#or ‘flop’ by bringing in less than Toy Story 4

[authenticcadence18]

I wonder how much money Toy Story 5 will make

[haus-seeblick]

Suptober Day 4 - Secrets

Title: “Messy”

Rating: General Audiences

Word Count: 3,503

Characters: Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, John Winchester, Original Characters

Tags: John Winchester's A+ Parenting, Angst, Breaking The Rules, Dean is Sam's Real Parent (But he shouldn't have to be), Dean Giving Sam a Childhood, Dean Has Self-Esteem Issues, Dean Meets a Cute Boy, Unwanted Haircut, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Dean is 13 and Sam is 9

Summary: John leaves Dean and Sam alone at a motel the day before Halloween. Despite John's hard-and-fast rules about leaving the motel room, Sam convinces Dean to take him trick-or-treating. While they're out, Dean meets a boy who makes him feel like breaking the rules was worth it.

On AO3 Here

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Dean, you know the drill,” John says brusquely as he hoists the duffel over his shoulder. “Tell me the rules.”

Dean stands up from where he’s folding laundry on the motel room floor. They stopped at the laundromat this morning, John tossing Dean just enough quarters for two small loads before taking Sam along with him to the local library for research. They’ve been tracking a creature for days and John’s still not sure exactly what it is.

Dean would have loved to help with the books. Instead he sat in front of the laundry machine, exactly the same as the hundreds of others he’s fed with quarters over the years, and watched their clothes spin around and around. He noticed new holes in Sam’s jeans and socks when he moved them to the dryer. If his dad will let him use some of their wound-stitching thread, he’ll repair them after this hunt.

He faces his dad, posture straight and hands behind his back. “The rules are stay in the room, keep the doors and windows locked, don’t answer the door for anyone except you and Bobby, only spend money if I absolutely have to, and always have a weapon in reach,” he rattles off.

John nods, face impassive. “And the most important rule?”

“Protect Sammy,” Dean says firmly. He glances over to the rickety table under the window, where his scrawny little brother is filling out a worksheet. It’s part of the last round of homework their teachers had given them at their previous school, right before John took them out again to hit the road.

Dean quietly tossed his own homework in the garbage and told Sammy to finish every worksheet, because he was going to mail it back to the school and his teacher would check it. Sam’s even writing a letter in the cursive he’s learning to go along with it.

Dean has no clue what the address of the school is.

John pulls the Impala key out of his pocket and opens the door. “I’ll be out of cell range during this next leg. Check in date is Thursday. Don’t call for help until Sunday.”

Dean nods. John steps halfway out the door before turning back. He eyes Dean for a long moment, as if he’s trying to come up with something to add. Eventually he just says “I’m cutting your hair when I get back. You look messy.”

The door closes. In the silence of the room, Dean reaches up and touches his bangs. Just this morning, in the reflection of the washing machine door, he admired how his hair was curling a bit over his ears. It framed his face and made him look softer. Less skinny. More like the other boys he’d seen at school.

Oh well.

The Impala roars to life outside in the parking lot, and Dean listens until the purr of the engine fades away down the road. He looks at the half-folded pile of laundry at his feet.

“Tomorrow’s Halloween.”

Dean jumps a little. Sam’s right next to him, eyebrows raised expectantly. Dean pushes him away and drops onto the couch, nudging a balled-up pair of socks with his foot. “Don’t sneak up on me.”

Sam sits down next to him. “Dean, I think Dad forgot about Halloween.”

Dean rolls his eyes. “He didn’t forget, Sammy. It just doesn’t matter.” He avoids looking at his brother, running his fingers over the ridge of threads barely holding together the hole in his own jeans.

“But I told James I’d be a doctor,” Sam needles. “He’s gonna be a pirate.”

Sam’s ability to instantly make friends always leaves Dean feeling half-proud, half-nervous. Sam was in third grade with James for less than two weeks, and he still talks about him constantly.

Dean thinks it’s better not to get attached. He just can’t bring himself to teach Sam that particular lesson yet.

He sighs and glances at Sam. “You know you can’t trick-or-treat with James anyway, right? He’s in Denver.”

Sam groans dramatically and flops against the hard backrest of the couch. His shaggy hair falls into his face. Dean looks at the longest strands, curving past Sam’s cheekbones.

“We can just do Halloween here,” he suggests, even though he knows “buying candy from the gas station” definitely doesn’t count as necessary spending.

Sam shakes his head where it’s still resting on the couch. “That’s not real Halloween.”

“We’ve never done a real Halloween, so how would you know?” Dean’s just buying time now, putting off the moment when he has to say “no.”

The stink-eye that’s sent his way is of epic proportions. “I watch TV, Dean.”

Dean rubs his face. “Sammy--”

“--Oh, please, Dean, please!” Sam shifts into begging mode, sitting up and whipping out the puppy eyes. His left eye is half-covered by hair. “I know we’re not allowed, but can’t we break the rules just one time? It can be a secret.”

They hold eye contact for a moment, but Sam’s more stubborn. Dean looks away first, his eyes falling to the laundry on the floor. Almost unconsciously, he reaches under the lumpy couch cushion next to him and lets his fingers graze the pistol stashed there. His stomach rumbles and he wonders how far he can stretch their last cans of soup.

Suddenly, a secret doesn’t sound so bad at all.

“Okay,” he says.

Sam must’ve not expected Dean to relent, because he’s silent for a couple seconds before whooping and launching himself at Dean. “Ahh! Thank you thank you thank you!”

Dean can’t help the smile tugging at his lips. He hugs Sam back, the kid’s bony shoulder digging into his ribcage. After a moment, he pulls away and puts on his most serious face. Hands on Sam’s upper arms, he looks him straight in the eyes. “Sam, if we do this, you cannot tell Dad. Do you understand?”

Sam nods enthusiastically, still grinning. Dean digs his fingers into his arms. “Listen to me, or we’re not going.” He waits for Sam’s face to fall a little before continuing. “You can’t just not tell Dad, you can’t drop hints. You have to clean up all your wrappers. We can never talk about it. Do you get it?”

Sam’s eyes are wide now. He nods again, very small, and Dean knows he’s gotten through. He loosens his grip on Sam’s arms. “All right, then. How are we gonna make you look like a doctor?”

Sam beams.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next night, they lock the motel room door behind them and head out. The neighborhood that starts a few streets behind the motel is pretty normal, as far as Dean can tell. The houses aren’t super big, but the yards are, and there are toys scattered on some of the lawns. The biggest house on the corner even has a tree swing. The big tree reminds him of the one in their front yard in Lawrence. He tries not to think about that too much.

It’s dark, and chilly -- they’re still in Colorado -- and Dean holds his jacket closed in front of his chest. The zipper broke a couple weeks ago. Ahead of him, Sam doesn’t seem to feel the cold at all. His “doctor coat” flaps behind his legs as he skips down the sidewalk. It’s just a sheet from the bed that Dean stuck together with safety pins in a certain way (it doesn’t look like a coat at all, but the mirror in the motel bathroom was shattered so Sam couldn’t see it anyway). He hung their stethoscope from the big first-aid kit around Sam’s neck, with the express instruction not to lose it, and he emptied the rest of the first-aid kit onto the couch so Sam could carry the empty box with the big red cross and look professional.

Sam hasn’t smiled this much in weeks. Dean’s neck is crawling with the knowledge that he’s breaking rules, bigtime, but he shakes it off. They’re out now. It’s done.

Sam has already latched on to a group of kids making their way up the drive to a single-story brick house. Dean hears him introduce himself, sees him flash the big toothy smile that Dean told him makes him look friendly. The other kids compliment his stethoscope, and Dean relaxes a little.

Everyone in the group is wearing what looks like homemade costumes, too — there’s another bedsheet, draped over a short kid’s head like a ghost (if only ghosts actually looked like that, Dean thinks); and a long black coat, obviously from an adult, dwarfing a kid who Dean’s pretty sure is supposed to be a vampire. Sam, in his makeshift getup, fits right in.

Dean’s trailing behind the group, letting Sam do his making-friends thing, when he notices another older kid doing the same. He looks about Dean’s age, maybe a year older, fourteen or so, and he’s dressed like an angel with a blue halo made out of pipe cleaners. The rest of his outfit is normal, though — a t-shirt that’s printed to look like a suit and tie, under a regular puffy winter coat. Dean’s eyes linger on him as they follow the younger kids up to the house. When they come to a stop so Sam can ring the doorbell, the other boy looks over at Dean, too.

“Hi,” he says. In the yellow glow of the porchlight, his eyes look greenish blue. “I’m Al.” He reaches out a hand. Dean looks at it for a moment, then takes it. They shake. Al’s hand is warm and smooth, a stark contrast to Dean’s freezing, calloused palm. Dean wishes he could hold on a bit longer.

“Dean,” he replies, dropping Al’s hand. He’s not sure what to say next. That’s Sam’s area of expertise.

Luckily, Al doesn’t let him flounder long. “Do you live around here?” he asks, friendly and curious. Dean’s used to hearing that question asked with a thick layer of suspicion, usually out of the mouth of some nosy adult. He still gives his practiced answer, though.

“No, me and my brother are just visiting our grandparents for a couple days.”

Al nods, accepting the lie easily. “I thought I’d never seen you at school.” He points at the sheet-clad ghost. “That’s my sister Katie. She’s seven. It’s the first time our parents are letting me take her trick-or-treating on our own.”

Dean smiles and gestures at Sam, who’s holding the empty first-aid kit out to the homeowner for candy. “That’s Sam. He’s nine. Same deal for us.”

“I like his costume,” Al says. Dean bristles for a moment, until he realizes Al’s being sincere.

“Thanks,” he replies. “I like Katie’s too.” He sweeps his eyes over Al again. “Why are you wearing a fake suit with your halo?”

Al looks down at himself and laughs sheepishly, smoothing down the front of his t-shirt. “I wanted to do a toga with a sheet, but it’s way too cold. I just dressed up ‘cause Katie wanted me to. The halo was the quickest thing.”

“It works,” Dean assures him, suddenly wanting Al to feel good about himself. He shuffles his feet a little, kicking at the fallen leaves littering the walkway. Al smiles at him and something grows in Dean’s chest, a warm, glowing ball, making everything feel tight and tingly. He’s not sure what to do with it.

Sam appears at his elbow suddenly, much to Dean’s relief. He ruffles Sam’s hair. “What’d you get?”

Already chewing on something that looks very caramelly as it squishes between his teeth, Sam holds out the first-aid kit. “She gave me two big ones!” he announces around his mouthful. Two full-sized Milky Ways, one already half-unwrapped, slide around in the box.

“Cool,” Dean says. “Don’t get a stomachache.”

“They’re gonna get stomachaches,” Al says ruefully as Sam and Katie bounce down the driveway to hit the next house. “We should steal some of their candy, y’know, just to protect them.”

The word protect briefly jolts Dean out of his growing sense of relaxation and he sneakily pats his chest, feeling the sheathed knife tucked away in the inside pocket. He makes sure he can still see Sammy (now bounding up the walkway of the next house), and takes a breath. Everything’s under control.

“You okay?” Al’s looking at him with his eyebrows drawn together, a lock of dark hair falling into the crease. He has nice hair, Dean decides. Floppy and kind of messy, squished flat in the middle by the band of the pipe cleaner halo.

“Yep,” he says, forcing the cheer into his voice. If Al notices, he doesn’t say anything. They continue to follow their siblings through the neighborhood, leaving some distance so they can talk. Al tells Dean about school, that he likes science and hates history, that his favorite band is Journey, that he wants to play soccer but his dad wants him to play football, and that he wants to be a veterinarian.

“I like cars,” Dean says in response. “I’m not great at school. Not sure what I wanna do when I grow up.”

Not sure how to tell you that I’ll probably be hunting monsters for the rest of my life.

Al leans on the picket fence of the house that they’re currently waiting outside. “You could be a teacher,” he says.

Dean narrows his eyes at him in confusion. “I just told you I’m bad at school.”

Al shrugs. “My favorite teacher says he didn’t like school. That’s why he’s so good at helping us. He gets it.”

The heavy layer of clouds above them breaks, and a ray of moonlight lands across Al’s face. They’re standing between streetlights, so the silvery glow makes Al’s blueish eyes gleam. Dean finds he has to breathe a little harder than normal. He shakes his head.

“Nah, if anyone’s gonna be a teacher, it’s Sammy. He’s really smart.”

Al hums and pushes off the fence. Sam and Katie are moving on again. “I don’t know, man. You seem smart to me.” He pats Dean on the shoulder, the warmth of his hand seeping through Dean’s threadbare jacket.

In the relative darkness, Dean smiles so hard his eyes squeeze shut.

Eventually, they’ve stopped at every house in the neighborhood. Dean’s pockets are full of the candy that doesn’t fit into Sam’s overflowing first-aid kit. Al’s coat pockets are bulging, too. Sam and Katie run sugar-hyped circles under a streetlight while Dean and Al stand on the corner, looking at each other a bit awkwardly.

“Uh-- I’m glad we ran into you guys,” Al says finally. “You’re really cool.”

Dean’s glad that he’s the one facing away from the streetlight, because his cheeks heat up and probably look way pinker than they would from just the cold.

“You too,” he says. “Wish we lived around here.”

“Where do you live?” Al asks. “You know, just in case we ever take a road trip.”

Unless your destination’s my dad’s car, I don’t think you’re gonna run into me.

“Sioux Falls,” he says. “South Dakota. I live with my uncle.”

If Al finds that strange, he doesn’t pry. Dean could hug him. He wants to hug him.

Katie comes barrelling over, dragging her pillowcase of candy along the pavement. She’s huffing from running around, ghost sheet dangling half off her body. “Al, I’m soooo tired.” She flops against her brother. Sam comes trotting up behind her and grins at Dean. Dean tries to smile back, but there’s a lump in his throat, something that’s making it hard to breathe.

Al pats Katie on the head. “We should probably go home, anyway. It’s getting late.”

Still taking tight little breaths, Dean nods. “Uh-- yeah, us too. See if Sam can sleep off the sugar rush.”

“How long are you staying with your grandparents?” Al asks.

Dean looks at his feet. Weighs the pros and cons of sneaking out again. He’d have to take Sam; there aren’t actually any grandparents who could watch him.

He can’t risk it.

“We’re going home tomorrow morning,” he says, every word dropping like lead. Sam shoots him a confused look, but he ignores it.

Unless he’s imagining it, Al’s face seems to fall. “Aw, too bad. Wait! Hang on.” He rummages through his candy-heavy pockets until he pulls out a little spiral notebook and a nub of a pencil. He writes something on a page and rips it out. He hands it to Dean.

“Our phone number,” he says with a little smile. He steps forward and the streetlight catches his eyes again. Dean thinks that in the sunlight, they’d be bright blue. Al gestures at the paper. “You’ve got a phone at your uncle’s, right? Maybe you can call me sometime.”

There are way too many feelings jumbling around in Dean’s chest for him to say anything coherent, so he just nods. Al smiles wider. “Cool. I’m happy we met you.” He takes one more step forward and — Dean stops breathing altogether — wraps his arms briefly around Dean’s shoulders. He’s very warm. His hair smells good. Dean’s brain doesn’t catch up quite in time, and he misses his chance to hug back. The edge of Al’s halo brushes Dean’s forehead as he pulls away.

“Thanks for hanging out,” Al says, putting his arm around Katie’s shoulders and turning to go. “Have a good drive back home!”

Dean clears his throat. “Bye, guys,” he says lamely. Sam waves enthusiastically to make up for it. They stand under the streetlight for a long few minutes, watching Al and Katie go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam manages to eat every piece of candy by Thursday morning, which is the day they’re supposed to hear from John. Dean makes him eat canned vegetable soup in between meals of Mars bars and Skittles. They scrounge the motel room for wrappers, tossing them all into a big garbage bag that Dean’s going to throw into the dumpster outside. He finishes folding the laundry, counts the money to make sure it’s all there, re-packs the first aid kit, and puts the sheet back on the bed without the safety pins.

Anytime the unease creeps in about having broken the rules, he looks at his brother’s shining face and pushes it back down. He and Sam rehearse their story in case John asks them what they did and Sam even finishes all of his worksheets. Dean folds them up and hides them at the very bottom of his duffle. He tells Sam he put them into the mailbox in the motel office.

And every few hours, he pulls the folded little piece of notebook paper out of his pocket and looks at it. In careful handwriting, Al had written:

Alan Montgomery

(from Halloween. I hope you call.)

And his phone number.

Thursday afternoon, Dean takes the candy-wrapper garbage bag out to the parking lot. At the last second, he pulls Al’s note out of his jeans. After a long moment of reading and re-reading it, he gently folds it back up and tosses it into the bag. He throws the whole thing into the dumpster.

But not before memorizing the number.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

John gets home late Thursday night. Before they check out of the motel on Friday, John sits Dean down on the toilet seat in the bathroom and pulls out his electric clippers.

While John has his back turned, plugging in the clippers by the sink, Dean pushes his hand through his hair, feeling the soft strands bunch up between his fingers and fall back down onto his ears. He remembers Al’s messy hair brushing his cheek when they hugged.

John flips the clippers on and the buzzing fills the bathroom. For the second time, Dean is glad that the mirror is shattered.

With every lock of hair that tumbles to the ground, Dean recites Al’s number in his head.

“There,” John says gruffly, after the floor and Dean’s lap are littered with honey brown strands. “You look like a man again.”

Dean stands up, brushing off his jeans. His head feels cold. “I’ll get a broom,” he says.

He’s halfway out the bathroom door when John says “Dean.”

Dean freezes, already wondering where he left a wrapper, how John found the garbage bag, if Sam let something slip. He slowly turns back. John’s wrapping the cord around the clippers.

“I need you to come on the next hunt. We’ll drop Sam off at Bobby’s.”

Bobby’s, where the telephone is. Dean’s heart beats hard for a different reason now. He tries to look casual. “Are we gonna stay for a bit?”

John’s already shaking his head before Dean’s done talking. He pushes past him and drops the clippers into his duffel bag on the bed. “No. We’ll be on the road for a while.” He stops and looks at Dean. “Weren’t you going to find a broom?”

Dean loads a dustpan with his hair and empties it on top of the garbage bag in the dumpster.

He whispers Al’s number again.

[the-iron-orchid]

Anjali: Jinana’s Familiar

Got hold of this meme and decided to just fill it out in a post of my own instead of going for ask prompts or cluttering up the rebagel train...

General Questions

1. What is their name, pronouns, and species?

Anjali - she/her - Sand Lynx (Catclaw Desert variety)

2. Describe their appearance!

Anjali is large even for a sand lynx, over two feet high at the shoulder and weighing well over 60 pounds. Like all of her kind, she has a pale coat with faint lilac-grey spotting that helps her blend into the gypsum sands of the Catclaw Desert. The color shades into a darker lilac-grey around her lower legs and paws, the end of her tufted tail, and her ears. She has long black ear-tufts and dark markings on her face and muzzle. Her nose and paw pads are black, and her eyes are a pale blue with rounded pupils.

3. What is their personality like? How are they around strangers vs. people they know?

Anjali is suspicious of strangers, and will place her own body between them and Jinana, hissing quietly if they get too close for her comfort. (Like a caracal, she will hiss at anything she dislikes the tiniest bit.) With people she knows, she is a shameless beggar for food and attention. With people she adores, she acts like a daft kitten, despite being the size of a large dog, and will throw herself to the ground and roll around at their feet (’social rolling’).

4. What are their magical abilities?

Once per day, Anjali can use an ability that functions as a Jump spell for one round. This triples her already-impressive jumping ability for a single bound that can cross 75+ feet of horizontal distance, or 36 feet vertically. Imagine this creature just... appearing on the roof of a three-story building... terrifying.

5. What’s their goofiest quirk?

Anjali is fully capable of using a doorknob, standing up on her back legs and using her paw pads to get traction. The quirk, however, is that she always closes the door behind her. 😆

6. What snack will always get their attention?

Cheese. She adores any kind of cheese, but the stinkier the better. She won’t (intentionally) knock you over to get the cheese in your hand... but almost.

7. Do they have a pet peeve? (pun intended)

Anjali does not like to have her ear tufts played with... but it’s so hard to resist...

8. What’s their most special skill?

Sand Lynxes are known for their jumping ability, and Anjali is no exception. She can leap up to 12 feet vertically (an ability shared by real-life caracals and lynxes) and catch birds on the wing.

9. How energetic are they?

Like most felines, Anjali spends a lot of time sleeping. But when she is awake, she is a ball of energy and needs some time each day playing, running, and jumping. 

10. Do they enjoy attention or are they more of a loner?

Anjali loves attention and will actively demand it if she feels she isn’t getting enough. She will bump with her head, smack with her tail, pat a person with one of her paws or even lightly chomp a limb to get attention.

11. What’s their level of mischief like?

Relatively high. She is endlessly curious and forever poking into things to investigate them. Like all cats, she enjoys knocking things over and getting into high places.

12. What’s their favorite way to let off steam?

She actually loves to play fetch! She also loves to try and catch an airborne toy in mid-air (but it has to be thrown like... really high), and to play tag.

13. What were they like as a baby? Did your OC know them back then?

Originally, Jinana discovered Anjali as a lost, hungry kitten at an oasis in the Catclaw Desert, not terribly far from Nopal. S/he hand-reared the sand lynx, who bonded with hir over time. Anjali was pretty much like any other kitten, except larger!

14. What song would you use to describe them?

"Jump” by Van Halen 🤣🤣🤣

15. 3 emojis that sum them up?

😼🍖😻

16. Most likely to…?

Shove herself into bed between Jinana and anyone else who might be there, where she will then sleep belly-up with her legs in the air.

17. What’s the most unique thing about them/makes them stand out?

Anjali is capable of running small errands at the Market, wearing a set of saddlebags with a pocket for coin and a note from Jinana. The merchants aren’t sure if she can count... but they’re not about try and cheat her! (Don’t send her to pick up meat or cheese though... most of it won’t make it home...)

OC Relationship Questions

18. How did they meet your OC?

Having lost or become separated from her mother and littermates, Anjali was discovered at an oasis in the Catclaw Desert, starving. Jinana coaxed her into eating and drinking, bringing her back to Vesuvia with hir and raising her to adulthood, magically bonding with her in the process.

19. What is their relationship with your OC like?

Anjali adores and is very protective of Jinana. She would go everywhere with hir if allowed to... so long as it isn’t raining. ;P All the same, she can be kind of judgmental (like all cats) and has strong Opinions on things.

20. If your OC lost their memories, do/did they remember their familiar? If no, do they now and how did the reunion go?

In the Apprentice continuity, Jinana did not recall Anjali, nor vice-versa. Because of the way that mage and familiar are bound, bringing Jinana back to life brought Anjali back as well, her spirit arriving in the body of a newborn kitten. (Asra suspected but could not confirm this.) She is three years old and has had litters of her own by the time that Jinana finds her again. In the interim, they regularly dream of each other, but neither of them know why until Jinana gains the knowledge of hir own death and resurrection.

21. How do they feel about other people in your OC’s life?

Anjali likes Asra, but was slightly jealous of him in Jinana’s previous life. She adores Heron. She likes Julian because Jinana likes him, but also enjoys making him nervous. (“I think she wants to eat my face.”) Portia’s delight in meeting a cat so large charms Anjali in turn. Inanna, being one of the few familiars around that is larger than Anjali herself, gets particular respect.

22. What’s your OC’s favorite thing about them?

EAR TUFTS GO FWIP FWIP FWIP (only Jinana is allowed to play with them!)

Also Anjali will sit up on her back legs and ‘dance’ with Jinana when s/he is practicing, it’s adorable.

23. What’s their favorite thing about your OC?

HUMAN NAILS (they give scritches)

24. What’s one thing they do for your OC that no one else can?

Anjali can sense when Jinana is feeling disconnected or having intrusive thoughts, and will come and sit with/on hir or even just flop on hir to squish hir soul back into hir body, so to speak.

25. How often are they with your OC?

More or less constantly, outside of times she is sent on an errand, or stays at home because a) it’s raining or b) Jinana is going somewhere that a 60+ pound cat-thing is probably not welcome.

26. How easy is it for them to get away with things with your OC? Vice versa?

In non-Apprentice timelines, Anjali sees Jinana as a parent figure, and while she might have Opinions, she generally defers to hir and doesn’t act out much. 

In the Apprentice timeline, however, having raised two litters in the wild, Anjali sees Jinana as her charge, and won’t let hir get away with things like not eating or resting enough. It’s going to take some time to re-establish a balance in their relationship.

27. Which Disney character-animal sidekick duo is their relationship most like?

...I don’t have enough background in Disney to be able to pick one. Open to suggestions, though!

Creator Questions

28. What was your inspiration for this familiar?

Real-life caracals and lynxes, but bigger and adapted for true desert life. Sort of a Big Floppa of the desert. 😂

29. Why did you choose them for your OC?

I considered a bug familiar, which would have been on-brand, but it’s also very on-brand for Jinana to have rescued this ‘poor kitten’ which grows up to be a big horrible sand lynx that follows hir everywhere.

Heron: “Jinana, that is a sand lynx. It’s going to get almost as big as you are.” (Jinana did not care.)

30. What’s your favorite trait or bit of lore pertaining to them?

Anjali has a strong maternal instinct and will attempt to raise any small animal that comes into the household... including Julian’s wrinkly little puppy. He probably freaks out the first time he sees her carrying the puppy in her mouth (having just rescued the critter from its own curiosity).

31. If you were to meet this familiar irl, how would you react?

By herself? Terrified lmao

In the company of her person? Fascinated and dying to peT THE LORGE KITTY

32. What would your familiar be? Why?

A housecat. Because that’s just how it be. 😸

[crystalelemental]

With Book 4 in FEH out of the way, I guess it’s time to talk about the stories so far.  Book 2 is still the best, in my opinion.

I don’t think I’ve really talked about this, so let me explain.  Book 1 sucks.  It’s nothing, it doesn’t even try.  The only hint of events occurring is that Veronica’s possessed by some evil dragon god of Embla, but that never got resolved in any way, and has really never been brought up again.  We’re so far outside of that plotline that Veronica’s basically a dedicated ally now.  Nothing about that book had a plan.

Book 2 had a plan, and a structure, and it worked.  It wasn’t flashy or interesting, and I can respect anyone whose stance is that Book 3 or 4 had a more interesting concept.  I personally liked the cast overall for Book 2, even though some got limited screen time and Surtr’s about as boring a villain as you can have.  But Book 2 wins because Books 3 and 4 flopped.

Book 3 flopped because they backed out.  The idea of the realm of the dead is cool, and facing off against the god of death is cool.  But the god of death is about as stock standard evil as you can get, with no actual plan beyond “swell the ranks of the dead.”  Why massacre these worlds?  Why does she need to kill Eir a million times to create more of the dead, shouldn’t you have plenty?  Like it doesn’t add up.  And Eir starting out as the concept of Merciful Death was amazing, that was the best setup possible.  And then it turns out no, she’s not even associated with death, she’s with the life dragon in opposition, none of that was real.  Oh okay. Way to undermine your entire theme for nothing I guess.  Also I hate to be like this, but I actually dislike the Veronica and Alfonse as Thrasir and Lif thing.  I thought it was substantially more interesting when they were presented as the ancient rulers of their kingdoms.  But then no, it’s just Veronica and Alfonse, and while Thrasir continues to get nothing except being omnicidal for funsies, Lif gets all the heavy drama and dialogue and focus, because god forbid this story stop riding Alfonse’s dick for five seconds.  Book 3 had interesting concepts that just didn’t pan out, and the characters all wound up being less interesting than they initially started out.  Also, let’s be real.  For a fucking DEATH GOD, they sure had no problem working around her ability to inflict absolute death in the most standard way possible.  Which kind of immediately nerfed Hel’s threat level for me, not gonna lie.

Book 4 started out interesting, immediately tanked harder than I’ve seen anything in this game tank, had a redemption arc, and then decided it had enough of success and ended in a pathetic squelching fart noise.  Fairies and dreams?  Awesome.  Aesthetic approved.  But it takes them like two chapters to introduce Plumeria as the fucking wet dreams fairy, and immediately all sense of this being serious is dead.  They even had the audacity to outright explain that no no, she may be the lewd fairy, but she doesn’t actually like that job!

Listen guys.  I get it.  You know the sexy outfits and character designs sell, but you also know that people are insane, and they somehow expect the slutty fairy to present this concept of being exclusively available to them so you can sell that fap bait.  I really get it.  But oh my god you could not have handled this any worse, because now that just feels like rape fetish.  “No no, her job is to be a prostitute, but she’s not a slut because she hates it!” is not the save you think it is, friend.  You’d have been better off either giving her a sadistic streak with this and enjoying toying with people who can never truly have her, or just making her slutty.  That would’ve been so much less uncomfortable.

So until the halfway point, we’re kinda just dealing with the fact this incredibly uncomfortable character just exists around here.  And then Freyja drops.  And initially it’s like oh, I just appreciate there’s an evil fairy whose costume design isn’t a fucking disaster, she actually looks good.  And then they have her motivation being assuming complete control over dreams by taking her brother’s power, and ensuring that the dream world can’t die like it almost had.  And they introduce this really cool concept of her taking in abandoned children and giving them a new life as the fairies, and...well...

Plumeria.  Again.  Okay, so it wasn’t quite enough that we had a fairy who’s apparently forced into being the wet dreams fairy despite hating it, now she’s also a child who was abandoned by her mother and is desperately seeking to be loved.  This is...this is next level of discomfort.  Plumeria’s character bothers me.  Like sure, fine, I get that this isn’t a badly developed character or anything, but it’s never really addressed how absolutely fucked up this is, and it’s especially disquieting considering this is IS’ sexy character for the book.  This is their sex appeal pandering character, and this is the direction they wanted to go.  Just...ew.  Come on, guys.  Have at least a bit of class, will you?

But the rest of the book at least continues to amp things up.  Are Peony and Sharena actually swapped around?  Freyr is dead, and Freyja is now literally unstoppable within the dream.  Oh shit, Alfonse is fucking dead.  There’s all this cool stuff happening, and then the final chapter happens.

Are Peony and Sharena actually swapped around?  Who cares!  Game’s not gonna tell you, because “it doesn’t matter.”  Well good, glad that was a huge mystery that didn’t need solving so nobody bothered.  Why even bring it up?  The message of “It doesn’t matter” only works if there’s a crisis of identity and you’re getting the support of your long-time friends.  Instead it’s just a mystery thrown in for nothing with no value, and the “it doesn’t matter, you’re my friend” comes from someone Sharena has no actual memories of and has only been around for like...a couple of hours or however long these events take place.  It’s a completely meanningless subplot that goes nowhere and does nothing.

Freyja went from the villain tormenting the protagonists to suddenly having empathy toward everyone at the drop of a hat.  They set up the frustration of not understanding why we’d fight so hard to return to reality when dreams are more comforting, but that doesn’t really establish much about Freyja herself.  We get exactly one moment, where she calls for Triandra and Plumeria only to realize they’ve died, and feels sad about it.  So when she gives up and everyone returns to reality, everyone’s back.  Triandra and Plumeria are fine.  Peony and presumably Mirabilis are fine.  Alfonse isn’t actually dead so what was the point of bringing it up?  Oh, but Freyja’s dead.  How?  Don’t...don’t worry about it.  She just is, okay?  Also if both masters of dream are dead, and the dream world was already dying before...how are the fairies still there?  Wasn’t the point that all the old ones were dying because people from the real world (don’t even get me started on that bullshit) gave up on dreaming, and thus they needed to make humans into fairies to keep the dream world going?  How are you all here as fairies?  Explain??  Game?!?

And then they just...loop back to the start.  Like nothing happened.  Because nothing did happen.  For all the interesting setup, all the interesting concept behind the new characters, and especially behind Freyja as an antagonist...it goes nowhere.  The ultimate defining feature of this book was “Pointlessness.”  Nothing mattered.  No one did or accomplished anything.  Except I guess killing the god of another realm, good job guys.  I just...I don’t get it.  What was the point of any of this?  Maybe Book 5 is going to focus on Triandra and Plumeria wanting to join up and have you help get Freyja back, so there’s continuity, I don’t fucking know.

I honestly don’t know where I’d rank Book 4.  I want to put it above Book 3 based on concepts and the fact that Freyja was actually interesting, just rushed to her development in the last book so it felt forced.  But on the flip side, Book 4 was incredibly pointless.  At least stuff happened in Book 3.  Sure it undermined its entire theme and purpose, but stuff happened!  You can’t say stuff didn’t happen!  But I can definitely say that Book 2 is the only one I think turned out well.  Because it was self-contained and made sense.  Yes it was simple, but using simple tools to tell an effective story will always be better than trying to reach for complexity and falling flat on your ass.  And yes, IS, I’m telling you maybe you should stop trying.  Between two consecutive failed books and some of the Forging Bonds events of the last year just...completely doing nothing or even hurting the characters presented...maybe just...don’t try to be complicated.  Because you’re not doing a good job.

[twiistedgalaxies]

Genesis: Chapter 4: Arrival

How two brothers can take two opposite paths. How a man can be made into a monster and how the other must pay the ultimate price to save everything he knows and loves. Or, alternatively: The origins of All for One and One for All.

Previous Chapter

First Chapter

        The Our Lady of Perpetual Help Orphanage was a dilapidated, angular building with sagging windows and chipping, sun bleached paint. It was two stories, the windows were small, and it had rose bushes in the parking lot that were withering and dying, despite the winter rains. This is what Tomura saw as he peeked out from the car window, worrying his bottom lip.

        “Alright brats,” Their driver barked, a man in his late thirties who smelled perpetually of nicotine and bourbon, “Get outta here, I got places to be an’ people to see.”

        He heard the car door click behind him as his brother disembarked. Tomura, however, hesitated. Was this really it? The pamphlets the social worker had pushed towards them had shown something more… not this.

        “C’mon, hurry up!”

        “Sorry,” he squeaked, pushing himself and his bag out of the car. He stood on the sidewalk, hands twitching nervously.

        “Are you alright?” His brother asked, eyebrow raised but a smile on his lips, clearly amused.

        Tomura felt his face flush and they began to walk towards the entrance, “Stellar. So what do you think the orphanage will be like? The pamphlet said there’ll be a recess area and shared meals and that we’ll have our schooling here and-”

        “Well, whatever it’ll be like, the pamphlet was clearly lying,” Hisashi’s face darkened, “Just try not to do anything I wouldn’t and you should be fine.”

        As if that statement wasn’t ridiculously vague. “Okay.”

        They pushed open the front double doors to the orphanage, revealing a shoddily lit front room. It was tiny, consisting of a single helpdesk, a folding chair by the wall, and a sad snake plant. A stern looking woman sat behind the desk, her features were angular and pinched, like a bird that had tasted something sour.

        "I presume you are the Shigaraki brothers?" the woman asked, voice high pitched and nasally.

        "Yes?" Tomura said, though it came out as more of a question than an answer.

        "You're late," the woman sneered.

        “Sorry,” he mumbled. Next to him, his brother gave a polite, albeit strained, smile.

        She stood up with a huff, “Come, I’ll have one of the children show you around.” They stepped through a door and walked down a long, carpeted hallway. The air smelled sharp, like mildew. “I’m Matron Abra, the head of this fine establishment. I will tolerate no horse-play, no dilly-dallying, and no backtalk. Tomorrow you will be given a schedule by which you eat and breathe, if you’re caught one toe out of line the punishment will be severe, understood?”

        Tomura nodded, biting his tongue to keep from protesting. This is ridiculous!

        “Say ‘Yes Matron’, I won’t put up with such disrespect,” she scowled.

        “Yes Matron,” the brothers chorused. Hisashi looked at her like she was a particularly nasty piece of gum stuck on the sole of his shoe.

        They arrived at the doorway of what appeared to be a classroom. A large chalkboard was at the front of the room, and desks were lined up in neat rows. The furniture was beaten and battered to hell, seeming to have taken many years of constant abuse. Despite being packed with children, the room was quiet. Eerily so. The stout, balding man at the front of the room paused his lecture to greet the matron.

        “Ah, Matron Abra! What a pleasure to see you,” he stammered, looking as wide-eyed and fidgety as his students.

        “Can it, Stewart, I need to borrow one of your brats.”

        “I- Why of course, who do you need?”

        Abra looked down at the class over her narrow, crooked nose, “Any of them will do, as long as they’re capable of basic tasks.”

        Stewart’s eyes swept the room, “Leo,” he barked, gesturing at a blonde teen in the back of the room, “You’re excused from class, just do as the matron says.”

        The boy nodded and hastily gathered his things before making his way towards the door. It shut behind him with a click.

        “I trust you’ll be able to show these two around competently, yes?” the matron said in a clipped manner.

        “Yes ma’am, but what about-”

        She cut him off, “Good. When you’re done bring them to the boys’ room and return to class. They’re to attend dinner after they arrange their things.” Abra strode down the hall towards the front room. Leo frowned at her retreating form, clearly frustrated.

        “Well, she’s uh..” Tomura began once she was out of earshot.

        “A witch of a woman?” Leo finished dryly, “The first rule of surviving here: avoid her as much as you can.”

        Hisashi quirked an eyebrow, “Why?”

        “Just trust me, crossing her is a bad idea,” Leo paused, “Anyways, I should probably give you two a tour, shouldn’t I?” He began to walk down the hall, gesturing for the two to follow, “The room you guys probably just came from is the reception area, it’s where we receive guests and stuff. Though, it’s not like we get any.”

        Tomura hummed, he couldn’t really blame people for avoiding this place, especially since he just saw a particularly monstrous looking cockroach skitter into a crack in one of the walls.

        “This hallway has two bathrooms and the classrooms. We’re split up by age, kindergarten through third grade share a class, fourth to sixth share one, seventh through ninth, and then tenth through twelfth.”

        “How do you learn anything like that?” Hisashi asked as he frowned, looking almost offended.

        “We don’t,” Leo coughed.

        They reached the end of the hall and stepped into a small room with ratty arm chairs and a stained rug. The walls were lined with ramshackle bookcases that were used more to store various knickknacks than hold any actual books. There was a large, imposing portrait of the matron hung over the brick fireplace.

        “This is the common area, we like to hang out here during our free time on rainy days,” Leo’s eyes lit up and he walked over to the shelves, he dug around and pulled out a monopoly box, yellowed with age, “A while ago, one of the other kids found this while they were out on an errand. We don’t get many games or toys, so… Anyways! If you want you guys can play a few rounds with us after dinner.”

        Tomura felt a smile dance on the edge of his lips, “Sure, that sounds fun, right Hisashi?”

        His brother shrugged noncommittally.

        “We’ll be happy to have you! So,” Leo gestured to a door to the right of them, “Down this hall is the eating area and kitchens. We haven’t been allowed in the kitchens since Matron Abra caught Thomas sneaking food.”

        Tomura winced at that.

        Leo pointed to a door to the left, “And this hallway leads to the two dorms, one for girls and one for boys, which is at the end of the hall. Do you guys have any questions?”

        “She said something about schedules?” Hisashi asked, arms crossed over his chest.

        Leo nodded, “Yeah, our day is split up between school and meals and such. She’s usually pretty strict about those, if she catches you somewhere you aren’t supposed to be you get in a lot of trouble,” he grimaced, “One time, I had to clean the gum off the bottoms of the dining tables for a month.”

        “How do we know which beds are ours?” Tomura inquired.

        “Oh, they should have a plastic name tag on them, just look for that. Unless you guys have more questions that’s pretty much it for what’s here. I should probably head back to class, if you need anything, let me know, okay?” Leo finished and went down the hallway they just came from. 

        “So…?” Tomura began.

        Hisashi hummed and headed towards the boys’ room, “We’ll be fine, like I said, don’t do anything stupid.”

        He followed his brother and stepped into the dorm. It was surprisingly large, but lined wall to wall with rickety twin beds. The floors were covered in dust, grime, and fading painted lines. On either side of the room were rusting basketball hoops. It took a little while of scouring the rows of bed frames before the duo finally found where they were meant to sleep. They were situated in the center of the room, bare and exposed for their peers to see. Tomura sat on his bed, ignoring the feeling of springs stabbing his butt, and pulled his stuff out of his bag.

        They were only allowed to take a precious few items with them. He himself had grabbed a few changes of clothes, toiletries, medication, joint braces, and a photo of his family tucked neatly into the pages of his favorite Captain America comic. Looking around, Tomura was at a loss as to where to put his things. There were only beds, no storage to be found anywhere. He hastily slid his comic under his mattress, and placed his hand on his chin as he worked out where to put his medical equipment. Glancing at Hisashi didn’t help, as the teen seemed to have already put everything away somehow and was lounging on the stiff bed with his phone. Eventually, Tomura decided to just shove his things back in his bag and place it on the foot of his bed until he found a better alternative. It’s not like the other kids could find much to do with joint braces anyways, so they were probably safe.

        Mimicking his brother, he pulled out his phone and checked his text messages. Since that night replies from Zach had grown less and less frequent, Tomura was worried, had he done something wrong?

                                                     4:50pm

                                                                                                                        [Hey]

                                           [You doing okay? Hisashi and I got to the orphanage.]

                                                                                                                        Seen

        Tomura heaved out a sigh. Figures. Still, ranting into the void was better than nothing at all, hopefully his friend would respond soon. Maybe he was busy?

                                                                     [The matron lady is suuuuper uptight]

                     [Man you should have seen her, she was like Mrs. Nott on steroids]

                                       [The social worker said something about our data being 

                                               cut off since our parents can’t pay our phone plan.]

                         [Talk to me when you can so we can move to Discord or smth :P]

                                                                                                                        Seen

        He flopped onto his bed with a groan.

        “You alright?” His brother asked, not looking up from his phone.

        “Yeah, I’m just really sore, and Zach’s ghosting me, and this is just all too much, ya know?” Tomura replied, throwing his hands into the air for dramatic emphasis and wincing as his elbows cracked.

        Hisashi sat up, eyebrows knitted together in a scowl, “Zach’s ghosting you?”

        He glanced over at his older brother, “Yes? But I think he’s just busy, this is our first year in middle school and finals are in a few weeks.”

        “Right.” the teen replied tersely, his focus returned to his phone. They sat there for a while like that, with Tomura reading web comics and his brother typing something into his device.

-@~*^*~@- 

        The dining hall was a large, rectangular room with high angular ceilings and stained glass windows depicting haloed figures. There were holes in the floor from where pews had been ripped out to make room for the lunch tables. It was loud with the chatter of children, both those who already had food and those standing in a line tightly wound around the room leading towards the kitchen door. The brothers sat at a table in the far corner of the room. Tomura tried desperately to eat the blandest mashed potatoes he’s ever had the misfortune of tasting to no avail. Hisashi, meanwhile, was chatting up a storm. While they were in line he had managed to somehow befriend most of the older kids. The preteen looked on at his older brother with envy. 

        “So how’d you all end up here?” Hisashi asked the others, a gleam in his eye as he leaned forward with mock-interest. 

        They were met with stories of drug deals gone wrong, of parents unable to afford to financially support their kids and dropping them off here, of parents leaving their children on the orphanage doorstep the moment they displayed the slightest hint of a mutation. His brother regaled them with the harrowing tale of the home invasion, painting a dramatic picture of their mother’s withered form in a hospital bed, surrounded by flowers.

        Tomura felt something catch in his throat. She was never given flowers. If he didn’t have an appetite before he certainly didn’t now.

        “How did you get that Monopoly board?” Hisashi asked, “I noticed it when we went in the common room, you don’t seem to have many toys, there must be a story there.”

        He frowned, hadn’t Leo told them already?

        One of the teens - a Hispanic kid, Jose - clapped another on the back, “That’s thanks to Rafi over here, he snuck out one night and found it in a back-alley dumpster, he smelled like garbage for weeks!”

        Rafi buried his head in his hands, “It wasn’t that bad!” he cried.

        Hisashi’s eyes narrowed slightly. He opened his mouth to say something, but Tomura didn’t hear. He got up to dispose of his food and wander into the dorm, fighting an onslaught of dizziness. He really didn’t feel good. Has the orphanage always been this cold?

        Tomura crawled into his bed, wrapping the cheap linen blanket around himself. He tried desperately to get comfortable but the thin mattress made such a task impossible. His face burned and itched. What the heck?! He closed his eyes and tried to sleep to no avail. At best he drifted aimlessly in inky black, at worst? The pain in his joints and muscles intensified into a shrieking crescendo.

        What had he done to bring this on? Tomura tried best he could to recall the events of the day, to a potential trigger of his flare-up, but he drew a blank. Sure, he’d been beyond stressed lately for understandable reasons, but that didn’t explain this sudden spike of agony. Had it been from wandering around the orphanage all day? Maybe, but the orphanage was really small, certainly not big enough to make his body do the electric slide of death.

        He let out a groan as the other kids entered the room, flicking on the harsh fluorescents and bringing noise with them. Tomura curled up on his side and pulled his pillow on his head in an attempt to muffle the outside world. There was a cold hand on his shoulder. He made a sound that came out like a whine.

        “Tomura,” His brother said, voice soft, “Did you remember to take your medications?”

        Oh. Whoops. In the blur of seeing the social worker and moving into the orphanage he must have forgotten. He shook his head causing the pillow upon it to shift.

        A sigh, and Hisashi rummaged through Tomura’s bag, “What am I going to do with you?” he muttered. “Hey Leo, can you come over here for a second?” the teen called. Tomura cringed at the sudden sound.

        “What’s up?” Leo asked.  A set of footsteps approached the pair.

        “I was wondering if it’d be possible to get my little brother some water, he needs it for his medication. The dumbass forgot to take it this afternoon,” Hisashi said, the last part teasing and aimed towards him. Tomura made a sound of indignation. 

        Leo hummed, “I can probably get a cup from the dining hall, hopefully the bathroom will be open.”

        “Alright,” Hisashi replied, “be quick.”

        The bed creaked as Hisashi sat by his side, “I take it you’re making a raincheck on Monopoly tonight?”

        Tomura rolled towards his brother, feeling his heart get caught in his stomach, he had forgotten about Monopoly, “No, I want to play.”

        His brother chuckled, “Not in this condition you won’t,” he pushed a long strand of white hair out of his younger brother’s face, then paused, “There’ll be other nights you can play.”

        Hisashi began to move his hand away from his brother’s face but Tomura grabbed it and moved it back. The cold skin felt nice against his burning, inflamed face. 

        “It looks like Leo’s back, sit up.”

        Tomura grumbled complaints, but sat up regardless, leaning against the metal bed frame. A plastic cup was shoved in his hands and he brought the cool liquid to his lips, “Thank you,” he said. Hisashi handed him his medications, and he downed them in one gulp. He pushed himself downwards to lie on his back. The lights of the dorms flickered out as the other kids settled down for the night. Tomura fell into a fitful sleep, to the sensation of his brother sitting by his side.

A/N: Woo! 2020 is over, thank the gods.  Updates may be a little slower because I am starting winter quarter classes this week, but I'll still try to get a chapter uploaded each Monday whenever possible. Next chapter should be Hisashi's POV, which I'm both dreading and excited to write. Please leave comments, feedback fuels my motivation!

AO3

Next Chapter

[inkribbon796]

The Lost Ones Ch. 6

Chapter 6: Told me he Wanted to Talk for Awhile

Summary: Whenever there are new additions to a family there are always some growing pains.

A/N: Title for this and the concept for this entire story were when I was listening to Lost Boy by Ruth B. it’s a really good song

Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Lunch was of course awkward, Wil was all smiles and had to be “reminded” what everyone’s names were. He was already doting over Yan, who he’d nicknamed “Princess”.

Bim wound up eating some of the dumplings, and Illinois found he kinda liked how hot the food he was eating heated his mouth. Kay didn’t like it so much, but he ate it without complaint.

Then the kids were taken to a house, a nicer place than any of them had been in before, any of the belongings they’d had at the orphanage, excluding Kay and Yancy who didn’t have anything to bring with them that Dark could get to. Yancy because he’d been taken, and Kay because he now only had the rabbit stuffed animal Dark had given him.

Wilford had endeared himself to the kids immediately, which Dark predicted and it made things easier since Arthur seemed to calm down, at least a little bit.

Arthur and Yan had grabbed onto Wil’s arms and he was racing through the portal, spinning them around as they all laughed. Bim was perched on Wil’s shoulders, pinned in place mostly by the madman’s aura, he was screaming in delight as well.

Yancy, Kay, and Illinois followed with Dark at a slower pace but Yancy still ran over and shouted, “Me next! Me next!” The boy’s earlier trepidation was mostly forgotten.

On the ground were some scatter toys that Bim had left behind that Wil tried to step lightly around before carefully flopping all four of them on the couch. Bim climbing onto Wil’s chest.

Yan gasped as she scrambled off Wil and walked to the little block structure with stuffed animals and some dolls. “Pretty dolly.”

“That’s mine!” Bim shouted at Yan in anger.

“Boys don’t play with dolls,” Arthur told him.

Before Bim or Dark could intervene, Wil did, “Of course they do, why wouldn’t they?”

Arthur looked flustered, “Well— They— They just don’t.”

“Nonsense,” Wilford dismissed. “Just because you might not like it, doesn’t mean the others can’t. What do you like to do?”

“Write,” Arthur answered bluntly.

Wil seemed to brighten, “Ohhh hoh! A little show writer. Jerry’s our show writer, do you like baseball?”

“Wil,” Dark warned. Not trusting Arthur with a baseball bat or a large stick yet.

“Nonsense, every artist needs a physical outlet, Bim, play dolls with your sister. Let’s go Artie.”

“It’s Arthur,” the young writer argued.

“I don’t wanna play with her,” Bim told Wil, trying to take the doll back

“Yan, hand him back the doll,” Dark told her, already holding a doll that looked a bit like her.

Yan looked upset and frustrated until she saw the doll in Dark’s hands and squealed in excitement.

Before she could grab it, Dark held it away, “Give Bim back his doll, we can get you your own, Bim you will share with her and when she gets her own dolls she’ll be sharing with you.”

She almost threw the doll at Bim, and stood up to reach for the doll, “Gimme! Gimme! I gave him the doll.”

Dark quickly gave her the promised doll, and she was jumping in delight. “She’s so pretty.”

Looking down at Bim, who was grabbing up his toys and held them to his chest, Dark reminded him, “If I need to start putting names on stuff, I will.”

“I don’t want her playing with my toys,” Bim answered.

“I’ll remember that when she gets a toy you want to play with,” Dark reminded. “She’s not stealing your toys, she wants to play with them. They’ll all go back in the same box at the end of the day.”

Bim was reluctantly coaxed into playing with Yan and after a while arguing descended into actual playing. So Dark quickly went to go check on Wil and Arthur who were outside. Illinois, Kay, and Yancy were watching from the upstairs balcony. Dark was braced with his aura to shield the windows and the three boys from errant baseballs or even the bat flying towards them.

Thankfully accuracy practice hadn’t started yet, Wil was coaching Arthur how to hold a bat and swing it.

Dark’s blue soul took one look at the expression of pure manic glee on Arthur’s face, and Dark felt the red flags going up. He made a mental note to check on Arthur very frequently for the next eternity.

He was watching for a while before Illinois called out to him, “Dark?”

Dark looked down and saw Illinois standing there, a book in his hands.

Looking back toward Wilford he and Arthur seem to be distracted by something, so their little baseball session seemed to be wrapping up. “Wil’s almost done, if you want someone to read to you.”

“Can you read it to me?” Illinois asked hopefully, trying to hold the book up higher as if Dark hadn’t seen the book earlier. It was the first Harry Potter book.

The mob boss just stared at Illinois, as the boy’s hopeful smile began to get a little less hopeful.

Dark stood up and motioned to the couch. “Sure, you don’t want Wil to read to you?”

“I want you to read to me,” Illinois told him.

There was a look on Dark’s face that Illinois didn’t know how to read yet. In about fifteen years when he was used to reading Dark’s moods and was close enough to him he would be able to, but Illinois was new to the Manor and new to Dark’s life.

When Dark had recovered, he inclined his head, taking the book, “Alright.”

A huge smile spread over Illinois’s face and he jumped a little in excitement. Dark followed Illinois back inside, keeping a copy’s eye on Wil and Arthur, making sure he could listen to Bim and Yan who seemed to be fine.

Dark sat down on the couch, feeling distinctly out of his element. Illinois rushed to sit next to him, almost throwing himself up on the couch. Dark looked around, almost like a self-preservation reflex and saw Kay looking at them from the balcony door. When Dark patted his other side and Kay slowly walked over, holding his rabbit to his chest, as if he was afraid of being suddenly pushed away if he got too close, but Dark waited for him before he started the book, switching between Damien and Celine’s voices as he needed.

Illinois was leaning closer to Dark, trying to sit as close to Dark as the mob boss would let him, which wound up being side-by-side, trying to see the book Dark was reading.

After a couple pages, Wil walked back in with Arthur and Yancy, smiling at Dark and promising to watch the others. Which Dark thought was far enough and kept going.

However while he was reading, both Kay and Illinois fell asleep. Illinois fell asleep against Dark’s side and Dark internally fought the urge to card his hands through the young boy’s hair.

Wil came back, poking his head out of the hall and sleeping at Dark. “Ahh, I was wondering why it was so quiet.”

“What are the others doing?” Dark whispered, dog-earring a page for Illinois to find later.

“They’re asleep,” Wilford smiled lovingly at Dark. “Well, except for Artie but he started drawing and writing in another room. He’ll be fine for a couple seconds.”

“I should get some work done while I have the chance,” Dark sighed, but when he tried to get up, Illinois clutched onto him in his sleep.

Wilford chuckled a little bit, “I was worried there for a bit, you know, but I’m glad you and the kids are getting along.”

With practiced ease, Dark lifted Illinois up and summoned up some blankets for the boys while they slept. Wil dashed off to find Arthur. Dark looked back at the two boys sleeping on the couch and couldn’t help but smile. The Manor almost hummed with a type of liveliness it had not had in decades.

As the years ticked on strangers would be more and more like siblings. Yan and Bim would playfully bicker as they applied makeup in the same bathroom. Illinois and Kay would grow closer to Dark. And Illinois would subsequently always get blamed whenever Dark was missing something from his locked cabinets went missing as Illinois began to get better as picking locks, both magical and non-magical.

Day by day Dark would lie and say he wasn’t attached as he patched bruised knees and guarded his wards, his children, from the various competing threats he faced.

With so many children buzzing around Dark and Wilford, mostly being spotted one at a time, the Network would naturally get confused. Bim, Arthur, and Yan were often confused for each other, and Kay and Illinois were confused for each other. Dark was proud of the amount of conflicting reports that were given. To the point where most people didn’t believe the children existed.

Dark and Wilford’s Lost Ones had slipped from the record and safely into Dark’s care.

[emmettsmantiddies]

Hello!!!Can you please tell me about your cats-🐺

Hello Wolf Pal (Every time I see that emoji I think “it’s a wolf thing” lol)

So I have 4 cats! 3 of them are siblings (Junie, Pepper, Wrigley) and one is my baby (Wilbur)

And this turned out super duper long, so below the cut it shall be! (open at ur own risk I’m not kidding it’s long)

Junie is the leader. When we met the three siblings (we call them the babies because when we adopted them we had a senior cat, he has since passed but we still call them that, confusing, I know) she was the first one out. My dad and I were insistent that we get her, my mom and sister wanted the two fluffies. My dad said “get three of them” and we did. Junie is, like most female cats, not the most friendly with everybody. Don’t get me wrong, she’s sweet, but she’s only really bonded to me and my mom, and she only bonded with my mom after I left for college. She likes to play with small plush toys--she’s stolen little milk carton plushies and dumpling plushies from me before. They are now hers. She’s also known for being weird. She scratches around her food when she’s done or if she wants to come back to it later; cats do this in the wild to protect their food. She also tends to clean her brothers--and Wilbur too, on occasion. Her full name is Juniper, but we rarely call her that. Her other nicknames are June, Junebug, BugBug, Buggy, Booba, and Boob (I started calling her Booba for no good reason and it got shortened to Boob lol). She’s a good girl, but a little odd.

Pepper is probably best described as a himbo. He’s very puffy (although to the untrained eye he and Wrigley are practically indistinguishable), and he’s slightly browner than Wrigley and has a longer face and more distinguished nose. He also looks like he’s wearing harem pants. Pepper likes to give love bites. They do not feel like love bites; they hurt. He will try to give you an eyebrow piercing if given the opportunity. Pepper likes to play with balls with bells in them, he also likes strings. Pepper was originally Wrigley because we thought Wrigley was a girl. But, since Pepper was darker at the time, we switched Wrigley to Pepper and Lily to Wrigley (confusing, right?). Pepper is my mom’s cat; although, he’ll settle for me on occasion. He’s very complacent and just loves to sit with my mom and sleep with her at night. He will sometimes “scarf her,” that is, he’ll lay across her neck like a scarf. He likes to watch water coming out of faucets--I say he’s a himbo because he gets surprised by the water every. Darn. Time. He’s the largest in terms of puff, but actually weighs the least. His nicknames include PingPing (I’m not sure where this nickname came from), Pepperoni, and the most notorious nickname he has is PP. I gave him that one, but hear me out! Pepper has two P’s right next to each other in the middle, right? So PP stands for those 2 P’s. 

Wrigley is a grumpy old man trapped in a fat kitty’s body. Wrigley is built like he swallowed a cylinder--a cylinder of fat. He’s stocky, his hair is more gray, and he looks like a frilled lizard in cat form. He has a big belly, but only like the lower half--he has a practically hairless section (it’s always been like this, he’s fine) that’s very pink, and so aptly named (by yours truly) “the pink part.” When he grooms that area, it’s known as “pink part maintenance.” Wrigley is the best at standing on two feet--he looks like a meerkat when he does. He also has a grudge/vendetta/hatred towards my older sister. She left for college when the babies were less than a year old, and when she came back after a while, she brought her cat that she adopted, Salem (also known as Pookie). Salem and (really all of the babies) Wrigley did not get along, and Wrigley started to associate my sister with Pookie and ever since has had a... not so friendly relationship with her. He growls at her, hisses (he has a pathetic hiss, it comes out in spurts), but then he’ll also act like he wants her to pet him. He will also chase people for fun and bite their ankles when they stop (he doesn’t mean any harm when he does this). Wrigley is finnicky. He doesn’t always like to be picked up and will growl/grumble when someone does. But he’s also needy, he will come and demand attention by trying to suffocate me and lay on my chest. He became friends with Wilbur early on--it surprised everyone because of how grumpy he is, we expected he’d hate Wilbur the most, but that title goes to Pepper. Wrigley doesn’t play very often--he’s a watcher. But he likes hairties and milk caps. He’s an odd little guy. His nicknames include Wriggy, Ricky (my sister’s friend misheard us call him Wriggy and now he’s stuck with that name), Richard, Reginald, Rigatoni, Wriggle Piggle, and Rinchy.

Wilbur is my baby. He is actually an ordained minister an emotional support animal. I got permission to bring him with me to college last year, although I adopted him earlier in the summer. He was the runt of the litter and now he’s huge. He doesn’t look like it because he’s muscular, but he’s a whopping 14 pounds! He’s built like a greyhound with a tiny head and lean body. His tail is crazy long and when he runs around the tip of it flops in the air in what I like to call “the flagella tail.” His nose freckle has grown with his nose over time, and my parents (especially my mom) actually didn’t want me to adopt him because of it!! I’m glad I didn’t listen. Wilbur is a momma’s boy, and the only one I will accept in this household. He loves to cuddle me (doesn’t cuddle anyone else), he loves kisses (will seek them out), and he nurses on me. He’s done this since he was a baby, partially because we got him too early (they thought he was 8 weeks, he was six) and it makes him happy and secure. He’s an absolute menace--if he can get into something, he will. We had to put child locks on our drawers in our dorm because Wilbur could open them and would get into everything. He likes paper a lot, so any paper lying around is forfeit to him. He rides on my walker, scooter, and stairlift, and he likes to be near me when I shower. I used to use a shower/bath combo, and he’d sit on the ledge of the tub between two curtains, but now he lays outside the shower. He runs around and chirps a lot, chasing bugs and other things. He also likes straws and will play fetch. He also likes squinkies--those old pencil toppers that came in cute shapes. Junie likes them too. Wilbur is also known to be a thief, he’s stolen my little baggies of gems for diamond paintings and run off with them, determination in his gaze. He’s quite clever and sly, which makes my life very difficult sometimes lol. He runs like a bulldog, with a barrel-like chest, and he has been my rock ever since I got him, as I was dealing with health issues and life issues. I wouldn’t trade him for the world (this extends to the babies as well, but I really feel like I’m Wilbur’s mom). I also call him little man, Wibble, Wilby, Wibby, Wibs, Wilbs, Snoot (there’s a story to this nickname), and one of my faves is Wibby P. Butts, Esquire (no clue where it came from honestly).

Sorry for rambling, but I love my babies! Obligatory pictures below, they’ll be in the same order as I wrote about them:)

[purplesurveys]

874

What's something you couldn't live without, other than the obvious? It’d be very hard to have to get by without my glasses. I’d technically survive, but I’ll have to get used to bumping into things a lot and never recognizing anyone unless they’re right beside/in front of me. What's something that will always cheer you up? Dogs. Real life dogs, photos of dogs, videos of dogs, stories about dogs, etc. Who's had the biggest positive impact on your life? My orgmates. They made me happy when I needed it the most, called me out when I needed the help, and idk I’m just happy whenever I get to see them. I can’t recall a time where I felt like it was a chore to spend some time with them. Do you wear flip-flops during the winter? Sigh...moving on... What was the last thing you said out loud? I asked Nina to help me bring Cooper and his stuff up to my parents’ room; specifically, I asked her to bring his food and water bowls.

What's something that irritates you to no end? Backhand compliments. An uncle once congratulated me for getting into my dream school but ended his sentence with “are you sure you don’t wanna go to [2nd top university in the country, (which I also passed the day before)]? You’ll fit better there.” This was like two days after I found out I got into UP, so I was still on cloud nine. I don’t know how my face contorted after that but I wasn’t pleased.

Honestly, do looks matter to you? Yes, but not as much as personality and intelligence. When was the last time you had a girls/guys night out? Not sure. I just have nights out in general; I never plan out gender-exclusive hangouts with my friends. Do you still watch kiddie movies/tv shows? Sometimes, when I get in the mood to. It’s not something I feel the need to do regularly. What's your worst habit? Never learning my lesson and being careless just because everything is going well. Best way I can illustrate this is when a couple of a months ago I started getting regular headaches because I’d sleep at 3, 4 AM – I addressed it by giving myself an earlier bedtime. When the headaches went away and I started feeling better, I went right back to sleeping late lol. Procrastinating is a good example too; I’ve submitted work early occasionally and it’s satisfying as fuck, but I never learn for the most part and stick to doing stuff at the last minute. Do your parents call you by any embarrassing nicknames? No. Byn is a nickname, but I don’t find it embarrassing. Do you have road rage? Yeah but there have to be certain conditions for me to get to that point, like once I’ve seen enough stupidity on the road and I can’t take it anymore; when I’m tense about something; or when traffic has been standstill for too long. Is there a certain word that you always forget how to spell? Not really. I know my spelling pretty well. Are there any books in your room? Which ones? Yesssss but it’s mostly because I owned a lot of books as a kid and I’ve thrown none of them out. My book collection is sorely not updated because I stopped reading as I got older. Do you take too many surveys? I wouldn’t say I take too many, especially considering the fact that I used to take like 7-10 surveys everyday back in high school. I do take them regularly. Write some lyrics from the song you're currently listening to: "You know I’m always coming back to this place, you know I’m always gonna look for your face.”

When it comes to dating, what's your preferred age range? 0-1 year. When was the last time someone gave you a weird look? Continued the next morning, lol. I was dancing in my seat over dinner last night because the fried chicken we had was super good, so my mom looked at me strangely. Do you like to cuddle? Only with a significant other, and an animal if they’re willing to cuddle. Do you like the band Cartel? I don’t think I’ve heard of that band yet. Do you play any instruments? No, but I’m always wishing I could. Do you ever blare the music in the car and dance like an idiot? I used to do that when I drove to and from school. It’s the only time in the day where I’m not working and I’m alone, so I allow myself to let loose. Though I gotta say, most of it is recorded because I always have a dashcam on HAHAHAHA so I definitely have some footage I don’t want getting aired in like my funeral or something. Do you like playing in the rain? When I was a kid.

What's something you miss? Going to the mall is a big one. Anything unpleasant coming up soon? The worst thing I can think of is the first anniversary of Nacho’s passing. It’s not till September, but when I think about how March literally feels like yesterday September doesn’t seem too far away anymore. If you had a pet moose, what would you name him? Probably the name of another animal, like Cow. I’ve seen other people name their dogs the names of different animals and it has always sounded so hilarious to me. Do you often hold back what you really want to say? If it’s gonna make me look unnecessarily blunt and hurtful then yes. Are you currently wearing any jewlery? Nope. What was the last gift you gave to someone? Cooper, for Father’s Day. It was my mom’s idea but I helped chip in with the graduation money I got from one of my aunts. Do you decorate for Christmas? (If you celebrate it, that is.) We do. I’ll probably put a tree and some stockings up once I live alone, idk, just so I don’t feel too lonely. Are you hungry? A bit, but it’s manageable. On that note, I miss continental breakfasts. I’ve been having Filipino-style breakfast for months and I really would just like a goddamn croissant or bread rolls with butter for once, lol. When was the last time you went bowling? Sometime in September and October last year. Can you whistle? Yes. Is there a certain genre of music that you just can't stand? Country. Are you allergic to anything? Nope. How many pillows do you sleep with? Two. I lay my head on one and hug another. If I don’t have a ~hug pillow~ it takes much longer for me to fall asleep. You've just won a free vacation! Where do you want to go? Covid restrictions hypothetically put aside, I’d love to go on the New York/Texas trip I initially planned as my grad gift. Do you have a good relationship with your parents? I have a good relationship with my dad. But it’s not like I feel comfortable enough to tell either of my parents any of my secrets. What's your favorite thing about yourself? Gabie likes to tell me “you’re too selfless, you don’t have to help everyone” in sort of like an annoyed tone because that’s exactly what I do lol - help anyone, even if I have to go out of my way or even if it’ll inconvenience me to do it. But I love it about me. I like when I get to make people go home with one less issue on their shoulders. Do you have any health problems? Scoliosis. Have you ever had a near-death experience? Almost smashed into a car that suddenly braked while I was going 50, 60 kph. Are you extremely picky when it comes to guys/girls? That’s what demis essentially are, lol. Do you ever listen to classical music? It’s my last resort when I’m studying and no other music is helping me get focused. What was the last concert you attended? Paramore. What's a movie you'd like to see right now? (Old or new) Ammonite, it’s an upcoming film with Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan. Do you take life too seriously? Most of the time. I just find it necessary that way. When was the last time you were truly scared? This weekend when my mom watched a jumpscare with the sound on, so I heard the loud demon scream that came up in the end. What's the funniest trick you've ever pulled on anyone? I don’t like pulling tricks because I don’t like them pulled on me. The most I’ve done is take Gab’s phone and pretend with her that it’s lost. Do you like orange juice? I’ll drink it if it’s served for free, but I wouldn’t buy one for myself. Do you own any skinny jeans? Yes, nearly all my jeans are skinny. Do you have a diary/journal that you frequently write in? You’re looking at it. When was the last time you had a good workout? November, back when I still had that intense PE class that made me work out for an hour every Wednesday and Friday. Do you like your eye color? I find it too common but I’m not actively complaining about it. I don’t feel the need to change it. When was the last time you played with Play-Doh? Two or three years ago at a cousins’ place. One of them was still a baby then, so the toys they had around were clay and kinetic sand and stuff. What's something that you think people waste too much time on? Fighting on Facebook comments lol Do you think they should outlaw talking on your cell phone while driving? They already have, at least here. Are you embarrassed to burp or fart in front of your friends? For the most part. I’ll burp only in front of Angela and Gab. Do you like peanut butter cookies? Yesssssss, but I don’t get to have it a lot. :(

[hymn2000]

Where The Darkness Ends - MCU AU fanfic - C4

Story summary: The concept of having a baby has been more of an idea for a long time now. Ideal candidates for a three-person baby, Loki and Tony have finally, after many Peter-based setbacks and challenges, got to the point of being tested. Now, they just have to wait for the results before they can move on to the next stage.

Previous Chapter(s): 1 2 3

Part of my Frostiron and Spiderson series.

Warnings/themes: family stuff, mental health stuff, hurt/comfort, hospital/medical stuff, fertility stuff, IVF, potentially some medical inaccuracies

You can also find me on AO3

Chapter 4 - So Much To Lose

-

Peter was so mixed up and confused, and too blinded by tears to even try to comprehend where he was, let alone what was happening. What little he could see through his tears seemed so unfamiliar, unrecognisable even.

The car journey seemed to go on for hours, but realistically he supposed it couldn’t have been more than about twenty minutes. It felt like the car stopped with a jolt when Tony parked up. Peter looked at his father, a look which demanded answers. Tony smiled slightly, although it didn’t reach his eyes.

“I’ve just gotta get your case and stuff out of the boot, ok?”

His case? Peter scrambled out of the car, and sure enough, watched Tony taking his big suitcase and a couple of other bags out of the boot - and he started bawling. This was worse than he thought. He was being sent away, wasn’t he? Why though? Was Tony sick of him? And Loki? Had last nights news highlighted to them that they didn’t actually want him any more, if they couldn’t have their own biological child? Was that it? He didn’t know. All he knew for certain now was that he was blinded by tears once more, and he had no idea where he was.

“Alright kiddo, calm down” Tony said. “It’s ok”

“No it’s not!” Peter cried, clinging to him. “What’s going on?! Please, just tell me! I hate not knowing! I can’t stand it; please just tell me what’s happening!”

Tony sighed. His hands were full so he couldn’t hug him back, and he was almost grateful. He was trying so hard to stay strong that it hurt.

“Come on, kiddo”

“Dad, I’m scared! You can’t keep me in the dark about my own life!”

Tony adjusted his hold on all the bags so he had an arm free, which he put round Peter. 

“Come on”

-

Peter stayed pressed against Tony’s side, hands over his face as they went inside. He felt so sick, even more so when they stepped into a lift. He clung to Tony, swallowing hard in case he really threw up. It was starting to feel like a very real possibility. He felt so, so ill. He felt so scared and sick and upset and hopeless. He didn’t know what was happening, and Tony didn’t seem to be in any rush to tell him what was going on. 

Peter blinked hard, trying to clear his vision, but doing so only seemed to make things worse. Everything was blurry and fuzzy, like someone had put a dodgy filter on everything. He still hadn’t figured out what was going on, but he had a horrible feeling that he wasn’t going to be under his fathers arm for much longer  - and that made him feel even worse.

-

Tony knocked on the door, which was opened promptly. He smiled as best he could.

“Thank you for this. It really means a lot” he said, his voice cracking. He took a deep breath and released it slowly. “I’m sorry”

“Don’t. Come on, you’d better come in”

Peter imagined he recognised that voice, but he was crying too hard to be sure. He heard the door close behind them.

“Honestly, this is really so good of you” Tony said, wiping tears from his face. “I didn’t know who else to call”

“I know. I can only imagine what you’re going through” the person put a hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Hello, little one”

Peter blinked very, very hard, just about managing to clear his vision, and looked up at the person. He let out a tiny gasp when he saw who it was. 

“...Uncle Thor?”

“The one and only, kiddo”

Peter looked up at him, and then started crying all over again. He let Thor pull him close, and he clung to him, suddenly feeling safe now he was in the mans strong, familiar arms. He still didn’t really know what was happening, but Thor was always such a reassuring presence, and that’s exactly what he needed right now.

“Has Loki been in touch today?”

Thor nodded, rubbing Peter’s back firmly. “Yes, he rang me earlier. He didn’t really want to talk once I got him started though. He sounds absolutely devastated, and I’m not surprised. You sounded much the same on the phone earlier - and you look it, if you don’t mind me saying”

“I still can’t get my head around it” Tony said, wiping another stray tear from his cheek. “We were so ready to have this baby, and now...”

“It’s horrible, I know. You’re both such good parents, and it’s dreadfully unfair that you got the results you did”

Tony nodded. “I think we should talk a little bit”

“I think that’s wise” Thor said. “We should put those bags in the spare room first”

Tony nodded. “I’ll do it... Are you ok with the kid for now?”

Thor looked down at Peter, who was still clinging to Thor like a limpet, face hidden. Peter was still crying so hard that he couldn’t hear what was being said properly, and he still didn’t know exactly what was happening. Thor sighed. He supposed he’d realise and come to terms with it soon enough. He loosened his grip on Peter. 

“Why don’t you go and settle yourself on the sofa while dad and I talk?” he said gently.

Peter nodded, wiping his eyes on his sleeve. “I’m scared...”

“I know” Thor said softly, stroking the boys hair gently. “Go and get yourself settled, put the telly on or something. We’ll be with you in no more than five minutes, I promise”

Peter looked at Tony, who nodded at him. He swallowed hard and went off to the living room, shaking so much that he felt like he was going to fall over before he got there. He flopped down on the sofa and pulled a cushion close, resting his chin on it for a moment before burying his face in it. Things seemed to be getting worse by the second. Maybe it was the change of scene. Or maybe it was just everything sinking in.

-

Tony and Thor talked for a little bit, but kept to their promise of joining Peter less than five minutes later. They kept talking, knowing that Peter was in too much of a state to really be listening to anything they were saying. They talked at length, and eventually Peter calmed down and slunk onto Tony’s lap, spurning the cushion and burying himself in his chest instead. Tony cradled him close, stroking his hair and trying to soothe him.

“Should I fetch him something to eat?” Thor asked eventually.

“I don’t think it’s really worth trying” Tony sighed. “He hasn’t really eaten today; I don’t think he’s got an appetite. I don’t either, so I’m not surprised... Try in the morning, as best you can, but tonight...” Tony looked down at the boy clinging to his shirt. “I think he’s ready to call it a night”

Peter looked up, and Tony looked down at him.

“I think it’s bedtime, kiddo” he said. “Come on; I’ll take you”

Peter nodded, still feeling a bit too fuzzy to really understand what was going on.

-

Tony took Peter to the spare room. He’d always hated that room. No matter how much time passed, it still just reminded him of all those times he’d come to visit Loki before they’d lived together. He’d never liked seeing such a colourful and interesting person whiling away their days in a room so bland and impersonal and ordinary. The room still looked exactly the same as it had back then; white with light-coloured wooden furniture. It was boring, truth be told, and it felt almost sterile.

Tony was glad he’d packed Peter’s Baymax blanket. He lay it out on the bed. It helped, he thought. He turned back to Peter and tried to take the boys shirt off. Peter whined and tried to struggle away from him.

“Don’t be like that, kiddo” Tony sighed sadly. “I’m just trying to help you. Let me give you a hand”

Peter didn’t look happy about it, but he let Tony get him out of his clothes. He wouldn’t let him put his dressing gown on though, and he didn’t really want him to be putting him to bed, but he was too tired to protest too much. He simply whimpered softly, and his dad near enough ignored that. Tony guided him over to the bed and tucked him in. He set his toy rocket and his little Peter Rabbit toy beside him, close to the wall so they wouldn’t fall off the bed. He got Peter’s old snow white seal and tucked it under his arm, and then he tucked the quilt and blanket round him.

“There” he said gently. “That’s ok, isn’t it? You’ve got everything you need. You know where Thor is if you need him at all in the night. Ok?”

Peter just looked at him, his brow furrowed. Tony stroked his hair gently.

“Talk to me, kiddo”

“I don’t feel well” Peter said. “Everything’s all fuzzy and blurry. I feel kinda sick”

“Alright, kiddo. Look, there’s a bowl here, so if you need it, you know where it is. If not... Well, hopefully you won’t need it at all, but you know, just in case...”

Peter closed his eyes. He was too tired to try to figure everything out. This day felt like it had lasted a week already. Crying in biology that morning already felt like a lifetime ago, and getting up that morning felt like a distant memory. 

He fell asleep feeling like the room was spinning around him.

Tony knelt by the bed and kissed the bridge of his nose.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart” he said quietly. “I’m so sorry. I love you, you know that. I love you so much... I’m sorry”

-

Tony tried to handover to Thor, with some difficulty. Like Peter, he was feeling fuzzy and mixed up and confused too.

“I think he’s got everything he needs, but if you find he needs anything, just text me or ring me and I’ll bring it over. But I think he’s got everything...”

“I saw you brought his school stuff with him”

“Yeah... Well, when I picked him up, the school offered some compassionate leave type thing, and I thought it was a good idea. But then we talked more, and we decided he should try a few more days, and if he really can’t deal with it, then they’ll authorise the leave. Just... Well, you’ve taken him to school before; you know the routine. I looked at his diary; he doesn’t have any outstanding homework assignments, so you don’t need to worry about getting him to do any work just yet”

“I’ll make sure he gets to school on time. I’ll make sure they have my number too, in case anything happens” Thor said. “I’ve looked after him so many times before, but is there anything else you think I need to know?”

Tony thought for a moment. “He needs you to keep hugging him and stuff. He’s taken this news hard, too... I’m not convinced he’s safe at home right now, so I just need you to keep him safe until such a time as I’m certain it’s ok to bring him back. You can do that for me, right?”

Thor nodded. “Of course”

“You should read to him, too. I’ve packed some books in his bag. Loki always likes reading to him, and we saw this article recently, something about how scientists and people in child psychology recommend reading to teenagers. Good for their development and stuff, apparently. He likes it, too. So, yeah, just read to him, and keep him safe. Keep an eye on him. You know how to look after him, you know what he likes... I’ll come at see him every day, I promise. I just... I need him to be somewhere out of the way, somewhere where I know he’s definitely safe. I don’t think I’m in a position to look after him properly right now, not when I’m feeling like this”

“I understand your concerns, but I don’t think Loki’s going to pose a threat to Peter”

“I don’t know if I think it or not” Tony said. “But I’m not taking any chances. You didn’t see him swatting him away. You didn’t hear the sound... He hurt him... I need to go and try to work things out and be there for my husband. We need each other, especially now. I just need to be able to come to terms with all this without having to worry about Peter’s safety. You get that, right?”

Thor nodded, and hugged Tony close. “Take care of my brother. He’s going to need a lot of looking after.

Tony nodded. “We all are... I’m sorry, I’m really gonna have to go. I don’t think I can keep up this strong facade for much longer”

-

Tony thought he’d manage until he got home, but he didn’t. Half way there he was forced to pull over into an empty lay-by. He stared at his hands, gripping the steering wheel, and then his face crumpled and he started crying. He didn’t know what he was doing. The baby he’d been planning for was never going to get the chance to exist. And the child he actually did have wasn’t coming home with him. He was doing it for the boys own good, he knew that - but he missed him already. He wanted to hug him and stroke his hair and tell him everything was ok. But he couldn’t. He knew he could trust Thor with him. And he knew that Loki needed him more than Peter did. He’d put Peter somewhere safe, and now he had to put Loki first. He needed to look after his husband.

-

When Tony was holding Loki that evening, he was crying for the loss of both children. He felt so helpless and horrible. If this was how he felt, he could only imagine what Loki felt - after all, it was him who’d had the bad result.

“I’m so sorry!” Loki sobbed. “I’m so sorry! If it weren’t for me, we’d be having a baby..!”

“This isn’t your fault!” Tony said desperately. “It’s not your fault! It’s just a horrible twist of fate! I don’t blame you, I swear I don’t. I don’t blame anyone. It’s just another horrible thing we’re gonna have to find a way to get through”

Loki just cried more and held tighter to Tony. He couldn’t believe he was broken. He couldn’t believe something as simple as a ‘routine’ sperm test had completely destroyed his life. He’d wanted a baby for so long, longer even than Tony. He’d played about with the baby moodboard for years, and when they finally got to a point where they were getting to the go ahead, he’d started thinking about how to implement it properly. And then to be told that he wasn’t eligible for the three-person baby IVF, that he was completely infertile... He didn’t know how he was supposed to react, how he was supposed to come to terms with that. But he knew what it meant, and he knew how awful it was. He knew how it was not only tearing him apart, but his husband, and his son. His son...

“Where’s Peter? Tony, where’s Peter? I need my little boy. Please, I just need to hold him”

Tony looked at Happy, who was staying close by in case he was needed. Happy twisted one corner of his mouth, and nodded. Tony swallowed hard and moved back a little so he could look at Loki properly.

“He’s staying with your brother for a bit. Just while we get things sorted here”

Loki looked at him for a moment, searching his face, and then he collapsed all over again.

“You didn’t think to tell me?! You didn’t even let me say goodbye!”

Tony pulled him close, holding him desperately. “I’m so sorry! It just felt like the right thing to do. We can’t look after him properly like this, you know we can’t. I know you know that”

Loki knew he was right, but it didn’t help. He wanted his little boy, and he couldn’t have him. It felt like he’d lost him too. Part of his daily routine was knowing he could hug Peter and talk to him whenever he wanted, and now that wasn’t an option. He wanted to hold him and tell him he loved him, and Tony had taken that from him. He still clung to Tony, because he needed him, and he loved him, and he understood why he’d done it. But he was already so upset, and this had just made it even worse. He had no right to do this without consulting him. 

But Loki couldn’t say any of this. He could only cry, until he eventually had to tear himself away from Tony and rush to the nearest bathroom to be sick.

-

Peter was so close to crying right from the moment he woke up the next morning. Thor dropped him off at school, which felt even worse than it had the day before. Peter hid behind the wall in the car park for a while, trying to work out if there was a way he could skip school without getting caught or getting into trouble. He couldn’t think of anything, so eventually he dragged himself up and went off to his form room. 

As soon as he opened the door, all the thoughts and feeling from the previous day swarmed and resurfaced, and he collapsed into floods of tears. His form tutor wasn’t there yet, but most of the form were. He was crying so much that he couldn’t move. The bunnies went to him first, but then everyone else decided to get involved too, because a green slip and then this little breakdown were definite signs that something was dreadfully wrong. Being crowded was awful, and it made Peter feel even worse, because then he felt boxed in and trapped. 

It was Nigel who put a stop to it. He marched over and pulled Peter close, and Peter automatically hugged him, burying his face in his chest.

“It’s ok, I’ve got you” Nigel said, and then addressed the rest of the room. “Piss off, you lot! He doesn’t need you gawking at him”

Nigel wasn’t the kind of boy many people were foolish or brave enough to mess with, so they all backed off, the bunnies included. Nigel took Peter out of the room and into the big storage cupboard with the broken lock across the hall. He hugged him tight, resting their heads together.

“I’ve got you” Nigel said. “It’s alright; no one else is gonna bother you. What’s going on with you?”

“I can’t do it anymore! I can’t do it, Nigel! I can’t do it! I just wanna go home! I can’t do this!”

Nigel paused in shock for a moment. He’d never heard Peter speak before, and he didn’t expect the first time to be with him near enough scream-crying into his chest in a school store cupboard. 

Nigel swallowed and held Peter as tight as he dared. “We’ll get you home. You’ve gotta try and calm down a bit first. Do you need to sit down? I can feel your legs shaking”

Peter shook his head slightly. Nigel watched him for a moment.

“Look at me”

Peter forced himself to raise his head, and Nigel gave him a kiss on the mouth. Peter was shocked, especially with this being Nigel of all people, and he went quiet for a moment.

“You’ve gotta breath, you know. It’s kind of important to stay alive” he said, and kissed him hard on the cheek. “Better. I’ll take you to the office”

-

Nigel stayed with Peter until Thor arrived. He gave him another hug, and another kiss.

“See you in a few weeks”

Peter nodded. Nigel was probably right.

-

Thor cleared his throat when Peter rejoined him in the kitchen after getting changed out of his uniform.

“I think school is a no-go” he said. “We’ll have to work out a sort of routine here”

“When am I going home?”

“I don’t know. Not yet”

“Tonight?”

Thor looked at him. “How much did you take in last night?”

Peter shrugged. Tony sighed and lifted him into a seat at the breakfast bar. He put his hands on the boys shoulders. Peter quirked an eyebrow and looked up at him. 

“Peter, your dad didn’t just drop you off for one night” Thor said. “He wants you to stay with me until him and daddy have sorted everything out at home. You know how difficult this situation is for both of them. Dad wants you to be here where you’ll be safe and properly looked after. Do you understand?”

Peter looked at him, trying to get all the pieces to fit together neatly in his head. 

“He doesn’t want me anymore?”

“No, of course he still wants you; you’re his son. But he needs you to stay somewhere safe, just for a little while. He’s going to come and see you every day. He’ll be here around seven o’ clock tonight, he said. Quiet now, you don’t need to cry; it’s not really so bad. We get along, don’t we?”

“That’s not the point” Peter said, and he burst into tears. “I wanna go home! I want my dads”

“Come along, quiet now: this isn’t the time for drama”

“Yes it is! They’re my family; why can’t I be with them?!”

“Because your dad wants you to stay here, and you’re just a child, so you have to do as you’re told and let your parents do what they think is best for you”

“Well, I wanna go home!”

“Well that’s just tough, I’m afraid” Thor said firmly. “You’re staying here, and I’m going to look after you until your parents feel ready to take you back. And that’s final”

Peter didn’t know why he did it, but he stood up and hit Thor hard in the chest. Had he done that at home, there would have been serious trouble. But Thor didn’t react the way Tony and Loki would have done.

“Peter, no” Thor sighed. “Hitting out at me isn’t going to change anything”

Part of Peter wanted to burst into tears and run to his room and slam the door behind him. Another part of him wanted to shout and scream and kick off. Guess which part won.

-

Peter sat on a chair in the corner of the corridor outside Thor’s room, howling into a cushion. Thor had taken another hit and listened to Peter shouting, and then he’d hoicked him up and put him down on a chair and told him he needed to control himself and find another way to channel his feelings. And then he’d turned the chair round and pushed it into the corner and told Peter not to move until he was told to.

So that’s where Peter stayed, cross and upset and tired, trying to accept the horrible feeling of abandonment. How could Tony do this to him? He’d always said he was going to be there for him, but he’d just dumped him at uncle Thor’s. Peter checked his watch, and it was barely half past ten. The day already felt like it had gone on for weeks, and he couldn’t imagine it getting any better. He'd broken down and sobbed in his form room before, so he wasn’t too worried about the lasting effects of that. But he was a little worried about what had happened with Nigel. It was no secret that, while Nigel and Peter didn’t get along, Nigel would always stick up for him. But the fact that he’d hugged him and removed him from the situation was a step up from the usual verbal reassurances. Peter was glad that he’d done it, because it removed him from the crowds. But then when they’d been in the store room, Nigel had kissed him. It had only been a quick kiss, but it had been a proper kiss, not a chaste peck, and Peter wasn’t really sure why he had done it. Maybe it was just to shut him up, but he wasn’t 100% on that. But whether that was the reason or not, Peter rather thought that if he wasn’t in such a horrible situation already, it was the kind of thing he might not be able to get out of his mind for a while.

-

Loki spent most of the morning in bed, looking through the baby moodboard in a numb state. Tony was fast asleep at his side. He’d fallen asleep long before Loki, and he hadn’t woken up once. Loki wasn’t sure if he cared or not. 

-

Loki grew restless as the morning turned to afternoon, and the afternoon turned to evening. He sat out on the balcony, smoking and drinking. Tony was at his side, drinking strong black coffee and staring into space. 

“I think I’ll go to the hospital tomorrow”

“Oh Loki” Tony sighed. “I don’t really think there’s anything they can do for you”

“I meant to work” Loki said, putting his cigarette to his lips.

Tony looked at him. “...I don’t think that’s a good idea. Don’t you think it’s too soon? I haven’t even thought about work since... since we found out”

“I can’t sit here getting drunk for the rest of my life” Loki said. “I’m going mad as it is. I need to keep myself busy”

“Loki, we need to keep talking. There’s too much to work through here. I really don’t think you should go. Besides, I need you”

“You’ll be fine”

“No, Loki, I mean it” Tony said. “Please don’t go. I really need you here. I... I don’t want you to go”

Loki went quiet. Tony did too, until his phone beeped. He took it from his pocket, checking the screen and the time.

“I told Thor I’d visit every day. I told him seven. I should start getting ready... Are you gonna come with me?”

Loki didn’t respond. He picked up his drink and stared at the sky. Tony sighed and kissed him hard on the cheek. 

“Ok”

-

Peter went into a rage as soon as he saw Tony. He shouted and swore and screamed at him, demanding to know why he’d been abandoned when he needed him so much, demanding to know if Loki had helped make the decision, demanding to know how long he was going to be stuck here against his will. 

Tony was patient at first, and then tried to talk to Thor, asking him if Peter had eaten and what had happened at school. Thor tried to respond, but Peter kept interrupting, grabbing at Tony’s arm.

“I’m talking to you! Why aren’t you answering me?!”

“Peter, enough” Thor said. “Your father and I need to talk”

“I need to talk to him! He’s my dad, I’m the one who’s been abandoned!”

“I haven’t abandoned you, bambino” Tony said.

“Yes you have! I wanna come home, right now! You can’t make me stay here”

Tony didn’t know what to say. His heart was thumping in his chest, and he felt bad enough as it was without Peter acting like this. Thor saw this, and he grabbed hold of Peter, picking him up.

“Hey! Put me down! I’m trying to have a conversation here!”

Thor carted Peter off to his room, putting him down on the bed and tucking him in tight, so that he could hardly move. He left him there, closing the door behind him and going back to Tony. Well, it hardly took Peter ten seconds to wriggle free from the sheets, and he stormed right back out to the kitchen. 

“Peter, go back to your room” Thor said.

“That’s NOT my room!” Peter scowled. “It’s just your stupid old guest room”

“Peter, please. Stop being so difficult. Just give us five minutes”

“But I still haven’t had my questions answered!” Peter said. “I just wanna know what’s happening”

“I’ve already told you. Now go”

Peter growled and stormed out of the room. Thor slowly turned to look at Tony.

“He’s not very happy”

“Yeah, I can see that” Tony said. “I don’t know if this is better than the little sobbing mess I was expecting to see or not”

“He kicked off a bit when he got back from school, but then he was quiet until you came. I don’t think this living situation has really sunk in yet”

“What happened at school? How long did he last?”

“I got a phone call at about ten past nine” Thor said. “He started crying as soon as he got to his form room and his classmates were concerned and one of them took him to the office. They’ve authorised the leave you told me about”

Tony sighed. “Poor little Peter. God, that kid has been through enough as it is. It’s not fair for him to have to go through something else so big. He was really ready to be a big brother, you know”

“I know; he’d talked to me about it a lot. He’s sensitive, too. I think it’s your pain that’s making it worse for him” Thor said. “He’s scared. He’s angry and confused and upset”

Tony nodded. 

“How’s Loki?”

“Not great. We’ve had a really horrible day. He’s got his smokes and booze out again. You know that thing he used to do, where he’d just sit and stare into space and get drunk and stuff?”

Thor sighed. He knew all too well. “And you?”

“I wasn’t going to break my promise of visiting every day, so I didn’t drink. I didn’t really want to, either. See, until today, I’d just stayed in Loki’s arms, and I really need that, but he was kinda pushing me away today. He still let me hug him, but he didn’t really hug back. It was like I wasn’t there... Oh god, this hurts so much-”

Thor gave Tony a hug. “You can cry to me all you need to”

Tony shook his head. “No, I need to be strong for the kid. I’m here for him”

Thor sighed, but let him go. “It sounds like he’s calmed down a bit”

“Yeah. I’m gonna go in and see him”

Tony took a deep breath, dried his eyes, and cleared his throat. He didn’t want Peter to see how much he was hurting.

-

Peter was sat on the windowsill, looking at the window, watching the raindrops dripping down the glass. 

“Peter?”

Peter didn’t look up, and he didn’t say anything, but Tony knew he knew he was there. 

“Thor told me about what happened at school. But hey, at least you don’t have to go back again yet. Not until you’re ready. That’s good, right?”

Peter still didn’t move. The windowsill wasn’t big enough for two, so Tony just leant against the wall nearest to Peter’s feet. 

“I know this is a bit of a shock. I just need you to be a good boy for me and daddy. You know we’ve got a whole lot of stuff to work out, and we’re not feeling well right now” Tony said. He swallowed. “Sweetheart, talk to me”

Peter drew his knees up to his chest, resting his chin on them. 

“I want to go home”

Tony sighed. “I know, honey... Listen, sweetheart, I... Home isn’t the best place for you right now. Me and daddy are gonna need some time to heal, and we’re not really in the best position to take the best care of you while we’re like this. So I just, we just need you to stay here with uncle Thor while we figure everything out. He can look after you properly and keep you safe while daddy and I are trying to come to terms with... Well, you know. You understand that, don’t you, pet?”

Peter turned his head more towards the window. Tony sighed and went to stroke the boys hair, but Peter suddenly snapped and slapped his hand away, hard. Tony looked at him, shocked and hurt by Peter’s actions, but then he sighed and lowered his hand. 

“Sweetheart...”

“I want you to go now”

Tony swallowed and took a step back, wounded. He could feel the tears threatening to spill from his eyes.

“Ok. I’ll go” Tony stopped in the doorway of the living room. “Peter? I... I love you, kiddo. I love you so much. You know that, right?”

Peter didn’t move. Tony swallowed hard. 

“See you tomorrow, darling”

-

Tony just about managed to keep it together in the car. When he got home, he went and found Loki, who had moved to the back room and was sat on the futon staring into space. He looked up when Tony came into the room.

“How did it go?”

Tony’s throat went tight and he burst into floods of tears. Loki looked at him in shock for a moment.

“Tony?! Oh Tony!”

Loki stood up and threw his arms round his husband. Tony collapsed against him, howling into his chest. He couldn’t control himself, not even a little bit. Loki sat down on the futon, holding Tony close against his chest, and Tony cried like he had never cried before, clinging to Loki’s arm and sobbing into the crook of his elbow, not knowing exactly what he was feeling, but knowing for certain that he hadn’t felt a pain like this ever in his life.

*

[stagofel]

Thank You, Yaz

Today I made the most-difficult decision of my life in saying goodbye to my best friend of nearly 13 years. My dog, Yaz, named after my grandfather’s favorite Boston Red Sox player and Major League Baseball Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski, finally gave in to the unforgiving cancer that began to take over his body. This relentless disease was diminishing his leg to the point where he was walking on 2.5 legs for months. He didn’t go without a fight, however. Most people that knew my dog would tell you that is not surprising. He was strong, both physically and mentally, with a will that was forged from steel.

I got Yaz about 1.5 hours east from where I went to college, at Auburn University. He was a cog in a sea of black-and-white fluffiness, as part of a nine-puppy litter. He was the only one that was solid black, as his brothers and sisters all had a white patch somewhere on their bodies. That purely unique characteristic, as well as the fact that he was also the only one beating up on all the other puppies, which told me he had an insane amount of personality and was courageous, was enough for me to make the decision in taking him home. He was roughly 5-weeks-old and weighed about 7 lbs. He sat in my lap and stared at me the entire car ride back. The first time he peed in the house was the first day I brought him home. I sat him on my bed and took pictures of him and, as I lifted him up, below him was a puddle. So, coincidentally, he also got his first bath!

The challenges in raising a puppy that young are immense. He was destructive! He never met a toy he couldn’t disintegrate or a stick he couldn’t bite in half. He required attention and was completely spoiled. The temper tantrums were legitimate. He would shred almost all of my belongings on a weekly basis. That said, not only would I never change a thing about our relationship over the past 12 years, but I would not have had it any other way. It’s not how the story starts, but how it finishes and it was a great story. He turned out to be a loyal, consistent, at times, overprotective, but a loving friend, nonetheless.

There are so many quirks, mannerisms and countless facial expressions that I will miss about him. Yaz did a crazy thing with his ears where they would shoot out to the sides, making his face look like the Batman logo. He also could not take a bath without running away to rub his body all over every piece of furniture in our home. In fact, I couldn’t keep him out of the water. He loved going to the beach and lake with me. He developed this one personality trait that stands out, one of which, remains to be one of my most-favorite things about him, when he was around 4-years-old. He started doing this half-bark, which would come out as an ‘oomph’, when he heard even the slightest sound. I like to think that, when he wanted to get my attention or warn me of something, he would do it. It made me laugh every time and he definitely did it at least 10 times-per-day. The total smiles amassed over the course of the year in him just being him, more than 1,000,000, for sure.

Coming home was always my favorite part of the day. In college, he would peek around the corner, see it was me and come flying down the stairs to say hello. Over the years, that run turned into a slow trot to the door when he heard the key turn. No matter how he greeted me, nothing tops the way he would say hi in the last two years of his life. Whether he was on the couch or my bed, he would wait to see who it was and, when I poked my head in, he would flop over on his side, as if relieved, and his tail would hit the bed, generating a sound similar to beating a rug over a balcony, as I rushed over to hug him. Not a single day went by where I wasn’t excited to come home to him. It was the best part of my daily routine and was one of my most-fondest daily habits. It didn’t matter what I had going on, he accounted for roughly 70% of my daily schedule and that wasn’t a sacrifice, but a decision I happily opted for in making him a necessity.

My dog was obnoxiously spoiled. He demanded your respect, because he was the king of his castle. I was always the sidekick, whether I’d like to admit it, but he always treated me like I was the top dog (pun intended). I understood the parameters of our relationship. He had my respect and then some! More times than not, I would be relinquished to the couch, because when it was time for bed, he would already be sprawled out. If I told him it was time to get down, he would tip his head back to look at me. I knew what that meant, I missed my chance to sleep in the bed that evening. If he was already extended on the couch, I then knew I had to sit on the floor to watch a movie.

Raising Yaz was not shy of a plethora of worrisome circumstances that we both endured over his lifetime. The second day I had him, I let him out to the bathroom, off a leash and, when I turned around, he had disappeared. Needless to say, my heart sank into my stomach, thinking I just lost the dog that I only had for less than 24 hours! I walked all around the neighborhood to look for him and, about 30 minutes later, when I got back to my door, fighting back tears, he was sitting there, wagging his tail, waiting for me. As angry as I was, I was more relieved.

A few months into our tenure as best buds, he started to get so big, but was going to the bathroom so little. I couldn’t figure out why, hence a trip to the veterinarian. He had actually consumed seven dish towels and an emergency exploratory surgery was required. He obviously emerged victorious, however, he would make this mistake three more times, by way of eating four pairs of socks and two different occasions having eaten Christmas ornaments. After college, I accepted my first full-time job in Memphis. This was where I found out that Yaz needed to have a plate surgically placed to keep his knee intact as his ligaments were failing. That was the longest five hours of my life, to say the least. A year later, the other back leg required the same surgery. At this point, he’s not even halfway to 13-years-old and has already had six surgeries.

We also survived a tornado that ripped our home in half, literally. You can throw this one up as another one of those lucky or meant-to-be occurrences in life, but one day, I had come home from work to make lunch. It was raining that day, but looked just like any other weak rain storm. The tornado hit so hard and fast, that not even the NWS alarm sounded in time. We had no warning. I remember sitting at my computer, eating a sandwich, Yaz on my bed, resting his head on the laundry I had just folded and looking outside to see nothing but white with swirls in it. What followed was a sound that most-closely resembled a train, then baseball bats beating against steel trash cans. I knew something was wrong, so I grabbed Yaz, ran into the bathroom, shielded him with my body and that was when everything started to fall around us. In the back of my mind, even to this day, I wonder what could have happened to him had I not gone home that day.

Despite all the surgeries and the countless times he destroyed my sneakers, he taught me so much, because he, himself, endured a lot of pain, but fought through it. Not for himself, but for me. He always put me first. I was the only thing that mattered. I wonder why I was so lucky to deserve that much love. I don’t think that we, as humans, can comprehend the kind of devotion and love it requires to be completely selfless in nature. People tend to come and go, but a dog’s love is eternal. I know that now and I embrace the fear of the unknown and will fight through the trying times, because of him. Dogs don’t know, nor do they care, what the next day will bring. Those are our challenges and duties to worry about. What a dog does, is serve and offer a sense of stability in being there. Yaz served his purpose and, what I hope to be, a fulfilled life in knowing that he was so purely loved, which in expressing my gratitude, I took him on countless beach and lake trips, grocery store runs and tossed him tons of treats.

My home is quiet now. There is an annoying tranquility to being there. I’m not as excited to walk through the door. I will always miss seeing his face, fighting him for position on the couch and feeling annoyed when he wanted to go for a walk in 20-degree weather. He was the most-loyal, trusting and loving friend that I will ever have. He taught me to be brave, to fight, to love, to forgive, to embrace, to be strong and, despite the challenges, to never give up.

Life hasn’t been easy over the past two years and, without him, it might be twice as difficult, but just as my fearless dog relied on his two good legs and always bounced back strong after every surgery, so too, I will carry on. We can all learn something from our dogs. He had such a profound impact on my life and I would probably be a completely different person having not had him. He changed my life and I hope he knows how much I love him. Even as I wrote this, having held back tears after every paragraph, I know, in my heart, that I will never forget him and he will be with me, always.

RIP to my beloved dog, Yaz. May he rest in peace. I love you, boy.

[travelersguidetodisney]

Top 5 Rides and Attractions at Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom

***Disclaimer: These are the views and opinions of the author(s). Though many Disney World visitors may share these opinions, they may not apply to the overall general public. All opinions are valid and appreciated.

Hello and welcome to the first blog post by Traveler’s Guide to Disney. This is Disney blog, focusing on helping the reader plan their best Disney vacation. We will also be discussing upcoming changes to the Disney parks and what we would love to seen done. In other words, we will be talking about all things Disney!

Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida is probably the most iconic Disney Park in the world. Cinderella’s Castle perfectly represents the magic that is Disney, in addition to being one of the most photographed sites across the parks. Not only is Magic Kingdom home to some of the best picture-taking spots at Disney World, but it also hosts many of the park’s most iconic rides–whether that be Space Mountain in Tomorrowland, Pirates of the Caribbean in Adventureland, and It’s a Small World in Fantasyland. On top of that, what makes Magic Kingdom a great park is its diversity in rides. There are classic dark rides that follow a storyline, like the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh; boat rides like the Jungle Cruise; thrill rides like the new Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. And, of course, you can find blends of these rides around the park. And of course, there are numerous attractions like character meet-and-greets, fireworks shows, and parades! Magic Kingdom has a lot of options that will bring out the inner child in all of us. And since there are so many activities in Magic Kingdom, it is a park that certainly requires more than one day. But if your time is limited, here are the top five rides and attractions that we think you should hit at Magic Kingdom.

5. Strolling Down Main Street USA to Cinderella’s Castle

Like we said before, Magic Kingdom is home to a lot of iconic and scenic places to take pictures of you, your family, and friends. Main Street USA and Cinderella’s Castle are probably the two most popular places to take pictures. And though you can always take your own pictures, there are cast members working with Disney Photo Pass that will be able to take higher quality pictures in the best locations–however, that is not a requirement to have some great pictures.

And though you have to walk down Main Street USA when you first enter the park, I recommend strolling. Not only do they play classic American music, but the atmosphere truly makes you feel like your in a cute, small town. We recommend strolling through Main Street USA earlier in the morning, particularly during the extra magic hours when the park is only open to those staying on Disney property. This is also a perfect time to hit some of the gift shops on Main Street USA, for they will be far less crowded and they sell some of the best souvenirs in Magic Kingdom. Another reason why we recommend the morning is that you’ll be able to spot more characters and get their pictures with them! The characters can range from the classics like Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto, to more rare ones, like Robin Hood.

Overall, some of my best memories come from strolling down Main Street USA, whether that is with my family or friends. It is one “attraction” that I always make sure I do multiple times during my vacations at Walt Disney World! Don’t forget to hit the statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse!

4. Peter Pan’s Flight in Fantasyland

Peter Pan’s Flight in Fantasyland is probably the most popular traditional story-telling dark ride in Disney World. Located towards the end of Fantasyland, across from It’s a Small World and the Tangled Restrooms, Peter Pan’s Flight is a must-hit ride during your time at Magic Kingdom. Not only is the ride itself great, but due to a recent renovations, Peter Pan’s Flight is home to one of the coolest queues in all of the theme parks. The queue used to be majority outside, which, of course, can be problematic with a popular ride that typically has a longer wait-time in a hot climate. Now, a good majority of the queue is inside, so waiting in that hour-long line is not nearly as unbearable. In addition, there is charming music playing making this ride and queue a perfect representation of Disney magic and happiness. Once you to the inside portion of the queue, it takes you through a hallway of pictures from the film, then into their backyard in London with Nana, the children’s bedroom. They queue also incorporates cool shadow and special effects, like Tinkerbell, Peter Pan, and an interactive shadow feature with the audience. The queue itself accurately depicts how Disney is able to stay ahead of their competitors with their impeccable attention-to-detail theming despite the crowds and longer ride wait times. The average wait-time for Peter Pan’s Flight is roughly 60 minutes, however, during busier times of the year, the wait-time can very easily increase to even 120 minutes. If possible, it would be best to get a fast-pass or hit the ride earlier in the morning (especially during extra magic hours) in order to beat the lines. However, even though the ride is two minutes long, it so iconic and soothing that even I would recommend waiting in line for it. Your Disney vacation is surely not complete without a trip to Peter Pan’s Flight.

3. Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in Frontierland

Located next to Splash Mountain in the back corner of Frontierland, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is a great rollercoaster that will not only satisfy thrill-seekers, but also kids who are getting ready for the bigger rollercoasters, like Space Mountain or Expedition Everest. The ride time of Big Thunder Mountain railroad is three minutes, while the average wait time can be a little less than an hour. Overall, the wait time for Big Thunder Mountain can be a little confusing and unreliable. With two tracks and, therefore, two vehicles, this coaster is able to cycle through more visitors than a typical ride. However, since it is a rollercoaster and requires cast members to check the safety straps, this can delay the process if there is a problem. In addition, the queue is primarily outside, and when it is inside it is not air conditioned. So, frankly, this may not be the best queue to wait in during a hot summer’s day when you have to kill time before your lunch reservation. During the busy season, the wait time can still be around 35 minutes, while it can also get up to 70 minutes–to be honest, it often depends if Splash Mountain is open or not. That being said, Big Thunder Mountain is so much fun, I would definitely wait in a longer line to ride it. Of course, a fast pass is totally recommended if you want to ride Big Thunder once or even multiple times–my family and I always make sure to get fast passes for this at least twice, since it is one of our favorites.

This coaster takes you on the “wildest ride in the wilderness” with sudden drops, twisty and jerky turns, and fun western theming. If you sit in the front of the vehicle, the ride will be less shaky. However, if you sit in the back, it truly becomes a wild ride. If you’re like my brother and I, be sure to ask a cast member if you can be placed in back. That will ensure that you will TRULY have the “wildest ride in the wilderness.”

Overall, this is a really fun ride that is a classic at Walt Disney’s Magic Kingdom and is a perfect thrill ride for Disney-lovers of all ages!

2. Space Mountain in Tomorrowland

To be quite honest, my picks for number one and two flip flop all the time–so take this with a grain of salt. If I could honestly pick two number ones, then they would be tied. Really, the ONLY reason why Space Mountain is number two and not number one is because the ride, itself, is shorter. I honestly don’t think I can express this enough, Space Mountain is one of my FAVORITE rides at Walt Disney World. With a ride time of three minutes, Space Mountain is a dark, high-speed adventure with a single-seater coaster. If your kiddo is scared of the dark and does not want to sit alone on thrill rides, this may not be the ride for them. The Space Mountain queue is all inside, making it a great way to avoid the heat during the busy summers. The average wait time for Space Mountain is 60 minutes, however, during the busy season and the summer, it can easily increase to well over 120 minutes. Space Mountain is a fantastic ride to hit with fast passes and during extra magic hours–my brother and I love this ride so much, that we get fast passes at least three times in addition to opening the park during extra magic hours to ride this attraction. Since Space Mountain is an older rollercoaster and to amplify the galactic experience, the thrill ride is incredibly jerky. Since it is in the dark and you can’t prepare yourself for what is about to come next, it twists up your stomach more than usual coasters. The only time Space Mountain is not completely in the dark, is the initial take-off sequence, rising up to the main coaster area where you see two astronauts and the People-Mover passes by below, and when an alien is chasing up behind you.

​Space Mountain is one of the best rides in all the parks and is definitely a signature stop on your Disney vacation!

Honorable Mentions

Before I move onto the number one Traveler’s Guide to Disney recommended ride, here are a few honorable mentions that just barely missed this list:

Buzz Lightyear’s Space Ranger Spin in Tomorrowland: Fast pass recommended if it is a family favorite or you have a Toy Story lovin’ kid to ensure multiple rides.

The Seven Dwarfs Mine Train in New Fantasyland: Fast pass recommended even if you only want to ride it once–lowest wait time I have seen has been 120 minutes.

The Haunted Mansion in Liberty Square: Fast pass recommended to ensure multiple rides. If you only want to ride it once, a fast pass is most likely not necessary.

The Jungle Cruise in Adventureland: Fast pass recommended even if you only want to ride it once.

Pirates of the Caribbean in Adventureland: Fast pass recommended to ensure multiple rides. If you only want to ride it once, a fast pass is most likely not necessary.

Happily Ever After Fireworks at Magic Kingdom: Fast pass not required for viewing, but recommended to avoid the crowds and get better seating.

1. Splash Mountain in Frontierland

After seeing a pattern of thrill rides in my top three, I’m sure it comes to no surprise that Splash Mountain has taken the number one spot. To be fair, the only reason why it beats Space Mountain is because its ride time is considerably longer, averaging out at ten minutes. Splash Mountain is my family’s favorite attraction to ride together, and we always book fast passes at least twice to ensure multiple rides. Splash Mountain is one of the rare, popular rides with a wait time that fluctuates on the lower end. Nearly every time I have waited in the queue for Splash Mountain, the wait time has been shorter than predicted. Though in the summer the wait time can surge into 90-130 minutes (it is the best way to cool off in Magic Kingdom), it can waver between 20-60 minutes during any other time of the year. Splash Mountain is a perfect example of the “blend rides” I mentioned earlier. It incorporates elements of a thrill ride, story telling ride, and boat ride, with hints of a dark ride scattered between. Part of the ride itself is outdoor, offering a really breathtaking view of Magic Kingdom. The queue itself is also outside, but the wait is worth it, for it truly is the best way too cool off during a hot summers day and is one of the best rides in Magic Kingdom.

​The ride takes you through the 1946 Disney film, Song of the South, with characters Br'er Rabbit, Br'er Fox, and Br'er Bear. The film takes place after the American Civil War, during the Reconstruction Era. It also incorporates the fun and popular song, “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” giving it a nice stereotypical Disney twist. There are two-three drops before the iconic large one in order to prepare you and freak you out a little. Make sure to smile on the drop; your picture is going to be taken! Though I would recommend this ride to anyone who meets the high requirement, if your kiddo is a little scared (for the drop does look intimidating), there is a nice viewing area to watch the drop and to see all the smiling visitors laughing from it. At the end of the day, this is by far not the scariest ride in Magic Kingdom, and I highly encourage parents to get their kids on it if they think they can handle it–that’s why my parents did to me (after a lot of fighting on my behalf) and it is now my favorite ride in Magic Kingdom! When I think if Magic Kingdom, I immediately think of Splash Mountain.

[kansascityhappenings]

In 2019, the box office belonged to Disney

NEW YORK — Every movie year offers up a parade of hits and flops. But in 2019, no winner was in the same galaxy as the Walt Disney Co. And the biggest loser might have been anyone less thrilled about the box-office domination of franchise films.

When the year closes out Tuesday, the top 10 films in U.S. and Canada theaters will all be intellectual property-backed movies. That, in itself, isn’t new. It’s the third year in a row that the year’s 10 biggest ticket-sellers have all been sequels, remakes and superhero films.

But in today’s IP-driven movie world, one studio is in a league of its own. In 2019, Disney dominated American moviegoing more than any studio ever has before — roughly 38% of all domestic moviegoing.

The year’s top five films were all Disney movies, and it played a hand in the sixth. Disney’s Marvel Studios produced the Sony Pictures release “Spider-Man: Far From Home.”

Disney banked about $13 billion in worldwide box office in 2019, including a record number of $1 billion releases. Once “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” ($724.8 million through Sunday) inevitably reaches that milestone, it will mark the studio’s seventh such $1 billion movie in 2019. The others were: “Avengers: Endgame” (the highest grossing release ever, not accounting for inflation, with $2.8 billion), “The Lion King,” “Captain Marvel,” “Aladdin,” “Toy Story 4” and “Frozen II.”

Disney’s unprecedented market share includes films from 20th Century Fox, the 84-year-old studio that Disney gobbled up in March in a $71.3 billion acquisition.

Despite Disney’s considerable firepower, overall ticket sales in U.S. and Canada theaters were down 4.4% from the year before through Sunday, according to data firm Comscore. The upper echelons of the box office may be stratospheric, but the lower realms — where critics’ scores are rotten and word of mouth is faster than opening weekend — are dismal. The movies are increasingly a zero-sum game. You’re either “The Lion King” or you’re “Cats.”

“There’s plenty of capacity to bring people to the movie screen,” says Cathleen Taff, distribution chief for Disney. “What I think we’re doing is competing for their time. If it’s not great, they do have other options. But when it is great, people show up. And we’ve seen that this year with seven $1 billion movies.”

Disney’s considerable role in today’s moviegoing hasn’t been without critics. They have lamented its mega-blockbusters as products, not cinema. Before Martin Scorsese’s criticisms of Disney’s Marvel movies sparked headlines, he lamented the monopolizing of the multiplex, disturbed by the sight of “Avengers: Endgame” playing on 11 of a theater’s 12 screens.

If the big-screen experience is narrowing, the small screen is expanding. Streaming services proliferated in 2019 with the launch of Apple TV Plus (although it pushed back its first big movie release ) and Disney Plus. Amazon also reshaped its release strategy, shortening the theatrical window for some of its movies to just two weeks. Netflix rolled out its most ambitious release slate, including a host of awards contenders, led by Scorsese’s “The Irishman” and Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story,” that played in only limited theaters. The so-called streaming wars will only grow in 2020 when NBCUniversal launches its service, Peacock, and WarnerMedia debuts HBO Max.

While some may see a downturn in ticket sales as indicative of streaming’s impact, John Fithian, the president and chief executive of the National Association of Theater Owners, believes streaming is disruptive to broadcast TV, cable and home markets like DVDs, but not to movie theaters.

“This may sound counter-intuitive, but with the launch of Disney-Plus, HBO Max and Peacock, we’re more confident of the symbiotic relationship of streaming and theatrical than we were before,” says Fithian. “The people who stream also go to the movies a lot.”

Disney, Universal and Warner Bros. also remain devoted to the traditional theatrical window. Netflix will soon be competing with studios that can offer both a robust theatrical release and a streaming life — albeit not one with the same number of viewers at home that Netflix can promise.

Those services have certainly added pressure to the theatrical release, and quite a few in 2019 weren’t up to the challenge. The year’s most glaring bombs included bold bids at technological innovation ( “Gemini Man” ), mishandled franchise finales (“Dark Phoenix”), remakes that failed to connect (“Charlie’s Angels”), prestige dramas doomed by controversy ( “Richard Jewell” ), toy movies that didn’t click (“Playmobil: The Movie”) and, you know, “Cats.”

But some Hollywood executives point to successes suggesting a vibrant medium. Jordan Peele’s “Us,” for Universal, was the highest grossing original movie. Others like Lionsgate’s “Knives Out,” Fox’s “Ford v Ferrari,” STX’s “Hustlers” and Sony’s “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood” were also both critical and global hits. Bong Joon Ho’s “Parasite” and Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell” gave the art house a boost.

“I don’t think that the four-to-five percent drop means the domestic audience wants to stay home on the couch. I think it’s just like everything else in this industry since it began: We have cycles,” says Jim Orr, distribution chief for Universal. “Generally, the box-office is still trending up and I think that will continue over time, especially because you can do films like ‘Us’ and films like (the R-rated comedy) ‘Good Boys’ and people will still come out in force.”

Last year’s box office, which followed a two-decade low in 2017, set a record with $11.9 billion in ticket sales. Disney, the market leader for the last five years, again led the way with “Black Panther,” “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Incredibles 2.”

Revenues have largely been on the rise thanks to increasing ticket prices. 2019’s estimated $11.4 billion in ticket sales rank second all time, not accounting for inflation. But admissions have been gradually declining since 2005.

Overseas business, however, is booming. International box office for the first time crossed $30 billion in 2019. Either next year or in 2021, China will likely surpass North America as the world’s top movie market.

Lately, homegrown movies have been China’s top draws. This year, only two U.S. productions — “Avengers: Endgame” and “Fast and Furious: Hobbs and Shaw” — cracked the country’s top 10 films. A pair of Chinese blockbusters led the way, each with about $700 million in box office: the science fiction adventure “The Wandering Earth” and the animated fantasy “Ne Zha.”

All of these factors — a rare alignment of Disney juggernauts, expanding home-entertainment options, a more inward-looking China — mean a potentially dimmer outlook for 2020. Many in the industry expect the year’s ticket sales to drop of a few percentage points again. No one forecasts a similar year from Disney. The studio will still have a strong slate but one without an “Avengers” or “Star Wars” movie.

“2020 is going to be a more typical year, where the wealth will be spread quite a bit more,” says Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “The sky is not falling but we’re definitely going to have to change our expectations for 2020. It’s not going to be just about one studio dominating but it’s going to be about all the studios bringing some of their biggest brands.”

James Bond, Wonder Woman and The Rock are coming in 2020. But greater volatility may be on the way, too.

from FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports https://fox4kc.com/2019/12/31/in-2019-the-box-office-belonged-to-disney/

from Kansas City Happenings https://kansascityhappenings.wordpress.com/2020/01/01/in-2019-the-box-office-belonged-to-disney/

[jamieclawhorn]

Have £3k to spend? I think this cheap FTSE 250 growth stock could be worth the risk

A record number of people visited the cinema in the UK over 2018. Unfortunately, this is still to be reflected in the price of FTSE 250 operator Cineworld (LSE: CINE).

True, the stock performed well for the majority of last year, rising almost 50% from late January to early October. The last few months of 2018 were distinctly less kind, however, with the £3.8bn cap giving up a not-insignificant proportion of these gains. 

The stock is falling again today, despite the company reporting decent trading over the last financial year. 

Does an already-cheap looking valuation make this a golden opportunity for investors to buy a slice of a business in a seemingly resilient industry?

“On track”

With 308m cinema-goers passing through its doors in 2018 (a rise of 2.6%), Cineworld grew revenue by 7.2%. 

According to the company, this performance was due to a combination of strong film releases, the ongoing refurbishment of its sites and the rollout of its premium formats. 

Performance in the US was particularly strong where films such as Black Panther and Incredibles 2 succeeded in drawing families away (at least temporarily) from streaming services such as Netflix.

Growth in the UK and Ireland was less impressive (3%) with the company facing tough comparisons from the previous year — a performance matched at Cineworld’s operations in Eastern Europe and Israel (+3.1%). 

Some 13 new sites were added over 2018, bringing its total estate to 790 cinemas by the end of the year. It also invested in technology such as IMAX Laser projectors and 4DX screens. 

According to management, the company remains “on track” to meet expectations for the current year and the integration of Regal is “progressing well“.

These days you can pick up a slice of Cineworld for 11x forecast earnings for the new financial year. That seems cheap considering the film slate for 2019 includes likely blockbusters such as Toy Story 4 and Star Wars: Episode IX. Based on an estimated dividend per share of 13.4p, the stock will also yield an attractive 5.1% at today’s price.

That said, I think the investment case hinges on how quickly it is able to pay down the debt resulting from the takeover of Regal last March. With further hikes to US interest rates still possible, this is something that at least warrants consideration from prospective owners before reaching for the ‘buy’ button.   

Riskier alternative?

If you’re put off by the amount of debt carried by Cineworld, small-cap growth play Everyman Media (LSE: EMAN) could be a suitable alternative. It reported a net cash position of £2.13m back in September.

The company, which operates 26 sites across the country, is attempting to redefine the cinema experience by offering customers plush sofas rather than standard seats and enhanced customer service (albeit reflected in the price of tickets).

However, there are reasons to be wary. Everyman’s stock is vastly more expensive. Based on an expected 31% growth in earnings per share, shares trade on a forward P/E of 55.  That’s frothy at the best of times, but even more so at a time when consumers are tightening the purse strings as a result of Brexit-related economic uncertainty.

It’s also worth mentioning that Everyman’s operating margins are considerably lower than those of Cineworld and the former returns nothing in the way of cash to shareholders. 

As such, I’d probably back the FTSE 250 stock as a safer bet right now. 

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Paul Summers has no position in any of the shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. Views expressed on the companies mentioned in this article are those of the writer and therefore may differ from the official recommendations we make in our subscription services such as Share Advisor, Hidden Winners and Pro. Here at The Motley Fool we believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

[hymn2000]

Where The Darkness Ends - MCU AU fanfic - C7

Story summary: The concept of having a baby has been more of an idea for a long time now. Ideal candidates for a three-person baby, Loki and Tony have finally, after many Peter-based setbacks and challenges, got to the point of being tested. Now, they just have to wait for the results before they can move on to the next stage.

Previous Chapter(s): 1 2 3 4 5 6

Part of my Frostiron and Spiderson series.

Warnings/themes: family stuff, mental health stuff, hurt/comfort, hospital/medical stuff, fertility stuff, IVF, potentially some medical inaccuracies, alcohol misuse

You can also find me on AO3

Chapter 7 - The Fever’s Gonna Catch You

-

On day twelve, Thor put his foot down.

“You don’t need another bath! You’ve had one every night for more than a week. You’ll ruin your hair at this rate”

Peter scowled. “I need to get ready”

“No, Peter, no you don’t. Come on now; this is getting silly. You can’t spend every night sat by the door waiting for someone who isn’t coming”

“You don’t know that he’s not!” Peter shouted. “I need to be ready! You can’t stop me waiting for him!”

“I’m not going to stop you waiting” Thor said. “But I am putting a stop to you getting yourself all dolled up and ready and then sitting in the corridor for hours on end watching the door. You can wait for your dad, if you must, but you’ll do it in normal clothes, and you’ll sit in the living room, and you’ll watch TV or play on your laptop or do your schoolwork. That way, at least your time won’t be wasted”

“But-!”

“Don’t argue with me, Peter! Now go and sit down and I’ll get dinner started”

“I’m not eating!” Peter shouted. “Dad’s taking me out!”

“Stop shouting, Peter! Fine, you don’t have to eat, but you do have to sit down and do as you’re told. Ok?”

Peter scowled and stalked off to the living room. He didn’t really want to get into a screaming row with Thor. He looked at the work the school had sent. He’d already finished most of it, and he was bored of it. He shoved all his school stuff onto the little shelf underneath the side table and flopped down on the sofa. He didn’t want to watch telly. There was never anything good on nowadays anyway, and Thor only had freeview, which meant there was even less to watch than usual. He didn’t want to play on his laptop either. So he just sat there and waited. 

-

Once again, Tony didn’t show, and Peter was sent to bed. He had a little cry, and then he fell asleep. 

“...May?”

“Hey kiddo. Have you been asleep all this time?”

Peter looked round, his brow furrowed. He was in the kitchen at the Stark’s. He looked at the calendar, and the little Peter Rabbit stickers on every Saturday and Sunday, and every other Wednesday. This wasn’t right. He looked at May.

“What are you doing here?”

“I finished work early” May said.

“Ok, but what are you doing here?” 

“What do you mean? We kinda live here now, you know. At least for now”

“But... You’re dead!”

May looked down at herself. “Do I look dead to you?”

“But, but... But the accident! There was an explosion, you-”

“Hey, Peter” May put her hands on his shoulders. “Are you ok? I think you might have had a nightmare. I’m ok. Well, a bit cut and bruised, but so are you. But we’re ok. We’re just working things out. Since we lost so much in the explosion”

Peter stared at her. She was so close, and her hands felt strong on his shoulders. 

“...I think I need a hug”

“I think you do, too” May said, and she pulled him close. 

Peter hugged her back, and she felt so warm, so real, that he started crying, just a little bit.

“Oh Peter” May said. “That whole burst gas main thing has really given you a knock, hasn’t it? It’s ok. We’re ok. I’m here”

“I love you...”

“I love you too. Shh, stop crying. You’re ok. I’m not going anywhere just yet”

“You promise?”

“How could I promise?” she suddenly stepped back, and her face grew dark. 

“M-May?”

“How could I promise, when you couldn’t protect me?” And suddenly she was looming above him. “You weren’t there. You were useless. You let me die, Peter. That’s why you’re upset; you feel guilty. You let me die”

“I-I didn’t! I didn’t, it was an accident! We don’t know that I could’ve done anything to help you!”

“That’s what you think. I died because of you” 

“N-no! No, May, I’m sorry! It wasn’t my fault! It was an accident!” Peter stepped back, and suddenly fell through the floor.

He shrieked as he fell, landing on dark, dusty concrete. He looked around, and he was back in the flat on that fateful night, seeing his clothes and all his stuff torn and broken and covered in dust. He could see the flashing lights of ambulances and fire engines in the distance. He could hear a fireman shouting out for him. 

“You were ok” May said, still looming above him, standing on a ledge above him. “You just lay there and let someone get you out and look after you. You were fine-”

Peter tried not to listen. He tried to stand up, but he was trapped by the wooden beam and rubble atop him. He couldn’t move, and then May had hold of his head, holding him still, making him look at her.

“May, I-”

“And where was I while you were warm and safe with people fussing over you? Oh, you know where I was, trapped in that kitchen, by that oven, gas-powered. And a burst gas main? You were selfish, running off for something as trivial as your charger. And I was there, like this” and her face changed, cuts appearing, blood gushing, drowning her features and now-mottled skin as her eyes turned white and her hands became claws. “You did this to me. You’ve landed on your feet. And you’ve forgotten about me”

“No! No, I never forgot, I never forgot! May, I love you! Please, I didn’t-”

“You killed me, Peter” she hissed, blood dripping onto his face as she snarled at him. “Now I’m going to repay the favour. After all, isn’t that what family does?”

Peter tried to break free, but she had him round the throat, and everything underneath him suddenly fell. He felt it all crumble away, and then there he was, suspended, with only the clawed hand round his neck keeping him from falling.

“May-!” he choked, looking pleadingly into the almost unrecognisable blood-soaked face above him. “P-please..!”

“Please never saved me. Why should it save you?”

And then she let go, and he fell, hard and fast, the wind rushing in his ears, the sharp rocks beneath him growing closer, and closer, and-

Peter woke up as he hit the floor, legs kicking, fists punching, mouth screaming, tangled in a heap beside the bed. 

“Peter?!” Thor burst into the room. “Peter! Hey, are you ok?”

Peter just screamed more. Thor untangled him from the duvet and pulled him close, cradling him. Peter screamed and clung to him, and then started howling, desperate, fearful cries.

“I’M SCARED! I’M SCARED! HELP ME, PLEASE HELP ME!”

“Hey, it’s ok. I’m here”

“I want my dad!” Peter sobbed. “I want my dad!”

“Shh, shh. Ok, I know, darling, I know”

“I want May!” he cried. “I want May!”

“...Your aunt?”

“Yes! I want my aunt! I miss her so much!” 

Thor wasn’t sure what to do. Peter didn’t seem to be calming down.

“It’s my fault! She was in my dream, an’ I haven’t dreamt of her for so long, and she said it was my fault she died, and I, I, I-”

“Hey, it’s not your fault”

“I know! But the dream felt so real”

“It was just a dream. Just a nightmare. You know she wouldn’t really blame you”

“I’m scared! I’m so scared and I want her so much!”

Thor stayed still, cuddling him, trying to think. Somehow he didn’t think going to the Stark house was a good idea. But what was it people always did on the telly when they couldn’t get a baby to settle? Maybe that would work. 

-

Peter wasn’t happy about being put down on the back seat, but Thor had had the sense to bring his old seal toy with him, and that seemed to help him calm down a little. Thor strapped him in and then got into the car and started driving. Peter didn’t even bother trying to puzzle it out. All he knew was the last time he’d been put in the car with no explanation, he hadn’t been happy about where he had ended up. 

He cuddled up with his seal and cried, trying to get the horrible images from his nightmare out of his head. He knew it was just a nightmare, and that it wasn’t real, but now he couldn’t stop thinking about May. He could often go a while without thinking about her nowadays, but her loss still hurt, and he still missed her.

He really, really missed her tonight. He kept thinking about all the stupid jokes they had and all the good times they spent together, both with and without Loki and Tony. He couldn’t held being reminded of the horrible feeling he’d had when they’d told him that she’d died. He remembered hours hunched up asking for her, waiting for her to come into the room. He remembered how absolutely shattered and hopeless he’d felt for so long after her death. He hated remembering. It was easy with his original parents, because he didn’t remember them, and his memories of his uncle had long since grown fuzzy, so that was easier too. But May? Everything still felt so fresh. All his memories of her seemed so close sometimes. Sometimes - rarely, but sometimes - he woke up in the morning and forgot she was dead. And then he’d suddenly remember and he’d have to take some time to himself to try to process it quickly before carrying on with his day. 

He hated hurting like this, but at least it meant she wasn’t being forgotten. Even if it was so painful.

-

Peter didn’t really register the drive, and he certainly didn’t register the drive through. It wasn’t until the car stopped and he realised that Thor was holding a cup out to him that he started to process everything. 

“Drink” Thor said. “It’ll help”

Peter carefully tucked his seal under his arm and took the Starbucks cup. He swallowed hard.

“What time is it?”

“About half past three in the morning” Thor said. “Are you ok?”

Peter paused, and then shook his head. Thor didn’t say anything, but he got out of the drivers seat and climbed into the back with Peter. 

“I think it’s a stress response, having nightmares” Thor said. “Your daddy used to be the same... That sounded like quite a major one. I thought you were hurt at first”

Peter looked down at his cup. “It didn’t look like her, not really. Only at first. But then it all went weird, like the other mother from the film Coraline. It was kinda like that, y’know, that bit near the end where she goes all skeletal and stuff? May... May never had a bad word to say about me. We were friends... I know it wasn’t my fault, and I know she wouldn’t ever blame me for what happened, much less try to hurt me... But the dream still felt so real at the time. Like, when she hugged me, I could almost swear I could smell her. But... well, it got scary so quickly”

Thor sighed and put an arm round the boys shoulders. “You poor little thing. I know dreams can be upsetting, even when you know they’re just dreams”

Peter leant into him. “...I’m sorry I woke you up”

“Don’t be. I’m glad you did: you needed me” he said. “Drink, Peter”

“...What is it? Is it coffee?”

“Give me some credit, little one. Do you really think I’d give you coffee at four in the morning?” Thor shook his head slightly. “It’s one of your favourites”

Peter swallowed and raised the cup to his lips. He didn’t really know what he was expecting, but the hot chocolate was a nice surprise. It was good, too, especially considering how hungry he was after another night of not having any tea. 

“Good boy” Thor said gently, watching him drink. “There, that’s better, isn’t it?”

Peter nodded slightly, as much as he could without spilling his drink. There was something so comforting about the warm liquid soothing his throat and tummy. He started to feel calmer, and the more he drank, the safer he felt. 

“There, you’re relaxing now” Thor said. “Why don’t we go head back to the flat and get you back into bed?”

“Can we stay here? Just like this, just for a little bit?”

Thor ran his fingers through the boys curls. “Ok. But we’ll have to head back soon - you really do need to get some more sleep”

Peter nodded, putting his empty cup down and cuddling against Thor properly. Thor held him tighter, one hand cradling his head. 

“There now, little one. You’re ok. I’ve got you”

-

Peter looked up at Thor as he was tucked back into bed.

“Dad isn’t gonna come and take me out for tea, is he?”

Thor looked down at the boy, and shook his head.

“I don’t think so”

“Has he told you why?”

“He hasn’t been replying to any of my messages” Thor said carefully.

“He hasn’t been replying to mine either. Or answering my calls...”

Thor sighed and kissed him on the forehead. “I’m sure he’ll come and see you when he’s feeling better. Maybe he just needs a bit of alone time”

“What about daddy? He’s been ignoring me too”

Thor paused for a moment. “...I think he needs some alone time too”

-

Peter tried not to care. He tried to ignore everything, pretend that Tony was away on business and that’s why he was at Thor’s. He tried to pretend he wasn’t replying to his messages because he was somewhere without phone signal. But it was so hard to ignore the truth, and it hurt so much. He loved Thor, and he knew he was being looked after, but Tony had promised to visit him. It would be so much easier if he had kept his promise. 

But he hadn’t. And Peter was starting to crack under the pressure.

-

Peter walked into the kitchen. Loki and Tony were sat at the breakfast bar.

“Dads..?”

They looked at him. 

“Are... are you ok?”

“Don’t be stupid” Tony snapped. “How could we possibly be ok?”

“I-I’m sorry, I just-”

“Well don’t! Haven’t you done enough?”

“Wh-what?” Peter swallowed hard. “What do you mean? I haven’t done anything!”

“Are you sure about that?”

Tony stood up, and Loki did too. Peter eyed them cautiously, taking a step back. 

“We’re not having a baby. You know that” Tony said. “We’ve only got you. Well, if we can’t be real parents-”

“You are real parents!” Peter interrupted. “You’re my parents!”

“Not any more” 

Tony glanced at Loki, who handed him a sheet of paper, which Tony held up so Peter could see. 

“What’s that?”

“An annulment. As far as this, us, and the law is concerned, the adoption never happened. You were never our son, and you never will be” Tony said.

Peter couldn’t speak, staring at the page. What was happening? He felt sick. His parents couldn’t really be binning him off, could they? Could you even annul an adoption? He thought that was just a marriage thing.

“B-but-!”

“But what?! Why do you think we’d want you? Especially now, when we’re never gonna have our own baby? We don’t want anything to do with you” Tony stepped closer to the boy. “And neither does anyone else. So what are you still doing here?”

Peter stared at him, tears pouring down his cheeks. “But dad, I-”

“I’m not your dad!” Tony growled, and he punched him hard in the stomach and pushed him to the ground.

Peter barely had time to comprehend what was happening before he was flat on his back on the floor with Tony’s hand round his neck. He grabbed the mans wrist, trying to push him away, trying to struggle. He looked up at him pleadingly, and then at Loki, who was stood behind Tony. 

“Daddy-!” 

“He’s not your daddy” Tony hissed, squeezing tighter round his neck. “You’re nothing to us”

He looked over his shoulder, and Peter saw that Loki was holding a pillow. Peter tried harder to struggle, but the ground was hard beneath him, Tony’s grip too strong, his body too weak. Tony took the pillow, and looked at Peter. 

“Let’s do the world a favour” 

And he pressed the pillow over Peter’s face. Peter tried to struggle, terrified, unable to see, unable to breath, only able to hear his parents manic laughter as the pillow was pressed harder and harder against him-

Peter woke up squeaking, still barely able to breath, in heavy darkness. He soon realised he’d somehow ended up fully under the covers. He tugged the quilt off his head, flinching in the sudden glow of the bedside lamp, and he threw the pillow he’d been pressed into as hard as he could, and then he flopped back and covered his face as he screamed. He felt sick, and scared, and he felt soaked. He’d woken up in a horrible sweat, tears dripping down his cheeks, and- oh no. He sat up quickly. This wasn’t just sweat and tears.

The door opened. 

“GO AWAY!” Peter yelled. “GO AWAY, I DON’T WANT YOU!”

“Are you ok? Did you have another nightmare?”

Thor sat down on the edge of the bed, ignoring Peter’s protests. 

“Go away!” Peter whimpered, trying to push him off.

“Sh, Peter. It’s ok” Thor said, taking the boys hand in his. “I think you’re overheating”

He ignored Peter’s bitter cries and pulled the covers off him. 

“Oh...” he put his head close to Peter’s. “Have you had a little accident?”

Peter just cried harder, pulling his hand away from Thor’s and covering his face. 

“Ok” Thor said gently. “Why don’t you go and have a quick shower, and I’ll do the bed? Why don’t you get undressed in here?”

Peter nodded, and Thor tactfully averted his eyes. He sighed to himself once he was alone in the bedroom. Things just kept getting harder for the poor little kid. 

-

Peter couldn’t stop crying. He turned the shower onto its highest setting and stood crying beneath the stream. What the hell was going on? He was terrified from his nightmare, but that wasn’t his only problem. He couldn’t believe what had happened. He felt like such an idiot. He couldn’t believe he’d actually wet the bed like some little kid. He felt so humiliated and angry with himself. How could this happen to him? 

He washed himself thoroughly, but he still didn’t feel clean. So he washed himself again, and again, and again. Four times, five times. He knew he was definitely clean now, but he didn’t want to face Thor again. Not yet. But he knew he couldn’t stay in the shower indefinitely either. He sighed and shut the water off. He could always take his time getting dried and dressed. But as he thought that, he realised he hadn’t brought any clothes into the bathroom with him. He swallowed hard and wrapped a towel round his waist and another round his shoulders. He furiously scrubbed the hot tears from his face. He supposed he didn’t have a choice. 

-

Thor had just finished making the bed when Peter came back into the bedroom. 

“There’s stuff on the chair”

Peter looked. He checked Thor wasn’t watching, and then pulled on the clean pants. He spurned the joggers and vest top: it was too hot for those right now. Thor straightened up and gestured to Peter. 

“Come here”

Peter did so cautiously, suddenly scared that he was in trouble. Thor gave his shoulder a squeeze. 

“Back to bed, little one” he saw the way Peter looked at it. “It’s clean, don’t worry”

“But what about the... the mattress?” Peter said, his face flushing bright red as he said it. 

“It’s waterproof, and there was a waterproof mattress protector on it anyway” Thor said. “...I can see you’re not convinced”

He tugged at the fitted sheet, lifting the side to show the clean mattress protector, and then lifting the edge of that to show the blue plasticy waterproof casing of the mattress. 

“See? It’s all clean and dried and fine. Into bed now”

Peter swallowed. “I’m sorry”

“Don’t be. It happens to the best of us. Come on now”

Peter didn’t feel comfortable climbing back into bed, but he didn’t really know what the alternative was. He lay down and hugged his seal close, swallowing again and again to try to stop himself from crying again. He tried not to look at Thor as he was tucked in.

“I think it’s a stress response” Thor said, smoothing the covers over the boys shoulders and dabbing dry the tears from the boys eyes. “I’ve been doing a lot of reading, since I seem to have you potentially long-term now. This cropped up as a problem that happens when children are stressed. Which you most definitely are”

Peter turned onto his side, his back to Thor. “...I don’ wanna talk about it”

Thor squeezed his shoulder. “Of course. It’s late; you need to get some rest. I’ll see you in the morning”

“Thor?”

“Yes?”

“Can you annul an adoption?”

“Not as far as I know. Why?”

Peter didn’t say anything. 

“Is that what you want?” Thor asked.

“No” Peter said. “It’s what my parents did in my dream. And then they tried to suffocate me”

Thor was quiet for a moment. He rested a hand on Peter’s head. 

“It was just a nightmare, little one. It’s not real”

“It felt real”

“I know. But it wasn’t. You know that really”

“It doesn’t make it any less scary”

Thor rested a hand on Peter’s head. “You’re safe, Peter. Go to sleep. You’ll feel better in the morning”

-

Peter didn’t. And as the days went on, he felt worse and worse. He did his school work, and even though he skipped tea, he always had breakfast and lunch, and he tried to look after himself, and he went out when Thor told him to get his shoes on. But it was hard work, and he couldn’t relax or focus on anything for long at all. He had restless days and tricky nights. 

His apparent ‘stress response’ decided to repeat itself night upon night, in turn making Peter even more upset and angry and irritable. Thor was always very good about it, but it didn’t help much. Peter soon found he hated the rumble of the washing machine in the early hours of the morning, and he hated himself too. He wasn’t sure what to do about it. He tried not drinking anything for hours before bed, but it didn’t work - and then he was just thirsty and dehydrated on top of it all. 

“Maybe we should talk to your daddy about this” Thor said one morning. “He’s worked with children before; he might know what to do to help”

“No! I don’t want them to know! And anyway, they’re ignoring all my messages and calls anyway, so what makes you think he’d even answer?”

Thor sighed. “Alright, alright. Well, then maybe we should take you to see a doctor. Maybe there’s a medicine they could give you”

“I don’t want to see a doctor!” Peter shouted. “I don’t want anyone to know; you said you wouldn’t tell anyone!”

“Ok, ok. Don’t shout at me like that”

“Well stop going on about it, then!” Peter shouted. “I don’t want to talk about it!”

“We need to try to do something” Thor said. “I’m pretty sure you can get pads for this sort of thing”

“I’m not wearing a nappy!” Peter fumed, his face flushing. 

“They’re not nappies, Peter”

“Yes they are! Basically, anyway! I’m not doing it! Stop throwing these horrible suggestions at me. I don’t want to talk about it and I don’t need to see a doctor, and if you try to sneak those fucking things into my room I’ll knock your teeth out!”

And with that he stormed to his room and slammed the door behind him. Thor sighed. He didn’t know how to soothe Peter’s shot nerves, so solving this new problem was beyond his scope of capabilities. He sighed again and picked up the phone. 

-

Tony woke up to the sound of the landline ringing. He raised his head slowly, watching the phone as it rung. It soon stopped, and Thor’s voice leaving a message came over the speaker.

“This is getting ridiculous, you two. It’s been three weeks already! Tony, you promised you’d see him every day, but you won’t even answer his calls. Listen, I’m doing my best, but there’s only so much I can do. He needs his dads. Call me back”

Tony picked up a nearby glass and threw it at the phone. The glass knocked the phone off the hook before shattering against the kitchen wall. Tony nodded slightly and pulled his bottle of beer closer. Maybe he’d get some peace and quiet with the phone off the hook. Until it started beeping, at least.

-

Loki woke up to the sound of a thud and smash in the kitchen. He hauled himself off the sofa and stumbled through to the kitchen. Tony was pulling himself to his feet. 

“...It was empty” he said, gesturing to the smashed bottle on the tiles. 

Loki looked at him for a moment. “...Do you think I’ve always been infertile?”

Tony shrugged, grabbing the broom in one hand and a can of lager in the other. 

“How would they know?”

“I don’t know if they can tell” Loki said. “What if I did it to myself? The drinking and smoking and stuff?”

“I used to be an alcoholic” Tony said, cracking open the can and clumsily sweeping broken glass to the side of the kitchen. “It didn’t ruin mine. Maybe you’ve always been this way”

“...I still want a baby”

Tony stopped, letting the broom fall against the kitchen unit before clattering on the floor. He turned back to Loki, downing a few mouthfuls of his drink.

“Me too” he said. “Can’t have one though. But we can have this”

He grabbed another can of lager and held it out to Loki.

“I don’t drink beer”

“Better crack open your emergency gin stash, then”

Tony sat down heavily at the breakfast bar, gulping down his drink. Loki left him to it.

-

Loki found his emergency bottle of Gordon’s in the bottom drawer of his bedside table. He sat on the bed and opened it, but then spotted what else was in the bottom drawer. He screwed the lid back on the bottle and dropped it on the bed. He reached into the drawer and took out the old scrapbook. He flicked through it with shaking hands, trying to focus with blurred vision. 

He looked at the photos, all random ones out of order from the past decade or so. He looked at the pictures him with Tony on their honeymoon. He looked at all the pictures with Peter and May. He looked at the pictures of himself cut from magazine articles. He looked at the pictures from his sabbatical, of his fellow charity workers, of his colleagues at the children’s home in Scotland, at them with the children in the home. 

He looked at the picture of him with his colleagues from the hospital, all of them together after a successful fundraising event. He looked at the picture of him and Jo Jo with the quadruplets they’d delivered together in a power cut the year Loki first qualified as a nurse. He looked at the pictures from their foolish antics on the ward, including the toy frog that had turned up and they’d spent months hiding in random places for the other to find until it was claimed by the owner. 

He looked at photos of himself with Pepper at their favourite cocktail bar. He looked at pictures of them from boring parties where getting drunk together was the only way to get through without going mad. He looked at the picture of the two of them in their wedding finery. 

He looked at the photo of Peter curled up asleep in Tony’s arms on the boat across Derwent Water. He looked at a lot of photos of those two: laughing together, hugging, striking boy band poses, working together in the lab. He even had some photos from before he knew Peter, of him and Tony at expo’s together, working in the lab at Stark tower, messing about, looking so much like the people he loved, but so different too. 

He turned the page and found himself looking at photos of toddler Peter: playing with his toys, curled up on a big cushion in his little teddy bear onesie, hiding behind his toy rocket, grinning at the camera with a sparky look in his eyes. Loki stroked the photos gently, remembering that strange time between defeating Kindsprengen and getting the reversal gun. He turned the page, and his eyes rested on a photo of Peter and Pepper, a rare thing indeed. 

Loki closed the scrapbook with a snap and put it back in the drawer. He picked up the bottle of gin, looked at it for a moment, and then put that down too, closing the drawer. He scrabbled under his pillow, finding his mobile phone. 

“...Hi, Pepper? It’s Loki” he swallowed hard, closing his eyes to stop the tears from spilling. “I think I need help”

-

The phone call didn’t last long, and so it wasn’t until Pepper arrived at the Stark’s half an hour later that she realised just how dire the situation was. She found Loki in his room and dragged him to the kitchen where Tony was.

“Get off the floor” she said, so firmly that Tony did as he was asked and moved to the breakfast bar. 

“Wha’ are you doing here?” he grumbled.

“Sorting you out, and it’s a bloody good job I am!” Pepper snapped, filling the kettle and setting it on its stand, switching it on. “First things first; we need to get you two sobered up! Especially you, Tony. God, look at the state of this place! How much have you had? It looks like you’ve bought out a full off licence!”

Tony just shrugged, picking up another bottle, which Pepper snatched from him. 

“Stop it! And Loki, sit down before you fall over”

“...Thanks for coming” Loki said, taking a seat at the breakfast bar. 

“I’m glad I did. I knew things were bad, considering everything that happened, and then the weeks of ignored texts and emails and phone calls. But I didn’t realise just how bad things were here. Where’s Peter? Please tell me you haven’t been funnelling this stuff into him as well”

“He’s not here” Loki said.

“He’s been staying with Thor” Tony said. 

“Oh right. Thank god for that” Pepper sighed, spooning coffee granules into a couple of (thankfully clean) mugs. “How’s he doing?”

Tony shrugged. Pepper looked at Loki.

“...Tony hasn’t really been keeping in touch with him”

“And you?”

Loki paused, and then shook his head. Pepper sighed.

“Well, at least he’s being looked after. Time to get you two looked after now”

“Pepper, we-”

“I don’t want to hear it” she interrupted. “I don’t need to hear it! I can see exactly what’s happened here. I knew I should have come over, but you were so insistent you wanted to sort it yourselves, and I was trying to sort myself - and I was stupid to think I could leave you two together alone with something so serious. I knew I should’ve dragged you to that therapy appointment with me. I should have come round much sooner; as soon as you stopped replying to my messages. Not that either of you said much anyway”

“...We’ve been struggling” Tony said. “Give us a break”

“And you thought this would help?” she gestured to the empty alcohol bottles piled up on every surface in the kitchen, and the cans scattered on the kitchen floor. 

“I tried at first” Loki mumbled, rubbing his eyes. “But then we kinda... Well, this happened together”

“Well, I’m putting a stop to it” Pepper said. “We’ll get you two sobered up and sorted, we’ll tidy this pigsty of a house, and then we’ll sit down and sort everything else out”

She put a mug of strong coffee down in front of both men. 

“Drink” she said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do”

*

[baburaja97-blog]

New Post has been published on Vin Zite

New Post has been published on https://vinzite.com/different-types-of-card-games/

Different Types of Card Games

There are limitless types of card games to be played. People think because two games use the same deck of 52-cards that they are similar games, but nothing could be more different than Barbu and Speed, or Pai Gow and Pinochle.

Here’s a list of twenty different kinds of card games, and some facts about them.

Some Card Games are listed here

1.Bridge

Bridge is a popular contract bidding game. Bridge has a culture — there are websites, newspaper columns, and even radio shows devoted to bridge strategy. There is a world-wide obsession with bridge, even though it has been called the hardest card game in the world. With a complicated strategy and steep learning curve, to many bridge is not just a game, it is a lifestyle. I wish I were exaggerating.

2. Whist

Whist could be called “Bridge, Jr” — and though it is not as big a game as it once was, and is dwarfed in popularity by big-brother Bridge, Whist has never really died out. Card gamers love trick-taking games — beating out your opponent in such a visual way is one of the more exciting part of any card game. Whist has some of the complexity of Bridge without any bidding.

3. Texas Hold’em

Texas Hold’em is something of a legend — a poker variation with a story as rich as a Spaghetti western. This version of poker, a drawing and betting game, was invented and then made popular by old time poker sharks in Texas, hence the name. This is easily the most popular poker variant right now, and is bringing more new people to card gaming than any other game.

4. Hearts

It is said that most of the professional poker tour players are hardcore Hearts players and that they bet big money on cutthroat games of Hearts in dark mysterious rooms during tournaments. Romantic as that may sound, it would make sense for these card sharks to love the game of Hearts – an otherwise childlike game of matching cards (and no bidding) usually turns into a competitive nightmare. Because of the game play, there are lots of ways to screw your opponents in Hearts. Trick-winning and passing card are big elements of Hearts.

5. Spades

People don’t realize it, but spades is a variation of bridge that simplifies the game even more than Whist and changes the outcome of the game as well. Spades is really popular in large groups, on college campuses, and in tournaments around the world. There may be as many variations of Spades as there are groups playing it — thanks to “jailhouse rules” which penalize tactics like point sandbagging and the existence of multiple versions of “house rules”. A strategic game you can play without paying much attention if you want.

6. Go-fish

This is the simple children’s card matching game we all remember from our childhood. You can play Go-fish with as many players as you have cards. Some people claim Go-Fish is a variation of Rummy but the simplicity of the game and the children’s game gimmick make it likely just some toy company’s creation. Strangely enough, Go-fish is known as Literature in some parts of the world. Write in if you understand that one.

7. War

Another children’s game (or time-killing game) War is a straight luck based game. Depending on the flop of the card, you either win or lose a war. Most people under the age of 30 learned War before they learned any other card game. You’ll see War played a lot in lines at airports.

8. Oh Hell!

Substitute your own dirty word for “Hell!” and you know this party game. Most of the fun is the fact that you get to cuss a lot and people laugh at you. What keeps this game popular is that it is a strict betting game. The object of Oh Hell! is to bid the precise number of tricks you will win. You have to take only the number that you bid, no more and no less. Play is precise, and because of the structure of the game, one player always blows it big time. There. That’s what’s fun. Screwing your opponent.

9. Blackjack

A skill game that in some casinos is the best bet you can make, if you can play a perfect hand. This is one of the most popular casino card game, and has a place in popular culture as THE “Vegas” game. The point is to build a hand that adds up to a total of 21 points without going over, and ending up with a higher number than the dealer. Players compete against the House directly, adding to the fun. Little known fact — there exists somewhere in this world a blackjack player’s hall of fame. Safe to say that this game’s got a cult following

10. Baccarat

James Bond’s favorite game (don’t believe the hype — it wasn’t poker or blackjack — read the books) Baccarat is a basic betting game. Players bet on who will win a given hand – the player, the banker, or if there will be a tie. Sure it looks easy, but Baccarat is a skill game. A small sidenote about Baccarat — the name comes from the name of the worst possible hand. This would be like calling your video poker machine “High Card Poker”. Just doesn’t have the same ring as “Royal Flush”.

11. Solitaire

The most varied card game in the world. In England, they call this game Patience, and for good reason. Solitaire requires little set up beyond putting cards in specific places, and is usually played by yourself. Solitaire is another popular airport line waiting game.

12. Rummy and variations

There are lots of different kinds of Rummy, more than are probably written down on any list. I’ve written for a website that had me list 500 variations or other names for Rummy, so I’ll spare you the reading and just say there’s lots of kinds of Rummy. The more popular versions are called Gin Rummy, Liverpool Rummy, and Contract Rummy. The feature that makes a game a Rummy is a player matching identical cards into pairs and other groups. Some experts believe the Chinese game of Mahjong is part of the Rummy family, though I’d bet the Chinese are just fine with Mahjong as it is.

13. Pai Gow

This is an old Chinese domino game that has been passed down through the years as a poker variation. You’ll see Pai Gow at casinos in both as a poker and a domino game — it is probably the casino game that the least number of people understand. This is a game of fast bets, player versus dealer. Pai Gow strategy is just as rich as any other poker betting game, and the culture of Pai Gow is similar to the Blackjack culture — super-fast bets and edgy behavior at the margins.

14. Spoons

A silly card game probably invented to keep kids out of trouble, Spoons is a bluffing game (with some elements of matching) that uses simple kitchen utensils as an added play element. The first player in the group to draw a poker style four of a kind reaches to a pile of spoons in the middle of the table, signalling the other players to grab for one. Since there’s one less spoon than players, one player will be left out every time. So its a social interaction game, and not a game chock full of card strategy. its still fun. Great date night game.

15. Speed

Speed (sometimes called Spit) is a matching game that is unique because both players play simultaneously and as fast as they can. In Speed, a player tries to ‘get rid’ of his or her cards by matching them to cards placed face-up on the table. This is a face to face game, though there’s actually little interaction between the two opponents. The last few moments of any game of Speed reminds me of solitaire on fast-forward, with hands and cards flying around and rows forming and draining like water pipes. Strange game, Speed.

16. Crazy 8s

This is another children’s matching game, you could say it is cousin to the popular game Uno. The 8s in the deck of standard cards are considered “crazy” not because they need to be medicated but to indicate they are wild cards. In some variations of Crazy 8s, not just Wild Cards but other “rule cards” exist, making the game more complex for older players.

17. Slapjack

If you want to teach more complex card games to younger kids, Slapjack is the perfect vehicle. The object of Slapjack is to acquire the whole deck of cards by matching and slapping pairs. Kids like to slap stuff, and the game can be played over and over again.

18. Old Maid

You don’t need an “Old Maid” deck to play this kid’s card game — any standard 52 card deck will do. Just remove one of the Queens. Old Maid is a matching game where players find pairs You trade cards with your opponent until that player is left with the unmatched Queen. Matching games are popular, and the novelty “Old Maid” packs are fun for kids.

19. Cribbage

This is a hybrid board and card game with complicated rules that generally intimidates people, even hardcore card gamers. You play cribbage by forming groups of cards that are worth different point values, and moving a peg on a board that represents your progress accordingly. Requiring a specific board (or a quick hand with a pen and paper) cribbage isn’t the best travel game, but as fans of cribbage will tell you, no two games are alike. There are solitaire versions of cribbage, and other varieties of cribbage game play to choose from if you’re bored with the standard version.

20. Pinochle

Pinochle is popular because it is a trick-taking game that you play with a 48 card deck. In Pinochle, you try to make melds or tricks, much like in Gin, but there’s a really complex scoring system making the game fun to learn and to master. To be good at pinochle, you have to play for a number of years, and lose plenty of hands. Though it is less popular year after year, Pinochle is one of those “heritage games”.

[filosofablogger]

A bit much, huh?  Yeah … I was trying to infuse the morning with some excitement, but … I think the cake, confetti and all may be a bit much, ’cause my stomach is flip-flopping.  Okay … how ’bout this one …

Oh yeah … much better.  So … welcome to yet another Monday morning … the start of a new {yawn} week.  I feared I might not be able to find anything humorous for this morning’s post, but as it happened, I popped onto one of my favourite sites for funny stories, and was chuckling within minutes.  Then, one of my feline housemates, Miss Nala, began her attention-getting antics, and I was, much to my surprise, actually laughing!  For those of you who do not have the benefit of four-legged critters, I must tell you, they are better than an old Three Stooges movie for brightening your mood!  Plus … there is the added benefit of fur on the carpet and furniture, hairballs on the floor … litter boxes to scoop … having to vacuum every day … mop twice a week and … oh heck, never mind … I just lost my own debate.  Okay … on that note, let us proceed to the fun part of the morning …

Safer Superbowl

Guess WHAT?????  This coming Sunday is … {drumroll} … SUPER BOWL SUNDAY!!!!  Now, I realize that my friends across the big pond probably don’t understand why this is such big news (frankly, I don’t either, as I do not enjoy watching football) and I’m sure would even argue that American football is NOT even ‘real’ football!  Still, I think you’ll get a kick out of this one.  I thought for sure this had to be a joke, but nope … it’s for real:

The limited-edition “Party Safe” Tostitos bag, designed by Goodby Silverstein & Partners, contains a sensor connected to a microcontroller that detects trace amounts of alcohol on a person’s breath, turning the front of the bag red and showing an image of a steering wheel and the message, “Don’t Drink and Drive.”

The bag also flashes an Uber code and contains technology that allows the holder to tap their phone against it to order an Uber for $10 off during and after the Super Bowl on February 5th.

“A lot of times all you need to stop short of driving after drinking is a friend who calls you off. On Sunday of the big game, we want Tostitos to be that friend.

I don’t know … most of the drunks I have known in my lifetime are convinced that they are actually better drivers drunk than they are sober, and nobody can convince them otherwise.  And … I have to wonder what a bag of these costs???  I will check when I go to the grocery later this week and get back to you on that …

Hamburger Harry

Now here is a guy with way to much money to burn … or grill.  His name is Harry Sperl, but they call him Hamburger Harry.  Harry is said to have the largest collection of hamburger memorabilia in the world!  I didn’t even know there was such a thing as ‘hamburger memorabilia’.  Now, if you’re thinking that by hamburger memorabilia, I mean a wrapper from Hardee’s, a crown from Burger King, or a toy from a McDonald’s Happy Meal, think again. Harry has a hamburger Harley!  Take a close look and note the onion on the rear wheel, the tomato on the front wheel, and the ketchup on the whatever-that-thing-is-called.

And a hamburger waterbed …

And countless other burger treasures …

Harry holds the Guinness World Record for “Largest collection of hamburger related items” with 3,724 items in his Daytona Beach home. He said his prolonged passion for hamburger memorabilia stemmed from his belief that the burger represents the core of American culture. Hmmm … maybe …  Ah well … I collect books, Harry collects burgers … to each his own, yes?

And speaking of burgers …

The Burger King up in Epping, New Hampshire, had a bit of a problem earlier this month.  It seems that customers going through the drive-thru would ask the person at the window if “Nasty Boy” was working.  If the answer was ‘yes’, then they would order “fries extra crispy”.  But instead of French fries, what they got when they pulled forward to pick up their order was a coffee cup filled with … marijuana!

“Nasty Boy” turns out to be an employee, 20-year-old Garrett Norris, who was arrested last week along with his shift leader, Meagan Dearborn.  Ms. Dearborn had this to say:  “I didn’t know what was going on, but since I took the order and gave them the food they charged me. Basically there was an undercover cop that one of my employees sold to and I took the order and I got arrested.” Somehow I am not buying that story, but I’m sure she will get a chance to try to sell it to a judge or jury sometime soon.

Two things I wonder:  What happened if you were an innocent customer and just happened to say the code word “fries extra crispy”?  I would be pretty surprised to find a cup of pot in with my order!  And … I wonder what they charged for those “fries”?  I mean, if Burger King fries range from $1.79 for a small order to $2.39 for a large … that is a bit below the going rate for a cup o’ weed, I’m thinking …

Dumb, Dumber and …

What do you do if you’re playing blackjack at a casino and you aren’t having a very good night, but you can feel Lady Luck breathing down your collar … you know that THE BIG ONE is just a few more deals away?  What do you do?  Well duh, you take a break, go rob a bank, then come back to the table with your ill-gotten gains and play some more!

At least that’s what Kerry Johnson of North Carolina did.  He later told a judge that he was under the influence of drugs, and I’m inclined to believe it, because the bank Kerry robbed was the same one he had done business with for 40 years!  Now I ask you, how smart is that?  He handed the teller a note claiming that he was armed with a gun and a bomb, and walked out with $5,000. “It was less money than I had in my account,” he later told the judge.  He pled guilty to second degree robbery and will face between 5-18 years when he is sentenced on March 2.

One more chuckle before I bid you adieu … my friend Herb found this video of a deer and a rabbit playing in a yard, and it is the cutest thing I have seen all week, so be sure to check it out … guaranteed to bring a smile to your face … Bambi & Thumper???

And on that note, I see I have taken up far too much of your morning and now, if you don’t hurry, you will be late to work and blame it on poor ol’ Filosofa.  As always, I ask you to pass along a bit of kindness today, share a smile, take a minute to remember the things that are good in your life.  Keep safe and most of all …

10 … 9 … 8 … 7 … 6 … 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 … 1 … HAPPY MONDAY!!!!! A bit much, huh?  Yeah ... I was trying to infuse the morning with some excitement, but ...