#this is just the TEENIEST bit to the left of what the show actually did imo

[valentine-writes]

hii!! i was wondering if you could write headcanons for like the main four spider-kids (miles, gwen, pavitr and hobie) with a reader who like smacks people when they laugh really hard? preferably w/ a reader thats a spider-person but its up to you! :3

aggressive affection!

「 tws + notes: no tws, unedited, dude used once in a gender neutral way, mentions of bruising and minor injuries (but nothing crazy), spider-person reader, reader forgetting that being a spider-person makes them stronger,,, um. (°ー°〃) oops!!! 」

「 gn!reader, can be platonic or romantic <3 」

↳ ft. gwen stacy, hobie brown/spider-punk, miles morales, and pavitr prabhakar

author's note: YES I CAN YES I CAN!! this prompt iz so funny AUWWUDH I HOPE I DID IT JUSTICE!!! つ﹏⊂ also super excited 2 get to write more of them becuz AWUDGWAAHWGHWAGUAGH I LOVE THESE CHARACTERZ SMM,,, also excuse me if there's more repetition or typos than usual,,, im eepy ( つ᷄ ‸･ )

GWEN STACY headcanons

▸ the first one to fall victim to your little habit. she doesn't mind in the slightest, mainly because she's generally pretty welcome to friendly touches- even if it is slightly more aggressive than she had expected. frankly, you could've literally bitten her and she probably would've reacted the same.

she's a little awkward about it at first, pausing mid laughter as you deliver playful hits to her shoulder and bicep. she playfully shoves you away at first, like, "haha– what– what are you doing–" but quickly warms up to it

▸ here's the thing though. she 100% will do it back. if you're both joking around and losing it over something, you end up hitting each other through laughter. and it'll INTENSIFY. at some points, everyone's wondering if you two are actually beefing or not ur not. itz the way u show affection 2 one another,,, in the strangest manner

when you're assigned on missions with her, you usually end up chatting– and then you find something hilarious to giggle abt and everything goes off the rails

y'all will return to HQ bruised asf like "nah man the anomaly didn't even touch us."

jessica and miguel DEF pick up the fact y'all goof off and beat each other up before even locating the anomaly HWJEJNDNE

unfortunately– gwen is slowly paired less with you on missions becuz of this. they can't have you distracting one another a girl can never have fun fr </3

nothing that some good behaviour can't fix! just try not to give each other a complete smackdown while on duty and you'll be paired together again in no time! hopefully...

▸ both you and gwen forget that being spider-people involves super strength. and though you're both used to taking a blow or two, it stands plain and obvious that the two of you can get carried away. gwen especially. she's just a little rough sometimes– not like she means to be.

sometimes, the dull ache from the bruises she left leave you wondering if you're both a little too funny for your own good. at least she makes sure to take care of it and hold back,, when she can.

when it's your turn to get carried away, she sees your eyes widen as you splutter a million apologies to her. but every time you deliver one hit too hard, she insists it never hurts much as you think.

"dude, it's okay. you can chill out." gwen reassures. "besides, i'm built tougher than that."

she flashes a grin at you, and it's almost convincing. like she didn't even feel a thing. you know better though– gwen definitely has days where she's more sore than she'd like to be because of you. not like she'd ever admit. she likes the random play fights between the two of you.

though, you will admit that the amount of trips to the infirmary in search of ice packs is getting just the teeniest bit absurd. people are starting to ask questions at HQ-- which is fine. the frozen bag of peas gwen offers to you for your injuries works just as good as any ice pack ...it's been sitting in the bottom of her freezer for God Knows How Long but you don't need to know that

HOBIE BROWN headcanons:

▸ you see how this guy interacts with people???

hobie's used to friendly touches, and initiates physical contact without overthinking it. that little shoulder shake he does w/ miles makes me smile everytime i heart hobie. ALSO AAUWHEHWH LEBRON AND DWAYNE'S HANDSHAKE BEING HOBIE'S AND PAV'S?? I ADORE.

you really think something as little as a few friendly punches and hits bothers hobie "forehead-kissing-the-homies-goodnight" brown??? /lh + /hj but man platonic physical affection hobie. like. hear me on this one.

▸ he's 100% cool with it– actually initiated it before you did. nothing crazy, a light smack on your back or arm as he laughed with

eventually, while joking around with you, realized you had the same habit

you end up hitting each other quite a bit– but he's not as accidentally aggressive as gwen is. laughing with hobie won't get you hospitalized, he's cognizant enough with his strength to know how much to hold back.

▸ then again, there are times where you get carried away. hobie's quick to shake it off, not feeling the effect of the hit until later– if you notice and apologize, he'll just shake his head and shrug

"nah, nah– it's fine." he insists, chuckling a bit as he rubs the spot where you smacked him. "there's been worse."

and yes, objectively, you know that's true– but you both fight villains in your everyday life. of course there's going to be worse than just a hit too hard. he won't accept an ice pack– but will joke that you could just kiss it better instead

that earns a groan from you, smacking him again in the arm for good measure as he snickers

MILES MORALES headcanons:

▸ doesn't hate it!! not against it!!! find it surprising at first. he didn't expect a playful punch to his arm in response to his little joke, but watching as you giggled uncontrollably, hitting him lightly– he decided that he didn't mind too much

he knows you don't mean any harm, so it's cool with him! he's rolling with the punches literally every time you two are losing it

▸ if you land a smack on him that ends up being a little too hard, he'll definitely try to play it off awkwardly, rubbing it and nervously laughing when you ask if he's okay

"oh sh–" you promptly stop, your smile fading as concern floods your face. he winced slightly at your last hit and it was much to obvious to ignore. "you good, miles? i am so sorry–"

"me? yeah, yeah– it's cool!" he replies dismissively, giving you the lightest punch back. miles laughs nervously at your completely unconvinced expression.

"bro. cmon. be real."

"that? hah– nahh. barely felt it." spoilers!!! he felt it

you keep it in mind to dial it back a bit when with miles, because he barely hits back and hates admitting when it actually hurts.

you'll get an occasional "ow–" with a little chuckle, but he refuses to acknowledge that you might be a bit too rough. he jus doesn't wanna hurt feelings man :(

you're his friend who gets a little too carried away sometimes– and that's fine!!! besides, he can't let gwen and hobie have all the fun.

"you holding back on me?" he asks you, noticing your hits have gotten weaker.

"what's it to you?"

"i can handle it. 's fine!! really!" miles says. there's a beat of silence as you stare at him incredulously.

"and you didn't bruise last time?." you ask, raising an eyebrow.

"yeah."

"...say swear."

miles raises his hands, sighing. "ok, look–" HE WANTZ 2 ROUGHHOUSE W/ HIS FRIEND TOO OK (*ﾉε｀*) besides. u and gwen and hobie seem to have so much fun w/ it,,

▸ because of his stubbornness, you oblige, pulling your punches just a little less when having a little laughing fit with him.

as a result, miles develops a habit deflecting your hits while absolutely losing it. gently shoving your hands away as you smack him, both of you doubling over laughter

miles will say sumn he knows you'll find a lil too funny and just,,, *cue continuous hitting and blocking as he predicts literally Every Movement you make* he's literally learned to parry becuz of u HAJWBDKDNEN

PAVITR PRABHAKAR headcanons:

▸ the type to pretend to beat up his friends while making punching noises when he's bored

he's just lightly tapping u with his knuckles going "pow– pow pow– bam–" under his breath HANWJENDN IM SORRY I FIND THIS FUNNY. i also. do this. (｡･･｡).

and ur like "...uh. ok."

he's def not opposed to it!! when he has the energy, he's all for it!!! pavitr's playfully hitting, shoving you away, gasping for air as the two of you giggle over something that's only really funny to the two of you.

he's pretty energetic most of the time, and it manifests as you "brawl" with each other as you laugh over some stupid joke.

▸ when you hit him a little too hard, most of the time, he doesn't even notice until the aftermath manifests as a bruise or two on his arms– but even then he doesn't care.

however,,, there are occasions where he initiates it, laughing and smacking you– and when you're laughing with him, raising your hand to hit back, he'll gasp dramatically, recoil instantly and get all dramatic about it i'm projecting all the things i do onto pav i bet u cant tell /sarc

pav the minute you decide to try and get him back– bar for bar, word for word:

he's just a little guy,, a little guyy,,, nooo,,, itz also his birthday,, he's a little birthday boy– HWJWBDN SORRY THIS IS SO UNSERIOUS

this is a bit that he drags on FOREVERRR like itz the funniest thing in the world

▸ ALL of his hits are a little too hard. he does the fake beat up thing a lot but when you two are roughhousing, you're the one reminding him to chill out through stifled laughs

he'll immediately soften the blows quickly at your request, knowing it's probably best for you to remain as uninjured as possible when not doing mission. can't have your shit rocked before you even face a villain!!! his hits end up somewhere between hobie's and gwen's– an almost perfect middle (*´꒳`*)

almost.

occasionally, he'll literally just... take the hits. not like miles where he's deflecting. he's jus standing there laughing while you smack him. which is a concerning sight for anyone who isn't used to your antics!!!

this happened in hq once and peter b, who happened to be walking by, lowkey thought you were straight up attacking pav

upon hearing the two of you giggling though, he figured that he wasn't witnessing an act of violence and didn't have to step in

[inevitably-johnlocked]

Hey Steph, I just re-watched TST so my brain is on Morstan mode. What do you think about Mary? Personally, I always liked her. I was a bit weary with the whole shot Sherlock thing but I have got to give her credit for being a fabulous character. Amanda did a great job portraying her, Mark and Steven did a great job writing her. -- I just wondered what your pov was because you are like a deity to this fandom, or at least to me.

Anonymous asked: Hey, I was just wondering, is it bad that I like Mary. I honestly love her character and I think she works great with John, only rivaled by my love for Johnlock. Of course I don't enjoy her shooting Sherlock but all-in-all, I think her character is great. Also, I think Amanda played her beautifully. I know that when Mary was first introduced, the character and actress got quite a bit of hate. Personally I don't get it. Maybe people are blinded by the shot... Personally I love her...

======

Hey Nonnies!

Oh gosh sorry I missed these asks, I dunno why I never replied to them... I hope y'all don't mind me putting them together since they're so similar and my answer would have been the same for both anyway.

First off, thank you for your kind words, Nonny One, I hope you're still around and I hope that I'm still worthy of your love.

Secondly, if you've both been here a long time, you'll know that I was a HUGE advocate for villain Mary Pre-S4. I was the biggest Mary stan there was because I loved the direction they were taking her character. I coined the term "the mary problem" and wrote a tonne of meta about her and her potential reveal of being the main villain, possibly working with Moriarty, because quite honestly, it was the only thing that made (and still the only thing that makes) sense with the show's narrative pre-S4, AND with all the red flags Sherlock was pointing at in TAB. You can check out some of the MANY meta I wrote about her on this page here and some on the TAB meta page here. Her character was fascinating to me, and I genuinely believed that they were going to make her a villain and that the climax for S4 was going to be epic.

But then S4 actually happened. She was still a villain but now more deplorable and unlikeable than ever because Mofftiss tried SO hard to convince us she wasn't and to just ignore everything before S4. They ruined her character, just like S4 did for all the characters. I suspect some behind-the-scenes shenanigans with a petty AA went down – and this is ALL hearsay and my speculation so just take it with the teeniest grain of salt. I think it pissed me off more because they tried to redeem this irredeemable character who abandoned her husband and child and subsequently put all of them in danger. The flip was so out of left field and made NO fucking sense.

S4 is a clusterfuck of bad writing and bad ideas and plot holes.

My feelings these days about Mary are complicated right now. I like what she COULD have been, not what she inevitably became because of bitterness behind-the-scenes.

Again, my speculations and nothing more.

Cheers, Nonnies, and thank you for your questions.

[shreddedparchment]

A Wife for Thor Pt.24

What She’s Done

05/19/2021

Pairing: King!Thor x Reader         Word Count: 5,590

Warnings: language, angst, fluff, Loki being the best bro, pregnancy problems

A/N: I’m sorry this is so late. I’m not going to explain too much as I want the focus to be on the chapter but I’m feeling better. Hope you all enjoy this one and I hope you can forgive me. haha As always, if you happen to reblog, thanks so much for helping me spread my work! xoxo

Please DO NOT repost my work on any other sites or blogs!

REBLOGS are always welcome!

The sound of the fanfare outside is muted. The heavy doors of the main room are shut.

Thor sits on his large steel, silver, and wooden throne. Normally, your own throne would have been moved into the room so that you could sit beside him. Today however, he wants you standing.

Loki stands on Thor’s left, his hands moving across his tablet at godly speeds. He’s busy. Always busy. While Thor has the final say, Loki sets everything up for him and comes to him with the choices that must be made.

He’s indispensable and both you and Thor know it. So, when the large doors are thrown open and Thor takes his hand off of your lower waist where he’d been massaging the knots away, as Ambassador Coates walks forward, you glare right at him and his judging distrustful look at the sight of Asgard’s Prince.

The music outside, large horns that sound more like a call to battle, slowly die and are completely cut off when the doors are shut. Just outside you know two Valkyrie are standing guard.

Inside, two more regular guards stand at attention.

“Ambassador Coates, I’m glad you saw fit to accept my invitation,” Thor says casually.

One wouldn’t know that Thor is angry. He sounds so welcoming. The charm he’s exuding is one you’ve never seen him use before but Loki doesn’t seem surprised by it. Instead, Loki’s lips seem to curve upwards a little in the teeniest smirk.

The Ambassador does as he’s expected and once he’s near the foot of the raised wooden floor where Thor’s throne sits, he gives a quick bow meeting first Thor’s singular eye and then your own blank gaze.

Keeping your anger in check is easy. You’re able to wipe your face of all emotion and it’s a skill now that you’re glad you learned in the orphanage you’d grown up in. Never letting anyone know how sad or hurt you are was key to your survival.

“Your Majesties,” the ambassador states, the irritation in his voice loud and clear for all of you to hear.

It looks like Thor’s plan to roll out the red carpet as if the ambassador were visiting royalty got his message across clearly.

“I hope I find you in good health? Are you faring well with the pregnancy?”

You don’t answer him. You simply stare.

“We’re well enough,” Thor begins. “Forgive me in my haste to get to the point, Ambassador Coates but as I hear it from my brother, you have been making it very difficult for Her Majesty the Queen of Asgard to meet with you, despite her warnings that what she had to share was imperative to the safety of Earth and human-kind.”

The ambassador blinks. He doesn’t attempt to speak or react in any other way than to show that he’s processing Thor’s words. All signs of irritation at his welcome gone.

“Would you say that is a fair statement for her having sent, what was it? Four emails and three phone calls?” Thor asks Loki.

“Seven emails and four phone calls,” he corrects.

“Right. Seven and four.”

“Your Majesty…”

“I think you have been under the impression that my marriage to my wife has been one in name only. She’s Queen but not really? Right? She has no power or authority? Is that what you think?”

Ambassador Coates swallows hard, sweat beading along his temples. He’s not a stout man. In fact, most women would think him good looking. Nothing to Thor or Loki, but for a human he’s handsome. His sweating in this climate makes no sense unless he’s suddenly stressed.

Maybe you shouldn’t feel bad but you do just a bit. You can’t imagine what he must feel being scrutinized by Thor, yourself, and Loki. Clearly he did something wrong and now he knows it.

“Your Majesties, I-I meant no offense. Unfortunately this is a busy time for myself and my colleagues and-”

“We have no time for your excuses,” Thor sits up straighter and draws his legs a little closer together before he licks his lips and holds his hand out towards you.

Taking it, you watch him get up and then he helps you sit before checking on you, “Better, cherub?”

You nod, looking up at him as he caresses the side of your head.

“The only reason you hold the job that you currently do is because my people and I chose to settle on Earth. You might say you owe it to us. Perhaps you’d still have been employed should we not have come here but from what I understand, your salary is considerably more than what it would have been were you in some other position.

“You are married and have children, too. Don’t you?” Thor asks.

“Y-Yes, Your Majesty.”

“So, it’s important to keep your job. Isn’t it?”

He says nothing, this time simply looking down at Thor’s feet.

“My wife is not just Queen in name but she has been exemplary in her devotion of ruling the people of Asgard at my side with honor and grace. The people love her. I’m not sure what made you think you could slight an Asgardian Queen but let me be clear. If our people should find out that there was such disrespect, believe me when I tell you that the loss of your job would be the last thing you’d have to worry about.”

“And just to be clear,” Loki cuts in as Thor’s taking a breath. “My brother is not threatening you. This is a statement of fact. We Asgardians are fiercely loyal and easily offended.”

You like that Ambassador Coates isn’t glaring at Loki anymore. The fear in his eyes is worrying, but you also know that your husband and brother would do nothing to actually hurt this idiot. They’re just making sure he knows where he stands.

Thor crosses his large arms across his wide chest. Though you don’t think he means it to be intimidating, you can see from the ambassador’s gulp that Thor’s minor flex has great impact.

Gods, he’s huge.

“As it just so happens, aside from being a Queen without fault to this kingdom, the Queen of Asgard has seen fit to continue to perform in her duties as the bridge between our two peoples. She refuses to let us make decisions for the human race and was attempting to contact you to warn you of impending dangers. And you, what was the phrase, love?”

“Blew me off.”

“That’s right, you blew her off. And yet we welcome you with respect and grace.”

“Your Majesties,” the ambassador begins, but Thor holds up his hand and he stops.

“Let this be a lesson in humility for you. I love Earth and for that reason alone, in addition to the fact that this is my wife’s home and now mine, we will forgive this lapse of judgement on your part,” you’ve never heard Thor sound more like a King than in this moment.

It’s also one of those moments where you really want to drag him back to the room and get him naked. He’s never been this attractive.

The ambassador bows his head, taking his punishment with dignity.

“Forgive me, your Majesties,” he begins to say something, but then stops himself.

“Speak your mind, Ambassador Coates,” Loki urges, seeing something you and Thor don’t.

“I merely wish to apologize for my lack of forethought. I was not the only one dismissing Her Majesty the Queen of Asgard but will be sure to rectify the behavior with my colleagues when I return.”

Loki smiles, turning his gentle gaze on you as he realizes that you were right. It wasn’t misogyny. Not on Ambassador Coates’s part. That might not be the case for everyone though.

“Perhaps I should schedule meetings with your colleagues so that we might have a quick talk about the expectations we have for our relationship going forward?”

Loki’s threat is veiled heavily, but Ambassador Coates still picks up on it and his face goes a little pale.

“I don’t think that’s necessary, Your Highness. I will pass along the sentiments, if you will let me.”

There’s a burning satisfaction in your chest. Something about watching Ambassador Coates finally show not just you but Loki the respect he deserves makes you so happy.

“My Queen?” Loki prompts you, looking to you to wait for your reply.

“I think we can give him a chance to express our disappointment for us. He is our ambassador. Isn’t that right Ambassador Coates?”

Coates looks relieved, pressing his hand to his chest as he bows his head to you again.

It’s a strange sensation to see the gratitude on his face and his posture relaxes as a result. You literally just did that. You gave him some forgiveness and it really does make all the difference.

“I will support you and the Asgardian throne with more fervor from here on out, Your Majesty.”

“Cool,” you shrug, reaching to place your hand on the back of Thor’s neck, absolutely beaming at him.

He chuckles and puts his hand back on your waist, giving you a gentle squeeze and shake.

“Are you happy, my cherub?”

You nod, unable to contain the smile that stretches across your lips and you lean into him.

“Good. My job here is done then. Now, I have some things to do,” Thor rises and moves around until he’s facing you and pulls you up into a chaste but loving kiss.

With a caress to your belly, he looks at Loki and nods.

“I’ll leave the rest to you and my Queen, brother.”

“Sif will meet you by the docks,” Loki nods.

“Wonderful. I’ll see you later, love. If you need me, just tell Loki and I will come running.”

“‘Kay,” you smile.

Thor turns back to your guest and moves towards him, clapping his shoulder as he passes, “Do better, Ambassador Coates. Do better.”

All three of you watch Thor strut for the large front doors. The guard opens it for him and when he’s out of sight, the doors shutting behind him, you move to take your seat on the throne. Loki scoots a little closer to your side but stands with his tablet ready.

“Now, I think we should get down to the reason I wanted to meet with you,” you start and Ambassador Coates stands a little straighter. “But...I don’t know about you but this whole towering over you sitting on a throne thing is not really my style and feels a little forced. Let’s go to my sitting room.”

Loki smirks as Ambassador Coates relaxes a little more and even smiles, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

As the three of you walk up the steps to the right of the throne room to climb up to the small sitting room that had been set aside for you and your private entertaining, you steal a few glances at Ambassador Coates.

He still looks a little rattled and you stroke your stomach, the long silk dress you’re wearing, ruffled skirt and loose waist giving it a soft flowing quality is still noticeable and Ambassador Coates steals a few glances.

“Didn’t think I was really pregnant?”

He blanches, “What? N-No, Your Majesty! I had no reason to doubt you.”

“It’s okay. A lot of people didn’t believe it until I came back from my little vacation. I just wanted to make sure that it would take. We’re all so dependent on this little one and a lot is riding on my having Thor’s heir quickly.”

“No one who has seen you rule since your marriage would doubt your commitment to this union, Y/N,” Loki assures you gently.

He’s your number one supporter and you’re so damn grateful for him.

All three of you fall into silence but with your heavy belly and your slow walk, it stretches on.

“I’m sorry about Thor’s enthusiasm to put you in your place,” you give Coates a small apologetic smile but he quickly shakes his head. “He can be a little passionate.”

“No, Your Majesty, the mistake was mine. I should have paid you the respect you deserved. It’s-You work in an environment for too long and you begin to adopt certain behaviors that you should know aren’t acceptable but when everyone is doing it and-I was wrong. I can’t blame Thor for setting me straight.”

“Thank you, for understanding,” you shrug.

“Thank you for not holding it against me and letting me do better.”

It takes only another few minutes to reach the sitting room and you make a beeline for the small loveseat before dropping into it and leaning back against the soft plush cushions.

“Whew, I probably should have done my research on how pregnancy would affect all aspects of my life before agreeing to it,” a joke and Coates gets it because he looks respectfully amused.

Loki scoffs, “With Thor, I doubt you’d have had much choice in the matter. He is also believed to be a God of fertility, you know?”

“Loki!”

The small shock on your face really makes Coates laugh this time and your neck, ears, and cheeks burn.

Not wanting to drag this meeting out for a long time you clear your throat and Loki sits down on the armchair beside you opposite Coates’s own seat.

“I should really be more formal, but I’m not kidding when I tell you that this pregnancy is taking a toll on me.”

“Think nothing of it, Your Majesty,” Coates assures you.

“I’m not sure what you’ll be able to do with this information and maybe it’ll be best if, with your help, you can get a meeting in front of both the United Nations and NATO scheduled for me to speak to them directly.

“Thor and Loki would be there with me, of course, but it was my idea to even bring this to your attention.”

“I will be of any assistance that I can be,” Coates nods, face serious and attentive.

“We wanted to wait until we had more concrete information to give Earth’s leaders but our Queen is adamant that an early warning is better than detailed information,” Loki explains.

“Is the Earth in danger?” Coates asks, worried now.

“Sort of,” you nod. “Truth is, we don’t know. What we do know is that there’s an energy signature that we’ve been monitoring for months. Almost my entire first year of marriage. What we do know is that the energy signal was strong enough to bring Doctor Foster here to look for an explanation and my brother-in-law has kept his eye on it too. It’s familiar to him and not unthreatening so we’ve been preparing watch stations across the globe. We have one in North and South America, Australia, almost every continent so that we won’t miss any kind of danger that comes falling from the sky.

“We don’t want a repeat of New York,” you look at Loki and Coates looks at him too but neither of you have any kind of judgement in your expressions.

Maybe a little for Coates, but he quickly turns his gaze back on you.

“I wanted to give the people of Earth time to prepare for that kind of attack. The Avengers are already on the case and have been helping build up a defense but they can only do so much. Their focus is going to be on the bigger fight if it comes to that. I want to give us a fighting chance on the ground where regular people are often the ones to get hurt and suffer from big threats like this.

“I don’t want the casualties to look like they have in the past when something or someone threatens us. So, I just want to give world leaders a briefing on what we’ve found, what we’ve built in defense, and give them the resources to keep track of what we’re keeping track of.

“We’re at a unique advantage with not only Asgard’s knowledge, technology, and resources. We’re still a growing nation and what we do have is lots of strength. I’ve been thinking about it a lot and while the Valkyrie have to stay here to protect my family, we have a sizable guard that can be split into a few regiments to send out to the places that will need it most and still have enough forces to protect New Asgard.”

Coates is thinking hard, then his hand dives into his pocket and he pulls out his phone, “I’ll start making calls and can probably have something set up the day after tomorrow. If the threat is serious enough to make you worry about us humans this much, I think the sooner the better.”

“It is serious enough,” Loki assures him. “Even if it turns into nothing, we would all rather have done everything we could to minimize damage to both the humans of Earth and New Asgard.”

“Then I’ll get started. Is there any kind of data that I should see in order to convince my bosses?”

You look to Loki and reach out, placing your hand on his arm, “Loki, take Ambassador Coates down to the dungeon and let him get a look at anything we’ve gathered in the monitoring station. You’ll forgive me for not coming with you, Ambassador Coates? I really can’t stand walking around much longer today.”

“Of course, please do not mind me,” he assures you, giving you a small bow.

“Shall I have your lunch brought in here?” Loki asks.

“Please?”

He nods and with a gesture at Ambassador Coates, leads the way to the door.

“When you’ve made any significant progress, I will be in here. Can you come and let me know?”

Coates nods, the phone now pressed to his ear, “As soon as I know something, Your Majesty.”

They leave you in an appropriate rush and you relax against the cushions of your sofa feeling like a small burden’s been lifting off your shoulders.

You’ve done your part now. You’ve warned your Ambassador, now it’s his job to convince his higher-ups and hopefully they listen.

Estrid does eventually come with your lunch and you eat slowly, thinking through your options for Coates and the rest of the governments of the world. Splitting the Asgardian army up isn’t ideal, but they pack a punch. Even just a handful of soldiers in a city would make a difference.

You finish eating and you finish your tea. You get up to walk a little around the sitting room but as the afternoon wears on, you start to feel suffocated inside and Estrid happily goes with you down to your gardens.

Most of your plants have been well taken care of.

“His Majesty made sure that we kept all of your plants healthy for you,” Estrid informs you, moving to walk a few steps behind you as you walk around with a small watering can.

His consideration brings a smile to your lips.

Thor really can be so sweet. So loving. You hate that some of the time from your first year was stolen by what happened with Jane, but it couldn’t be helped. He had to discover what it would mean to lose you and you had to learn that depending on yourself is still just as important married as it was when you had no one.

Maybe it’s even more important now? You can get lost in your relationship with Thor and while that’s super tempting, to have your world start and end with Thor and your married life together, you are still your own person.

You have goals for your career and shared dreams with him too. You’ve got your hobbies and Thor has his. Both of you needed the distance.

Despite that, even though you know that the space was good for both of you, even if it hurt like hell to get it the way you two did, you’re actually really happy to be back home.

As you reach over to water one of your taller butterfly bushes, you gasp and pull your arm back against your body as a small sharp pain rocks your senses and blinds your vision for a split second.

“Your Majesty?” Estrid hurries forward.

“I’m fine, Estrid,” you assure her, waiting another second to see if the pain will come back.

Reaching down you rub the spot on your tummy where you’d felt it and wonder if maybe the baby is just kicking especially hard today.

“Shall I fetch the doctors?”

“No, really. I’m fine, Estrid.”

You move to the next plant and water a few more as you head towards the small greenhouse with the Asgardian plants you’re still trying to perfect the care for but as you reach for the door, you double over as a shooting pain stretches across the same side as before then moves down onto the base of your belly.

The watering can falls from your hand as you reach out to brace yourself against the door and hits the floor with a clunk as the water goes all over your flats, soaking your feet.

“Your Majesty!”

Estrid races to you, hands placed on your back and arm to support you as she looks to steal a glance at your face.

With your eyes shut tight, you groan and whimper as the pain just gets sharper.

“Estrid…” it takes a moment to catch your breath. “Get the doctors.”

“Guard!” Estrid calls, forcing you to let go of the door so that she can lead you to a bench. “Guard, send for the doctor!”

“Thor,” you whimper, sitting slowly and gasping as the pain intensifies. “Get Thor.”

“I’ll send for him, my Queen,” Estrid assures you and now that you’re seated, she leaves you to run and hurry the guard.

“What’s wrong?”

“Loki?” you call breathlessly, searching for his face for the comfort you know it’ll give you to have him close.

“Here,” he calls out for you and hurries around the corner. “I’m here. What’s happened? What’s wrong?”

He hovers over you, leaning over, his hands carefully pressed to your cheek and the other on your stomach.

“It hurts,” you sob without tears, “Loki…”

“It’s alright,” he promises. “You and my nephew will be fine. Come on, put your arm around my neck.”

His certainty does help and you get your arm around him. With ease he squats down and lifts you into his arms and with you moves back into the palace.

~~~~~~~~~~

It feels like a long time when you open your eyes again. You’re dizzy a little and weak. Your body feels heavy and it’s a struggle to sit up.

Looking around, you realize you’re in your bedroom alone. The sky outside is dark and the room is dim with only the fireplace lit to cast a warm orange glow around the dark room.

“Loki?” you try, remembering him carrying you when he found you in the garden.

No movement.

“Thor? Estrid?” You’d sent her to get the doctors and to get Thor. Had the doctors come?

Thor’s favorite armchair is placed by your bed, angled towards you so he must have been in here sitting by you waiting for you to wake up.

With a heavy sigh, you realize that he must have been out of his mind with worry when he heard what happened. Is the baby okay?

You put your hands on your tummy and wait for movement. He does wiggle around a little. Normal for you and him and that makes you feel better about the pain that had come out of nowhere.

It takes you too long to get up and out of bed. You’re in your nightgown, a long simple piece with modern touches but it’s also very similar to some of the long flowing white ones you remember seeing in history books.

Taking extra time to stretch up onto your feet just in case the pain comes back, you breathe a sigh of relief when you take your first step and find that you’re okay.

“Oh, baby,” you reach down and rub the sides of your bump. “You scared me, rascal.”

You know that you should probably stay still. Staying in bed is probably what your Doctors suggested but the empty chair has you worried about Thor and what state he might be in.

So instead of staying where you should, you open your bedroom door and step out into the hallway.

The spots to either side where there’s usually a guard are empty.

You look up towards the other end of the hall and see that the two soldiers have moved to stand at the center of the hall, shoulders tense and obviously distracted. Further down, at what you think they must be staring at is a grouping of palace staff. People you recognize. Estrid stands among them, frowning at the small crack in the door through which pours a line of bright white light from the sitting room you share with Thor.

Did something happen?

As you pass the two guards the jump and hurry back to the sides of your bedroom door where they belong. Their flurry of movement must have drawn the attention of the others standing by the door. They also seem to jump, look shamed and worried, before they move away from the door and head in all different directions to get back to work.

One of the maids that passes you curtsies before she scurries off stealing a look of regret at you.

Estrid stands rigid, hands clasped to her front before she steps back a bit to give you room.

“What is it, Estrid?”

She doesn’t say anything. She looks upset, her lips fixed into a severe line, eyes full of anger as she shakes her head.

“Where’s Loki? Thor?” you check, stopping by her and she only looks at the door.

You can hear muted voices from inside and your heart begins to pound.

Is it the doctors? Are Thor and Loki getting bad news? The baby was just moving though!

Your baby has to be okay. Healthy even. Nothing was wrong before you came back home.

Clinging to your bump, you move towards the crack in the door and with the breath leaving your lungs in fear of what you’ll overhear you just go ahead and push the door open because eavesdropping hasn’t served you well in the past.

If something needs to be said, you want to hear it without hiding.

Of course, what you aren’t expecting to find is Loki facing you by the long sofa where Thor usually lounges, resting his head on your lap. Behind Loki, what must have given him that frustrated look on his face is Thor, Jane clinging to his arm as she finishes speaking the thought you just interrupted as they all turn to look at you.

“-can’t help it. I love you. I-”

The absolute fury that engulfs you is indescribable.

For one year-long second, you inhale and a million thoughts cross your mind. The one you grasp onto, in favor of the ones involving murder and hurt and violence, is the one of your baby.

This kind of anger is bad for him. You can’t let it consume you. Not when you need to stay good for him.

Loki looks down at his feet, disappointment and shame overcoming his pale, handsome features.

Thor quickly jerks his hand out of Jane’s grip and moves towards you but stops when you speak only a few feet away.

“Jane?”

She swallows hard, then frowns, “I only came to warn Thor that the readings have gotten stronger. I-”

“I don’t care why you’re here. I only care that you are here. You aren’t welcome in my house, near my husband, or on any piece of land in this Kingdom,” you take a step towards them and stop as you stroke your belly to remind you to keep calm. “I want you gone. Out of my home, away from my people, and if you trespass here again, I’ll have you thrown in jail. You aren’t welcome in New Asgard.”

“You can’t ban me from an entire Kingdom,” she argues, moving forward towards you.

“Try me,” you warn. “Out of respect for what you meant to Thor in the past, I’ve kept your name clean. I haven’t told anyone what you tried to do here, but here you are trying again. Now either you want me to trash you, or you seriously can’t take a hint.

“We don’t want you here.”

“Thor invited me himself, if he didn’t want me here, why would he do that?”

You grind your teeth, again stroking your tummy, “You’re right. I don’t know why my husband would invite you here when I have made it very clear that you aren’t welcome. Whatever the reason, he and I will discuss it together, because we’re married. Husband and wife. Until the day I die, at least, since he’ll outlive me by two thousand years.

“And whatever you two had in the past is gone. So, get out or I’ll have you thrown out.”

She opens her mouth to argue and you take two steps towards her, “I might be pregnant, but I can still do plenty of damage in the minute that it’ll take Thor and Loki to pull me off of you. Please, say something. Please, please I beg you. Give me an excuse. I have a really bad temper and I am dying to express myself. Please.”

Jane turns towards Thor, waiting for some kind of rebuttal from him but he’s got his eyes trained on you and you alone. The shame on his face, the agony of what you finding them all here might mean is not lost on him.

When he doesn’t say anything, Loki clears his throat, “I think it’s time to go, Jane.”

His urging helps and with a look of hurt and disbelief, she tears her eyes off of Thor and stomps out past you.

You watch her go, Estrid scurrying after her to lead her out the back instead of the front where she might be spotted.

“Loki?”

He turns to you, waiting.

“I don’t want anyone to know she was here. Anyone other than the group of palace staff that was standing by the door fucking listening to what was being said in here. Can you get Heimdall and send her home that way?”

“I’m on it,” he assures you and hurries past you, disappearing into the palace.

“I-” Thor begins.

“Don’t!”

He shuts his mouth.

“Not here.”

Turning, you lead the way back to the bedroom and the guard opens the door for you, Thor following closely behind.

As the door shuts you don’t stop until you’re sitting on your bed, hands stroking your belly as you shut your eyes and try to calm yourself.

“I asked you for one thing. One thing, Thor. I asked you not to make a fool of me. Seven people from our staff were listening to you and Jane. Seven! By tomorrow that’ll be twenty and by the weekend the tabloids will have picked up on the story.”

“I’m sorry,” he starts but you growl in frustration.

“I stood in front of our people and told them that Jane Foster was not welcome in our Kingdom and you walked her right in! I-I can’t do this. I can’t do this right now.”

You get up and point at the large doors.

“I need you to get out. I need space and I don’t care why you let her in. I don’t care why you’d make me look like such a stupid fucking joke I only know that you did and I’m done. I need you out. Don’t come looking for me. When I’m ready, if I’m ever ready to talk to you again, I’ll find you. Until then, leave me alone.”

“Cherub-”

“NO! You don’t get to do this shit, Thor-You don’t get to undermine me and bring that woman back into our lives and still get to explain yourself after she lied to you about being pregnant, and making a mockery of our marriage. You don’t get a say. You get out of my room, you keep away from me, you wait until I’m ready to hear you. Until I’m not angry anymore. Until I’m not hurting anymore.

“I don’t understand what it is about this woman that you just-can’t you see what she is? What she’s done? Don’t you understand why she can’t be here? Don’t you get-You know what? Just get out. I don’t care. I don’t care if you get it or not. Get out.”

“Y/N, please, I-”

“GET OUT!”

The silence that follows your outburst is interrupted only by the crackling of the fire. In the dim light, Thor’s face is grave and broken. You can’t feel bad for him though.

As much as you love him, as much as you wish this hadn’t just happened, as much as you hate to see him hurt, you can’t ignore the pain in your own chest, drowning you again in betrayal.

This is why you’d wanted to keep your distance. This agony is why you’d wanted to keep him at arm’s length.

This is why you can only depend on yourself.

Eventually, Thor bows his head and with heavy feet, he leaves your room shutting the door behind him leaving you to sob and throw pillows in anger.

[belphies-cuhm-sluht]

If It Means That Much To You (Mammon x GN!Reader) Slight Angst -> Fluff

I realize now that if I had written this last night and Levi's tonight, I could have posted in the order of the brothers... but I goofed up on that... Whoops! It's slightly angsty, just the teeniest tiniest bit, but soft Mammon is so sweet. I don't write enough for him, feel kinda bad for skimping out on Mammon fics. So here's a Mammon fic!

Word Count : 1.7K Warnings : Slight angst;

The smile spread across your face as you swiped through the pictures that you had taken with your boyfriend. You both looked happy, and it wasn’t fake like those other couples that you had seen way too many times back in the human realm. This was the first time in what seemed like your entire life that you had been one hundred percent, without a doubt, happy. You had someone who loved you more than words would ever let him express, but he didn’t need words to tell you, he always showed you that he did, whether it be through the way he would hold you, or even just the way he looked at you. The way his lips would crash against yours whenever he saw you after being apart for five minutes or more. Even the way that he looked at you, you could see the emotion, so raw, you could feel it, you could almost hear it, just by looking into his eyes. His love, and his adoration for you was unmatched, other than by your own feelings towards him.

It was a perfect relationship, anyone would be able to tell just by looking at the two of you together. They would be able to see it through the multitude of pictures that you took together, pictures that he would never let you upload. Every picture was taken within the House of Lamentation, or somewhere deep in the garden behind the house, places where no one other than his brothers would ever find out that the two of you were together. It never really bothered you, not enough to bring it up to him at least. Lately though, it had been getting under your skin a little more than usual. It could have something to do with the fact that his latest modeling gig had garnered new fans for him, which should have been a good thing, but reading through their comments on his Devilgram posts had bugged you more than it should. He wasn’t the type to feed into their comments, whether they were raunchy or sweet, he would reply with a simple “Thank You” to as many as he could. You on the other hand, you weren’t allowed to comment on any of his posts, and while he hadn’t explained why that was, you just went along with it. At least you could still like them, and that was enough for you, at least up until now.

“Hey Mams, isn’t this picture cute?” You asked, idly flipping through the latest pictures you had taken together. They were taken in his bed after a long night of… fun… Both of you looked especially worn out, but the smiles on your faces were honest, sincere, and you loved waking up next to each other. His and your hair was completely messed up, and neither of you cared. It wasn’t a modeling shot, but it still looked perfect. You wanted to show him off, show the rest of the Devildom that he was yours and you were his, show them how lucky you were, and what better photo to use than one where you’ve woken up together. “I was thinking of uploading it to-”

Those words had caught his attention, drawing his eyes away from his own phone where he was scrolling through more comments and liking them, giving them the basic reply. The thought of you uploading anything like that though had made him stop, and now he was grabbing your phone from your hands and slipping it into his pocket. “Ya don’t haveta upload nothin’. I know we’re happy, so da you… nobody else needs ta know.” He smiled at you as if his words would actually make you feel better, and most of the time they did. It’s not that he was wrong, and maybe demons didn’t fully understand the concept of essentially showing the world that they were happy, that they had found love and being excited about that, but in the human realm it was a normal thing.

“Alright… I’m gonna go get myself some breakfast… you want anything?” You didn’t want to argue with him about it, you didn’t want to blow it up into something that it didn’t need to be, so changing the subject entirely was the best option. You pushed yourself up off the couch and started heading towards the door, grabbing your jacket off the edge of the bed on your way over. You turned back to face him, to see if he was going to answer your question, and he was turned completely around on the couch, pouting up at you. “You don’t have to worry, Mammon. I’m taking Beel with me.” Which was something you always did when you went to get breakfast… or really any food related item. Mammon was one who worried about your safety often, and since he didn’t like going out in public places with you, he would always tell you to have one of his brothers take you.

His pout only grew as his eyebrows lowered, crossing his arms over his chest. You weren’t really sure what he was trying to do or why he was even doing it, but you were hungry, and you really wanted to know if he wanted anything so you could get going. “Well… just remember who yer first demon was. Beel ain’t no better than me.” He huffed before turning back around and you were left in the doorway feeling nothing but confusion. You weren’t even sure what he meant by that, it made absolutely no sense to you. Obviously you thought Mammon was the better brother out of them all, you wouldn’t put up with so much of his crazy antics or try so hard to keep him out of trouble if he wasn’t your favorite. He also never had a problem with Beel taking you before, so you weren’t quite sure why it was a problem now. “Tell ya no and ya wanna go runnin’ off ta get food with Beel…”

“You know… I can still hear you.” He had whispered the last part, but his whispering sounded more like breathy screaming, especially when he was irritated by something… something that he shouldn’t even be irritated by. “I can go with Asmo or Satan… It doesn’t have to be Beel.” He groaned at the other two brother choices and now you were getting irritated. You didn’t know what he wanted, you were confused, and you were hungry, and he wasn’t explaining anything, and it was just really really annoying. “I don’t know what you want! You don’t want to be seen together, you don’t want me to leave the house by myself, and you don’t want me to leave the house with your brothers either. What do you want?”

His head whipped around so he could face you again, his eyebrows quivering slightly as he looked at you, his voice softer now. “I never said I didn’t wanna be seen with ya…” He sighed, shaking his head. “I just didn’t want anything ta happen…” You weren’t sure what he meant, or what could possibly happen if the two of you were seen together. Simple Devilgram photos couldn’t be enough to stir up problems, could they?

That’s when your brain, your already ticked off and, at this point, hangry brain started piecing together the puzzle, or at least, you thought you were piecing it together. “You mean you didn’t want your fans to get upset… If they saw a picture of you with someone they’d stop giving you likes and commenting on your posts.” His eyes narrowed as he listened to your assumption. He was shocked and even… hurt… that you’d think that that was why he didn’t want you to be seen with him. What was more upsetting was that he had apparently, at some point, given you reason to believe that he cared more about his fan base than he did about you.

He got up off the couch quickly, practically running to you and pulling you into his arms. You weren’t sure if you were just hearing things or if he was actually crying, or maybe he was coming down with a cold… but you could definitely hear him sniffling. “It ain’t about them… It’s about you…” He took a shaky breath, and that slightly verified your thoughts that he was crying, or at least on the verge of it. His hand held the back of your head, keeping your face buried in his chest so that you couldn’t see him, but you could still hear him, his voice vibrating his chest as he spoke. “I owe lotsa Grimm ta lotsa people… demons… witches… I dunno if they’d try ta snatch ya up… take ya away from me ta get their money back…” He finally took a step back, cupping your face lightly as you finally looked up at him. “I don’t want nothin’ ta happen to ya… I don’t wanna lose ya, Y/N…”

“Mammon… I-” You felt awful, terrible for even assuming that he would care more about his fans than your feelings. You had never once thought that he was doing it to look out for you, to take care of you because you meant that much to him… Because he loved you. Sometimes you fail to remember that he was greedy, and he did like to gamble, and usually that money came from other people's pockets. It was hard to remember because with you he was completely different, he never asked for your money and all of your dates were free, spent in his room or the living room or the gardens just enjoying your time together. Everything he did… he did it for you.

“It’s okay… If it means that much ta ya… Upload the pic… If it makes ya happy… I’ll even go out with ya… keep ya safe. No one messes with The Great Mammon’s human…” He smiled proudly, and you let out a small giggle as you shook your head. You didn’t want to worry him anymore than he already did about you, he didn’t need that.

“I know we’re happy… You know we’re happy… No one else needs to know… Right?” The words that he had said earlier made more sense now. You both were happy, and if anyone else knew, it could potentially ruin both of your happiness.

Things were perfect just the way they were. You had the perfect relationship, and it meant way more to you than a little picture being uploaded onto the internet.

[dem-obscure-imagines]

Nightcrawler and the Princess

Kurt Wagner x Reader

Fandom: Marvel/X-Men

Summary: Being the princess of a small kingdom has its perks. However, you’re not sure this is a secret you can share with the rest of your friends…

Note: Did I make this a subtle crossover with the Princess Diaries? Yes. Yes I did. Don’t worry about it.

Reader is: Female

Warnings: Swears

Word Count: 1.8k

You carried the large box to the lunch table and set it there, in the middle of your friend group. Jean eyed it curiously.

“What’s that?”

“Care package from my mom.” You replied, using the pair of scissors you kept in your school bag to cut open the packing tape. “She said there’s stuff for the rest of you in here too. Probably candy or something.”

“That’s nice of her.” Scott smiled, watching as you opened the cardboard box.

“Ah, yep.” You reached into the bag and pulled out several packages of Genovian chocolates. “Here you go, guys.” You told them.

Kurt’s eyes narrowed at the bags, his tail hovering behind him curiously. He recognized that packaging. “These…I know these chocolates. Does your mother live in Genovia?”

“Oh, uh, yeah. I’m from there, actually.”

Peter thought for a second, already munching on chocolate. “Wait, I thought you were American.”

“Nope.” You laughed, reaching further into the box and pulling out a handful of little Genovian flags she’d sent. “Ah, right. Independence day is coming up.”

“Where even is Genovia anyway?” Warren asked, admiring the little flag once you handed it to him.

“It’s a tiny little country between France and Italy.” You explained. “It’s really beautiful there, though.”

“It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.” Kurt reminisced, sighing fondly.

“When did you visit?” You asked him.

“Several years ago.” He said. “The circus had a few shows there when I was young. The people were so kind, and the coast sparkled like diamonds.”

“You were with the Munich circus, right?” You asked him, trying to remember. He nodded proudly, a smile settling onto his face. “I was at one of your shows! I knew you looked familiar! Oh my god…” You laughed and shook your head. “I should have put those pieces together sooner.”

“You were there?”

“Yeah! My mom took me for my birthday.” You smiled, remembering the show fondly.

And Kurt knew then the information that you were withholding from the rest of the group. His eyes widened slightly and he studied your features. He remembered you. He remembered that day and he remembered the feeling of his heart hammering when after the show, the Queen of Genovia herself introduced him to her daughter, who was about his age. She’d taken her there because it was the princess’ birthday. Though your meeting was brief, he’d remembered it all this time, thinking of it every once in a while…the time he’d met a princess.

You didn’t look all that different now than you had then. Why you hadn’t told the rest of your friend group, he wasn’t sure, but he would keep the secret for you. Of course he would. He smiled softly, admiring you with his new revelation in mind. Even before he’d figured it out, you’d already been a princess to him anyway.

Peter studied the look on Kurt’s face and squinted. Something was going on. Something was going on and he would get to the bottom of it…

***

Over the weekend, your friend group had decided to go to the mall, but before you left, Kurt knocked on the door to your room.

“It’s open, come on in.” You told him.

He pushed open the door and stepped into the room timidly. You were at your desk, reading what appeared to be a letter written on a piece of paper.

“What’s up?” You asked, not looking up from the letter when you asked it.

“You’re coming to the mall, right?”

“Yeah, what time is it?” You glanced down at your watch. “Oh shit. Sorry I’m late.” You chuckled, folding the note and tucking it into your dress drawer. “My mom wrote me a letter with her package.” You explained.

“How nice!” Kurt smiled and you couldn’t stop your heart from fluttering at the way it lit up his face. “Do you write each other letters back and forth?”

“When I have time to, yeah.” You nodded, shoving your hands into your pockets. “Well, shall we?”

Kurt nodded and offered you his arm. You took it and in a poof of smoke, suddenly, you were standing in the living room, where the others were all standing.

Peter had a weird look on his face and you weren’t sure why, but you knew he was up to no good. He always seemed to be…

The squad piled into the car, as usual, and arrived at the mall in under thirty minutes. Jubilee picked the tunes, which was always a good choice, so the ride there was pleasant and relatively uneventful.

You all walked inside and started the routine of shopping around in all of your usual stores. The prom was coming up, so you all spent some time in the dress place on the upper level of the store.

“What color dress do you think you’re going to get, (Y/N)?”

“Mmm, I’m not sure.” You thought for a moment. “Maybe something pink. Or…blue?”

“I think blue would look great on you.” Jubilee grinned, flipping through the rack of blue dresses.

“I agree.” Jean smiled, her eyes flicking over towards Kurt, who was on the other side of the store with the boys.

“Hey now.” You warned, your cheeks warming at the thought. “What did I say about reading my mind?”

“I didn’t need to read your mind. You’re more obvious than you think you are.” She chuckled.

“What she said,” Ororo agreed, causing your cheeks to flush even hotter. “Why don’t we ask the boys which one you should wear?”

“That’s a great idea.” Jubilee agreed, despite your shaking head. “Hey boys!”

“Yes? What’s going on?” Kurt bamfed over beside you, looking at Jubilee curiously.

“Which dress should (Y/N) wear to prom?” Ororo held up one pink dress and one blue dress.

“The blue one.” Scott said knowingly, crossing his arms and smirking. Okay. So he and Jean had talked, then. “Definitely the blue one.”

“I agree.” Warren nodded.

“What do you think, Kurt?” Scott nudged the teleporter.

“I think you’d look beautiful in anything. But I do like the blue one. It brings out your eyes.”

“T-thanks.” You blushed, giggling. None of you committed to dresses, so after looking around for a while the squad decided to hit the food court while looking over movie times.

“So…” Peter looked up at you and cleared his throat, drawing the attention of the rest of the group. “When were you planning to spill the beans…your highness?”

You swore your blood ran cold. You looked up at him, your heart racing in your chest and the color drained from your face. “Excuse you?”

“You heard me.” Peter raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair confidently. “When were you going to tell the rest of us your little royal secret?”

You froze, staring at him for a long time. “Maximoff,” you said through gritted teeth, your eyes glowing faintly. “Choose your next few words very carefully.”

“Oh I have. (Y/N)’s the princess of Genovia.”

“Pfft. As if.” Scott scoffed, chuckling, but he stopped when he looked at the look on your face. “Oh shit, is he serious?”

“Who the fuck told you?!” You asked him, your voice raising the teeniest bit. “The only people who know are Professor Xavier and Dr. McCoy, so which one do I have to kill when we get home?”

“Neither. I snooped in Xavier’s office. Found your file.” Peter shrugged. “And of course, that begs the question: Why didn’t you tell us?”

“Listen…” You exhaled a long breath, looking to each of your friends faces for a moment before fixing your eyes on the table. “When people know, they treat me differently. I don’t think they mean to, but they do and it sucks. I like having friends and I love hanging out with you guys and I didn’t want to ruin that because of something as stupid as status.”

“You’ve got us.” Jean promised. “We’re not going anywhere. This doesn’t change anything. And…I already kind of knew. Not that you think about it often, but every once in a while…”

“I figured that might happen, yeah.” You chuckled. “Thanks for keeping it on the DL.”

“Of course.” She nodded.

“I knew too…” Kurt confessed, looking you in the eye.

You crinkled your eyebrows and then nodded, understanding. Of course he knew. You two had met before, after the show. You’d asked your mother if you could meet some of the performers, and she’d pulled some strings to make it happen. You distinctly remembered meeting Kurt. You remembered his smile and his adorable pointy ears.

“That’s right.” You smiled. “We met.”

“We did.” He agreed, nodding, a smile tugging at his lips and a faintly purple color creeping across his cheeks. “Although, I’ll admit, I didn’t realize it was you until…very recently. We aren’t kids anymore.”

“We sure aren’t.” You agreed, a chuckle escaping your lips.

And it was fine after that. It was normal. Much more normal than you’d expected it to be. Another week came and went. You finished your letter to your mom, Queen Clarisse, and when its response came back in the mail, you found it accompanied by a small picture she had saved all these years. As soon as you looked at it, a smile on your face, you knew you had to show Kurt.

So, you ran out to the courtyard, where you knew he was, and found him reading under the shade of a large tree in the front yard.

“Kurt!”

“What’s up?”

“My mom sent a few copies of this photo. Do you want one?” You asked, sitting next to him in the grass and handing him the photo. He looked it over, holding it very carefully in a large, three-fingered hand.

“This is us, ja?”

“Mmhmm.” You hummed, nodding. “A very long time ago.”

“We were so young…” He murmured, admiring the smile on his face as well as yours. He remembered you’d been nervous to meet him and at first, he thought it was because of the way he looked, but quickly learned it was because you’d been enamored by his performance. Absolutely blown away. You’d been so kind to him then, just as you were so kind to him now.

“We really were.”

“Do you mind if I keep this?”

“It’s all yours.” You told him. “So, what’cha reading?”

“Beauty and the Beast.” He told you. Ever since remembering that one of his best friends was a princess, he’d been on a bit of a fairytale kick.

“Mmm, that’s a good one.” You smiled and tilted your head, your eyes sparkling. “Read to me?”

“Of course.” He laid back against the tree again, holding the book open with his tail.

You got closer to him, wrapping an arm around his waist and resting your head against his lean chest. His arm wrapped around you and tugged you closer, and without even thinking about it twice, he pressed a soft kiss to your hairline before starting to read again.

Kurt decided then that there was no place in the world he’d rather be than under his favorite tree, a princess resting contently against his chest.

Part 2?

[lannister-slings-and-arrows]

I and Love and You

The fifth in Rafael Barba/Reader/Frederick Chilton threesome verse written in collaboration with @pascalispretty . Mood board also by the lovely and talented @pascalispretty !! Yep. We did this. Was it necessary? No. Did we enjoy it? Sometimes. Are you going to read it? I sure hope you do and that you like it! Cross posted on ao3!

Part Five of the series So Much Easier than You Realize

Warnings: Total and complete tooth rotting fluff. Schedule an appointment with your dentists, ladies and germs. Rafael is, as always, a bit of a jackass. You will probably have an incurable craving for breakfast food. And the teeniest tiniest mention of daddy kink. Rating: E for everyone because there is nothing objectionable in this at all, I did not think we could actually write something this sweet lol. Word Count: 3725 Summary: Mornings are for cookies and contemplation.

When Rafa wakes up, he spares a moment to sympathize with his growling stomach. More than one moment, if he’s being honest with himself. He isn’t normally an early riser but his stomach wouldn’t be so empty if he’d been allowed to have his bedtime snack and not rudely distracted by his two partners and an ingenious application of his second favorite blue tie. The result is pleasantly sore abdominal muscles and the rare opportunity to wake up in time to see the both of them still peacefully asleep in bed next to him.

Fred’s back is pressed close to his chest and his legs brush against Rafa’s as he levers himself up onto his elbow to look at her on Fred’s other side. Her face is tucked against Fred’s neck and the doctor’s arms are wrapped tightly around her, and Rafa smiles at them both, still asleep in the soft grey early morning light.

Fred shifts, and an irritable frown passes over his face the longer Rafa uses him to balance himself to stare at the two of them, so Rafa quickly presses a kiss to his temple before settling back down with a sigh.

It’s too early to be up, really, but he’s starving and is not getting back to sleep without eating something. He grunts and sits up before pressing another kiss to Fred’s shoulder. He swings his legs out of bed and grabs a pair of grey sweatpants.

Rafa trudges down the hall to the kitchen. There were still Bugles hidden in the back of Fred’s Tupperware cabinet. Oh shit, had he eaten them all? He flicks on the light to the kitchen and huffs a quiet laugh when he finds a sticky note on the door of said cabinet in Fred’s small, precise handwriting.

Sorry, I ate the last of your chips two days ago. In my defense, counselor, you left them in my house and I was having a very stressful day. I made you cookies instead, they’re on top of the microwave. I figured you’d be up before the both of us this morning since you didn’t get your snack. --An Apologetic Psychiatrist who feels like he shouldn’t be apologizing for eating food in his own cupboards.

Rafa runs his fingers over the note a few times, smiling like an idiot, his heart feeling full and warm and about seven sizes larger than it was when he woke up. He turns his head and sees a plastic container (with a green lid because the green Tupperware was for storage of baked goods as Fred was constantly reminding him) right where Fred said it would be, and when he steps over to investigate it further he finds a batch of white chocolate macadamia nut cookies. Another note is stuck to the lid.

I know these aren’t your favorite. I know that you don’t really enjoy white chocolate. Consider this my attempt to make sure you don’t eat all of these in one sitting. Please limit yourself to two; you aren’t in your 20’s anymore, Rafael, and it’s not even a normal time for breakfast yet, much less cookies. --A Not Apologetic Psychiatrist who doesn’t want your first heart attack to be in his apartment, thank you very much.

Rafa rolls his eyes and peels the lid off, smirking as he deliberately takes three out of the box. He doesn’t hate white chocolate, after all, and he does love macadamia nuts. And he has always had a problem following instructions.

Standing at the kitchen counter, Rafa eats his cookies with a pleased groan, once again thanking whatever saints or angels his mami appeals to for sending him a partner that bakes. Not that he thinks his mother would have prayed for someone at all like Fred. Fussy, officious, arrogant, snobby, and, well, a man. His mother would have had someone like their younger lover in mind however. Smart, pretty, and willing to stand up to his attitude. Most of the time anyways. Well, what did Lucia Barba always say? You can make as many requests of God as you want to but remember that He has a sense of humor too? She got him a little extra than what her original request probably specified.

Rafa snorts at the thought and brushes crumbs off his bare chest, leaning back against the counter and surveying the kitchen in the growing light. He’s still hungry but he knows he’ll hear about it if Fred wakes up and all of those cookies are gone. And today is supposed to be the one day this whole month the three of them can spend just being quiet together with no plans, no work, and no prior obligations. He’d rather not spend it all dodging Fred’s passive aggressive jabs and her pouting looks and quiet pleas to please just be the bigger man and apologize.

He stretches his arms out on the counter behind him and tips his head back, staring absently at Fred’s kitchen ceiling as he contemplates making his way back to bed and napping until Fred wakes up and decides to order in breakfast. He’s nearly settled on that plan when he catches sight out of the corner of his eye of the bright blue note on the cupboard. He doesn’t remember Fred spending any time in the kitchen before the two of them dragged Rafa into the bedroom to put his ties to a much more interesting use. He must have gotten out of bed after Rafa fell asleep to put this together, and Rafa can’t help the smile that spreads over his entire face.

Rafa slaps his palms on the counter and shoves himself off, making his way over to the fridge to see what Fred has in the way of actual food. He’s already awake; the least he can do is make breakfast.

He finds the ingredients for pancakes easily enough--Fred is a stickler for organization. Rafa tries not to make a mess as he moves around the perfectly arranged and spotless kitchen. He stirs the batter by hand rather than risk the noise of the KitchenAid but pauses over whether or not to put chocolate chips in.

She would be pleased, her sweet tooth nearly rivals his own, but Fred would almost definitely be annoyed. Especially because Rafa has already had chocolate earlier in the morning. With a fond sigh, Rafa puts the glass jar back in the cupboard, though not before tipping a few of the chocolate chips out into his hand.

It reminds him of cooking in Fred’s beautiful house in Baltimore, his sweet girl laughing and dancing around the kitchen in one of Fred’s shirts, barely being any help at all. All three of them adore the big, beautiful house that Fred had shyly shown them--as if they could have done anything else other than fall in love with it.

Fred relaxed slightly when it became clear that his guests found the house as beautiful as he did. Rafa tried to help her in slowing Fred down as he showed it to them, asking questions about particular objects or features and pointing out the things they especially admired. Every sincere compliment kept a gratified little smile plastered on Fred’s face--and there was plenty to compliment him on.

It’s clear that it holds a special place in Fred’s heart. It’s so him, every inch of it reflecting back the man who poured so much time and effort and money into making it a home. From the collection of antique medical texts carefully displayed on the shelves to the exact shade of teal velvet upholstery on some of the armchairs, Fred had lavished attention on the house to surround himself with things he loved and found beautiful. It amused Rafa to wonder if he’d taken that into account when he’d invited his partners over; whether they’d laud the elegant aesthetic he’d established in his home.

Shifting the spoon briefly to give his right hand a break from mixing, he smiles at the memory. He’s never actually admitted to Fred how much he likes playing house with his two partners there. Rafa is fairly certain that the kitchen in the Baltimore house is larger than the apartment that he grew up in and he knows that a wine cellar is an absurd luxury. But it’s a place where the three of them are free to be themselves, without worrying about nosy neighbors and doormen.

Rafa snorts quietly, folding the batter briskly to get out all the little flour bubbles. That pretty well explains how he feels about Fred too. Fred is too high maintenance, too abrasive in all the ways Rafa normally hates, too… prep school, but Rafa can’t help but smile indulgently every time he turns his nose up at a meal that costs less than fifty dollars, or every time he gets that prissy stubborn look on his face, or juts his chin out and point blank refuses to admit that he’s wrong (even though Rafa can tell that he knows that he is).

He never apologizes either. Ever. He’ll be proven wrong, he’ll hurt both their feelings, and the closest to any sort of acknowledgment of wrongdoing that the both of them will get will be a cup of coffee in bed the next morning, one of Fred’s most handsome smiles, and the complete and sudden cessation of all hostilities like the fight never happened. Rafa knows that with anyone else that kind of behavior would be a relationship killer.

Rafa looks over the batter and nods to himself, satisfied with the consistency, and balances the spoon against the side of the bowl. He stares at the oven and frowns. Just pancakes hardly make breakfast. Going over to the fridge, he grabs bacon out of its particular place, rolling his eyes as he does so, and tosses it on the counter next to the pancake batter, reaching under the silverware drawer for a frying pan.

Maybe it’s the way Fred ‘apologizes’ with the perfect cup of coffee instead of actual words. Maybe it’s that same perfect cup of coffee that somehow manages to find its way onto his desk at work when he’s too swamped to go out and get one--just because Fred knows he needs it. Or a sandwich from his favorite deli and a quick flash of that handsome smile on Fred’s lunch break.

Rafa gets started on actually cooking said breakfast, hissing and swearing quietly when he gets a first-hand demonstration of why you shouldn’t fry things without a shirt on. Fred would have more than a few words to say to him about the relative intelligence of what he’s doing right now. He grins. Maybe that’s it--the way he cares while trying desperately to make it seem like every time it’s an inconvenience of the highest order.

Maybe Rafa loves Fred because every once in a while, when he’s very drunk, very tired, or the perfect combination of both, Fred slips a little and calls the both of them by those cute, ridiculous southern pet names that before now Rafa would have put money on being more myth than fact. And how embarrassed he is when it is pointed out to him that he just called a forty-something year old man ‘pickle’.

Fred is arrogant, prickly, particular, and both overindulgent and overly judgmental of vices depending on if he himself shares in them. He is a pain to get along with most of the time and sometimes treats the two of them like they’re made of spun gold--things to be cherished and well looked after and shown off to the best of his ability. He’s a contradictory monster and Rafa loves him.

He has a feeling that the smile on his face is sappy and ridiculous, but as he turns the bacon and settles to wait a few more minutes, he shrugs. There isn’t anyone else around this early to see him; his reputation as a son of a bitch and a jackass won’t be ruined. He loves Fred. He loves her. He loves both of them--sometimes so much it’s hard for him to keep it to himself and wait for them to come to the same conclusion. Their individual faults, foibles, and perfections and the way they mesh with each other and fit so surprisingly well in his own life.

Like getting new book recommendations from her--whenever he has the time to actually read something for fun. She leaves them on his home desk with a brief explanation why she thinks he’ll like them. That almost always makes up for the numerous occasions he has gone looking for one of his own books and found it had mysteriously jumped off its shelf and walked itself three rooms over, or managed to find itself completely out of order.

He drains the bacon onto a paper towel covered plate and gives the pan a quick rinse. He loves finding packets of M&M’s in his briefcase or in his suit coat pockets, loves knowing they’re from her and that she braved Fred’s ire to indulge his habit of constant snacking. A habit Fred particularly despises. He loves--most of the time--being a couple minutes late to work some mornings because she got into a nearly incoherent argument with him about what color tie he should wear. He loves that she loves his wardrobe as much as he does.

Rafa loves ganging up with her to tease Fred and loves that she can take some teasing herself. He loves that she just rolls her eyes and plays along when his puckish side emerges and he can’t help but be an asshole even though he can tell she would rather he didn’t.

Rafa starts pouring pancake batter, chuckling to himself when he recalls the mood she’d gotten into the last time his sense of humor had gotten the better of him. While waiting for a table in a restaurant, a strange woman had made a snide comment about ‘men dating women young enough to be their daughters’ and Rafa had been unable to resist feigning outrage and asking what was so terrible about a man taking his daughter out for a nice birthday dinner.

The woman had been mortified, and Rafa had enjoyed the look on her face so much that he’d only hammered the point home further, telling her it was hardly his fault he was a widower and a single parent. He hoped it had taught her a valuable lesson in boundaries. His sweet girl had been so embarrassed but it had been so worth it.

Flipping the first pancake, he thinks about the flaws that come with her youth. She’s always the first one to joke about having daddy issues and Rafa can hardly deny how much he enjoys hearing her call him papi--and Fred daddy--in bed. He just has to try not to think too deeply about it. Not that Rafa really has a leg to stand on where difficult paternal relationships are concerned. But her jokes mask an insecurity and a clinginess that Fred has a habit of overindulging. More than once when he’s been trying to work she’s tried to distract him or cuddle up to him and then gotten sulky when he had to gently but firmly rebuff her.

When he finally finishes work on those evenings, he usually finds her wrapped around Fred instead, giving him a wounded look when he finally emerges from behind his case files. Those looks are wordless guilt trips every time he’s on the receiving end of one--no matter how right he feels in his decision to work instead of play.

And yet somehow she’s worked the same magic on him that Fred has. A flaw that in anyone else would have stopped any idea of a relationship in its tracks is something that he’s come to love about her. Her clinginess comes from a place of emotional fragility and it must be hard to let her partners see that. The fact that she trusts them enough to be so vulnerable around them makes Rafa’s heart swell. He can’t help but love her, even when he’s dealing with her pouting and huffing.

Fred talks about it like Rafa is somehow being ungrateful, that he should drop everything to spend time with his beautiful, smart, young lover, and it drives Rafa crazy. He knows that Fred generally means well when he tries to appeal against his more workaholic tendencies, but he also knows that Fred could retire now and live off his trust fund if he wanted. It rubs him the wrong way when Fred tries to discourage him from working hard because he’s never needed to understand why Rafa works as hard as he does.

He starts stacking the cooked pancakes on a plate on the stove and furrows his brow in concentration. Fred gleefully indulges her in her clinginess, dropping everything to scoop her into his arms or take her to bed. They’ve even taken to napping together with his cock still tucked inside her, as if they can’t bear to be anything other than as close as physically possible. He’s stubbornly blind to the fact that Rafa can’t just drop what he’s doing. If Fred misses a deadline for submitting a journal article the worst that happens is it gets pushed back an issue. If Rafa misses something in his case files or submits something late or fails to prepare as fully as he should, it can ruin lives. Dangerous predators can be let out on the street to offend again. People don’t get the justice they deserve. And even in this day and age, a poor boy with a Spanish name is granted a lot less leeway with employers than a rich boy with a nice American name and family money.

They come from very different worlds, even if Rafa has carefully and thoroughly infiltrated Fred’s, and Rafa loves and hates it a little that Fred forgets that most of the time. Rafa has to always be ‘on’ and can’t afford the same kind of laxness that Fred can.

Sometimes he even has to be ‘on’ at home when he’d rather put his fist through a wall or wrap himself in every blanket in the apartment with a bottle of scotch and pass out. Like when he walks into whichever apartment they’re spending the night at to find Fred in a screaming match with her that he has to moderate. She likes to complain that he and Fred can really get into it like a pair of children, and he isn’t saying she’s wrong—they definitely can—but she and Fred are just as bad. Frankly, the three of them are cut from the same cloth when it comes to being pig headed and it makes for some rather loud and spirited fights.

Like the frequent battles she has with Fred over her occasional smoking habit. They always start out with Fred gently chiding and somehow end up with Fred snidely pulling out his “I went to medical school, therefore everyone else is a moron” voice and her reminding him that he couldn’t cut it as a real doctor and she’ll “smoke a goddamn fucking cigarette every once in a while if she fucking feels like it.” Rafa tries to interfere before it descends to “as much as you like to act like it sometimes, Frederick, you aren’t my father” and “maybe if you knew how to make better choices you wouldn’t be constantly seeking validation from older men,” but he doesn’t always get home in time and instead walks in to the both of them glaring icily at each other or shouting as many deliberately hurtful things as they can.

He likes to leave his courtroom face at work, but it’s generally the only thing that will defuse those battles, or at least calm them down into cold wars. Rafa doesn’t particularly enjoy playing mediator on the best of days, especially not when one wrong word from him will have one or both of them turning on him as another enemy combatant. He likes his occasional cigarette too, and he snacks constantly, and eats terribly; all things that Fred will use to drag him into a fight.

But while he hates trying to calm them down enough to at least stop yelling, he has to admit he loves having people around to yell in the first place. Yes, these fights mean he has to put on his lawyer face when he’d rather get drunk and pass out. But he has people in his life to break up fights between. He can come “home” to people who care about him. People who, when they aren’t screaming, see him come through the door and smile. People who would, and have on occasion, drop what they are doing to bring him something he left at home and needs now. People who drop a sandwich on his desk when he’s working and quietly--most of the time-- leave him to it.

People who care and appreciate him.

Rafa finishes setting plates and cutlery out on the island and starts the coffee maker. He loves having them a few rooms away. He loves knowing that they like him enough to put up with his “shoebox sized apartment”, with him being an incurable workaholic, with the fact that when he gets stressed or angry he lashes out at anyone around him. With the fact that when he does he can be more than a little cruel.

Rafa makes his way back into Fred’s bedroom, wincing as always at how bright it gets when the morning sun fully hits it. He smiles when he sees them still tucked against each other just like he had left them. He loves this view the most.

Rafa grins mischievously. They put up with his innate tendency to be a complete and utter jackass, and that is one more thing he loves about them.

“I just rearranged every single cupboard, bookshelf, and drawer in your entire apartment, Frederick!” Rafa informs the room in general. Loudly.

Fred’s eyes snap open and he sits up, dislodging his sleeping companion without a second glance. His gaze lands on Rafa, who is smirking next to him, and his eyes go comically wide in horror.

“Rafael Barba, you didn’t.”

Tag List: @sassyada, @dreamlover31, @prurientpuddlejumper, @storiesofsvu

[hamburgerhelpersotherhand]

Infatuation P10

Joe Goldberg x Reader x Love Quinn

Warnings: At this point, just assume it’s only gonna get worse.

Notes: Did I... really just? Did I really just post an update for Infatuation?? That’s incredible! I’m sorry for the delay, my writing has been on a downward spiral. I’ll be posting some older original works as filler in the future.

After getting home last night, I immediately called Love. I had to tell her something- anything. So I told her you were already gone when I arrived. It was... it was really stupid of me, especially when reminding myself that I did this all for her.

I know it’s awful to lie to your partner, but I... I don’t know how else to put this, but I need to fix what I broke. Judging by what I saw last night, you’re an absolute mess.

And, well, that’s besides the part where you’re literally captive in a glass cage. I need to fix you, for Love.

Now, I’m not a professional but I’m sure reforming a human brain can’t be that difficult.

Whatever was left of the night, I slept very well throughout. I practically went out like a light and woke up the next morning feeling energized.

In the middle of getting dressed, it suddenly dawns on me:

I need to get you something to eat.

You’re not picky, are you? Do you have allergies? I had trouble deciding, but I eventually settled on getting you a plain oatmeal muffin and a simple glass of water. For future reference, I’ll ask for your preference.

When I arrived at the locker and rolled up the door, I noticed you were curled up in the corner with your arms wrapped around yourself. I then realized I should of given you a blanket- or some form of mattress because you look like you hadn’t slept one bit. Do I feel bad? Yeah, maybe a little more than I had expected... but tired is good. You won’t fight back as much.

“Good morning.” I say. Your eyes blink over and over again as you adjust them to the sudden intrusive light.

I crinkle the muffin’s bag as I walk up to a small airtight opening.

“I got you breakfast.” I’m in a good mood, so I find myself yap, yap, yapping. “Now, I don’t know what you like or what your usual breakfast routine is but I can get you something more hearty for dinner.”

There are two doors and a small resting spot between them. When I open the door on my side, you can’t open the door on yours. It’s pretty neat, actually, and was previously used to safely move books in and out. But with that scowl on your face, I doubt you’re even thinking about it.

Let’s start simple. I open my door and place your glass of water down in the compartment.

I close the door and you stay still. You’re seated in your little corner like it’ll protect you from the world, but that’s just a fantasy you’re willingly following. Open your eyes, Y/N. The world changes and you have to stop running from it. Now come get your stupid cup of water.

I begin to slowly walk around the perimeter of the glass.

“I think you’d feel more comfortable if you didn’t purposefully dehydrate yourself.” I state.

You look at me so pitifully. Behind that gaze, you know I’m right. But... you continue to stubbornly stay in place.

“P-please.” You say weakly. I show you to the glass of water and you still don’t budge.

“It’s water.” I finally say. “And I have a muffin for you if you’re hungry too. I’m not sure how you feel about oatmeal, though.”

You’re still hesitant, so I’ll work to break that. I make my way back to the door, look you in the eye, and then open it.

“There’s nothing in the water.” I say as I take the cup in hand. I can’t say I’m entirely surprised you’re hesitant to drink, but I still tilt some into my mouth as an example. Like I said, there’s nothing in the water.

As I place the cup back down, I notice you’ve lightened up a little. To the average eye you’d still seem scared, tense, but I like to think I’ve come to know you better than the average person. And as someone who’s done just that, I strongly believe I’ve noticed the teeniest change in your demeanour.

I close the small door and step back.

It takes you a moment, but you eventually shift from your corner and stand on your feet. You make your way to the door as you watch me with some very judgemental eyes.

It takes you a moment to open the door before you grab the cup and drink to your heart’s content. Or, well, until it’s empty.

You chase after the final drops as I begin to unwrap your muffin.

You look uninterested but grab at the snack after I close the door anyway.

It’s all I can get you before work. But thinking about work now reminds me of Love, Forty, and my responsibilities.

I leave shortly, but not before collecting your trash.

~

The day goes by so excruciatingly slow.

Love works like nothing happened last night, I can’t tell if this is good or bad, but as I see Forty’s antics being immediately shot down for the millionth time... it’s probably bad. I know the guy’s irritating but Love could’ve been a little kinder about it.

Actually, can I blame her? Staying focused on work when something so upsetting had occurred only hours prior isn’t simple. For one, I can’t stop thinking about what happened and how I’m thankful things didn’t escalate.

Could I have killed you? Your face felt so small in my hand.

My blood ran cold once I remind myself of our one and only witness. Am I sweating? I feel like I’m sweating. I look around the store briefly, kind of also feeling like I’m being watched. I spot Forty looking my way but he doesn’t shoot me his usual smile. Suspicious? I look toward Love and her head cranes up to meet my stare. She almost immediately looks away. Also... suspicious...? Joe, Joe, Joe... when will you learn that not everyone who doesn’t smile your way is suspicious. I mean, Forty just got yelled at by his own sister and Love just had... you know. That thing happen.

Finally, my gaze sets itself on a familiar figure with a casual pair of sunglasses resting atop her head.

Like a deer caught in headlights, I freeze. My eyes widened and I feel my soul leave my person.

That’s...

Candace.

Of all people. Really? Now!?

I thought I lost her in New York but she so happened to walk into the right place to catch right back up.

This isn’t a coincidence.

I drop my notepad on the new stack of books and stealthily, and quickly, begin to make my way to the back room. I don’t want her to spot me, I CAN’T have her spot me.

But to my luck, an older woman grabs my sleeve and pulls be right back into the open.

“Sir— Could you help me?” She asks as sweetly as any other older woman in a hand-knitted sweater.

My heart is hammering in my chest and my ribs feel bruised, but I say yes. If I play it cool, she might’ve not spotted me yet.

The woman holding my sleeve continues to talk. She mentions a particular book she’s looking for, one I hadn’t yet brought out of storage. But honestly? I’d rather she get the book early than stay out here any longer, so I kindly tell her to wait.

Out the corner of my eye, I notice Candace easily start a conversation with Forty. I’m anxious, very nervous, but I make my way to the back room regardless.

~

As I take my time looking through a box, I find a familiar book perched on the rack. It’s coloured a sickly yellow with the title “The Sign of Four” printed at the top. It was the book you had requested for me to order— or more specifically the book I had offered to special order for you.

I hesitate to take it, but I tell myself it’ll be a good gift to hand to you. Maybe it’ll brighten your spirit.

Before reluctantly leaving the room, I snatch a copy of the book the old woman was looking for.

I tried to take my time on my way out of storage. I really don’t need this right now— I really don’t need Candace. At this very moment, she is nothing but a thorn in my side. She’s, like, obsessed with me or something.

I peek my head around the corner and observe the scene. Candace is nowhere in sight, I think. And so is Forty. They’re both missing, to my not-so-immediate relief.

I’m still tense, ringing up the old woman and giving her early access to the book she had requested. This’ll get me in trouble, but I can’t imagine thinking straight at this very moment.

[tsugarubecker]

Hi frenz, Analysis Town population me & you, let’s gooooo✨

Crazy together + Not possible

(“If we’re both going crazy then we’ll go crazy together, right?” “Yeah, but... what if you want to join another party?”)

Both are short exchanges that are coded ways to say “we’re in this together” “just you & me” “we have something special” “it’s us against the world”.

Both are Mike asking a question and waiting for Will to confirm that they’re on the same page - and he does, both times. With a two-word, unequivocal assurance.

These scenes are directly in parallel to each other.

As my first point of evidence for why these scenes are paralleled to each other: think about Mike and Will’s facial expressions.

When I was originally thinking about this, I thought that Will’s facial expression journey showed that he has advanced forward with knowing what he wants. But I don’t think that’s the case anymore. I think he has always known what he wants. During Crazy Together, when Mike breaks eye contact Will does too, and he looks down and smiles to a little to himself.

I think Will has advanced forward not with knowing what he wants, but with knowing what Mike wants. Because Mike is the one who makes a change. Like during Crazy Together, during Not Possible Mike again offers Will a soft vulnerable “it’s you and me” type smile. And then his smile falters, partly I think because something in him knows that he is “not supposed” to be sharing this kind of moment with a guy. However, in this case (Not Possible) he does not break eye contact! I repeat!! He doesn’t break eye contact this time folks!!!!

And that is what allows Will to see that Mike has advanced forward. Just a smidge. Just the teeniest, tiniest bit, closer toward knowing. Toward what he wants. That unbroken eye contact may as well be him taking a large physical step forward towards Will, and Will knows it. It paves the way for Will’s confidence and flirtation that we as a fandom have collectively noticed!!!! Pretty sure it’s @strangertheory who mentioned that Will left that exchange with a literal skip in his step. Will noticed that Mike didn’t break eye contact this time and he knows that means that Mike is one step closer to Will now and he gets a freaking skip in his step about it. 😂

Just to reiterate: Will’s facial expression didn’t change that much between these two exchanges y’all! He did a small smile after he said “yeah, crazy together” but he wasn’t able to show it to Mike, because Mike broke eye contact. This time Mike did not break eye contact and guess what? Will! Fucking! Noticed!!!!! And he flashed him a flirtatious ass smile!!!!!! I’m losing my mind.

Okay, don’t believe me that these scenes are being used as parallels/to draw our attention to how something is moving forward with them? (Just a tiny bit but in a way that is actually huge?)

I’m gonna loop @kaypeace21’s observations in here. And narrow one of her observations down to these two moments. Kaypeace has pointed out how D&D is used as a symbol for Byler. And guess how we pan in to each of these scenes??

Like this:

(Both D&D boards were originally pointed out by/had their symbolism expounded upon by Kaypeace, to my knowledge.)

Although D&D is used in other subtle ways to talk about Mike/Will’s relationship and journey, these are the only two scenes (someone correct me if I’m wrong) where it’s overt. We zoom in on D&D board, then pan in to Mike & Will sharing soft smiles, vulnerability, and a romantically coded exchange.

They might as well scream “HELLO YES HI WE ARE PARALLELING THESE SCENES PLEASE CONSIDER THEM TO BE A SET AND ALSO PLEASE PAY ATTENTION THIS IS IMPORTANT YES THANK YOU THIS HAS BEEN A PSA”.

Not only is Byler endgame but our two sons are now back at (or headed back toward) Crazy Together levels of Feels/vulnerability, and s4 is only gonna propel that forward. :)) MUAHAHAHAHA

BYLER IS CANON and it’s being meticulously planned HAVE A GREAT DAYYYY 🥳🥂

[fmdjoosungarchive]

sung vs boys

word count: 1412

warnings: sorta mentions internal homophobia

tldr; sung’s crushes pre-gold star bc i was inspired by my own playlist to talk about it. sung useless gay

i’ll get this out of the way so i don’t repeat myself a million times later like i usually do

sung falls for most every man he sees

he’s very unaware of this trait, and thinks that’s just how he feels about people in general

it can range from a little heart flutter or finding someone attractive, to full on, can’t stop thinking about them kind of crush

for this hc, it’ll mostly be about the more specific crushes sung has developed, towards the more intense side of the spectrum, bc otherwise we’d be here all day

also for all of these, sung still struggles with seeing them as crushes even now, and Definitely didn’t think they were crushes back in de day

babie

before his tweens, sung never had big crushes

what could be most closely associated with real crushes would have been his celebrity crushes

he thought he wanted to be as pretty and cool as them, which was a factor to some degree, but not the whole picture

when it came to friends who were boys, from his childhood neighborhood(s) or school, the feelings he had for them weren’t much more pronounced than they were for others, if at all

best friend

in feb 2005, sung had a best friend

he was the first best friend that Others would consider his best friend (considering sung would call anyone who said one (1) nice word to him once, his best friend, back then)

the boy had just moved into town, and it was pure luck that they clicked

they genuinely enjoyed each other’s company

as school friends, they started to bond there, playing with each other during breaks

they would spend nights at one another’s house, do homework together, play games together, had their own secret handshake

when his birthday came, a month after them first beginning to talk, 

it was the closest bond sung had had with anyone before, excluding his family

unfortunately, they were only friends for half of a year, when sung’s family decided to move to start up a new location of their restaurant brand in another city

losing that friend was a large part of why sung was so resistant to moving around like he did for the next couple of years

if they were able to stay together longer, that friendship would have turned into sung’s first real crush, but, he was only a possibility

art class

his first real crush, was the boy from art class

when sung was eleven, and settled in his new town (that i refuse to name for plot purposes), he felt his first romantic feelings

pretty much all of the kids in the school knew one another, which left sung feeling a bit like an outcast

the determination he’d had before in being overly cheery even when others rejected him, faltered here, because to him, it read more clearly as the other kids not liking him

this boy, though, was kind to him

they first spoke around the third week of class, when sung’s pencil broke, and the boy offered him one of his, from his drawn-on pencil case

and it was like sung saw the fuckin messiah. he thought the dude was So pretty that he looked a bit dopey fish mouthing for a bit

he couldn’t stop glancing over at the boy through the rest of class, cheeks burning red, and when the class was over, he took the initiative to tell the boy he liked the drawings on his pencil case, which, like what happens with eleven year olds, started the boy off on telling sung all about his favorite anime characters and how he wants to be a video game designer when he’s older

then sung went home and asked his brother to tell him stuff about video games he likes, so he can sound a little more knowledgable to this boy

the crush faded with time, as when sung left that school for the next, he moved on

the crush did last his entire time at that school, but it soon wasn’t alone, since that One experience basically unlocked the heart ho sung we all kno today

side hos

from then on, sung really started falling for basically any boy who was the teeniest bit nice to him

some crushes were longer, some shorter

sometimes, he’d fall for a boy based off of looks, then when they weren’t Nice, to him or someone else, the crush would be gone in an instant

he quickly developed the type he still has now, basically dudes who seem like they might be Bad Bois but they’re not anything close to it ksjdk

while his heart is so big his crushes didn’t/don’t stick within that realm all of the time, those were the crushes that tended to stick around the longest, and have the most impact on him (as well as crushes on friends but we’ll come back to that)

though, the majority of his crushes weren’t massive, earth shattering types

heart shattering? sure. he’s a crybaby pisces who would bawl his eyes out any time someone didn’t want to be his friend anymore, or left the class he was in, or left the school, or whenever he had to leave another school

rebel

from art class boy on, sung had two other major crushes before becoming a trainee, one in each year

so, in yet another town, at twelve, came the rebel

basically the closest he got to an actual Bad Boi crush

this kid had some issues at home, and it affected the way he interacted with the world and growing up

he had a lot of the attributes sung falls for a lot nowadays

he wore a lot of black, even often featuring a slightly too big, leather jacket, talked about how his older brother was teaching him to drive a motorcycle (which to baby sung was Wow Cool), was taller than sung, had a quiet and to himself demeanor, and was Older (15)

it took a while for them to first speak, since sung admired him from afar at first, but when he did take that leap, this boy was... decent to him

not particularly kind, but not mean either

and that was good enough for sung, which meant leaning on his every word, barely even chastising when he did things sung didn’t approve of

the rebel used up his company, probably because it gave him a rush to have someone look up to him like sung did

but this crush ended pretty abruptly, when, during a really hard time in his life, the rebel lashed out at someone in front of sung, and when he approached the boy about it, he was lashed out at as well

sung has had many heartbreaks, like mentioned, bc he’s a crybaby pisces, but in retrospect, he thinks of that one often, for how jolting it was

almost

and the last, the last ‘ordinary person’ crush sung has had in his life, was his almost, at 13

unlike the best friend of a couple years ago, this crush was the only major crush who reciprocated the feelings

they were both unaware, but if they weren’t, they probably would have dated. not forever, i mean, cmon they’re 13, but it could have been helpful in both of their developments

they bonded over having similar interests, at first because they both liked the same tv show, but then, as they started becoming friends, by discovering things and sharing with the other

and with time, rather than the superficial things about appearance, life stance, vibe, sung fell for the little things

he fell for how the boy laughed with his whole body at jokes

he fell for how the boy always forgot to cap his toothpaste again

he fell for who the boy was, until that developed into loving all parts of him, inside and out

and the boy felt the same

which is why, when sung auditioned for gold star, and got in, it caused a rift in their relationship

the boy was angry, that sung wanted to leave him and their school

it ended up being the demise of their friendship, though sung still help onto hope, for the first year he was a trainee

he kept messaging the boy, but the longer time passed, the more infrequent responses became, and sung, eventually, stopped trying

sung, if he recognized them all as crushes, would think they were all still in his heart, no matter how badly or great things went

[ship-ambrosia]

Dimimari Week Day 4 - Seasons (The Goddess’s Reply)

Summary: Marianne's first year living in Faerghus.

AO3: Lucky Charm Chapter 4

I'm particularly excited about this prompt, because I think it's kinda a different style than I usually write. It was also the first idea I came up with for the week.

By the way i know you probably shouldnt overexplain everything, but the title comes from the dimitri/marianne A support where marianne wonders "if this is the goddess telling me i should make something of myself?" dimitri says "that must be why the goddess allows me to live on" and dimitri ends the support with "i promise to the goddess of fodlan that i will never give you cause to despair" So i just kinda thought of this happiness being "the goddess's reply" to their questions and prayers

  The war ended in the eighth month of the year. The Verdant Rain Moon.

  Marianne moved into Fhirdiad Palace the following spring. The flowers of the city were beginning to bud, the cold northern air of Faerghus making one last attempt to deliver the snow. Marianne had only ever seen Fhirdiad in chaos, Cornelia’s Tripp’s and mechanical abominations standing in their way as they raced through the capital to confront her. It was like an entirely different city now. Fhirdiad was a famously clean and beautiful city, and she was happy to see it this way now. It was a wonderful distraction as she came to terms with her responsibilities as the future queen of the united Fodlan.

  For some reason, she hadn’t thought of what falling in love with Dimitri would actually entail; or perhaps she had been avoiding it. Dimitri was a kind, just man, who had faced his own darkness, the horrible things that plagued his mind, and overcome them. He deserved to become king of course, and she would never convince him otherwise. But she, becoming queen... left her increasingly nervous.

  Dimitri had a lot to take care of as well, now that he was to be king, a lot of things needed to be fixed after the war and though he had begun them almost immediately, he was gone from the palace for long periods of time. Her heart aches for him, wishing she could come along but he was worried about leaving the palace empty, and so she and Dedue spent much time together as they waited for the most important person in their lives to come home.

  When he did come home though, those were the best days. She enjoyed nothing more than when he would lead her around the city, showing her the places that meant the most to him and meeting the people. Fhirdiad was beautiful, with its aqueducts just as decorative as they were functional in keeping the water supply clean, to the vast garden as they bloomed over the weeks. She never fell into a rhythm, every day felt brand new; every moment spent with Dimitri felt like she was falling in love all over again.

~

  Summer came to Fhirdiad warmer than she had expected, and Marianne felt the teeniest twinge of homesickness. She and Dimitri traveled to Leicester so they could reunite with friends, and see the city of Derdriu once again. Upon returning, Marianne was surprised to find her awe with Fhirdiad had not faded, still as captivated by the northern city’s beauty and life as before. She was starting to see herself live here, the role of queen still frightening but something she found herself proud of.

  Summer was when the people of Faerghus really came alive, and she spent much of her time traveling around the former country. She was scared to meet the nobles of the west in particular, to get them to accept her as the queen, though much of the nobles in the east were her friends - Felix and Sylvain, respectively, were rising to the heads of both their Houses, which happened to be two of the most powerful in the former borders of Faerghus. With their support, she felt she could lift her chin a little bit higher.

  Mercedes and Annette insisted they be present at every step of the way that Marianne was fitted for her wedding gown, which began around this time. Every thought of being wed to Dimitri sent her blushing like a lovesick schoolgirl, and listening to the dressmakers and her friends made her feel like she was going to combust. She had never imagined herself marrying happily, always assumed it would be an arrangement to benefit her adoptive father. When she returned home to Dimitri after those visits she would hold him and cry; they were happy tears, as she thought about differently her life was now than she had imagined back then.

  Their relationship itself too, changed with the change in season. Sweet and tempered in the spring, like how the world was poised to bloom. In the summer they naturally progressed into something a little more heated. This was such uncharted territory for both of them, exploring new avenues of their feelings for one another, but it never felt wrong.

~

  As the leaves began to change color, the people of the country got to work harvesting the fields and Marianne had to prepare once more for celebration. It was a joyous time as people all across Fodlan celebrated their good harvests going into winter. A little over a full year had passed since the end of the war, and it seemed like the scars it had left had truly begun to heal. It was one of the best harvest years in all of recorded history, as though the goddess, wherever she may be, was celebrating with them.

  But all the time of bliss they had witnessed in this new year had spoiled them, made them forget what obstacles they still had to overcome. The war was still fresh in everyone’s minds, the scars still there. In late autumn after the leaves had begun falling, a handful of Faerghus’s western nobles attempted a coup. Dimitri was joined by Felix and Sylvain to quell the uprising, though Dimitri was injured in the fighting. It felt as though all of Fhirdiad was holding its breath as he was returned home not on horseback but in a medical carriage, the death of their previous king still fresh in everyone’s mind. The presence of their queen-to-be as a specialist in healing magic did little to calm the anxieties of the city, but Marianne thought that fitting as she was equally as upset each day as she cared for him. She saw flashes of the madness he had gone through returning, knowing full well that the entire battle itself had reminded him of the day in Duscur that he lost so many people he had loved. The wound in his mind affected him more than the wound in his chest, and so Marianne stayed by his side, that he might remember all that they had both fought so hard for.

~

  And Dimitri recovered, by the time Faerghus’s chilling winds had brought snow back to the city. He walked out onto the balcony of the palace, and the people of Fhirdiad had gathered in the streets for him, just as they had after he had retaken the capital from Cornelia a year ago. After all the suffering she had known he went through in the past month, at his bedside the entire time, there was nothing that could have prepared her for the rush of emotions that overcame her when she saw Dimitri smiling at the people of Fhirdiad. Ever the intense empathetic soul he was, Dimitri immediately scooped her up into his arms, in front of everyone. Her first real large gathering in the palace, and everyone saw her crying and clinging to Dimitri.

  On the bright side, such a sight made Dimitri and Marianne’s relationship incredibly popular across all of Fodlan, when news spread that Marianne had personally tended to him and not left his side. Dimitri’s more... savvy advisors touted that seeing Marianne express such raw emotion made her seem more human to their subjects, or something like that. Considering she had only really been with Dimitri in public during small festivals or meetings, she assumed everyone by now knew she was just very nervous at the prospect of being a queen. What else could she be but human? She didn’t like his political advisors very much.

  The entire kingdom’s joy in Dimitri’s recovery carried to his birthday, where celebrations rang out all across the country and once again, Marianne found herself traveling with him. Her emotional outburst had made her the center of attention, and suddenly everyone wanted to know about her. Certainly, she knew her adoptive father must be enjoying his own fame, as her home in a former Leicester territory was quite well known. She was just happy that the western lords, whom Dimitri had been quite light on their punishment when considering the trouble they caused, were clearly not as popular as they thought they were. House Rowe, who had once been the major power in the region, now bowed the knee to House Gaspard, led by Ashe.

  Between parties, Dedue told her that Dimitri was glad the rest of Fodlan was finally seeing her as he saw her, though it made him a bit jealous that her attention was constantly being taken away by someone else. She resolved to do something with this information.

  They got on a horse together and rode off early in the morning one day, making tracks in the fresh blanket of snow. Though the path was covered, Dimitri knew it by heart as these were the trails he had rode as a boy, sometimes with Felix, Sylvain, and Ingrid, sometimes alongside Gilbert and Glenn, and other times by himself. And they spent the day in the snow, laughing and twirling, throwing snow at one another, that surely if any onlooker did not know this was the king and future queen of Fodlan, didn’t know of the darkness that either of them had pushed their way out of and overcome, would probably have just rolled their eyes at two young, foolish lovers. Because certainly that was how Marianne felt as she danced around her first real snowfall of Faerghus.

  When Dimitri kissed her, it all came rushing back. Everything they had been through, everything they had suffered and all the people they had lost, all the victories and the relief when it was all over. All the ways her life had changed just by knowing him. And Marianne smiled, because even though she was still scared about it all, he would be there.

~

  And then the snow started to melt, the trees began to bud again. At the beginning of spring a year after she had moved to Fhirdiad, Marianne and Dimitri were wed to begin their lives together and guide the people of Fodlan beyond the war that had once divided them.

[mydarlinclementine]

u n s e e i n g    e y e s    f o l l o w    a p p r o a c h i n g    f o o t s t e p s    . . .

     “  hope you’re not try’na be a sneak.          it’s unbecoming. ”  

                                                     a warning laced with poison.                                                       she stands by the window.                                                      no cane. no fear.

     friend or foe, they’ve got      one thing       she’s after.

                                          “ got a light ? ”

( jodie comer, gorgon, she/her & cisfemale ) is that ( bad reputation ) by joan jett & the blackhearts ) playing? (clementine cornelia carmichael ) must be nearby! heard folks say the ( one hundred fifty ) year old ( ex-mercenary ) was at the thanksgiving fair, ( lightin’ a cigarette by the kiddie play pen ) when chaos ensued. during the glitch, ( she dropped her cane while jumped by some no-good, possessed werecreatures, ‘til a mystery someone swooped her off to safety ).

b a c k g r o u n d .

clementine cornelia carmichael was the second of two daughters born to the carmichael family in georgia... and the disappointment starts there. her parents had been vying for a son, but alas –– with one x chromosome too many, they had no choice but to amend their planned wills. their family fortune, derived from plantation money, would go to the first daughter to marry, and her husband.

the catch. clementine didn’t know about this policy. only her older sister ( wanted connection ) was aware. so when clementine married her first husband, jeb, at 16, her older sister began brainstorming ways to sabotage their marriage to get the inheritance back in her name. it began with petty things. flubbing house parties. planting rumors. attempting to seduce jeb. eventually, it became clear this love was strong and she wouldn’t break it alone.

and then her lucky break struck. jeb and clementine’s efforts to have a child grew more desperate in the third year of their marriage. by 19, clementine had two miscarriages and narrowly escaped with her life. little did she know, getting so close to death activated a dormant gene in her...

all carmichael women are gorgons. her older sister knew about the family lore but clementine had never bothered to listen to her mother’s old tales of men turned to stone. it was only folk tales, old wive’s tales designed to scare both daughters into staying prim, proper, and well-behaved.

imagine her shock when, while they were making love, jeb turned to stone. talk about yikes. clementine flipped. her older sister came to the rescue –– with a pick axe and a sledgehammer. the two women pulverized the stone and buried it in an urn in the back yard of the young couple’s yard. widowed, clementine was reduced to nothing. no joys in life presented to her. the kicker? gorgons can reverse their own stone-turnings. and her sister? the bitch bloody lied to get her hands back on the inheritance.

a year and a half later, gorgon hunters stormed the house and mistook clementine for her sister. they kidnapped her and planned to kill her, until the quick-witted lady pitched an offer they couldn’t pass up: she’d provide them with mercenary services in exchange for her life. all of a sudden, their hunting jobs got ten times easier.

clem before jeb’s death was gentle. docile. calm waters, soothing breezes, dog-eared pages come morning. now? she whipped at the world with a vengeance. why deny what she was? why fight her essence?

clem later turned her captors to stone and privatized her mercenary jobs. her body count rose and rose, with no evidence left over for incrimination. but... by the late 1960′s, she grew tired of running. tired of hunting. with fresh dust on her hands, she finished her last kill, collected her hefty bill, and used the money to relocate to tiny letum falls, oklahoma.

there, she began to help out at the garden emporium, adding to its statue collection from pure boredom. she’d go to the bars, sleep around, repeat.

in the 70′s, she met manny otero, and the two have danced around one another ever since –– fuck buddies. she’ll never admit she actually might have feelings for the man.

in september, descendants of the hunters clem worked with and killed arrived in letum falls, searching for a blonde gorgon –– they found what they were lookin’ for, but not exactly who. again, mistaken for her sister, clem was attacked and left for dead in an abandoned house by the woods. dumb asses. didn’t know a gorgon can’t die unless you behead her.

clem awoke from the incident bloodied and blind. she can make out light and some loose peripheral shadows, but the blows to her head damaged her optical nerves enough to render her legally blind. she begrudgingly carries a cane when absolutely necessary, but she’ll more often than not defy using it by just... struggling her way through things. it’s messy. inelegant. but she’d rather stumble and trip than admit she needs assistance.

unlike other people, who might view tragedy as a way to make amends and realign with the world, clem’s attack just fueled her fire. she’s agitated. bristly. ready to snap at anyone who gets too close. it’s a miracle she hasn’t done a number on manny yet, or xander. ( she’s got a bit of a soft spot for the guy. )

t h e     f a i r .

she went ‘cause everyone expected her not to. idiots. of course she was going to prove assholes wrong. of course she was going to light up a few cigs near the kiddie play pen. who do you think she is ?  a changed woman ?

like clockwork, the first screams rang out when clem finally heard her lighter catch. so she took her time. lit the cigarette, took a looooooong drag. then came the footsteps. the snarls. the corner of her lips turned up in the teeniest of smirks.

she smelled it before she felt it. the blood. but just as soon as the pain blossomed ‘round her right forearm and shoulder, she was being pulled in the opposite direction. practically carried.

yeah. someone saved her ass. and she’s pissed about it.

c u r r e n t l y .

spends her time drinking, smoking, ‘n adding to brooks baker’s gray clouds over at the bakery. when she’s not there, you can find her sitting in her favorite diner booth sipping her umpteenth black coffee or tearin’ into a big fat slice of key lime pie.

aw. you scared ?  you think some big bad glitch is gonna come back to take you, too ? cry her a river, hun. this ain’t nothing.

the local bartenders already know to pour her a double whiskey, straight as soon as she walks in the door. clem’s got this presence about her –– she turns heads and makes ‘em want to turn away all in one go.

c u r r e n t     c o n n e c t i o n s .

fuck buddy / savior – manny otero.  she’s got him right where she wants him... in bed. these two ooze libido and become a show almost anywhere they go. sometimes she’ll let him buy her a drink. other times, it’s just easier to cut to the chase. since becoming blind, things with manny haven’t changed much, and clem’s thankful for that. little does she know, he’s the asshole who saved her life at the fair.

unlikely ally – xander chapell.  these two share late night cigs after clem gets some and, xander, well... does not, due to a variety of freak and unfortunate incidents. often clem barging in pre-bang. they have a special trust between them. xander opened up to clem about losing bez the night after the glitch. and she opened up to him, a little, about her past. it’s uncanny. but their bond works.

w a n t e d     c o n n e c t i o n s .

enemies.  give me people who really rub clem the wrong way. it ain’t hard to do.

her older sister.  their relationship is dysfunctional. deceptive. manipulative. you’d think they were the heads of opposing armies, not borne from the same flesh and blood. surprise surprise, clem has since uncovered a gorgon’s ability to reverse their changes. needless to say, she’s wanting to seek some kind of comeuppance. the issue? her older sister has been the only person to succeed in forcing help on her after losing her sight. and killing her own caretaker? that’d look pretty gnarly, from the outside lookin’ in.

drinking crew.  they’re not close, but they share a dark sense of humor and a penchant for dullin’ the senses.

garden emporium customers.  i would love to have a connection whose relative / dog / etc. were turned to stone and showed up at the emporium the very same week they decided to snag some kind of lawn ornament to complement their new landscaping... let’s make it crunchy, and awkward, and terrible.

hookups / past flings.  she’s been here a while. been around the world for a while. so i reckon while her body count for kills is high, her body count for beddin’ gives it a run for its money.

mentor / mentee type of thing.  someone’s looking to learn from her. why ?  who knows. but she’ll offer ill-founded advice and bitter philosophies. doesn’t have a good reason not to.

[jrubalcaba]

Can’t Help Falling In Love - Ch. 7

Can't Help Falling In Love Chapter 7 - A Steve x OFC fanfiction

author: jrubalcaba

featuring: OFC Evelyn “Evie” Collins x Steve Rogers

word count: 1722 words

rating: PG 13

warnings: Quite a bit of cussing

A/N: @celeb-fess gets another shoutout for her beta work.

This chapter will switch between Evie and Steve’s POV.

Steve’s P.O.V.

It's only been a week, and Evie is still on my mind. I sat on the bed, thinking about her lips and how they felt against mine. I groaned internally when I remembered how soft her hand felt as it wrapped around my dick while she came on my thigh.

Everything changed a few weeks ago when Nat accidentally outed Evie. I couldn't believe my luck, that the one woman that has made my soul come alive for the first time in 70 years, actually returned my feelings. Yeah, a part of me will always love Peggy, but Evie is just...so much more.

I looked over at Bucky. The time we’ve been on the mission, he’s not been himself. Quieter than usual, distant. I was kinda worried. I walked over and knocked his shoulder with mine.

“You okay Buck?” He looked at me, worry and fear evident in his eyes.

“Alice.” I quirked an eyebrow at him. He huffed before explaining. “It’s our first time apart since…” Ah. That explains it.

“Gotcha. She’s not alone ya know.” He shot me a disbelieving look as he snorted. “Don’t look at me like that. You know Evie will keep her out of trouble. Or at least try to.” He turned to look at me straight on.

“Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of. Those two could be dangerous together. We don’t come home in a decent amount of time, and you know those two idiots will mount their own search and rescue party, getting themselves hurt in the process.”

Shit.

“You’ve got a point there. Especially now after what’s happened with me and Evie.” I exhaled loudly. “Well, that’s just more motivation to get this mission done so we can go back home to our women.” We shared a grim smile before there was a knock on the door as Scott and Sam came in with food. Clint, Simon, Buck and I surrounded the table, grabbing what we could to throw on our plates.

“Geez Wilson, did you get lost? We were almost skin and bone before you got here,” Buck teased. Sam flipped him off before fixing his own plate. We all dug in and sat in silence, too hungry to waste time talking. When we were finally full, we all sat back, miserable. 

“I'm thinking of growing a beard. What do you guys think?” Scott asked suddenly. We all looked around in surprise before weighing in.

“Why’d ya wanna do that?” Sam asked, Bucky nodding in agreement. Scott shrugged before blushing the teeniest bit.

“Well, Hope likes them, so I thought I'd try it out.” Buck chuckled before looking over at me.

“Evie likes beards too. She's into that ‘lumberjack look’. You know,” he went on, “beards, plaid shirts, chopping wood for a fire, being all rugged. Yeah, she's nuts for it.” I was a bit shocked by that. Clint nudged Bucky with his elbow.

“How do you know that?” Clint asked.

“Oh, I heard her, Alice, Wanda, Pepper, Natalia, and Maria talking about it during one of their ‘ladies night’ things.” He pulled out his phone and started to type ‘lumberjack looks’ into the search engine. “Here. Take a look.” I grabbed the phone and began to scroll. These men were decked out in plaid shirts, impressive beards, and had tattoos galore. How could I compete with them?

“There's this actor that Evie was fawning over. It's Chris something. Hemsworth? Pine? Pratt? I can't think of it.” Buck took his phone back, typing in the search engine again. “She pulled up his picture to show the girls and she was fanning herself. ‘Oh my god. He is so dreamy. Look at that beard!’” He did a poor impression of Evie before going “Aha! It's Chris Evans. Fucking hell, Steve. He could pass as your twin!”

We all crowded around the phone, looking at the actor on the screen. “Yeah Cap, he could be your twin, if you could grow a beard as nice as that,” Clint mused. He did look an awful lot like me, except his hair was much darker than mine and he had tattoos. Evie likes this?

“Yeah, Steve couldn't grow anything that majestic.” Sam agreed with Clint. I was a little upset that they didn't think I could do it.

“Thanks, guys. I'm a bit offended that you don't have faith in me. To prove a point, I'm not shaving for the rest of this mission.” I got up and walked to my bag, grabbing the razor and cream before stopping. “Let's make this interesting. I dare you guys to grow one too. $100 says you guys can't grow one better than me.” They all looked at each other before nodding. “And, when we get back, we let the girls vote. We won't tell them that it's a bet, and after they pick the winner, we pay him. Sound good? Shake on it if it does.” We all shook hands before throwing out our shaving supplies.

“Barnes, I think, no I know, that I’ll be able to grow one better than yours,” Simon bragged. Bucky stared him down, his mouth set in a snarl.

Ah crap, here we go. 

When we were heading out on this mission, Simon and Maggie happened to show up at the Tower. Simon was eager to go out and ‘hang with us blokes’, so we let him come along, seeing as it wouldn’t hurt to have another set of eyes and ears. Bucky and he still don’t see eye to eye, so while having Simon’s help has been nice, they tend to butt heads every so often. 

“$100 in a side bet that I kick your ass at growing a beard, Travers,” Buck snapped, holding his left hand out to shake. Simon shook, before a look of pain came over his face as Bucky squeezed with more force than necessary.

“You’re on,” he agreed, trying not to show how much his hand hurt when they let go. 

This was going to be interesting. Oh well, the things you do for the one you love.

                                                   ********************

Evie’s P.O.V.

It's now been three weeks since the guys left for their mission, and I haven't heard from Steve once. Since I was consistently in the Tower 99% of the time, I was the designated contact for the team. But there was nothing but radio silence. None of the guys had called, and I was getting worried. Nat kept trying to calm me down, but until I heard from them, I just couldn't.

Didn’t help that Alice was doing everything she could to distract herself so I couldn’t go to her with our shared anguish.

#

Five weeks have gone by, and still no word from the guys. I'd taken to sleeping in Steve's room in the last week. It helped me somewhat relax, being surrounded by his things and the scent that was all Steve. I was curled up in his bed, almost asleep when my phone rang. Steve's face popped up on the caller ID, so I hurriedly answered it.

“Steve? Is that you?” I mumbled sleepily.

“Yeah, it is.” Oh, thank god he's alright.

“Are you all ok? We've been getting so worried since we haven't heard from you at all.” I could hear people talking in the background, and suddenly I was on edge. Was he safe?

“We’re fine. We ran into a bit of trouble and long story short, we had to go underground for a bit. I'm sorry baby.” The affection packed into that one word made my heart sing. “We finished our mission, but we're having trouble coming home. We're staying at a safe house until we get a go ahead.” I heard Bucky talking to him, and I caught the word girlfriend, which made me smile.

“Well, at least you're safe. That's all that matters to me. I just wish you were here instead of wherever there is. I...I miss you,” I admitted. I heard him suck in a breath before replying.

“I miss you too. Wish I was laying in bed with you right now. Sharing a bed with Bucky the past few weeks have sucked,” Steve laughed, earning a big ‘Fuck you, Rogers’ from his best friend. “Tell Alice that I’m keeping her man warm for her,” he added, Bucky shouting something indistinct in the background. I giggled before I told him where I was.

“I'm actually in your bed right now. I've been sleeping here for the past week. Could really use some warmth right about now, though.” I was actually kinda cold, so it wasn't a complete lie. He whistled before I heard ‘fuck me’ come out of his mouth. “Trust me, I've been looking forward to doing just that when you get home,” I threatened. I heard Bucky cackling in the background, so the look on Steve's face must have been a sight to see.

“Just you wait, Evie. Just you wait.” His voice was husky, full of promise of all the things to come.

“Whatever you say, Captain. So, do you think you'll be home in time for Stark’s charity ball? I was hoping to have a date,” I said matter-of-factly. He chuckled before sighing.

“I hope so. I'd love to be able to walk in with the most beautiful woman in the world on my arm.” Fucking sweet talker. I yawned before I could think up a comeback.

“I'm keeping you up huh? We're all fine so you can go back to bed. Sorry for waking you. Get some sleep, ok baby?” I smiled before yawning again.

“Flattery will get you everywhere, Captain Rogers. I am going to go back to sleep though. Night Steve. Love you.” Whoops. That was not supposed to come out of my mouth. I hoped he hadn't heard it, but that was unlikely.

“Love you too baby. Night. Keep my bed warm for me ok?” Just before the call disconnected, I heard Sam, Scott, Clint, and Bucky all go ‘OooooOooooh!’ to which Steve replied, “Go to hell”. I laughed before sending out a group text to the members who were still here:

ROGERS, BARNES, LANG, BARTON, AND WILSON ARE ALL SAFE AND ACCOUNTED FOR. CURRENTLY IN SAFE HOUSE UNTIL SAFE PASSAGE HOME IS OBTAINED. MISSION COMPLETED.

TAG LIST:

@suz-123 @avenger-nerd-mom @aglarelen @amaranthuspetals @amillionfandoms-onlyoneme @bad-wolf87 @bolontiku @brighterlightss @buckybarnesappreciationsociety @buckyywiththegoodhair @caplansteverogers @captainradicalpassion @caramell0w @celeb-fess @delicatecapnerd @doloreschanal @donnaintx @earinafae @etts21 @ghostssss @girlbehindthecameraposts @gramaeryebard @handshugging @jhangelface0523 @kimistry27 @liz-pbnz @loki-god-of-my-life @magellan-88 @marvel-trash07 @pegasusdragontiger @punkfrog @ruinerofcheese @ryverpenrad @sarahp879 @silver-starburst  @the-real-kellymonster

[afterspark-podcast]

G1 Episode 39: Transcript

[This can also be found on AO3!]

[Stinger]

S: I didn't say it was calming. It's just, like, whale noises didn't work. 

O: [Laughter]

[Intro Music] 

O: Hello and welcome to the Afterspark Podcast, an episode by episode recap of the Generation 1 Transformers cartoon. I'm Owls.

S: And I'm Specs.

O: And today we're going to be talking about episode number 39: The God Gambit. Let's talk about giant robots today, shall we?

S: Yep.

O: And today IN SPACE!!!

S: Aliens. Multicolored aliens, even. 

O: One group of aliens seems to be controlling a giant idol- I mean, a god??? 

S: It looks pretty rocky. The high priest yells at a twink as other not priest-like aliens offer their harvest offerings to the so-called god.

O: We see a stylishly dressed pink lady running around behind the scenes, spying on the shenanigans before she and her diverse cadre destroy the giant stone god.

S: Apparently to join this group you must be either: a woman or ‘mustache’ some extremely fancy facial hair.

O: Those aliens had magnificent mustaches.

S: Yes, yes they did. The pink lady yells at the high priest for being a dick.

O: I like her already but then again I like most women who look like they can yeet me into the sun.

S: Oh, and she very much looks like she could do that to like everyone she comes across.

O: Pretty much. Probably not the giant robots but that's a sheer size thing not because I don't believe in her power.

S: Yep. You know, I almost like the high priest’s ceremonial robes but he apparently likes the breeze because there's very little leg coverage.

O: It is all business at the top and party on the bottom. 

S: The high priest, whose name is Jero, rants about punishment from ‘sky gods’ to Talaria who is our badass pink lady.

O: But Talaria tells him, “There are no ‘sky gods’!” Oh my, I wonder how giant transforming robots from the sky are going to come into this?

S: Hint, hint. Now about those giant robots.

O: Cosmos is flying around in space, running away from Decepticons, evading laser beams. He calls the Ark.

S: No one's manning the computer- no, wait, they run in from screen left.

O: I really do think they would just have somebody who would stay there and keep an eye on things but no. Prime, Jazz, Perceptor, and Red Alert all run in and answer his coms.

S: We see Astrotrain is the one pursuing Cosmos.

O: Oh! A carryover from the last episode, perhaps? 

S: That would be a very rare instance of inter-episode continuity.

O: Probably not that, then.

S: Apparently the Cons are trying to get data from Cosmos, so Prime tells them to transmit the data but Red Alert stops them. 

O: Red Alert is the only one here considering cyber security.

S: Well, very fitting considering his job.

O: Makes sense. Thrust and Starscream are sitting shotgun in Astrotrain and overhear the Autobots’ transmissions.

S: Immediately proving Red Alerts fears absolutely correct because apparently Astrotrain can just tune in onto the Autobot comm signal with, uh, no problem whatsoever. And Thrust either cares about his comrade's well-being or has a healthy dose of self-preservation as he expresses some concern about Astrotrains’ dwindling energy levels. But Astrotrain says ‘fuck that’ and continues to shoot after Cosmos.

O: You know, considering Ramjet in the previous episode, are the Coneheads just a lot nicer than I gave them credit for?

S: Maybe? Maybe, maybe. Astrotrain manages to hit Cosmos and poor Cosmos bounces off an asteroid before hitting the planet that was in our episode opening. 

O: So, turns out that isn't a planet- it's one of Saturn's moons: Titan! Courtesy of the TFWiki, it seems like, uh, Titan having life on it wasn't too far out during the time frame [the episode was made in] considering it has a substantial atmosphere and it became somewhat prevalent in popular culture due to the Voyager spacecraft sending back a decent amount of data on it a few years earlier.

S: Fascinating!

O: The more you know. 

S: A bunch of aliens are sitting around outside as Talaria espouses that the ‘sky gods’ aren't real.

O: The high priests are all tied up, too, so she's clearly gotten shit done in the meantime.

S: Yep and in an unfortunate coincidence Talaria points at the sky and says, “Show me a ‘sky god,’” just as Cosmos is, ah, crash landing.

O: Jero's a dick about this, of course.

S: He knows when to take his opportunities with both hands and run with them. We cut to the Decepticons landing in front of the giant temple containing the idol from before. 

O: Starscream claps his hands together and goes, “Here's the church, here's the steeple, open the door, where's all the people?” Where the fuck did he learn this and why?? 

S: Oh, obviously they learned at the same time that they learned what a guinea pig was.

O: I love how proud of himself he looks here, too. I also feel like this lends credence to our toss away comment about Starscream actually making an attempt to learn something about Earth culture, which is super weird. 

S: It's Starscream, man.

O: He does what he wants.

S: Yup-

O: Which includes learning children's nursery rhymes or whatever the hell you want to call that.

S: Astrotrain tells Starscream to stop ranting.

O: Thrust points to the smoke in the distance as to where the people probably are.

S: Or where Cosmos might be, at least. 

O: The high priest who has been untied, of course, he proclaims: “Behold! A sky god!” over Cosmos' prone body.

S: This man is going to take what he's given and run with it. A true con artist. 

O: The other aliens, aside from Talaria, fall down in worship. 

S: She must be so done with everything.

O: I would be so done with everything. 

S: Astrotrain’s like, “Hey, they worship Transformers! I'll just tell them I'm in charge.” 

O: Starscream, unsurprisingly, does not like this plan.

S: He wants to be the boss.

O: Starscream never gets to be the boss.

S: Well, he always declares himself the boss and then he gets demoted right, like, immediately. 

O: This is why you should stop saying you're the boss while Megatron is still alive.

S: Yep. Astrotrain promptly goes for strangulation and then Starscream is just, like, “Okay, okay.”

O: That that'll usually do’er. Uh, Jero tells Talaria to bow down just as Astrotrain drives through the trees in train mode.

S: Choo-choo-cachoo?

O: Astrotrain then transforms and proclaims himself as the mightiest of the gods. 

S: Astrotrain has the other two carry Cosmos into the temple saying, “Prop up that hunk of junk over there.” 

O: Why does Cosmos just keep getting regulated to junk?

S: Because he's small, round, and full of love.

O: All the things Astrotrain hates. 

S: Yeah, Starscream whines about, “Why do they have to listen to Astrotrain?”

O: To which Thrust replies, “Because he'll vaporize us if we don't.” I'm serious, I'm really loving the Coneheads on this watch through. They're way more competent than I gave them credit for.

S: Yeah, well they care about not dying.

O: Which, honestly, counts for a lot in the show. 

S: Yeah, yeah. Astrotrain props Cosmos up as an idol for the people to worship and grabs the energy data off of him. 

O: He then sits there and talks really loudly about how if Cosmos could only reconnect one wire he'd be able to call for help. Thankfully, Talaria overhears this. 

S: Thrust points out that Astrotrain burned up most of his fuel chasing Cosmos and they had better call Megatron, you know, for help.

O: Astrotrain’s, like, “No! Not until I crack Cosmos's code!”

S: ‘I want to be king of this mud ball!’

O: Uh, he's going to be king of something. They walk off and Talaria does the smart thing and reconnects Cosmos's wire, allowing Optimus to communicate with her and activate Cosmos's signal beacon so, basically, the Autobots can find him.

S: Starscream shoots at her and then we cut to a commercial.

O: Starscream misses and, thankfully, Cosmos wakes up and shoots him, allowing Talaria to escape.

S: Astrotrain then shoots Cosmos and poor Cosmos collapses again.

O: He's taken a lot of abuse in this episode. On Earth, Perceptor and Jazz volunteer to go with Omega Supreme to save Cosmos. 

S: Unfortunately, once they get there Omega will not be able to transform and help them.

O: By- due to lack of energy, basically, he's not going to have enough energy to get there and back.

S: Mm-hmm. And back on the alien planet [Titan] Jero leads the Cons to the fire god's lair.

O: Which consists of giant ass crystals that are apparently full of energy. Like most giant crystal things in this show. 

S: One of Jero's followers is like, “Aaah! This is taboo,” Jero's like, “God's gonna do what a god's gonna do, who cares about your taboos?”

O: And Astrotrain wants energy.

S: Yep, never mind that it's the sort of energy that makes things go boom.

O: Hey, I mean, they are what they are. They are a chaotic explosive uh, faction. The Autobots arrive just as Omega runs out of energy and they crash land. 

S: They decide that they need Cosmos to move the poor crash-landed Omega and Jazz tells him to, “not move,” and Omega replies, “Sarcasm not appreciated.”

O: [laughter] Be careful there, buddy, you're making a joke and after the other two walk off the cliff they were on partially collapses leaving Omega balanced precariously on just the teeniest, tiniest bit of rock.

S: “Situation critical.” And frankly, Mr. Omega, that is an understatement. 

O: Yes, it is. In the cave, the Cons are now forcing the aliens to harvest the giant crystals for them.

S: Starscream confirms that they are quite unstable. 

O: Yeah but- I'm shocked, shocked to tell you, shocked.

S: Jazz and Perceptor are walking around outside when Talaria shoots arrows at them and then Jazz asks her to, “Hey, calm down,” and Talaria leads them to Cosmos-

O: While riding-

S: With a bit of explanation.

O: While riding on Jazz's shoulder, no less.

S: She has the best seat in the house.

O: She does, Jazz is a delight.

S: The Cons walk in on Jazz and Perceptor seeing to Cosmos and cue a firefight with a bunch of explosive crystals.

O: Like a sane person, Thrust wants backup.

S: Yep, but Starscream tells him to stand and fight because if Thrust doesn't then Starscream doesn't have anyone to stand behind.

O: Pretty much and it's Porche and rock versus warplane, as Jazz chucks the rock at Starscream, making him fall to the ground. 

S: [Sighs] Starscream yells for help but Thrust runs out and tells Astrotrain.

O: Astrotrain then has does the humans [aliens] shoot crystals at Jazz.

S: They've got them on the ends of, um, arrows. They're using them as arrowheads, I think. The aliens pull out a catapult and begin shooting huge chunks of crystals at Jazz and Perceptor, blasting them into a crevice.

O: Astrotrain captures Talaria and we cut to another commercial, you know, because a woman is in mortal peril and if we have an episode with a woman this is required.

S: We need all that suspense. Thrust, again, calls for common sense as he and Starscream fly over looking for the Autobots but Starscream laughs this off.

O: Naturally, Jazz and Perceptor are fine.

S: Back with the aliens, Astrotrain and Jero continue to be dicks. 

O: And then back to Jazz and Perceptor, because we can't focus for more than three seconds in this episode.

S: They don't have time to have to do all of this stuff in 23 minutes.

O: Of course. The two enter the cave with all the crystals. Perceptor examines them and realizes they're unstable crystallized energy. Jazz then bangs on one with a rock for some reason.

S: I think he might want a sample? 

O: Well, thankfully, Perceptor stops him before any explosions can happen.

S: Yeah. Meanwhile some of the natives are realizing their religion is a lie and confront Jazz.

O: Jazz is like, “We ain’t gods!” 

S: The aliens inform them that Talaria is about to be sacrificed so off Jazz goes to save her and he tells Perceptor to go refuel Omega with the crystals.

O: Which apparently don't need to be refined or anything.

S: Yeah, we just see Perceptor running through the forest with a bag of crystals.

O: Where did he even get a bag? 

S: Subspace? Maybe the aliens had something that he borrowed?

O: Maybe.

S: The natives- he finds Omega in his precarious situation and Perceptor tries to reach him by Indiana Jones-ing some shit. 

O: Back in the temple, Talaria is being tied up just as Jazz pops out of the floor.

S: The inexplicable hole in the middle of the floor leading down to the pit of doom.

O: You know, normal temple stuff in an 80’s cartoon.

S: Elsewhere, Perceptor is quickly shoving crystals into Omega Supreme as they're falling.

O: And Omega's able to take flight, saving both of their afts, with Perceptor hanging on for dear life.

S: Jazz goes in guns blazing to save Talaria, as they duck and cover from the Decepticon fire.

O: Jazz proves to be an excellent shot, too. 

S: Omega and Perceptor arrive in front of the temple.

O: Perceptor looking much worse for wear as he stumbles off from their wild ride.

S: His- Perceptor is just very done with today.

O: He's a scientist, not a- not an adventurer, damnit! 

S: I think a lot of people are very done with today. 

O: Omega punches through the wall and Starscream and Thrust flee.

S: Astrotrain falls down the pit- into the pit of doom, narrowly avoiding the electric lava at the bottom, and then the Cons and Jero meet up in the crystal cave, and realizing they can't fight Omega Supreme, instead decide to blow the crystals up, and fly off with the Decepticons leaving Jero to die.

O: Because, as previously mentioned, Astrotrain is a dick!

S: The volcano explodes or, I don't know, the electric lava explodes-

O: Something-

S: And the aliens are like, “Save- save us and we'll worship you.”

O: Jazz is like, for the thousandth time, “We're not gods,” but they do save the aliens using Omega's tracks.

S: Why didn't they just get in Omega and fly off, it would have been interesting if they just brought everybody to Earth.

O: Uh, the Prime Directive would have been broken?

S: Fair. 

O: The aliens are rebuilding as Perceptor is finally able to fix Cosmos.

S: Well, Cosmos just seems like he got a nap out of all of this.

O: Quite frankly, my poor boy deserves a break. He's got to do all the flying through space except for, periodically, when they grab, you know, Skyfire to do it.

S: Yeah.

O: So something I thought was funny that we found out after we watched the episode: This is actually the first episode- and it took 39 episodes- that Frank Welker does not voice a single character.

S: That's pretty funny.

O: Because, again, he voices like, oh, what? 70% of every single Decepticon and this just happened to be three Decepticons that he does not voice at all! Like, even in the- even in the last episode, he was voicing Rumble. I know Megatron was in there a little, but he was voicing Rumble that entire time, too. So I thought that was hilarious- took 39 episodes for that. But join us next time for: The Core! Megatron wants to journey to the center of the earth and the Autobots engage in a questionable amount of mind control.

S: Yep.

O: And we do have some fanfic for today.

S: So the first fanfic is “From A Distance” by PuraJazzBot, it's from the G1 cartoon continuity and it's rated K. It's gen, there's no pairings, and our lone character is Cosmos. And, in summary, “Being in outer space is not always as exciting as it sounds. Cosmos can personally attest.” And so it's Cosmos in space and it's a one-shot. And I believe you chose our other fic today.

O: Yes it's getting near Halloween so I thought this was appropriate! Our a wild card pick for today is: “Who's The Big Bad Wolf” by LittleMissSweetgrass. It is in the IDW continuity, is G, it is Gen, there are no pairings. Our characters are Verity, Springer, Ultra Magnus, and Minimus Ambus, and in summary: “Verity is trying to get Magnus to wear the costume she worked so hard on,” and it is a one-shot. And they're celebrating Halloween. I know that summary didn't say that but it felt relevant. I'm pretty sure this is going to go up in October- this will definitely go up in October so here's a Halloween fic for you!

S: Nice, that one sounds fun.

O: It's really cute, I like anything with Verity and Minimus in it and, like, quite frankly there's not enough of it. And I- our fan art recommendation for today is: Text from More Than Meets The Eye, which is a Tumblr and it is basically IDW comic edits. It is completely inaccurate text photoshopped into IDW comic panels. 

O: Uh, today is all Ratchet and Megatron. I would apologize for this but, uh, let's face it, we all know I'm not sorry. And these are quite frankly some of my favorite ones, um, which is basically, um, Ratchet is very sure he doesn't give a fuck. Megatron reserves his right to go outside and scream at 2 AM, and, uh, Ratchet hopes that one day he can afford the surgery to remove his head from the ass- from his ass. [Ratchet’s] talking about somebody else, not himself, obviously, but, uh, I love this blog. I- I don't think they've been posting recently, which is always a bit sad but- but definitely worth looking into because I laughed so hard at some of these, and they are great!

And, also, if the- especially with Ratchet, if that is not word for word things I think he would actually say in a, you know, um, more profanity ridden, um, circumstance, I don't know what to tell you because I think they're perfect.

S: That was nice, thank you.

O: Again, highly recommend, very funny. I always laugh my butt off.

S: Yeah, it's been a while since I've seen any of those but I do enjoy them too. And that about wraps it up for us today.  Remember to check us out on Tumblr or Pillowfort as Afterspark-Podcast for any additional information, show notes, or links we may have mentioned.  You can also find us on Facebook and Twitter at AftersparkPod (all one word) and various other locations by searching for Afterspark Podcast such as AO3, iTunes, Spotify, and Youtube, just to name a few.  And feel free to send us questions on Tumblr, or Youtube, or AO3!  Till next time, I'm Specs.

O: I’m Owls.

S: Toodles.

[Outro Music]

[beatconductor-blog]

Coco 👑Last Thursday at 11:44 PM

It's been a few hours since the whole Trickster thing wore off at this point you got to puke it all out and to take a nice long shower, something anyone would need after this bullshit. This leaves you awkwardly sitting on your bed with Dave, who apparently gained the privilege of entering the hideout during all the shit going down the past week or so. You are not going to complain about that at all but the silence right now after things are finally slowing down is unbearable. You just have to say something preferably something that will start a lighthearted and conversation and won't kickstart yet another emotional breakdown. "So...Uh...Tricksters huh? Sorry for uh...Going all psycho on your ass and shit.." Nailed it.

rootyLast Thursday at 11:47 PM

Ehhh dunno if you got that privilege just yet or if you even remember where that one backdoor tunnel goes, but you definitely stayed a night or two because you're just tired of everything. You just shrug. "I started it, should've just let you go ahead but I just had to come after you." Well, sure, Sock was really weird, but you kind of fucked up the whole happy trickster thing too, right? Else you might have been just as freaky.

Coco 👑Last Thursday at 11:58 PM

Probably not a permanent privilege just yet, but he's here right now, that's all that counts. "Yeah, guess it's all your fault." You say that in a total deadpan but you hope that Dave knows you well enough by now to realize it's supposed to be a joke, if not the best one. "Seriously though, I got really creepy on you and..I'm sorry dude. Even called you my boyfriend and shit..." 

rootyYesterday at 12:02 AM

Honestly, that doesn't even properly register in your brain. Like, come on, that wasn't the worst of it all. "It's alright, I probably would've done the same if I had an actual sugar rush. It just kinda all sucked."

Coco 👑Yesterday at 12:04 AM

"Thanks uh..thanks for not fingering my bullet wounds though. That would be one weird memory to have..." Not that you don't have enough of those as is. Ugh.

rootyYesterday at 12:07 AM

"Uh, you're welcome. I mean I wish I could say I've done weirder shit before, but.. nah, not really, that was really something. That's not like, an urge you got regularly, do you..."

Coco 👑Yesterday at 12:11 AM

"You've seen all my hole filling needs so far... I dunno where..that came from." You decide not to mention what you got up to ding with your holes without him. That's not gonna help. "Only thing I did that really made sense was..hm..." You are not sure if you should say that but then again, fuck it? Everything's shit already. "..calling you my boyfriend."

rootyYesterday at 12:12 AM

You.. don't even know how to react that. Can't really say that it totally catches you off-guard, I mean, look at how much you've been together already, but. Man, you suck at this and you know it. "Alright." Nailed it.

Coco 👑Yesterday at 12:22 AM

"I...Ugh dude I feel like such an idiot here. It's...What..What are we even doing? Are we boyfriends?" You have been hanging out for ho long now? When did you start having sex? How often did you actually tell each other 'I love you' so far? A lot, though never without the possibility of blaming being high on illegal substances or just sex. It's hard to look at anything but you hands but you do sneak a glance at his face to see his reaction.

rootyYesterday at 9:44 AM

You don't know how to answer this. Actually you do, it's more like you physically can't. You lean there, getting really nervous and blushing just a little and very much avoiding his eyes. "Huhhh..." Fuck you fucking idiot.

Coco 👑Yesterday at 2:00 PM

Well that doesn't really help. It only makes you feel like more of an idiot for bringing this up. Maybe you misunderstood everything you guys did in the past twoish years. Maybe you shouldn't have brought it up, ever. Maybe he actually secretly hates you and wants you dead- No stop this is getting stupid. Well you are stupidly anxious about this and it shows. It's hard to actually look at Dave anymore. "That's...That's not an answer dude...We can just...shit i dont know. Sorry for asking." Nice chickening out there chicken boy.

rootyYesterday at 2:43 PM

Oh no, Sock definitely didn't misunderstand. That's just what happens when you crush on personified denial. You look incredibly stressed and nervous, trying to find a satisfying solution to an impossible problem. The problem being you. "No, it's.." Well, great, now you feel bad cause your chickening out made him chicken out. Urgh. Just tabbing out and asking Aradia for help would be really rude, right? Something something sometimes it's worth the risk and all and hell. You like him. "I mean. I.. I guess." That sure was a complete and comprehensive conversation.

Coco 👑Yesterday at 7:38 PM

"You guess...? That uh..That we're..you know? Or that we can..drop it?" You hope for the first answer for sure but you also really don't want to get your hopes up. Stupid bird boy.

rootyYesterday at 7:46 PM

God, he's really making you say it, is he? Fucking hell. You sink back into the matress a little, wishing you were anywhere but here but what else is new. "The thing. The boy.. friend.. thing." Your voice is getting smaller with every word.

Coco 👑Yesterday at 7:59 PM

"Oh..." It actually takes you a moment to process that. Is that a yes? It sounds like a yes. Is he sure about the yes? Do you deserve a yes? What if he just feels like he has to say yes but secretly he hates you- No bad again. Wrong. Stop.  You take a deep breath before you gather all your courage and tackle the poor guy on the bed to kiss him. That's what you are supposed to do in a moment like this right? You pull away and look down at Dave and it feels like you are running the most nasty fever in the world. God you have to look like a god damn tomato. "Are...Are you sure? Is this okay?" It feels okay to you but... You are not so sure about Dave.  It's hard not to let your fears and insecurities take over.

rootyYesterday at 9:39 PM

Oh. Oh god. Yeah, making out still feels really good, though you're also totally caught offguard. And blushing much harder than Sock because you're a few degrees paler. You have a really hard time meeting his eyes. Please stop expecting so much, you're just a simple Dave... "Y.. yeah. It is......"

Coco 👑Yesterday at 10:15 PM

Oh wow, you've never seen him blush this hard.  That actually reassures you and you give him your biggest dumbest grin. "Does that mean we can hold hands in public?"

rootyYesterday at 10:51 PM

*"Wow wow wow. Slow down there alright who the hell do you think I am." You almost sound upset, but there's the teeniest tiny awkward grin on your face. God. Fuck. Yeah, alright. You love him. Look at that idiot.

Coco 👑Yesterday at 11:03 PM

"I think you are Dave Strider." You kiss him again, longer this time. "The biggest gaylord on Derse and my fucking boyfriend." Saying that feels just a little weird still but it's easier packaged as a joke and...It might be weird but it's also really nice. The smile just doesn't leave your face.

rootyToday at 12:24 AM

"Shut up." God. Fuck. Fucking hell. For once, the giddy excitement just barely outweighs the absolute terror in your bone, and yet he just talks way too fucking much and you pull him in for another deep kiss.

Coco 👑Today at 1:05 AM

You easily let him shut you up with kisses. Hell yeah you will take that any day. Fuck, you'd really like that every day for real. Maybe you can pretend that this is going to be every day from now on for just a minute. You don't know how long you've been making out when you finally speak up again, grabbing his hand because well..You are gay. And you want to hold onto him. "Hey... I'm really happy." And you really are. For once, just for now, nothing else really matters. You can go back to worrying about everything tomorrow.

rootyToday at 1:09 AM

"Fuuck..." Hell, this is gay. He's so gay. You're so gay. And excited. And nervous. Like what, this isn't your first crush, not your first makeout, not even your first relationship. But it was... so much more than this. "Me too..." you answer somewhat shaky. You really mean it though.

Coco 👑Today at 1:30 AM

He looks so utterly vulnerable right now and it makes your heart beat just a little bit faster. You know how much he wants to come off as cool and collected even if he's just a big loser so just getting this close... It feels special. It makes you feel like you are special, in the good way for once in your life. "I love you." It slips out before you can even consider what you are saying but well...You do. You did for a while now. You even said it before but it feels so different to say it now.

rootyToday at 1:53 AM

You're not vulnerable, you're cool af. Okay, that's a lie, but one you gotta tell yourself to preserve what little is left of your self-esteem and composure. Except, that 'I love you' completely sweeps the rest of it away too and you start to tear up a little (to be fair, you're exhausted as fuck), which is probably a weird look with that awkward grin of you. You reply, though you mouth your answer mor than you actually speak it. Hopefully Sock can guess what you tried to say.

Coco 👑Today at 2:04 AM

Look at that big sap, does he actually have tears in his eyes? You'd tease him about it under different circumstances but right now? You're not going to ruin this. That reply is more than good enough for you, you honestly didn't expect one at all and that would have been okay too. You answer with some more kisses instead, too scared to ruin the moment if you keep on talking.

rootyToday at 2:10 AM

Kisses. Right, yes, that's a thing you can do. It's like a button got pushed, snapping you out of your deer-in-headlights kinda trance, and you kiss him in return on any spot you can find and reach.

Coco 👑Today at 2:21 AM

The sudden affection makes you chuckle a little. It's nice. You pull Dave as close as you can and carefully wrap your wings around him. This feels right, you can get used to this. The past days? Weeks? Years? Have been so exhausting but it's all worth it for this little moment. It's easy to fall asleep when you are with your boyfriend.

rootyToday at 2:25 AM

Yes. Yes, this is nice. And you don't stop the kisses for a few more moments. You probably won't ever get used to this, but even then, this isn't all that bad.

[onthemasspike]

Character Development

1.      What’s their full name? Why was that chosen? Does it mean anything? Mirabella Raquel Mendes. Her mother declared “ella mira bella” when she was born and her father wrote it as her name, whether he misunderstood his wife or he liked the way it sounded, she isn’t quite sure. It means “looks beautiful,” and her beauty was always the girl’s saving grace.

2. Do they have any titles? How did they get them? Mirabella’s always been The Babydoll, seen as someone so innocent and demure due to her petite form, her occupation of owning a bakery and the side of her which is adorable, sweet and cheerful. This is the side of herself she tries to hide behind most because she doesn’t want to acknowledge what she’s really come.

3. Did they have a good childhood? What are fond memories they have of it? What’s a bad memory?  A product of an arranged marriage, Mirabella was conceived because it was an expectation that they have a child, not because either parent really wanted her. Rather, she was blamed for ruining whatever dreams for the future they’d had. The girl was treated as a pariah, told that she would never be more than someone’s wife, if any man was stupid enough to marry her. Her parents didn’t believe in her and belittled her into compliance. The only rewarding factor of her childhood was her Abuela, who lived with them. Her Abuela tried to shelter the girl by teaching her all about baking and cooking. Though it was to try to protect her from the cruelty of her parents, it sparked an interest within the young girl.

4. What is their relationship with their parents? What’s a good and bad memory with them? Did they know both parents?  Mirabella didn’t want to be stuck in Mendoza, particularly because she didn’t fit in with the other kids. Her parents really made it impossible for her to have friendships. She was homeschooled by her Abuela, seemingly kept from the village society. The way her parents seemed to hate her only made her determined to find a way out. It was because of her parents telling her she’d never amounted to anything that she defied them by making Youtube videos. Other than learning to cook or bake with her grandmother, it was her only creative outlet. She was surprised when a producer in Buenos Aires emailed her with an invitation to audition. The girl begged her Abuela to come with her, though her parents were vehemently against it. Or so it seemed until she landed a part on Chiquititas, a kids telenovela where the performers got to act and sing. Once she had the part, once the papers started writing about her, her parents decided to cash in on their only daughter’s fame. Truthfully, Mirabella wasn’t sure how she felt about it because as happy as she was that they finally showed an interest in her, she knew that it was extremely superficial. It is because of that and her parent’s interference with her relationship and pressure to marry Javier that she has ultimately decided to cut ties with them.

5. Do they have any siblings? What’s their names? What is their relationship with them? Has their relationship changed since they were kids to adults? Nope.

6. What were they like at school? Did they enjoy it? Did they finish? What level of higher education did they reach? What subjects did they enjoy? Which did they hate? She was homeschooled by her Abuela but she loved History, English and anything that involved her creativity. She was fascinated by the world outside of their little home in Mendoza and began to dream of what else was out there. Still, she absolutely hated Math and Science and any subjects that had very specific formats of how to learn. When she left home to join the cast of Chiquititas, her education continued through on-set tutors. Ultimately, Mirabella was a good student, she read voraciously and she enjoyed it but she knew she wouldn’t continue to further education when her career was already starting to gain traction.

7. Did they have lots of friends as a child? Did they keep any of their childhood friends into adulthood?  With the way her parents sheltered her, Mirabella saw her Abuela as her only friend. She had imaginary friends as a child but no one who really mattered. Even when she went out to play with other kids, she suffered a bit because she didn’t (necessarily) have adequate social skills. Those were developed as she began acting, but she learned also that the people she thought were her friends were only interested in her superficially just as her parents had been.

8. Did they have pets as a child? Do they have pets as an adult? Do they like animals?  Mirabella has always adored animals. She knew as soon as she saw Snow White that she wanted to get dressed by birds in the morning and have connections with animals. Even once she learned that wasn’t possible, she hoped to have a pet. Her parents were against it so she wasn’t allowed to have one. Once she moved to Argentina, she was far too busy to take care of a pet. It was her decision when she moved to Boston after she’d declared this was going to be where she would stay, at least, for a while, that she was prepared to have a pet. When she went to the local shelter, the teeniest Corgi puppy connected with her immediately. When she’d taken him home, he’d wrapped himself under the blankets like one would wrap a burrito, thus earning his title.

9. Do animals like them? Do they get on well with animals?  Truthfully, if she could, she’d probably have ten dogs and all sorts of other animals. Mirabella acquired a friend’s dog, Cheeto, when Georgia left Boston. The Pomsky and her Corgi had become good friends, to her delight. They’d also managed to become friends with her friends’ dogs – Nilla, Indie’s Golden Retriever puppy as well as Taco and Bell, Devin’s Pugs. 

10. Do they like children? Do children like them? Do they have or want any children? What would they be like as a parent? Or as a godparent/babysitter/etc? Even though she’d had a difficult childhood, it actually made her want to be a mother more than anything. She knew she would raise a child and shield them from a lot of the pain she’d experienced. Maybe it was that quality that made Mirabella absolutely adore both children and animals. She was a natural caretaker and it had won her the title of Godmother to her best friend, Sienna’s son, Kellan. Children and parents alike tended to like her, partly because they liked the sweets she made. Unfortunately, one afternoon of babysitting went awry when Indie’s daughter, Kiera, disregarded Mirabella’s instructions to tell her if the little girl was hungry, and caused the two-year-old to almost overdose on drugged cupcakes. She’d only taken her eye off of the girl for two or three minutes before she’d discovered her on the floor. It had shaken Mira terribly and colossally hurt her friendship with Indie. Though such a terrible experience happened, she adores Kiera and hopes that she’ll be able to win back Indie’s trust again. 

11. Do they have any special diet requirements? Are they a vegetarian? Vegan? Have any allergies? Mirabella has always been very anxious when it came to eating. Her mother critiqued anything she ate and the girl’s figure. Her handlers and the paparazzi only added to her nerves, which led to a bout with both anorexia and bulimia. After struggles with her figure, she turned to taking pills as a way to soothe her. The Adderall made her focus and that focus relieved her of hunger. Though she struggles with her own appetite, food is the center of her world. She sees it as a way to show her love to others, which is a good part of the reason she opened a bakery and café. 

12. What is their favourite food?  Though she only eats sparatically, Mirabella’s palate is mostly for International and Ethnic foods. She loves exploring other cuisines and recently tried Burmese food. Her favorite is probably Thai food but she’s extremely open. With her flair for sweet, her favorite foods tend to be desserts like gelato, alfajores or mochi but she also has a weakness for arepas, chicken tenders and anything with Thai peanut sauce.

13. What is their least favourite food? Her mother wasn’t a very good cook so anything that reminds her of that!

14. Do they have any specific memories of food/a restaurant/meal? Anytime she can cook for those she loves. 15. Are they good at cooking? Do they enjoy it? What do others think of their cooking? Mirabella is both an excellent cook and baker. Not only does she do it for a living, she loves to invite friends over for dinner. She can constantly be seen bringing dishes to friends, whether her Abuela’s chicken soup when they are sick or a box of cupcakes just because. Her food has received great reviews from her friends, Yelp and local media.

16. Do they collect anything? What do they do with it? Where do they keep it?  She collects recipes. One of the only things she kept from Argentina was her grandmother’s book of recipes that was the basis of her bakery and café. Other than that, Mirabella collects records and books. Her living room features a large bookshelf filled with both.

17. Do they like to take photos? What do they like to take photos of? Selfies? What do they do with their photos? Truthfully, most of her photos are of the bakery or of treats she’s created but she’s used to being in front of the camera. 

18. What’s their favourite genre of: books, music, tv shows, films, video games and anything else? Growing up on Shakira and Selena, Mirabella adores strong women in all aspects. Her tastes have expanded to Pop, Rock, Hip Hop and much more. Her own music tends to be much closer to the Indie Pop soundtrack that plays in her bakery. She is a voracious reader, often reading about how to run a business and about food itself. She also really enjoys Non-Fiction. Her favorite authors of the Latin variety include Sergio Chejfec, Isabel Allende and Gabriel García Márquez. She loves the movie, Closer, and the Jennifer Lopez biopic of Selena (though she’ll argue with you that J Lo was the wrong choice based on many reasons including the fact that she is Puerto Rican, not Mexican), and many others foreign and not. Her guilty pleasure it television though, maybe because she’d been on the other side. She loves reality tv, particularly romance or game shows like The Voice, The Bachelor and anything that specifies talent or drama. She also loves Bob’s Burgers, Jane The Virgin (because she knows far too much about telenovelas), a handful of telenovelas and a few other shows that she has to DVR because she works so much!

19. What’s their least favourite genres? Good question! 20. Do they like musicals? Music in general? What do they do when they’re favourite song comes? Music is extremely important to Mirabella. She’d always sang to herself but it was an audition of singing “Dreaming of You” by Selena that won her an audition. It led to her own music career though the songs were selected for her and she wasn’t allowed to write a singer one. Though she disliked the songs and the direction of her career, she loved the audience, she loved that she was able to connect with people. She continues to write her own music in hopes that she’ll find a way to perform, whether at the bakery or at a local Boston venue. Mirabella is also a skilled dancer, in part from watching a lot of music videos, but also from intense training that helped her career. She is the first one to start dancing and the last one to go home when she goes out.

21. Do they have a temper? Are they patient? What are they like when they do lose their temper? Though she tries to remain calm, hiding behind a persona of positivity, Mirabella has a fuse. There are a few things that ultimately trigger her and when they do, she absolutely lashes out. The Argentine, though small, gets extremely loud and argumentative when she loses her temper. She doesn’t back down, intent on proving that she’s in the right. Because she knows how hard it is for her to calm down when she does get angry, she relies on her persona and the pills to keep her at ease.

22. What are their favourite insults to use? What do they insult people for? Or do they prefer to bitch behind someone’s back? She tries very hard to remain calm and use any negativity into her creative outlets, she isn’t always above it. She knows just how to hit people where it hurts and prey on some of their insecurities. Mostly, though, she complains and gossips about people with her best friends.

23. Do they have a good memory? Short term or long term? Are they good with names? Or faces? She’s typically good with faces and names but sometimes forgets simple things, maybe based off of a history of drug use or maybe because she didn’t care enough to learn it in the first place. She tries to remember everything that the people she loves have told her, at the very least. As far as her personal history, she’d blocked out a good portion of it so she refuses to remember.

24. What is their sleeping pattern like? Do they snore? What do they like to sleep on? A soft or hard mattress? She is a terrible sleeper, based on the fact that for years, she was basically working so much that she never had much time to decompress. That strong work ethic plus insomnia are a toxic match that leave Mirabella sleeping a maximum of five hours a night, typically though, it was more like three. She doesn’t snore when she does sleep but she’s always pushed to the edge of the queen sized bed by both of her dogs.

25. What do they find funny? Do they have a good sense of humour? Are they funny themselves? She wouldn’t call herself funny but she does typically have a good sense of humor. She tries to be the first to laugh at herself and tends to respond to animal gifs that make her laugh out loud.

26. How do they act when they’re happy? Do they sing? Dance? Hum? Or do they hide their emotions?  She hides her negative emotions as best as she can but her positive emotions seem to burst through her. She’s bright and sunny, dancing, singing, bouncing around eagerly. Mirabella seems to be the definition of sunshine, bright, and warm but when she’s sad, she’s a thunderstorm.

27. What makes them sad? Do they cry regularly? Do they cry openly or hide it? What are they like they are sad? So much of her life has made it hard to be happy. She has a lot of stress regarding her family, Javier and a lot of secrets she doesn’t want to spill. Mirabella is a very tragic person who is trying her hardest to overcome a lot of setbacks including extortion, abuse and trauma. The pills make it easier to hide, if she can focus on work, if she can play the role, she won’t have to delve into the true sadness. Though, when she’s alone and the pills wear off, Mirabella understands the trouble within herself.

28. What is their biggest fear? What in general scares them? How do they act when they’re scared? Mostly her fears are that her former life will come back to haunt her. She left Argentina for more than a handful of reasons – that her arrangement of a marriage turned out to be with a psychopath who apparently knew they were meant to be together when he saw her on his father’s vineyard at ten years old, that her agent extorted her after learning about her drug use, forcing her to sleep with him and sell drugs for him, offering him a cut of the profits, that even more of her mistakes will come to life. After Javier sabotaged her Valentine’s Day party, she becomes even more afraid that he knows how to find her, that if she doesn’t someday give in, he’ll really harm someone, or even kill her so no one else can have her. She’s scared that Trent Foster is after all of his former neighbors. Her biggest fear, however, is herself. She thinks she’s a ticking time bomb and she needs to get herself in check. Part of how she wants to do that is to learn to defend herself – maybe Devin will be able to help with that.

29. What do they do when they find out someone else’s fear? Do they tease them? Or get very over protective?  She is an extremely protective person, often times it comes out because she can’t imagine anyone hurting the way that she does constantly. Even those who can readily take care of themselves, Mirabella worries about. Her strongest fears are towards Ginny, often times because the girl lives within her secrets. She wonders what her best friend is hiding and why she won’t tell. Now that a secret about Ginny has been revealed, Mirabella is even more concerned about the girl than ever.

30. Do they exercise? Regularly? Or only when forced? What do they act like pre-work out and post-work out? Mirabella exercises a lot because of her inability to sleep and because she’s so cautious about her weight. She enjoys dance classes, yoga and exploring other types of exercise such as spinning, hot barre, kickboxing and aerial fitness. She likes to try to exercise with Ginny especially because she finds a natural competitiveness when they are exercising.* (* If Gin approves of this detail.)

31. Do they drink? What are they like drunk? What are they like hungover? How do they act when other people are drunk or hungover? Kind or teasing? As fond of sweets as she is, it isn’t shocking to learn that her favorite cocktails are Midori Sours, Amaretto Sours or Pina Coladas. Still, she’s absolutely fine with a beer or a Jack and Coke. But she’d be lying if she wasn’t fond of Malbec wine, made in her hometown of Mendoza, Argentina. After years of partying, she doesn’t get drunk so quickly but because she is a very petite woman, she can’t handle drinking many cocktails in one night. Depending on what she drinks, she gets flirty, angry or sleepy. She’s a bit whiny when she’s hung over but is often sated with coffee and Tylenol.

32. What do they dress like? What sorta shops do they buy clothes from? Do they wear the fashion that they like? What do they wear to sleep? Do they wear makeup? What’s their hair like? She’s very dedicated to fashion, particularly supporting Sienna’s boutique. Mirabella doesn’t exclusively wear Blackwood Designs but she wears it enough to be a walking billboard. She sees her fashion as both edgy and feminine. She loves pink and dresses but she also likes dressing down. Mirabella spent a lot of time being unable to choose what she wanted to wear so now she wears whatever she wants. To bed, she typically wears a t-shirt and yoga pants… unless she were going to bed with someone, then she’d pull out the lingerie. She has long brunette hair and typically wears it straight but she also seen wearing it up, curled or in braids. She loves makeup, particularly bright lipsticks.

33. What underwear do they wear? Boxers or briefs? Lacey? Comfy granny panties? Though no one is seeing it, Mirabella tends to wear lingerie sets that make her feel sexy. It is important to her to feel like a woman.

34. What is their body type? How tall are they? Do they like their body? Though she is only 5’0” and just over 100 pounds, Mirabella has a curvier form. She was always anxious about the curves of her body but is slowly learning to appreciate them.

35. What’s their guilty pleasure? What is their totally unguilty pleasure?  She doesn’t feel guilty about reading romance novels, watching bad tv or gossiping. 

36. What are they good at? What hobbies do they like? Can they sing? She’s a great baker/cooker, she’s also quite talented at singing and acting. Mirabella has taught herself how to play both piano and guitar.

37. Do they like to read? Are they a fast or slow reader? Do they like poetry? Fictional or non fiction? She loves reading and is a fast reader. She likes poetry but she prefers non fiction.

38. What do they admire in others? What talents do they wish they had? She admires others who are able to present, who are fully honest and can be their full selves. She loves that her friends are all sure of who they are. She is amazed by the strong women she’s surrounded by and envies that quality. She adores the type of mother Sienna is and the creativity of her fashion designs. Both Sienna and Indie are incredible business owners and mothers, which are qualities she hopes to accomplish one day. Ginny is an amazing writer and, as someone who is more used to reciting words than writing them, she wishes she was capable of writing like that.

39. Do they like letters? Or prefer emails/messaging?  She wishes more people wrote letters. She loves to write little notes with food she brings her friends but she tends to use social media more than anything. 

40. Do they like energy drinks? Coffee? Sugary food? Or can they naturally stay awake and alert? It is the Adderall that is often keeping her awake and focused more than anything but she relies on coffee, lattes and a whole lot of matcha.

41. What’s their sexuality? What do they find attractive? Physically and mentally? What do they like/need in a relationship? She is mostly straight. She’s been with both guys and girls in her determined rebellion but has always been more drawn to men. It doesn’t mean she’s opposed to being with a girl again though. Mirabella is attractive to dominance, to someone who can handle her, who knows how to be protective but also allow her to flourish. She tends to be attracted to bad boys, musicians, bartenders and anyone she knows her parents wouldn’t like. Perhaps she purposely picks people that aren’t like the man they wanted her to be with. She craves someone who challenges her mentally, who she can open her true self to and who can inspire her to be better. Physically, she tends to fall for the tall men who tower over her, often with dark hair but she’s extremely open.

42. What are their goals? What would they sacrifice anything for? What is their secret ambition? She isn’t totally sure what she wants out of life. Ultimately, she wants to be successful in her personal and professional lives. She focuses so much on her business that she hasn’t really given herself time to have a personal life. Secretly though, she truly wants to have a family of her own.

43. Are they religious? What do they think of religion? What do they think of religious people? What do they think of non religious people? She hasn’t any relationship to religion. She was raised in a Jewish household and acknowledges traditions or customs her Abuela taught her but she doesn’t keep kosher or anything.

44. What is their favourite season? Type of weather? Are they good in the cold or the heat? What weather do they complain in the most?  Considering she grew up in a warmer climate, it is no secret that Mirabella adores warmer weather. She loves the Summer and adores everything about it. She also really enjoys the Fall when the leaves begin to change. She likes the way flowers blossom and how everything feels new in the Spring. Her least favorite season is the Winter. She’s always cold, always has to layer up and she has to keep her electric blanket on. Still, Winter is really good when you own a bakery as far as Hot Chocolate, Eggnog and other things to warm up!

45. How do other people see them? Is it similar to how they see themselves?  Mirabella tries to control the way that people see her. As an actress, she learned how to present herself. It allowed her to turn off everything she is in order to present the best representation of herself. She shows herself to be gregarious, courteous and eager, all qualities that are aspects of who she is but not who she is entirely. She battles herself constantly. She sees herself as her worst enemy.

46. Do they make a good first impression? Does their first impression reflect them accurately? How do they introduce themselves? She knows exactly how to make a great impression. She introduces herself with a smile and maintains a jovial presence.

47. How do they act in a formal occasion? What do they think of black tie wear? Do they enjoy fancy parties and love to chit chat or loathe the whole event? She knows how to act in social engagements, relying on a past of red carpet events, award shows and other ways to present herself. She loves dressing up, she loves the whole experience of going out.

48. Do they enjoy any parties? If so what kind? Do they organize the party or just turn up? How do they act? What if they didn’t want to go but were dragged along by a friend?  She loves parties, loves social engagements. It is easy for her to forget about all of her demons when she’s around others and enjoying an experience. She loves planning events, particularly whenever she can cater them.

49. What is their most valued object? Are they sentimental? Is there something they have to take everywhere with them? Her most valuable object is her Abuela’s recipe book. It is one of the only things she lets remind her of where she came from. She is a very sentimental person. She even framed the first dollar she earned at the bakery. 

50. If they could only take one bag of stuff somewhere with them: what would they pack? What do they consider their essentials? Firstly, it would depend where she was going – is it business or leisure? Is she going willingly or would she be forced? For her, it would probably be a journal and a few pens, some clothes and a few too many pairs of shoes. She’d probably pack some toiletries and makeup but those would be added after. 

QUOTE 

“Why is it we always choose to see the worst in ourselves? In the end, we’re always the villains of our own stories.”

BASIC

NAME:  Mirabella Raquel Mendes NICKNAMES: Mira, Bella, Wife (Ginny), Tink (Devin), VG (Devin) AGE: 21 BIRTHDAY: December 14th SPECIES: Human GENDER:  Female PRONOUNS: She/Her

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES

FACE CLAIM: Cierra Ramirez RACE/ETHNICITY: Latina NATIONALITY: Argentine HEIGHT: 5’0” WEIGHT: 105 pounds BUILD: Lithe but curvy HAIR: Dark brown, naturally a bit wavy but worn straight FACIAL HAIR: God no. HAIR COLOR: Dark brown EYE COLOR: Dark brown but can look golden when she’s happy. SKIN COLOR: Tan DOMINANT HAND: Right  ANOMALIES:  SCENT: Depends on the day, but something reminiscent of summer – warm, fruity and alluring. ACCENT: Though she’s lived in the States for years, her accent is still quite strong. It is often saccharine and sweet, though she sometimes mispronounces words or uses the wrong version of the word. PHYSICAL DISABILITIES: N/A LEARNING DISABILITIES: N/A but probably something. ALLERGIES: None that she knows of. DISORDERS: Body dysmorphia/anxiety/trauma FASHION: She loves fashion – edgy and feminine, both dressing up and dressing down. NERVOUS TICS: Playing with her hair, chewing her lower lip. QUIRKS: 

LIFESTYLE

HOME ADDRESS:  RESIDES: Boston, MA BORN: Mendoza, Argentina RAISED: Mendoza, Argentina VEHICLE:  PHONE: Iphone LAPTOP/COMPUTER: Macbook PETS:  Doggies - Cheeto and Burrito

EDUCATION: Homeschooled and tutored on set CAREER: Owner of Tricks and Sweets Bakery-Cafe EXPERIENCE: Years of acting and singing, learning from her Abuela EMPLOYER: Self-employed YEARLY SALARY: $47,000 (on average)

POLITICAL AFFILIATION:  RELIGION: Jewish BELIEFS:  MISDEMEANORS:  FELONIES:  TICKETS AND/OR VIOLATIONS:  DRUGS: Adderall and Uppers mostly. SMOKES:  Every once in a while. ALCOHOL: Socially. DIET: What diet?

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: Single. SEXUAL ORIENTATION: Mostly straight. MARTIAL STATUS: Single. CHILDREN: One day. AVAILABILITY: When she isn’t working. LOOKING FOR: Someone who can handle her.

LANGUAGES: English, Spanish, some Italian.

PHOBIAS:  HOBBIES: Baking, cooking, reading, writing songs. TRAITS:  SOCIAL MEDIA: Instagram, Twitter, Facebook (at least, for the bakery)

FAVOURITE

LOCATION:  SPORTS TEAM: She’ll say the Boston Red Sox but she only really cares about Futbol. GAME: She secretly wants to learn how to be a good bowler and is extremely competitive MUSIC: All over the place SHOWS: Jane The Virgin, telenovelas, Bob’s Burgers, game shows, dating shows, reality tv, and a few others. MOVIES: Pocahontas, honestly, but she probably won’t admit that to you. RADIO STATION: 88.1FM, Emerson College’s radio station FOOD: Chicken Tenders or Arepas or Churros with Dulce de Leche or a million other things. BEVERAGE: Thai Iced Tea Bubble Tea or Root Beer Floats COLOR: Yellow

CHARACTER

MORAL ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Good

MBTI: (ENFJ-T)

MBTI ROLE: The Protagonist (https://www.16personalities.com/enfj-strengths-and-weaknesses)

ENNEAGRAM: Type 2

ENNEAGRAM ROLE:  The Helper

TEMPERAMENT:

Your temperament is melancholic. The melancholic temperament is fundamentally introverted and thoughtful. Melancholic people often were perceived as very (or overly) pondering and considerate, getting rather worried when they could not be on time for events. Melancholics can be highly creative in activities such as poetry and art - and can become preoccupied with the tragedy and cruelty in the world. Often they are perfectionists. They are self-reliant and independent; one negative part of being a melancholic is that they can get so involved in what they are doing they forget to think of others.

WESTERN ZODIAC:

Date of Birth: November 23 - December 21

Strength: insightful, superior, rational, brave, beautiful, lively, lovely, optimistic

Weakness: forgetful, careless, rash

Symbol: Archer

Element: Fire

Sign Ruler: Jupiter

Lucky Color: Light Blue

Lucky Number: 6

Jewelry: Amethyst

Best Match: Virgo, Leo and Aries

CHINESE ZODIAC:

You are a: Pig Lucky numbers: 2, 5, 8 Lucky colors: yellow, gray, brown, gold Characteristics: Good-natured, lovely, easy-going, generous, brave but irritable

PRIMAL SIGN: Camel (http://www.primalastrology.com/camel.html)

TAROT CARD: The Moon This represents fear, anxiety, confusion, and insecurity. Alternatively, it can represent a release of fear.

[quasarsturncoat]

DORIAN: -The Red Comet is a pretty comfy place, all things considered. It's not big like the UU, but it comes with the promise of adventure, and that's a lot more exciting, in the end. They should be touching down pretty soon, so he's munching on a banana and poring over a the vague map they've got to work with -- very little is explored, and he's got to mark the relevant destinations and landmarks that they do know of. It's a pretty thrilling prospect to chart out more of this land, especially since it promises a somewhat funky biome. The reason it hadn't been explored much before now was largely due to some of its strange animal residents that made travel a challenge -- particularly a certain large land-dwelling goatlike creature that tended to live in groups and drove most explorers out. Luckily, Dorian is an expert on weird animals, and this is right up his alley. He did plenty of research based on what they knew about the big ol' goats beforehand, and he has at least a few ideas of how to get around that problem.-

DORIAN: hey siri did we bring peanut butter?? -he loves the stuff despite a few of his family member's allergies... he likes to eat it where they can't gaze on jealously.-

SIRIUS: =Red Comet was on autopilot for now. When both terrain and weather were clear, Sirius felt comfortable enough to leave the cabin and settle in the small room off to the right. The hum of Red Comet's engines were not the low rumble of the UU's, but it provided an excellent background noise that brought her comfort. They had plenty of charge left from the solar panels and she ensured that she'd filled the reserve fuel tank before departing Lauctis's docks where the UU had also taken rest. Sirius was across from Dorian, seated at the the small community dining table/desk and idly tapping her chin with a pen. She had a field journal out where previous photographs taken of the area were spread about in a concentrated semicircle around her. She was taking the time to write down some more notes before they touched ground. Her camera gear was all packed up and ready in her sylladex, and if they happened to meet this goatlike creature, there was this "Caprinae Repellent" a shady troll sold them at a kiosk. She had faith in Dorian's abilities and knowhow, though, and if all else failed, they had the legs to run out of there like no tomorrow!=

SIRIUS: =When he spoke, Sirius lifted her head and smiled broadly.=

SIRIUS: (yeah i remember that was on our shopping list before we left)

SIRIUS: (lemme see) =she got up and began rummaging around in the cabinets of her small kitchen= (im pretty sure we got it)

SIRIUS: (i personally checked it off the list so it should be here somewhere)

SIRIUS: (oh)

SIRIUS: (here it is) =!=

SIRIUS: =She grabbed a tablespoon (what else would you grab for peanut butter?) and held it up to him, waiting for him to take it before she uncapped the peanut butter and slid it across the table to him. It had yet to be opened, and the seal was still intact, waiting for someone to rip it open and feast upon the contents.=

SIRIUS: (it was hiding next to the other condiments) = :)

DORIAN: -YES. THE BIG SPOON. She read his mind. He grabs that pretty quick before scooping up the jar, too, grinning as he flips the spoon over to use the handle end to poke a hole into the seal.-

DORIAN: that sassy bastard. it thought it could outsmart me for the first and last time. -peels the seal back, checking the underside of it just in case, but it's pretty clean. Ahh, there's nothing like the sight of the smooth, untouched surface of a fresh jar of peanut butter. TIME TO RUIN IT FOREVER. He scoops a frankly ludicrous amount onto this spoon, just so he doesn't have to double dip and get his slobber all in it. He can be courteous sometimes!-

DORIAN: -Tiny, delicate nom.- sho i wash wondering.

DORIAN: have you ever gone shpelunking on any of your-- -swallows- --adventures?

DORIAN: not gonna lie. part of me just wanted to say spelunking just now.

SIRIUS: =Takes her own spoon, but only scrapes about half her spoons worth=

SIRIUS: (actually yes)

SIRIUS: (well sort of)

SIRIUS: (i was telling durgah just the other day about it)

SIRIUS: (it was an underground cave system that had a whole forest down there with even a river running through it)

SIRIUS: (the flora was so different than the ones above ground cause i mean)

SIRIUS: (who knew when the last time any of that even saw the sun)

SIRIUS: (i didnt get that far though cause no climbing rope)

SIRIUS: (that and i had to leave the planet like the next day because the weather on ochandrues is crazy)

SIRIUS: (the lightning storms are pretty though)

SIRIUS: (you can see them from space)

SIRIUS: (look) =she cleared some of her pictures and brought out a sphere containing her digital star charts whereby turning it on, it lit up the room with its scattering of the universe. She pointed to a tiny yellow sparkle, where it zoomed in and showed a slow revolution of five planets around their star.= (here we are in the síocháin system)

SIRIUS: =and then she spread her fingers and it zoomed back out. She moved her hand across the lightyears until she selected a reddish sun. Seven planets were in this one, two of which were revolving around their star at what appeared to be breakneck speed.= (that particular planet is here in the pikkupaholainen system)

SIRIUS: =wiggles her finger at an orangish colored planet.= (ochandrues)

DORIAN: -He's already completely enraptured once she starts telling him the story, but somehow even more so once she brings up her star charts, his own eyes practically sparkling. Maybe from the reflected light, but also because he's a LITTLE BIT EMOTIONAL ABOUT IT. Space is just... so beautiful???-

DORIAN: wow........

DORIAN: man.

DORIAN: thats just so amazing. -He really sounds awed by it, and he is. It's a little more real, hearing a personal account about it, imagining that cavernous forest and any number of things that could have been blooming and thriving down there without the sun. Just incredible. He sniffs once.-

DORIAN: im sure as heck not letting us run out of climbing rope. i only brought a metric assload just so you know.

SIRIUS: (it is isnt it) =She settled her chin in her hands and watched the planets spin, sighing happily. Then Dorian's last statement caused a laugh to bubble up and she grinned= (good to be prepared for anything)

SIRIUS: (maybe one day you can see it too)

SIRIUS: (the best part was i didnt know that cave was there)

SIRIUS: (part of the ground gave out and i fell in)

SIRIUS: (i think sometimes)

SIRIUS: (forgotten places want to be found)

DORIAN: -That makes him grin, too. It's a nice thought, and an inspiring one, if nothing else.- or discovered. -Like they're going to do today. The mere thought of it again is enough to make him sit up a little more in his seat, a little too much energy in his bones.-

DORIAN: well i sure hope like they feel like it today anyway. or tomorrow. sometime at least within the month would be good.

DORIAN: just the thought of getting to fill out this map more is making me antsy!!! hahaha. its just so COOL. getting to do this.

DORIAN: -His gaze softens a little when he looks at her again, sincere.- im really glad im doing this with you. most of my stuff i always do by myself and i like... yeah it inspires me to try my hardest so i can figure things out without having to depend on someone and yada yada but its nice to have someone else around to like. experience something amazing with you and i really feel like thats what were gonna do.

DORIAN: so thank you for like. having me along for this ride. and sorry for getting all sappy on you out of nowhere hahaha!

SIRIUS: (it will give us more time to explore which would be really nice especially since the weather here wont kill us so easily) =The fauna might, though! She zoomed back out on the star maps, and there are blank areas which become more frequent the further out the soft light reaches in the room.=

SIRIUS: (hehehehe no its not sappy) =shakes her head= (i feel the same) =her smile reaches her eyes and her cheeks give off the teeniest of glows= (its not so common to find someone wholl give up a lot to see places far from home so thank you)

SIRIUS: (i really do appreciate you coming out here and seeing all this with me) =AND LEAVING YOUR LOVED ONES BEHIND. She "are you sure?"ed so many times. What she won't admit to him is that for all her adventures and travels, for how nice it was seeing things few had seen, it did get lonely from time to time.=

SIRIUS: (im glad youre here too you know) =she laughed a little and there was a slightly awkward pause before she just shoved her spoon of peanut butter in her mouth. Time to stop talking.=

DORIAN: well hey. its what i love too you know? you get that. -His soft smile shifts into a grin after a few moments of watching her with that spoon, and he stands up out of his seat.- DORIAN: well im done with this for now and we probably dont have much longer in here so why dont we spend our last free time fucking around??

DORIAN: -he stands up out of his seat, sticking his own spoon between his teeth like a makeshift rose and spin-shimmying a few times before offering her a hand... And also pulling the spoon back out and setting it on the table with the other.-

DORIAN: -Activate terrible French accent.- hon hon titty baguette... care to dance mademoiselle?

SIRIUS: =She watched him do this, staring for a bit before she was yanked out of this trance by her now peanut butter-less spoon falling out of her mouth and clattering to the table. She fumbled with it for a moment - fukcgin - and gently set it on a napkin before quickly capping the jar. Not wanting to leave him hanging for long, Sirius made a semi flustered noise, followed by a squeaky- =

SIRIUS: (sure er wait how do you say it)

SIRIUS: (oui oui monsieur mon ami) =Yes, that is exactly how to French, mister my friend. She pushed back in her chair and it slid easily across the Arabian rug. Fkjfalkfjkalf she'll just accept that hand now.=

DORIAN: -he just chuckles, pulling her closer once he's got her hand and taking her other while he's at it to guide her into a sway, stepping them around in circles.-

DORIAN: -he starts singing, but no linkin park or show tunes this time. It's something different.- oh we dont have much.

DORIAN: pocket full of holes aint got no luck.

DORIAN: one in every town weve been before.

DORIAN: stealing from the rich but giving more.

DORIAN: oh this is where the legend begins... whoaaa.

DORIAN: i think i know the ending for this,

DORIAN: and i know it cause...

DORIAN: we ride into the sunset like its the young west!

DORIAN: dont mind lover reach for the stars.

DORIAN: we make out like bandits dreaming of mansions!

DORIAN: every night youll sleep in my arms.

DORIAN: so darling ride ride ride like the wind.

DORIAN: and drive drive drive to forget.

DORIAN: our lives might depend on it... ride into the sunset.

SIRIUS: =Oh wow.. .this was different! She listens to the words as she sways with him, only faltering in the steps a little at first before figuring out the pattern. Following his steps, she relied on him to lead. Her smile is growing, and the glow returns again towards the tops of her cheeks under her eyes=

DORIAN: -Seeing her smile just makes him grin more, pulling her along in a more enthusiastic little sway as he hums. He's not used to literal glowing from most people, but she's special in that way, and it's nice that somehow he might have caused it.-

DORIAN: oh its all or not.

DORIAN: lovers on the run til we get caught.

DORIAN: making a getaway with everything we stole.

DORIAN: pistol on the draw lets start the show ohh oh oh oh.

DORIAN: cause this is where the legend begins... ohhhh.

DORIAN: i think i know the ending to this and i know it cau—

DORIAN: -There's a sudden shudder and groan in the ship that throws him a little off balance, and his first instinct is to pull Sirius closer, despite the fact that she is definitely not small enough for him to shelter. He'll be damned if he won't try anyway.-

DORIAN: ... so that was solar wind right.

SIRIUS: =Nice sea space legs, Dorian! The shudder makes her turn her head and her glow fizzled for the time being. She also hugged him back (cuz that was no mistaking it was a hug!), and pat him on the back.=

SIRIUS: (um)

SIRIUS: (maybe) =?? There was something about that noise, though...=

SIRIUS: (lets check it out)

SIRIUS: (to the cockpit) =?=

DORIAN: -TOTALLY JUST A NORMAL HUG. But he is definitely just a little suspicious, and normally he might not be so worried, but Sirius is here with him.- yeah.

DORIAN: -He shifts his hold so he's got one of her hands in his (just in case), and starts moving that way.- now would be a really shitty time for mothra not gonna lie.

SIRIUS: =she's worried because DORIAN is with her. What if he gets hurt?? That would be a NIGHTMARE=

SIRIUS: (well its)

SIRIUS: (plausible)

SIRIUS: (theres space mantas so i wouldnt count against it) =comforting smile! Though what she just said may be less than comforting=

SIRIUS: (but you dont need to worry about those)

SIRIUS: (theyre super gentle creatures who wouldnt hurt anything)

SIRIUS: (they even let me fly with them for a bit)

SIRIUS: (i think their pod was migrating)

SIRIUS: =there is aanother rumble followed by a sound that is clearly not mechanical. Also, it sounds quite large.=

SIRIUS: (though its)

SIRIUS: (not the season for them to go yet)

DORIAN: uhh... -He's holding her hand just a fraction tighter at the noise, brows creased. What gives? They're almost there...-

DORIAN: yeah that doesnt sound like any kind of manta. -With renewed determination, he practically pulls her over to the cockpit, not touching anything just yet. It's her ship, after all.-

SIRIUS: =slips into the pilot's seat as comfortably as though she was putting on a jacket.=

SIRIUS: (as much as it sounds like it wants to say hi im going to go ahead and not give it an answer if thats okay with you)

SIRIUS: =buckles in. Dorian should probs do the same thing=

DORIAN: im okay with that. -He pulls the safety harness and clicks it in place, glancing at her to grin again.- unless the answer is BYE FELICIA.

DORIAN: -Whatever this is, he's sure they can deal with it. Moreover, he feels sure Sirius can outfly it.-

SIRIUS: =Shit that makes her giggle, but she's also quickly turning off auto pilot and eases it into manual drive. There is another particularly loud clunk and ok no, Rammie just patched up the paint job, and no one insults Rammie's work like that!=

SIRIUS: =growling (it's probs the most UNaggressive growl lbr), Sirius increased the thrust and they zoomed forward, but not before another clunk. Gripping the wheel, she pulled down a video feed from above them which were of the rear cameras that acted pretty much like a land vehicle's rear and side mirrors. From it, they can both catch sight of some dark shadowy something move from the left side of the ship before disappearing below them.=

SIRIUS: =She stared open mouthed and squinting for a full three seconds, her brows furrowing. They were going pretty fast as they were, and it was keeping up with the ship. She'd never seen something like this before, and it was definitely bigger than any space manta.=

SIRIUS: (excuse my language)

SIRIUS: (but what the hell is that)

DORIAN: ... uhhhh...

DORIAN: -He doesn't know, but he's definitely borrowing this camera footage later. He's trying to think, flipping through a mental catalogue of possible things it could be. It was probably unlikely to be some kind of ghost, with as solid as it seemed, and without much out here to anchor it to something. It seemed a little too small -- and maybe a little too "normal" -- to be one of those... outer gods, or whatever. The thing was, there was a lot about space they didn't know about. But... he had heard rumors of some kind of force or entity that bore similarities to dark matter, or maybe that was dark matter. All the incidents had been hard to document, though, as they were just as mysteriously ending as they began. Well, this thing was definitely dark. Beyond that, though... He wasn't sure.-

DORIAN: not to be the unhelpful guy but your guess is about as good as mine... ive only got one idea and it doesnt do jack for us really!!

DORIAN: this better not be one of those bermuda triangle surprise black hole kind of things. that would REALLY ruin my—

DORIAN: -Another clunk against the ship, and suddenly the camera feed catches the thing ascending again, but higher, faster, moving ahead of them and its dark shape shifting a little too rapidly for him to be able to tell exactly what it was. What he could tell, though, was that there seemed to be some light radiating from its core, that was more difficult to make out the further it flew away. It looked like it was heading... toward this solar system's star.-

DORIAN: whats it doing...?

SIRIUS: =She watched at it flew over them, the angling of the glass panes giving them more than a great view of said shadowy something. She noticed the light, too, but would have thought it almost a trick of the light if her eyes hadn't been locked on it as they were.=

SIRIUS: (.....besides heading on a collision course with that star i have no clue)

SIRIUS: (at least its no longer rubbing up against us like godzillafied lei lei on steroids)

DORIAN: -He can't not snort at that imagery, but he's still a little absorbed in watching the thing head further away, closer and closer to the sun until he can barely see it anymore. They're almost to their destination, now... He shouldn't feel concern, but something about it is still intriguing. He wants to know more.-

DORIAN: wonder if well see it again...

SIRIUS: =she's squinting again, trying to peer past the sun's light, but there's no use. The creature is evidently gone.=

SIRIUS: (maybe) =she laughed a little nervously= (maybe not)

SIRIUS: (maybe it spared us because we didnt look tasty)

SIRIUS: (maybe its allergic to peanut butter and having our spoonful just now saved our lives) =she laughed again, brushing off that funny feeling that she might be forgetting something.=

SIRIUS: =thats okay through, because a chiming ding does it for her and she glanced back down at the dash. The noise had been to indicate the automatic switch to using actual fuel from the actual tanks which was so rarely done Sirius only used them for emergencies. Her eyes scanned the panels and she finally discovered that the solar energy reserves had been completely drained and the needle rested upon fucking EMPTY. They'd stopped at the last sun to charge the panels, and the trip only took up 40% of the recently obtained energy to get this far! She'd checked it herself! Her initial confusion is now transforming into shock as she stared agape at the dials.=

DORIAN: well thats just another thing in the universe allergic in that case... poor bastard. -shakes head.-

DORIAN: -The ding, though, that gets his attention too, and so does the look on Sirius' face.- what?? whats up?

DORIAN: is that...

DORIAN: the ding of the fuel? the fuel ding??

DORIAN: the dang fuel ding???

SIRIUS: (th-the ding was the ding of the-) =She's flapping her hand at the thing= (the sun thing) =SHE CANT EVEN WORDS RIGHT NOW=

SIRIUS: (it means the sun thing isnt making us go and the ding is for the fuel thing)

SIRIUS: =SHAKES HER HEAD. wow this is a mess= (were going on fuel and the thing dinged to let us know)

DORIAN: oh.

DORIAN: yeah ok i had a feeling that was the ding thing.

DORIAN: ....

DORIAN: what????

SIRIUS: (hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh) =She lifts her hands and drags them down her face before holding them straight in front of her. Initiate Calm Sequence.=

SIRIUS: (we had more than sufficient solar energy to make it planetside but for some reason we dont have any anymore) =taps the dial. Maybe there's just been a mechanical malfunction. Spoilers: it isn't.=

SIRIUS: (were running on backup fuel)

SIRIUS: (which we barely have enough of to land)

SIRIUS: (so im wondering right now where the hell the rest of our crap went) =!=

SIRIUS: =says this all very calmly=

DORIAN: that is...

DORIAN: a really good thing to wonder!!!!!

DORIAN: and also.

DORIAN: uh.

DORIAN: ...

DORIAN: so.

DORIAN: uh this is just a theory.

DORIAN: but you remember that shadowy thing.

SIRIUS: (the same shadowy thing that was grinding up against us like a cheese grater to a mozzarella block)

DORIAN: yeah that thing exactly...

DORIAN: -SIGHS.-

DORIAN: if it messed something up permanently i am gonna be SO. PEEVED.

SIRIUS: (waitaminute)

SIRIUS: (are you saying that thing had something to do with the ding)

DORIAN: YEAH. THE DING THING!!!!

DORIAN: THE DING DANG FUCKING THING.

SIRIUS: (so what youre telling me is that ding-) =shakes her head= (i mean thing that blasted off to the sun ate our stored solar energy)

DORIAN: i guess????

DORIAN: i mean thats the only thing that makes sense right?

DORIAN: it had to have done SOMETHING.

DORIAN: -goddamn team rocket...-

SIRIUS: (...)

SIRIUS: =stares at the sun, then looks at her dashboard=

SIRIUS: (im gonna land us safe dont worry okay)

SIRIUS: =she's gone so long on solar power that she hadn't even bothered filling the fuel tanks. Theres a bit left, and it SHOULD be enough for them to land, but=

SIRIUS: =smiles at dorian!=

SIRIUS: (its gonna be okay)

DORIAN: ...

DORIAN: hehe.

DORIAN: yeah i know you will. -He just grins back at her, confident in that. If he could trust in anyone, it'd be a fellow traveler, and he believes in her.-

DORIAN: this is already some ride. all because we had to go and eat that damn peanut butter.

SIRIUS: =His lightheartedness makes her relax and she laughed at his final statement. Cracking her knuckles she guided her ship down through the atmosphere. Breaking through atmo was always a little bumpy - they felt it whenever the UU landed, but with a smaller ship it was far more evident.=

SIRIUS: =She landed on a deep green hill with barely any fuel to spare. The alert light that indicated depletion flickered on and Sirius placed a hand over it.=

SIRIUS: (shhhhhh)

SIRIUS: =After pressing the required buttons to spread the solar panel wings for a recharge, Sirius cut the engines and slumped in her chair, spluttering a long exhale.=

SIRIUS: (so)

SIRIUS: (that happened)

DORIAN: -He's only just a little bit tense as Sirius brings in the ship for a landing, but he won't let her see that. He's still pretty sure it'll be fine, but there's still the matter of what could possibly be on the surface of the planet, too, and everything that's destined to be ahead of them. He just laughs once they're finally settled, unbuckling and hopping out of his seat.-

DORIAN: WHEW.

DORIAN: it sure did. and you nailed it as expected.

DORIAN: didnt think things would get exciting THAT early. makes me wonder where the rest of this adventure is heading... DORIAN: AND THEN SUDDENLY THE PLANET EXPLODED.

DORIAN: -yeah like that would ever happen hahahaha-

DORIAN: -snrks- want me to grab up the... maps? -glances back at the scattered papers-

SIRIUS: =She's super glad Dorian seems okay, especially mentally. She liked to plan things out as much as possible, but with trips to various other planets she ended up throwing out the itinerary for the use it gave her. Even so, she didn't expect this from a star system that was supposed to be relatively GENTLE. HHHHHHHHH.=

SIRIUS: =She blushed at the compliment and spluttered a little, looking away slightly embarrassed.= (hhhhh.... thank you) =but she smiles=

SIRIUS: =The only thing Terezi went fuzzy on war details was how the couple empty spaces in her starcharts happened to get there.= (hehehehe if it does explode hopefully were long gone by that time)

SIRIUS: (yeah grab em please) =she untangled herself from the seatbelt and began gathering up some essentials before their departure= (i had to land us couple hundred clicks east of our predetermined landing zone because of the) =grumbles= (shortage of fuel but it looks safe and is out in the open and away from large bodies of water)

SIRIUS: (so hopefully our chances of running into larger predators is slim)

SIRIUS: (well)

SIRIUS: (slimmer)

DORIAN: -he's stepping over to the scattered sheets, grabbing them all up. He'll sort them out in a minute.- well i hate to break it to you siri but...

DORIAN: -stands up straight again after scooping papers off the floor- you already ran into the biggest predator around. -proceeds to casually perform The Eyebrow Dance.-

SIRIUS: =She had been glancing over at him expectantly, but after he finishes his statement, all she can do is stare, legitimately stunned.=

SIRIUS: (...)

SIRIUS: =Then her face breaks and she hid it behind her hand= (pffffffff hehehehehehehe)

DORIAN: -well now he's grinning, laughing too, and he quickly makes an effort to sort through the mess of papers before captchaloguing them.- im pretty sure most everythings in my sylladex... except the peanut butter naturally. thats pretty important.

DORIAN: anything you need to grab before we head into fresh air? or did you want to rest first.

SIRIUS: =She grinned.= (i dunno about you but with all the excitement i can hardly rest)

SIRIUS: =She is opening some cabinets though, grabbing things she hadn't yet stored in her sylladex: a couple binoculars, and several packs of piton. You never knew. She also went to the ship's small kitchen to grab the peanut butter, which had fallen to the floor after being knocked off the table from the jostling.=

SIRIUS: (cant forget our spooky cloud repellent hehe)

DORIAN: oh of course. we would be fuck knuckled FOOLS to forget that. -He's grinning; he's glad she agreed to run out of the ship, because he feels much the same. There's no way to chill now that they're finally here, especially after all of that.-

DORIAN: lets blow this glorious popsicle stand shall we? -offers a hand and nods toward the exit door-

SIRIUS: =she shoved the rest of their needed materials into her sylldex and smiled as she took Dorian's hand=

SIRIUS: (yeah lets blow it)

SIRIUS: =she turned and blew a kiss shipward=

SIRIUS: =and then laughed at her own joke. She's hilarious.=