to be across from her own chambers.

so you all are besties. survive the perils of manners and etiquette classes together. grow up past teens and into young 20 something lady & her maiden who have to go to balls 🙄 and dress up fancy every time. like christ, the amount of time it takes to get corseted…

but then it starts to be fun when Prince Edward takes a real shine to you. now that he can slink off into the shadows- the King officially announce his own blood, Prince Stephen, as his successor the other week. and Eddie’s freed up to be a rascal.

and he flirts so openly with you during a dance in front of the other royals and the servants and god and everyone that Robin and Steve are like 😑👥😧 are you seeing this my lord. yes my lady. what sickening stuff this is. For real.

and they both decide silently to pull their friends aside. Steve approaches his step-brother with casual jovial nature, slinging his hand around the younger prince’s shoulders like heyyyyy brother. hey bro. you absolutely cannot fall for the freaky witch’s kid. you know that’s fucked up, right? And Eddie’s like what the hell 👁️👁️ why would you say that. I’m not in love with her. Obviously Not.

and as Robin braids your hair before bed later that night she’s like listen… I’m just telling you what Steve told me. but apparently Prince Edward sold mushrooms to that Henderson stableboy for a farthing telling him they were “good dream shrooms”. but all he did was give that poor kid an irritable stomach. I don’t think Edward is a good guy.

and you’re like… that’s kind of funny… no? okay well anyways. I so don’t have a crush on him. why are you even bringing it up.

[vampyrtism]

Like you'd think they'd look somewhat similar (like Stacey & Scott) but no !??!??!!?? People are Dumb /silly

don’t mess with neilphen shippers there’s like 7 of us

[lokisprettygirl]

Under his influence (Post Avengers! Loki x female reader)

Read chapter 35 here/ Series Masterlist

Chapter 36

Summary : Loki's torture ends as after years of separation he finds his way back to you.

Warning: 18+, HUGE Canon divergence (Just me making shit up), timey wimey stuff topics dealing with cheating and falling out of love, mention of pregnancy, infertility, gif is how he looked ;)

When Loki had chosen to fix the timeline again he knew he'd be in his own personal hell that he himself had created for the next few years of his life. When Frigga died all he wanted to do was run back to you so you'd hold him in your arms and comfort him but he couldn't.

After the events of Svartalfheim he pretended to be deceased and moved to midgard for a while until Thor had found him again.. he had promised the ancient one that he wouldn't interfere in your life and he didn't, first few weeks were the hardest for him, worst, at times he thought that he'd rather go through Thanos's torture again then go through this.

He wasn't able to sleep or do anything but he stayed strong, for you, for both of you. He missed you with every inch of his life, the only thing keeping him going forward was the assurance that each and every day was only bringing him closer to you.

Seven years was a long time, every morning as he awakened he thought of you and his heart broke in pieces as he realized that you must have been sad and lonely at times as well, feeling as if you're life was meaningless, fearing that you'd never fall in love with a man, would never feel the heat you so badly craved and he knew you'd feel that way for a long time to come. And he wouldn't be able to stop you from hurting this way, he really wished he could have loved you better than this but he felt helpless, time was never really on his side.

For a god seven years weren't really much but you were just a mortal.. and he knew with every passing year you were only losing more hope, losing more life as he just moved on with his own and did nothing..

Two years passed somehow and he knew you'd go on to marry Strange during this time period, he knew all about what was going to happen and he couldn't stop the precious love of his life as she got tied to another man.

As she became a wife but certainly not his.

....

"Happy birthday sweetheart" you heard your mom's voice on the phone , she was the only one to call you after Mrs Geller, at least they remembered your birthday because your own husband didn't.

"Thanks mom, what are you doing?" you asked her so she sighed,

"Y/n you know you are 35 now, you don't have much time left, are you both planning to have kids or not?" you groaned internally as she said that. You haven't really told her the truth yet. Sure your sex life was as bland as a weak tea but that didn't mean you didn't want kids of your own, you really did but nothing worked.

Even though your body was healthy and hospitable as your doctors had told you, you couldn't just get pregnant, you thought maybe Stephen was infertile but he was perfectly fine in that department as well, it was a medical mystery why you weren't able to get pregnant.

"Is that the only thing you think of all the time mom?" You asked her, bit annoyed by her inquiry. Well you were very annoyed.

"Of Course I do"

She answered so you rolled your eyes, once she hung up you got out of the bed and got ready for work, as you stepped out in the living room Stephen was there on the kitchen table reading a newspaper. As your eyes met with each other he gave you a smile that never really reached his eyes whenever he was around you. You didn't blame him either.

"Good morning" you mumbled as you made your way to the kitchen to make a quick breakfast for yourself.

"Morning, I'm off to Philadelphia today and won't return for a week" he told you nonchalantly so you nodded.

"Well..Drive safely" he chuckled as you said that.

"You don't have to worry about that anymore " he smirked so you resisted the urge to roll your eyes again.

Two years ago he had gotten into a bad accident that had almost ended his life. Doctors had told him that he'd never be able to operate again but then he went to Nepal and apparently found a mystic healer or something, you couldn't believe your eyes when he had returned perfectly fine as if nothing had happened to him, however you did notice a slight change in his demeanor, he was less arrogant and more sympathetic towards you.

For a few weeks your relationship with him had gotten better but then it fizzled again, your heart was never in the right place when you married him, you knew you shouldn't have married him. You shouldn't have married him because you sure as hell weren't in love with him, as much as you had all these fantasies about a magical love life since you were eight, it never really happened to you. You never found a man who made your heart skip a beat with his presence, gave you butterflies that would leave you gushing for days or made you feel heated just by his mere touch.

When you turned turned thirty two you had just accepted that not everyone was destined to find that sort of love so you settled for Stephen and he settled for you, though you didn't understand his reasons, because he sure as hell wasn't in love with you either.

A year later you finally built the courage to ask for a divorce and much to your surprise he agreed almost immediately, that's when he confessed to you that he had been having an affair with his colleague Christine, not that it gave you a whiplash or made you feel betrayed, you had a feeling he wasn't faithful to you.

You had been cheated on before and were still carrying the scars it had left behind but with Stephen it didn't even hurt, you were equally responsible for this, sure you never cheated on him but you were never really there either, he never really felt like a lover to you, there was no romantic love between you two and it was proven as you two had met at your parents' anniversary a few months later after the divorce, that's when you knew that a platonic friendship is what you needed from him.

You were enjoying a life where you weren't trapped in a forced loveless marriage but that wasn't to say that you liked being alone, you despised it, all you wanted to do was find a man who'd love you as crazily as you'd love him but you knew you weren't blessed enough to find him.

Even when you met guys who you felt a miniscule amount of attraction for -they were either too young or too old, and both didn't seem interested in you in that way, you would turn forty in a few years, your time had ended but accepting it was way harder than one could imagine.

The hopeless romantic in you just wanted to find love, it didn't want to give up but with every passing year you were losing your will to go on, you have always felt so hollow from deep within, but it only got worse as you entered this decade of your life. You still remembered crying all night on your 30th birthday, now you wanted to go back to being thirty again, that felt much better than this..

Ever since you had turned thirty you always felt as if you were missing a piece of your heart, as if someone owned it but you didn't remember who. You always felt as if there was a man out there for you but you weren't able to find him anywhere, as if he wasn't even from this planet.

Few more months later Stephen invited you to his birthday bash in NYC. You had moved back to Minnesota post the divorce so he flew you in and even arranged for your stay. A free lavish trip wasn't the offer you were going to say no to so the night of his birthday you put on a fancy green dress, the thin straps had cute hearts shapes attached to it and after a long time you actually felt good about yourself. You had been working out, taking care of yourself, doing everything you could to still feel a little hopeful in life and it worked until your head finally hit the bed at night and made you aware of how miserable your life has become.

As you reached the venue you met Christine and things were unsurprisingly good between you two, she was a good woman, she understood Stephen and loved him the way you never did. He deserved that. Also apparently he was a superhero now but you still didn't understand what he actually did or what his purpose was. Sometimes you really sucked at being a nice person and taking interest in other people's lives.

After dancing for a bit you felt very tired so you told Christine you were going to grab a drink.

You sat down next to a gentleman in a black suit, he was attractive. He probably was the most attractive man you had seen in your life, his raven hair went past his shoulders and when he looked at you, those green eyes bored right into your soul. You also felt as if you had seen him before, you felt as if you had known him for years.

Usually men such as him made you feel extremely nervous around themselves and insecure in a weird way but for some unknown reason you felt calm with him..

"Sorry i didn't mean to stare, i felt as if i had seen you somewhere" he chuckled as you said that, that mere smile gave you butterflies. What was happening to you? This wasn't like you at all. You had never felt such an intense attraction towards a man before, not this way.

As soon as Loki saw you from across the dance floor, all the feelings that he had been suffocating for seven years were threatening to explode but he kept his cool, you didn't remember him and he had to do it in a way that wouldn't make you feel scared of him. He had waited years to find you again, he could wait more.

"Perhaps you have seen me on the news, I invaded your planet with an army a few years ago" your eyes widened in realization as he said that.

"Oh my god you're Loki '' you said to him and he turned his head to look at you, his lips sipped on the neat whiskey he had ordered for himself. Gorgeous gorgeous guy you thought, of course he was, he was a literal god. You and your standards you thought.

"For a moment I was afraid my popularity had plummeted around here" you let out a nervous laughter as he said that. He had clearly caught you checking him out.

"Noo i.. I read about you at the time, saw you in the news ..my ex husband actually made me see why we were supposed to hate you" you mumbled as you airquoted your sentence, a bit ashamed by the reveal, you still remembered your first date with Stephen where he just ranted against Loki, so why was he there at his birthday party now?

"Well I hope your feelings are not the same anymore" you gulped as the intense eye contact made you feel flushed. Your cheeks felt warm so warm and all you wanted to do was lean into him like a pervert.

"So what are you doing here?" You asked him to avoid feeling those butterflies that were swarming in your belly.

"I was summoned here for a crucial discussion," he answered you.

"Ohhh" you mumbled.

"I watched you dancing over there" your ears perked up as he said that. There were so many gorgeous, young and gorgeous women at the party, why was he watching you? Men that looked like him never went for women like you.

"You did?" You cleared your throat as you spoke,

"You have a way with your hips don't you?" Was he flirting with you? Oh god it's been years since a man this attractive had flirted with you. A man you actually wanted to flirt with you.

"Ummm well i wanted to be a dancer once" you mumbled and suddenly felt like a fool.

"I can tell, makes me think of other situations where you could show me how those hips could work" you bit on your lips as he said that. Loki's entire self grimaced as he was clearly being obscene with you, but he was pretending to be the confident asshole he was known as, however as he noticed the way you had blushed he found himself craving your touch. It's been seven years for norns sake.

He placed his fingers on your chin to make you look at him and brought his lips to your ears, if he was some other guy you would have pushed him away by now but for some reason you felt hypnotized by his mere presence, everything about him enchanted you, you felt as if you were under his influence, his cologne attacked your senses and all you wanted to do was kiss him.

You had never felt such scorching heat with someone in your life, you never thought you'd ever get to feel it either, you didn't think it existed for you.

"Care for a dance?" He whispered in your ears and you could only whine in response which he took as a yes. His fingers laced with yours as he dragged you to a secluded corner of the hall.

Baby, you can

Ride it, ooh, yeah

Bring it over to my place

"Nice song isn't it?" He whispered in your ear so you hummed in response, it existed because of you and you didn't even know that, you were the one to send the lyrics of the song to Mark Johnson in the hope that it'll get sent to the artist. Apparently it did.

You moved slowly with him to the rhythm of the music, he placed his hands on your lower back and the action made you gasp, dipping you down slowly before he pulled you up, smushing you so close to him in a moment, your chest were pressed to him, you were too close to man you barely knew.

And you be like

"Baby, who cares?"

But I know you care

Bring it over to my place

Your hips rolled in circles and hands curled around his neck, what was this feeling? Your lips were so close to him but he wasn't kissing you, even though you wanted him to just kiss you desperately.

You don't know what you did, did to me

Your body lightweight speaks to me

I don't know what you did, did to me

Your body lightweight speaks to me

"Goddd" You whispered and a small smile curved the corner of his mouth.

"There you are i have been looking for you"

You heard Stephen's voice so you pulled away from the man you had met a few minutes ago. Even after the divorce was finalized you still felt weird about being close with another man around him.

"What happened?" You looked at him and he snickered in response.

"I was talking to him, I called him here to discuss something important"

You directed your attention towards Loki and he smiled at you before he looked you up and down from head to toe then he leaned into you to press a goodbye kiss on your cheek,

"See me again sometime later?"

You nodded as he said that, he walked towards your ex husband and went along with him, his smell lingered around you still and you had to sit down in order to calm down your nerves.

You had never felt this way before, you had lost all hope of finding a man you'd feel this level of attraction for and now you were almost thirty seven and a literal god was showing interest in you. A god. You wanted to scream because you knew he was unattainable, maybe he was just looking for a one night stand, of course he did. Guys weren't really looking to marry you at your age. At Least not men like him.

Strange had invited you here but he was missing from his own party so after a while you made your way upstairs to tell him that you were going back to the hotel as you felt tired, or maybe that was just another excuse to see Loki. Not it wasn't, you weren't that desperate for a man you had just met. You had never been that person. Right?

As soon as you reached the room you knocked on the door and took a deep breath, much to your delight Loki opened the door instead.

"If I didn't know you any better i'd have made an assumption that you came here for me" Your face flushed again as he said that, the smirk on his beautiful face was apparent.

"Well You don't know me Mister. Is Stephen here?"

He smiled and stepped away so you could get in the room but as you got in you noticed that Strange wasn't there

"He went away for a moment" Loki said to you so you sighed and turned around to look at him

"Umm okay..will you please tell him that I am tired and going back to the hotel? I'm staying at the Ritz"

"Sure would my lady, I'm sure he knew that already or perhaps the invitation is for me?" He asked you and you felt your face heating up again but instead of getting nervous you got bold instead, you didn't know where it came from..

"Maybe it is"

"What room?"

Lord, was he going to visit you?

"143"

He nodded his head as you said that and you walked past him to leave the room.

"Do you even know my name?" you suddenly turned around to ask him and he gave you a soft smile in response,

"It's y/n..isn't it?"

"He told you, didn't he?"

He didn't know why his eyes teared up at the question, he had been holding himself back from just wanting to grab you and kiss you at the moment.

"He did"

As soon as you were out of the room you took a deep breath, how come you had bumped into the sexiest man you had ever laid your eyes on? Not just that but he actually seemed interested in you. Things like that just didn't happen to you so it felt a little weird. What did he want from you? Perhaps a night of debauchery? That was your best guess, only half an hour later you heard a knock on the door so you opened it and found him on the other side,

You invited him in so he looked around before he diverted the attention back at you.

"Ummm you want something to drink? I have like ummm let me check" you walked towards the mini refrigerator to rummage through it "There's coke, some alcoholic beverages, I don't know if you consume that" He chuckled as you said that.

"Don't they charge heftly for that?" He asked you curiously.

"Well my ex is paying for the room so you know" he chuckled as you said that. Norns he had missed you and all your little quirks.

"I will have whatever this Coke is supposed to be" you smiled nervously as he said that. You grabbed a can from the mini freezer and passed it to him, you were shocked a little when he opened the can without even using his fingers,

"It's a charm" he said as he found you looking a bit starstruck.

"I see.. I mean I know..you're also magical and all" He smiled as you said that, he walked closer to you and your breath quickened as he continued to reach closer and closer to you with every step.

"Have a sip lady y/n" he pressed the can right over your lips and it made you gulp.

"It's okay…I ummm" you stuttered on your words and he couldn't help but enjoy the sight of you squirming like that. It boded well for his ego that he had such an affect on you even though you didn't even remember him just yet.

"I insist, it would be rude of me to not offer" you pressed your lips on the opening of the can and he raised it up a little so you could take a sip. After you were done with the sip, he brought the can back up to his own lips and drank from it, all while his eyes stayed glued to yours. He noticed the residue of the drink on the corner of your mouth and all he wanted to do was lick it off. His thoughts were filthy. It's been seven years, that was two thousand five hundred fifty five nights of him just touching himself to your memories .

"Uhhh so how was the meeting with Stephen?" You asked him to cut through the tension..

"Atrocious, he so badly needed my assistance but the arrogant arse took a while before he admitted it" you chuckled as he said that.

"Well you should have seen him years ago before ahhh the accident..he was way worse"

"Mmmhmmm?" He walked closer to you and placed the can down on the dresser behind you "Makes me wonder why a sweet woman like you would ever hitch herself to a man such as him" He whispered, his voice remained low and husky.

"Well I thought it was the right thing to do at the time" you looked down and he figured you couldn't even look in his eyes for longer than a few seconds.

"Is that so? Did it feel right?" He put his fingers on your chin and made you look up at him, every inch of your skin began to tingle with his touch. What was he doing to you and why?

"Not really..if the divorce wasn't enough of an indication for you then let me tell you that I do regret that decision everyday of my life"

He smiled as you said that. The forest green slip dress you had on made you look delectable, there were two heart shaped ribbons attached to the top of the straps that kept the dress hanging on your body, he found it really adorable. You let out a moan as his thumb brushed over your lower lip.

"Lokiiii" the sound of his whispered name made his cock harden in a jiff but he used the charm to keep himself from showing it, he didn't want you to think as if he was there for just a night of fun.

"Apologies little one, I got carried away" He took a step back and he noticed your heavy breathing. You weren't making this any easier, he remembered the dream he had about you two before where he lived the same scenario, he knew what you were going to say to him, it always started this way between you two, with friendship, a relationship that was built in such a way could have only lasted forever, there was no other way around it.

"It's okay I just… I am still dealing with the divorce and I just.. I don't know what you thought would happen tonight and I know I invited you here basically but I ..I'm just not ready for ..you know" your eyes teared up as you mumbled, that wasn't the reason why you didn't want to sleep with him, you didn't care about the divorce, you just didn't want him to think of you as someone he could have fun with for a night and leave, his own eyes softened as he noticed the anxious look on your face.

"Whatever it is that you desire from me tonight, I will give you that darling" he said firmly so you smiled before you chuckled slightly in disbelief.

"Really? So if I tell you that I barely have any friends and I want you to be my friend first, would you be my friend?" You asked him, he could sense the mockery in your tone, he didn't blame you, he knew his reputation wasn't the best especially because of how promiscuous his brother was on midgard he figured you must have put him through the same judgment, you didn't remember him after all.

"I would love to be your friend, I do not have any either"

Your eyes widened as he said that.

"Okay so ummm okay we can be friends i guess" he smiled as he grabbed your hand and placed a formal kiss on the back.

"My lady, I won't disappoint you i promise"

He kissed your forehead and as you looked up at him all of a sudden he just felt so familiar, as if you knew him in some other life, he felt like home and you couldn't really describe why.

That night as you both stayed up and talked you found yourself getting more and more attracted to him.

Days passed and turned into weeks but he never stepped out of line or asked you for things you never wanted to do, all your life you had felt a certain emptiness in your soul, even when you felt happy at times you found yourself thinking about the missing piece of your heart, you had always felt as if you were born with half a soul and for once in your life you were starting to believe that he was it. That he was the one you had been looking for, that he was the answer to all those questions. But he felt too good to be true.

How could someone be so precious as he was?

You had no idea how complicated your relationship was with him but you were going to find out the truth on your coming birthday..he was going to change your life forever, it would never be the same again.

And that is exactly what you had wished for all your life.

🥹💚🥹💚🥹💚🥹💚🥹💚🥹💚🥹

Taglist

@annoyingsweetsstranger @mcufan72 @nixymarvelkins @stupidthoughtsinwriting @fictive-sl0th @eleniblue @violethaze @anukulee @ladymischief11 @12-pm-510 @wolfsmom1 @whylokiissocute @pics-and-fanfics @daddylokisqueen @olivertwistrabbit @blog-the-lilly @prettylittlepluviophile @vanilla-daydreaming @somewiseguy @yaaamadaa-blog @dragonmurray @elthreetimes @gruftiela @thenotoriouserg @greep215 @yallgotkik @janineb86 @sflame15-blog @nyxlaufeyson @lokidokieokie @purplekitten30 @nikkig496-blog @frozenhuntress67 @qardasngan @rosecentury @lokiswife-dark-fox-queen @hrefna-the-raven @jennyggggrrr

@cosniffee @lotsoflokilove23 @oreo-cream @aesonmae @salvinaa

[a-gilded-imprisonment]

Oh! Hello. You’re a friend of Dr. Ratio’s, right? I don’t think I’ve ever met him, but Screwy certainly has a lot to say about him, and any friend of rubber ducks is a friend of mine.

Uh… sorry if I’m bothering you. I’m just told I have to reach out to people more.

-🍉

//if you can identify which technically-canon character this is i love you.

A friend?

*Aventurine laughs at the stranger's statement.* Oh, we are but business partners... that seems to be all Veritas desires when it comes to associating himself with me~

It isn't a bother, friend~! I am quite fond of meeting new people.

*The gambler extends a gloved hand towards the other.* Aventurine of Stratagems, one of the Interastral Peace Corporation's beloved Stonehearts, at your service! It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance~

(Ooc: "Screwy?" So Screwllum. Genius Society member... Oh my gosh. OH MY GOD... Wait is it Stephen Lloyd?!?!?! Best npc omg I'm probably wrong dgkskagkgasdgak ~ Mod Minie)

[zios-plotbun-farm]

One Piece Fanfic Crossover Idea [includes LawLu]

Alright. So recently after having binge-reading a lot of Lawlu fanfic, and falling back into the rabbit hole that is One Piece. I have managed to brew up a really silly lawlu storyline that honestly is more law-centric than anything. Although it has a lot of romance elements, probably more than it should. But uh, it's not entirely focused on Lawlu? That’s what I get for thinking throwing in my past 3 OTPs from my previous fandoms and 1 very old one would be a great idea. =w=;;

And if that got your attention then buckle up this is gonna get slightly cracky and very long. Not much plot but plenty of detail lol

So the story starts with the Blackbeard battle on Whipper Island which still goes the same as canon. The only difference is that somehow Bepo, Shachi, Penguin and Ikkaku were the only ones in the crew to have survived the attacks. All of them escape with Law as in canon and regroup at a further away barren island or something. Not very detailed here.

Anyway, let’s just say a passing benevolent godly entity who favors Law (me lol) sees his situation, and decides to meddle as a way to help him out. They send Law a vision as a way to explain what will happen and why some random people will be suddenly appearing in front of them. That explanation being that they are sending possible new crewmates that will definitely be strong enough to survive the New World and help Law on his new quest for revenge against Blackbeard. Obviously Law protests against this at first but is unable to refuse since all these people were already being transported from outside their universe's domain  and can’t be returned because of their own universal rules. The Entity was just kind enough to nudge them on the path to the One Piece universe. When instead they could have continued hurling into the void between universes.

So after his forced agreement, various types of portals opened up, dropping off a whole bunch of confused people. A few of which were injured. A list also happened to appear that conveniently had information on them with their previous occupations and abilities. After everyone was done panicking, being suspicious, and first aid was administered. Law explained what the Lady Entity told him about their situations. He then asked them how they all got transported outside their universes. Here follows their situations:

[Naruto] SasuNaru

Naruto and Sasuke were sealing Kaguya away when she was able to get one last shot in that was a dimensional portal that had sucked in the two ninja while they were exhausted. They weren’t able to dodge it and Sakura was barely saved from being sucked in like they were since she was less exhausted and farther away from the portal.

[SVSSS] Moshang

LGJ got the drop on MBJ during the accession ceremony and SQH was able to distract him enough to get to MBJ. He used his return to home function while gripping MBJ as a last attempt to escape LQJ since MBJ was heavily injured. When Law arrived, Strange and Naruto were able to heal him enough not to die. Also during their explanation SQH realizes that he isn't bound by the system any more and has essentially been freed. Which means he can reveal his past life secrets if he wants too.

[MDZS] Wangxian

Their group had been ambushed by masked men during a very suspicious night hunt. They were caught in an array that had Wei Wuxian try to use a prototype transportation talisman to help escape or counteract it. Instead it made it into a very unstable dimensional travel array. The array that was used had something to do with time. [Include Wen Ning & Lan Sizhui]

[MCU] StrangeIron

All three were thrown out of their universe by the infinity stones themselves because the space/soul/time stones convinced the others to let them leave since they really liked Strange/Tony/Peter and didn’t want them to die. Initially only Tony was gonna use the stones but Peter joined in to help him and Stephen joined in to try to keep either of them from dying from power overload. So now they are banned from returning to their universe since they are supposed to be dead. That's the price for saving their universe. Also in this universe Tony had used a very low dose version of extremis to survive chest surgery after Siberia which is why he was able to survive the snap with the help of the other 2. This has Tony looking like late thirties.

After hearing their various situations, with all of them sounding very outlandish to the Heart Pirates, Law is both amazed and dreading having them all as possibly future crew members. But still Law throws out the offer of them joining his pirate crew and explains why it's a good idea. While explaining he also informs them about what this universe is like. Which includes devil fruits, the marines, the world government, the pirate era and the most famous pirates currently.

This in turn leads to Law’s bounty and infamy which also reveals Law’s newest quest for revenge against Blackbeard for killing most of his crew and destroying the Polar Tang. Sasuke, Wei Wuxian, and Mobei jun can relate to wanting revenge. Collectively they agree to join Law since the Heart pirates were the only ones that knew about their otherworldly situations and abilities. Plus none of them had any interest in being recruited or kidnapped by the Marines for their powers. Also not one of them would have been able to live normally without attracting some sort of attention, besides maybe SQH on his own.

After this Law goes over the list that Entity gave him. Which also included the tip of rejoining the StrawHats as an Ally again. Since they are eventually going to have a run-in with Blackbeard. Plus they needed time for his new crew to figure out how they fared against the fighters here. As well as get over the culture shock they're gonna have being in a new world. And possibly learn how to sail a normal boat and not a submarine. At least until they buy or steal a new one.

Crew Positions/Roles? Bepo = Navigator/First Mate Shachi =Doc assistant/Swordsman? Ikkaku = SubMechanic/Sniper Penguin =Doc assistant/Cook/Staff user? Naruto = Helmsman?/Scout/Fighters Sasuke = Lookout/Scout/Fighters MBJ = Fighter/Assassin/General SQH = Treasurer/Quartermaster/Spy Tony = Mechanic/Inventor/Fighters Stephen = Doctor/Sorcerer/Fighters Peter = Mechanic/Cabin boy/Fighters WWX = Fighter/Inventor/Musician LWJ =Cook/Fighter/Musician LSH =Fighter/Cabin boy/Musician WN =Fighter/Watchman/Pharmacist?

Extra Story Elements

Inventor group= Tony, Peter, WWX, Ikkaku Doc group= Law, Stephen, WN Inhuman= MBJ, WN, Bepo, honorary members Naruto & Peter Swordsmen= Law, LWJ, WWX, LSH, Sasuke, Shachi Lit Club= WWX & SQH, Shachi, Pen + editor Naruto Avoid Docs group= Tony, Peter, Naruto, WWX Kids Club= Peter, LSH, Naruto, Sasuke Sanity Group= LWJ, SQH, Law, Bepo Cooks= LWJ, Penguin, Naruto

Luffy becomes super jealous of Law for having 2 ninjas on his crew and tries to convince one of them to join his crew. Naruto doesn’t want to separate from Sasuke, and Sasuke would rather die than join a crew with 2 Narutos.

Franky & Ussop are amazed by the stuff that Tony and Peter make considering they do not use cola and are untraceable to the Marines. Tony was horrified by the fact that Cola could be used essentially like oil and that their phones were living organisms. Created various devices by hand and maybe recreated the Arc reactor to power their new Boat/Sub?

New Boat/Sub was made by a combination of Tony, Peter, Ikakku, Franky & Naruto who used his clones as workers.

Stephen gets his hands fixed with the help of Law and Naruto. Law with taking the pins out and attaching the nerves. And Naruto helped to regrow them and heal them. [hand wavy medicine]

On the boat when people are having relationship problems they go to wangxian since they were the only ones in a relationship and technically married with a son. MBJ is the first one to ask LWJ about how to court a cultivator since they are both introverted.

People confuse Tony & Steph as a couple because they parent Peter and think he is their son. This is before they actually get together.  

Peter, LSH, Naruto, and Sasuke are seen as the Kid group. Although Law does treat them as adults when needed. Everyone tends to be protective of them. MBJ & Law are Sasuke’s favorite crewmates because they are all cat-like.

Have a whole thing about trying to revive WN back to life since his body is in a state of stasis and his soul is bound to his body by force. Get his body to work again like Frankenstein. Group project between WWX, Law, Stephen, and MBJ. Possible outcome that WN turns into a Demon since he is saturated in Resentful energy.

SQH and Peter are the only ones to have an idea about the One Piece and Naruto worlds. SQH had his OTPs SasuNaru and LawLu while Peter had his favorite characters aka Sas, Naru, Law and Lu. Decide together to try and help the couples along with SQH taking LawLu and Peter getting SasuNaru. Peter has no clue how to, so just suggests ways to hang out.

Law while an introvert and masking as a Stern stoic badass. Is very much a secret chaotic dumbass when provoked by Luffy and others. Also he can’t seem to seriously fight Luffy without a good reason otherwise it turns into a slapstick fight lol. Is willing to wear stupid clothes/costumes although some might be in his eccentric style.

Shachi is a swordsman but only because Law needed someone to train and spar against while growing up and traveling through the North sea before they took on the grandline. He's a lot more comfortable with fighting hand to hand like a brawler/street fighter. Although he's also pretty good at using blunt weapons [bats, knuckles]. Possibly have him learn how to use armament haki to coat his fists and weapons. Maybe learn with Naruto and Peter to fight better with hand to hand techniques and parkour techniques aka move around larger opponents like Peter. [All the flipping and jumping] Possibly learn how to use advanced armament haki techniques with the help of Naruto and Sasuke. Similar to Sage techniques and Sakura’s strength techniques.

Penguin joins up with Shachi to learn better hand to hand combat. Can't seem to get the hang of using a weapon so at some point asks Stephen if he can learn his magic? Stephen gives it a try at teaching him. Penguin can only use a few magic spells since he isn't a genius like Stephen but tries to be creative with them. [Portals, Mandala shields, Eldritch whips, Energy sword, pure energy saw blasts, possible water element?] Help with MBJ, and Peter somehow, learns to water bend using magic.

Ikkaku gets trained by Tony, SQH, and surprisingly Sasuke. She focuses on hand to hand combat, gun/sniper training, using daggers, and figuring out how to use observation haki. She focused on presence sensing and intent sensing that she wishes to develop into future vision. Trains to make sure her concentration can't be easily broken, plus to increase her endurance and stamina. Possibly ask Stephen to teach her how to transmute items so she never runs out of bullets or without a dagger and some mild telekinesis to throw them/manipulate them. 

Law trains with his new crew mates to better use his devil fruit and his own body. Possibly have him unlock his own Conquerors haki like Luffy. Maybe have WWX give him some tips on using Jiang techniques since they were more adaptable while he spars LWJ & LSH to learn proper sword fighting. While also learning how to fight either bare handed or with only his fruit abilities with Strange and Sasuke.

WWX totally treats Law like a little brother since his tsundere tendencies remind him of JC. While WN likes him since he reminds him of WQ and his harsh bedside manner but caring actions for those he loves. Peter, Naruto, and Sasuke are new ducklings to teach and protect in WWX’s eyes. LWJ respects Law's authority and experiences, and at times acts like an advisor for battles [war experience]. Naruto/Peter = cool older friend while LSH treats him like a senior disciple. MBJ is willing to follow only because of SQH but watches Law like a hawk and forces him to grow stronger to be worthy of following him [demon stuff]. Stephen treats him as a colleague because both are genius surgeons and Protectors. Tony likes to mess with him and treats him like a youngsters aka Peter. Same with the other OG heart pirates although gives slightly more respect to Ikkaku for withstanding their bullshit [Sees Pepper/May in her]. Sasuke and Law at times butt heads because Sasuke isn't good with authority figures, and while Law understands that, it can be frustrating since he is the authority for this crew.

MBJ was the one to push Law to train to get stronger. Reason 1) cause it the demon way to only be the subordinate of someone if they were stronger than them. Reason 2) sees that Law needs to be pushed after having fallen into depression for failing his previous crew. So decides to motivate him by fueling him with Anger, Revenge and Spit like any proper demon would. Sasuke and WWX help at this point because they understand. This also causes the other OG hearts to also start training which leads to others offering their help for training.

While shopping for clothes SQH and WWX go ham looking for clothes. SQH convinces WWX to try on these great form fitting black coats and pants with low heeled boots. Also tells him that they aren't obligated to wear multiple layers so they can experiment with fashion now. WWX is very excited by this both from not having to be so formal and to tease LWJ. Tony and Peter go and decide they want to look the part of actually being pirates and drag Stephen along. They give Stephen the full pirate look with Levi turning into an overcoat. MBJ decides to wear the least amount of clothes since the seas are very hot and he can't be bothered to wear layers here. LWJ on the other hand struggles to find clothes that he is comfortable wearing. Gets help from SQH after he and WWX are finished with their choices. Sasuke and Naruto go and try to find the best reinforced clothes they can buy but choose to alter the few clothes they had to fit in.

Shang Qinghua: System gives him the ability to have a RPG game system interface to use in real life for completing PIDW storyline. He gains unlimited inventory space, Analysis ability, Spotify, Library, Map, Internet.

KARAOKE/DANCE NIGHTS SQH goes ham with the Spotify ability because it has modern songs which has Peter and Tony joining in. Everyone gets curious about the different music which ends up with them having Karaoke/dance nights where they sing or have dance offs to different songs. Even Law finds songs that he enjoys and is willing to sing to although rarely. Shachi and Penguin during those times are always his back up dancers or singers by force.