#sr. darcy

[nardeletuane]

[bethanydelleman]

Following your answer on JAFF first names, how likely is it that Mr Darcy senior is called George?

This question is in reference to this post.

I believe that one is pretty likely. Mr. Darcy Sr. is George Wickham's godfather (so possibly named in honour of him) and he has a daughter named Georgiana. His only son is named using his mother's last name so it's the father's "turn". I would say it's even more likely because of the massive age gap between Darcy and his sister, they probably weren't thinking there would be another living child.

We see gender-flip naming in Lady Susan, her daughter is named Frederica after her husband Frederick. We also see John Knightley naming the second boy after himself after the first is named for his father-in-law (Henry and John respectively).

Also, it would be so weird if George Wickham had married Georgiana and they were George & Georgiana... good thing Austen prevented that one. (I mean I know there were other reasons but still! lol) But with so many people with similar names in this era it must have happened. Henry & Henrietta,...

[rosemaidenvixen]

A Secret's Worth

Chapter 31: Jim

Ao3

“Mom is the oven ready?”

“Not quite,”

“Are you su–”

“I know you don’t have much faith in my cooking abilities, but even I can tell the difference between Preheat and Off,”

Jim flushed “Sorry,” he set the bowl down on the side table and headed back to the kitchen, shooting a glance behind him to take inventory of what he had out already. Crackers, chips, dip, popcorn, oreos, chocolate covered pretzels, buffalo wings ready and waiting to be put in the oven, dead batteries and recycling for him, plus plain raw chicken wings in the fridge if he got really–

“Kiddo we have enough snacks to feed your entire school,” Barbara flashed him a soft smile, leaning against the counter across from him.

Jim felt his flush burn hotter, tearing his gaze away from the living room towards her “I just…I just want to make sure everything’s perfect,”

She stepped over to him, reaching up and cupping his cheek “I know you’re nervous, but it’s going to be fine, they aren’t coming here for the food or the videogames, they’re coming because they’re your friends,”

Jim let out a shaky breath “You’re…you’re right,”

He didn’t have to impress them or win them over, they already liked him. They wouldn’t have agreed to come in the first place if they didn’t.

She patted his cheek “You better believe I am mister,”

Despite that he consciously knew he didn’t have to prove anything, part of Jim still itched to make sure the whole night went perfect, and he was running out of time to prepare. The others would be here any minute, Toby had stayed over once before but this was a whole new ballgame. He was hosting a sleepover with all five of them; Toby, Darci, Mary, and C– C–

His heartbeat stuttered, threatening to stop entirely.

Oh god, Claire, the Claire, was going to stay the night at his house. Sure it was a group thing and it’s not like they’d ever be alone together and his mom was going to be there the whole time, but still–

“I– I’m going to grab some more soda from the garage,” Jim quickly spun around and booked it down the hall, hoping his mom didn’t notice the flush in his cheeks.

Jim didn’t miss the time before the others knew his secret, when he’d been a nervous wreck for weeks on end, winding tighter and tighter and threatening to snap at any moment. But parts of that time were simpler, like how his fear of being exposed and taken away had been so huge that it had eclipsed literally every other worry in his life.

Now that all his friends knew his biggest secret, sucking away not all but most of the fear surrounding it, all those other worries and doubts had room to wriggle their way to the surface.

Did the upstairs sink have a leak or were they just splashing around too much? Did he study enough for his history final? Did Claire know how her eyes sparkled every time she laughed?

Jim picked up the six pack from the floor of the garage and paused to take a breath before heading back into the house, trying to steady his fluttering heartbeat, the heat in his face now quickly spreading out across the rest of his skin.

They’d been hanging out together, albeit in a group, for months, and she still had no idea how he really felt. That he liked being friends with her but his feelings ran deeper than that. Feelings that he’d been trying to smother for months but refused to be silenced. Sometimes Jim got so deep in his them that he thought about meeting her alone and confessing everyth–

Metal glinted in the corner of his eye, drawing his attention to the chest freezer. The brand new metal padlock and latch, that Toby insisted on paying for himself, shone in the low light, protecting the freezer’s contents from the elements and prying eyes.

The heat racing through him stopped cold, something dark and heavy taking its place in his chest.

Claire still had no idea how he felt about her, and she never would. 

Being just friends with Claire was good, great even, she was an awesome friend. Jim could learn to live without being…more.

He took a deep breath and headed back into the house, doing his best to ignore the pinching in his stomach.

Jim was so so grateful that all the others were sticking with him; even after all the lying, even after seeing his other face. They knew everything, what he did and what he was, and they were still there for him.

That was more than Jim ever imagined he’d have, and he wasn’t going to ruin it by being greedy. 

His blue form was nothing even close to human, if that wasn’t apparent by the way he looked it was clear in the way he ate. And all of them; Toby, Darci, Mary and Claire, were amazing enough that they didn’t let that bother them, they stuck with him day or night. But just hanging around him while he was blue without running away screaming was one thing. 

Asking Claire– or anyone really, for anything…romantic…that was asking too much. 

After so many years Jim had almost perfect control of his nocturnal form. He didn’t break things with his hulk strength, and he managed his diet without preying on the local wildlife. So aside from the fact he had to keep it secret, for the most part his monster form was manageable.

But despite his near perfect control, and the fact he was normal half the time, Jim still turned into an inhuman beast every time the sun went down. And no matter what way you cut it, that was a big, blue elephant in the room that couldn’t be ignored.

Even if he did have it under control, even if he was normal during the day, even if the others were fine hanging out with him when he was blue. There was no way any sane human being would be even halfway ok with dating a carnivorous, horned monster. 

And Jim wasn’t going to make Claire be the bad guy by forcing her to say so out loud. 

Setting the soda on the counter, he shut his eyes and pulled in a deep breath through his nose.

Claire would never be anything more than a friend, and that was good, great, amazing. Her friendship, and the others’, was more than he’d ever thought he’d have. 

And Jim was so so thankful for it.

The doorbell rang, Jim jumping at the sound. He whirled around, gaze flickering between the front door and the stairs, the idea of running up and hiding in his room briefly flashing in his mind, then his mom stepped in front of him and gave him a knowing look.

Jim swallowed then started stepping towards the door, going through his breath cycles.

You don’t have to impress them or win them over, they already like you, they wouldn’t be coming if they didn’t.

Fixing what he hoped was a natural looking smile on his face, Jim opened the door and came face to face with Claire, Mary, and Darci.

“Hey guys come on in!”

“Hey Jim,” Darci gave a cheery wave, raising up an aluminum pan “I brought brownies,”

“I brought guac!” Claire called out from behind her.

“And I brought my sparkling personality,” Mary added

“Awesome,” Jim stepped aside, allowing them to head inside “Go ahead and make yourselves at home, Toby should be here in a little but,”

Mary raised an eyebrow even as she tossed her duffle bag to the side and plunked herself down on the couch “He’s not here yet? But he lives right across the street?”

“He said he had to run some errands before coming here, but to not to wait for him to get started,”

“Hi girls,” Barbara made a point to turn and smile at each of them before starting to move away “I’ll be in the back room doing some work, let me know if you need anything,”

Jim gave a quick nod at his mom before she left the room, then turned to glance out the window.

How much longer would Toby be? He’d said he’d had an errand to run, but Jim honestly hadn’t expected the girls to get here before him.

“We can play War Dudes while we wait for Toby,” Claire knelt by the TV and started fiddling with the console “I’ve got the four player mode so one of us can trade off when he gets here,”

“That sounds good,” Jim forced himself to turn away and headed over to take a seat with the rest of them, picking up his controller and very deliberately not looking out the window.

Where was Toby? He said he’d had an errand but he should have been here by now. Why was he so late? He hadn’t answered any of his texts, what was going on?

Darci elbowed him, startling him out of his thoughts.

“You good Jim?”

“Y– yeah, I’m fine,” 

Jim shook his head and forced himself to concentrate on the TV screen flashing with the game’s main menu and did his best to shove his worries away. For the most part he succeeded, now that the girls were here, all of them playing games like normal, he was able to forget that he was hosting his first ever multi-person slumber party and pretend it was just a regular afternoon. 

But the videogame could only distract him so much. And as Toby’s absence stretched longer and longer, Jim found himself constantly glancing out the window and at his eerily silent phone. Guts twisting in on themselves further and further as the sun faded away with no trace of Toby.

Where is he?

Daylight nearly gone and intestines in a pretzel, Jim paused the game at the next cutscene “I’ll be right back, I have to run upstairs to…change,”

“Ok,”

“Sounds good,”

“Take your time,”

Jim flashed a weak grin at them as he forced himself to walk, not run, up to his room.

Where was Toby? There was no way he wouldn’t come right? He should have been here by now, did something happen? Was he ok?

After only a two minute wait in his room the daylight outside popped out of existence and the change swept over him, necessitating a change of clothes. Jim was in the middle of pulling on an extra large t-shirt, when he heard the front door open and Toby’s voice wafting up.

He jumped at the sound, stumbling into his dresser and snagging the shirt on his horns, struggling to detangle himself without completely tearing the shirt apart. 

He’s here he’s here he’s here!

Moving frantically, Jim tugged himself free, grabbed the extra large version of his favorite jacket off the dresser, and booked it downstairs, only just remembering at the last moment to slow down.

Don’t freak them out by zooming in with your super speed. Toby’s here, he’s fine, don’t need to rush.

He still hustled down the stairs, shrugging the jacket on as the front hall came into view “Hey Tobes wha…”

Toby was down in the front hall, but that wasn’t what had grabbed his attention, it was the gigantic cooler that Toby was struggling to drag through the front door. 

“Here let me help you with that,” Jim stepped over and grabbed the cooler handle, yanking it the rest of the way inside and allowing the front door to swing shut.

Toby looked up at him and smiled “Hey dude, sorry I’m late, it took a while to lug this thing back from the store,”

Claire poked her head out of the living room, Mary and Darci flanking her “What is all that?”

“Well to celebrate our first sleepover with all of us I wanted to get something special, so…” Toby opened the cooler with a flourish “Tah dah!”

Jim leaned over and peeked inside “Are those…” 

“Shellfish?” Darci said incredulously.

“More specifically they’re oysters but yeah,” Toby hoisted a large mesh bag out of the cooler, plastic straining against the large mass of dark gray shells inside “It’s our first ever sleepover all together, so I thought I’d get us something fancy,”

“That’s very thoughtful of you Toby,” Barbara stepped in to join them in the front hall “But how do we even prepare them?”

“It’s actually not that hard, the guy at the store told me everything, first we have to wash them,”

Barbara flashed a bright smile and held out her arms “I can take care of that for you kids,” 

All at once the five of them went stiff, Toby clutching the bag of oysters protectively to his chest “Well that’s nice of you Dr. Lake but uh…”

“Oh come on, I can handle washing oysters,” 

Jim shifted from foot to foot, ruffling a hand through the hair at the back of his neck “Uhhh…mom, you remember the time you tried to zest those limes…”

She threw her hands up in surrender “Fine, I’ll leave it all to you guys, but get me when you eat them, I want to try one,” Barbara turned and retreated to the back room. leaving the five of them alone.

“Ok,” Toby slung the mesh sack over his shoulder and grabbed the cooler with his other hand, dragging it behind him as he headed into the kitchen “First things first, we need to wash all the crud off and sort out the dead ones,”

Jim froze, heart slamming to a stop “Hang on, are these…alive?”

“Yeah,” Mary watched over Toby’s shoulder as he tossed the bag into the sink, oblivious to Jim’s steadily rising panic “It’s the safest way to eat them, eating a dead oyster is a fast way to get food poisoning,”

His hand shot out and grabbed doorframe, wood just a hair away from creaking in protest under his fingers. Lingering just outside the kitchen while the others gathered in around the sink. He couldn’t do this, it was bad enough with all the whole animals he had to eat, but eating something while it was still–

Darci glanced back at him, neither of them said anything but she must have noticed something in his expression.

“It’s not a big deal, oysters don’t have brains, just muscle and spine. They don’t feel pain, at least not the way mammals do,” she reached in and pulled out an open shell, wrinkling her nose at it “Plus shucking them usually does them in so they’re usually dead by the time you actually eat them…but it’s fine if seafood’s not your thing,”

Her words buzzed in the back of his skull, Jim’s entire body itching to run, to sprint past them out the back door and not stop until he hit the Sierra Nevadas.

Instead he stayed where he was and pulled in a deep breath, starting his breathing cycles. Thinking back on when he and Kurt talked about meat.

You should never force yourself to eat something that you think is gross, but if you feel like your disgust is coming from an irrational place, try and think about how the idea of someone else eating that food makes you feel. If you think it’s ok for someone else to eat that food, then it’s ok for you to eat it to.

By now the others had all turned around and were looking at him, faces showing varying levels of concern.

Toby took a step forward “You ok there Jimbo?”

Jim forced both feet flat against the floor and pulled in a deep breath through his nose.

Did the idea of these guys, or anyone else, eating live oysters fill him with disgust and revulsion?

Eating a dead oyster is a fast way to get food poisoning.

They don’t feel pain, at least not the way mammals do.

No, it didn’t.

That meant it was ok for him to eat them to. Now did he want to eat them?

The pride and delight on Toby’s face as he held up the bag of oysters flashed in his mind.

He wanted to try.

Prying his fingers off the doorframe, Jim walked into the room at a carefully measured pace, grabbing the trashcan and moving to join the others by the sink “Yeah, I’m good, let’s do this,”

They fell into a semi-comfortable rythm; setting up an assembly line sorting out the dead, smelly oysters and scrubbing the crud off the ones that were left.

Soon all the good oysters were sitting in a bowl on the counter, the five of them taking turns rinsing the grime off their hands at the sink.

Toby wrung his hands dry on the hand towel “Ok, now that they’re clean we need to shuck them,”

“How…do we do that?” Claire said slowly.

The five of them simultaneously looked up and stared at each other.

Less than a minute later they were all clustered around Mary watching the tutorial she’d pulled up on her phone.

“Seems simple enough,” Mary slid her phone back into her pocket “But we need some of those special knives,”

“Ooh! I’ve got some,” Toby darted over to the cooler and pulled out a small plastic package with six little knives inside “The guy at the store helped me find them, he was super nice,”

“I’ll get a bowl to put the empty shells in,” Jim bent down to take another large bowl out of the cabinet “I don’t want to throw them all straight in the garbage in case they cut the bag,”

“And we should get some ice to put them on,” Claire added “Keep them fresh until we eat them,”

“Way ahead of you,” Toby shook the plastic bag full of crushed ice he’d just grabbed from the freezer.

Jim set the oyster bowl and empty shell bowl on the table while Toby poured the ice out into an empty pan, Darci and Claire raiding the tea towels.

Once they were finished setting the towels around the table, Darci took her seat and plucked an oyster out of the bowl “Mary can you pull up the video again?”

Mary dutifully got out her phone and propped it up on the counter in full view of the five of them “I have it on loop, so it will auto repeat once it’s done,” 

“Perfect,” Claire wrapped her oyster in her tea towel “Oh wait Jim, you still need a towel to protect your hands,”

“Nah, I should be fine,” he wiggled his fingers “My skin is pretty tough like this so I didn’t need to worry about cutting myself,”

“Ok then,”

Jim grabbed an oyster and set it on the towel in front of him, he picked up his knife and then stopped, staring down at the small shellfish in front of him, the beginnings of nausea swimming in his gut. 

Chances are this oyster, all the oysters in the bowl, were still alive. Shucking was the part that actually killed them.

Could he….could he do this?

He lifted his head just high enough to peek over to his side. 

Claire and Mary were already shucking like pros, popping their oysters open with neat efficiency. Toby and Darci were a bit slower, less sure in their movements, but after some fumbling, they were able to set their own opened oysters in the ice pan with clear satisfaction on their faces.

Did seeing these guys shucking oysters

Killing them

Horrify him, disgust him, fill him with revulsion?

No it didn’t. Oysters were just food. People ate meat and seafood all the time, there was nothing wrong with that.

If it’s ok for someone else to eat that food, then it’s ok for you to eat it to.

This was fine, oysters were just food, for everyone. He wasn’t ripping a bunny rabbit apart with his fangs, he was just preparing food, the exact same way people across the planet did.

Was this something he wanted to do?

Darci yelped as the oyster slipped from her grip, shooting across the table and splattering brine everywhere, Toby and and Claire laughing while Mary squawked in disgust.

Jim’s stomach rolled again but not from disgust.

Hanging out with his friends, making snacks and joking around and having a good time together.

Or spending another long night locked up in his house all alone.

Yes, he did.

Jim took a deep breath and slid the knife in between the shells.

The first oyster he had to pay very close attention to, willing his fingers to stay steady and not tremble as he wriggled the knife inside and popped the shell open. The second was much of the same, but after number three he started to get the hang of it, able to feel out the best place to slide the knife in pop the shell. Able to shuck with the same efficiency of dicing vegetables, motions becoming automatic enough that he barely had to think about it.

“Don’t worry Mary, I’m sure oyster juice washes right out,” he flashed her a fanged grin, tossing an empty shell into the bowl with a flourish.

“Forget about stains, what about the smell?!”

“Swing by my house later,” Toby piped up “You’ll be Meow Meow PI’s new best friend,”

They all laughed at that, even Mary’s pout couldn’t fully hide the smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.

The time flew by, the five of them trading jibes and elbowing each other as they worked, and before he knew it the oyster bowl was empty, the ice filled pan was packed with oysters glistening in their brine, and the shell bowl was practically overflowing.

“Alright the oysters are all ready,” Jim picked up the pan, along with another empty bowl for shells, and carried them into the living room “Toby you got the–”

“Yep,” Toby’s arm stuck out and waved a bottle at him from behind where the open door of the fridge was concealing him “I got lemon juice and red wine vinegar, any of you guys want tabasco sauce?”

“Ooh I’ll have some!” Claire waved at him.

He stepped out from behind the door, two more bottles clutched to his chest, taking several steps towards the living room before pausing and turning back “Hey Dr. L, we’re getting into the oysters!”

“I’ll be out in a minute,” her voice echoed from the back room “Go ahead and start without me,”

Soon they were all settled in their seats on the couch, oyster pan and shell bowl in front of them and small plates in their laps. Darci reached over first, plucking an oyster out of the pan and tipping it back into her mouth, when her head rose back up there was a blissful look spreading across her face “Oh man these are good!”

Claire gulped down her own oyster as well “Yeah, you got some really nice ones TP,”

“I try,”

Curiosity growing, Jim reached out and plucked up an oyster as daintily as he could, raising it up and giving it a sniff. He’d been blindsided by Toby bringing the oysters in the first place, followed immediately anxious about the idea of them being ‘alive’, so the idea of actually eating them himself hadn’t occurred to him until now.

Sure he couldn’t really eat ‘normal’ food while he was like this, but raw meat was usually fine, so maybe the oysters would be ok…

He hesitated, remembering exactly just how fresh they were. Jim pulled in a deep breath and peeked over at the girls sprinkling their own oysters with various condiments before slurping them down.

Eating them raw is a safety thing, they don’t have brains or feel pain the way we understand it. 

Jim willed his breathing to slow.

Did the sight of the others eating potentially live oysters fill him with revulsion?

No. It didn’t.

It wasn’t wrong for other people to eat oysters.

That meant it was ok for him to eat oysters to.

Taking one more deep breath, Jim raised the shell to his mouth and tipped it back. 

He froze, shell poised right outside his lips.

That was…really good.

Jim tossed the empty shell into the bowl, grabbed another oyster and slurped it right down, then another, then an–

“Hey save some for the rest of us,” Mary playfully swatted his hand away.

“Sorry, it’s just– these are amazing!”

Darci smirked at him from across the couch “This your first time trying oysters?”

“Yes– well no, I mean I tried them once in pasta sauce, but that was during the day, having them raw, at night they’re like– wow,”

“That…that’s awesome,” Toby smiled sheepishly at him from across the coffee table “I was hoping that you’d be able to enjoy them while…you know,”

Jim blinked at him, hand frozen reaching halfway towards the oyster tray. Had Toby gotten the oysters specifically so he could eat them to, so that they could have a food that they could all eat together?

His chest clenched with a surge of unexpected emotion, blinking away the sudden wetness in his eyes “Thanks Tobes,”

Claire nudged Toby with her elbow “Aren’t you going to try one? You bought them after all,”

Toby’s face fell “I’m…getting to it,” 

Darci leaned back in her seat “Well go ahead, we don’t want to eat them all before you can try one,”

“....thanks….”

The rest of them sat back and watched as Toby reached out and gingerly picked up an oyster. He stared at it for a moment, looking at it like it was about to leap up and attack him, then quickly gulped it down, expression curdling as he did “Oh man, that tastes like the ocean and not in a good way,”

“Sorry, more for us,” Claire reached across him and snagged another oyster.

Jim reached for another oyster himself, he was about to tip it in his mouth then hesitated. The oysters were good by themselves, but what if….

He popped the whole shell into his mouth, oyster and all, smooth flavor melting across his mouth as the shell crunched against his teeth, blending with the brine.

“These are really good,”

Mary looked up at him curiously “What do they taste like, with the shells and everything?”

“Like, chocolate, well not really exactly, but it’s the closest thing, just like smooth and rich and really really good,”

Toby beamed “Glad you’re enjoying them,”

“Enjoying your oysters kids?” his mom stepped into the room 

“Yep,”

“Uh huh,”

“You know it,”

“Having the time of our lives,”

She grinned “Great, mind if I try one?”

“Here you go,” Toby set one oyster on a small plate and held it out to her, Barbara took it and lifted the shell to tip it back into her mouth, making a face not unlike the one Toby had made as her head came back up.

“You…you kids enjoy these,”

Jim, Mary, Claire, and Darci all laughed while Toby patted her arm sympathetically. Between the four of them they finished off the rest of the oysters pretty quickly, Jim setting the shell bowl off to the side for later snacking. He moved to pick up the ice pan but Barbara beat him to it.

“I’ll take care of the dishes, you kids focus on having fun,”

"But mom–"

“No buts mister, I’ll handle all the dishes, I can’t do a worse job than I did with the limes,”

Jim gave a soft chuckle at that but sat back and allowed her to carry the pan and the rest of the dishes back into the kitchen.

Turning back he saw Darci getting out a deck of cards “So I was thinking we play some poker,” her smile turned deadly “With our standard stakes,”

“Standard stakes?” Toby wheezed out.

Claire giggled and swatted his shoulder “That just means the loser of each hand gets make-up put on them,” she froze “Unless…not everyone would be ok with that…”

The way she, Darci, and Mary, even Toby, all avoided looking at Jim when she said that meant that her words could only be meant for him.

Jim had to stop and think for a second. Was he ok with getting makeup put on him…like this? While it wasn’t something he’d ever normally wear, Jim wasn’t bothered by the idea of wearing makeup, heck he’d even borrowed some of his mom’s concealer on days when he had a really bad zit. Plus it wasn’t like he was being singled out or anything, chances are everyone would end up wearing some.

Doing makeover poker wasn’t an idea that would have ever occurred to him in a million years, but he didn’t find the thought particularly distressing either. 

“Yep that sounds good, although I don’t know how to play poker, so if you guys are ok with going slow I’m game,”

Everyone in the room visibly relaxed at that. 

“I’ll show you the ropes Jim,” Toby patted his shoulder “I’m kind of a card game master, every Friday night when Nana was playing bingo, I was learning the way of the cards from Mr. Beadleman,”

Claire raised an eyebrow “That kind of sounds like he was teaching you Yu Gi Oh,”

“To be fair he just taught me stage magic and a bunch of card games, but I once showed him Yu Gi Oh and he kind of went wild with it, I actually think I might have created a monster there,”

Darci tapped the deck loudly against the coffee table “Alright if you’re new to poker the first thing we do is…”

The five of them knelt at the coffee table while Darci dealt out the cards and explained the rules, only interrupted by the occasional clank of bowls and hiss of water coming from the kitchen as Barbara took care of the dishes. Halfway through Darci’s explanation Mary got out a large bag and started passing out its contents one by one. Clusters of brightly colored tubes and compacts slowly building in front of each of them. 

“Remember the rules; lipstick, eyeshadow, hair chalk, nail polish, and blush. You lose a round you put one on, set whatever you used behind you and when you run out grab some more from someone else. We keep going until we have literally no more places we can put makeup on,”

Toby picked up two of his cards and glanced at Jim “You good to go ahead or do you want to go over the rules again?”

“I think I’m good,” Jim picked up his own two cards, he was still a little fuzzy on the rules, but he should be able to pick it up as they went along.

As they settled into the game, setting out cards and exchanging them for the ones in their hands, he was able to keep up fairly well. And despite his noob status, he wasn’t the first one to lose a hand, Claire was.

She grabbed a small tube from her pile and set it down in front of her “I choose lipstick,”

Darci and Mary shared a look, cheeks puffing as they struggled to hold back their laughter. 

“Given by force or self-inflicted?” Darci asked, voice shaking with barely restrained giggles.

“I’ll do it myself,”

Mary smirked at her, before tossing a sandwich bag full of q- tips her way. Claire caught it, shooting Mary a grumpy look. She popped the cap off the tube and dabbed at the lipstick inside with one of the q tips. Once it was thoroughly coated with blue rouge she closed the tube and picked up a small compact. Flicking it open and using the mirror inside to keep an eye on her reflection while meticulously painting her upper lip blue.

Examining her reflection one more time, Claire snapped the compact shut and tossed the bag back at Mary, blue lip now curled into a self assured smile “Laugh while you can girls, soon it’ll be your turns,”

Mary shot a feral grin right back at her “Oh we’ll see about that,”

But it wasn’t any of the girls who lost the next round, or Toby, it was Jim. No one said anything, the jovial mood gone in an instant, tense looks flashing back and forth between the four of them.

Swallowing back the sudden tightness in his throat, Jim slowly reached out and set a small square compact down in front of him “I pick eyeshadow…and I’m going to to need help putting it on,”

The tension eased but not by much, the gap in their conversation stretching longer and longer until Mary stood up.

“I’ll do it,” she hesitantly stepped towards him, grabbing the compact and another q tip “Alright, lean back and close your eyes,”

Jim complied, tilting his head back and willing himself not to twitch away at the gentle dabbing on his eyelid.

Then just as quickly as it started it stopped.

“Ok you’re done,”

Jim sat up blinking, vision focusing to see Mary holding out the compact mirror towards him. He gently accepted it, peering into the tiny mirror to examine his reflection. His face was nearly identical to the way it normally looked, the only difference was that one of his eyes was now shaded in violet from above.

“Dang,” he looked up and grinned at them “This is a good look for me,”

They all laughed, more from relief than anything else.

The game continued, an easy mood settling over the room, the five of them falling into comfortable banter as they lost themselves in the game. Darci, Mary, Claire and Toby munching on the various snacks he’d set out while Jim crunched his way through the oyster shells. The only disruption his mom coming in to rotate out empty snack bowls with fresh buffalo wings, flat out refusing any of their offers to help. Time was flying by so fast the next time Jim glanced at the clock he was amazed to see nearly an hour and a half had gone by, all of them now sporting various shades of jewel and neon colors.

“Sorry Jimbo, looks like you're the loser this round,”

Jim shrugged and set another compact down in front of him “Hair chalk,”

Darci smirked at him, eyes shaded in orange and pink “You know sooner or later you’re going to have to use your lipstick,”

“Never,”

Toby sided up to him, green and black lips pulled into a wide grin “Jealous?”

Jim just rolled his eyes, Darci already moving behind him with the hair chalk “You caught me, I don’t want to do lipstick because I know I’ll never pull it off as well as you,”

“Well enjoy it while you can,” Mary tapped her cards loudly against the table “You’ll get it eventually,”

He ignored them and leaned back, holding still while Darci separated out a section of his hair and–

A thumping sound echoed from the door, all of them simultaneously snapping upright, the hairchalk falling to the carpet, jerking their heads towards the source of the sound. For a moment things were silent, Jim was just starting to wonder if they’d imagined the sound when the knob started rattling. 

Someone on the other side trying to open the door. 

Jim couldn’t move, pinned in place with shock and horror, frozen kneeling on the floor staring at the jiggling knob. 

This couldn’t be happening, this couldn’t be real, there couldn’t be someone standing outside trying to get in while he was– this. His legs went tense even as they were folded underneath him, ready to leap up and flee towards safety wherever that might be–

“Barb?” a voice, a man’s voice, called from outside the house “I know you’re in there Barb open the door,”

His heart leapt up into his throat, ice shooting through his veins, glacial chill settling over his entire body. 

The only person who ever called his mom Barb was–

Fingers tightly gripped his shoulder from behind “It’s ok, I changed the locks and got rid of the spare key, he can’t get in,”

Jim didn’t so much as twitch under her grip, eyes locked on the door, fingers curled in a stony deathgrip around his cards.

“C’mon Barbara you can’t keep blocking me out forever, you need to hear me out,”

The entire room was dead quiet, everyone watching with held breath as the knob continued to rattle.

The knob jiggled for a few more seconds before going still. But no one relaxed so much as an inch, all eyes still locked on the door. The room filling with heavy, loaded silence worse than any amount of noise.

Toby slowly set his cards facedown on the table without his eyes ever once leaving the door, but no one moved to pick up their game. Jim’s front bumped against the table, he hadn’t even realized he was tilting forward until now, eyes and ears trained on the front of the house. There was no more knocking and the knob wasn’t moving any more, but he hadn’t heard anyone walking away, and there was some kind of new sound….

Jim leaned forward even more, hanging halfway over the coffee table, heartbeat booming in his ears, but not so loud he couldn’t hear it. Some kind of faint scratching coming from the other side of the door, he’d never heard anything like that before, what could tha–

The lock popped open.

Lightning cracked through him, heart plummeting down into the pit of his gut, cards tumbling through his fingers and fluttering down to the floor, a roaring in his ears as the door creaked open–

He was vaguely aware of the hand on his shoulder yanking him to his feet.

“Basement now, go go go!”

Other hands were on his arms and back, tugging him out of the room, urging forward him with harsh whispers and urgent tugs. Jim only barely managed to stumble himself along, guided by the desperate pulling on his arms and shoulders, everything except the roaring thunder in his ears seemed faint and far away. 

The loud sound of a door slamming brought him back to the here and now. Starting a little bit, Jim found himself standing on the top basement stair, the door firmly shut in front of him, raised voices echoing out from behind it.

“I don’t know what you think you’re doing but you have ten seconds to get out before I call the police!”

“No Barb, you won’t return my calls, you won’t agree to meet up, you forced my hand here, and I’m not going anywhere until we talk this out!”

Jim just stood there, unable to tear his gaze away from the door as his parents–

His parents, both of them, together.

Continued to scream at each other, too shellshocked to even consider moving, when suddenly there was a hand on his forearm. Snapping around, he saw Toby reaching up towards him from a lower step, the girls all huddled behind him, all wearing matching strained expressions.

“It’s ok, Dr. Lake can handle him, we’ll just hunker down here until she kicks his ass out,” Toby gave his arm a squeeze “We’ll be out of here in no time,”

The girls nodded along and murmured reassurances.

All Jim could do was stare at them. His dad had broken into their house and Barbara was dealing with him all alone, and they were more concerned with how Jim felt when his mom was the one in real danger here!?

His dad had already gone so far as to break in, what was stopping him from going even farther?

What if he got angry enough that he attacked his mom?

Toby’s fingers tightened around his stony flesh, another hand going up to gently pat his upper arm “I promise you won’t have to stay in the basement for long,”

Jim’s jaw fell open, gaze flitting across the four of them. His mom was in actual, literal danger here and these guys were more worried about how he felt about being in the–

Oh.

Oh.

Jim blinked at them a few times before slowly turning back towards the door.

They thought that being down…here would be hard for him. And it was, a little, but the memories he had of being locked in the basement, while bad, were so few and so long ago it had been a long time since he’d struggled with them.

It didn’t feel great when he thought back on them, or when they just happened to hit him as he was retrieving something from down here.

Not that the basement was somewhere he ever went without having an explicit reason to do so.

But for the most part he was over it.

More than anything he was terrified about the very alive and real threat behind the wooden door less than twenty feet away in the living room.

“Ten years, ten years of no contact and you just expect to waltz back in here, with no knowledge of anything we’ve been through all this time and act like nothing’s changed!?”

Jim reached out and ran a four fingered hand over the wood in front of him. A fresh coat of paint covered the marks, but they were still there, his fingers tracing over the grooves.

“How can I fix anything if you won’t give me a chance to apologize!”

The memories of those nights from back when he was a little kid were murky and indistinct, but he couldn’t forget them if he tried.

Lights being too bright, sounds being too loud. The helpless rage building up more than his tiny body could hold. 

Screaming and screaming until his voice was hoarse, clawing at this same door and running up and down the stairs to try to rid of some of this burning white hot energy.

Desperate to be free from his prison.

“What on earth makes you think you deserve forgiveness!?”

His fingers curled into a shaking fist, balled against the door.

He’d felt so angry and trapped as a little kid, but that was before he realized his real prison was something far worse than four walls and a wooden door.

No matter where he went Jim carried it with him.

Hiding in his house every night for years, terrified of what would happen if he strayed outside his sanctuary. 

Four months ago, when the girls had confronted him and sent everything spiraling, that fear had surged like never before. Blazing to an impossibly high peak as everything escalated further and further, his whole life falling apart all around him while Jim desperately tried to hold it together. Wrapping himself tighter and tighter in secrecy, pulling away from everyone.

It had nearly strangled him, cutting out everyone he cared about and hiding himself away, but he was too terrified to do anything else. Clinging to his isolation even as it was breaking him.

But despite his best efforts to push everyone out, pulling his solitude around him like a shield, that hadn’t stopped them. 

Toby, Claire, Mary, and Darci had forced their way in and ripped down the walls he’d spent over a decade building.

Now the loneliness that had been his security and his prison was gone, leaving him adrift in uncharted waters.

But despite all the uncertainty, fumbling through the unknown, everything he knew turned on its head; his life was the best that it had been since before he’d taken that bath.

Now here he was again, hiding himself away like a terrified little kid.

“I’m only human ok! I made one goddamn mistake, you shouldn’t hold it against me forever!”

A new emotion flickered to life in Jim’s chest, but not worry, something hotter.

Things had changed, he wasn’t a little kid anymore. Too small and powerless to be anything but be a burden.

He’d been afraid for so long, isolated, locked away, terrified of anyone getting so much as a glimmer of truth, now he was just done.

The burning spread out from his chest, heat snaking out through his limb swallowing every trace of the terrified chill leaving only smoldering in its place. A low rumbling coming from deep in the pit of his gut.

Jim was done hiding, locked away like a terrified little kid.

It was time to face his problems head on.

He grabbed the knob and wrenched the door open. Slamming against the wall with a bang as Jim stomped through it into the kitchen.

A chorus of soft gasps rose up from behind him “Jim what are you–”

In some part of his brain Jim knew this was dumb, charging in like this without any kind of a plan, but he’d spent so much time hiding, locked up in his house and his own head, he was just done. 

And this was long overdue.

He stalked towards the living room, ignoring the hissed whispers of protest behind him turning to shouts. Rounding the corner and coming face to face with him for the first time in over a decade.

Jim narrowed his eyes, lip curling and the beginnings of a growl rumbling out of his chest. Even after ten years he recognized him immediately, that same face had once smiled down at him while ruffling his hair, he could still recall exactly how the stubble of that beard tickled his cheek when he hugged him. 

But while those memories still had an echo of nostalgia, when Jim looked at the man in front of him he felt no fondness, no hurt, just burning contempt.

“Seriously Barb, what’s it going to take for you to–”

As soon as Jim stepped into the room James’ eyes flickered past Barbara and landed on him, face instantly draining of color, staggering backwards. 

For the first time Jim didn’t try to stifle the growl he felt building up.

This was someone who should have been there for him and mom, who should have supported them during those awful early years, and for every year after that.

But instead he’d selfishly skipped town without so much as a goodbye, leaving them floundering in the wake his absence left, nearly drowning in the struggle to keep his ‘condition’ under control.

There was no way his dad could have known about the bathbomb, or what had happened to him, and him staying wouldn’t have changed it. But if he hadn’t ditched them when he did they wouldn’t have suffered nearly as much.

“Hey dad,” Jim leaned hard into the raspy edge of his night time voice “Long time no see,”

Barbara whipped around at the sound of his voice, eyes going wide behind her glasses and hands flying to cover her mouth. From behind him Jim could hear the others scurrying into the room after him.

He felt a twinge of guilt at blindsiding his mom like this, but she’d been fighting this battle on her own for years, it was time for Jim to tag in.

“Surprised?” Jim gestured to himself, stepping past Barbara towards James “Guess I have grown up a bit,”

“Wha– buh–” his dad stammered “h– how–”

“How? Well after you left I had a little accident in the bath, and now I shop in the big and tall section,”

A snarl ripped out of him, exposing sharp teeth “You’d know that if you’d stayed, or even bothered to call,”

His dad’s jaw was working open and shut, no words coming out, skin chalky, backing up further until he fell on the couch. Seeing him sitting there, like he belonged here, Jim’s anger deepened into a bloody rage.

“Get this through your head,” Jim growled “Because I’m only going to say this once,”

He stalked forward, James recoiling back into the couch as Jim closed in.

“A month after you left everything went to hell. We were living some of the worst years of our lives while you were dicking around in Vermont,”

He stopped two feet away, towing over the gibbering figure of his dad.

“But hey, guess what, we survived. Somehow despite having to deal with this,” Jim waved a hand in front of his face “We pulled through, without you. And you think you can waltz right back in now that it’s convenient for you–”

Some deep, murky part of his brain trilled with satisfaction at seeing his dad flinch.

“We don’t care what you want. We don’t care if you’re sorry or not,” Jim loomed over him, words punctuated with harsh snarls and barks, echoes of a roar itching to be let out “We don’t need you here, we don’t want you here. So. Get. Lost.”

The room went dead silent. Jim stayed where he was glaring down at James, the others lingering behind him with held breaths. Crumpling under the pressure James collapsed in on himself, folding over burying his face in his hands, emitting a weak snuffling sound.

Jim just glared down at the man in front of him without a trace of sympathy. This guy had walked out on his family and came crawling back ten years later and he was the one crying? If he thought that playing the sympathy card was going to get him anywhere then he was seriously–

Wait.

This…didn’t sound like crying.

His train of thought slowly ground to a halt, growl dying off and jaw dropping open as he stared down at the man on the couch, not believing his ears. 

His dad wasn’t crying, he was laughing.

James sat up, hands falling away from his mouth and hearty laughter spilling out into the silent room, a wide grin stretched across his face “Sonuvabitch,” he slapped the side of his knee “That old potion actually worked after all,”

[conscious-naivete]

also YES i had to rewatch my fav bits of heartstopper today to make myself feel better after keep it steady. there's hope and building a better world is worth it

[frommybedroom]

hi you should read my taradarcy titanic au i published instead of studying :)

(no one dies, they all live happily ever after, etc)

[saintsenara]

wait how bougie was Tom Riddle Sr.? How nice would his Manor have been? Was he like an actually Lord with a title and stuff?

thank you very much for the ask, anon!

in half-blood prince, dumbledore refers to tom riddle sr. as "the squire's son" - which allows us to state with certainty that he was a minor aristocrat.

however, the word minor is important here.

there are - historically - two levels of aristocracy in britain. the first are the peers of the realm - which refers to families which hold one or more of the titles of duke, marquess, earl, or viscount. these are the elite of the elite - these gradations of nobility were created in the middle ages as a way of distinguishing those who held the titles from other noblemen, usually because of a close relationship [often one of blood or marriage or both] to the king.

the titles are hereditary by male primogeniture, and the holders - while this is no longer the case - used to have political power [such as the right to sit in the house of lords], simply by virtue of their birth.

[this is why they're called "peers" - it refers to them historically being close in status to royalty, and therefore expected to serve as royal advisors.]

there is another class of peer - a baronet - whose title is similarly hereditary, but whose position doesn't come historically with the right to sit in the lords or advise the king by virtue of birth. [baronets may - of course - have been members of parliament, or royal advisors selected at the king's discretion, but this would be separate from their title. a duke, in contrast, could historically expect to request a meeting with the king simply because he was a duke.]

while some families have historically been ennobled at the king's discretion, access to any of these titles is pretty much restricted to the small group of families who've held them for centuries.

but below the peers of the realm, there is a second, more minor class of aristocracy, the landed gentry - of which a village squire is a textbook example.

historically, what is meant by "landed" is an ability to live off of the rental income of one's country holdings, which would be leased to tenant farmers. that is, they are landlords in the original sense of the term - lords of the land. this is what tom sr. tells us his family does in half-blood prince:

“It’s not ours,” said a young man’s voice. “Everything on the other side of the valley belongs to us, but that cottage belongs to an old tramp called Gaunt, and his children. The son’s quite mad, you should hear some of the stories they tell in the village - ”

what is also meant by "landed" is that the family in question is of the upper-classes, but that they are still "commoners" - which in this context doesn't imply a value judgement, but which is a socio-legal term which simply indicates that they don't hold an aristocratic title such as duke, earl etc.

[and gentry families certainly aren't common in terms of financial standing... the most famous member of this class in literature? fitzwilliam darcy, whose ten thousand a year is something like thirteen million quid in today's money...]

gentry families might be very old - they might have received their lands from the king in the middle ages as a reward for knightly service, and it's interesting to imagine generations of gaunts and riddles brought up alongside each other in little hangleton - or they might be comparatively newer - tom sr.'s great-grandfather [feasibly born c.1810] could have been a self-made victorian industrialist who bought the lands from the original holder and established himself as gentry.

by 1900, it was becoming much harder for the gentry to live on rental income alone, and many would also have had jobs. these would have been elite, and very frequently were in politics, the civil service, the military, or the law. tom sr's father - whom the films call thomas, so let's go with that - might, for example, have served as a high-ranking officer in the army [including during the first world war], be the local magistrate, or be the local member of parliament.

in terms of titles, thomas riddle would almost undoubtedly be sir thomas - and this is how it would be correct to address him. but this title would be a courtesy, and it wouldn't be hereditary unless the riddles were also baronets [which it's entirely plausible that they were].

which is to say, tom sr. would not have a title while his father was alive - although he would have the right to be referred to formally in writing as mr thomas riddle esq. [esquire]. the correct form of verbal address for anyone other than friends and family would be to call him mr riddle, although the riddles' servants would probably refer to him as mister tom.

tom jr. would not have a title while his father or grandfather was alive. if the riddles were baronets, he would technically inherit the title after he kills the rest of the male line... but given that tom sr. never acknowledged him and his existence was presumably unknown to the riddles' lawyers this wouldn't be something which happened in reality. the estate's executors clearly took control of the riddles' property, the land was portioned off and sold, and the house became a standalone property for sale.

the riddle house - which is a name used informally for it in little hangleton, it would have a different "proper" name - is described in canon in ways which show that it's a typical manor house, which means it would look something like this:

these houses are obviously very impressive, but they're tiny in size in comparison to the magnificent stately homes - places like blenheim palace, chatsworth, burghley house, holkham hall - lived in by the titled aristocracy. the riddles would entertain - for example - by giving house parties, dinner parties, hunting parties, etc., but they wouldn't have a ballroom or a dining hall capable of seating hundreds.

[they would probably also own a property - probably a flat or small house - in london.]

they would have servants, but not colossal numbers - they would undoubtedly have a butler but not footmen, and the upstairs maids would report to the butler since they probably wouldn't have a housekeeper. they canonically have a cook, who probably had one or two kitchen maids assisting, and they canonically have a gardener - frank bryce - who probably doesn't have any assistants. they may, depending on the size of the estate, have a gamekeeper. sir thomas undoubtedly had a secretary and a chauffeur, and his wife might have a lady's maid. tom sr. would have had a nanny and then been educated until at least the age of eight by a governess, but would then have attended a prep school [either day or boarding] until the age of thirteen, and then gone to a boarding school, from which he likely went on [on the basis of social class rather than talent] to oxford or cambridge.

the family would have enormous social influence locally. most people - and also businesses - in little hangleton would be their tenants, and they would also probably have a say over the appointment of the local clergyman [an important figure in the community in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries], since the parish church is likely to have been something called a "living" - the thing which turns up again and again in jane austen - which means that the church and its parsonage technically belongs to the landowner, but is granted to the vicar as a freehold while he's in post.

gossip about the riddles' doings would also be the main source of local interest - the servants were dining out for months on tom sr.'s elopement and return.

so they're something resembling celebrities - but they're local celebrities. nobody in london - and even nobody in cities we can imagine are nearer to little hangleton, such as liverpool - would particularly know or care who they were. tom sr. might have made it into the london gossip columns if he was part of a particularly scandalous "set" [a group of friends] who socialised in the capital, but these mentions would have been fleeting - and the press would have been much more concerned by the doings of members of his set who were genuinely titled or who were legitimately famous.

[this is the reason why mrs cole doesn't recognise the name. if merope had said her son was to be named cecil beaton after his father, she may well have been prompted to hunt him down...]

so tom sr. is elite - but he's elite in a way which is extremely culturally-specific, and which is [just like the portrayal of aristocracy in the wizarding world - the blacks, for example, are far less aristocratic than the riddles in terms of canonical vibe] often exaggerated into the sort of pseudo-royal grand aristocracy which the british period-drama-industrial-complex makes such a big deal of.

and tom jr.'s character is affected by this in a series of extremely interesting ways.

by which i mean that, in terms of blood, he's probably the most aristocratic character in the series - the absence of grand aristocracy in the wizarding world would mean that [were he raised by his father] he would come from a social background which was equivalent [even as it was divided from them by virtue of being muggle] to any of his fellow slytherins, and would help him easily blend into their society because the manners, genre of socio-cultural reference points [he would recognise, for example, that quidditch heavily resembles both rugby and polo], accent and way of speaking etc. that he would possess would be broadly indistinguishable from those of his pureblood peers.

[this is why justin finch-fletchley and draco malfoy speak in essentially the same way.]

but he would then be given the enormous boost in cachet - one which would genuinely elevate him above the rest of his cohort - of his maternal line.

and we see in canon that this does bestow some privilege on him among his peers while he's in school:

Tom Riddle merely smiled as the others laughed again. Harry noticed that he was by no means the eldest of the group of boys, but that they all seemed to look to him as their leader. “I don’t know that politics would suit me, sir,” he said when the laughter had died away. “I don’t have the right kind of background, for one thing.” A couple of the boys around him smirked at each other. Harry was sure they were enjoying a private joke, undoubtedly about what they knew, or suspected, regarding their gang leader’s famous ancestor.

where he's let down socially is that people like slughorn - to whom he can't reveal his slytherin ancestry and hope to maintain cover for his wrongdoing - don't think he's come from anywhere particularly special. this is because he has a muggle father - absolutely - but it's even more that he has a muggle father who, since he left him to be raised in an orphanage, was presumably working-class.

what the young voldemort lacks is any socio-cultural familiarity with the muggle class performance which the class performance of the wizarding world parallels. abraxas malfoy boasting about how important his father is would be something a tom jr. raised by the riddles could match - "oh yes, my father gives to all sorts of causes too. in fact, he was invited to buckingham palace because of it." - establishing himself as an equal in terms of class and social influence even if he isn't an equal in blood.

what actually happens in canon is that the orphaned tom - with his uncouth manners and his working-class accent - has no hope of gaining any sort of social equality with his posh peers.

so he becomes determined to outrank - and humiliate and control - them.

[stevetonyweekly]

SteveTony Weekly - Feb 4 th - Week 5

I’m in the middle of a 8hr class for work today, so I’m doing this quick and dirty, with no rec notes. I’m sorry. Enjoy the list and kudos/comment for your authors! 

~*~ 

Method Refinements (subtype C, designation Capsicle) by galwednesday

"It's not hate sex," Steve objected. "I don't hate you."

That actually made Tony feel a little warm and fuzzy inside, which he knew was pathetic. He talked louder and faster to cover it. "Angry sex, then, whatever. I should just walk up to you and say 'Hey, Rogers, I was looking to blow off some steam, wanna have loud, animalistic sex all over the Tower?' That's what does it for you?"

A flush was creeping up his neck--God, Tony loved Steve's blushes, the Victorian-maiden-modesty veneer over the built-like-a-brick-shithouse physique drove him wild--but Steve's eyes were steady on his. "Try it and see."

Subtle Clues and Context Cues by galwednesday

“Cosplay,” Sam repeated. He and Steve were jogging through Central Park. Steve had just lapped him for a fourth time before slowing to match his pace, and the bastard didn’t even have the decency to sound winded. “As what?”

“You ever see the Pride and Prejudice movie, the really long one?”

“Dude. I have three sisters. It was required viewing.”

“I need a Mr. Darcy outfit.”

Sam slowed to a walk, holding one hand up in a time-out gesture until he caught his breath enough to form full sentences. “You’re going to cosplay as Mr. Darcy? The Colin Firth, look-how-wet-and-clinging-my-shirt-is Mr. Darcy?”

Steve looked down and shuffled his feet. It was amazing to watch over six feet of pure muscle somehow telegraph bashful. “Yeah. Tony’s birthday is coming up, and, well. It’s sort of an inside joke.”

(Five times everyone but Tony knew he was dating Steve, and one time Tony figured it out.)

'Cause It's a Beautiful Night by galwednesday

“Holy shit,” Clint’s eyes were huge and round. “Did you get Steve pregnant?”

Tony choked on his coffee. “What? How--why--what? How would that even happen?”

“Hey, you’re the one planning to ambush him with a shotgun wedding.” Clint moved his bowl of Lucky Charms out of the range of Tony’s coffee spray. “It’s a reasonable question.”

“Steve’s not pregnant!” Tony shouted. Was he? He couldn’t be. They hadn’t been gender-swapped lately. What about that alien fertility ray? No, that had been at least seven months ago.

Steve wasn’t pregnant.

Probably.

“I’m not ready to be a father,” Tony blurted, clutching his hair with both hands.

“I’m not drunk enough for this conversation.” Clint opened the liquor cabinet and examined its contents with a critical eye. “What kind of booze goes best with marshmallows?”

(Tony plans a wedding. The wedding is in ten hours and he hasn’t exactly proposed yet, but he’s used to compressed project cycles. What could possibly go wrong?)

annex 11 by soliloquent

“This annex document, filed by SHIELD operatives under the designation SR-NR-CB-AS/000008-11, contains a verbatim transcript of a conversation between Anthony E. Stark (callsign Iron Man) and Steven G. Rogers (callsign Captain America) as recorded by Iron Man’s advanced artificial intelligence, J.A.R.V.I.S.”

—⎊—

or: Trapped together during a snowstorm in the middle of a mission, Steve attempts to soothe Tony’s growing anxiety, only to discover that Tony had the solution all along. 📄

Exit Wounds (The No Exit Remix) by sheron

Tony gets trapped together with Steve in a collapsed HYDRA facility, which makes it hard to avoid him.

Like Hell and Heaven by ChocolateCapCookie 

“I feel great now, though,” said Steve, lifting the sheets up to peer at his leg, which looked almost normal. “Can I leave?”

“Steve, we watched you almost die. Just… listen to the doctors, okay? Just this once.”

This Simple Feeling by inukagome15 

When are two good friends not good friends? Sounds like the setup for a brilliant joke, right? Except when the joke mirrors real life. Tony and Steve are just very good friends. So why is it everyone thinks they're dating?

Pinky Promise by Tahlruil

Steve wasn't looking for a relationship not really - dating was fun and he was busy learning how to adult properly. A chance encounter with Tony, who's even worse at grocery shopping than he is, has the potential to change all that. The meeting feels significant, even if he could never imagine where it would end up taking him.

Tony, meanwhile, was pretty happy with his string of one night stands and no feelings involved relationships. Despite being pushed of of the nest - he suspects Jarvis of giving his mother ideas - he's really not interested in becoming a real adult. Steve makes him want more for the first time ever, and even if it terrifies him, he's willing to see where it goes.

When I Think (Oh, it Terrifies Me) by celli

Look, some mornings you wake up and little green men are invading New York City; some mornings you wake up and you can hear Captain America's voice in your head. Tony has been an Avenger long enough that he saves his freakout for important things.

Unexpected Thaw by Neverever 

Steve has a rough ride through the multiverse and ends up questioning his relationship with Tony.

alone (together) by Thahire

"Will you tell me what’s wrong or do I have to -" Tony went on, motioning down Steve’s body, "make you?"

Steve raised his eyebrows. "Make me? I’d like to see you try." Except he didn’t. After a moment, in which Tony did nothing but give him a flat stare, Steve awkwardly added, "Lower left rib cage. I think maybe, uh, a sprained rib or something."

"Thank you. That wasn’t so bad, was it?" Tony replied slowly, the way one would to an unruly child.

Steve narrowed his eyes. "I’m not a child."

"No, you aren’t," Tony replied, lips twitching. "As the parent of one, I can tell you, you are way worse."

Or: Steve is really bad at letting people take care of him. Tony is really bad at minding his business. Things happen.

I'll Give You Gifts Until You Know My Name by Amuly 

Mr. Stark is an extravagant gift-giver: he has the money for it, after all. As Iron Man, Tony has the opportunity to gift Steve even more presents that, while less expensive, are more heartfelt. Having a secret identity means Tony gets to have his cake and eat it too when it comes to showering Steve with presents.

Until Steve starts developing feelings for his armored companion, and all the benefits of living a double life are turned on their head for Tony Stark.

The Love Song of a Pair of Awkward Weirdos by MusicalLuna 

Tony flirts with Steve and then the strangest possible thing happens:

Steve starts to flirt back.

the slightest touch (and I feel weak) by SailorChibi

“When you’re really tired or out of it, you show the underside of your wings to Steve,” Natasha says to Tony, ignoring Clint, who is doing an excellent impression of a fish. “We’ve all noticed it, but no one ever said anything because we didn’t think you knew. And judging from the look on your face, you didn’t.”

[booklovershouse]

Oieeee, booklovers!

Agora chegamos na parte da lista que tem filmes de 2011-2020 (só tem um intruso de 2002 nessa página), o que foi o auge da minha organização kkkkkk

O pior - ou talvez melhor - é que a maioria desses filmes não são tão conhecidos. É aquele tipo de filme que você assistiu na Sessão da Tarde uma vez na vida e nunca descobriu o nome 🤡

21. Os Três Mosqueteiros (2011)

Boa parte da galera não gosta muito dessa adaptação - apesar de ter o Percy dos filmes de Percy Jackson e o nosso caro sr. Darcy de Orgulho e Preconceito interpretando D'Artagnan e Athos, respectivamente.

Esse filme aparenta ter um ar de comédia, mas foi genial para a minha visão infantil. Faz séculos que não assisto 🥲

Mas em relação ao livro (que estou começando a ler), entre o filme e a série Os Mosqueteiros (BBC), acho que o filme ao menos começa um pouquinho mais fiel. Até pq não tem como forçarem que o D'Artagnan da BBC tinha 18 anos né? ~ fora q o pai do cara tá bem vivo no livro 🤡👍🏻

22. A Invenção de Hugo Cabret (2011)

Esse aqui tbm faz um tempinho que vi pela última vez.

Hugo (12 anos) vive em Paris, numa estação de trem, no começo do século XX. Ele faz amizade com uma menina e juntos exploram invenções (como esse robô do gif), além de verem um pouco da história do cinema.

Ele é educativo e tem uma vibe meio poética. Pra quem gosta de refletir, é ótimo.

23. A Dama Dourada (2011)

Baseado na vida de Maria Altmann, uma judia sobrevivente da Segunda Guerra, que decidiu lutar contra o governo austríaco para recuperar obras que pertenciam a sua família, mas foram levadas durante a guerra - incluindo um quadro famoso chamado A Dama Dourada.

Se você gosta de filmes com idas aos tribunais e lutas na justiça, esse daqui é perfeito pra você. E também é uma parte das consequências da Segunda Guerra que não é muito lembrada: o que aconteceu com tudo que os nazistas roubaram.

24. Romeu e Julieta (2013)

Esse aqui não tem muito o que falar, pq Romeu e Julieta não é novidade pra ninguém, mas vai que, né? Nunca se sabe, já encontrei gente que nunca tinha assistido Titanic.

Em resumo, temos em Verona os Montéquio e os Capuleto, duas famílias rivais que vivem brigando sem parar. Entretanto, Romeu, filho dos Montéquio, se apaixona pela jovem Julieta Capuleto. O romance, é claro, se transforma em tragédia.

25. Quase Casadas (2013)

Comédia romântica com mais de uma protagonista? Temos também!

Nesse filme três amigas que acabaram de se casar descobrem que, na verdade, os casamentos delas não foram oficializados, então, elas não estão realmente casadas.

O que não deveria ser um problema, porém, enquanto tentam resolver isso, percebem que o casamento dos sonhos não é tão perfeito assim...

Acho que deu pra perceber que o filme é tão famoso que nem consegui encontrar um gif 🤡 mas vão sem medo, uma das protas é a Caitlin de The Flash.

26. Billy Stone e o Medalhão Mágico (2013)

É um filme infantil e está aqui porque a minha eu de 9/10 anos achou legal (fora que demorei séculos pra descobrir o título).

Daniel vai fazer uma visita ao orfanato e resolve contar às crianças uma história sobre Billy Stone e Allie, que descobrem um medalhão mágico.

Daí pra frente é meio "autodescoberta". Eu diria que a vibe lembra um pouquinho Piratas do Caribe.

27. O Candidato (2013)

Quando Hannah percebe que, apesar de suas boas propostas, sua carreira política é um fracasso por causa de sua falta de simpatia, dá a si mesma a missão de transformar Elliot, um simples fornecedor de cervejas, num cavaleiro que conquiste o público.

No geral, comédia romântica dos anos 2000, o melhor tipo que há.

28. A Menina que Roubava Livros (2014)

Além de ser um livro fantástico, A Menina que Roubava Livros deu origem a um filme igualmente maravilhoso.

Na história, acompanhamos a vida de Liesel Meminger, desde sua chegada à Rua Himmel (adotada pelos Hubermann), sua amizade com Rudy Steiner e seu crescente amor pelas palavras.

Apesar do filme ser uma das melhores adaptações literárias que eu já vi, é claro que o livro tem bem mais detalhes e a sensação de ler é totalmente diferente.

29. Em Meus Sonhos (2014)

Esse filme faz meu estilo? Não. Aí você me pergunta "ah, então pq você favoritou?" e eu te respondo: não faço a mínima ideia.

Natalie tem um restaurante e, depois de uma ida à fonte dos desejos, começa a sonhar com Nick, um arquiteto que também não faz ideia do que está acontecendo. Em resumo, eles não sabem que o outro existe no mundo real e depois que descobrem, ficam tentando dar um jeito de se encontrarem pessoalmente.

30. Um Amor Verdadeiro (2014)

Já ouviu a expressão "cara de um, focinho do outro?"

Bailey é uma professora sem nenhuma sorte no amor. Ela é apaixonada por animais e, sempre que um namorado termina com ela, acaba ficando com o cachorro do cara - que tem uma personalidade idêntica a do dono.

Entretanto, talvez todos esses cachorrinhos estejam levando-a para o caminho do amor verdadeiro.

Dessa vez vocês tiveram realmente recomendações de filmes, pq duvido que alguém tenha visto todos esses daqui 🤡

Bjs e boas leiturasss <3333

[gadawg-404]

Michael Darcy's photograph of the

SR-71 #973 and a real sunset

[bethanydelleman]

So I do think the lady who wrote this stupid book has a point about modern media excusing terrible behaviour with tragic backstories, because I read a lot of justifications of Darcy that are centred in Darcy having TRAUMA. Poor boy didn't mean to be rude at the Meryton assembly, he's a poor little orphan who just had sister troubles.

Except that blaming this trend/trope on Austen is insane, because Darcy does not excuse his behaviour in this way AT ALL. He does blame his education somewhat, but if anything his excuse is that his parents loved him so darn much that he became a brat. That's not trauma, that's Trust Fund Baby Syndrome.

In fact, the one person who attempts a trauma explanation of Darcy is... Wickham! He claims that Darcy Sr. loved him more than Darcy Jr., causing Fitzwilliam to be jealous of Wickham. Which would be kind of understandable, if it were true, but Darcy doesn't really seem to care about this and clearly loved his father, so if anything Wickham was a minor annoyance in his life pre-Ramsgate.

The narrator says clearly that Darcy has always been like this, it isn't a trauma reaction, "He was at the same time haughty, reserved, and fastidious; and his manners, though well bred, were not inviting... Bingley was sure of being liked wherever he appeared; Darcy was continually giving offence." And Darcy confirms this, he's been rude "from eight to eight-and-twenty" The only time he brings up the whole Georgiana thing is to tell Elizabeth about it, he never blames that event for his behaviour.

If anything, Jane Austen was a proponent of "explain but not excuse". Lucy Steele is mercenary because she is barely clinging to her status in the gentry, but she's still portrayed as a villain because the way she goes about trying to secure Edward (and later Robert) is fundamentally wrong. Mary Crawford has a back story full of trauma, she's an orphan twice over, her uncle sounds like a misogynist creep, and yet Austen doesn't accept it as an excuse, Mary must become better to be worthy of Edmund. Willoughby is an orphan, he's in debt, he's made bad choices, but he needs to do better and because he doesn't, he's not worthy of Marianne.

My Point: Don't blame Austen for the trauma excuses all bad behaviour trope, because she didn't start it and she frequently subverted it!

[rosemaidenvixen]

Little bit of background on some of the name based symbolism I've got going on in the sunshine au.

First is Jim. His name means supplanter, as it was derived from a character in the bible who stole his brother's inheritance by impersonating him. This is emphasized by Jim being a Junior, he's literally a replacement for James Sr. The irony here is that Jim is a far improvement from his father, he's kind and selfless where his father is petty and selfish. Jim may be a supplanter but he's a welcome one.

Going further into this, I've left it ambiguous whether "Lake" is Barbara's maiden name or one they got from James, so the reader can interpret it whatever way they want. But I really like the idea that it was James' name first, but Barbara and Jim stole it and made it their own. Dr. Lake is Barbara's professional nom de plume, James spent ten years whining about how the world screwed him over while Barbara became a professional in that time. And like I said, the younger James Lake is a vast improvement over the elder.

James has become redundant in every sense of the word.

Next up is Mary, her name is also biblically derived and means bitterness (among other things but bitterness is what I decided to go with). But Mary isn't bitter, she's fiery and passionate. These things make her who she is and what drives her forward.

Toby, short for Tobias, means god its good (a lot of bible names here apparently) and most of the time Toby strives to live up to this. He does is best to be the best ever wingman and sidekick. He doesn't need the spotlight himself to be happy, he's glad to support his friends. But even he can get angry and upset sometimes, especially with his friends choices. He learns that getting mad at the others and criticizing their choices doesn't make him a bad friend.

And these last two might be the most on the nose when it comes to ironic symbolism.

Claire means light and bright. But while her name evokes light Claire wields the powers of shadow and darkness, struggling not to sink too deep into the darkness herself more than a few times.

Darci means dark, and not only is she the opposite of Claire in her name, she contrasts her in that her arc will be learning about wielding the power of light. But just because Darci's a warrior of the light doesn't mean she won't struggle with her role just as much as Claire.

Because light isn't purely good any more than darkness is pure evil. Hence why team Trollhunters has both a champion of light and darkness. True balance involves both.

[giselledorleans]

hshqtask059.

when did you join ? what made you join ? what do you remember from the plotlines that were current at the time ? where were you in life when you joined and where are you now ?

i joined in july 2017 ! i remember browsing the tags and finding laura's wc for irena's sister. i was so obsessed. i loved a good family connection and heck if that wasn't it ! i was studying back then and now i'm working for a company 🤢🤢🤢

which characters have you written over the years ?

iris <3<3<3 isabela, giselle, arthur sr., darcy, kurakin, ignac ! honestly a lot less than you'd think !

what is your favourite plotline that you've been part of ?

in a way arthur sr. short escapade. i liked the fact that the storyline's timeline was clear and i could have him for a short time. his interactions were pretty wild. and i loved his dynamic with art and nicole. but honestly ? there's been so many but i think i've enjoyed myself the most during isabela's best era ? when she was picking up fights left and right, rebelling, etc etc. isabela's friendships with rohan and remei are probably my favourites. rohan's relationship with isabela was so random and it was so organic. i adore it. writing with julie on the otherhand was so wholesome. this is just a sidenote but two threads that have stuck with me would iris and irena's fight. when i was writing that i felt like i finally tapped into something in iris that made everything clear. i knew the character, i knew what she was supposed to say, and everything made sense. i wanna say laura felt it too. our writing matched so well and we understood where the other character was coming from. it's one of my most precious memories. then there's giselle's and roman's threads. i don't remember if this was a single thread or if these moments were scattered here and there but i loved writing giselle against roman because he brought out the best of her. the d'orléans enabled the terrible side of her. they fed her selfishness and cruelness. roman challenged her and sort of reminded her about the truly meaningful things in life. the threads were important to me and i think they made giselle so much more interesting to write.

what about other people's plotlines ?

alexei's depression. i didn't realize what elisa was writing at first and then she started to drop the signs and i was like oh no. alexei is one of the saddest characters i've seen. i was sold.

who is your favourite character from the ones you've played ? why ? what made you love them ? what made them so fun to write ?

giselle. which is a bit weird because giselle has never really had the starring role in plots ? i think all my plots on her haven't exactly been about her but it has been a lot of fun to tag along ! giselle's snarkiness was fun and i loved her antics. isabela is a close second but i think she wasn't as flexible ? her threads were a bit repetitive in the end.

if you could relive a plotline, which would it be ?

iris and irena. i think it's been a very long time and if we got to write them now, we'd be able to write them even better. it might be just nostalgia speaking.

is there a plotline that you'd edit now if you could ?

i wouldn't edit anything but i wish i had spent more time developing the friendship between isabela, bash, art and co. i think it was a fun group and a bit random !

what's a plotline you wish you would have been able to finish before closing or just write more of ?

i wish i could have made giselle into a good sister-in-law to fanni ! something wholesome after a long period of darkness would have been nice. but also it would have been cool to develop the slovakia-hungary plotline. ignac was a lot of fun and i'm glad i picked him up even if it was only for a short time ( like almost a year but time moves weirdly.... ).

what is your favourite ooc memory ?

i don't know if this is strictly ooc thing but I LOVED the craziness of the monaco nye. i loved that everyone just did wild shit. it was amazing. i don't want to say we peaked there but we totally did.

where can others find you if they want to get in touch ?

i'm not gonna lie but i'll probably disappear. everything has to end and i think this is it for me and the hshq gang. i'm not opposed to writing with you guys again but idk how likely it is since the only reason why i was still on tumblr was hshq ahah

what else would you like to say ?

i agree with everything that has already been said and i think we did something special here. everyone did their part and everyone participated in such innovative ways, i respect everyone here greatly for it. it feels like i've grown up with you and the characters and it's a weird feeling to walk off now. everyone knew this day was going to come but now that it's here, i really don't want to accept it. i'm so glad i found hshq and you <3

[thisbelongsto-nohbodys]

Horror Themed Amphibia Headcanons:

Marcy is the kind of person who talks someone's ear off about how the Practical Effects were done.

Oum and Bee's first movie they saw together in Theaters was Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses.

Percy's first acting role was in a Live Action Adaptation of Tokyo Ghoul.

The Calamity Trio,Calamity Siblings Bee and Oum, Mr and Mrs Wu, Mr Waybright regularly attend Fangoria's Weekend of Horrors, Monsterpalooza and Son Of Monsterpalooza. Polly, Sprig, Hop Pop, Maddie, Ivy, Grime and Sasha's half brother have also been there once or twice.

Percy is essentially the Family's Makeup Artist having extensively studied the works of Lon Chaney Sr., Bud Westmore, Rick Baker, Stan Winston and Kevin Yahger just to name a few.

I’m not a big horror fan (I’ve had an active imagination and my brain won’t stop thinking even when I’m trying to sleep and horror movies prevent said sleep) so idk about most of this but yea,

I could see Marcy knowing all about practical effects and uses them to enhance her cosplays

Considering how rock n’ roll/ metal fans they r, that could b true.

I’m not sure about that…

A festival of horror? Yeah, they’d go occasionally for sure.

He’d also learn from his Mama Marcy who learned for cosplays and her mom (to hide the chin scar from the Darcy fight)

[introvert-ida]

Háblame de tu hiperfijación de la semana

usted si pone atención jsjdj mgta

siempre pienso lo mismo, pero esta semana especialmente me acordé de como el Sr. Darcy (Orgullo y Prejuicio) cruzó tres pueblos en la madrugada para insistir su amor a Elizabeth. Que quizás cuantas semanas o incluso meses esperaban hasta verse por casualidad o simplemente saber del otro 🧍🏻‍♀️y que la misma Jane Austen decía escribir estas historias con finales felices porque ella no corrió con la misma suerte 😿

[the-boy-and-the-poison-puppeteer]

SR Pecharunt (still as Momotaro):

Honestly, if I were in your shoes, it would be the most logical explanation and method to take control of our hosts by getting rid of what makes them who they are: their memories.

Being parasitic or even as parasites in nature, we would keep our hosts alive to survive or increase our power output. I was wondering Dokutaro, have you tested on creating weapons or objects from your flesh? Considering a…long-winded explanation as to how and why, I’d say it’s possible for you to try.

//ok so, the reason as to why in the second part, is because the theory is the same one from the previous blog and I’m pretty sure that because of said explanation, his weapon from that sketch, (the one with the scythe, I’ve seen Darcy but not the show), he needs to get it from somewhere. And being honest, he should have both flesh manipulation and super regeneration as powers as Dokukieran because…why not?

Also, I’ve sent an ask regarding that in the sideblog as well btw

".... uh..... I...... I've never done.... that...... nor do I want to....."

[unblogparaloschicos]

Literatura y comics: La saga “Heartstopper”

Alice Oseman es más que la hacedora de una historia de amor que ha fascinado a nuevas (y no tantas) generaciones, al punto de convertirse en best-sellers trasladados con similar aceptación al formato televisivo. Nacida el 16 de octubre de 1994 en el pueblito británico de Chatham, se graduó en Literatura Inglesa en la Universidad de Durham en 2016. Para ese entonces ya había publicado sus novelas “Solitaire” (2014) y “Radio Silence” (2016), adonde ya comenzaba a desarrollar los temas que proseguirían en su obra posterior: enfermedades mentales, problemas de alimentación, sexualidad, amistad, etc. El libro le granjeó las primeras alabanzas y recibió el premio Silver Inky en 2017; luego le seguiría “I Was Born for This” (2018), pieza inmediatamente anterior al trabajo que de daría fama mundial y en la cual trata el tema de los clubes de fans.

“Heartstopper“ fue, en principio, una tarea autogestionada. Un trabajo que vio la luz con los medios de Oseman en 2017 hasta que Hachette la publicó un año más tarde y llegó al público latinoamericano por V&R Editoras en el 2020 pandémico.

Cuatro volúmenes (habrá un quinto y último en 2023), una novela y dos ediciones especiales han sido material necesario para meternos de lleno en la relación de cuentos de hadas de Charlie Spring (que ya aparece en “Solitaire”) y Nick Nelson, dos chicos que coinciden en un mismo colegio e inician una amistad que provoca comentarios, adhesiones y rechazos entre sus allegados. Además de la historia principal, los fans pueden encontrar en cada libro algún material adicional que la enriquece notablemente.

Heartstopper 1 (Heartstopper Volume 1, 2018):

El primer tomo contiene los dos episodios iniciales, en los que Charlie y Nick se conocen en una clase en la que, tras ser ubicados juntos, inician una relación que sorprende a todos porque, mientras el primero ya atravesado una etapa de bullying por su homosexualidad, el otro es una figura imponente que descuella en el rugby. Tan bien se llevan que el mismo Nick comienza a replantearse si lo que siente por su nuevo amigo es simpatía o algo más.

Heartstopper 2 (Heartstopper Volume 2, 2019):

Un sólo capítulo continúa la historia y, en él, Nick es prácticamente el protagonista. En esta entrega, el muchacho indaga sobre su sexualidad, si ésta se define como gay o bisexual. Conoce a los amigos de Charlie, que, dada la poco feliz experiencia anterior, lo miran con recelo; a su vez, la celebración del cumpleaños de éste lo lleva a conocer a sus propios amigos, que no le tratan con el debido respeto. Entre otros materiales adicionales, el libro incluye una pequeña historia sobre Tara y Darcy, amigas de Charlie.

Heartstopper 3 (Heartstopper Volume 3, 2020):

Ya está. Nick y Charlie son novios. El tema es a quién decírselo y a quién callar, porque, a pesar de todo, la amenaza del bullying sigue latente. Mientras tanto, llega a casa David, el universitario y molesto hermano mayor de Nick, y la clase a pleno se va a París de viaje de estudios. Allí, Nick descubre que la aflicción de los ataques de homofobia padecidos por Charlie le dejó serias consecuencias para su salud mental. El libro también incluye una pequeña historieta sobre Tao, uno de los mejores amigos de Charlie, y Elle, la chica (transexual) que le gusta.

Heartstopper 4 (Heartstopper Volume 4, 2021):

En este tomo, en el que se incluyen dos capítulos, Charlie y Nick comienzan a experimentar que el amor es más que besos, abrazos y palabras cursis. Charlie se debate entre decirle o no a su padre, que los visitará pronto, sobre su bisexualidad mientras intenta desesperadamente ayudar a su novio a enfrentar su problema de anorexia y a “salir del closet” sobre este tema con sus padres. El camino a la sanación total (si la hubiera) será sinuoso para ambos. Además de la historia principal, como es ya costumbre, también hay un “minicomic” dedicado al Sr. Ajayi y al Sr. Farouk, profesores de los protagonistas.

Heartstopper para colorear (The Heartstopper Colouring Book, 2020):

Saca al artista que llevas dentro y ponle color a tus personajes favoritos en este libro muy especial.

Nick y Charlie (Nick and Charlie, 2020):

Como una sorpresa inesperada, Alice Oseman nos brinda aquí una novela que continúa la historia de amor entre Nick y Charlie, narrada por ambos. Su relación ya lleva dos años, la escuela está a punto de terminar para Charlie y es hora de comenzar a planificar el futuro. Por primera vez, en una pareja tan estable como la que comparten asoma la primera gran crisis debido a la inminencia de la partida del mayor de ambos a la universidad. Miedos e inseguridades ensombrecen a Nick, que teme insostenible la relación a distancia que se verían forzados a sostener cuando ya no pueda visitar a su novio para jugar al Mario Kart, pasar la tarde, sacarse fotos o acurrucarse en la cama.

Heartstopper El anuario (The Heartstopper Yearbook, 2022):

En un regalo invaluable para los fans de la saga, Alice Oseman ofrece una verdadera y muy colorida guía sobre el universo que rodea a Nick y a Charlie: pasa revista a la cronología de su creación, nos cuenta sobre su experiencia a la hora de imaginar a los personajes, da un panorama completo sobre cada uno de ellos y hasta te cuenta como dibujar a Nick y a Charlie. Sencillamente Imprescindible.

Heartstopper 1 (Heartstopper Volume 1, 2022)

Probado el éxito de la serie de Netflix, se relanzó en 2022 el primer tomo con una imagen de los protagonistas, Kit Connor y Joe Locke. Aquí, las versiones en castellano e inglés.

Heartstopper 5 (Heartstopper, Volume 5, 2023):

Se publicará este año y finalizará la historia.