#it's funny because she's canonically hard to get rid of

[catofadifferentcolor]

Terrible Fic Idea #92: Percy/Apollo, but make it The Trojan War

Into every fandom, a time travel fic must fall - or in this case a second one, because I somehow got to thinking about the delightful PJO trope of Percy being thrown back in time to The Trojan War and realized that doing so misses out on a fantastic opportunity.

Or: What if post-TOA Percy Jackson and Apollo time travel to shortly before The Trojan War?

Just imagine it:

Everything follows canon through TOA, with one exception: rather than struggle to catch up in the mortal world following the Second Gigantomachy, Percy elects to stay at Camp Half-Blood. There he can homeschool at his own place with programs tailored towards ADHD children and still visit his family on the weekends - and not get into any more ridiculous situations in the mortal world when one of the gods kidnaps him or sends him on a quest to find their sneakers.

This, naturally, stresses his relationship with Annabeth - who, now that she's no longer living at camp full time, calls it the easy way out. But Percy is tired and struggling in mortal high school where everyone thinks he's a delinquent idiot when another option exists seems foolish. Percy and Annabeth break up and drift apart.

Enter Apollo, fresh from his latest stint as a mortal. He's trying to do his best by his children, which includes popping by camp as often as he can get away with - which in turn means spending a lot of time with Percy, who at this point is unofficially running CHB because it's not like Dionysus or even Chiron have done a brilliant job of it in recent times.

(First aid, strategy, and mythology classes are made mandatory. Percy personally ensures every demigod knows enough about self-defense to be able to survive long enough to run away or for help to arrive. Bullying is cracked down on so hard that it's this, not Percy's generally parental nature, that has people calling him Camp Mom.)

Percy and Apollo become friendly. Enough so that some of Apollo's kids assume they're dating and keeping it on the down-low so as not to draw Zeus' ire. Or Poseidon's. Or anyone else's. It's on one of their not-dates that they're yeeted into the past, without warning or explanation.

And so 19-year-old Percy Jackson and post-TOA Apollo find themselves in Ancient Greece c. 1220 BCE, roughly thirty-five years before the destruction of Troy.

The time travel is immediately obvious, as Apollo becomes the closest thing a god might experience to being high the moment they land in the past - being a powerful god in modern times is nothing like being a powerful god at the height of his power in ancient times. It's overwhelming (and somewhat alarming from Percy's POV, but kind of funny in retrospect.)

The specific date is harder to determine, but made clear when Hermes shows up and starts going on about you'll never believe what father's done now: he seduced the Spartan queen as a swan and she's laid an egg. Hera is furious - especially as they're saying the girl that hatched from it is the most beautiful in the world, even though she's only a few days old. It's nuts. By the way, where have you been? You missed the last two council meetings. Do you want Dad to punish you?

Apollo at this stage is very high. He's also been USTing over Percy for quite some time and is worried what the gods of this era might do to Percy without divine protection (smiting or seduction, it's all on the table). But mostly he's very high, and so to keep Percy close and safe he declares he's been off having the dirtiest of dirty weekends with his latest lover and that Hermes' presence is ruining the mood. So if he would kindly leave, please and thank you, he'd really rather get back to it without an audience.

This, naturally, is a surprise to Percy, but he rolls with it because 1) he doesn't have any better ideas on how to get rid of Ancient Greek Hermes so they can figure out what the hades is going on and 2) he's been USTing over Apollo ever since he recovered enough from Tartarus to start feeling attraction again.

Fueled by mutual UST, they put together a cover story that should hold the next time a god with too much prurient interest shows: Percy is now Prince Persē of Gadir - a Phoenician colony that will grow into the future Cadiz - well past the edge of the Greek world at this stage but not beyond belief for Poseidon to have visited, as it's obvious who his father is. They claim his mother is the King of Gadir's youngest sister and as such Persē had a royal upbringing, but was far enough down the line of succession that he was free to chose to sail east and explore his father's homeland. Apollo caught sight of him on his journey, one thing led to another, and here they are.

(Are there easier, more sensible cover stories? Possibly. But the UST refuses to let them consider any of them now that a fake relationship is on the table.)

Deciding what to do about The Trojan War is much harder. On the one hand, it's a lot of senseless death and destruction. On the other, without it we don't get The Iliad and The Odyssey - two of the most influential works of literature in western civilization - and Aeneas doesn't go off to Italy (leading to the founding of Rome, which would change the history of western civilization a lot). In the end, they decide to let the war happen but do their best to mitigate the worst parts of it.

And so Percy goes off and becomes a hero of Ancient Greece while pretending to be in a relationship with Apollo.

This stage of things is filed with angst from both parties, as both Percy and Apollo want a real relationship with each other but think they're abusing the other's trust by eagerly faking their relationship. There's a lot of PDA, a lot of feelings, and limited communication. It goes on for quite a while and would probably exasperate quite a few people if everyone in the know didn't think they were already in a relationship.

It's also filled with modern day Percy being confronted by realties of life in Ancient Greece. It's not just mortals knowing about - and interacting with - the gods: it's everything. It's food and clothes and language and culture and housing and travel. He can play a lot off it as being a traveler from the edge of the known world, but some of it has him asking Apollo if he's being rick rolled.

Apollo, meanwhile, is having troubles of his own. He is not the god he used to be and it's hard pretending otherwise. He tries to walk the line of doing enough to be believable and holding back enough not to despise himself, but it's a fine line, he fails often, and he spends a not insignificant amount of time worried he's backsliding.

And so it goes until 7-year-old Helen of Troy is kidnapped by Theseus to be his wife.

This, naturally, does not fly with Percy, who by this time has built up something of a reputation as a hero. He teams up with the Dioscuri to rescue Helen.

One would think this would earn him Zeus' favor. It doesn't. Instead, Zeus sends monsters to harry him for refusing to let Castor and Pollux take Helen's captors' loved ones captive and raze Aphidna for Theseus' crime. Percy manages to hold his own for quite a while but eventually, exhausted from the near-constant fighting, is gored and left for dead by the reformed Minotaur.

...and when Apollo arrives, frantic, to heal him, Percy ascends instead, becoming the greek version of Saint Sebastian - a minor god of heroes, strength in the face of adversity, and athleticism; sort of halfway between Hercules and Chiron.

Then and only then do Percy and Apollo finally get their act together, confessing to each other how much they care for the other and how much they don't want this to be fake any longer.

History proceeds apace - albeit with Persē being a second immortal trainer of heroes.

24 years after their arrival in the past, 16 years after Percy's ascension, The Trojan War begins. Despite their best efforts, there's only so much they can do - war is war and gods are gods. They are able to stop some of the worst excesses on both sides, but in the end Apollo still sends the plague that causes Agamemnon to take Briseis for his own, which caused Achilles' departure from the field, Patroclus' death, &c - not because Apollo was trying to maintain the timeline, but because in the instant he sent it he was angry and reverted to his old ways.

Troy falls...

...but when Zeus tries to use this as an excuse to ban gods from interacting with their demigod children, Apollo is able to say that's a bit extreme isn't it? with enough backing from the rest of the council that Zeus is forced to amend his ruling so that the gods are only allowed to freely visit their children on the "cross quarter days" that fall between each solstice and equinox (1 February, 1 May, 1 August, and 1 November).

This changes everything and nothing.

Time continues its inevitable march. Greece has its golden age before being conquered by Rome, which splits apart under its own weight and forms several smaller countries, which eventually spread their cultures around the world...

Apollo and Percy are there for it all. Persē is a minor figure in mythology, but never forgotten. He is ever-present in Apollo's temples - though the Church will later try to rewrite their myth so that they were merely sworn fighting partners, rather than lovers who eventually had a quite lovely wedding on Olympus (and then, at Poseidon's insistence, an even bigger ceremony on Atlantis). Percy takes over day-to-day operations of CHB from practically the moment the Trojan War ends.

...and so Persē is there the day Sally Jackson tries to get her son to camp, and is able to intervene when the Minotaur attacks on their border. He's able to meet her and her young son, Perseus ("Mom named me after you and the guy that killed Medusa since you're the only two heroes to have happy endings!"), and guide him through the trials that come with being a child of prophecy.

One day that Percy will hand Luke - who was never happy with the limited attention the gods were allowed to give their children - a cursed dagger so that Kronos can be defeated. That child will be offered godhood, turn it down, and go on to have a happy life with his eventual wife, Annabeth. He will never have his memories erased and be sent to Camp Jupiter. Gaia will not rise until long after that Percy's grandchildren are dead, and Zeus will not be quite so bullheaded when the proof of it is brought before him. That Second Gigantomachy is swift, well-coordinated, and fought without another Greek/Roman war brewing in the background.

And when they finally arrive at the day Apollo and Percy were originally sent back in time, Percy admits that while he is happy some version of him was better prepared for the war he was asked to fight in and allowed his peace afterward, he would change nothing about his own life, for it brought him to Apollo. The sunrise the next morning - on the first morning of the rest of their lives - is particularly spectacular.

Bonuses include:

Gaslighting Poseidon into believing that he's met Percy before the first time they're introduced. ("What do you mean you don't remember me, Father? You were present when I came of age! You gifted me this trident! Have I displeased you in some way?") It's an absolute masterclass that eventually manages to convince Poseidon that, yes, of course he knows Percy - and, maybe, he should check in on all his other demigod children to make sure he's not missed someone. (Two. He lost track of two of the others. Maybe he should be more careful about siring children in the future.) Apollo practically has to stuff his fist in his mouth to keep from laughing.

As much historical accuracy as can be crammed into the Percy trying to make sense of Ancient Greece chapters as possible. Think Of a Linear Circle - Part III by flamethrower levels of historical research. As much as can be shoehorned in without bogging down the plot.

Percy and Dionysus bonding over their mutual dislike of Theseus, though Percy generally gets along with his other half-siblings, especially the ones who come to camp young enough to keep from getting big heads over being the children of Poseidon.

Though Percy adores all the children in Cabin 7 (most of whom are born via blessing this time around), he and Apollo have at least one child of their own - maybe a demigod born before Percy's ascension to sell their fake relationship? Maybe a minor god who's later attributed a different parentage by mortals? Dealer's choice on details.

It never being made clear who, or what, or how, Percy and Apollo were sent into the past. All of Percy's oddities are attributed to him being foreign or formerly mortal, all of Apollo's to the fact that he's in love with someone who didn't die before their first anniversary, and no one ever guesses time travel is responsible for their eccentricities. Or that time travel was ever an option.

And that's all I have. As always, feel free to adopt, just link back if you ever decide to do anything with it.

More PJO Ideas | More Terrible Fic Ideas

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

What I think is funny is that if the story had any consistency, the scarf would have had marinette's name embroidered into it like the derby hat. That episode being where Marinette claims she puts her name on all the things she makes. Although we could write it off as she left her signature off because it was a gift. But still

(Post that spawned this ask)

Oh, I agree! I love fanfics that take the scarf and add Marinette's name to the design while also elevating the scarf to something narratively important.

To be fair, Mr. Pigeon also implies that Chloé had never met Gabriel before:

Chloé: Uh, hi Mr. Agreste. I'm, I'm Chloé Bourgeois. You know my father, André Bourgeois, the mayor?

Which canon contradicts pretty hard later on, so I would not call that episode a source of well-thought-out lore. The only thing that shows up again is Adrien's feather allergy.

I'm not going to be too critical of this because it was the show's first season and they didn't have a writer's room at this point. It was just individuals and small teams writing on their own, so overall consistency is a lot harder to pull off. The group who wrote this episode has no overlap with the credits for The Bubbler - the episode with the scarf - but the name reveal is key to this episode so they couldn't get rid of it and thus you get a minor lore issue. Ooops!

[thatonezodiacfan]

I haven't posted in a while so here’s one of my folders in my notes app dedicated to lmk :)

a lot of people head canon that macaque smells like mango’s or plums or whatever stone fruit you associate him with but I think it would really awesome if he smelled like curry 24/7, it is in fact the only thing he knows how to make. AND HES GREAT AT IT. I think it would be really funny if he smelled like a whole thanksgiving, he smells like curry and can’t get rid of it. 

-Now realizing that in the first episode in lmk Monie king took some of mks powers away so he could learn better, right? We never see swk give them back (and YES he did say Mk COULD get them back). Bro defeated LBD without his extra power not even MONKIE KING could beat her. IMAGINE WHAT MK COULD DO WITH HIS FULL POWER. LIKE CMON.

-i think that it would be cool if when Mac and swk were younger they would have a bad habit of when they talk they would get so rapped up in the situation and find themselves REALLY close to eachother and old habits die hard I guess because skip forward to Mk times and I  think they would still sometimes find themselves do that and immediately get REALLY embarrassed 

Lmk coping mechanisms: 

macaque: online shopping while murdering someone    

Swk:He brushes his teeth, peach in mouth, struggling to yell at the cardboard cutout

Tang’s  is going to the noodle shop, and yes I’m insinuating that he’s stressed all the time

Sandys would be making collars for his cats, some cats have 2-3 collars because of this

Mk’s: he doesn’t have one, he bottles it up 

Mei: she would go to one of those rooms where you can pay to break stuff

Bai he: she talks to macaque, he braids her hair while she rants, or they’re making curry

Redson: he makes little robots or he works on his cars that have atleast one epic transformation 

[ccghastly]

Ooh! I’d love to hear about your head canon of Arthur speaking French if you don’t mind sharing!

For Sure! Thank you for asking!!

My headcanon is that Arthur's maternal grandparents were french immigrants and while Arthur's maman Beatrice is fluent in English she grew up primarily speaking French, so French is her first language and the one she has more confidence in speaking.

(Yes, Beatrice was totally the poor belaboured kid that had to act as a translator for her parents whose English skills were much worse than hers)

So, since Arthur's dad Lyle didn't have much of anything to do with Arthur while Arthur was in his formative years, Arthur's first language is also French because Beatrice preferred to use her mother-tongue when speaking with her baby.

This also, of course, means that Arthur did have a french accent when he was young, but after his maman's death Lyle didn't approve of Arthur not speaking 'plain English' and he worked hard to get rid of it.

Thus Arthur is fully fluent in conversational French.

This is also why Dutch and Hosea had to teach him to read after they met. Arthur learned to read from his maman, who learned to read from her parents, who only read and wrote in French. Arthur of course didn't tell the Odd Couple that he was already fully literate, just not literate in English. First because he'd learned that letting people think you're dumber than you are is never a bad thing, and then later because he was too deep into the lie to correct it.

Hosea did catch him in the act one day when he was sweet talking the horses (because he knew far more sweet pet-names in french) and Hosea cut him a deal. Hosea could mostly hold up his end of a conversation in french, but he was by no means fluent and lack of use only made him more rusty, so if Arthur would agree to talk with him in french once in a while when asked Hosea wouldn't tell Dutch.

Arthur agreed and Hosea kept his promise. No doubt saving Arthur from the innumerable hijinks Dutch would think up to take advantage of Arthur's polyglossal ways.

Arthur leaves notes for Hosea in French if he doesn't want Dutch or John (especially john) reading them. Dutch nearly caught on once because he knows Hosea speaks french and thus did assume that Hosea wrote the note, but the note didn't quite look like Hosea's writing. Hosea said that he'd just written it in a hurry, and Arthur took it upon himself to master mimicing Hosea's handwriting.

Hosea still finds it both funny and disconcerting to find notes that look exactly like he wrote them when he most definitely didn't. It's given him quite a few memory-loss scares when the notes are too vague or about common things that he could feasibly have wanted to note down to remember later.

Whoops that ran far longer than I meant it to, but it does hit all the highnotes of my Arthur speaks French headcanon. Thank you again for asking, I adore getting to rant about my unfounded brainchildren.

The fact that John is canonically learning to write in French has only solidified this particular idea, it's also a really fun coincidence.

[inawickedlittletown]

You Can Find Me Where the Skies are Blue (BuckTommy fic) - 7/7

Summary:

Soulmates are rare. So rare that it's actually incredible that Buck has two soulmate couples in his life. Statistics tell him it's very unlikely for him to meet his soulmate. Of course, then he meets Tommy. Too bad it happens at the worst possible moment.

Canon compliant soulmate AU where Buck is still a mess and Tommy is still very understanding.

Words: 6,258

Rating: M (this applies to part of this chapter only...I've put *** around the section)

Ao3

Part One - Part Two - Part Three

Part Four - Part Five - Part Six

-

Part Seven

“So, tell me about your couch,” Tommy said. 

Evan set his cup of coffee down after a sip. “I told you about Ali,” Evan said. 

Tommy nodded. “Your ex…the one that picked out your apartment.” 

Evan nodded. 

“Did she also pick out your furniture and forget to get a couch?” Tommy asked, tilting his head to the side as a sign that he was mostly trying to be funny. 

Evan rolled his eyes. “She did help pick most of it out. I did need the help. It was my first real apartment and I had no idea what I was doing. She did pick out a very nice couch. It was very comfortable.” 

Tommy had more questions because there was so much that Evan wasn’t filling in and he didn’t know what to ask first. Instead, he let Evan continue. 

“I spent a lot of time on that couch after she broke up with me,” Evan said. “The reality of my job hit her pretty hard. And I hated my place…I thought about moving, but that would have been harder. Those stairs do not mix well with a cast.”

“A cast?” Tommy asked. 

He immediately hated the idea of Evan hurt. It came with the territory though. Tommy had had his own share of injuries over the years, more so when he was a firefighter than a pilot, but they still did happen. 

Buck nodded. “I, uh, I don’t know if you heard about it. I was crushed under a ladder truck. My leg took the brunt of it.”

Things clicked for Tommy quickly. He did remember that, watching it on the news because it was his old firehouse and he’d been so worried for Hen and Chim and Bobby. He hadn’t known it was Evan and oh…Evan had been injured and his girlfriend had left him. She left him to sit in the apartment she’d picked out, on the couch that she had bought because his bedroom was up the stairs and it wouldn’t have made any sense for Evan to stay up there. Tommy hated it. He hated what Evan had gone through and on top of that being left by the person that was supposed to be there taking care of him. 

“So you got rid of it?” Tommy asked. 

“No. It was very comfortable. I had it for a few years and then I asked Taylor to move in. That was a mistake. She, uh, she said she had a superior couch and I didn’t fight her on that. So we got rid of mine. When we broke up, she took it with her.” 

“This was your last girlfriend?” Tommy asked. 

Evan shook his head. “The one that came before. Taylor’s the one that wrote the book.” 

“And you didn’t replace it since?” Tommy asked.

Evan actually chuckled as he shook his head. “Not for a while. When I was struck by lightning, my parents were visiting. My mom got me a new couch. It wasn’t comfortable and it didn’t go with the apartment but it was a nice thought. So, I wasn’t upset when I had to deliver a baby on it.” 

Tommy was still trying to think about Evan’s parents and their involvement. They hadn’t really talked about them much, not that Tommy had discussed his own family history. He was so focused on that part of what Evan had said that it took him a moment to try to explain why there had been a pregnant woman in Evan’s apartment. He couldn’t find a reason. 

“You delivered a baby on your couch,” Tommy said. 

Evan nodded. His cheeks had gone pink and he looked like he was trying to talk himself into saying something. Tommy just watched and he saw when Evan steeled himself. 

“Hey,” Tommy said, “you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

Evan smiled. “I want to. I, uh, I’m a sperm donor,” he said. “Well, not in general, but I did donate sperm for my friend Conor and his wife. Cameron was upset with Conor and she was at my place when her water broke. I delivered their baby right on the couch. Got rid of it soon after.” 

Tommy didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know how to form any words, instead he just stared at Evan. Suddenly, he understood why Evan had said it was a long story and maybe it even explained why he hadn’t yet gotten a replacement. He was also a little stuck on Evan being a sperm donor. There was a kid out there with his DNA, one that probably even looked a little like him and Evan had even helped the mother give birth. 

“How…how do you feel about that?” Tommy asked. 

Evan shrugged his shoulders. “You know, there was a moment when I was holding the baby where I felt so much longing for him and then I gave him to Cameron and she loved him so much. She and Conor will give him such a good life because they wanted him so much. I mean, I hadn’t spoken to Conor for years before he called so I know I was something of a long shot, but they called anyway. They wanted him so badly. I don’t regret it.”

Tommy could tell that he meant it. Evan really was just that wonderful. He was admirable and Tommy knew not many people could do what he’d done. 

“How long ago was that?” Tommy asked. 

“A few months back.”

“And you never replaced the couch,” Tommy said with a grin. 

“Ah, no. I did go look at a few with Natalia, but I didn’t find any that I liked.”

“There is so much to unwrap here,” Tommy said. “I don’t even know where to start.” 

Evan just smiled. “I know,” he said. “You know, Chris makes fun of me for not having a couch, granted it’s partly because we can’t have any sleepovers.”

“We’ll fix that, Evan,” Tommy said, smiling at him. “We’ll find you a new couch.”

“Now,” Evan said, “it’s time for you to tell me something. Anything.” 

Tommy grinned back. “Well,” he said, “is there anything you want to know specifically?” 

“Uh, how…how did you know you were gay?” Evan asked it and then hid his face behind his coffee. 

Tommy smiled easily. It was a little wild to him that Evan had only really come to terms with his own sexuality the night before. It hadn’t even been twenty four hours. Part of the way he was reacting was the soulmate thing, but Tommy had still tried to keep some distance between them when they got to the restaurant to not make it obvious just in case. In his experience, most people were accepting. They didn’t care about strangers when they had their own problems to deal with. But in a crowd of many, sometimes the one or two assholes were the loudest. The last thing Tommy wanted was to expose Evan to that, not that it wouldn’t happen eventually. 

“Looking back, I think I knew pretty early,” Tommy said. “I didn’t get all the excitement about girls and then sometimes I did notice a guy and that was different. I knew gay people existed, obviously, but I didn’t think that was me. I hated it. I didn’t have anyone to turn to and my parents are very religious. I pushed myself to date girls…some attempt at being normal. I deluded myself into thinking that everyone was faking the excitement about dating…it wasn’t until the first time I kissed a guy that I knew.”

“Wow,” Evan said. “It wasn’t easy, then.” 

“Not at all, Evan. I told myself lies for a long time. Sometimes to protect myself and other times because it was easier. You’re just coming to terms with who you’ve always been…I knew and I refused to acknowledge it for a long time.”

“Oh,” Evan said. “And your…your parents?” 

Tommy chuckled. “I haven’t spoken to them in years. Don’t need to. Don’t intend to.”

“They weren’t accepting,” Evan said. “I’m so sorry, Tommy.” 

“Don’t be. They’re religious in a bad way. It took me a long time to realize how much of what they said I internalized. How much it kept harming me. I’m better off without them.” 

Tommy drank a gulp of his coffee. He hadn’t expected heavy conversation on what was meant to be their first date, but at the same time it was good to get it out of the way. Evan was watching him, small smile playing on his lips, and it was a reminder that their pasts wouldn’t mar who they were now or what they could be for each other.

“You know,” Evan said, “you might just beat me on bad parents. Though, I have no idea how they will react to this. I guess we’ll find out at the wedding.”

“Wedding?” Tommy asked. 

Evan blushed. “Sorry,” he said. “I should have asked…will you be my date to my sister’s wedding?” 

Tommy nodded at once. With anyone else it would have felt too soon and too quick. 

“Of course, Evan. You won’t tell them before that?” Tommy asked. 

“No,” Even said decidedly. “They’re, uh, not horrible people or anything. They were awful parents, but they’ve been trying because of Jee and some other things. They did buy me that couch.” 

“The one you haven’t replaced,” Tommy said. 

Evan laughed. “Yeah. It’s, uh, it’s complicated with them. Maybe if we’re lucky, Maddie will tell them for us.”

“Does Maddie even know about me?” Tommy asked. 

Evan shook his head. “She knows I found my soulmate. I’ll tell her soon. Her, I’m not too worried about.” 

Tommy couldn’t tell if that meant that Evan was actually worried about his parents or not. It almost seemed like he barely wanted to interact with them at all and Tommy could easily understand that. 

They left when they finished their coffee, Tommy walking behind Evan and allowing his eyes to look at the way that Evan walked, how the jeans he was wearing hugged his ass just right. He really was too gorgeous for words and it was made so much better by who he was too. Tommy was in awe of him. 

“What’s the rest of your day look like?” Evan asked. 

“I do have a shift later, but clear otherwise.” 

“Eddie didn’t call to make plans,” Evan said. “No street fighting or flights to Vegas.” 

Tommy chuckled. “No, Evan.”

“It’s nice you guys get along, actually. My soulmate and my best friend.”

It hadn’t been a full day since they figured everything out. They had kissed for the first time the night before. Everything was insanely new and yet, somehow, it just felt so right. Especially when Evan grabbed his hand as if he did it all the time, or when he brought it up to his lips to press a kiss to Tommy’s knuckles that left his hand tingling. 

—

“I have something to tell you,” Buck said. He fiddled with the lid of his coffee cup and watched Maddie. 

His sister paused across the island from him. “Everything okay?” she asked, head tilted and a worry frown appearing on her forehead.

“It’s…well, actually everything is great,” Buck said.

She stared him down and Buck was aware, a little too aware, how well his sister knew him and how she could probably tell that he was ridiculously nervous and worried. He didn’t even know why, because it was Maddie and Maddie wouldn’t judge him or anything and yet that didn’t change how difficult it was. 

“What happened?” Maddie asked. 

Buck gulped. “Well, I told you I met my soulmate.” 

Maddie nodded and suddenly she was smiling. “Oh. Is this an update? I’ve been meaning to ask, but it’s been a bit crazy with the wedding and everything.” 

“Uh. Yeah. Yeah. It is. We figured everything out, Maddie. It’s really…it’s amazing.” 

“I’m so happy for you, Evan,” Maddie said. “When do I get to meet her? Tell me it’ll be before the wedding.” 

“About that,” Buck said, looking away from Maddie and taking a moment. 

“Buck?” 

Buck looked back up. “Yes, you can meet him before the wedding. It’s just that you might be a little…I don’t know, I was shocked so I can understand if you are too, but — oh, this is hard. It’s just that it isn’t what I expected and—”

Maddie lifted a hand, cutting him off. “You said him,” she said. “Your soulmate is a guy.” 

Buck inhaled a breath and he nodded quickly. “Yeah.” 

“Oh. Wow,” Maddie said and then found Buck’s gaze. “I don’t think I ever expected you could lean in that direction. It’s not — it’s not a bad thing. I just—”

“Didn’t expect it,” Buck said. “Yeah, me either. I’m bisexual, Maddie.”

Maddie smiled, then, and he could tell that she was just taking a moment to process. He didn’t blame her, it had taken him long enough to figure it out. That was especially so when considering how deluded he’d been for a little bit there. He’d been so convinced that it would be platonic and he was so glad to be wrong. 

“I’m proud of you, Evan,” Maddie said. Her voice was full of emotion. “What’s, uh, what’s his name?” Maddie asked. 

“It’s, uh, it’s Tommy,” Buck said. 

“Tommy,” Maddie repeated.

Buck could see that she was putting it together, so he waited. 

“The, uh, the pilot. The one that flew you guys out to the cruise ship. That’s when you met. Oh my god, that’s…wow.”

“I know,” Buck said. “He’s amazing, Maddie. Not just because he’s my soulmate but he’s just so confident and strong and did I mention how hot he is? I can’t stop thinking about him all the time. I had no clue it could be like this.”

One week since he’d kissed him and Buck hadn’t known a time when he was as excited about someone as he was about Tommy. Tommy still made him nervous, he made him blush and he made him giddy. 

“I can’t wait to meet him,” Maddie said. 

“He’s excited to meet you too,” Buck said. “Would have brought him over today except he had plans.”

“Where is he now?” 

“At a pick up basketball game with Eddie,” Buck said with a roll of his eyes. “Now I have two of them trying to get me to go.” 

Maddie grinned. “Do they know you don’t like basketball?” 

“Who doesn’t like basketball?” Chim asked, entering the kitchen and heading to the fridge. 

“Me,” Buck said. 

Chimney grinned at him when he closed the fridge door. “Oh, is Eddie still trying to get you to go with him? I thought he said he was going with Tommy.” 

“He did,” Buck said. 

“Tommy’s so cool,” Chim said. “You know, he flew Eddie to see a fight in Vegas two weeks ago. We should hang out with him more, Maddie. I can’t believe I didn’t invite him to the wedding.” 

“I’d really like to meet him,” Maddie said. “I’ve heard so much about him.”

Buck shared a look with Maddie. On the one hand, he knew it’d be a little funny for Chimney to find out about him and Tommy at the wedding, but on the other hand, Buck didn’t think he could keep it in for much longer. 

“About that,” he said. 

“What?” Chim asked. “What’s going on?” 

“You know how Maddie asked you to add a plus one for me.” 

Chimney coughed. “Yeah…very inconvenient Buck. It’s why we had RSVPs and you didn’t check the box. You have to check the plus one box, Buck. Don’t tell me you changed your mind. That is too late. I don’t care who you bring…you have to bring someone and Ravi doesn’t count, he has his own invitation. Just don’t invite the death doula. We don’t need that kind of energy at our wedding.”

Buck shared another look with Maddie. 

“Spit it out, Buck,” Chim said. 

He took a breath. Then, he just said it: “My plus one is Tommy,” 

He saw the confusion cross Chim’s face and he didn’t seem to get very far in trying to figure out why, before he turned to Buck. 

“I thought he’s been hanging out with Eddie, not you. And I only introduced you to Tommy the night we flew out into that hurricane. What’s…what’s going on?”

“Tommy is my soulmate,” Buck said. 

That brought Chimney up short. He opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, eyes wide as he stared at Buck and then his eyes went to Maddie as if he was trying to figure out if she was somehow in on the joke with Buck. 

“You’re pulling my leg,” he said. “How is that — wait, since when are you — wait, wait, I introduced the two of you! I did that!”

Buck laughed. “Yeah, Chim. I’m so glad you did.”

“So, does that mean you’re into guys now?” 

Buck gave a quick nod. “I didn’t know I was, but it’s this thing that’s been missing for me and now I know. I’m bi.” 

When he looked towards Maddie, he saw her actually wipe away a tear and it felt so good to know it was a happy tear and that he wasn’t making her cry for other reasons. 

“Now we really have to hang out with Tommy more,” Chim said. “Welcome him to the family.” 

“And we’re even,” Buck added. 

Chim just laughed. “Yeah, Buck, I guess we are. Although…you know I did save his life once. He’s paid up on that favor, but you haven’t.” 

Maddie reached over to hit Chim on the shoulder. 

—

“I take it,” Lucy said, “things are going well. I mean, going by your good mood lately.” 

Tommy rolled his eyes. 

“Come on, Kinard, spill it.” 

Tommy sighed. He’d told Lucy all about him and Evan finally getting the time to talk the last time he saw her. He didn’t tell her about how he’d messed up a bit, or how he’d had to cut a karaoke night short in order to get to Evan. Those were things she would never let go, but she knew that he and Evan were together. 

“It’s going really well,” Tommy said. “He’s great.”

“And he’s into you,” Lucy said. “I don’t want to say I told you so…but I was right.” 

Tommy just laughed. “In this single instance I’m glad you were right.” 

A call came in, just then. Brushfire that was growing and might become something even bigger. Tommy gave Lucy a nod and then he was off. The copter he would take out was the one that they’d been filling up with the retardant he’d need to drop and so it was quick work and he was in the air in less than ten minutes. 

The sky was blue, almost cloudless and Tommy loved it up there. He loved the freedom. He’d never quite managed to find that anywhere else. Even in the army, when he was flying into dangerous places and the chances were that they might get shot down, there had been something very liberating about lifting up into the air. He felt free with Evan. He felt like he was flying except his feet were on the ground. 

—

Bobby was the one to remind Buck that he and his soulmate had to register the bond. The registry was to keep track of how many soulmate pairs existed, it helped with research. It also created a familial bond on paper. It wasn’t exactly mandatory, but it was useful. Buck was also well aware that for the jobs that they had it took care of a big thing: making each other their emergency contact. 

He and Tommy had been together for three weeks. Buck had never before felt so settled and at ease. They hadn’t even done much more than kissing and hand holding. It was so chaste that Buck didn’t know if he could handle any more cold showers. He had never gone this slow in any relationship after his teen years. It was nice, though, even if the anticipation was just about killing him. 

“I take it you figured everything out,” Bobby said, looking up from where he was chopping veggies.

“Yeah,” Buck said with a grin. “It’s not platonic after all.”

Bobby smiled and if he was surprised, he didn’t show it. “Glad to hear it. You deserve this, Buck.”

“I’m, uh, I’m bisexual, Bobby,” Buck said. “And my soulmate, it’s…my soulmate is Tommy. I met him the night we flew out to rescue you and Athena.”

Bobby set down the knife and his gaze was suddenly fixed on Buck. In the next moment he’d rounded the island and Buck was pulled into a tight hug that lasted several seconds before Bobby let him go. 

“I am so proud of you, Buck. You’ve changed and grown so much since you first came in here. You know, you are a bit alike. I only worked with Tommy for a little while before he transferred. I don’t know him as well as I’d like, but I know he’s a good guy. Athena and I probably wouldn’t be here without him — or any of you, really. I’m happy for you both. You’ll have to bring him for dinner with Athena.”

“Uh, sure. Yeah. I’m sure he’ll love that. You know, he’s told me he missed your cooking.” 

Bobby chuckled as he walked back to his cutting board. “I know you’ve perfected some of my recipes.” 

“It’s not the same,” Buck said. 

“We’ll plan for a night soon. Don’t forget to register the bond.”

“I won’t.” 

“Won’t what?” Hen asked, taking the stool next to Buck’s. 

“Won’t forget to register my soulmate bond,” Buck said. 

“Oh, that,” Hen said. “There’s a lot of paperwork, but it’s easy. How, uh, how is it all going?” 

It was going amazingly, better than any relationship that Buck had ever had beforehand. Some of it, he knew, was their compatibility — the thing that made them soulmates and just fully made for each other. Then, there was everything else. 

“It was bumpy at first, but so far everything’s been great. He’s coming with me to the wedding. Probably the bachelor party too.” 

Hen shook her head at once. “Hasn’t Chim already told you he doesn’t want one?” 

“But it’s tradition,” Buck argued. “Bobby, tell her.” 

Bobby shook his head and went back to chopping. “I’m not getting involved in this.” 

Buck eyed both of them. “He is having a bachelor party.”

Hen just let out a sigh. “I’m not stopping you, Buck, but I’m also not getting involved in getting Chim to go to it when he doesn’t want it in the first place.” 

Buck rolled his eyes. Chim would get on board once Buck explained his plan. There was a karaoke lounge they could go to and it could even be themed somehow. Chim deserved a party and not just because he was getting married…it was because he’d introduced Buck to Tommy and changed Buck’s entire life around. This wasn’t his wedding gift to them, but it was a gift to Chim. 

—

“You finally wore him down,” Tommy said, not able to keep his amusement out of his voice. 

“He wanted the party, just didn’t know it,” Evan said. “Only issue now is it took so long to get him to agree, the only day available at the place is the day before the wedding. We’ll make it work.”

“And that might keep it from getting out of hand,” Tommy said. 

Evan nodded. “I promised Maddie he’d be in bed by one at the latest. It’s the only way she’s letting us do it that night.”

Tommy still wasn’t entirely clear on why Evan was pushing for a party that the groom didn’t even want, but he also liked how cute Evan was about the whole thing. He’d seen him making a list the other day and he didn’t know that sliders, drinks, and karaoke needed that much planning, but he was leaving Evan to it.  

Evan finished cleaning the counter. The oven was on with the lasagna Evan had made them inside. A salad sat on the counter. It was already starting to smell good and Tommy was excited to try Evan’s version of one of Bobby’s recipes. 

“How long until that’s ready?” 

“Forty-five minutes,” Evan said. 

“Good,” Tommy said, “I haven’t tried out your new couch yet.” 

“It’s a couch,” Evan said, but followed him out of the kitchen. 

“One where I haven’t kissed you yet,” Tommy said as he sat, sprawling himself on it because he could and because it was big enough for him to do so. 

The couch was dark gray and a bit bulky in a way that meant it was easy to spread out across it. The cushions were just the right amount of soft. Evan had picked it out after agonizing over a few different options and it had only been delivered earlier that day. Tommy thought he’d chosen well. 

“Come here,” Tommy said. 

“Where, you’re taking up the whole thing,” Evan said with an amused chuckle.

Tommy reached for him, grabbing his hand and pulling lightly. Evan toppled on him a little harder than Tommy had planned, but he didn’t mind. He wrapped an arm around Evan’s back to keep him there and Evan situated himself until one of his legs was between Tommy’s, their torsos pressed together.

“What do you think?” Evan asked. 

“About?” 

“Couch?” Evan asked. 

“I’ll tell you after,” Tommy said and drew him into a kiss, hand on Evan’s neck. 

Kissing Evan would never get old, not when Evan was so enthusiastic and into it and not when he knew just how to drive Tommy crazy. It had been a full month since their first kiss and since they figured everything out and Evan had been driving him insane since then. Tommy had known from the start things wouldn’t go too fast between them, but Tommy was starting to feel like a teenager with the way his body was reacting to Evan. 

Evan was new to being with a guy and Tommy knew first hand how it felt, so the last thing he wanted to do was pressure Evan into anything he wasn’t fully ready for. Not that Evan wasn’t eager. He kissed Tommy dirty, like he couldn’t wait to do more. A few times already they had both gotten more than a little carried away, biting love marks on each other’s necks and their hands wandering a bit south. 

 * * *

At the moment, Evan pulled away, reaching for Tommy’s shirt and dragging his hands over Tommy’s stomach and chest. The shirt, rucked up to his armpits, Evan bent down and he kissed Tommy’s stomach, teeth nipping lightly as he made his way up, pausing at the scar Tommy knew was there to brush light kisses over it and then after a slight moment of hesitation, his mouth was on Tommy’s nipple.

Tommy let out a sound that was half moan and half groan. Evan laughed and then he was back at Tommy’s lips, kissing him lightly. 

“Okay?” 

Tommy just kissed him again in answer. 

They were so pressed together that it wasn’t difficult to feel Evan, not when he moved so much and when his hands were all over Tommy’s chest. And then, Evan sat back and he reached for his shirt and drew it up his body until it was off and Tommy had no idea where it landed because his eyes had more important things to be consumed by. 

It wasn’t the first time he’d seen Evan shirtless, but this felt different. Purposeful. Evan was all hard panes and muscle. 

“Evan,” he said, breathless and wanting. 

“Tommy,” Evan said in return and the warm palms of his hands were on Tommy’s stomach, one finger catching on the trail of hair that went down into his pants towards his very hard and twitching dick. 

Tommy gasped and Evan’s fingers made their way up his chest, palms rubbing lightly on his nipples and taking Tommy’s breath away. His fingers even traced the scar he’d kissed earlier.Tommy reached for him, hands landing on Evan’s hips. His skin was warm and soft and perfect. All of him was perfect. 

“Shirt off,” Evan said.

Tommy had to sit up to make it happen, bringing him and Evan closer still and somehow Evan shifted his weight and he was straddling Tommy at the waist. When Tommy lay back again, Evan sat back and his ass was right there, right on Tommy’s very interested cock. Tommy groaned and Evan made a gasping but unsurprised noise as he leaned towards Tommy and their lips met again. 

Tommy’s hands climbed up Evan’s back, feeling his shoulder blades and then down his sides until they were on the top of Evan’s jeans. Evan groaned into the kiss and Tommy’s hand slid down, grasping Evan’s ass, groping at him and grinding up into him almost involuntarily. 

Evan moaned against his neck, his hot breath making Tommy shiver and then Evan moved and it didn’t matter that they were still wearing jeans and underwear, because even feeling him like that felt like enough. 

Evan kissed up his jaw and then his neck and down, giving each of his nipples attention that had Tommy throwing his head back. Evan, the little shit, just grinned into Tommy’s skin as he just kept kissing down and down and down. He only looked up once he’d made it to the top of Tommy’s jeans. 

“I want to see you,” Evan said, voice almost shy. His cheeks were pink, but his blue eyes shone. 

Tommy almost couldn’t find words. He could only nod and watch as Evan’s fingers fumbled with the button and then the zipper. Tommy helped him drag his jeans down some and he felt Evan pause. 

“Hey,” he said and Evan’s eyes were on him again. “At your pace, right? You don’t have to do anything.” 

“Right,” Evan said and he leaned over to kiss him again. “I want you so much, Tommy.” 

Tommy had no idea where the self-restraint came from when Evan finally fumbled with moving Tommy’s underwear out of the way until his cock was out, tip more than a little wet and oh so absolutely hard. 

“Oh,” Evan said and then his hand was there touching the skin around his dick…exploring. Teasing.  

Tommy groaned too loud when Evan’s hand finally wrapped around him, moving and grasping in the most delicious way, his thumb touching the head and then because Evan didn’t do anything by halves, Evan’s lips and his tongue and the way that he groaned at the taste before going back for more. His eyes met Tommy’s and they were glinting and awed and Tommy was never going to forget Evan looking at him like that. Not ever. 

He knew what it was like, the first time you touched a dick that wasn’t your own, how it felt to actually know in the practical sense. Evan touched him a little too gently at first, but he touched him reverently. He also, seemed to catch on quick and his grip got a little tighter as he moved his hand up and down and Tommy could hardly keep watching because it was too much and Evan was enthusiastic even in this because Tommy didn’t expect it when his lips were there again, kissing down his shaft and then licking up until his mouth took in the head and the heat of his mouth was too much in a way that Tommy had never experienced before because usually this wouldn’t be all that it took, but this was Evan and he was — oh, god—

“Evan,” Tommy said. “Evan, I’m—”

Evan’s head lifted up and Tommy grabbed for his discarded shirt, unloaded right into it.

“Oh,” Evan said, eyes wide and his mouth spread into a self satisfied grin. 

“I didn’t want to get it on the couch,” Tommy said as he dropped his shirt aside. 

They both broke out into laughter and Evan leaned into him a bit. He found Evan’s eyes back on his spent cock, and then they moved up to Tommy’s face, still smiling. He leaned forward, kissing him. It was gentler, a slower kiss that Evan pulled back from until Tommy reached up to touch him, to cradle his face and bring him back. Oh, he was falling for him and falling fast. The kiss turned harder and Tommy dropped his hands to Evan’s waist, grasping him until he could turn them and push Evan to his back on the couch.

“Wha—” Evan said. 

“Let me take care of you,” Tommy said and he kissed Evan again, kissed his jaw and then his lips again.  

“Don’t,” Evan said with a gasp that almost made Tommy sit up and let him go except that Evan held onto him. “Don’t stop.” 

Tommy reached between them one handed and Evan nodded as he kissed Evan’s neck, licking up a bead of salty sweat. He opened Evan’s jeans and Evan helped to bring them down alongside his underwear and Tommy groaned into Evan’s clavicle when his hand finally grasped him. Evan was big. He was girthy, he was beautiful and he just held him for a while, touched the wet head with his thumb. Evan was shaking, letting out the most gorgeous little whines. Tommy wanted to taste him, he wanted to feel Evan’s cock on his tongue and in his throat and—

“Can I—”

“Anything,” Evan said, breathless as he cut his question off. 

Tommy chuckled. He kissed down his chest, not lingering, though one day he would. He would kiss every inch of Evan. Then, he was there and Evan’s cock twitched under his gaze. Tommy looked back up at Evan who was looking at him, mouth slack and eyes dilated. He was too gorgeous. Too amazing. He was his. 

Tommy took it slowly, tongued the very tip and then ran his mouth down the underside, listening for Evan’s gasp and groan and how he whimpered. And then, he lowered his mouth over the tip and down. Breathing through his nose and getting all the musk and sweat and sex…the Evan of it all. He was never going to have enough of this.

Evan didn’t last long and Tommy let him cum in his mouth, and even then, what he couldn’t swallow dripped down his chin when Evan’s spent cock left his mouth. Evan looked at him almost lazily, blinking and smiling. He reached for him and Tommy moved so he was leaning over him and he was just a little surprised when Evan wiped his own cum from Tommy’s chin before he brought that finger to his own lips and then, because that wasn’t enough, he pulled Tommy into a short but sweet kiss.

 * * *

“That’s one way to break in a new couch,” Evan said, eventually. 

He felt Evan’s laughter more than heard it. Tommy pressed their foreheads together. He closed his eyes. He took in the moment. He had never felt happier, never felt as hopeful, never known with such surety that he’d found somewhere to belong; someone to belong to. 

—

Buck would have laid with Tommy on his new couch for a lot longer, but he could admit that with both of their pants not even all the way down their thighs and their dicks hanging out, things were only heading in the direction of not comfortable. Buck went up the stairs to the bathroom up there while Tommy took the one downstairs. He cleaned himself up, got into a clean pair of boxers and pants and shirt because he had no idea where in the living room his other shirt had ended up. 

“Hey, Evan, I’m gonna need to borrow a shirt,” Tommy called up.

“I’m not opposed to keeping you without,” Buck called back even as he searched his closet for something that might fit Tommy. 

He settled on one of his bigger LAFD t-shirts and even then when Tommy put it on, it was tight across his chest, highlighting his pectorals in a way that it was almost like he still wasn’t wearing anything. 

“I like you in my clothes,” Buck said.

His hand landed on Tommy’s chest, crawling up to his neck, breath catching as he remembered what had happened on his couch. How it had felt to have Tommy’s body above him and under him and his mouth and his touch. If there had been any question about Buck’s attraction to men, it had been obliterated the moment that he had Tommy’s dick in his hand and all he’d felt was longing and a deep want. Buck had always loved sex and sex with Tommy was everything. They’d barely even done much and yet it left him so warm and so wanted and so satisfied at the same time as hungry for more.

“How do you feel?” Tommy asked. 

“Amazing,” Buck answered and he pulled Tommy to him and into a kiss. 

Tommy’s arms were around Buck, pulling him in flush against him and they swayed on the spot as they kissed until they were both breathless, and even then they stayed in their embrace, neither ready to let go. 

“How about you?” Buck asked. 

“Me?” 

“How do you feel?” Buck asked. 

“Like I’ve found where I belong,” Tommy said. 

Buck hummed. “Yeah, I think we’ve both found that.”

[leletha-jann]

Headcanon in which I wake up and choose violence:

Kjarl Thotep is a very time-lost, very scrambled Barry Heterodyne.

Wait, wait. Put down the tomatoes until I can plead my case, such as it is.

Bad reasons for this:

It would be funny

It's how I'd do it, OK?

Skywriting reasons for this: (in which it looks pretty, but it's connecting probably nonexistent dots, and a stiff breeze will blow it away)

Where the hell is Barry after all this time?

There's a whole lot of time travel happening in the background of this story.

Lucrezia is, probably, very seriously time-lost.

Lucrezia has a history of pushing people through Mirrors to get rid of them.

Lucrezia did not like - was, in fact, scared of - Barry Heterodyne, and was worried about him coming back.

Lucrezia was very good at mind-swapping machines (I don't need a link to prove that, right?)

If Lucrezia didn't take out Barry, who did?

I'm sort of assuming that Barry is either time-lost or timestopped somewhere, because, again, there's a lot of unresolved background time travel.

Where did Barry go?

Why is Kjarl still around in this story?

...leads into plot structure reasons:

Why is Kjarl still around in this story? Is it just to know things about the creature coming through into Mechanicsburg, or about the Dreen?

He's not the key to the timestop, or the big quest for Prende's Lantern was a really long red herring. I don't know if the Foglios are making that much extra work for themselves, although I say this after "A Story with Franz", so...

Our triumvirate can generate technobabble about the timestop on their own.

He can't be here just to make jokes at Tarvek's expense, because we can do that all by ourselves.

Who is Kjarl?

"I don't know, I just have a feeling" reasons:

The impression I've gotten from what we've seen of Barry so far, in flashbacks and memories and things mentioned in passing, is the feeling of a gentle giant. Maybe that's because we mostly see him through Agatha's eyes, and Agatha was small. But when I think about Barry, I don't get the same, hmmm, fire that I get when I think about Bill. Bill was on a crusade. Bill was the older brother, the protector, the one trying to make things right. Barry...not so much, maybe. Barry built Franz's flying-assist machine, led the rescues and the cleanup in the wake of the attack on Castle Heterodyne, rescued Agatha and made sure she had a safe home when he left.

Kjarl gives me kind of the same "gentle giant" feeling. Yes, because he's large compared to everyone else, but also, he picks up Tarvek because he's happy to interact with him coherently, and then forgets to put him down. He wants to help, but he's very confused and struggling to communicate (even when he's fully in this dimension). Kjarl's very lost.

Picking up someone strange along the way and then they turn out to be the person who's been missing, but in disguise is very, very fantasy and/or pulp adventure.

We haven't had a screaming amnesia case yet, and that's a major trope.

The Foglios like "brick jokes" - the thing mentioned in passing that got thrown up in the air, and you forgot about it, and then it comes back down on your head real hard years later.

"What happened to Barry Heterodyne?" is an open question. And it can't be resolved post-canon, because that would be unsatisfying and messy.

What if he's Kjarl, and Kjarl doesn't know he's Barry? Because Lucrezia, or because whatever place he ended up in was so alien it scrambled his mind and memory all by itself? For example, does anyone expect Vapnoople to come back in the same shape and coherence in which he left?

It just feels right in my head, in a weird way. And wouldn't it be really narratively satisfying? If we'd found Barry Heterodyne already and didn't know? Until one day, we do, and it's a big reveal?

...and it's how I'd do it, OK?

[misc-obeyme]

I like to think that lilith's Angel DNA was still active or strong enough to last generations after generations. So if her Angel DNA got more thinner and thinner after generations, it would make sense for Mc to gain power AFTER forming some sort of pacts with the brothers.

This makes me wonder if Mc is the "special one" in her lineage to awaken this sort of power within themselves. If Mc had siblings, wouldn't that mean that Mc's siblings could also gain/awaken their power, too? Since they all share lilith's bloodline. Which could make some things very interesting.

I completely agree with you that Michael (or god) have their eyes on Mc considering how powerful they are (regardless of whether they're human or Nephilim). Maybe that's why Raphael was sent to the Devildom to keep one eye on Mc. Both realms are currently not at war, but i'm sure neither of them want that powerful being, aka Mc to become the others side weapon if something were to escalate. Maybe this is why Solomon once asked Mc to side with humanity instead. (I can't remember what lessons it was in NB).

Either that or they would try to get "ride of" Mc if they become too powerful and dangerous. and once more, according to biblical lore states that ridding the Earth of these Nephilim was one of God's purposes for flooding the Earth in Noah's time. So they have done it before.

Also, off topic but; You used to watch Supernatural?! Omfg, this brings back memories 😭

-Angsty Anon.

Oh dearest angsty anon. I did indeed watch Supernatural. I started watching while season 5 was airing. For many years, I was obsessed. Though it got to the point that I just watched out of habit because by the time I had invested in twelve or so seasons, I was like I'm gonna see this thing to the end.

Which is funny because I still haven't watched the end. One day, I will watch the last half of season 15. Who knows when it will be, but one day I'll do it. I also rewatched the first 8 seasons, but it's been a while.

Anyway, I think you can go with any of the options regarding the angel DNA. The game's canon on this topic is sparse so I really think you can just come up with whatever you want.

I hadn't previously considered the implications of MC's siblings. I suppose that's why I considered most of MC's power to come from their pacts and so on. My own MC has an older sister and I can't believe I never realized that she would also have some of Lilith's DNA. My MC's mom might, too!! Oh man I kinda feel like that has to be the case because it'd be really funny.

Sorry got a little off topic there. Raphael's cover story is that he's there to be the new exchange student, but I think his ulterior motives are to watch both Simeon and MC. And you know likely to report back to Michael about the goings on in the Devildom in a more general sense, too.

Does the Celestial Realm know about MC's heritage? I can't remember. Lucifer was keeping Lilith's resurrection a secret from his brothers, but I'm assuming nobody else knows? Does Simeon?? These details are eluding me.

I'm just wondering if that would matter to the CR, you know? Just another reason to keep track of MC is their angel DNA, right?

I wonder if they'd even be able to "get rid of" MC, even if they tried. It's hard to say since we don't know how powerful Michael or God/Father is. On the one hand, I would think MC's power would be off the charts at this point, but on the other hand well... that's God we're talking about, right? LOL.

Anyway, here's hoping no floods happen just to take out MC. We get enough of that from Lotan being summoned.

[mari-lair]

Aye is me again!

I was just wondering if you had any theories on what Teru's dream involving Aoi may be. He says she's necessary for his dream and I wonder if its because she's a direct descendant of the kannagi line?

I hope his dream includes Akane too bc even if they won't end up together I just KNOW they'll be besties either way (am soft for Akane being the 1st person he shows his true self to outside his family)

Hello! :D I have no hope Aidairo will treat this sub plot with care, (or any plot that includes Aoi) so this will be more of a rambly analysis than a theory.

I am inclined to believe Teru’s dream doesn’t have anything to do with her Kannagi blood because of how he approaches Aoi compared to Nene.

Nene is also a Kannagi, but Teru never searches for Nene or gives her much thought, he even let her have a crush on what he sees as a dangerous supernatural since it is what she wants so who is he to reprimand a dying girl? Whenever they are together he flatters her but never asks about her life or tries to make her linger in his presence. 

He does show interest in Nene being a Kannagi but it does not feel like he sees her as a weapon or an important tool that he can use to achieve a ‘goal’. She is still a ‘silly girl’ or a ‘funny girl’ in his mind, someone he is kind to when they are face to face, but he doesn't go out of his way to do much for her.

Aoi is canonically very hard to get close to, so trying to 'be her friend just to use her later’ would be contrived and too stupid for a character built up to be smart, considering Nene (who had a crush on him throught a big part of the manga) would be a far better target to get his hands on Kanagi powers.

Teru actively goes out of his way to try to learn more about Aoi and make her stay with him, even if he has to resort to manipulation, he will do it to spend more time with her.

It also bears mention that Akane's tactless way to ‘woo’ Aoi is what he hates the most about Akane. Not Akane supernatural contract or, any of his behavior with Teru, but how he approaches Aoi:

Teru trusts Akane, but he gets disgusted with how he put her on a pedestal, how his obsession gets on creepy territory at times, yet, when Akane and Aoi work things up and are able to properly communicate, Teru gets grumpy and mopes about their almost kiss. A kiss that shouldn’t be significant if what he was interested in was her Kannagi status.

He listens to Akane go on and on about how ‘sweet and kind and pretty’ Aoi is without ever shutting him down, and despite loving to annoy the clock keeper, he never disagrees or implies that Aoi isn't as amazing as Akane claims, so he does have a very positive view of Aoi.

I can’t say for sure what his dream is, but it feels related to Aoi as a person, not her blood or ancestors. Is a desire of his own.

Minamotos are very connected to supernaturals, and they are pushed to put their duties first, but being disconnected from other, and able to have a level head in dangerous situations doesn’t make them any less human or emotional: They value their family, their friends, their desires, occasionally putting them above their job for selfish reasons.

Now let’s talk about a theory Maagi shared with me, that the more i thought about it, the more plausible it seemed: If Teru was in love with Aoi, it wouldn't be the first time a Minamoto fell in love, or at the very least, was very attracted, to an Akane.

The manga makes a point to heavily imply that Kanagis usually live with loved ones at the start of their lives, and that even in the old ages where Sumire’s story takes place, it's seen as cruel to abandon a child so young.

They mention her family wanted to ‘get away from her resentment’ but considering how oblivious and happy she had been to “marry God”, eager to declare a demon her husband, it is far more likely they wanted to get rid of Sumire for reasons out of her control, like her bloodline.

From Sumire pale eyes, which have hints of the Akane purple we know, but is mostly blue, to her expertise in using spiritual tools (from her knife, to bracelets, to even a protective barrier)  it’s just far too much of a coincidence.

Even her personality seems like a mix between Teru and Aoi.

And I can see the argument that her exorcism tools are things that every Kannagi can use, since Aoi can use them too, but it is still strange that Sumire has so many tools associated with the Minamoto clan, when every other sacrifice has none. Not even a bracelet.

The bracelet is not part of a Kannagi’s uniform. Or a precaution of No.6 that comes with his duties. It’s a Minamoto’s gift. Which makes Sumire feel more personal than ‘just another sacrifice girl’, like her protection matters for someone.

This leads me to how Teru gave Aoi a bracelet the second she got mixed with supernaturals, and let her keep it,

He never offered this kind of protection to anyone else, not even Nene, the girl that lives in danger.

So even if the fandom will cry at the idea, there is a lot to indicate Teru is genuinely interested in Aoi. The seeds are there, Aidairo was just clunky when hinting his interest (I’m still baffled an interaction as important as the convenience store one is in a spin off.)

And I am sure his dream includes Akane! Akane is his best friend, even when he wants to spend time with Aoi, he isn’t opposed at all to Akane tagging along.

He values Akane in a completely different way than he values Aoi, but is so clear he has tons of fun with the two Aois!

(There is a reason I would be chill if his crush was either Aoi or Akane, he acts in such a way that no matter who he has a crush on, it is still obvious he really values them both)

[celtrist]

Perhaps Husk sate his obsession by pointing out "bad news" people (which are, considering Alastor's curse, literally everyone) so Alastor would get rid of them or cut ties with them and Husk would be the only one around. Being the only "normal" one is technically a pretty good strategy, because it would cause Alastor to gravitate towards him for reprieve.

Also, if both Angel and Husk roofie Alastor at least in part for his more relaxed state, perhaps they could tag team? Can be both in fucked up or weirdly and unnervingly wholesome way

And with Niffty, what would you think about possibility of her accidentally frying her brain trying to counteract a curse?

Ooo, I like that idea with Husk! That could certainly work with his character too! And considering his position as a bartender, he'd certainly point out the flaws of others that Alastor might be concerned with in his rants or whatnot. Or even just offhandedly. Husk definitely seems like a "mind games" kind of guy. I will admit for the roofie idea, I wasn't too set on it seeing that both Angel and Rosie have that covered. But I figured since he worked with alcohol Husk would perhaps do that as an opportunity. I don't really see Angel and Husk working together like that in this AU though, if in part because they want very different effects (Angel does want Alastor to be able to speak, Husk kinda just wants Alastor quiet. Husk wants submissiveness, Angel wants to play house). In fact, with the "bad news" people idea, I feel like Husk would point that out with Angel to Al despite doing the same thing.

I can honestly see Alastor having several breaking points and one of the ways he recuperates is to let Angel drug him intentionally as it's the "safest" and he's not really lucid to be suffering or dealing with the unwanted attention. And with that, Husk would probably point that out as a problem (blaming both Angel and calling Alastor a dumbass for letting himself get into it). In this Au, Husk, and Angel more than likely aren't having any sort of romance that is potentially in canon. So them tag teaming isn't really a thing I can imagine them doing.

As for Niffty, while I don't really see HER trying to counteract the curse--(I just don't think she's the type to really think about it, a bad boy is a bad boy for her. Plus I have a hard time really thinking she's AWARE of the curse. At the very least she's the type to make an offhand comment about it but when you ask her what she means or repeat herself, she has no idea what you're talking about)--I can totally see Alastor potentially using her as a "test subject" for it. She's the most pliable for Alastor, will do anything he asks, and is more or less an invulnerable little thing. Niffty more or less is pretty much the same as she is in canon. Just now she's in love with Alastor too (honestly you'd expect her to be in love with Alastor in canon and drool all over him as a pretty big bad boy, but maybe that's something we'll see in later seasons? Alternatively, just a funny idea Niffty doesn't see Alastor of all people a "bad boy").

[lazaruspiss]

sladedicktalia??????? i am LISTENING

there's like. 5 fics. im so starved. i think theyre so hot and funny together!! im obsessed. also this got long so im adding a readmore. whoops.

SlaDick: classic enemies to lovers. they may try to kill each other half the time but they respect each other more than anyone else. OBSESSED with each other, Slade knows he's weird about Dick and couldn't care less but Dick is so in denial about it. they could both give explicit consent but be so antagonistic about it that it becomes unclear if "yes i want to have sex with you" is actually code for "die right now" and i think that's beautiful.

SladeTalia: they fucked! in canon! there was some bullshit plotline where Talia tried to give Slade Damian and pretend he was his son instead! ex fuck buddies who show up just to make each other's lives harder bc they wanna fuck so bad it makes them have stupid brain. also they're both hot as hell. i'm weak for big strong milf/dilf idk idk.

DickTalia: LISTEN TO ME. TALIA WOULD TREAT HIM RIGHT. THEY BOTH KNOW HOW EMOTIONALLY DEVASTATING IT IS TO LOVE BRUCE. LISTEN TO M- ok aside from that. Talia is someone who tried so hard to be good, to choose to be kind. She loved Bruce because she saw how hard he tried to do good in the world. Her character has gotten considerably colder over time, in huge part due to a certain writer writing about her despite knowing nothing about her, but in universe i try and rationalize it as a growing cynicism stemming from both her father's gradually increasing cruelty and Bruce's failure to support her or commit to her or to even just respect her. She hasn't been shown to have very many people in her life who she can really trust and be close to. She used to have a good relationship with Ra's, she used to have Bruce, she's even lost Damian at this point. She feels like such a lonely character to me. And I think Dick would be able to see that, be able to understand it better than most. He's always had people who loved him, people he could turn to, but he's also ended up perpetually isolated for one reason or another. Dick and Talia both feel to me like characters who are so lonely the further they get in their lives. I could see a silent understanding there. The kind of people who would be able to find solace in simply sharing a space with each other. Neither of them like to talk about what they've been through, I think they'd like to have someone who just gets it. Trauma for trauma, you know?

SlaDickTalia: several angles available here.

1) Dick deserves some sexy older lovers who would wine and dine him and also rail him within an inch of his life and also kill for him. i am not immune to the aesthetics!! to the allure of a hot older duo double teaming their young spitfire partner!!!

2) corruption arc. u know u wanna.

3) Dick's fear of abandonment x the 2 most devoted people on the planet. if they were dating nothing bad would happen to Dick again, Slade and Talia just wouldn't allow that. smth smth, couldn't get rid of them if he tried <3

4) Bruce would hate it and that's always fun :3 not that that's hard tho, Babs is like the only one of Dick's partners that Bruce liked and that's bc he wants to keep it in the family.

5) healing.... sobs...... esp when it comes to feelings around parenthood. Those three have shit to work out and i think having some company would help.

6) They all need more people time but 2/3 of them don't get along with anybody so they're kinda stuck with Dick. that kid will forgive anybody if u bat ur eyelashes and behave well enough. He's also more likely to still see them as people despite everything they've been through, and when you're a military experiment and a semi immortal daughter of an immortal terrorist... It can be hard to find someone who looks at you like you still have a chance at humanity.

7) Slade and Talia playing a Cat Vs Dog type game with Dick in the middle. I think it's funny.

[ikamigami]

It is a doubt standard where people excuse Moon, Eclipse, Nexus, and even Ruin and Bloodmoon of their terrible behavior by pinning mental illnesses and/or personality disorders or trauma to them, but then they completely ignore that with and tear apart Lunar, Earth, and Sun especially for not acting perfectly

They accuse Earth of making everyone disown Nexus because she has thin skin when in reality Nexus betrayed her trust and broke her heart and after going through the same song and dance with her dad of course she wouldn't let another walk all over her, and Nexus had hid things from her, used her deepest vulnerabilities to hurt her in a tactical move, threatened them, ran away, and then tried to disintegrate her, and people forget she was grieving just as badly as Nexus was, she just managed to process it in a healthier way, did nobody listen to how hard she was screaming and crying when Sun told them what happened?

They accuse Lunar of abandoning Eclipse even though Eclipse verbally abused Lunar and slapped him in the face, people tend to not do this as much granted, but it is pretty damning that Eclipse literally made the perfect brother for himself, one programmed to love and be loyal to him explicitly, and yet through his own cruel behavior he made Lunar run away from him, and then the first thing Eclipse did with the Star was explode Lunar out of petty spite

They get angry at Sun for when he acts a little angry, or selfish, or jealous, even if he never actually does anything truly terrible with those emotions if he even acts on them at all, and yet they do not bat an eye when Moon murders another innocent person and shows little to no remorse over it, he certainly never grieved one of his victims like Sun did for the children of July 16th, commits arson and other acts of terror, ruins people's lives for a laugh, build unethical experiments like using Sun as a lab rat or building the first Computer with two battling AIs just like how he and Sun were tormented by their Creator's design, beats Sun over the head with a metal pole and harasses him all the time also sometimes for fun or when he's feeling angry, felt vindicated when Sun was being tortured by Eclipse and woke up to dead bodies because "welcome to my nightmare", finds it funny when Monty also does terrible things and they often enable each other, and abandoned Eclipse in Sun's head, basically doing selfish stuff all the time

They justify Bloodmoon's behavior with the killcode even though Bloodmoon refused to change and stated he didn't want to, refused every chance Sun gave both versions of him to turn things around, has a body count in the hundreds if not thousands, and once on-screen recounted to Eclipse how he dismembered the children on July 16th with glee

And they justify Ruin's annihilation of over 5000 dimensions because he had to watch his friends slowly go insane from the Creator, supposedly he looked for other answers but didn't find them, which honestly sounds like a lie, and kept saying it was the only way to stop the Creator council...Because yeah sure, trying to get rid of a hornet's nest by blowing up the whole neighborhood is a totally reasonable response, though thankfully less try to justify Ruin

Moon, Eclipse, Nexus, Ruin, and Bloodmoon can all apparently be terrible because of a mental illness/personality disorder that isn't even canon, because Davis quite literally said in his fandom address they aren't covering things like bipolar disorder and things like that, or because of trauma, and yet Lunar, Earth, and Sun can't? Despite Lunar, Sun, and Earth often manifesting their own trauma in far less destructive and selfish ways, meanwhile the others over here are abusing and murdering people but that's apparently okay? Even if they have those HCed issues, while there is more leeway there is a line to where those things can no longer justify their actions anymore and characters like Moon, Eclipse, and especially Ruin and Bloodmoon shot way past that line more than once

This fandom isn't the first to have this problem, it goes beyond liking villains and flawed characters because of course you can like those characters, but you also cannot pretend like the bad things they do didn't happen, but people will make them their blorbo and/or woobify them because the villains have a fun gimmick and/or the VAs are killing the role or some other reason, and they completely blind themselves to what the villains have actually done in favor of scrubbing away all responsibility for their wrongdoings by adding mental illness HCs and treating them as fact or making up tragic backstories that aren't actually canon, and conversely get very angry at the heroes, writers, and/or fans who don't have that bias because it doesn't align with their faves, this fandom is just one of the most toxic, vicious, stubborn, and obnoxious about it that I've personally seen because even when the show explicitly states that Moon was abusive or that Eclipse was cruel they refuse to listen

People can like villains and flawed characters, those characters are perfectly okay to exist, but people should not try to ignore and excuse their terrible behavior and the effects it has on the other characters and say their victims deserved it as if it were nothing just because they like them

You're speaking facts, dear anon 👏

I have nothing to add to this cause it's all true..

Also I know what you're talking about that fandoms tend to do what you said with villain characters way too often..

And yeah even if people were babying Lunar at first.. it quickly turned to him being hated..

I have to admit that I didn't like Lunar that much at first.. but when he returned and Lunar and Earth show started I warmed up to him..

And yeah Earth and Sun are treated the worst by fans tbh..

Probably because they both are supposed to help with comforting others etc..

But tl;dr you're absolutely right, dear anon ^^

[yeowangies]

Blood Stains

CHAPTER I: You swim in that?

❧

PAIRING: Raditz/Reader RATING: Mature CONTENTS: Attempt at Humor, Canon Divergence AU, POV Alternating, Slow Burn. WARNINGS: None. WORDCOUNT: 2689

Summary:

His line of thought gets interrupted when Raditz notices the human female walking out of the house. You’re just wearing a swimsuit after all, and he can’t help but stare for a solid minute, taking in your entire body wearing such flimsy clothes. You seem just as taken aback as he is, clearly more puzzled by his presence though. 

He feels his face get hot, he knows he must be blushing. 

Raditz understands now what Kakarot has been doing all this time on this goddamn planet.

Notes:

This fic started with the funny premise on the summary and it grew long arms and long legs and it's now an incredibly long fic, with more or less 10 chapters. I also wrote this to be a contrast to my other fic Close Encounter, hence the slow burn tag.

I already wrote this up to chapter 8 or so, so I still have some things left to write, but I'm gonna update this regularly.

The contents and warnings will change for each chapter so look out for those!

“Is Goku coming then?” You ask, stepping down from Bulma’s hover car as you walk over to Kame House. 

“Master Roshi invited him so I’m guessing he is…” Bulma says, walking in front of you to get to the door.

“It’s been such a while since we last saw him…” You murmur to yourself.

Five years since the last Tournament and since Goku took off with his new bride. Sometimes it’s still hard to comprehend he got engaged so fast, you couldn’t wait to ask him about marriage life; he tied the knot so young, he was probably surprised by the experience.

You greet Krillin and Master Roshi after not seeing either one of them for years (and Roshi gets bonked in the head, courtesy of Bulma, because of an inappropriate joke). It’s easy to fall into the dynamic you always had; Bulma keeps complaining about Yamcha, like she always does, making you roll your eyes (the poor guy doesn’t deserve it), and Krillin silently judges her for being so dramatic, which makes you laugh. 

A sunny day is expected, and so far it has been like that, so you quickly excuse yourself to get changed into your pink swimsuit, wanting to take advantage of the weather and sunbathe a little.

Goku arrives immediately afterwards, and your mouth drops open when he brings his four year old son along with him.

*

Raditz could not believe the state of this planet. Kakarot was supposed to eliminate its population, wasn’t he?

If it wasn’t for his scouter signaling some high power levels around, he would have thought his brother was annihilated by these weaklings. But that couldn’t be it. He’s a Saiyan, even as a child, it should have been enough power for him to get rid of this plague in a month or so. He has already encountered that green man earlier, he doesn’t want to assume that such a weak bug would have eliminated him.

What happened then?!

“Fuck you, Kakarot, you had one simple mission…” He grumbles, flying at high speed towards the location his scouter is pointing him to.

The high power is moving rapidly, and Raditz smirks when it suddenly stops. Kakarot is going to get an earful and a beating too, for good measure, and he speeds up to get to his destination so he can finally know what’s happening. 

He lands roughly on a beach of a small island with a pink house. And there he is, his own brother, easy to recognize because he looks so much like their father, surrounded by three humans. Kakarot looks bewildered, staring at him with his mouth hanging open. Raditz frowns, extremely annoyed. He is willingly hanging out with this species?

“Kakarot! What’s with the condition of this planet?!” He practically yells, exasperated when Kakarot looks even more confused by his every word. “Your mission was to exterminate this species! What game have you been-”

His line of thought gets interrupted when Raditz notices the human female walking out of the house. You’re just wearing a swimsuit after all, and he can’t help but stare for a solid minute, taking in your entire body wearing such flimsy clothes. You seem just as taken aback as he is, clearly more puzzled by his presence though. 

He feels his face get hot, he knows he must be blushing. 

Raditz understands now what Kakarot has been doing all this time on this goddamn planet.

“What’s going on?” You ask, looking at Kakarot and the other humans. They seem just as intrigued by your presence and his reaction at your appearance, with the way they keep glancing back and forth. “Who’s that?”

“I would like to know that too!” Kakarot spits, still in a defensive stance.

But Raditz isn’t paying him any mind. He keeps staring at you, perplexed and stunned. Do all human females wear those clothes?! He hasn’t noticed it on his way here, and even the other woman on the island isn’t wearing anything that revealing. 

It isn’t just the attire, however. The clothes are distracting enough, but you are attractive. Enough to make him forget about why he’s there in the first place.

You blink a couple of times, clueless, before turning your eyes towards the other humans beside you.

“Can someone tell me what on Earth is happening?”

Raditz snaps out of his own head at your question, shaking his head slightly, just in time when the little bald Earthling approaches him. He has to focus, he’s there for a reason; to get Kakarot back so he joins their group. Distractions are not allowed; he can’t fail a mission this simple, it’s literally a piece of cake, and no female will distract him from it, no matter how alluring they are. 

*

It has been a shock to find out that Goku has a brother, but it’s even more startling that he’s an alien. It makes sense in retrospect, but it’s not like a lot of people would have gotten to that conclusion with certainty. 

Raditz stared at you the moment he saw you, and you figured it had a lot to do with the swimsuit you were wearing. Which was hilarious, but you were too concerned about Gohan being kidnapped and Goku going after him to laugh about it at that time. Only Bulma cracked a joke, and you rolled your eyes, blushing a bit but brushing off her comment. You did notice he’s attractive, but the fact that he was violent and threatening Goku and this planet preoccupied your mind. 

Now, however, you’re looking at his face as he lays unconscious on a very high-tech hospital bed at Bulma’s house, in one of its many rooms, connected by cables to computers and monitors. Goku insisted before dying that his brother stays alive, and no one refused him (Piccolo did try to talk him out of it, but it was futile). And if you were honest, you didn’t want him to die either, for reasons probably just as selfish as Goku’s. You’re glad everyone complied; Bulma knew you well enough to let you monitor him on your own without questions, so you got to see him everyday. Unconscious, but you count your blessings. You got to stare at his handsome face and even his toned chest too, even though most of his torso was covered in bandages; but now you want to hear him talk, even if he goes back to threatening the Earth or something. 

It has been a week since Raditz has been like that, he did lost a lot of blood after all. But even you know he’s healing abnormally fast. Any human could have died from that injury, but he hadn’t. And his superficial wounds are long gone. A Saiyan, that’s what Goku and Raditz were. You still can’t wrap your head around it.

You’re on the verge of dozing off one day when you hear the sheets shuffle slightly. You practically jump from your seat to approach his bed, staring at him to see if he wakes up. Raditz does wake up, sitting up abruptly as soon as he opens his eyes, making you yelp loudly. 

“You scared me!” You practically yell at him, clutching your chest.

He stares at you with wide eyes, panting, as he calms himself down slowly. You hope he remembers meeting you before, because he certainly seemed intrigued back then, and you hope that’s enough reason for him not to attack you. You’re just a human after all, even in his state, he could harm you if he wanted to.

“You’re that girl with the skimpy clothes…” He finally says, eyeing you up and down slowly.

“Huh?” You gape at him momentarily before you understand what he means. “Oh, my swimsuit you mean?”

“Your swimsuit? You swim in that?”

“Yes, that’s what it’s made-”

“Is all your species this indecent?”

“Woah, hey! You’re alive because of us, you know?”

Raditz groans, obviously in pain, and you immediately shut your mouth. 

“Are you in pain? You should lay back down.”

“Where am I?” He asks, ignoring your words.

“This is my friend’s house. We-”

“Why am I here?”

“I-”

“And what are you doing here?”

“Maybe you should let me speak?” You ask, a little annoyed at this point. He stares at you, and you take his silence as a signal to go on. “You were bleeding pretty badly after your fight with Goku and Piccolo, so we brought you here. We did our best to help you heal, but it’s going to take a while until you’re better. I’ve been checking in on you every day, you’ve been passed out for a week.”

He doesn’t look pleased at all, but he doesn’t look like he’s going to strangle you either, so you take it as a win. He frowns deeply, inspecting all the bandages in his body, wincing when he twists his body in certain ways.

“Raditz, that’s your name, right?” 

You remember it perfectly, but maybe asking him about it would mellow him out a bit. He doesn’t reply, so you take the opportunity to introduce yourself. He only looks at you curiously, clearly in a defensive stance (or as defensive as he can be in his state). 

“You should rest. Are you hungry? I can have food brought in.”

“Aren’t you my brother’s ally?”

“Yeah, I am, why?”

“I could kill you right now.”

“Ok? Why are you telling me that?” You frown.

“Why are you helping me?” He practically growls. He does look menacing due to how big he is, but he also looks in pain. 

“Why not?” You shrug. “You don’t remember what happened before you passed out?”

Raditz doesn’t reply, but he continues to glare at you. He must not remember; it would make sense since he was bleeding a lot before he fainted. He wouldn’t remember that Goku asked you to keep him alive because he didn’t want to kill him. 

*

When Raditz woke up in that bed in what looked like some kind of hospital room and you were right in front of him, he didn’t know if it was a blessing or a curse. You were distracting enough, he didn’t have time to entertain himself with an earthling.

The second thing he felt once awake was pain. His entire torso ached, and that’s when he noticed the bandages. You told him that he was bleeding profoundly, but he barely remembers that. 

Why are you even helping him? He’s your enemy after all. He knows he’s weak in his current state, and without the healing tanks, he’s going to take a little longer to heal, but Saiyans still recover pretty fast compared to other species. He could wait a week, or even a month, and kill you then. Why are you taking the risk?

Raditz doesn’t remember what happened with that green guy and his brother. Is Kakarot dead? It would be safe to assume that he is, he does remember almost being hit directly by that powerful beam, but his brother did get hit. But even if he’s dead, he can’t deal with his companion in his current state. 

Which leads him again to the question of why he’s even alive. The memories of the last couple of minutes in that last fight are fuzzy. Surely that guy wouldn’t have let him go that easily, he is a threat to this planet after all. 

Raditz groans loudly, rubbing his temples. He might have to ask you about it, but he’s not sure he can trust you yet. As captivating as you are. 

“Are you in pain?” You ask him when you enter the room the next morning after he wakes up. “Since you’re not human, I’m not sure how many painkillers we can give you.”

“Tell me what happened before I passed out.” 

He ignores every word you said, and that seems to bother you by the twitch in your eyebrow and the slight pout on your lips. Which is rather cute, he has to admit. 

“Ask nicely and maybe I’ll tell you.”

“Do I have to remind you again that I can kill you?”

“Yeah well, do it then.”

Arching an eyebrow, Raditz scoffs. 

Threatening to kill you is a bad idea, simply because he knows he doesn’t want to. But since you’re daring him to do so… he should do it, right? Why would he care if you live or die, this planet is doomed anyway.

You smile at him, like you know he won’t lift a finger to touch you, and it pisses him off a little. A part of him, however, likes your attitude. He won’t ever say it out loud, though. 

“Don’t worry, I’m not withholding information from you on purpose. I just want you to be nice to me, that’s all.”

“I’m not nice.”

“I can tell.” You roll your eyes playfully. “But you can try. After all, I've been taking care of you from the beginning.”

“God knows why you’re stupid enough to do that.”

His words do make you angry this time, your face twisting in a way he hasn’t seen yet, and he smirks proudly. His provocation worked this time.

“We’re not all homicidal maniac aliens, okay?! I was hoping you’d wake up from your coma soon, but I didn’t think you’d be this rude!”

“You were hoping I’d wake up?” Raditz snorts loudly, not even containing his laughter. “Are you insane, girl?”

“Yes, I’m crazy enough to want to talk to you!” 

“Why?”

“Because I think you’re handsome, dumbass!”

Raditz balks, taken aback by your words, and he soon feels his face heat up. Just like that first time he saw you. You still stare at him with ire in your eyes, your first turned into balls by your sides. He’s not even sure what to say, but making you angry had been a terrible idea; not only did you confess to finding him attractive, but you also look incredibly more appealing than usual now that anger is adorning your features. And he doesn’t know what to do in this situation. 

“So I think the best thing you can do is be nice to me.” Luckily for him, you go on speaking after a beat, still clearly annoyed, but a little calmer. 

At a loss for words, Raditz looks elsewhere so you won’t notice the blush on his cheeks. When you turn to ask for breakfast through the phone, he briefly looks your way, and notices how red the tip of your ears are. At least he’s not the only one who's embarrassed. You usually hang around the room with him, even if he’s not necessarily a conversational wonder, but this situation must have made you feel embarrassed because you leave the room shortly after requesting for food. 

He dwells on your words now that he’s alone. You thought he was handsome, now what? He does find you attractive, it must have been obvious by the way he stared at you the moment you met, as embarrassing as it was. He never had to chase after a woman before, so he’s not sure what to do. What are Earth courting customs anyway? For what he vaguely remembers about his own people, courtship usually involved offering a trophy, like an animal hunted for solely that purpose. But that was a mating proposal. This isn’t mating. He just wants to fuck you.

The first thing he should do is get used to standing on his feet without twisting in pain before considering doing any other kind of straining activity. Saiyans heal fast, but getting to that point is going to take a while. 

Raditz grunts, sinking into the bed. How stupid is he? He shouldn’t even consider any of this. Nappa and Vegeta are coming to Earth. He remembers them sharing that information with him through his scouter…

Fuck, what even happened to his scouter? He’s going to have to ask you about it. 

For some reason, he remembers feeling intense fury before passing out, when Nappa and Vegeta were talking to him. But he doesn’t exactly remember the reason.

[randomnameless]

Well, looks like even a broken clock's right at least twice a day; an edelstan on twitter was pissed a few days ago when they saw that Cyril's Meet the Heroes description described his time “working” for House Goneril as “some odd twists and turns”, pointing out that such vague wording was most likely used due to a combination of 3H not caring about Cyril's backstory and IS needing to sanitize Hilda's image so she can sell better in Heroes.

Hahaha,

It's funny because on SPE some people made memes, and you have angry people in the comments, being angry and basically lying or making up facts to either diminish Cyril's uh, "working conditions" in House Goneril, or try to sweep it under the rug to give some "Rhea BaD" takes again

Like :

(meme where Claude doesn't criticise his allies for keeping slaves, but blame racism on the lady who saved the child slave)

"Faerghus is the most violent country because they killed the emperor and enacted a coup while being backed up by mole people" to talk about that time when Loog got his independance

"Rhea BaD bcs Cyril can't learn how to read if you don't support him with Lysithea" even if he writes in the Post TS regardless of recruiting Lysithea or not

"Claude tries to talk to Cyril out of fighting but Cyril drives to a suicide charge with Rhea's blessing so Rhea BaD" in GW, with the source being, idk, since the person who came with that take never sourced it

"Rhea BaD she used the regicide in Faerghus to get rid of her political enemies" you mean the dude who tried to kill her?

"Supreme Leader wouldn't be able to continue warring if Rhea DeD bcs else she would be invading people and would lose public support" like the Supreme Leader? From the land of MAGA? Lose public support?? If she invades nations to restore Adrestia to its glorious past???

"Cyril never said he wasn't eating well in house Goneril" but the JP line says he was always hungry in PAlmyra and Fodlan before coming to the Monastery...

Anyways, as expected, even if FEH tries to sanitise some of Fe Fodlan's most, uh, contentious points, we will always have discourse because some people just prefer their fanon to canon, and while I can understand them to a degree (look Willy is basically fanon at this point) it's always hilarious to see people refuse to engage or even consider that the game they "love" says X when they prefer Y.

When it comes to, in general, Church related characters or Kingdom related characters, we see a lot of discourse like this popping up because while FE Fodlan shat on them (to an extent, for the Church related characters) FEH has to give them the minimum spotlight they give to other characters of the franchise, so yes, Hilda's popularity most likely is the reason why Cyril in MYH just had some "odd twists and turns" (tfw Begnion Senators aren't as popular :( so Muarim was mentionned to have been a slave) but his voiced lines has him mention he was captured as a "war prisoner"...

Putting everything it adds up and we have : Cyril was captured as a war prisoner when he was 11-12 by the Gonerils, was hungry there, complained about "work being hard" there (when Cyril doesn't complain at all in GM despite the huge workload he has!), and implies to Mercedes to have been mistreated in House Goneril because he was Almyran (which matches Hilda's prejudices in her C support about Almyrans).

Why is Cyril's backstory so "discourse rising" then?

Is it because Rhea BaD cannot rescue a child from slavery from a popular character's family/household? Or because Hilda's laziness and preference to let other people do her chores looks especially wrong if we take into consideration that those "other people doing her chores" at home might be children "kept as prisoner of wars and fed twice per week"? Or because it reflects badly on Claude (in both games) who wants to end discriminations and prejudices by getting rid of the institution that rescued an abused child, while working hand in hand with the family that abused said child based on his origins?

(lol@the "but Faerghus BaD" bonus point in the earlier SPE thread I mention, I don't even understand why it was brought up lol)

Back to your post, it's hilarious how this edelstand was pissed becayse FEH whitewashed Cyril's backstory to maybe sell more Hilda alts, when Pat'n'pals try their hardest (in FE16, Nopes and even FEH!) to "alter the script" to shit on Rhea, Dimitri to make Supreme Leader alt'able.

Maybe there's hope for this twitter/X stan?

[endlesstwanted]

I Have Doubts, Sometimes, Of Being Real

My entry for @flashfictionfridayofficial prompt #225 — I Can’t Tell & @comfortember day 8 — Grief/Mourning, read under the cut! Also available on Ao3 here.

Fandom: X-Men (Movieverse)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Pairing: Logan/Scott Summers

Tags: Canon Compliant Post-X2: X-Men United, Dreams and Nightmares, Grief/Mourning, Pre-Slash

Summary: Months after the events in Alkali Lake, Scott wakes up from a nightmare to find Logan at the usually empty side of the bed.

Wordcount: 878

Created for: @scottsummersbingo — “Through the storm, we reach the shore/you give it all but I want more” / @lyricalescape — “Where you haunt me most.” / @hurtcomfort-bingo — Grief / @halloweenhorrorbingo — Shared Trauma / @scoganbingo — Hogging the blankets

Jane is screaming. It’s his name at first, and then it’s a cry for help. When he gets to wake up from the trance, from the voice in his mind making him create chaos, he reaches her. Her leg is hurt, but she can walk.

He is back at Alkali Lake. The humidity of the underground base sinks in his bones. It also burns, the mark at the back of his neck. Like he is hurting Jane now, being played like a puppeteer by the monster who wants to get rid of all of them and has him under his power.

They can walk away, reunite with the others. Walk away together. Start over somewhere else other than the school.

They can make it.

Until she chooses him over them. Him over anything.

Him, and not them. And that’s something one can’t undo.

Scott wakes up in cold sweat, shaken from the nightmare. Except it isn’t exactly a nightmare, just the frequent reminder of what he once had and what he’s never getting back. The cruel memory of the moment in which they tragically lost Jane, and which refuses to leave him alone even five months later.

But he feels lucky. He can still see her that way, even if he ends up in tears and wakes up screaming sometimes, often making Storm rush to their bedroom, worried, ready to provide some comfort. It’s now his bedroom, he has to remember. Scott hasn’t been able to move out of it. He must be glad because not everyone would be able to remember Jane every day. The new students they have welcomed in the school for the gifted will never know about her.

He doesn’t hear his dearest friend coming to the room. Scott supposes he hasn’t woken up with a scream, and he’s alone to face the darkness of the room and the emptiness of his heart. Getting up, he paces the room to the window and he stretches his tired muscles, facing the dark night sky. It’s then when he notices the other body in the room, looking at him when he turns around.

“Logan?” Scott half-closes his eyes, focusing his sight in case his mind is playing tricks again into making him see what it’s not there, but what he wants in there to be.

“Scott,” his mate simply says. A greeting and a confirmation at the same time. He’s lying on the bed in his day clothes, shoes gone. On the side of the bed where Jean used to sleep. “Did I wake you up?”

He doesn’t know who should be asking. Waking from a nightmare always shakes the person sleeping next to someone, and what would Logan be doing there if not having some rest? “How did you get here?”

Logan does a funny face, something between a smirk and a grimace. “I can’t really tell.”

“Can’t sleep on your own?” Scott doesn’t ask with annoyance, only with a pity because that’s exactly what’s happening to him.

“Can’t sleep much in general.” Logan sits on the bed, body turned to Scott. His feet react by walking back to the bed and sits at the other end. “And not really these past months.”

“It’s hard to do it when something’s missing and you can’t just act like it was never there,” Scott replies.

Logan nods. He’s over the bittersweet taste of knowing both of them are familiar with that feeling. “If you share this I will deny it, but …,” Logan started. “I was feeling something, telling me to come here. It wasn’t your screams for once in a while.”

Scott doesn’t quite get that, because it’s not like Logan would let someone play with his mind without leaving a body somewhere. Or do hard drugs.

“That’s why I ended up here. I was relieved to see you sleeping instead of exhausted and awake, but well.”

“It was another nightmare,” Scott finished, and with a chuckle he added, “and I ended up exhausted and awake anyway.”

Logan shows a quick side smile in reply. No one says anything in a few minutes.

“You’re staying to sleep,” Scott says then. It isn’t an invitation, nor an offer. More like an understatement. It’s too late to read much into it anyway.

“Have any blankets?” Logan asks. Scott is … glad, maybe, that he hasn’t run away at the mention of sharing a bed.

“Only one. Are you going to hog it?”

“I wouldn’t want you to risk your chances,” Logan smiles? “You should use it, you seem to be cold.”

Scott goes to find the blanket, making a mental note to perhaps get a plus one, then comes back to the bed to see Logan staring at the place where Jean used to sleep in. “You can get inside, you know? If you want.”

Logan takes a moment to react. “You sure?”

“I don’t want you to die from freezing in my room while I sleep,” Scott explains. “That way we can share the blanket.”

“Even if I may take it all to myself?”

“You only will if you want to risk getting some kicks in the middle of the night,” Scott teases in a serious tone. “And let me tell you, Jean always complained about my cold feet.”

[popstart]

20?

Favorite Trio

This is SUCH a hard question for me to answer😭 td characters have the potential to bounce off of eachother for infinity and its great.

starting with real stuff for real thats in the show with a real dynamic, i have to give the prize to Gwen, Heather, and Courtney. Team amazon is great and the way they play off eachother is soFUNNYYY OKAY... Gwen and Heather being established enemies making gwen do the unthinkable of teaming up with a prep to get rid of her. hilarious. heather hating how close theyve gotten because it makes them forget about the challenges but not being able to do anything about it because she cant be too awful or else she'll get kicked off.. its so good. they ruin eachother make eachother worse etc etc

referring to trios that were literally in 1 scene that im unhealthily attached to i LOVEEE Leshawna gwen and bridgette. they were in 1 scene in basic straining but it doesnt stop them from being in my head 100 times and dying of peak fiction and doing family guy death pose. Two people who are kinda bffsies with everyone while having very different levels of confrontation then theres gwen whos a weird stray cat who likes no one but gets along with them... cute. OKtheyre so cute. besties for the resties etc etc.

Then theres trios that exist in canon but are bad in canon and only good in my head. talking about duncan courtney and gwen. AUGH. ok. this ask is making me tell the entire internet im a world tour head 100 times in a row. I think they play off eachother in such a funny way. The first ep of wt was so insane for pairing them up and its basically the only part of the series that did them right... SHAMEEEE. gwen is generally disgusted by duncan and courtneys weird constant pda and they both make fun of her for being weird and annoying and single. Its funny. this mostly only works when duncan and courtney are dating, otherwise its not as funny. all platonic gwen duncan courtney trio makes me kinda roll my eyes, just like gwen when duncan and courtney are being awful since theyre awful literally constantly

finally theres made everything up about them in my head trios GWEN COURTNEY AND BRIDGETTE HIIIII. I LOVE YOU. this is my own fault. I made them friends in my head and i cannot separate them ever. Its kinda like leshawna bridgette and gwen except you replace the very there for her friends nice and cool and awesome girl with the most uptight asshole I-can-fix-them girl on the planet. i need to work on my fanfiction more NOOOO COME BACK TO ME. they jusstttt, remind me of my highschool trio friendgroup. i steal 100 things from when i was in highschool and insert them into ppp.

honorable mention goes to jo, anne maria, and brick. I thinkk they could be fucked up. They all have a different dynamic with eachother and i think that is Funny and cute.

[sabrondabrainrot]

Merry Christmas and TMNT Update!

Merry Christmas everyone! Just some updates but I've been hard in the TMNT brainrot. So first of all I just binged through the first 3 seasons of TMNT 87 AAGH SO GOOD it's so cute I love the boys so much! I finished 12 and WOW what a rush! Leo is the type of brother who would just carve his entire heart out for his family (and he basically does.) Raph is like the best brother, he grows SO much and cares SO much. Donnie is so adorable too, I'm glad he grew out of being a simp. He's a really sweet brother when he's not being like a stalker. Mikey literally saved them so many time just wow, what a lad. I love the dynamics of 12 so much. it's written like a tele-novella soap opera, but I say that only with love.

I'm on season 3 ep 7 of tmnt 03 and I saw Raph meeting a blind old lady who owns a cat and my heart melts, planning to actually rewatch that ep just cause my dogs interrupted the entire episode.

I also got my friend to sit with me and watch the 2007 tmnt movie and the Rise tmnt movies recently and they are literally amazing movies. I really hope Rise wins it's nomination.

I've been taking an obsessive amount of screenshots of tmnt 87 and sending live dms to a friend on discord, and I just wanna share some of my fav screenshots.

I wanted to take screenshots of 03 and 12 and Rise while watching them but the streaming platforms prevent me from taking screenshots.

This was such a cute episode, Michelangelo was so sad to not have money for a boogey board and Raphael towel whipped him and Leonardo in the back trying not to laugh out loud was so funny.

This ep was also great because it just ends with Splinter being stuck in this other dimension and the turtles are like "how do we save him!" and hitch a ride on an alien ship and just follow along and April is like "you can't leave me!" and next thing you know Splinter is shimmying his way to freedom and lands on them.

I don't remember this ep title, but I just think the goobers looking all sad is so cute and funny.

Leonardo was being devious

I took this screenshot too cause they just look so cute and small XD

I love how short and small they are, I just want to squeeze them.

This is the episode that introduced 87 Leatherhead and they went back to Florida, I just think them looking sad while sinking was so funny looking.

I took a million screenshots on birthday boy mikey episode. He's so adorable and sweet. He got sad and ran away from home and was hooked up like this flushomatic torture device and idk it was so silly and so many cute expressions were in this ep.

Just a bunch more super cute moments. Like no one said how they acted when they got sick and I was not ready for them to be begging April and Splinter for attention and baby talking for more care. It was so cute and sweet. I also screenshotted Donnie falling cause his face cracks me up. I still can't get over how they're literally just little babies and April is totally their mom. (she reads them bedtime stories, it's canon)

He was so excited to film a turtle work out video.

This is one of the last frames of the season 3 finale and I think it's so funny they got rid of the Technodrome once and for all by sending them back to dimension X and they don't even look that happy. They're literally being celebrated and look so bummed out about it

BTW I have paramount but they don't have past season 2 available right now so I started watching it on internet archive, it's all there for free if you ever want to get your Cowabunga fix. (it's also why I could even take so many screenshots)