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fantomette22 · 1 year ago

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heyyyy! Tell us about your version of the cainhurst king. maybe even how things go between him and annalise! I hope you don't mind me asking

Anon are you kidding? I am super happy you asked, thank you!

It's true I tried to avoid talking about him to not spoil my fic project but I slip every time so screw it, let's go (Plus it's not like Annalise is going to become Queen and him King in the fic I am currently writing so better talk about them now because it's uncertain if I will manage to ever write about it 🙄)

Also, omg are you asking this because of my shitpost drawing? Oops XD this is really the dumbest thing…

Ok so I inspired myself a lot from the version my good friend created X and X. I really like it so I create a similar yet quite different version. (I mean they just look the same and have a few characteristics in common but that's it really)

So yeah, I think this guy right here is the king during Annalise's reign.

I named him Charles. It was supposed to be a place holder name at first, when I was doing some story planning but I stick with it XD Typical old French name many kings had that's why I called him like this. + for the older design I used the dear cut content (because yes, we probably should have fight him instead of Logarius at first.

So for this ask I drew some designs! : (As a Byrgenwerth student and as king, younger and older)

In my story I also have Annalise's father, the precedent king consort appearing. I draw him as well for the occasion.

(ok he might look a bit older and tired compared to the chap5 of my fic so let's say it's a flash forwards of a few years later, a few months before he died of cancer. I'm sorry that sound really bad 😭 poor Richard…)

Ok so Charles, he's from a smaller noble family (the one from where the executioners gloves came from) they doesn't live at Cainhurst since a few years but he passed a few years from his childhood here. As such he's a childhood friend of Maria, Annalise and all the lil squad of Cainhurst OCs. Maria & him are closer in age (he's 1 year older than her and 2 years younger than Annalise) so they passed a lot of time together and were both really turbulent and unhinged children XD like you can see here. All the things TO NOT do, you can be sure they tried it out 🤣

Then well he went to live a bit far with his family and only went to Cainhurst to important event/ meetings/holidays etc…

Years later he become a student at Byrgenwerth and check notes began a cursus in history or smt? Antic history of the pthumerians civilization and afterwards or something like this. Maria joined Byrgenwerth one year later too! Some other events happened and it allow him to reconnect with Cainhurst a lot.

Ok so when I say he's a lil bastard it's affectionally and for real too <3 he's really similar yet different from Laurence for exemple idk how to explain. You know the popular type of guy who don't listen well in class and party a lot but still pass all his classes… (besides tell him to shut it in class Laurence can say much he was the same XD ok maybe Charles is more of a clown class and had more friends but still).

But even if he can stand the mean noble girls (&boys) contrary to Maria, he still passed times with her when he could and even hang out with the Byrgenwerth squad as well.

Also my friend think he might got a scare on the forehead (see painting) and I agree with this that's why he got one. How he got it you ask? Oh well… cough cough the infamous prom night! Not telling too much for now. Can't wait to write about it

So, in parallel concerning Cainhurst: It wasn't doing great and was loosing lots of influence sand after some tragic events happened "the knight cough & beast story cough cough" he speaks with the king, Annalise, lots of people besides Maria and began slowly to have a new objective in mind. + when Maria takes distance from Cainhurst so he actually grow closer to them at her place (well they were kinda missing a few royal guards so like they took what they could)

He could do a few things in battle but clearly didn't have the lvl of a royal guard or a strong warrior so he needed to learn and that wasn't always easy.

Flash forwards a few years later after he graduated but still hanged out at Byrgenwerth. Guess what the bastard did? ^^

Yeah, he's the scholar who stole the forbidden blood.

So yeah, THIS GUY! Damn. Well, it's actually kind of complicated because Byrgenwerth should have make a report to Cainhurst/ give it to them but they didn't so… Still Maria wanted to kick his ass XD (seriously he used her to know where it was and he leaved with everyone from Cainhurst except her. I mean he couldn't tell her but she almost got in big troubles)

"No Maria you can't go to his face and insult him in front of everyone…"

"Why not?" "… ok so he might actually become our next king consort and I hate it." "WHAT?!" (she still scolds him XD)

Yeah, when they asked him what he wanted for his service besides being a full-time resident at Cainhurst bro said, "Your hand my Queen" "bud that's not gonna work-" "Ok sure" O_O

Turn out, he planned the whole thing (stealing the blood) with Annalise 🤣

Yeah they did grow closer this past few years and everyone is on Annalise back to get a consort so…. (Also of course he's a simp. Who isn't at Cainhurst lol. He's not jealous btw because he know he will always be simp n°1 XD). So yeah somehow that's a big ship I have and I NEED CONTENT 😭 (Fantomette do it yourself! there is literally only 2-3 people to want that! You don't understand I just wanna read fics made by someone else on them! I can't write that!!)

But well, many nobles aren't that impressed so they ask him to do other stuff before. Like going into the chalice dungeons and recover some stuff. Funniest shit ever when he argues with Vledemyr all the time, or even Logarius and Gehrman just want to take all their heads and bonk them together XD yeah funny times.

Also most of all the statues at Cainhurst are because of him and he managed to bring back the crown of Illusions in the end! He almost died too but shhh (Annalise still scold him for it. The crown was lost in there since quite sometimes so Cainhurst only had one and it lost its power. + maybe a ring 🤔).

In the meantime, well Annalise absorb the forbidden blood and kinda become "immortal" (I headcanon that it prolongs the life a lot, you don't age normally etc and you heal if you get hurt. Explain how she can cut her arms and have no marks after a few minutes. The bigger the injuries the longer it takes to regenerate. Like if she were to "die" her body wouldn't get cold but stayed warms and she would wake up after a few hours/days or more etc what we used in the game really make it go faster).

Then he finally marries Annalise and become King! And the Vilebloods are formed wow and they try to make Cainhurst great again etc.

But yeah, it's not over. There is one small problem that happen a few years after… (besides the beast scourge of Yharnam and the church + Byrgenwerth being less or more ok with their practices). Annalise have a lot of difficulty to have a child (not that it's super urgent but it's still a problem).

You can be sure they both tried their best but it doesn't work. Either it's hard for her to get pregnant and when she does she have miscarriage after miscarriage. Most of the time it happened in the first couple of months but one time it happened almost at term or around 6-7 months perhaps? That was so bad that if Annalise wasn't "undead/immortal" she would have died. That was really a bad time for everyone. Even poor Maria was left a bit traumatized by the experience… (yes she came to help of course and that was before the hamlet I think) And Charles really was at the lowest in his life (not the only one too) he blamed himself because he thought that those problems could have been link with the forbidden blood (yes but not really).

So, in the end they managed to find something about an old ritual the pthumerians used, to get "powerful and special children" the child of blood. And with the discovery of the blood dregs, they become to participate even more intensely to the hunt…. and because of this and other events they ended up becoming the enemy of the church…

When the executioners went to kill the Vilebloods, Charles fight till his last breath to protect his Queen, Annalise, his future not born yet child of blood and his subjects. He killed lots of the executioners but they were too many and Logarius was there and stronger than before…

----

Ok that's it for the over whole story. Now, he's kind of egoist with lot of pride and "I am better than everyone" type of guy but he still have moment where he showed real concerned for people he cared about + he grow wiser with age. Still, he wouldn't have problem to kill/ execute someone who's accuse of crimes against Cainhurst. He would do that without a second thought. Unlike someone else cough cough.

And yeah when Maria was a teenager and wasn't feeling well at all she passed a summer with him and his family and he did helped her feel better, likewise with some bad stuff that happened at Cainhurst during her Byrgenwerth years. He was there to support Annalise during harsh times and when she became Queen too. And was the emotional pillar and protector to her after he became her husband and king. Even if they encourage each other to grow worst and go on a really dark path…

He tried to not show a too much "soft side" to anyone (except a few persons person like his dear Queen). He did crack emotionally a couple of time and even if he really tried to hide it, Annalise generally end up knowing and recomfort him. They are each other biggest support after all.

But hey he did become good friends with Vledemyr! (Anna & Maria cousin, royal guard etc) when at first it was really complicated XD And his relationship with lil Voron (bloody crow when he was a baby/child) is really cute too <3

Ok last thing I headcanon that Logarius sword his originally the Charles wield.

So I think it's good for now. Hope that answers the question 😅

#bloodborne #my asks #anon asks #my art #cainhurst #king of cainhurst #queen annalise #annalise queen of the vilebloods #bloodborne headcanons #bloodborne original characters #fantomette22art #quite a long post!!! hope you like reading and thanks for asking i am normal about this 2! (no)

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sea-owl · 2 years ago

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Oh my gosh how did I not see it before. Portia is the perfect candidate to have someone isekai as! Might have to steal this idea later though lol. As for Michael and Simon I have a thought on that. With Portia making a name for herself as a business woman, no doubt Agatha Danbury would take notice and invite the baroness for tea with Mary Sharma where Kate and Simon meet and become quick friends which leads to Simon meeting the others. At some point this also leads to little Gareth joining the group.Philip meets Michael when he’s 12 at Eton and brings him home one summer and ever since he’s been apart of the family. Plus it lead to Portia gaining a business partner in Michaels mother and aunt. Now villain stories.

Simon: a man abused by his father leads him to grow cold and unfeeling despite being a rake. Not the biggest villain in the series, but Anthony seduces his mistress Sienna away from him, he decides to get revenge on him by seducing Daphne but refuses to marry her after they are caught kissing in the garden leading to Anthony killing him in a duel (though it was often debated in forums that Simon purposefully lost and was suicidal).

Michael: After his fathers death, his mother dealt with her grief by staying at his cousins house and doting on her nephew while frequently comparing her son to the future earl and having him fall short. As a result, Michael doesn’t tell his mother when one of maids starts touching him inappropriately when he’s 13 and later forces herself on the younger boy. All this leads to Michael being obsessed with his cousin John, viewing him as the perfect person, while trying to find comfort in the arms of many, many women. When he meets Francesca Bridgerton he falls in love at first but seeing her married to John causes him to go mad but rather than hurt either John or Francesca, he commits suicide instead.

Gareth: Another boy who was abused by their father and thus turned to a life of debauchery. Felicity hires him to seduce and ruin Hyacinth but along the way he falls in love with her and decides to kidnap her to Gretna Green only to be killed by her love later on. After befriending Agatha (well more like business frenemies) she casually mentions how one of her acquaintances heard about Gareth’s father drunkenly bragging about how he treats his young son. Cue Lady Danbury removing Gareth from that house and Simon taking him under his wing.

Lucy: Abused by her uncle and his friend, engaged to her gay friend who turns a blind eye towards how her uncle and his father touch his betrothed, her only light seems to be her best friend Hermione. Hermione doesn’t care that Lucy isn’t a pure maiden and takes her under her wing. Actually Hermione is the real villainess, with Lucy as her minion. Hermione, jealous of how Gregory Bridgerton has moved on from her, has Lucy try to seduce Gregory away from his lady love. But seeing his kindness towards her, Lucy warns the girl Gregory loves of Hermione’s plan and takes her place, resulting in her dying in a carriage accident. Of course, Hermione then lies to Lucy’s brother that Gregory Bridgerton planned his sisters death and the two scheme their revenge. Yeah Portia couldn’t care about Hermione much, but she will be damned if she doesn’t save Lucy! It’s actually quite easy, all Portia had to do was prevent the accident set up by Lucy’s uncle to kill her parents and her uncle is tossed in jail while Lucy grows up in a loving home and Lucy instead befriends Felicity and Gareth.

Will this work for how it ties in?

I should be fair to the others and give them an in with Portia's wayward home for villains. Original post here.

The first post will have Kate, Sophie, Phillip, and Penelope’s book villain backstories.

(Also I love seeing people create their own versions of my aus or adding on their own head canons. If anyone feels inspired please feel free to write or draw or whatever medium you want to use. Then tag me! I want to see it!)

Ok so here are my interpretations for their backstories/How they were as villains in book order:

Simon: Simon Basset is the first villain in the series. Being deemed useless since his birth his father basically had him locked away and isolated. This took a massive toll on his psyche and made him paranoid. It did not bode well when Simon’s father realized he could torture him more by throwing him in school where he would never be alone. Simon traded one prison to another, only this had horrible neighbors. The worst of these neighbors was Anthony Bridgerton. Anthony and Simon never got along, while Anthony acted as a teen boy would Simon was jumpy and was constantly stuck in survival mode. The final straw for Simon was a prank gone wrong and had broken the one thing Simon was able to smuggle from his mom. Fine, if Anthony did not care for other’s precious things, then Simon would destroy what was precious to Anthony. One ruined sister could ruin them all. Doesn’t Daphne debut in a year or two?

...

Michael: Michael Stirling is the villain in the 6th book in the series. Much like Kate Michael turned cold after being constantly found lesser compared to his cousin John, but unlike Kate he wanted that warmth back. Michael first thought that he had to be perfect like his cousin. When that did not work, Michael had tried to get it back through losing himself to debauchery. But then he met Francesca Bridgerton. Francesca, John’s fiancé, brought back the warmth that Michael craved so dearly, but she was engaged to John. John didn’t need this warmth like Michael did though, John had others that gave him warmth like Michael’s own mother. Michael needed that warmth, Michael needed Francesca. The night before John and Francesca were to wed Michael objected and stole the bride

...

Gareth: Gareth St. Clair is the co-villain of the 7th book in the series. The second, illegitimate, son of Baron St. Clair, his adopted father had seen it fit to neglect him to the point where he was living in poverty and starving. Despite Baron St. Clair’s attempt to kill him Gareth somehow miraculously survived. Desperately wanting the life of his much-loved older half-brother, Gareth had made a deal with devil. Felicity Featherington was back and wanted revenge for the execution for the only family member she loved and loved her. She thought a sister for a sister was fair. She seduced Gareth with the promise of the missing Whistledown money and the title if he helped her kill Hyacinth Bridgerton.

...

Lucy: The final villain in the series is Lucy Abernathy in the 8th book. A fan of the Featheringtons’ work she modeled her killings after by exposing her victims scandals and carving them into their bodies. If they just so happen to be suitors Hermione rejected and if people looking for a connection led to her, well no skin off Lucy’s back. Hermione shouldn’t have used her just to fuck with Lucy’s scum brother. Lucy supposed she hasn’t always been this way, but after the death of her parents she had become numb. It didn’t help that her uncle kept selling her to the highest bidder. The challenge of the hunt was the only thing to give Lucy a thrill, and she just set her sights on her biggest challenge yet, Gregory Bridgerton.

Now let me see how we can add the others in:

Simon: Simon was back in London for five minutes before his beloved godmother pushed him into her carriage and set out for the countryside.

“Aunt Agatha where are we going?” Simon asked her.

“There have been some rumors whispering about and I want to see if they are true,” Lady Danbury said, almost cryptically.

Simon knew he wasn’t getting anything more out of her so he just settled in and waited to see where they ended up.

Simon didn’t know what he was expecting when they pulled up to a country estate but what greeted him and Lady Danbury was nothing he could have imagined. The only way he could really describe it was chaos.

There were two girls practicing shooting with shotguns, they looked to be the oldest and youngest of them.

Three girls, two red heads, and a blonde, all about the same age, sat in a circle with different art supplies and they seemed to be drawing a boy who sat in the middle of the circle wearing nothing but a kilt.

The last group seemed to be the calmest as they were only reading until Simon listened in and heard that they were acting out different death scenarios for some sort of story they were creating as they went along. The book they had was on different poisonous plants.

Sitting under a tent with a pitcher of lemonade between were two women who Simon was guessing were the mothers to at least some of this brood.

“Lady Featherington,” Lady Danbury called.

The red head of the two women looked up, surprise on her face. “Lady Danbury, this is a surprise.”

Of course, his aunt didn’t even tell the host they were coming. She did love her dramatics.

“Simon, go introduce yourself to the other children. You need more friends,” Lady Danbury said with a wave.

Simon sighed, but then tensed up. He feels like he’s being sized up. Turning around he could see all the groups stopped what they were doing and were openly staring at him.

The one wearing a kilt came up to him and began to lead him to the others. “So we hear you need more friends.”

...

Michael: 13 year old Phillip had done half a year at Eton before deciding absolutely the fuck not. He would get a better education at home, and it was cleaner, and in the countryside. He takes his crazy ass best friend and his pseudo sisters before dealing with these animals again. The only saving grace about this place was his new friend the 16 year old Michael, and Phillip was about to pull a Penelope and drag Michael home with him. Phillip wrote to Portia that he was coming home and bringing a guest.

During the next break Michael had indeed gone home with Phillip, but that was more to do with the fact if he went back to Scotland he would have to listen to his mother and aunt dote on John again. Michael loves his cousin, honestly, but dear god could it get annoying. Besides Phillip’s home sounded interesting, he said he was a ward, and that he was the only boy in the house.

So Michael went to visit, and then never left. Phillip was right, there was a better education to be had here, and he quite enjoyed the shenanigans he got into with Phillip and the girls. Portia did force him to write home and visit once in in a while, but now that he wasn’t constantly around his family all the time Michael found his relationships with his family improved greatly.

...

Gareth: Upon the return to London Felicity is feeling lonely. Which is understandable, Kate, Sophie, and Prudence were all just launched into society, Philippa is getting ready to for her own debut next year, Phillip is getting ready to go to University, and Penelope and Edwina are looking at possibly starting to make business transactions under their mothers' guidance. It also didn't help that Felicity was the youngest at the age of 7 while the next two closest in age to her were 14.

One day Felicity comes across a ten year old boy in the park trying to read. Felicity was confused, she was only 7 but she could read better than him. For over an hour she sat with him and helped him get through a few chapters. When Felicity asked why he was struggling so much the boy told her that his father never taught him nor let anyone else teach him. Felicity gasped, education was important in the Featherington household, and then immediately took him to Portia.

"Mama this boy-" Felicity stopped herself and turned back to the boy. "What is your name?"

"Gareth St. Clair," the boy answered.

Felicity nodded and then turned back to Portia. "Mama this boy's father refuses to teach him how to read!"

Portia recognizes the name and immediately began scanning the boy over for any injuries. He was too skinny, she could see his ribs through his clothes, and his skin looked pale. The boy honestly looked like a stray wind could blow him over. No wonder Felicity dragged him to her so easily.

The next time Portia saw Lady Danbury she mentioned that her daughter had met Gareth, but the boy didn't seem to be in good health. That sent Lady Danbury after St. Clair where she immediately removed Gareth from the household and into her's. She and Simon began to try to play catch up for all the things Gareth was neglected for his health and education. Gareth went over to the Featherington household a few times a week to get some reading lessons from his new friend Felicity.

...

Lucy: Like Gareth Felicity had discovered Lucy. Portia could tell Felicity was getting bored at home now that Gareth was at Eton, so she signed her up for a watercolor class. There she had met Lucy and Hermione. Over the course of three months the girls had grown close. Close enough that Lucy felt comfortable enough to ask an important question.

“Felicity, do you know how old your sisters were when they first got their monthlies?” Lucy asked in a hushed whisper.

Felicity thought about it. The only one she could really remember when they got their first first monthly was Penelope and she had been about 13? Yeah, that sounds about right. “About thirteen.”

Lucy looked surprised, and disappointed. “Oh.”

Felicity’s new sibling senses kicked in. “Why do you ask?”

Hermione answered, “Lucy’s uncle said when she had her first monthly she would be ready for Haselby.”

“Hermione!” Lucy exclaimed.

Hermione’s answer didn’t sound right to Felicity, who had gone home and repeated it to Portia. Portia marched down to the Abernathy household and left with a new ward that same day. No one’s quite sure how she did it. They did know however that Richard could visit his sister, but should their uncle step a single foot on their property Portia will let Felicity use him as target practice for her shotgun.

...

For those that need a quick flow chart here’s the official order everyone joined the family and their ages. If they weren’t there in the first part when they probably should have been after this we’re just gonna ignore it and pretend they were:

Phillip became a ward when Penelope dragged him home when she was 8 and he was 10.

Michael comes to visit and just never leaves when he is 16, Phillip is 13, and Penelope is 11.

Sophie is taken in as a ward at 16. Penelope is 12, Phillip is 14, and Michael is 17.

Kate is 19 when they meet the Featherington. Penelope is 13, Phillip is 15, Michael is 18, and Sophie is 17.

Simon meets everyone about six months after Kate was introduced. He is 25 and everyone else is roughly the same age.

The year everyone returns to London Simon is 26, Kate is 20, Michael is 19 Sophie is 18, Phillip is 16, and Penelope is 14. Michael went traveling to India based on Kate’s stories, and Simon is busy with running Clyvedon. They were there for the first ball though.

Gareth also gets introduced the first year back in London. He is ten when Felicity finds him and she is 7.

Finally Lucy is 10 when Felicity, also 10 befriends her. Simon is 29, Kate is 23, Michael is 22, Sophie is 21, Phillip is 19, Penelope is 17, and Gareth is 13.

The year the Bridgerton boys ask the girls to dance Simon is 31, Kate is 25, Michael is 24, Sophie is 23, Phillip is 21, Penelope is 19, Gareth is 15, and Lucy is 13.

#if you haven't guess yet kate sophie and lucy get aged up a little bit and gareth gets aged down #this is just to make it a little bit easier for me to try to move them around the plot if i age pair them with a bridgerton #also portia being reborn in bridgerton even before her memories come back does have some dominion affect #villianess isekai au #bridgerton spouses #villian spouses #simon basset #michael stirling #gareth st clair #lucy abernathy #i think i went a little bit overboard again

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quibbs126 · 2 years ago

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So I made a new character

This time he’s a completely original character, not meant to be any (technically) pre-existing ones in the Layton series, so that was interesting. I started out by making a sketch of him on the memo feature in Diabolical Box. It’s not that great

But yeah anyways, so this was me trying to think of a plot for that hypothetical scenario where Layton and co go to a town where everyone wears bauta costumes, aka like what Descole wears, and this was one of the characters (actually the only one) I made for that. As of currently I don’t really have a name for him, other than my brain calling him Nikolai, but I don’t feel like that makes much sense considering he grew up in this town that’s supposed to be based on Venice with potentially some French influence considering the only actual character with design elements like that having a French name. So yeah as of now, I don’t know what to call him. But for the sake of simplicity, for the rest of the post I will be calling him Nikolai (If you have any name suggestions please tell it would be much appreciated)

So the design on the left would be his casual outfit he wears at home (and probably what we first see him in), while the one on the right is the one he wears when out and about in the city. He probably goes under a different name under that outfit as well, so as to protect his identity

Oh yeah also, he uses a cane (in both outfits), I just didn’t draw it. He does actually need it though, and also it has a sword in it

Gonna be honest, not too fond of the one on the right, I think I need more practice in trying to draw outfits like this. I used some paintings I found on Google as references, but I think I still need some better references, as well as just figuring out how that top cloak thing works

I’m thinking he might be the one to send a letter to Layton to ask for help here, but I’m not entirely sure yet

But it’s his past that’s more interesting here, as what I’m thinking is that when they were teenagers, he and Descole were dating, because while I may give him a wife, you cannot convince me that Descole has never dated or at least hooked up with another man.

Oh yeah so Nikolai’s supposed to be around his early 40s, same as Descole. Not sure if giving him that lighter streak made him look a bit older

Now here’s where we get to the potential plot of the story, which I honestly just don’t know what to do with. For these two, I want them to have had some sort of dramatic break up, but in terms of present day Nikolai’s chill with him (even if they haven’t seen each other in over 20 years). Oh and to be clear I’m going with the idea that Descole is in the city but with amnesia

Right now here’s the plot I’m working with: so years ago when the two were teenagers, they were exploring some mystery in the town (which also involved underground tunnels and rivers) and at some point when they were close to the reveal of it (or they had found it out) they were attacked by another person, and while it was two-on-one, the pair were in quite the struggle, as their opponent was stronger. (side note this may have been potentially the reason Nikolai develops the need for a cane) So they’re having their battle, and Descole sees an opening and attacks, and ends up killing their attacker. They don’t really know what to do about this so they just dump the body into one of the underground rivers near them and just elect to try and forget about it, even if it weighs on Descole, because while you can debate whether he’d regret killing in present day, he’s only a teenager at this point and I imagine the experience of actually killing someone would still be traumatizing to him. Anyways so a week later, things are going good, until the body ends up resurfacing on the, well, surface, and it becomes publicly known. Descole, feeling guilty and not wanting to ruin things for Nikolai should they be discovered, decides to leave town, thinking that he doesn’t deserve to stay there, and he never came back. Present day, Descole showed up but with amnesia (also he didn’t just walk into town one day, he was found on the shore unconscious) and Nikolai’s been taking care of him, trying to help him regain his memories. Meanwhile the present day problem is that this whole incident is coming back up again and Nikolai, hearing of Layton’s accomplishments (but likely not knowing his and Descole’s connection) calls him in to help with it

*oh yeah if you haven’t noticed, this backstory does contradict some of the things I headcanon for Des’s backstory. In this continuity I’m going with the idea that he was living in this town since he was left alone as a child. See, I’ve kind of got this thing where I try to keep my things as canon compliant as possible, and so if making a hypothetical continuation or retelling of events in a series, I will tend to throw my original headcanon for series of events out the window if I can come up with something better. Also I’m just indecisive and sometimes I come up with new ideas I like more. It’s never really bothered me but also I never really had to share it with people, so I guess just forewarning that I will retcon headcanons if it suits me

So what’s the mystery of the town? I’m not sure, but I’ve been thinking of it having something to do with memory loss, considering Des, but at the same time I’m also thinking that that could be caused by something else? Or is that reaching too far and I should just stick to it being related only to this story? And would he get his memories back, at least partially, or would nothing trigger his memories and alert Layton that something else is going on with his mind? Also going back to the actual town, this doesn’t really tie in to the whole thing about the town wearing masks, that seems like something you need to answer/address, or at least work into the mystery somehow

And if I’m being honest, I’m not sure about this story, because it’s essentially a murder mystery, but I feel like that’s more suited to an Ace Attorney game rather than a Layton game. And to be honest, I feel like that could make an interesting case for AA; a defendant with amnesia being tried for a crime they can’t remember, trying to prove they’re being framed only to find out they really were the murderer, except unlike other similar cases the defendant isn’t evil or manipulating things, it was an accident in self defense, so there’s basically no real villain to point to here. I feel like that’d be interesting, but would it make for a good Layton game?

Well anyways I think I’ve gotten off topic a bit, so just enjoy this character and ramblings about his story I suppose

#I don’t know what to put in the tags #oh yeah I plan on drawing a younger version of him as well #anyways #professor layton #professor layton oc #jean descole #well I suppose since they’re connected #story ideas #town of masks #that’s the tentative name I’m gonna use for this story #will update it once I come up with something better #my art #my oc

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fanartfunart · 3 years ago

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Time and Time Again

A little fic about if Ocarina of Time was a big time loop instead of splitting the timeline. (& if Link met himself)

The sky was a hazy orange in Hyrule. The sun was a glowing pale orb behind the clouds of smoke. It choked his lungs... It was nothing like Termina. Unfortunately, it was exactly like his memories. Link stared up at the sky, fiddling with the edge of his backpack.

He glanced in the direction of the Korkiri forest. He hadn’t been back for 7 years... Guilt pricked at his chest and his throat. But he couldn’t go back now. He didn’t want to know what would happen if he did anything to change things from what he remembered. It hadn’t worked out well when he was still a child, why would it now? He sighed. Shaking his head, he walked towards Kakariko village.

He didn’t know why he was here, really. To confirm he didn’t leave Hyrule on it’s own? That it wasn’t some elaborate dream?

He reached into his bag. His old childhood tunic was tucked deep down into his backpack, full of sewn up holes and threadbare patches. Instead, he’d been dressed in a tunic from Termina. (Actually a blue vest that he'd stiched together, unused to the shorter shirts that Hylians so often wore) He imagined that’s maybe why no one in Kakariko recognized him.

He layed out some of his bottles of spring water from Termina in a row. He frowned as he looked through his bag, the Ocarina of Time missing. He glanced at the Fairy Ocarina, taking it out with the rest of his supplies. A few curious people wandered over, watching as he pulled out food. He smiled and waved.

An old man wandered over to him, "What a cute little display."

Link rubbed the back of his neck with an awkward chuckle. The old man picked up an apple with a smile.

"Oh, I haven't seen one of these in a while, how many rupees?-"

Link shook his head and pushed it towards him, "All free. I'd just prefer to keep the bottles."

"Very kind of you, young man." The old man smiled and gave him a hearty pat on the back. Link coughed from the strength of it. He gave him a small smile in return as the old man walked off to do his advertising for him.

He sat back, playing the Fairy Ocarina, watching as people hesitantly took what they needed. ...He resolved to collect more things later.

The sky had slowly shifted to a more peaceful blue as the night edged closer. It was quiet. He sat on the roof of Impa’s house, dangling his feet over the edge.

He saw them walk into town. He felt time in the town slow with their entrance into town. He didn't really notice it when he was young; the gentle aid of the Goddess of Time. He assumed a lot of those magical things were normal (they were certainly explained to him like they were). He saw it now, though. Like a overly familiar, comforting blanket. His past self's presence, however, was like a itch at the back of his neck.

He didn't plan on talking to him. Or drawing attention to himself. He imagined it wouldn't help. Not worth the potential dangers.

He should have guessed Navi would notice a strange person on a roof. The fairy flew over to him, curious. His younger self turned to watch, straining to see what she did. She picked up speed. Getting closer than he expected she would. (Did she always use to hover this close to strangers when helping him talk to people further away?)

Navi stared at him, and...smiled. Soft.

She recognized him.

A falling sensation flipped his gut. He nearly genuinely fell, gripping the edge of the roof to ground himself. She actually recognized him. Any voice he had before was gone. Replaced by the fact that she recognized him.... By how much he missed her. A carved out hole in his chest.

She turned back as his younger self walked up to the building, tilting his head.

"What are you doing up there? Are you stuck like him?" His younger self called. He pointed at the roof the strange man had always been on.

Link swallowed and shook his head.

Navi spoke for him, just like she used to when the world was too big and too much. "No... I'm just watching the world go by."

"Oh! Okay! Have fun!"

"W-Wait!" Link called, voice cracking. He was getting the strangest version of deja-vu. Except everything was reversed.

He used to think this age... this ambiguous age he wasn't quite sure the actual number for was anymore- meant he was an adult. He didn't feel like an adult now. He couldn't imagine how young he actually was back then.

The green clad boy looked up at him, waiting, just as he was asked.

Link took a moment to gather his thoughts. "You... You're a child of the Forest, right?"

"...How did-"

"Never mind that, you'll... find out."

He could hear his voice echoed, memory and present blending in strange harmony. (Did he really sound like that to other people? He could've sworn his voice was deeper).

Link took a breath, "Um, make sure to tell your friends, hi. Give them a big hug. For me. I used to know some of them."

"Oh, really?! What's your name?"

Link picked at the shingles of the roof, frowning, "You can call me Grasshopper... One of my friends used to call me that."

The young boy tilted his head, then shrugged. "Okay Grasshopper!"

"And kid? ...Don't forget to be young again every once in a while... It'll be over before you know it..."

"...Ookay?" His younger self muttered, clearly confused. Link guessed it was a reasonable response....

His younger self looked exactly like he did now. They looked the same age. And yet... He was so young. It was just an illusion of maturity. He wondered if there was any older version of himself looking back at him now and realizing he was just...so young.

He sighed, "Stay safe out there, okay kid? ....If you need any tips about anything, come find me."

"Uh...I'll try. Er. Bye!" His younger self waved and Navi hovered next to Link for a quiet moment longer, keeping an eye on the retreating boy.

"Navi," Link said, in a hushed voice. She looked at him. His voice slipped from him once again.

"I know." She whispered back. She bumped his shoulder and he smiled a little.

"Mn..." He cleared his throat, hoping to clear the block on his voice with it, "You better make him rest more often... my sleep schedule is still wonky."

"You and I both know how hard that is. Once you have a goal in mind, it's hard to stop you."

Link laughed, shrugging, "Can't help it, I guess."

She shook her head, part exasperated, part fond. She tapped his head, "It seemed you turned out fine... I guess I better help that happen."

Link snorted and glanced towards the retreating boy. "Yeah... goodbye, Navi." He muttered, feeling a weight lift from his chest as he uttered those words.

She nodded, "Goodbye, Link." She zipped away, bopping his younger self on the head when she got to him. Link guessed probably in response to whatever bad plan he'd already begun concocting.

Link felt something wet leak down his cheek as he watched them leave. He really had said goodbye to his childhood now, hadn't he? He flopped onto his back, looking at the stars.

He frowned, blinks of memory drifting up into his the forefront of his mind. "Oh by the Golden Goddesses, now I got to stay in town for a year so he can come ask me things don't I?"

#loz link #loz navi #navi #oot #orcania of time #loz #legend of zelda #fanarts fanfic #time travel

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just-some-gt-trash · 3 years ago

Text

Virgil and Janus

Hellooooo, I keep being more and more late! So I decided I'm not going to do all the ships like I originally wanted to, which means I disappointed myself but I'm still going to do most of them!

So this is for day eight of @sanders-spring Anxceit

And also part two of 8.-Fortune from my October prompt list!

I just noticed they're both no.8, that was not planned. Anyways enjoy!

AN: when the letters are like this, it means that Janus is lying. Except for the fortune cookie phrases.

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

Virgil didn't feel comfortable on his bed anymore, he really needed to ask Roman for a new mattress. He moved around trying to get back to sleep… When had he eaten something in bed? It felt like it was covered in crumbs.

Groaning, he decided to take a look for himself. Virgil reached to the side to turn on his bedside lamp, only to find… more crumbly bed? Okay no time to open his eyes now.

That was when Virgil realized this wasn't his bed, or his room. He was laying down on a bunch of dirt, in what seemed to be a tunnel. Time to freak out, “uh… hello?!”

“Virgil?” Someone replied and the anxious side groaned as he recognized the voice.

“Great! We’re stuck together now!” Virgil stood up, at least Janus wasn't in the same tunnel as him, which maybe wasn't as good as Virgil thought.

Janus huffed, “I’m glad to hear you too.” He looked around, “we should start walking if we want to get out of here.

Virgil reached into his pocket to grab his phone, which luckily was actually there. “Now you won’t make fun of me for sleeping with my phone,” he didn't have any service but the flashlight would come in handy.

“Well at least do something useful and lead the way.”

Virgil rolled his eyes, “I have no way of knowing your tunnel is the same as mine but sure, follow my voice I guess.”

They walked for what seemed like hours, “uh… this is a dead end.”

“Same on my side.” Janus looked around examining the walls. He looked down and spotted the drawing of a hand. Kneeling down, he pressed it and a scuttle opened above him, way too high to reach. “I found something.”

The ground below Virgil started to rise up, “what the hell?!”

Virgil’s sudden reaction made Janus let go of the button, which closed the exit. “Are you okay?”

Virgil sighed relieved as the ground went back to normal, “whatever you did almost squashed me against the ceiling!”

Janus hummed, “is there some sort of handprint over there on your side?”

“There is, why?”

“That opened an exit on my side and raised you on yours. Maybe the one on your side can do the same and we’ll both get out.”

Virgil kneeled down, “how do I know you won’t jump out and leave me?”

Janus huffed, “I shouldn’t be the one worried of you leaving me.”

“And here we go again.”

“Oh please, it’s not like you started it.” Janus sighed, “it’s the only shot we have to get out of here. Either we trust each other or stay here forever.”

Virgil groaned and mumbled to himself, “...count of three then?”

“Yes, one.”

“Two”

“Three” Both of them pressed the button and Janus’ theory was correct, they were raising up to an open exit.

The platform they were in eventually reached the top, giving Janus and Virgil a clearer version of the place they were in, and of each other.

Virgil half waved at him, “hey.”

Janus didn't reply and just focused on the huge three behind them, “this is Remus’ side of the imagination.” He looked up at the night sky, admiring the stars that decorated it.

Virgil frowned slightly at the lack of reply but took a look at the three either way, “oh.” Yeah, he knew exactly where this was too.

Some chatting could be heard from the other side, maybe they weren't alone like they thought and the others were here too.

They looked at each other and silently agreed to go take a look. Each of them walked around opposite sides of the tree, only to find younger versions of themselves sitting on the other side.

Virgil sighed, “what is this supposed to be?”

Janus kneeled down next to younger Virgil, both past sides unbothered by their presence. He tried to grab anxiety’s attention by tapping his shoulder but his hand went through, “these aren’t like some sort of illusion or projection of ourselves.”

“Careful where you put your hands on younger me.” Virgil sat next to younger Janus, “this is clearly a memory Jan.”

Janus hadn't made the connection, but Virgil was right. This was only days before Virgil's first interaction with the light sides, days before he left.

This wasn't a special conversation or anything, maybe it was a special moment because this was the last time they were here together. Remus promised to leave this part of the imagination just for them, no one could bother them here unless they wanted them to.

Virgil looked down at their former version’s intertwined hands. He used to doodle little hearts and stars on Janus’ hands, but he didn't even see him without his gloves anymore.

Janus was more focused on the younger side’s faces. They were smiling, and a slight blush could be seen on the human side of deceit’s face. When was the last time he saw Virgil smiling?.. no, when was the last time he made Virgil smile?

“It was easier back then. Dark sides on the dark side, light sides on the light side… and to think we’re dating each other now. I’m sure anxiety over here wouldn't have agreed to that.” Virgil laid down on the grass, looking at the stars between the leaves of the three.

Janus laid next to him, “Anxiety over there though he only wanted to date one person.”

Virgil didn't look over at Janus, but he knew exactly who he was talking about.

Love can last a lifetime, if you let it

The words of that freaking fortune cookie resonated in his head. Virgil may be dating the others but… was he ready to make amends with Janus?

“I know we haven't been avoiding this, only Remus knows about our past relationship. I get it if you want to keep it platonic.”

You treasure what you lost the most

“But I don’t.” Janus looked over at his ex, “I’ve missed you. As cheesy as it sounds, my heart is not complete without you, no matter how many partners I have.” Virgil had to feel the same… Janus wasn't sure why but this felt like the right moment to open up about his feelings. He couldn't keep pretending that feeling of jealousy when he saw the other sides with Virgil didn't exist, he wanted that. Just like the old times.

Virgil finally looked at Janus, “that did sound very cheesy coming from you.” Not like he could blame him, everyone in the mindscape had become a lot more romantic with the current events. “But… I don't know, being a light side wasn't easy at first. I felt like I needed you there with me, but what if going back was getting rid of everything I had already achieved? It felt like it was, so I never went back… and it may have been a mistake.”

Janus didn't say anything else, he just took the tip of his glove and slowly took it off, revealing a bunch of star and heart doodles. “I know what you're going to say, I have been washing my hands. I just like to redo them now and then so they don't fade, and the gloves help with that too.”

Virgil took Janus’ hands and looked at the drawings, he stroked them gently with his fingers. “I thought the gloves were another way of keeping me out.”

“Oh Virgil,” Janus cupped the anxious side’s cheek with his free hand, “I never wanted to keep you out. I was trying to preserve our memories, the Virgil I used to know.

Virgil smiled softly, “he’s still here Janus. He’s just… better? With himself, with his role in Thomas's life, and, maybe at receiving love from others.” He gave Janus’ hand a squeeze, “we can try again. Not just to keep harmony with the polycule thing, but for us. I just want to keep it slow.”

Janus nodded, “and I respect that.”

It wouldn't take long for both sides to fall asleep, cuddling each other under the stars. Only to wake up in their own rooms, with their fortune cookie’s paper gently set on the pillow.

#sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #anxceitspring2022 #sandersspring2022 #anxceit #not gt #virgil sanders #janus sanders #anxiety sanders #deceit sanders #my writing #lexy writes #lex writes

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cyrusbugged · 3 years ago

Text

The Happiest of Birthdays

In which the ninja do something special for Sensei Garmadon’s birthday

A/N: thank you to the anon who requested the headcanons for this concept, i thought it would be really cute to turn into a story! enjoy :)

————————————

It was a quiet, peaceful morning in Ninjago. Golden rays of sunlight shone across the far outskirts of the city, where a certain ex-lord of darkness was fast asleep. It happened to be this certain ex-lord of darkness’s birthday, and his son was planning something special.

“Do you have the tray?” Lloyd asked, pulling a party hat on his head.

“Yes,” Zane replied. “We better get there soon, before this cools off.”

Lloyd thought it would be a good idea to surprise his father for the special occasion. He managed to convince his friends to get up earlier than usual to help surprise him. Zane agreed to cook pancakes, eggs, and some bacon for Garmadon.

Carefully making their way through the dew covered grass, the six ninja snuck into Garmadon’s monastery. Lloyd led them to his dad’s bedroom. He carefully and quietly opened the door.

“Jay, don’t drop the tray!” Cole hissed.

“I won’t drop the tray!” Jay shot back.

“Wait guys, are we wearing the party hats?” Kai asked, carrying his in his hand.

“Shoot, I forgot the noise makers!” Jay whisper-shouted.

“You’re a noise maker,” Nya responded.

“Guys, shhh!” Lloyd hissed.

“You know, for ninja who are supposed to be sneaky, you’re awfully loud,” a deep voice rang out.

The ninja froze, and they looked over at a now awake Garmadon, who had began to sit up in bed. Misako, laying next to him, slowly woke up too, rubbing her eyes.

“Is there any particular reason as to why you’re sneaking into my bedroom this early in the morning?” Garmadon asked, running a hand through his hair, which was messy from sleeping.

The ninja all looked at each other, then Lloyd nodded. They all turned to Garmadon, and shouted out a “Happy Birthday!”.

Garmadon’s annoyed frown turned into a smile, and he laughed. “Oh, so that’s why?”

“Well, I wanted to do something special,” Lloyd said with a shrug. “It’s been awhile since you’ve been able to actually celebrate your birthday, father.”

“You have been a great deal of help around here as well,” Zane said, walking over and placing the tray of breakfast food on Garmadon’s lap. “It’s the least we could do.”

Lloyd went over, sloppily placing a party hat on his dad’s head.

“Yeah! How old are you now, anyway, Sensei G? One thousand and one?” Jay quipped.

Garmadon laughed, shaking his head. “That is actually the number of times you have to volunteer during my lessons now, Jay.”

Jay’s eyes widened. “Wait- what-!”

Misako sat up, putting her glasses on. “I guess that is today. Well, happy birthday, honey.” She pressed a kiss to Garmadon’s lips, and Lloyd fake-gagged.

“Ew! Groooossss!” Lloyd looked away, and Garmadon laughed.

“Okay, okay. Well, thank you very much for this little surprise. I really do appreciate it,” he said, ruffling Lloyd’s hair.

The ninja left, and Garmadon ate his birthday breakfast he was given. This was... sweet. The last time he actually celebrated his birthday was the same year he got banished to the underworld.

A few hours later, Garmadon had a class with his younger students. It may be his birthday, but that doesn’t mean he has the day off.

He entered his dojo, the chatter coming from his students dying down.

“Good afternoon, everybody. Today’s lesson will be an easier one, focusing more on defense against a person you are fighting,” he announced. “Now, when we defend ourselves-“

“Um, Sensei Garmadon?” One of his younger students piped up.

“Yes, Matthias?” Garmadon responded.

The boy, Matthias, wringed his hands together. “Well... we just wanted to say... uh, now guys!”

And with that, a chorus of a very off-key version of ‘Happy Birthday’ echoed through the dojo. Garmadon couldn’t fight the smile that formed on his face.

“Well that was very lovely,” Garmadon said when they finished, and let out a small chuckle. “Thank you very much. Now, pick a partner, and I will explain what activity we will be doing today.”

The sun was beginning to set, and Garmadon had just waved goodbye to his students. He sighed, leaning against the wall. He really isn’t as young as he used to be.

“Happy Birthday, brother,” Wu’s voice suddenly came from the side of Garmadon, causing him to jump.

“Oh, thank you, brother,” Garmadon said, letting out a breath. “However, you did not have to sneak up on me like that.”

“I apologize,” Wu replied. “But I came here to ask if you would like to join the ninja and I for dinner in the bounty.”

“I’d love to,” Garmadon replied with a smile. “Thank you.”

Wu led his brother to the bounty, going inside to the bridge.

The entire place had been decorated for a party. There were streamers dangling from the ceiling, a banner that said “Happy Birthday Garmadon!” hung across the wall, balloons on the floor, confetti sprinkled across a table with a table cloth, and there was a cake.

The cake said “Happy ???th Birthday!” in purple writing, and the rest of the cake was covered with white icing. There was a little drawing of Garmadon in the middle under the writing.

“This is... oh my,” Garmadon said, looking in awe at the whole scene. “Thank you, really. I appreciate this. But you didn’t have to go all out like this for me.”

“Like I said, I wanted to do something special,” Lloyd said, wearing a party hat.

Jay blew on the noise-maker he had, then grinned at Garmadon. “You like it?”

“I do,” Garmadon said with a smile.

“Alright! Let’s light the candles and sing!” Cole exclaimed.

“You just wanna eat the cake, don’t you?” Nya asked with a smirk.

“...I’m not saying yes but I’m also not saying no,” Cole replied.

Kai used his fire to light the candles, and Zane dimmed the lights in the bridge from his own mainframe. Garmadon sat at the end of the table, and Wu stood behind him.

After everybody sang, Garmadon blew out his candles. Suddenly, though, his face was shoved into the cake.

“Oh, I’m sorry brother,” Wu said, a sly smirk forming on his lips. “I must have tripped.”

In an instant, the ninja burst into laughter. Garmadon huffed, wiping his face off with his hand.

“What’s so funny, Kai?” Garmadon asked, then wiped his now icing-covered hand across Kai’s cheek.

“Agh!” Kai shouted, wiping at his face.

Cole sighed. “So much for cake...”

“Oh, don’t worry Cole!” Jay said, scooping up a chunk of cake in his hand. “You can still have some!”

The second Jay smeared the cake over Cole’s face, a war broke out. Cake and icing was being thrown everywhere, and by the end of it, there was more cake on everyone’s face than in their stomach.

And even though Garmadon spent some extra time in the shower trying to get the icing out of his hair, he was happy. Happy to have his family back, and happy to have his life back to somewhat normal.

#ninjago #sensei garmadon #lloyd garmadon #jay ninjago #kai ninjago #cole ninjago #nya ninjago #zane ninjago #ninjago fanfic #ninjago fluff #my fics

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winterscaptain · 4 years ago

Text

the pleasures of the elder.

Aaron Hotchner x Gender Neutral Reader

a/n: the people have spoken, and they all love sean hotchner. this fits after mean it in the joyful future universe, but no context is actually required to enjoy a little bit of sibling rivalry. title comes from jane austen’s quote: “the younger brother must help to pay for the pleasures of the elder.”

words: 3k warnings: language, alcohol use, sex mention, jealous!aaron, perceptive!sean

summary: when he arrives for an impromptu visit, sean knows his brother too well to give him any moment’s peace - especially when it comes to you.

masterlist | a joyful future masterlist | requests closed

A man, both very handsome and vaguely familiar, pushes through the glass doors and walks across the bullpen - a visitor's badge pinned proudly to his leather jacket. You try to place him, but come up short.

You’re alone, for the time being. Almost everyone is off running some kind of last-minute errand around the federal building - making copies, finishing paperwork, or in a meeting (in Hotch’s case). It’s the last dregs of the day, the sun setting over the river.

The man stops in front of your desk. “Hi. Are you part of the BAU, or am in the wrong place?” His eyes are bright, roaming over your face with a kind of curious, warm, knowing air.

You smile at him, and before you can answer -

“Sean!” JJ’s fond tone carries across the bullpen, and she arrives with an armful of cases.

Sean?

Oh my god.

Sean Hotchner.

“Hey, JJ, right?”

She laughs, sounding a little younger than she is. You can’t blame her. Sean is exceedingly handsome in an entirely different direction than his older brother. And if your memory serves correctly, just a year older than you. “Yeah, that’s right. Good to see you.” He offers her a hand, and she shifts her files to take it. His handshake is firm, and lasts just a moment too long.

You kick back in your chair, almost inviting him to lean against your desk. “Hotch is in a meeting, if you’re looking for him. He should be out in,” you check your watch, “about five minutes.”

Sean turns back to you, his shockingly blue eyes meeting yours. “Thanks.” He smiles at you again, and you’d be lying if you said your heart was doing normal things in your chest. “Sean Hotchner. I’m Aaron’s - sorry, Hotch’s - little brother.”

Those eyes are dangerous.

Oh, poor Aaron.

You shake his hand and introduce yourself. “Pleasure’s all mine, I’m sure.”

Just as you suspected moments ago, he takes the initiative and leans against your desk. JJ hovers nearby, a little smile on her face. You watch as she sends a quick text, and puts her phone back on her belt.

Gotta tell the girls...

“So,” he starts, brisk and businesslike, “you definitely weren’t here during my last visit. What’s your story?”

“Well, if you must know -“

“I must.” He flashes you another smile, and you can only imagine all the trouble he caused growing up. Or, rather, you can imagine all the trouble he would have caused if his brother wasn’t around to bail him out. Five years ago, you would have been drawn into his pretty eyes and wide smile. Now, you can only see a boyish, overt, almost-inelegant version of the understated warmth you love in Aaron.

You give him a quick rundown of your history: hometown, alma mater, etc. “- I was an academy grad in 2007, and I’ve been here ever since.”

“Ah, so not a newbie anymore. And you’ve worked with my brother the whole time?” He almost looks impressed. His glance down to your ringless left hand doesn’t escape your notice.

Oh Sean, if only you knew.

You nod. “Yeah, I’ve worked under Hotch for five years now.”

And I’ve worked over him for about three months. Also under him, around him, on the couch, in the kitchen, etc.

Shut up.

C’mon. It’s funny.

A low whistle leaves him as you bite back a smile. “Damn. I’m so sorry. He’s a real hardass.”

You lean in conspiratorially, and you’re almost cheek-to-cheek as he leans down to listen. “You know, that’s what I hear, but -”

Penelope bursts through the doors and calls your name, carrying an armful of papers that have absolutely nothing to do with the work going on upstairs. Emily is close behind her, an amused grin on her face.

Sean leans back so you can finally see her. “Yeah?”

“I have these for - Oh, hi Sean!” She says it like she hasn’t already decided her primary objective is to get his attention.

“Hey!” He looks over at her, one finger up to stop her in her tracks. “Wait, don’t tell me. Garcia, right?”

“Penelope,” JJ supplies helpfully.

“That’s right. It’s good to see you again.” He offers her his hand, and she takes it. You’re almost certain he winks at her, and she smiles through the blush rising on her cheeks.

He really is a heartbreaker, huh?

Aaron must have had his work cut out for him.

Derek rounds the corner and immediately rolls his eyes at the scene before him. Sean has his body angled toward you (in your chair, completely open, with your chin in your hand) while he shakes Penelope’s hand. JJ pretends to do work off at her desk behind yours, but she’s completely tuned into the conversation. Emily’s sitting on her own desk off to the side, watching the whole thing with a certain degree of good humor.

“Sean, good to see you, man.” Derek walks over and takes Penelope under his arm. It’s almost possessive, and you almost laugh.

Sean releases Penelope’s hand and takes Derek’s. “Hey, Morgan. How’ve you been?”

Their bro-to-bro catch-up fades into the background as you see Hotch appear on the breezeway by his office. You look up at him before pointedly glancing at Sean beside you. He sighs, then calls, “Sean.”

The man in question turns, and a smile breaks out over his face when he sees his brother. There’s something cocky about it, and you don’t miss the way his body language remains keyed into you as he speaks. “That’s my name, don’t wear it out.”

Aaron takes another deep breath and walks down the stairs. “What are you doing here?”

“Can’t I just come see my big brother at work?”

Aaron’s eyebrow is dubious at best. “What do you need?”

Sean laughs, and it reminds you enough of Aaron’s that it draws a wide smile from you. You find yourself looking fondly up at Sean, seeing more of the resemblance now that they’re beside each other. Aaron’s jaw flexes. You notice.

Oh, see, now this is fun.

“I was just in town and figured I’d stop by to see if you were here or out on a case.” Sean glances down at you with another charming smile before looking back at his brother. “I guess I got lucky.”

He’s just full of those smiles, isn’t he?

JJ jumps in. “We’re actually planning on going out to drinks once we wrap up in a couple of minutes. You’re more than welcome to come.”

While JJ pulls attention elsewhere, you glance up at Hotch and throw him a wink. Hey. Relax.

His jaw relaxes just a touch, and his lips twitch. As usual, he covers it by crossing his arms over his chest. Don’t be a shit.

You wet your lips and purse them a little. Nice try.

He shifts, just a little, raising an eyebrow. You’re really gonna go there?”

Watch this. You toss him a quick smile. “That would be great!” You brush Sean’s sleeve as you unnecessarily reach over him for Penelope. “What do you think, Pen?”

“Oh, we’d love that!” Penelope takes your hand, squeezes it, and looks up at Derek. “Wouldn’t we?”

Derek nods. “We’d love to have you, man. It’ll be good to hear what you’ve been up to in New York.”

Aaron does his best to suppress his eye roll. You’re lucky he loves you, childish antics and all.

+++

When you split up into your respective cars, Sean elects to ride with you over his brother. You and Hotch play the role of designated drivers. You’ve fallen into the routine, finding it's much easier to sneak around your coworkers as they get more and more inebriated through the evening.

Aaron doesn’t look too happy with the ride arrangements, but he lets it slide. Dave and Emily ride with him, while you have Derek, Penelope, and JJ in the car with you and Sean.

It’s not that he doesn’t trust you. He doesn’t trust Sean.

Logically, he doesn’t have anything to worry about. He woke up this morning to your patient, adoring eyes and your hands playing with his hair. You ate breakfast together (read: sat in his lap with a bowl of cereal while he read his emails), were (almost) late due to your showering arrangement, and only parted after a (very) good kiss in the driveway.

Still though, he can’t quite shake the insecurities he always felt with his brother. Thirteen years his junior, Sean always seemed to excel in every social pursuit. Music, girls, friends - he was able to settle into things Aaron always struggled with. It was stupid. Aaron was well into his thirties when Sean was in undergrad, but that prickle of envy never seemed to fade.

Their mother never put the pressure on Sean the way she did on Aaron, and in some ways it made sense. He was a teenager when their father passed, and Sean was hardly a child. More responsibility, more weight, less credit.

Aaron might be his mom’s pride and joy, even to this day, but Sean will always be her baby.

Thus, watching Sean easily weasel his way into one of your smiles wore on almost thirty years of tension.

“Hey, what’s going on with you?” Emily asks, tapping Hotch’s shoulder with gentle fingers. Upon making contact, she snorts. “Wow, you’re really tense.”

Hotch shakes his head and shrugs her off. “I’m alright.”

It’s Dave’s turn to snort. “No you’re not. You’ve been scowling since Sean showed up.”

“He just has that effect on me. Always has.”

“C’mon, Aaron.” Dave says. Aaron’s grip on the wheel tightens, but he doesn’t say anything. “He’s just a kid.”

With a flat deadpan, Aaron replies, “He’s thirty.”

Emily leans forward on the center console, inserting herself into the conversation. “Hotch, you don’t have anything to worry about. Sean doesn’t have anything on you.” She bumps his shoulder with hers.

He sighs. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Emily and Dave share a look and a little smile.

+++

You hop out of the car, swinging your keys in your hand. Hotch is a couple of spots down from you in the parking lot, and your little groups meet up somewhere in the middle. Falling back, you let Derek and Emily lead the way. When they’re all in front of you, Sean included, you press your shoulder to Aaron’s for just a moment.

“Are you going to be childish?” he says, quietly.

You suppress a smile. “You’re fun when you’re jealous.”

“I’m not jealous.”

“Alright.” Your hand snags his for just a moment, before you jog forward to catch up to the rest of the group.

“There you are!” Sean’s voice rings out, and you let him tuck you under his arm. You wrap an arm around Sean’s waist and chance a look back to grin at Aaron.

Gotcha, babe.

Aaron rolls his eyes so loudly you can see it from twenty feet away. Ridiculous.

I love you.

I know.

+++

You’ve all managed to secure a table. While not incredibly crowded, there are plenty of people around. You planted yourself next to Aaron, and Sean planted himself next to you. The music is just loud enough to encourage dancing without requiring a shout to communicate.

Derek downed his first drink and led Penelope on the floor within ten minutes of your arrival.

The round table is crowded, and your pinkie locked in Aaron’s belt loop goes unnoticed. He stretches his arm out behind you to clap Sean’s shoulder, and his fingers quickly trace across your shoulders as he pulls it back.

“So what have you been up to, Sean?”

“Oh, you know. This and that.” He pulls from the drink in front of him and you’re almost certain it’s just a Coke.

Sober? Getting there?

Remind me to get the skinny on that later.

10-4.

Aaron chuckles darkly. “You’re gonna have to do better than that.”

Sean shrugs, and leans back, checking out the dance floor. You pull your pinkie from Aaron and put both of your hands on the table. Emily’s looking a little too watchful tonight, and you’d hate to lose your bet.

Your money is on making it more than six months without alerting the team you’ve been sleeping together. Aaron, always of little faith, took the alternative.

“Dance with me?” Sean offers you a hand, and you take it. Before you get too far, you lean across Aaron to take another sip of your drink. When you lose your balance (on purpose), Aaron steadies you with a hand around your waist, making sure you’re settled on your feet before you jet off with Sean.

“Thanks, Hotch!”

He takes a long pull from his beer - his only drink for the evening. Hotch. Gimme a break.

“Looks like they’re hitting it off great,” JJ says with a laugh. “That works out. I mean, Sean’s about our age, right?”

Don’t remind me.

“Yep. Turned thirty last month.” Aaron does his best to not sound too bitter.

JJ smirks at Emily, who turns to smirk at Dave. They don’t know what they don’t know, but they certainly know enough to keep an eye on Aaron for the rest of the evening.

“That’s in-flight entertainment, baby.” Emily whispers to JJ. “I can’t wait to tell Will. He’s going to die laughing.”

JJ lets out a peal of laughter. “Absolutely.”

Out on the floor, you’re having way too much fun, sandwiched between Derek and Sean. You pull Penelope between you and Derek, and loop an arm over Sean’s shoulders.

“So,” he says, his lips close to your ear and his voice barely audible over the music, “how long have you been sleeping with my brother?”

You freeze for just a moment, but it’s a moment too long to recover. “What?”

“Oh, come on. Question in response to a question? That’s like profiling 101.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Sean rolls his eyes. “He’s halfway in love with you, if not completely fucked, in case he’s failed to tell you.” He spins you out, and back in so your back is against his chest.

“We’ve got that covered, yeah.” You twist in his arms. “You gonna do anything about it?”

He shrugs. “I dunno. I think it’s pretty funny to get him all worked up, though, don’t you think?” Another bright smile crosses his face and his blue eyes seem to glow in the dim light.

“Oh, Sean. I think we’re going to get along just fine.” You laugh and reach for him again, but a finger appears in your belt loop. Derek pulls you back toward him by the hip. He’s stupid strong, and you can only tumble back into him with another laugh.

You’re sweaty, sober, and having way too much fun.

“Careful, kid. I think Hotchner has a crush.” Derek’s playful jab is warm against your ear as you fall in with him, cheek-to-cheek.

“What can I say?” You ask. “I’m irresistible.”

Derek throws you under his arm in a spin and you land back at his chest with the wind knocked out of you. “He’s gotta get in line though.”

“Oh?”

“I think his big brother’s gonna give him a run for his money?”

That’s enough for you. “Gimme a break, Morgan.” With a laugh, you shove at Derek’s chest and leave the floor. Returning to the table, you sidle up to Aaron again. “Hey, Hotch. Having fun?”

He gives you a weak glare out of the corner of his eye and takes a sip of his beer. “A blast.”

“Couple more hours, if that, then we’ll be home.” You drop your voice, almost whispering into your glass as you take another sip.

Aaron nods. “Can’t come soon enough.”

The rest of the team gets more and more sloshed as the evening progresses, and you can get away with a lot more. That said, Sean’s eyes are playful, sober, and more than a little amused.

“What did my brother say to you?” Hotch murmurs, under his breath. The girls went to the bathroom (and to call Spencer a cab home) while Derek and Sean posted up at the bar, itching for an excuse to give some asshole the what-for.

You bump his shoulder. “Just that you’re half in love with me, if not already completely fucked.”

He heaves a sigh. “Can’t catch a break.” You link your pinkie through his belt loop again. “He’s right, though.”

“How’s that?” You look up at him and you know he can see how much you love him.

“I’m completely fucked.”

If any of your team members wonder what’s so fucking funny, they don’t ask. It’s just good to see Hotch smiling again.

+++

At the end of the night, you drop Sean back off at the hotel on your way home. He’s the last in your car, so he can speak his mind with a certain degree of freedom. You idle in front of the building for a moment, just enjoying the silence.

“Hey.”

You look over at him. “Yeah?”

“You’d make a great in-law. Just wanted you to know that I’m here for it.” He offers you a hand. You shake it and it almost feels like you’re making some kind of gentleman’s agreement. “Take care of him. He needs it.”

“Oh, don't worry. I know.”

The smile you share is that of a pair of co-conspirators, of siblings, of friends.

We’ll do just fine, you and I.

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#aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner #hotch x reader #hotch #aaron hotchner imagine #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds imagine #criminal minds #tali writes fanfiction #tali talks cm #sean hotchner #a joyful future #a joyful future fanfic

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gingersnappe-9 · 3 years ago

Text

Quisiera: Growing Pains (2)

Javier Peña / F!Reader; Post Narcos

Masterlist || Series List || Taglist Form || PREVIOUS || NEXT

1.9K words

Summary: You have a lot on your mind. You never expected Javi to be one of them. But that's nothing a good soak can't fix, right?

Warnings: mention of loss of parent & degenerative diseases, minor depictions of sexual thoughts, minor profanity

A/N: because I'm a major dork, and no one asked, I created the floor plan for the reader's house and my friend @followwhereshegoes designed it in Sims for me. The photos are at the end of the chapter. I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think!

Your hair blew in the wind as you drove your work-beaten Ford F-250 home. Papers from a long day of checking up on animals and livestock fluttered beneath your now empty thermos for coffee. Your head bobbed with the familiar bumps and turns of the road as you drove home. The ride wasn’t unlike it had been any other day, but as you pulled into your driveway and peaked to the left and you knew he would be there. You had known for a few weeks now that Javi had been back. On a courtesy visit for Don Jesús -- Javi’s dad -- he had mentioned his son might be returning to Texas soon. That had to have been roughly two, maybe three months ago?

You never thought you would see him again. The kid who always thought he knew best. The one who was so sure of himself and that the world was his oyster. You weren’t surprised that he didn’t recognize you though. That was Javi you grew up with. This Javier was different. It was plain to see that he carried a weight with him. Knowing the things he knew, holding on to whatever he’d done in the back of his mind now and forever. He wasn’t the bright and shiny version of Javi you once knew, but he was still as golden as ever.

As you hopped out of the car and twirled the keys on your finger, you were beyond satisfied at your decision to postpone your reunion with Javi. Crossing the threshold of your house you recalled how panicked he looked. The quick flashes of “oh shit” in his eyes before he masked his uncertainty with precision and a charming smile. To others, he played it off fine, but you knew Javi before he was Agent Peña. You’d practically grown up with him so you were privy to those subtle tells.

Javi’s abuelos moved to be closer to their son and his family. His grandparents and your parents met in English class after they moved to America and the families stayed close ever since. Javi’s family was from Mexico, and yours came from Colombia. Each of your tíos and tías helped watch and raise you and your primos. While most of your blood relatives were still in Colombia, you loved your found family here in the States. All of the birthdays spent in one another’s backyards with copious amounts of candy that came pouring out of piñatas. Big Christmas gatherings with mountains of food like ponche, pozole verde, and dulcitos like your favorite manjar blanco. Above all, you remember the laughter.

You laughed so much as a child. Someone could look at you in such a way and you would have burst out into a fit of giggles and happy squeals. It was a bittersweet thing to recall. Things were just… different now. You grew up. Life changed, you certainly had.

This was the home your parents had built not too long after they came to America. You still felt like a little kid playing house sometimes. Being the sole occupant felt strange after the years you spent growing up with the place bursting with laughter, people, and above all love. But life changed. Your mother had died of a heart attack the year before you finished vet school. Ten years back, your father was diagnosed with early onset dementia and it was left to you to make the hard decision of placing him in a nursing home. You couldn’t care for him with the hours you worked at the clinic, and you didn’t think your heart could bear seeing the man you admired slowly fade away. It made you feel awful to admit, but there was only so much a heart could take. It could’ve been different if you still had your mamá, but it was just you.

Your body hitched a bit as you bent over to pull the dirt caked boots off your feet. Growing up is fun, they said. They never mentioned anything about rapid onset aches and pains once you passed thirty. You loved being a vet, you loved taking care of horses and all manner of livestock; being there for the folks who relied on you, but man alive was it taxing on the body.

As you padded your way into the study just to the left of the front door, you dropped the excess paperwork and lunch pale on your desk; your boots onto the old mat so as to not spread anymore dirt in the house. Trying your best to properly file away your paperwork, billing receipts and lists of future visits, you found your mind wandering back to Javier.

The wonderful way his bone structure had sharpened with age. Yeah he was a good looking teenage boy -- a bit on the thin side, but strong in body and mind -- but this version of Javi was a stud. His skin was naturally tanner than some, but it was even more bronzed by the sun from his time down in Colombia. A man with strong looking hands that wrapped the circumference of the tumbler glass filled with neat whiskey meanwhile yours could only manage to get around halfway. You were extremely annoyed at how he could pull off a damn mustache without looking like a creep. Finding that you were spending far too much time thinking about Javier Peña rather than getting your ass ready for bed, you set off on your nightly routine.

Pushing yourself up and out of the desk chair was more tiresome than you would have liked to admit, but not impossible. You then opened the door that led into your bedroom. It still felt a bit weird to call it your bedroom after all this time.

You had redecorated the place to your tastes. The main bedroom now had a beautiful four post bed with pleated gossamer drapes around the posts. The warm wood bureau and doors matched the deep trim of the window sills and frames throughout the house. You removed your everyday jewelry and placed them in the little wooden dishes you had bought in Colombia the last time you visited. You had just turned twenty two then, and didn’t care to remember how old you were now. Admiring the fine artistry of the delicately carved lines and lacquered scenery of a village always brought back fine memories, summers spent in a home away from home. Peeling off your work clothes proved a bit more challenging now that your muscles and bones had started to stiffen from the wear of the workday. You walked into your bathroom as naked as the day you were born, a small perk of having moved into the main bedroom since it had an ensuite bathroom.

After the long day, a shower just didn’t seem like it was going to cut it. You pivoted to the left and began to draw a steaming hot bath. A few drops of essential oil were splashed into the piping hot water. Your abuelita did always say, “Medicina cuando la necesita, pero los remedios naturales siempre son los mejores.”

Medicine when you need it, but natural remedies are always best.

Once the tub was filled as high as it could go and still accommodate your body, the taps were shut off, and you slipped into the warm bliss. The water worked its magic while you turned on a small radio that sat on the windowsill. It was tuned in to some station based in Mexico that always played música rancheras. You were a self-proclaimed “old soul” and loved your parents' generational music. It was a not-so-guilty-pleasure for you. Even when you were younger, some of the other kids made fun of you for not liking the more modern music. But your mom always reassured you it was because you were un romántico. A romantic.

The soulful melodies and elegant guitar echoed through the steam from the bath as your aches and pains were softly pulled from your bones. The sky outside the window was a dusty pink muddled with orange. The heat from the bath was wonderful. Your mind wandered ever farther as you sunk deeper into relaxation. Tonight was one of those evenings you imagined someone else in the tub with you, it was one of the reasons you’d thrown in a couple extra bucks when you redid the bathroom. You imagined leaning against their chest, them running their hands up and down the inner part of your thighs, getting closer and closer to where you wanted their touch the most.

Big and strong hands. Ones that weren’t afraid to leave an imprint, a reminder of their presence. Your cheeks flushed at the thought of them gently pressing and squeezing into your thighs, chest, and hips. The fantasy completed itself when you put a face to this mystery man.

Warm brown eyes, a well-defined jaw, somewhat pouty lips that practically begged you to kiss them with a fucking mustache of all things. You imagined the sound of his voice right next to your ear, whispering dirty things while he continued to paw at your body with confidence. The fresh recall of your most recent conversation made the day dream seem all the more real. It was intimate, enticing. You hadn't had any real boyfriend in a while and with the luscious way the water lapped over your skin, you couldn’t help but squeeze your thighs together unconsciously as his conjured words echoed in your mind.

You feel so soft, Armorsita. Do you like when I touch you here, baby? Oh, you do. I can tell. Mi dama. Tell me. Tell me how much you like it, how much you love being mine. Let me have you, all of you. Let me show you just how much I love touching you right…

Your mind snapped back when your head slipped from its perch on the back of the tub. The room felt steamier than it had before even as the water temperature had dipped to lukewarm.

Was I really just fantasizing about Javier Peña of all people?

It was official then. You needed to get into bed and sleep off whatever delusions these were and come back to reality.

Fully washed and dried, you finished your routine by lathering yourself in your favorite lavender body lotion. Your body felt much better without the thin layer of Texas dust smothering your skin. Something different, however, clouded your mind, or rather, someone. It was a bit alarming how easily Javier permeated your idle thoughts. The encounter suddenly became very clear.

Why did you say goodnight as sultry as you did? Was that even sultry? Why do I keep thinking about it being “sultry”?

Your mind recalled the brief moment your lips touched his cheek. It wasn’t unlike any other time you kissed a friend goodbye. You’d been doing it forever. It was how you said goodbye. You knew that, and so did he. So why did it carve out its own special place in your mind? Why were the sensations so clear and vidid? Why did you so badly want to do it again and again without pause?

Of course your mind would fixate on the person who had just recently come back into your life. It was only natural. Humans are designed to notice differences. It’s a survival technique. To pay attention to possible threats. And you had yet to make up your mind if you considered this version of Javier Peña a friend or foe.

Taglist: @hnt-escape @betti-book @mcueveryday @athalien

#pedro pascal characters #narcos au #narcos #narcos fanfiction #javier peña

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the-silentium · 4 years ago

Text

Masterlist

Pairing: Five Hargreeves x Reincarnation!Reader

Words: 2755 words

Warnings: TUA season 1 and 2 spoilers, violence, blood, mention of torture, swearing, angst.

Requested by: @asphodelshare

Hi! I read your Five fics and I like your style of writing! If it’s not too much to ask, could you write one where Five had to leave the reader back in the 2019 Apocalypse bc he didn’t have a choice. He then sees her 1963 counterpart, she doesn’t know him and he tries to stop himself from reconnecting w/ her but he can’t help himself. It’s up to you if it’ll end on a happy note or an angsty one! Xx

A/N: The Eternals are my personal touch, so I guess this should be considered an AU of some sort. I'm sure this wasn't what you thought would happen, I'll be frank, it wasn't what I thought either 😂 The end just wrote itself! And it wasn't what I had planned. Ouups.

He tried. Really, he tried. Ever since the first time he saw you walking in the street wearing a school uniform, a school bag hanging loosely on your shoulder and a lunchbox in hand, Five had had a hard time resisting his need to run to you and hug your form with all his might. Granted, Five had no proof that the girl walking away from him was this time-line version of you, she could simply be a perfect replica of your 15 years old self with the same habit of drawing on her school furniture, the same bright smile and the same bewitching laugh. Yes, she was just a replica. A too perfect replica.

Five forced his legs to take him away from her walking form and tried to push the girl at the back of his mind. He had to concentrate on his task to stop the new apocalypse and return back in 2019 where he left you.

It never was in the plan to let you die under the meteor shower that ravaged the Earth, if anything you were at the top of his list of people he had to save. Unfortunately Five came to the conclusion that the past was a place way too dangerous for you to venture, add this to the Commission who would surely double down their effort to kill the Hargreeves and whoever helped them, your chances of dying in the past were way too high for his liking. The boy would never be able to live with himself if you were to die permanently in the past and not for only a few days in 2019.

For a whole day, Five managed to forget about the girl and his feelings altogether. Alongside Diego, he broke into their father's company building and discovered some precious information. The part of the night involving the younger Pogo let him a bitter taste in his mouth but it didn't stop him in the slightest. Back at Morty's, Five was almost surprised to find his brother still breathing on the couch, his new partner in crime cauterizing his bullet-wound.

"Did you cut yourself shaving? I can teach you to shave like a big boy." Sighing the boy put a gaze to the bleeding scratches burning his neck. All he could hope now was that Pogo didn't give him Herpes B.

"No, I just ran into an old family friend." Five turned around towards the kitchen in hope of finding a perfectly brewed coffee pot. He groaned in disappointment when he noticed that not only was the coffee pot empty, but Elliott wasn't tied in the chair anymore.

"You untied him?" Five shot Lila a brief glance before returning his attention to his surroundings, listening attentively to any sound allowing him to pin-point the man's location.

"No. Was I supposed to?"

Ignoring her question, Five made his way to the rooms down the hallway. He never ventured there before, he assumed that the three doors lead to a bedroom and some storage rooms filled with conspiracy theories just like the living room. Turns out he was partially right.

Elliott's bedroom was empty, the bed still undone. The next door opened on a black room with pictures hanging on the walls and dyeing material placed neatly.

From behind the last door, Five could hear two distinct muffled voices. He recognized the first one as Elliott's but the second one made him frown in concentration. It sounded familiar even though he never really talked to anyone from this time-line other than Lila and Elliott.

Confused, Five opened the door, not prepared at all to see you standing in front of a seated Elliott, the two of you arguing in hushed voices. The cracking door alerted you, your angry gaze instantly found him, standing in your doorway with his mouth slightly opened in shock like an idiot.

Five gulped as you made your way to him, there was no way that she wasn't you. Not only did she look exactly like you, but her pissed-off expression was the same as the you he knew. Your fists were tight at your sides, no doubt giving you the courage to not back down before him, your furrowed brows created little wrinkles that Five desperately wanted to ease away by a light stroke of his fingers and your eyes. Oh your eyes. How he had missed their spark.

“Who are you?” You harshly asked while poking his chest with your delicate finger.

Five had a hard time keeping his arms to his sides, preventing them from pulling you into a tight hug that you were sure to hate. Instead, he breathed in deeply in an attempt to calm his frantic heart. “E- What are you doing here?” He mentally cursed the slight waver in his voice, then again, you tended to have that effect on him.

“I live here. Why are you here?”

He was at a loss of words and couldn't help but stare at you in disbelief. You lived here?

“Oh. Yeah. Sorry.” Elliott stood up, his anxiety showing in the form of a hand scratching the back of his neck. “This is my daughter Y/N. Y/N this is- this is- eh. He’s one of them.”

You even had the same name! It finally clicked into Five's head. He had heard of the rare phenomenon back in his days at the Commission, someone extremely important to the balance of the time-line would reincarnate after each one of their deaths to keep the time-line on track. Those very few, only eight in the whole world, were constantly chased by the Commission who in the beginning tried to discover the secret of their perpetual rebirths but then changed their goal to killing them as soon as they could when they discovered that the reincarnations could remember their past and future lives. Five had always thought that the Eternals, as the Commission called them, were just a story created by bored time analysts to kill time.

Shaking himself out of his thoughts, a small smile slipped out of his control at the perspective that this was really you right in front of him, his best friend, his confidant, his partner in crime and the object of his affection.

“The name’s Five.” So far you didn’t seem to remember him. Maybe you were too young or it was too soon. He had no idea how your condition worked.

"I don't care, asswad. You and your friends tied my father to a chair-" Five's heart stopped at the insult modern you used to call him all the time when his shitty attitude managed to get on your nerves. As much as he hated the nickname, he couldn’t help the rush of excitement he felt when he heard it. You may be starting to remember your future even if you were unaware of it.

"He tried to shoot us." Five deadpanned quickly remembering why they tied the man in the first place.

"You are in our house!"

"He invited us in." Okay, this one was a lie. Five had space-jumped in first, but then Elliott hadn't kicked him out so he would consider it as an invitation to stay.

"Dad!" You turned to the embarrassed grown-up, disbelief written all over your face.

Five decided to let them argue alone and go control his ever growing feelings somewhere else, preferably somewhere you were not. Walking back to the kitchen to finally make himself some coffee, Five thought about how he could help you remember who you were- no, will be.

“What’s the beeping?” Lila’s voice broke through his reasoning, catching his attention when she poked the computer screen.

Five made his way toward the machine, a grin stretching his lips. “Vanya.” In a second he jumped away, carrying on with his plan to gather his siblings.

It was only two days later that he saw you next. You were eating your breakfast while quickly scribbling on a poor paper sheet, your foot bouncing rapidly on the floor as the seconds passed. Five was watching you over his warm cup of coffee, swiftly averting his gaze whenever you would lift yours. An elbow hit his shoulder, almost causing him to lose his balance and fall on the floor, wasting his precious black liquid.

“What?” Five snapped at Luther after making sure his drink didn’t spill over his hand.

“Why is Y/N here?” His whispering was not subtle at all although luckily for the blue-eyed boy, the sizzling eggs covered the excessive sound.

Five went to his brother’s side, turning his back to you in the meantime. “She’s not the same Y/N. Well, she is but-” He groaned at the complexity of the situation. His brother would definitely not understand, so he went with the easy way out. “Long story short, this is her past life. Now stop talking abou-”

“Oh, hey even your little girlfriend made it here.” Diego joined the conversation without a care in the world. He grabbed a plate along with some toast before dropping them at Five’s outburst.

“She’s not my girlfriend!” He could feel his body heating up despite his best efforts.

All three of them tensed for their own reasons yet they all not so subtly turned their heads in your direction. If looks could kill, they would definitely be at the verge of death.

“I’m not his girlfriend.” Five just received his killing blow.

You hurriedly grabbed your bag under the table and rushed out of the room, paper in hand. The silence following your exit permitted your last words to bounce in his head, hurting his feelings like nothing before. If he could gauge the pain he felt at this right moment on a scale of 1 to 10, he would say that without a doubt this was a 10.

What you said was the plain truth. In any lives of yours did you and him became a thing. It didn’t stop the fact that after all these years suppressing his romantic attraction toward you, Five had nurtured the hope that maybe one day, you two could be more than friends. Today this hope just blew up in his face, mauling his heart in the process.

So in the blink of an eye, the boy disappeared from the kitchen to live his pain alone, away from prying eyes and the pity of his brothers.

Later that same day, Five was nursing his seventh cup of steaming coffee of the day when someone sat next to his own spot on the second floor, legs dangling in the air where the floor stopped to show the once TV shop. He sipped on his coffee as an attempt to show them that he wasn’t interested in the slightest in what they had to say, needless to say that it didn’t work. He should be used by now, it never worked.

“I’m impressed that you didn’t die from a heart attack or something. Your blood pressure should be pretty high with all the coffee that you drink in a day.” He nearly choked on his sip when your soft voice reached his ears.

He turned to you, baffled to see you smirking at him. Not angry. Not annoyed. Playful. "You know, if you weren't from the future and weren’t endangering my father by your mere presence here, I would have loved to be your friend."

Just when Five thought that he couldn’t be surprised anymore! "How do yo-?"

"Klaus doesn't stop talking about how he misses youtube." The boy sighed, clearly his brother couldn’t keep his mouth shut. He wondered if sewing his mouth shut would suffice to shut him up for good. Knowing Klaus, he would definitely find a way to express himself without his mouth. “Also I remember you, asswad.” You bumped his shoulder with yours before crossing your arms on the railing before you and resting your head on them.

His eyes went wide, the meaning of your words slowly registering into his brain. He turned to you, trying in vain to not get his hopes up about your remembrance. A very genuine smile stretched your lips, making Five almost drop his mug on the floor below. He then realized that if you could remember your future life, then you surely remembered your future death and with it, how Five abandoned you to your demise. Guilt pulled at his heart at imagining what you went through because of him and fear darkened his heart at the thought that not only your past self would hate him but your modern self too.

Something on his cheek caught his attention, the delicate stroke of your fingers awoke a fire under his skin when he noticed your gesture and the concerned frown disturbing your perfect features. This time around he couldn’t stop himself and reached forward, smoothing the creased skin with a light brush of his fingertips.

“I’m sorry.” His hand dropped in defeat at his side, his gaze fleeing yours.

“What for?” You asked, genuinely confused.

“I abandoned you to die.” His voice was so small, saying it aloud made him doubt his choice. He closed his eyes tightly to keep the tears away, his remorses started eating him alive.

You moved closer and took the mug out of his hand when it was within your reach. You disposed of it before wrapping your arms around his waist and put your chin on his shoulder. He didn’t open his eyes, instead closing them tighter to the point that he started to see stars dance behind his eyelids.

“You.” You blowed on the side of his face. Once. Twice. “Hey you. Open your eyes.” You sighed when he merely relaxed his facial muscles but kept his eyes shut. “I understand you know? You had to. I’m not mad.”

You proceeded to poke his cheek when the absence of reaction on his part was starting to get on your nerves. “I’m talking to you, asswad!”

You gasped when Five suddenly turned his head to the side and connected his lips to yours with force. His hands found the side of your face to keep you close when his lips moved with yours in a desperate motion, as if you would vanish at any seconds. At one point, the kiss stopped tasting coffee, a salty taste replacing the strong addicting aroma.

Slowly Five pulled away to discover tears running down your cheeks. His first reaction was to close his hands into fists wanting to jump away and remove his damned heart from his chest with his bare hands. As the blue waves flowed around his fists, your lips stretched in a smile stealing his breath.

"Took you long enough." Your almost imperceptible whisper was so loud in his ears.

A smile mirroring your own formed on his face, he was beyond the moon all the while asking himself how he could have been so stupidly blind to your feelings.

"We got there, that's what's important." You hummed in agreement before repositioning your head on his shoulder and contemplating what next.

A few days passed and Five along with his siblings met their father. Needless to say that it went down pretty quickly. For some odd reason, Five found himself thinking that it could have been worse. Someone could have died. Or hurt. Everyone was in one piece if we didn't count Diego's soul.

Space-jumping back at Morty's, Five thought that he was horribly wrong. Elliott's body laid in a chair obviously having been tortured before being executed. As much as the boy wanted to feel bad for the man who played such a great role helping him reach his goal, every thought that passed through his mind was directed at you.

Five yelled your name before jumping from room to room before he noticed a crimson red trail leading to the black room.

His shaking hand grabbed the handle of the slightly opened door, pushing it with a shaky breath escaping his lungs.

If it wasn't of your school uniform you were wearing, Five couldn't have said for sure that this broken body was yours. The obvious torture you went through got him on his knees, water pooling from his eyes like two rivers.

He was wrong. So dearly wrong. This, right now, was the worst pain he ever felt. He didn't even have to open his chest to relieve himself of his excruciating pain for his heart had completely stopped at the agony scaled to 11.

#five hargreeves #five hargreeves x reader #number five x reader #number five imagine #the boy #tua s2 #the umbrella academy #this is angsty #and it was supposed to be fluff #my bad #luther hargreeves #diego hargreeves

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lesbian-in-leather · 4 years ago

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So it's a little late but I finally made the extended version of this post

I'm just going to rewatch the trailer and write down all of my thoughts, but actually expand on everything this time (and it'll actually be mostly in order)

Maybe it's just the cut for the trailer, but the lawyer scene feels very rushed. BBC made it comedic in its own right, not just a setup, but here it feels very much like "have some exposition so we can get to the ghosts". The ghosts should not be the only point of comedy - they're important, sure, but "Samantha" and "Jay" should be able to carry a scene by themselves

"Samantha" doesn't think it through. At all. She cuts off the lawyer after his first buyer suggestion, and "Jay" doesn't seem to be on board with the idea. In the OG, they were both into this (admittedly bad) idea, so the responsibility was on both of them. Yes they rushed into it, but it was way more thought out than just hearing the words "bed and breakfast" and deciding that's your new plan

Why did they age down Pat for "Pete". I hate it. He's younger and skinnier and there's no reason. Like yeah, the OG doesn't have AMAZING diversity, but it's better than this - don't take out diversity in a remake. Didn't think I'd have to spell that one out

The sage joke is admittedly funny. However, it gives us some insight into the ghosts that I'm not the biggest fan of, and let's us see a lot of their new designs. Let's go across, shall we?

"Issac" is so much less dignified than Thomas. I understand that Thomas isn't always as poised as he'd like to think, but there's a level of class that's missing from "Issac", right down to the way he stands

"Flower" looks high. How can a ghost be high, you ask? No idea. But here we are.

"Sasappis" (I read in an article that this is a character name and I believe tis the Native American guy) has such a tiny reaction I almost missed it. He barely moves while everyone else freaks out. I'm hoping they didn't create this character out of the 'emotionless Native American' stereotype but... I guess we'll see

"Hetty" is the replacement for Lady B, and she's super expressive, protective of the others, and so much younger. She was supposed to be a grumpy mother/grandmother figure - why is she literally leaping in front of the others to protect them? That should be the Captain's job but they've axed him so I guess it falls to her now. Also, why did they make everyone so young?? Like, none of the ghosts look over 35. Why. This was unnecessary and, quite frankly, stupid. Why is everyone at this house dying so young? Just so they can market them as fuckable???? L o a t h i n g

Viking Man also barely moved. He seems interested in the sage and is basically a "cooler" version of Robin as far as I can tell. They seem to have taken away the joy of Robin's character, leaving only Some Guy which would be bad in any genre, but ESPECIALLY a comedy. He has potential in theory, but I feel they aren't going to utalise it

"Trevor". I have so much loathing for this man. Let's have some overall analysis, shall we? First of all, we'll start with, what I hope is a well known fact: Julian is not a good person. I love him as a character and he is starting to learn and grow, but at no point does the BBC or the other characters try to justify his behaviour. CBS saw this, and made Trevor. Trevor is younger than Julian (because for some reason they AGED EVERYONE DOWN), which also makes people far more likely to excuse his actions. They seem to be trying to make him a 'loveable fuckup' who makes bad choices because of privaledge, and I am. So worried. That they're going to try and excuse his actions. He already feels like a writer's self-insert and that never bodes well, especially in this type of character. Mark my words, they're going to market him as the 'relateable' one while having him spout misogynistic views (probably also homophobic and maybe even mildly racist/xenophobic ones too)

MOVING ON

Why is "Pete" sarcastic? I don't like it. Pat wouldn't be the one yelling aggressive comments while everyone's actually doing something together - he should be happy! Encouraging! He should be trying to catch up to the moving group instead of attempting to draw attention away from it!

Everyone looked so happy for the dead relative when she moved on. Hate that - it was so funny in BBC when they were like 'fuck off why does she get to leave' - having "Pete" be happy is fine, but the rest of them? WHY IS "HETTY" HAPPY.

Oh look, "Travor" actively flicks "Pete's" arrow to cause him pain. Why. That was so unecessary. None of the ghosts should try to hurt each other out of pure malice, and they certainly shouldn't get joy from it. It feels like CBS is trying to turn us against "Pete" and put us on "Trevor's" side, which I called, but am not a fan of.

And here she is. "Alberta". What the FUCK did they do to Kitty. She has Kitty's colour palette and fits the diversity demographic, but that is where the resemblance stops. Kitty is SUCH a wonderful character because she was an upper class black woman who was allowed to be soft and sweet and innocent and the others all protected her and I LOVED IT. Do you want to hear some fun descriptors they gave to "Alberta" in this article?

"In her time, she dated a bootlegger and has “seen it all,” and is a bit of a diva. Though tough and not one to take crap from anyone, she has a maternal streak and often acts as the protective den mother to the “family” of ghosts"

This is not only far closer to so many stereotypes, but it's the polar opposite of Kitty!! Having a flapper was a pretty cool idea but she could have had the same character traits as Kitty! Why change that! There was NO REASON TO RUIN HER. Also is it just me, or does it seem like they've made way too many of them sarcastic? Like, they've taken away Alison's snarky streak but given sarcastic lines to way too many of the characters

Also can I just take a moment to question the sheer amount of ghosts they've included. I understand that technically there's about the same amount. But with so much less of American history to draw on and the questionable character choices they've made, it feels like there are so many undefineable characters. Like, how do we differentiate them?? Even in the trailer there are so many scenes where most of them are just... standing around. In BBC, they're all so distinct and you get so much out of rewatches because they're all always doing something - look in the background of any shot and the ghosts who aren't talking have a reason to be there! But in this they're just... standing around. Do better.

I've just realised I'm only 0:59 seconds into a 2:16 trailer so I'm going to split this into two parts

Part two is here

#bbc ghosts #cbs ghosts #analysis #rant #i'm still mad

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multifandomfanfiction · 4 years ago

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You Are My Sunshine Chapter 10

TITLE: You Are My Sunshine Chapter 10 PAIRING: Marcus/OC RATING: T CHAPTER: 10/? SUMMARY: The FBI is setting up a task force to deal with international art theft and they’re in need of an analyst. Willow Reid, younger sister of the BAU’s resident genius, applies for the job and gets it. She and her new boss, Agent Marcus Pike, get off on the wrong foot due to her overly friendly personality. What will the BAU do when they realize that he’s taken their sunshine away?

[A/N - Willow gets something she’s always wanted and Spencer and Willow’s fight is put out in the open. Also, our two idiots come to a realization.]

A few days after Willow and Spencer’s fight, Willow got a call from the curator the team had helped.

“I have a few spare hours, so if you wanna bring your work with you I can take a look.”

“Oh, wow. Thank you, sir.” Willow rushed to Marcus’ office and closed the door.

“Willow? What’s wrong?” he asked her.

“I got a call from the museum. The curator wants to take a look at my work. So I kinda need a few hours.”

“Take the afternoon off.”

“Are…are you sure?”

Marcus smiled. “Willow, just take it.”

“Thank you, Marcus.” Willow leaned over his desk and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

Marcus wanted to turn his head and kiss her lips instead, but he held back. He wasn’t even sure what they were at this point.

They went to dinner together nearly every night and there were affectionate touches exchanged.

Willow grabbed her things and drove to the museum.

“Oh, Miss Reid!” the curator greeted her.

“Willow, please.”

“Follow me to my office and we can get started.”

Willow followed him to his office and handed him her sketchbook.

“Do you normally focus on figures in your art? Or landscapes?”

“I draw what I find interesting.”

The curator flipped through a number of sketches before stopping on one. “Could you do a bigger version of this?” he asked, showing it to her.

Willow blushed. It was the sketch of Marcus’ eyes she’d done months ago. “Um, yeah.”

“It would be a commission of course and we’d reimburse you.”

“You mean you want to pay me?”

“These are very good. We’d love to include some of them in the next exhibition, if you’re interested that is.”

“I’d love to, sir! I’ve always wanted to be an artist!” Now she would finally get the chance. She just needed to break the news to her family.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

With the help of Rossi, she gathered everyone at his house, including Marcus.

After dinner had been served, Rossi stood up with a glass of wine in his hand. “Willow has something she’d like to announce.”

Willow looked at the BAU and Marcus. “You know that case at museum?”

Marcus nodded.

“Well the curator commissioned a piece and he wants to debut it in the next exhibition along with some of my other pieces.”

The table erupted in congratulations from everyone except Spencer.

“Spencer?”

Spencer looked at up at his sister. “What? I heard you.”

“You’re not saying anything.”

Spencer shrugged. “What do you want me to say?”

Willow’s anger was starting to rise. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe that you’re happy for me?”

“Willow, the chances of…”

“I know what the chances are! And I don’t care!”

“Spence…” JJ said.

“No, JJ. Let him say what he wants to,” Willow snapped.

The BAU had never seen Willow and Spencer fight like this. Sure, they got into disagreements, but they usually sat down and talked it out.

“Are you sure it’s not him convincing you to do it?” Spencer gestured to Marcus.

“Hey, man…” Marcus said, about to defend himself and Willow.

“Marcus has nothing to do with this!”

“Really? Because ever since he came into your life, you’ve changed!”

“I have not!” Willow stood up and threw her napkin on her plate. “I am tired of hiding behind a mask. Well, not anymore. I actually get to be myself with Marcus. I don’t have to put up a front. I don’t have to pretend that it kills me every time I’m compared to you. Or how it breaks my heart when someone gives me a backhanded compliment, even when they don’t mean to. Sometimes I wish you weren’t my brother Spencer. Maybe then it would hurt less.”

Willow stormed out of the dining room.

Marcus stood up and said, “Thank you for dinner, Rossi. We’ll call you with details later.” He grabbed Willow’s things and followed her to the car.

The dining room remained silent as the grave. No one knew what to say and all of them felt slightly guilty that they’d never seen the pain they were putting Willow through.

Willow stood by Marcus’ car, blinking back tears. She jumped when she felt Marcus’ hand on her arm.

“I know that didn’t go how you planned.”

“Please. Can we go home?”

Marcus nodded and opened the car door for her.

She’d been staying at his place more often than hers. She claimed it was because Spencer didn’t know where he lived, so he couldn’t find her even though they both knew Penelope probably knew his address. But Penelope was the one person Willow could trust not to spill her secret to Spencer.

As Marcus drove, his hand was on Willow’s thigh rubbing circles into her skin. He could feel her still vibrating with anger, so he switched on the 80’s station.

Another 80’s love ballad was playing.

Marcus sang along under his breath.

Willow looked over at him.

Marcus noticed her looking at him and took Willow’s hand in his. He finally reacted on his impulse and kissed the back of her hand.

Willow’s eyes focused on his lips before flickering up to Marcus’ eyes. I love you.

Marcus’ eyes mirrored hers. I love you too.

Taglist: @bxnnywriting @sugarontherims @anotherr-fine-mess @221bshrlocked

#marcus pike #marcus/oc #marcus pike imagines #spencer reid #dr. spencer reid #dr. spencer reid imagines #spencer reid imagines #mentalist #mentalist imagines #mentalist x criminal minds #Criminal Minds #criminal minds imagines #Criminal Minds Fanfiction

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forasecondtherewedwon · 4 years ago

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Do You Tree What I Tree?

Pairing: Peter Parker x Michelle Jones (Spideychelle) Rating: T Word Count: 8730

For @justmattycakes! Happy holidays!!! Massive thanks to @spiderman-homecomeme for organizing this Spideychelle Secret Santa!

Summary: Home from their various colleges for winter break, MJ and her friends make a day out of going to cut down their own Christmas trees. Being alone in the woods—just her, Peter, and an axe—seems like the perfect opportunity to admit that her feelings for her friend have changed.

“Wine and cider!” Peter announces, jabbing a finger at the car window as they pass a rustic-looking roadside sign.

MJ smirks to herself. His touch will probably leave a smudge on the glass, which Flash will painstakingly wipe clean later. She likes Flash much more now than she did in high school—they all do—but she likes to build up a little vindictiveness towards him in advance, for when he inevitably says or does something douchey.

“Whine inside her, is that what you’d do if you could actually get a girlfriend?” Flash asks immediately. Sweet justification for MJ, though she rolls her eyes.

Flash is driving, but Betty trusts his skill enough to smack his arm from the passenger seat, then turn to smile back at Peter.

“That sounds nice. We should definitely stop on the way back.”

“Yeah,” Ned pipes up. “Maybe they’ll have a fireplace too, where we can thaw our fingers.”

“Babe, I won’t let your fingers get cold.”

“Aw, babe,” he croons, reaching over his girlfriend’s shoulder where she sits in front of him to tangle their fingers together.

“Back to your intense lack of dateability,” Flash persists. MJ swears his original asshole persona comes out so much more whenever he slides behind the wheel of his dad’s Cadillac Escalade. “Are you having a lonely winter, Parker? With only your cold lab bench to keep you warm?”

Next to MJ, Peter sighs and mutters, “Same old Flash.” She thinks he says it only to himself, but he darts a look at her and they share a smile.

“Well, I don’t have your L.A. weather,” he allows, artfully changing topic.

Flash will talk for an hour straight about the numerous perks of attending UCLA, including the constant sunshine, the short-shorts, and the absence of his current listeners. The last they all recognize to be a blatant lie, but they like him enough to let him get away with it. MJ has a special sympathy for Flash in those moments; she’s still growing from the girl she was when they were all at Midtown together, when she found it so much easier to edge away from other people or, when she did interact, to speak defensively, insultingly, and with liberal use of the middle finger. Her communication skills have flourished with not being able to see these people in person every day. She’s actually amazed with how she’s clung to them, certain she’d failed to develop the kind of solid relationships people were supposed to form in high school and that she’d just stagger forward through her fine art degree (PoliSci minor) with a wild hope of connecting to other humans through the doodles that she’s developed into graceful sketches, from sketches to oil paintings with sweep and verve.

The five of them are in their second year at their respective centres of learning now and it feels really nice to gather after living by too-brief text exchanges, missed calls, and videocalls that somebody’s roommate inevitably arrives home in the middle of, loud and invasive. When MJ’s speaking to Ned or Flash, they can push through. They have the boisterousness and, in Ned’s case, natural good nature, to conduct two separate conversations at the same time. Betty prefers to hang up and try at a better time, when they can speak uninterrupted. Peter’s different from all of the above. MJ always sees how he blushes, as though he’s being caught talking to her. It makes her flush in return. There’s no reason for them not to be as close as either of them are with any of the others, but conversations with him make her feel different. Without meaning to, their voices lower and they wander away from whatever topic they start with; on some nights, into the most intimate tracks of their inner lives. She gets why he feels caught to be interrupted because it’s disorienting for her too, being dragged back to the larger world, hearing a voice other than his in her ear. She likes traditional phone calls with him the best because she can lie in bed with her phone pressed to her ear and he doesn’t have to know.

“Are we almost there?” Ned says when Flash pauses in his rhapsodizing of Venice Beach.

MJ, sitting in the middle of the backseat, watches her friend unlock her phone and check the map.

“Yes. Under two miles to go.”

“And we’re super sure about this place?” Ned checks.

“Mhmm. A friend of a friend in my French workshop went last year and got the most spectacular Fraser fir,” Betty assures him. “I saw it at her Christmas party. That’s the one you couldn’t go to because you got the flu, remember?”

“Ugh,” he agrees.

“We passed a tree farm awhile ago,” Peter ventures. “That wasn’t it?”

“Betty told me the owners of that farm own this lot too. It’s cheaper to get your tree here because they don’t tend the lot in the same way,” MJ informs him. She likes the look on his face when he listens. She likes the feel of his leg bumping against hers as they traverse the uneven gravel sideroad.

“Yeah, I think I’ll be making up the cost difference paying for a paint job. I can hear the stone chips!” Flash complains. As if he’s ever paid for so much as a tank of gas.

“It’s an adventure, moron,” she says.

“I wasn’t prepared for stone chips.”

“I told you everything in an email last week, when we were planning this,” Betty calmly reminds him. “We should all be prepared.”

It isn’t visible to her right now, but MJ knows her friend has a shiny, compact saw at her feet, tucked into a neat black case, looking bizarrely like a tennis racket. Her own axe is trapped beneath Peter’s shoe so it doesn’t slide forward under Flash’s seat and slice the soles off his shoes. It’s quite sharp. She made sure.

“Listen,” Flash demands, “I’m the transport. Someone else can take care of the less significant details.”

“That is so fucking dumb,” Peter mumbles.

“What?”

“I said, I hope your feet don’t go numb,” he says more loudly. MJ turns her head, like she’s trying to follow the gentle backwards sweep of falling snow with her eyes when she’s really trying to hide her smile from Flash’s suspicious gaze in the rear-view mirror. “Did you wear waterproof boots and warm socks?”

“Of course. About to make winter my bitch.”

Betty twists to catch MJ’s eye.

“You wanna take this one?”

“Go for it.”

While Betty educates Flash on why that is not an acceptable thing for him to say—not with two of his female friends in the car, or ever—MJ drums her fingers on her knees. Her mittens are piled in her lap for now; despite her natural inclination to insult Flash’s ride, it heats up nicely. Plus, she’s tucked between Peter and Ned. She glances to her right to check on the latter and finds him huffing a warm breath on the window. He traces his finger through the resulting condensation, drawing a heart and writing ‘B+N’ in the middle. MJ glances at Peter and he’s already looking at her.

“So, tree?”

“Yeah,” she says. “I’ve been told to keep it under six feet. A measuring tape and a ladder might’ve been helpful, but there wouldn’t have been anyplace to put the ladder once we got the trees on the roof of this thing.” She smacks the SUV’s ceiling and Flash goes, “HEY!”

“You can just choose a taller one,” Peter suggests, “and then cut it shorter.”

“I feel bad about the waste though. It’s a living thing.”

“I can help you with that.”

“Oh yeah?” MJ’s genuinely curious. She knows May prioritizes Hanukkah customs to keep Peter’s connection to both his ethnoreligious traditions and his lost love ones strong, so she doesn’t know how a Christmas tree fits into that.

“Right before you guys picked me up, May had an idea. She thought it might be nice just to get some pine branches for, like, generic winter decorating and to make the apartment smell good.”

“That’s a really good idea.”

“Yeah. I was gonna grab scraps from where other trees had been cut down, but I can get them off whatever tree you pick instead. Or you can. You have the axe.”

“I’ll give you a turn with it if you help me drag my tree back to the car,” MJ bargains with a smile.

“I can definitely help.”

Of course he can. He could probably carry a dozen trees if he felt like it. Over his head. With all the roots and clumps of frozen earth still attached. But the thought of him hauling the tree back with her rather than for her is something she appreciates. As she nods, she gets the fluttery feeling she’s been experiencing more and more whenever he’s called her this term. Their calls have gotten longer. A younger version of herself would be amazed at the way she can now talk for hours without noticing the time slipping past. And it never feels wasted. Actually, when they aren’t talking, MJ misses Peter. She can’t completely put it into words and so she hasn’t. What she’s done, besides continue to answer every time he calls, is offer him a chance to swing the axe she brought. Romantically, there’s room for improvement.

Their overlapping winter breaks are going to end in another week and she’s scared the calls, as treasured as they’ve become to her, won’t be enough.

“There!” Betty cries. She flings her arm across the dash to point.

“That’s the woods,” Flash says, brushing her off.

“No, that’s the driveway! You’re going to pass it!”

The jarring, inelegant jerk of the wheel as he takes Betty’s directions at the last moment tips Ned into MJ and MJ into Peter. They all groan in discomfort, but Flash seems supremely pleased with himself as he straightens the tires. Off the gravel, their passage between the trees is muffled by the packed snow on the laneway other cars have driven over. There’s a dusting on top as today’s thin flurry continues to fall. As she sits up straight following Flash’s terrible Baby Driver impression, MJ feels Peter’s hand on her back, through her coat, and her face gets hot. Unable to meet his eyes in thanks, she leans towards Ned instead and the two of them stare out at the picturesque scene where low drifts spill over the ground and every pine, spruce, and fir—all dusted in white—looks like the perfect Christmas tree.

“Hats on,” Betty instructs as Flash pulls to a stop next to a pickup truck with a tarp already laid out in its bed, awaiting a tree. “Shoelace check. Gloves and mitts secure.”

“You sound like you’re prepping us to jump out of an airplane,” Flash laughs.

He swings his door open while Betty’s trying to get back into her winterwear checklist with the rest of them, letting in a gust of cold air that disturbs the warmth MJ’s hoarded as well as Betty’s good temper. She reaches across the center console and shoves Flash with both hands, pushing him straight out of the vehicle with a “WHOA!”

Betty’s nonchalant as she flips her mirror down and adjusts the positioning of her pompom hat before stepping out of the SUV herself. Peter and Ned pile out, laughing, and MJ climbs out Peter’s side. Flash is next to the car, brushing himself off.

“I’m going to get sick,” he pouts.

“Say cheese!” Ned encourages, snapping a picture as Betty runs into shot to pose next to her victim, cupping his face between her gloved hands.

“Maybe this’ll make him change his mind about the cider place,” MJ notes to Peter hopefully.

“I feel like we’d be stopping there no matter what,” he muses. “It was either making Flash fear hypothermia or Betty sneaking back to the car first and tampering with his brake line or something.”

“So, which way looks good, babe?” Ned asks his girlfriend.

As she told them, this lot isn’t the manicured family attraction the last place was. There aren’t any employees standing around—easily spotted even as they drove past the tree farm down the road in their orange crossing-guard-style vests—or a map marking which areas are which type of tree. There’s just sort of a main track that’s been tramped down by passing feet leading between trees. It’s easy to see for a ways, but beyond that, the forest grows denser. MJ knows Betty did her homework and can identify tree varieties, and she doesn’t actually care which type she gets. She’s here for the experience, and for the idiot next to her who gives her a thrill every time the nylon sleeves of their winter coats rush against each other.

“Hmm,” Betty says, and strides forward through the narrow entrance. From there, things fan out. She taps her bow saw, now loose, against the side of her leg. “Well, what would everyone like to do?”

“I’m going wherever you are,” Ned vows. She shoots him a soft smile.

“Me too,” Flash decides. “You’ll get us in and out of here fast so we can get warm. Not like Parker, who’ll probably get lost in the first five minutes.”

“What?” Peter asks, insulted. “Will not.”

“Oh yeah? How’s your sense of direction without that robot lady in your head?”

“Karen is not a robot lady, she’s an AI.”

“Same diff.”

“It is not. A robot lady is like what they have on The Jetsons.”

“Whatever. Point is, without your GPS, I don’t trust you.”

“Well,” Peter counters, “we can just look at our phones.”

“Already tried that,” Flash informs him. “I don’t get a signal out here.”

Regardless, the rest of them check.

“That’s alright,” Betty persists, trying to be chipper to maintain group morale, MJ’s sure. “It’s daylight, the snow’s not coming down hard, and nobody’s going off alone. Now, Flash, Ned, and I are going that way.” She points, then glances from MJ to Peter. “Do you guys want to stick with us, or…?”

MJ opens her mouth and looks to Peter, shuffling beside her and doing some sort of best-friend telepathy with Ned, based on the stupid, scrunched up looks on their faces. Is he going to say something? He’ll probably want to stay with Ned. It’ll be weird if she speaks up for both of them. But if she doesn’t, when are they going to talk, just the two of them? Since they’ve all been back in the city, everything’s been done in a group—buying presents for friends and relatives, going skating, getting hot chocolate, attending Flash’s ugly holiday t-shirt party (L.A.-themed, so no sweaters allowed). The woods though. The woods are quiet and friendly and private. Snow muffles sound, fresh air and cold wake her up and fill her lungs until they burn with everything she’d say to Peter if she just had this opportunity. No Ned and Betty hanging back to offer encouraging looks, no Flash to ruin everything with a terribly timed innuendo. MJ just needs Peter. Just her and Peter. Please, dork, she thinks, don’t say Ned.

The words come from her.

“I think Peter and I’ll go that way,” she declares, nodding sharply in a direction that isn’t Betty’s.

“Yeah,” Peter adds.

Oh, thank god, MJ thinks.

“He’s gonna get you lost,” Flash warns. He’s already stamping his feet like he’s freezing to death on the spot, though the cold isn’t that bad with the tree cover. “Then he’ll go nuts in the woods.”

“I have an axe,” MJ reminds him flatly. She glances at Peter. “Bring it.”

Peter snorts a laugh.

“No one will be re-enacting anything that remotely resembles The Shining,” Betty instructs. “Meet back here in, how long, do you think?”

“Depends,” Flash says. “How long should we wait before declaring those two missing and sending out a search party, of which I will not be a member, but will be happy to direct from the comfort of the Escalade with a hot drink in my hand and my feet against the heating vent.”

“Dude, don’t do that,” Ned pleads. “You’ll make the whole car smell like your feet.”

“My ride, my rules.”

“Should we just…?” Peter asks MJ. She nods.

“Let’s go.”

“Ok, um, an hour!” Betty decides.

Peter gives her a thumbs up and the two of them follow the path as it diverges, then cut away again, wading through ankle-deep snow where no other tree-hunter has walked today. The sound of Flash goading the other two fades. MJ stops for a minute and turns to watch them march into the trees. She takes a deep breath in and out.

“You good?” Peter asks.

“Yeah.” She hefts the axe onto her shoulder to look more lumberjack-esque (and so she doesn’t slice it into her calf as she walks). “Come on.”

Despite promises to share, she refuses to surrender the tool any sooner than she must. Soon enough, she’s huffing, face passing through damp clouds of her own breath and chilling her flushed cheeks and frozen nose. Balancing her temperature out here is a tricky thing; as long as they keep moving, as they are, she stays warm, but with Peter crunching along in the snow beside her, she’s too warm. MJ bites her mitt between her teeth and unzips her coat a little to let the brisk air circulate around the back of her sweaty neck.

“You’re not gonna catch cold?” Peter asks solicitously.

She shakes her head.

“Ok,” he says, “but it’d be just like you to get sick and say nothing about it while Flash complains all the way home that he is sick when nothing’s wrong with him.”

“The only thing he’s suffering through is his body’s natural rejection of us. He spent too many years thinking he was better than we are just to end up right here, hacking down Christmas trees together.”

“Probably caroling,” Peter guesses.

“Probably. He claims his favourite holiday song is the instrumental version of ‘Carol of the Bells,’ but that has to be a lie.”

“My money’s on something super cheesy.”

“Mine too,” MJ agrees with a grin.

Gradually, she slows, taking in the pine trees around them. Her guesstimation is that some of these go up to ten or twelve feet, but there are shorter options tucked in between. Younger, or those that maybe didn’t get as much light as they grew. She wipes the back of her mittened hand across her forehead, pushing her slipping fleece headband back where it’s been sliding forward.

“So,” she asks, “any of this look good to you?”

She lowers her gaze to find Peter hastily averting his from her face.

“That one?” he says, pointing to a tree at random.

“Peter, that one’s longer than Flash’s SUV.”

“Oh. Right. Um, ok…”

Focusing now, she watches his upturned face and the serious expression that sinks into it, the way snow’s been sinking into her hair. Maybe Betty was right about wearing a hat, though Betty’s hair is also significantly flatter than hers and thus more conducive to hat-wearing. Well, it’ll be fine. They aren’t stranded or anything and the snow’s not getting to them as much as it was when they had to walk across the clearing to reach this stand of trees. They’re sheltered here. As MJ hoped, it’s quiet.

Instead of asking Peter how much of his remaining holiday he’d like to spend with her, or how he feels when she forces him to hang up the phone first (he must notice), or why, exactly, he was so quick to agree to go off into the woods with her when he could just as easily have insisted they all stay together, she criticizes the first tree he takes genuine interest in.

“Crooked.”

“Too dense.”

“Too sparse.”

“Weird empty area.”

“I swear to god, something moved in there, Peter. I do not want a fucking National Lampoon Christmas, ok? My mom will freak out if I bring a live squirrel into our home.”

He’s laughing at her when they finally spot one that looks pretty good: shorter but not squat, full but with soft, long needles rather than nasty ones bent on treating them both to non-consensual acupuncture if they stand too close. It doesn’t look sickly or as though it’s currently inhabited by birds or rodents.

“So young,” MJ does note, assessing its size in comparison to a taller tree a yard away. “Oh well.” She raises the axe and adjusts her grip.

Peter goes scrambling backwards, almost slipping, then tries to pretend he was only calmly moving out of the way, that he is not afraid of the radius of her swing. When he starts babbling about how quickly his body could probably heal from an axe wound (though, with all the crazy shit he gets up to, that’s actually not something he’s experienced yet), she finally laughs at him.

“Relax,” she says. “You can just hold the branches up at the bottom while I chop through the trunk.”

Fearless—and even more determined to prove it now that she’s given Peter a scare—MJ drops to the snow and wriggles under the tree, as close as she thinks she should be while still being able to swing the axe. Peter’s hand makes her jump. She whips her head around, nearly getting a clump of needles in the eye, but he’s only skimming her coat by accident as he gathers the lowest branches away from her. As she asked. Right, he’s not touching her on purpose and he’s not even doing the not-touching activity on purpose but because she told him to. He’s trying to help. Frustrating.

She props herself up on her elbow and takes an awkward whack at the tree. The blade sinks into the bark like it’s supposed to, but it’s still somehow surprising to feel the give. MJ takes a few more tentative swings and the axe sinks deeper, requiring some force to yank it out again. She grunts and hears Peter crouch down behind her.

“Is it going ok? Can I do anything?”

“Umm, maybe be prepared to pull the top of the tree in the other direction so it doesn’t fall on my head. I think I’m almost halfway.”

“Yes, please don’t make it fall on your head,” he requests.

“It won’t as long as you do your job,” she promises gruffly, hewing in once more.

“Do you think this would be easier with a saw?” Peter’s voice is higher now, coming from the other side of the tree. Though the branches fell when he changed position, she can feel them only resting lightly on her as he holds the top of the tree away. Probably standing on his toes.

“Don’t say anything against my axe.”

“I’m not! I was just thinking out loud!”

“A saw,” MJ informs him with another swing, “is not as badass.”

“Good point.”

But is he just agreeing because the tree’s starting to topple and the final swings to break through it take her blade closer to his shins as he dances out of the way? Maybe.

She clambers out and, with the tree now on an angle, is able to chop from an upright position, down on a diagonal until she buries her axe in the snow, then yanks it free.

“Oh, you can lay it down,” MJ tells Peter when she realizes he’s standing there with his arms full of tree, face hidden as he keeps his head pulled back from the branches.

He does so gently and then they stand there in triumph. MJ hurls her axe into the ground.

“Would you quit that?” Peter requests, jumpy.

She grins.

“Sorry. Just really feeling this.”

“I can tell.”

They took their time making their selection and can do one of two things next: either trim the branches for Peter to take home to May right here or drag the tree back to Flash’s SUV and perform the necessary amputations there. They do neither. MJ shrugs her shoulders and flexes her fingers inside her mittens, exorcising the tension of gripping the axe’s handle. She turns, glancing casually around, but really looking for something invisible—a reason to stay. A rational delay before rejoining the others.

“Hold still,” Peter says, as she’s looking back the way they came. The way she thinks they came. They stomped around this area, circling every tree, for a while, so the footprints are a little confused.

“What? If you try to tell me there’s a squirrel in my hair, I’m not going to believe you.”

He smiles softly.

“No squirrel, just snow.”

She stares at her friend warily as he approaches, then sweeps snow from her headband. That’s when she realizes one side of her coat is soaked from lying on the ground. It can’t get through though, it’s just the outer layer. Still, Peter walks a complete circle around her, wiping snow away.

“There,” he says.

MJ sighs.

“Peter…”

“Yeah?”

His face is so open as he looks at her, flakes flying around and between them. Her heart squeezes almost painfully because there have been so many days of not seeing his face without the assistance of a screen. Now that he’s here, it’s too much.

“Umm… how many branches do you think May wants?”

MJ crouches and puts her back to him, feigning being deep in concentration over the fresh Christmas corpse splayed out in the snow. She feels like a detective at a crime scene. Peter exhales heavily behind her, then drops to her level.

“More is probably better, right? She’ll probably take some in to work or try to give them to the neighbours anyway.”

“True.” They both reach for the axe. “Go ahead,” MJ says, quickly withdrawing her hand.

Peter shaves off what he thinks May might like—plus at least an armload more—in quick slices and snips.

“Jeeze, this thing is sharp.”

“I know,” she says proudly.

“I want one. For the suit, I mean. You think that could work?”

“Well, you already have a bunch of less probable-sounding features, so why not a spider with an axe made of webs?”

“Ned’s gonna be so excited when I tell him.”

“I’m excited,” she says, maybe a little too forcefully. It’s not a competition. She doesn’t think he’s already forgotten about her. There’s just some kind of glitch in her brain-to-mouth connection that no Spidey tech could possibly fix.

“I think we’re ahead of schedule,” Peter tells her.

He pulls out his phone to check the time while MJ cleaves into the fallen tree’s trunk, cutting it down to a size more suited to transport and her family’s apartment.

“We could do this in two trips,” he presses. “Take the tree and come back for the branches? Or vice versa?”

“I think we can manage it in one.”

She glances at him and he looks mildly frantic.

“Or two,” MJ amends. “Two would be better.”

Are they finally going to talk? That has to be the reason for Peter stretching this out, doesn’t it? But he moves quickly to grip the lowest branches of the tree, down where MJ severed it, and she grabs those on the opposite side of the trunk. After a jerk to get it going, they slide the tree smoothly over the snow, leaving a fine trail of needles. It occurs to her, as they walk, that she was worried about this part on the way in here, that the tree might pick up dirt from where others have walked, but the ground looks fresh and sparkling in the sun. That’s not familiar.

“Peter? Are we going the right way?”

“What? Yeah. Aren’t we? We have to be. Because the sun was…”

He gestures very unconvincingly overhead and her heart plummets in her chest. For once, not because she’s scared of saying something about her feelings for him and hearing they aren’t reciprocated, but because what Peter’s not saying directly is that they might be lost. And the worst part of that scenario is Flash being right. No, no, no, Peter will not make Flash right, not today.

“It’s been snowing,” she reviews. Stupid and obvious, but facts are soothing to her. “How much do you think it’s snowed? Not that much, right? It can’t have. We must’ve just started walking the wrong way.”

“Definitely. Ok, let’s turn around.”

So, they swing the tree with them and strike out in the opposite direction, not going very quickly as they navigate the trees. They pass the stump they lately created and MJ plucks her axe from the snow on the way past. It just makes her feel better, having it.

Unfortunately, this way isn’t correct either.

“Alright,” she says slowly. “What the fuck.”

“Let’s leave the tree for a minute.”

They set it down. She realizes she’s sweating.

“How could we be lost? How could you be lost?”

“There aren’t exactly landmarks,” Peter says. “It’s just… trees.”

“Maybe we should’ve gone to a place with signposts and neat little rows.”

“That doesn’t sound like you.”

He wanders over to her, watching her with careful eyes.

“I wasn’t this cold when I called today an adventure.”

“Maybe you should zip your coat back up.”

But she’s too warm and uncomfortable to do that just to challenge how he’s calling her bluff.

“Are you scared?” he asks. “You don’t need to be scared. I think we did a lot of circling. We didn’t walk too far in any one direction. I could climb a tree and look around?”

“Climb a tree? One of these trees? The ones covered in snow with the thin branches and the spiky needles?”

“Hey,” Peter jokes, hitting her arm with his elbow, “you’re supposed to be cheering me on.”

“I…” She closes her mouth. He frowns.

“Is something wrong?”

“We’re lost and Flash is going to gloat.”

“Besides that.”

“You’re trying really hard to get us out of here.” That should be a compliment, a commendation, but it sounds accusing as it leaves her mouth. MJ feels on-edge, heart beating all wrong.

“…Should I not be?”

God, she’s being strange. She can feel herself being strange. Everything’s aligning to buy her more time and she’s panicking trying to work out what to do with it. The snow is falling softly all around and she’s auditioning to play the most awkward protagonist in the history of Hallmark holiday movies.

“Are you looking forward to going back?” MJ asks abruptly.

“To the car?”

“To school. In January.”

“Umm, kinda? I mean, it’s going well. But you know that, we talked about this stuff the other day when you and Ned were over at May’s.”

“Yeah.” She’s thinking, staring down at her cut tree, debating how to mention that there’s one thing they didn’t talk about, that she couldn’t bring up, because she felt strange about doing it with Ned there. She goes to continue, unsure of her phrasing, but ready to push onward, when Peter answers, looking thoughtfully up at the pale-grey snow clouds.

“It’s really nice to be home, but I also don’t like living in the past.”

He glances at her to see what she thinks. She’s noticed that he does that a lot, when they’re on a video call. Sometimes, she teases him about it—the way he makes certain assertions sound like questions because he wants her input, values her opinion, thinks of her as wiser than him (she is) though he’s the genius playing around at the upper end of the grading curve in all of his classes.

“Sorry, what were you gonna say?” he asks, spotting the unfinished thought in her expression, how she holds her eyebrows a little too tightly together.

MJ shakes her head.

“It’s nice to have you home.” As Peter’s beginning to smile, swaying slightly towards her, she rambles on, “It’s nice to have everyone home. I mean, I could go longer between having to see Flash in person, but what can you do, right? It’s worth it to have Ned home. And Betty. And you.”

She swallows.

“There!” he shouts, pointing past her. She squints.

“What is it?”

“Our tracks.”

Trusting his superior eyesight, MJ troops after him. Sure enough, their deep treads from earlier are still faintly present—now gentle indents as the snowfall works to even everything out again.

“But we don’t have to hurry back,” Peter says. She avoids his eyes.

“Except we probably do, now that we’ve wasted time being lost.”

“We were never actually lost.”

“Whatever you need to tell yourself so you can sleep at night, Spider-Man. Help me with the tree.”

He does, then hightails it back to collect May’s branches once MJ’s in the clearing with only the little trail left between her and the makeshift parking lot. She pulls her bounty along and through the gap, suddenly back with the rest of her friends.

“Did you manage to lose Parker out there?” Flash asks immediately. “Nice. Up top.”

She rolls her eyes instead of meeting his hand in a high five.

“He just had to go back for something,” MJ explains, expressly for the benefit of Ned and Betty.

“What’d he do, drop some of you guys’ sexual tension in the woods?”

Flushing with the sting in the air and self-consciousness, she walks past Flash. Just close enough to drag the tree over his feet and make him start whining about getting dirt on his blindingly-white designer snow boots. When his complaints cut off, she knows she’s in trouble. It’s like the sudden silence in a horror movie that you just know means nothing good.

“Never mind,” Flash says loudly. “Sexual tension present and accounted for.”

MJ whirls around to see Peter’s arrived and is staring at her with a pleading look on his face. Or he was, until Flash’s words sunk in. Surely, Peter’s fast enough to snatch his keys, toss them to Betty, and have them all climb into the SUV and wheel outta here, leaving Flash behind? But during the holidays? She’d feel bad. He’s lucky.

“Can we just get the trees loaded?” Peter asks, moving to help MJ pull hers closer to demonstrate that it’s not so much a question for Flash as a demand for him to shut the hell up. Flash probably doesn’t understand. He’d need tact for that.

“Fine. And not a scratch on the Escalade,” Flash commands.

He opens the trunk to reveal a set of carefully folded tarps; they’re too ratty to actually belong to him, so MJ’s betting that they’re Betty’s or Ned’s. Those two went on a big, romantic camping trip together right after high school graduation, so these could be remnants. The first tarp crinkles in Peter’s hands as he pulls it out and unfolds it. Beneath the second—removed by Ned—there’s a Burberry blanket protecting the SUV from the tarps. Honestly. Momentarily forgetting about their awkward moment in the forest, MJ catches Peter’s eye and nods at the blanket. The two of them start laughing and soon, Betty and Ned have spotted them and are laughing too. Flash is perplexed, which, as always, is when he gets grouchy and defensive.

“Can we pick up the pace, people?” he requests. “I need a hot drink and an even hotter fire. I can barely feel my fingers.”

“Wait.” MJ frowns and pauses in assisting Peter with dragging the longest tarp onto the roof of the SUV. “I have a tree, Ned and Betty each have trees… Flash, where’s your tree?”

She turns her head and notices Ned just cutting off a gesture of slicing a hand across his throat to insist on her not finishing that question. Betty sighs and explains.

“Flash’s service came back while we were out there.”

“Dude,” Peter huffs, stretching to reach and finish tugging the tarp into place, “you had service? You could’ve texted us to see if we were, I don’t know, lost.”

“This should come as no surprise to you, Parker,” Flash says snootily, “but I had other priorities.”

“Oh yeah?” MJ questions suspiciously.

“He went online and bought an artificial tree,” Betty says with a roll of her eyes.

“Sacrilege.”

“More like brilliance,” Flash corrects. “It has snow-encrusted branches, pre-strung lights, and the thing isn’t gonna die in a week, so it’s better for the environment.”

“Isn’t it plastic?” MJ checks in a slow voice, waiting for him to catch on.

“Yeah.”

“Then the process used to produce it created harmful emissions and when you find it next year and decide to throw it out because you’re no longer ‘feelin’ it’ or whatever excuse you have, it’ll go straight in the trash and from there to one of the many, many local and international landfills that house our city’s waste.”

“You’re pretty judgy for a girl who just fucking murdered a tree.”

“I did my research,” MJ counters easily. “This is a sustainably managed forest. They maintain the trees, protect new growth and transplant saplings every spring to ensure the health of not only the cash crop, but the forest as a whole. Pre-light that, dickhead.”

Feeling flustered, she goes to give Betty and Ned a hand with positioning their tree on the roof. MJ stands on the ledge offered by the open trunk and stabilizes the tree while the others guide it into position.

“Tension,” she hears Flash diagnose under his breath. He’s smart enough to not meet her eye when she glares down at him.

They encounter a small problem while loading the second tree: both Betty and Ned have selected especially full specimens. Side by side, they take up the entire roof, and MJ’s tree is still on the ground with Peter’s mountain of branches, waiting to be slung onboard.

“I don’t think it’ll fit,” Ned says after jumping into the air twice to take a look at the available space (none).

“Neither do I,” she agrees. “Guess it’s going in the trunk.”

“In the trunk?” Flash is there in a, well, flash. He slipped into the driver’s seat, ostensibly to doublecheck their route home, but really to start his seat-warmer and turn the Christmas radio station back on. His distress is juxtaposed against a jazzy rendition of ‘Winter Wonderland.’

“Yeah. There’s nowhere else.”

“Guys, please. Are you trying to get back at me for the sexual tension comment? It’s forgotten. I lied. No tension here. Cut the act and tell me that thing’s going on the roof with the others.”

“While ‘that thing’ is a capitalist nexus, it’s also a precious symbol of everything I love about Christmas,” MJ says firmly, “and it’s going in the trunk of this SUV.”

“Guys?” Flash glances at the other three, but nobody sides with him.

“Don’t worry, Flash,” Betty says kindly. “We won’t use the second tarp to go on top of the roof trees, we’ll line the trunk with it instead. There won’t be any needles, I promise.”

That is definitely not a promise she can make, and MJ’s sure her friend is aware, but she’s taking a shortcut to winning this standoff and MJ admires that. The placating seems to wash over Flash like the spirit of Christmas over Scrooge McDuck. Suddenly, he’s smiling.

“Yeah. We can do that. Of course. But.” Oh no. The smile’s warping. Flash is about to be an asshole again, MJ can see it coming fast on the horizon. “The tree’s going to take up more space than just the trunk.”

MJ peers into the SUV. Shit. He’s probably right.

“Oh,” says Betty, not getting the issue, “well, we can fold the seats down, right? The tree isn’t that tall. Come on, guys, we’ve had real problems. This is nothing!”

She beams at them and Ned wraps an arm around her, hugging her to his side.

“We’ll lose a seat in the back,” MJ says.

She’s profoundly annoyed by the satisfaction on Flash’s face as she’s the one to say the words, point out the obvious. Isn’t she always? It feels like her role in this friend group and she never minds that, never has until this very situation and its inevitable conclusion.

“Somebody’s gotta sit on somebody else’s lap,” Flash singsongs. “And it’s not me because I’m the driver!”

The other four look at each other.

“Betty,” Ned begins, “you and I could…”

“But she needs to be in the front to navigate,” Flash irritatingly points out, “and before you say it, you shouldn’t double up in the front. It’s not safe.”

Maybe they can back over him when they steal his ride and drive out of here, MJ theorizes. She sighs. Loudly. Vexedly.

“I’ll sit on Peter.”

She proceeds to make eye contact with none of them, just fishes a sloppy coil of rope out of the back and works with Betty to feed it over the trees and through the windows. Some cold air will blow into the SUV, but that won’t matter so much to her, she guesses, since she’ll have the benefit of Peter’s body heat. Who needs a seat-warmer when you can have an actual human lap? Ugh, no, not funny, but she tried to consider it in a way that doesn’t make her want to volunteer to sit in the trunk with her tree.

Finally, they lift her tree and Peter’s branches inside, position them, and shut the trunk. Flash is whistling ‘Carol of the Bells’ as he practically skips to the driver’s seat. Betty, far more compassionate, gives MJ a reassuring look before she gets in. Then Peter climbs into the back, taking the middle seat, and glances at her, lingering in the snow. She groans to herself and folds into the car as Ned gives her an encouraging pat on the back.

Maneuvering is awkward. Peter cranes his neck back like his whole body is leaning to make room for her, but it’s not possible—he’s already pressed back against the seat. She sits. He rustles beneath and behind her. Before she can panic and insist on walking home, Ned gets in and slams the door closed (Flash complains).

“Uh,” Peter starts, “do you wanna shift forward so I can buckle my—”

“Absolutely not. If we’re sharing a seat, we’re sharing a seatbelt. I don’t want to end this excursion by flying through the windshield when Flash swerves the car off the road because he sees a snowdrift that looks like a butt or something.”

“Hey! I’m an excellent driver,” he complains, starting the car.

“I could just, like, hold onto you?” Peter offers.

MJ’s heartbeat rockets. She presses the top of her head to the ceiling to ground herself.

“No. We’re using the seatbelt.”

Peter stretches it away from the seat and holds it for her to grab; she passes it back for him to fasten. The second it clicks into place, Flash throws the SUV into reverse and hits the gas. Peter must move his head away from behind hers because MJ’s genuinely surprised not to feel his nose break against the back of her skull.

“Excellent driver, huh?” she questions flatly.

“There was ice.”

“Sure there was.”

Flash winks at her in the rear-view mirror and instead of siding with her, MJ catches Ned chuckling.

“I’m sorry, but it’s funny. You guys look ridiculous seatbelted together,” he says.

But she doesn’t feel so much ridiculous as confused and on alert, swaying with Flash’s accelerations and decelerations (thankfully minor compared to how he started off). Every time, Peter’s hands jump to grab her: shoulders, waist, legs. Once, he grabs her hands and even though she still has her mittens on, dripping melting snow onto the seat on one side and the tree branch she’s clutching on the other, it’s startling.

“Sit still,” Peter tells her when she jerks out of his hold.

“You sit still.”

He laughs.

“I can’t go anywhere—you’re sitting on me.”

“Then try having less bony legs,” she suggests, though they both know the nerd has more muscle mass in one of his legs than the rest of the SUV’s occupants have in their entire bodies combined.

“Right up here!” Betty directs. “We have to pay.”

MJ sags gratefully into Peter, relaxed for the first moment of the short drive from the lot to the tree farm. She tenses up again when they pull in and Betty offers to be the one to hop out and pay for their trees. There is no reprieve from Peter’s lap. She hands over her cash to her friend with a sigh and listens while the trees are removed from the roof, shaken by a machine to rid them of loose needles, and replaced for transport home. When the trunk opens and the tree farm guy slides MJ’s little tree free, she shivers at the cold air blowing in.

“Take off your mitts and put your hands by the vent,” Peter suggests.

MJ looks around and sees that the only vent she can reach is the one their feet are bracketing, down by the floor. She fights the grip of the seatbelt to bend forward. Ah. Hot air on her freezing fingers, plus, she’s out of the draft coming through the open trunk.

“This is better. Thanks, dork.”

She glances back and spots the stricken look on her friend’s face as he watches her, still seated on his lap, but now bent over. MJ sits swiftly upright.

“I’m actually not that cold,” she says, spine rigid beneath her coat and her sweaters.

Peter sighs and, while Ned’s looking out the window to watch her tree get vibrated and wrapped, tentatively offers MJ his hands. If Ned notices that they’re holding hands when the SUV is completely repacked and they’re on their way to the place with the wine and cider, he doesn’t say a word about it. It’s shared body heat. It’s a survival tactic. That’s what MJ tells herself as she finds her and Peter’s fingers moving gently from a perfunctory clasp to intertwining.

They stay that way until Flash pulls off the road at the cider spot, which turns out to be an apple orchard. Well, more than just the orchard; there’s a whole barn here, but fancy, with a designated lot and possibly a restaurant inside.

“This is so cute!” Betty says.

MJ concentrates on shaking her hands out of Peter’s before Flash puts the SUV in park and turns around to see them.

The two of them are the last out of the car and she’s stiff with the silence, listening to their friends laugh and gripe about the cold (Flash) as they wait with Ned’s door open. Before MJ can push through her thoughts and fears to say anything, Peter’s arm comes around her. Her eyes widen. …And he unbuckles the seatbelt. Probably just because she was taking too long. She slips over into Ned’s vacant seat and is about to scramble out when Peter catches her hand. MJ turns.

“Will you tell them we’ll meet them inside?” he requests.

Heart hammering, she relays the message, then looks on as Ned and Betty hustle Flash through the doors before can make another of his unwelcome comments or otherwise interfere.

“I think we really need to talk,” Peter says, after MJ pulls the door closed to preserve what little heat is left in the vehicle.

“We talk all the time,” she argues. She thinks, Yes, please talk to me.

“About a lot of stuff. You know, most stuff.” He wedges his fingers under the edge of his hat to run them nervously through his hair.

“That’s a generalization, but a fair one.”

“But, you know, lately, I’ve been, uh, wishing that we could talk about…”

“…even more stuff?” MJ guesses, hopes.

“Yeah.”

“Me too.”

“You know, our schools aren’t that far apart,” he says, like it’s the first time he’s realizing this.

She smiles wryly.

“I’m aware. That’s why I came out for Thanksgiving first year when you couldn’t make it back to Queens. Even if we did eat take-out shrimp Pad Thai instead of homecooked turkey.”

“And,” Peter adds, “it’s why I showed up at your dorm to help you study for that midterm you were stressing about in October.”

“And why I picked up when you called me every night,” MJ says, quieter. He smiles softly.

“I was talking about the distance.”

Summoning her courage, she looks him right in the eye and lets her still-uncovered hand sneak back over his.

“What distance?”

“You’re my best friend,” Peter starts. “You and Ned.” MJ frowns. Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit, she’s misjudged this, seriously misjudged this.

“Oh. Well. Great. Cool.”

“No, MJ!” he says quickly, noticing the look on her face. He flips his hand under hers so their palms meet. “I’m definitely in love with you, I just mean… Well, oops, I guess I said it.”

She’s pretty impressed with her own control over her facial features—maintaining a slightly-happier-than-neutral expression—when half of her brain is setting off fireworks that seem to be landing and fizzing around on the other half. He’s in love with her. Definitely.

“For as fast as your mind works, your mouth always manages to get ahead of it,” she observes.

Peter’s expression goes from tortured and fumbling to sharp and decisive.

“That’s good advice.”

“What? That wasn’t advi—”

He darts forward and kisses her, hand emphatically clutching hers. There’s a humorous smack when their mouths separate.

“Oh my god,” Peter says, “I forgot to ask if it was ok to do that.”

MJ smirks.

“My only complaint is that you beat me to it when I’ve been trying to figure out how to do that all day.”

“I did wonder,” he admits with a small smile.

“And you couldn’t have helped me out?” she asks, exasperated.

“A big part of being friends with you is knowing you rarely need help. You’re good, like, ninety percent of the time.”

“What do you do the other ten percent?”

Peter shrugs.

“Kiss you and ask if you have plans for New Year’s? By the way, do you have plans for New Year’s?”

He tries to adopt a casual expression but now that MJ thinks about it, she can’t recall the last time her friend looked at her with anything like mild interest. He can’t pull it off anymore, if he ever could. Apparently, she wasn’t always watching that well, because she clearly didn’t know everything.

Peter loves her. He loves her.

“I have a feeling I’ll probably be available,” she tells him. “I have a bad habit of trying to be where you are.”

“I love that about you.”

MJ kisses him quickly, then shoves him away, nearly into the pine tree resting on his other side. Whoops. It’s just that she can feel how easy it would be to get caught up in this moment, and they’re still in the back of Flash’s SUV. People are waiting for them. She takes a deep breath and gives Peter a searching look.

“If we walk in there like this—” She shakes their clasped hands. “—what do I say?”

“Tell them your hands were cold.”

“I… I don’t want to hide it, I just…”

“I know. It’s ok. It’s new.”

“Yeah.”

Peter nods sympathetically. He’s her friend first; he’s not going to push her to speak before she’s ready. (He probably knows he couldn’t if he wanted to.)

She hauls the door open and they stride through the snowy parking lot together. The sun’s already struggling to come out and flakes whip high into the air, catching in the light. They step inside the building to see brightness streaming through the windows, their trio of friends crowded around a table. Flash seems to be making Ned sprinkle cinnamon into his hot apple cider while he films it—presumably to post for the enjoyment of the Flash Mob. (That’s still going. He has a shocking number of followers.) Betty turns and her gaze slips down to their joined hands. She smiles.

MJ has the excuse ready. When Flash and Ned glance over, she’s prepared to tell them her hands were cold.

She opens her mouth.

“Peter’s my boyfriend now.”

#my writing #spideychelle secret santa #spideychelle #spideychelle fanfiction #peter parker #peter x mj #peter x michelle #peter parker x michelle jones #michelle jones #ned leeds #betty brant #Flash Thompson #nettypot

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duhragonball · 4 years ago

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Hellsing Liveblog Ch. 57-61

This is the “Wizardry” arc.

I don’t know why it just now occurred to me, but there’s more than a hint of the Joker in the Major’s character. He’s always grinning, and now we have him dancing on a blimp while enemy helicopters are firing on him.

The Doctor shits a brick over this, because the arrival of the Vatican’s 9th Crusade force is the first serious resistance that Millennium has encountered since they invaded London. He begs the Major to come back inside and move their airship to safety, but the Major is too preoccupied with dancing like a goofball. Up to this point, the audience must have been eager to see someone take a poke at the Major. I know I was, if only to see what sort of powers he had. I mean, he hasn’t aged a day, but he doesn’t seem to be a vampire, so what’s his deal?

But before we can find out, the helicopter that was about to shoot him gets torn apart by magic wires. Wait... that sounds like...

DUN DUN DUUUUUNNNNNNN!

Yeah, Walter’s switched sides. He’s also younger-looking too, so this must be what Schrodinger was talking about when he told Zorin that the Major and Doctor had a new “toy”. They were too busy turning him into a vampire to bother punishing Zorin for disobeying orders. In the previous chapter, the Major asked about using Walter (without mentioning him by name), and the Doc said something about the rushed nature of the job. Presumably, the Doctor was doing the artificial vampire treatment on Walter all through the night, while Seras and the Wild Geese were defending the mansion.

What I’ve never been sure of is whether this was a spur-of-the-moment decision, or if Millennium approached Walter a long time ago, and Walter’s been their mole in Hellsing throughout this entire story. The Major’s line here seems to suggest this was a long-term plan. “I had already decided half a century ago. The Death’s Head [the Nazi SS skull insignia] is a fitting match for the Angel of Death [Walter’s old Hellsing codename].”

But that could just mean the Major thought of the idea way back then. He saw Walter and Alucard wrecking all his stuff in World War II and thought “This kid would be a good recruit someday!” But when did he make the pitch? Was it last night? Before the Valentines’ attack? Before Arthur Hellsing’s death? Before the end of the war?

I think it’s reasonable to assume that Walter was on board at least before he parted ways with Integra back in Chapter 39. The Captain suddenly showed up, and he told Integra to take the car and flee, because he wasn’t sure he could defeat the Captain and he didn’t want her around in case he failed. But it’s much more likely that he only said this to keep her from finding out that he had a rendezvous with the Major, who arrived soon after.

Now that I think about it, this may be the only reason the Major sent his troops to capture Integra. He wasn’t particularly concerned about her, but he knew Walter would be with her, and he wanted to get him to the Doctor as quickly as possible. This may also be why he ordered Zorin Blitz to hold off on attacking the Hellsing mansion. If Walter had been inside, Zorin wouldn’t have known about his allegiance, and it’s very likely that one might have killed the other.

Actually, yeah, this is why the Major fired those rockets on the Hellsing mansion in the first place. If Walter was there, he would know the attack was coming, and use the attack to cover his departure. Then Zorin probably would have been ordered to give him a lift back to the Doctor. But Walter wasn’t home, and Zorin didn’t wait for orders, and Seras turned out to be much too powerful for her.

Wow, this is like peeling an onion. That must be what the Major meant when he chided Zorin for costing him “precious soldiers.” Her reckless tactics got her and her company killed, but she might have also wrecked his plans to extract Walter, and it’s only a matter of luck that he happened to be at the naval base instead of the mansion. And we know that Zorin knew nothing about Walter, because Schrodinger only hinted about him without mentioning his name. If Zorin had known, he would have just said “Yeah, we’re turning Walter into a vampire right now, no thanks to you.”

Anyway, Walter’s betrayal fascinates me, but also fuck you, Walter, you traitorous piece of shit.

Speaking of treachery, the 9th Crusaders are busy shooting the shit out of London, killing anything that survived the previous night. Millennium is a threat, sure, but Maxwell sees this as an opportunity to conquer England for the Catholic church. I’m not really sure “conquer” is meant literally. I think it’s more like, Hellsing and the Iscariot Organization have some treaty, and I think that treaty applies to their respective governments as well, but the civilian governments might know nothing about it. Maybe?

What I’m saying is that I think this 9th Crusade is supposed to end with the overthrow of the Anglican Church in the United Kingdom, with a new Catholic-leaning regime in its place, so that the Pope would have the same influence over the U.K. that he apparently has over continental Europe.

In that sense, I’m pretty sure Hellsing’s version of John Paul II didn’t order Maxwell to gun down civilians and shout “Die did die die!” over a loudspeaker. He may not have been terribly worried about Protestant casualties, but there’s plenty of Catholics living in London, after all. Maxwell doesn’t seem to care, and I think it’s clear that he’s exceeding his mandate.

And Alexander Anderson knows it. I think the whole Catholic contingent in this story knows that Maxwell’s gone too far, but Anderson’s the only one honest enough to say it out loud. Anderson’s group is still escorting Integra home when the 9th Crusade attacks, and Integra accuses Maxwell of betraying her, but Anderson remarks that such backstabbing is typical in war. So it’s not Maxwell’s duplicity that offends him, it’s the way he’s going about it. When Anderson kills people, he’s doing it to serve God, and God alone. Maxwell’s not serving God at all.

“All you’re serving is his power!!” Anderson says. By “his” does Anderson mean Satan? Millennium? Mars, the god of war? Maybe all three, or maybe it doesn’t matter. I always thought Maxwell was serving his own power, but the point is that he’s not doing God’s will by any stretch of the imagination.

But the others still respect the chain of command. Archbishop Maxwell is in charge of the 9th Crusade and the Iscariot Organization, and Heinkel reminds Anderson that they were ordered to capture Sir Integra, not escort her home. So they all draw their guns on Integra, resulting in the most Integra panel ever.

Then Seras shows up and beats all their asses. Yeaaaaahhhhh! Seras, you’re doing amazing, sweetie!

Everyone’s like “Oh shit, it’s Seras Victoria!” like they’re gonna try to fight her, but Anderson can tell that Seras is now way out of their league. Remember, this group of Iscariots fought some Millennium troops and half of them were killed. Seras tore through about as many Milennium troops without much hassle at all, and that was before she drank Pip’s blood.

And Anderson spares some words of praise for his foe. I guess this is like the owner of a Ford truck exchanging compliments with the owner of a Chevy truck. “You’re a rat bastard, Chevy man,” he says, “but those are some fine Truck Nutz” you have dangling from your tow hitch.” They’re never gonna be pals, but real recognizes real.

Also, I just think Seras looks super extra-cool in this moment. Anderson kind of treated her like a joke before, but now he sees her as a peer. She looks so dark and haunted now, and at the same time she’s more comfortable and sure of herself than we’ve ever seen her. Seras never set out to become a vampire, but she’s still found herself on this path. It’s scary and beautiful at the same time.

But never MIND that SHIT, here comes...

No, not Maxwell, Alucard is returning! I just used this page because Maxwell’s reaction to the news is more interesting than gloomy images of a ruined carrier drifting up the Thames river.

There’s a moment in the Hellsing Ultimate anime, right after Seras and Anderson turn to look, where she’s got this big grin on her face, and she goes “I can feel it. He’s returning.” It’s not in the manga, maybe because it’s not that important, but I’m a sucker for any Seras content, and I love that moment because she can sense Alucard at a distance now, and it’s a very pleasant experience. For Seras, I mean. I suspect it’s actually a very bonechilling, bloodcurdling sensation, but Seras has gone Full Goth, so she digs that sort of thing now.

I don’t know how the hell Anderson can sense Alucard, though. Maybe being a Regenerator gave him super smelling powers, like Wolverine.

And even the Major is pleased, because now we finally have all the major players in the same city. Not sure why the Captain rates an appearance here, when he never says a word, but we’ll run with it.

So, up to now, we’ve had these 9th Crusaders lined up against Millennium soldiers, each cosplaying as troops from old wars. I guess Millennium’s SS uniforms have hint of legitimacy to them, as these guys really were part of the SS back in World War II, before they became vampires. But the point stands, they’re walking anachronisms and they know it.

But then Alucard jumps in between them, practically giddy for a chance to participate in this war. Not to be outdone, Anderson and the Captain perform similar Iron Man landings on the same street. When I watched the OVA, this was about the point I started to wonder if I had missed something about the Captain, because this story has been hinting that he’s like Millennium’s strongest guy, and somehow on par with Anderson and Alucard, even though he hasn’t said anything or done anything this entire time. This would be like if Superman and Goku squared off in the middle of London, and then some rando OC from DeviantArt walked up to join them. Like, we know Al and we know Andy, but who the hell is this dude? I don’t care if he can hang with these two, they should have established that earlier.

Al asks for orders, and Integra makes this big production out of “Kill everybody with a racist uniform and a funny accent.” Okay, fine, but this is a lot of bad guys. How is even Alucard supposed to take them all down? And this leads us to Control Art Restriction Level Zero.

I’m just gonna cut to the chase, because this post is running long enough already. Al used “Level 1″ to make short work of Luke Valentine and Rip van Winkle, and maybe Dandyman as well, I’m not sure. Recall that nothing could stop Alucard on the H.M.S. Eagle. The Blackbird crash, the Millennium soldiers, Rip’s magic bullets, none of it. So he activates “Level 0″, which ought to be even more gonzo overpowered, and starts reciting this alchemical poem which I really out to cover in some other post, and all the bad guys panic and start attacking him.

To all the smartasses who say “Well why don’t the bad guys attack them during the transformation?” there you go. AGAIN. This sort of thing happens a lot more than you’d think, and it never works, because anime/manga creators are more self-aware than you’d think. It never works, because if it did, then it wouldn’t be “attacking a character in mid-transformation”. It would just be “killing a guy before he could do his big move.” So when a character does a big climactic thing like this, there’s really only two options. 1) Have the other characters stand back and watch, or 2) have them TRY to stop it, only to fail, because it’s too late for that.

Anyway, I’m skipping all of that and just showing the end result of Alucard’s power-up. The bad guys tear his body apart, but it doesnt’ matter because that never worked on him before, and then all these undead men crawl out of the black ether that seems to make up Al’s body. Just a veritable flood of humans, all washing out of him like a tide of death.

Anderson starts to figure it out when he recognizes some of the uniforms on these creatures. And if that’s not enough, Integra explains it for Seras. When vampires drink blood, they absorb the very essence of the living being who contained it. “To suck blood is to make the whole existence of a life one’s own.” That’s why Zorin saw Pip’s memories when she tried to read Seras’ mind. By drinking Pip’s blood, Seras has taken on Pip’s soul as well. But that’s just one guy. Alucard’s been drinking blood for over 500 years. And each one he consumes becomes another soul in his personal army.

I’m going to guess that Alucard didn’t always have the ability to manifest all of his victims as familiars like this. Otherwise, how in the hell was Abraham van Helsing able to subdue him a century earlier? The Hellsing family did stuff to enhance and improve Alucard’s powers, so maybe this was one of them. They gave him the means to weaponize all of his victims’ souls, for use in large scale battles like this one.

And I think this might be why Seras is trembling in this scene, because she knows that this ability was passed down to her when Alucard turned her into a vampire. Or maybe, she’s realizing that she’s got something in common with all of those dead people in Al’s army. Alucard made her a vampire, sure, but he still drank her blood, so doesn’t that mean there’s a Seras Victoria creature down there, standing alongside all the Janissaries, Wallachians, and everyone else Alucard has consumed?

Something I picked up on was that this is what all of those eyes in Alucard’s design are supposed to represent. When he used Level 1 you’d see all these eyes staring out from the shadows, and now Level 0 has brought out all these dead people, like they’re the ones the eyes belong to. Although, most of them don’t actually have eyes, just smoke trailing from their eye sockets. So maybe that’s symbolic as well.

There’s also horses in this mess, and that makes me wonder if Alucard drank the horses’ blood along with the riders. Anyway, Archbishop Maxwell observes all of this from his Popemobile and finally confronts the elephant in the room: Alucard is Dracula, like the Dracula. I don’t think it was ever meant to be a secret, but Kouta Hirano’s been dancing around it this whole time, without ever spelling it out, and now he’s finally spelling it out.

I think the only one who might not know is Seras? Someone might have filled her in off-panel, or maybe she figured it out, since it’s not exactly hard, but I don’t know.

So yeah, somewhere in this arc, they do a headcount of all three sides of this thing. Millennium has “572″ soldiers left, and the 9th Crusade has “2875″, while Hellsing, of course, is down to just 3. But Alucard has more than evened the playing field, since he can do this trick and spawn an invincible army. I’m more confused how Millennium lost 428 guys in one night. Seras killed a lot of them, but not that many. Sir Penwood got some and Anderson killed a bunch of them, but not hundreds of them. The Crusaders could have taken out that many, but they haven’t been here very long.

But yeah, they try to form a Phalanx to hold off Alucard’s forces, and it does not work at all. You can’t kill these things because they’re already dead. right? I mean, maybe the Crusaders have holy weapons that can destroy these things, but there’s just too many of them. And the Millennium troops don’t even have holy weapons, so they’re completely fucked.

But what about the helicopters? Well, Alucard drank the blood of Dandyman and Rip Van Winkle too, and their powers are now a part of him, which makes quick work of nearby aircraft. I like how these two look the same as before, but they never say a word. I think they’re the only ones with normal eyes, although Alucard’s shadow tentrils are still fused with their bodies.

The Crusaders’ battle lines are broken, and they beg for Maxwell to order a retreat before they’re all slaughtered. But Maxwell refuses to give up. He’s drunk on his new power, and so he can’t accept that he’s been one-upped so easily. Then the helicopter carrying his Popetruck gets destroyed, and he somehow crashes without getting hurt.

And now he’s got a front-row seat to the same hell his troops are experiencing, but he still gloats, because somehow Alucard’s soldiers can’t get through the glass. He refers to “tektite” reinforcement, and that’s dumb because Tektites are just an enemy in the Legend of Zelda. I’m onto your ass, Hirano.

But then Anderson throws a knife at the glass, and that breaks it, so maybe it was magic glass that only a blessed weapon could pierce? All that really matters is that Anderson has finally turned on Maxwell, and Maxwell is doomed.

Alucard’s dead warriors hoist him up on pikes, fitting for Vlad the Impaler, and Maxwell realizes that he’s going to die alone in a foreign land. The moral is: Don’t start none, won’t be none.

Then this happens, and I’m pretty sure Dark Horse Comics goofed when they scanned this manga for the digital edition. I’d contact them to complain, but they don’t even sell Hellsing anymore because they lost the license years ago. I don’t think a lot of stuff happened on Pages 62-63 of Volume 8 of the Hellsing manga, but I can’t tell. I’m guessing just Maxwell finally succumbing to his injuries while Anderson pontificates about why he had to do it to him. And really, Anderson hardly needs to explain his actions in this case. Maxwell sucked.

Moving on, Anderson contacts all Vatican forces and tells them to withdraw. They can’t beat Alucard, Maxwell is dead, and there’s nothing more they can do here. However, Anderson chooses to stay behind and take on Alucard.

This is Anderson’s reasoning: By releasing all of Alucard’s stolen lives to fight as his army, Alucard has left his person vulnerable to attack. So Andy thinks that if he gets close enough to Alucard, he can finally have a chance to defeat him. If he’s right, this might be his only chance to try.

Anderson further speculates that this may have been the Major’s plan from the beginning. Invade London, force Alucard to use this Level 0 ability, all to leave Alucard vulnerable to assassination. Perhaps the Major was even counting on Anderson to see this opening and take it.

More to the point, I think Anderson kind of has to fight Alucard because it’s the only way his people can escape London. Integra’s orders were clear: None of these invaders leaves the island alive. Alucard would continue hunting down the Crusaders whether they retreat or fight back, so some force has to stay and keep them occupied to save the rest.

Anyway, now we get to the actual part with this scene, where Alucard kneels before his master and she welcomes him back. It’s pretty satisfying to see all these butthole soldiers finally get what’s coming to them.

I’m just gonna put up the entire reunion moment because it’s so sweet. Interesting how Seras sort of reverts to her old self when Alucard returns. For all that badass power she gained from drinking Pip, she’s still uneasy around Alucard. But he missed her and I think that look on his face tells the whole story. He of all people can tell that Seras has finally taken the fateful step to becoming a “true vampire”.

I do think it’s kind of interesting how Seras continues to address Alucard as “Master”. He promised her way back in Volume 1 that she’d no longer be a servant if she drank blood of her own free will, but maybe it’s more complicated than that. Or, perhaps she still calls him “Master” out of respect, rather than any sort of blood bond or whatever you want to call it. It’s like how Anakin continued to call Obi-Wan “Master” in “Revenge of the Sith”, even though he had been promoted to Jedi Knight. The relationship is still there, even if it’s no longer official.

I’m a big, dumb Seras fanboy, so you’d better believe I think about this sort of thing a lot. I’m not real crazy about Alucard/Seras shipping, although I do sort of get it. I’m really not interested in Seras in some freaky-deaky sex kind of way. Take the D/s stuff to the Alucard/Integra room where it belongs. No, there’s something very wholesome between Alucard and Seras, and I could talk about it all damn day. And why not? It’s my blog, and I’ve got the time. So let’s start with--

Um, excuse you?!

Okay, so Anderson isn’t waiting around to take on Alucard, so I guess we’re doing this now.

And whether or not the Major planned for this to happen, he certainly approves...

#2021hellsingliveblog #hellsing #alucard #seras victoria #alexander anderson #the major #the captain #sir integra hellsing #walter c dornez #enrico maxwell #the doctor #warrant officer shrodinger #is that everybody?#i think so #i'm not gonna tag dandy and rip because they're dead

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p-artsypants · 4 years ago

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List of All My Fics!

Every once in a while, I’ll update this list and share it. It is always available on my blog! (I’m up to 54 fics for multiple fandoms! 😱)

Find most, if not more, of these fics on:

Fanfiction.net | Archive of Our Own | Wattpad

(~AU’s, *Finished, ❤️Author’s Favorites)

Kingdom Hearts

~❤️Rage Awakened AO3 | FF.net- Ten years ago, Terra, Aqua, and Ventus lost their fellow apprentice, Sora, in Deep Jungle. Now, they are to return with two new students, Riku and Kairi, to lock the heart of the world. All the while, something watches from the trees. Feral!Sora AU

My Kingdom for a Heart AO3 | FF.Net - The curse of being one of the Princesses of heart, is that there’s always someone out to get you. As Xemnas looked failure in the face, he reached out in a last ditch effort and destroyed Kairi’s heart. Now her friends must travel the worlds again. Sora, to find a way to recover Kairi’s heart, and Riku, to make amends to those he has wronged. All the while, the darkness grows.

Miraculous Ladybug

One Shots

*❤️Amalgam- When an young man is rejected for being ‘incompatible’ he turns into the akuma ‘Amalgam’ able to fuse two people together. And later Adrien and Marinette would debate if it was lucky or unlucky that they got hit. (Also Available in Russian)

*Sing We All Noel- After receiving the worst Christmas present ever from his father, Chat Noir finds himself out on the streets with nowhere to go on Christmas Eve. Thankfully, Ladybug finds him and brings him home.

*Speechless- In a world where everyone has a soulmark, the first words their soulmate will say to them, Marinette is born without one. But Adrien Agreste has two. Curious, considering he’s mute.

*❤️Tunnels of Love- The night started out with an accidental kiss from Adrien Agreste, and ended with her bleeding in the Catacombs of Paris. Ladybug, the wielder of the miraculous of good luck. Yeah right. (Some blood)

*The Reveal That Wasn’t- First Parts My ending to kittybug’s Tumblr Prompt

*What A Mess We’re In- Ladybug has a lot on her mind, and when Chat Noir bugs her enough, she tells him she’s going to confess to her Crush, Adrien Agreste. Chat’s reaction is not what she’s expecting.

*Oblivi-oh no! - A retelling of Oblivio, except Ladybug is the only one to lose her memory. How will Chat deal?

*Bad Day (3 chapters) - Marinette was Ladybug! This was Adrien’s luckiest day ever! Except it wasn’t, because all his good luck was used up in one go. Turns out this might be the worst day of his life.

*One Win, So Many Losses- Marinette was forced to break up with Adrien. It had been a low blow from Gabriel, to be sure. But she was Ladybug. She’d find a solution…right? An alternate ending to Chat Blanc, where Adrien doesn’t Cataclysm the akuma.

*Five Minutes- Gabriel has had enough of all these girls fighting over Adrien. He decides it’s high time Adrien picks one, and arranges the perfect opportunity for him to do so. Each candidate has five minutes to present why they’d be a good girlfriend. Marinette decides to take this opportunity to shoot her shot.

~*Panache- Every eligible maiden was invited to the Prince's ball. That included Marinette, scullery maid in her own household. But her stepsisters destroyed her dress, and she can't go to the ball in rags. Or can she? (Cinderella!AU)

*Perfect, No Matter What-In which Gabriel sets the bar even lower for himself, a reveal happens because of pain medication, and the new guardian actually goes to Chloé for advice.

Long Fics

*❤️Longest Night- (FF.net | Ao3) - The day started out sucky to begin with. Her crush ousted to the class and Adrien. Lila taking pride in exacting her revenge. But by the time patrol was over, a young man was dead, and Ladybug’s identity was at risk. Lila was the least of her concerns. Good thing Adrien was taking it all like a champ. (Rated M for scenes of torture)

*❤️Nine Lives- (FF.net) When Adrien Agreste is scheduled to go to a Military School in Germany, Chat Noir must make a critical decision. Does he give up his Miraculous? Or does he give up his life as Adrien? I’ll save you the trouble of guessing, he gives up being Adrien.

*Tender Words- When Marinette finally gets the guts to confess her feelings for Adrien, some things go so wrong, and other things go so right.

*Integrity- Overwhelmed with her responsibilities, guilt, and drama, Marinette has an emotional breakdown in front of everyone, and even hands over her earrings in a moment of weakness. Only for a few seconds, but the damage was done. Adrien’s pretty quick on the uptake like that.

~Much Obliged- Everyone deals with grief differently. Some take to drinking, others devote themselves to charity. Adrien Agreste? Well, he became a cowboy. Marinette Dupain-Cheng is a witch, one of very few in the world. She knows what it's like to be doubted, and assumed delusional. Maybe that's why they got along so well. Or maybe it's just because they both like big hats. AU where everything is the same, except instead of superheroes, Adrien is a Cowboy and Marinette is a witch. (Unfinished) (Based on a AU by @bugaboo-n-bananoir)

I'll Handle This- “I’ll solve all your problems,” Plagg had said. “You just have to agree to it.” A fixed relationship with his father, Lila to stop bothering him, and Ladybug to fall in love with him? Who wouldn’t agree to that? Except Plagg was the God of Destruction and Chaos and had a more…hands-on approach. Adrien just wants his body back. (Body swap fic)

How To Train Your Dragon

One Shots

The Vikings Have Their Tea (FF.Net | AO3)

Arranged Marriage- Takes place at the beginning of HTTYD

❤️Breathe- Survival of the fittest

~Childhood Friends- At the Sandbox

❤️Easy Fix- In which Hiccup has a bad day

~Fashion Designer- Astrid needs a fill in

❤️Frozen- In Which Astrid takes a Dip and things get frisky (Rated M)

❤️Headache- In Which Hiccup hits his head….really hard

❤️Heir- In Which Hiccup is Picked (Longer version by FateCharms)

Illness- In Which Stoick is a dad

~Illusionist- Trick gone wrong

~In the Walls- In which there’s a poop ghost

~Knocking On The Wrong Door (2) - A chance encounter

❤️Messages- Astrid is Frustrated with Hiccup’s obliviousness

~To Mirkwood- Hiccup is not a dwarf

~Monster Falls- Hiccup and Astrid take a dip

❤️Mute- In which there’s a quiet stranger

~Music Video (ImgHS)- He didn’t expect it

❤️Operation: Lovebirds- In Which the gang makes a plan, and Hiccup gets Drunk

~Over- Too many nightmares

~Partners in Crime- A normal day at work

~Pirate- Astrid is the greatest treasure

~Prince- He doesn’t want to be a broken King

❤️Sorting Things Out- In Which Astrid gets her ducks in a row

~The Dragon and The Dame- Beauty and the Beast Au

The Pit- In Which Hiccup is rescued

Hide and Seek- Part 1

Lost and Found- Part 2

Long fics:

*❤️Infernal Responsibility- Being the son of the chief takes brains, courage, and a lot of patience. But at his father’s the request for marriage, Hiccup decides he has had enough. When he seeks out a life of ease, he runs into more than what he bargained for.

*❤️Roses and Lilies- “Astrid, you and I both know you’re much tougher than I am. You’re more brave, and a better fighter…but just for a little while…could we pretend that I’m the one protecting you?” “Oh gods yes!” (Also Available in Spanish!)

*~What the Water Gave Me- The sea is a wild and dangerous thing, something that cannot be foretold or predicted. Hiccup discovered this many years ago, in human naiveté. Yet, what was meant as a sacrifice became a new life, one like no one could comprehend. He now finds himself once more in the unknowing hands of those that sentenced him to death. He only prays things will be different this time. Merman!AU

*Parasite- Soulsnatcher Dragons are rare but deadly. But, As Hiccup finds out, it’s the eggs you have to watch out for.

*~320 State Street- Gobber’s Goods. A Hardware Store that was rumored to have everything you needed. She thought she only needed a job. Turns out, she needed a lot more than that. (A Modern AU no one asked for)

*~❤️The North Tower- When Finn Hofferson died, Astrid inherited his castle in Wales…and a whole lot more. Something sinister lurks in the North Tower.

*~❤️Boy Toy- AO3 - At the age of 21, Princess Astrid lawfully has to pick a husband. But when the perfect groom is nowhere to be found, she requests the toymaker to create one for her. It’s safe to say that everyone in the kingdom is a little concerned. (Pinocchio!AU I guess?)

No, You Go First- AO3 - The Chief of Berk was a headstrong viking, stubborn and full of pride, and willing to do whatever it takes to keep his village safe. But for a moment, he puts that aside, and listens to his son. In which Hiccup convinces his dad not to make him go through Dragon Training, and the subsequent changes that follow.

*In Due Time- AO3 - As another illness sweeps through Berk, Gothi needs another ingredient for her medicine…one that doesn’t exist anymore. Fortunately, she kept that old spell book around for such an occasion. Big Hiccup is sent to five years into the past, and his younger self sent to take his place in the future. But it’s only a few days, what could go wrong?

Trollhunters: Tales from Arcadia

❤️Arcadia or Bust- In Which Arcadia welcomes back it’s underground citizens.

Teen Titans

Oneshots:

~Big Brother- Don’t turn out the light (Horror)

Dear Jason- Bruce Writes a letter

Just Drawing- Bruce thinks about Robin

The Prisoner- Starfire is Guilty

Of Mustard and Three Foot Purple Tongues- A collection of Oneshots and Drabbles

Long Fics (*Finished):

*~❤️Carol of the Bells- High in the dark Bell Tower of Notre Dame, there lives a mysterious bell ringer. Legend tells of the angel who fell from the sky, and the curse she bares. There are few who know her true identity though; her master, the priest, and the acrobat that performs on the streets below. Based loosely on ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ RobxStar and slight BBxRae

*No Escape- Three years ago, Starfire escaped an Alien race called the Gordanians, to arrive on Earth. They’re back, and ready to put Starfire back where she belongs, behind reinforced Titanium bars. Robin’s not about to let her go…if only he hadn’t got captured first. How does it feel to be the alien, Robin?

*Now you Know My Pain- When the new Villain, Gender Bender, comes to down, the Titans find themselves in an odd situation. They’ve been turned into the opposite gender against their will! Now in order to change back, they must learn to understand the gender they’ve turned into. Rated T for obvious reasons. A great read if you’ve ever wondered why girls or guys do [blank].

*Paint it Black- Robin disappeared three months ago. Now, Jump City’s crime rate is mysteriously being taken care of by a normal, albeit strange, teenage boy who goes by the name Black. As the Titans befriend this lunatic, they begin to see a relation between him and their missing leader. Will they be able to find Robin, or will Black turn them all insane as himself? Actually, contains NO OC.

*Saving Grace- “When I’m done with you, you won’t be able to walk upright or speak coherent sentences and all you’ll see is my mask and my voice repeating in your head…Weak. Richard Grayson, I am not tough, I am everything that you fear.” Happy Ending! Smudge of RobStar. NO Slash!

Other Fandoms

Final Fantasy XV

❤️Requiem for Pitioss-“O King. The god’s have heard your cries. Know that we weep with you. The Oracle’s calling has not yet been fulfilled. But…Lunafreya as you know her cannot return the way she was.” Noctis looked up, hopeful. “But she can return!” Canon divergence from Chapter 9. Happy ending. Some spoilers.

Beauty and the Beast

*❤️Behold the Beast- A Oneshot alternate ending to the Animated Film

Cinderella

*❤️Midnight- “When the clock strikes twelve, the spell will be broken,” the fairy godmother had warned. A retelling of the story, when Cinderella doesn’t escape the ball in time. Oneshot

*So This is Love- What if Jaq and Gus hadn’t made it in time to help Cinderella? A new twist on the ending of the classic Fairytale, and what lies beyond the story. She still gets her happy ending and her Prince, and her step family gets their just deserts.

Sleeping Beauty

*❤️A Love Song Back To Me- Maleficent saw the loophole that stared her in the face. Prince Phillip would break the curse in time, for sure. After all, he was betrothed to Aurora. So in an effort for her evil plan to stay in action, Maleficent takes care of the young prince herself. Phillip never imagined having to live off the land like the birds above. Alternate twist on the classic Disney tale.

Escaflowne

Down Feathers- Hitomi’s depressed. She’s been away from Van too long, he comes back to visit her…but what if something went wrong with the transfer? (Not finished. Never will be finished. Mwahaha) Circa 2012

*Angel’s Wounds- Fanelia’s been victorious in their most recent battle with Basrum. Unfortunately, someone is wounded and just seeks solace in his love that lives so far away. Post Anime.

Momma Look Sharp- With the war between Fanelia and Basrum finally coming to a close, the kingdom is celebrating. The young king, however, is suffering from an experience unlike any he had before. Van finally seeks solace in his wife.

#kingdom hearts #miraculous ladybug #ml #kh #disney #httyd #how to train your dragon #Teen Titans #sleeping beauty #cinderella #escaflowne #trollhunters #toa #beauty and the beast #fanfiction

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