#this post brought to you by turtles all the way down and the scene where the Aza and Davis are texting each other after swimming

[quietsamurai98]

Downside of growing up and no longer being a teenager: coming-of-age dramas and other stories have a main cast full of teenagers where the main cast face teenager-specific issues are far less relatable, even if they're still good stories. Also, anything even approaching a somewhat sexualized scene is very hard to watch.

Upside of growing up and no longer being a teenager: pretty much everything else, holy shit you could not pay me to be back in high school.

[coolyiooo]

BILLY HARGROVE X READER PART 2 (SMUT)

⚠️WARNINGS⚠️: public, over stimulation, choking, biting, hickeys , handcuffs, creampie, begging

Part 1 :

You were at school the next day after the party, after the whole incident with Billy, you tried avoiding him as much as possible, you saw him at the end of the hall and made eye contact with him but instantly turned around and went the other way, not in a cowardly way, in a disgusted type of way, you were talking to Steve in the middle of school in the halls, something random but y'all were smiling and shit then suddenly Billy appeared, slapping a hand next to your head, you both stared at him, all you thought was 'ah shit', "hey (l/n) remember to meet me by the restrooms next period" he looked at you smiling with soft eyes "you know.. for that anatomy project...you gotta give me that thing" you stared at him, if looks could kill he'd be dead, "why can't it just wait till after school?" "It's an important project (l/n) don't want us failing right?" "...Fine" he smirked " see you later" you turned back to Steve "you have a group project with Billy?" "Yep.. he's a pain in my ass already" "I bet " he looked at your hickeys on your neck, you tried covering them up with your turtle neck, he looked at you with concern "hey.. what happened to your neck-?" You remembered what was on your neck "ahh! A bee stung me! And I know it looks like a hickey so Im covering it up" "ah ..yea for a second I thought you were getting down and dirty with someone " he laughed and then y'all went back to class

Next period happened and you forgot you had to meet up with Billy, whoopsies, and on your way to the next period Billy out of no where grabs your wrists and drags you to somewhere private, you didn't wanna make a scene and make people notice you and Billy together and just waited to see where he'd take you, he took you to these restrooms where nobody was near or In, brought you inside the men's restroom and into a stall, "WHAT THE HELL!-" he covered your mouth "why didn't you meet me in the restrooms?" He said seriously, You remembered about earlier, you took his hands off your mouth aggressively "I forgot my bad" he scoffed with a smirk and looked to his left, he stared back at you "I guess I'ma have to teach you a lesson" "excuse me?" He then banged you against the wall, lifting one of your legs up, and started to finger you "ouch!" He then went at a slower pace after hearing you in pain "the hell? When did you get MY permission asshole?" You pushed him away "awe come on princess, i know you missed me being inside you" "as if" "don't you wanna come hard again...don't you wanna feel my cock hitting every inch inside you" you looked away angrily, he was right, unfortunately,he came close to your ear "say what you want princess" you looked at him "I guess I'm ok with you fucking me...but here in the restrooms in the middle of school?!" "Just be quiet..I'll be quick" he lifted your leg up again, fingering you , you whimpered silently from the pleasure "what if someone comes in?" "Just be quiet"

He fingered you until you were wet enough and put a condom on his already hardened member, he angled himself and plunged himself into you, you gripped on his shoulders from the pleasure, closing your eyes tightly, as he started to move, the sound of your wet cunt and his legs slapping against yours was loud, he just groaned silently, tilting his head back, he saw your covered up hickeys "why r u hiding your hickeys? I want everybody to know you belong to someone princess" "hell no! MMNN!" he lowered your turtle neck and kissed your neck, your hands on his back, you tighten around his cock from his kisses on your sensitive neck, silently panting out moans "I love to hear you NNG!..it tells me how much you love my dick" then suddenly someone came inside the restroom, Billy made the slapping noises stop but didn't stop thrusting inside you, if this was any other girl he wouldn't care if someone heard that wet slapping noises but since it's you, he wanted to try and see if you could be quiet so he went faster, you tilted you head down, your forehead on his chest, squeezing your eyes closed, you knew what he was trying to do, you wanted to get back at him so you bit him on his neck "AH! fucking shit!" "Hey..are you good?" The random stranger said "GET THE FUCK OUT!" Billy yelled "You sure your not hurt?" "IM FINE GET OUT!" You heard the boy get out, he turned at you with a serious face "you naughty girl" he then went at a very fast pace making you slip up a moan, he hit all the right places, you were on the edge of cumming, you were waiting for the euphoric feeling to happen but suddenly he pulled out and started to pumped his dick with his hands quickly and came inside the condom, groaning in your ear

"what the hell?!" You were about to hit him with your hand but he caught it, you used your other hand, he caught it as well, he hung them beside your head against the wall "that's your punishment princess" "you piece of shit! Finish what you started!" "Are you begging? And your one to talk, you started this, it's your fault" he let go of your hands "come to me when you want it " he then left you in the stall, unsatisfied and angry.

By the end of the day you went up to him, he was sitting against his car "hey asshole meet me at my house" he smirked at you "learned your lesson?" "...yes" you actually didn't, you just wanted to get back at him and you had a plan, he looked at you "...alright" he smiled "what's you address?" You gave him your address and started to walk away "see you at 8 princess"

Luckily your parents were away for a business trip so you didn't have to worry about that, your plan was to handcuff him against your bed frame and do whatever you please with him, you were gonna convince him you are crazy for him and catch him off guard to handcuff him, you saw Billy from your window and let him inside "hey princess-" you then pulled him into a kiss, he was shocked but quickly complied and instantly put his hands on your back and waist, you two slowly went to your room, while kissing, you pushed him on the bed, getting on top of him, "guess you really did learn your lesson" you kissed him again, his kisses were amazing, you hated how just by his damn lips made you weak, your hand went up his abs ,to his chest ,sliding down to one of his hands, you started to dry hump him as well, him moaning silently while chuckling a bit, you pushed his back against your mattress, one of his hands was on your neck, the other was on your waist, quickly you got both of his hands and hand cuffed them together , on the frame

"wha-WHAT THE FUCK-" "you really think I'd let you walk all over me?" He looked at you "so what r u gonna do? Keep me here for ...what?" You came close to his face smiling "punishment"

You then took off your shirt and started to unbutton his pants and pulled them and his underwear away from his legs, you did the same with your pants, you got back on top of him and unbuttoned his shirt, you let your hand go across his muscular torso "enjoying yourself princess?" He was smirking " not yet" you went towards his harden member, you put a condom on his dick, and didn't waste a moment and sucked on his dick quickly and deeply into your mouth, he moaned loudly "fuck.. yea!" tilting his head back, arching his back slightly ,your tongue swirled around his cock, sucking on him perfectly, your spit was sticky but it made his cock twitch , wanting to eagerly cum, you look at him with his cock in your mouth, making eye contact with him, he had furrowed eyebrows with needy eyes, you just had a straight face, you felt his cock twitch aggressively, you knew he was close, "I'm..fucking...close!" You instantly took his dick out of your mouth, he was panting "what the fuck- ...come on princess don't do this to me" "I'll make you cum but...you gotta apologize and beg for it" he stared at you, he took a deep breath "I'm sorry.." "for what?" "...for not letting you finish earlier" "louder Billy" "I'm sorry for not letting you finish " "and what do you want?" "...please let me cum" "hm?" "Please let me cum" "you really call that begging Billy?" "NG! PLEASE LET ME CUM!" you smirked "good boy" he looked kind of mad "I see what you mean now...you are cute when your mad"

You crawled towards him a bit to make your cunt on top of his dick, you angled his cock to your cunt, he looked at his dick, waiting for his cock to be devoured by your cunt, you then slowly sat on his dick, you sighed in satisfaction, his breath was shaking, you went at a steady pace but then quickened it up, jumping on his cock fast, your hands resting on his abs, he started to moan "...yes!" "Do you want me to stop?" "No!..don't..stop!" "You want me to go faster?" "..yes...please!" You went faster, he groaned loudly "FUCK!....YEAH!" you felt his dick twitch inside you, you purposely tightened around him, it felt amazing but you tried your best to hold in your orgasm, slapping noises were loud, he looked down to see his dick come in and out of your pussy, he was on the edge "I'm...coming!" "Do you wanna cum?" "..yes..yes! " You went rougher, he thrusted his hips upwards and came inside you, in the condom, groaning loudly and out of breath, he laid his head against the pillow, lazily , "fuck...you feel too amazing..." You took off the condom and threw it away, little did he know you started to take birth control pills

As he was catching his breath, you saw his member hasn't completely gone out yet, so you quickly got on top of it and put it back inside you, he jolted up from the intense pleasure of your raw cunt, and my god you felt better raw, you were already good with the condom but you just felt incredible raw, "HOLY!....fucking!...shit!.." before he could say anything you started to jump on his dick again, quickly, "I'm gonna make sure your never gonna disrespect me again!" You said, his dick was already soaking wet with your fluids, it was too much for him already ,doing you raw, having already came once, his dick was sensitive and he was going to cum, he clinched his hands into fists from the intense pleasure "FUCK!...I'm.. COMING!" He came inside of you, it was the first time his cum has actually been inside you, or your first creampie and it felt amazing, you then came undone on his trembling cock, he groaned loudly and you moaned too, "fucking....shitt" he could barley get the words out, "already came? Pathetic" he was starting to get over stimulated but you wanted him to be in even worse condition

You then suddenly jumped on his dick again "MNNNGG!" his eyes were shut tight, clenching his teeth tightly, he started to pant and moan "ITS!...TOO!..MUCH!..NNG!" you kept going, you knew he was liking it, plus you felt your high rising up again, you loved seeing him completely at your mercy, you wanna see him be a complete mess, make his dick sore tomorrow, you then went down to his neck and started to leave bite marks and hickeys,marking him, "please...let me..touch you" you started to slightly choke him "no darling...this is your punishment " after you called him darling, he rolled his eyes to the back of his head, for some reason it turned him on so much, he was close to his third orgasm, seeing him being over stimulated , it made you crazy, you got it now when he said it's cute to see you on the brink of cumming, he moaned loudly "I-IM!... GONN-A!" He came inside you again, this time it felt like more cum, arching his back , as you also came on him, you arched your back and tilted your head back, he really was amazing at sex.

He was a panting mess, you pulled him out and felt cum drip out of you, your legs were wobbly again but you went up to his hands and uncuffed him, his arms falling limp beside his head, his eyes slightly closed and a slightly open mouth, you got up and went to get some towels and an energy drink for him, you cleaned yourself up and him because he couldn't even move but he slowly started to sit up "Jesus..." "How was it?" "...amazing" you smirked "I knew you'd like it, you pathetic brute" it seemed he couldn't even comprehend what you said, he just laid back down and closed his eyes "sleep beside me princess?" You stared at him ,even though he couldn't see you, "alright then".

[weirdlizard26]

The (Incomplete) Injury Log of the ROTTMNT Movie (SPOILERS AHEAD)

Image ID: Image is a low-resolution screenshot from Rise of the TMNT movie. It takes place during the sequence where the turtles try and fail to interrogate Casey Jones Junior. It depicts Donnie lying comically on the floor, seemingly unconscious after accidentally activating Junior’s grappling hook and being knocked out by it. End ID.

salutations fellow turtle analysts! I am currently (very slowly) working on a fanfic that takes place immediately after [ROTTMNT MOVIE SPOILERS!] Leo gets rescued and, although I know it’s largely unnecessary, I wanted to be as accurate as possible about the various injuries everyone had sustained in the movie. for this, I have gone through the movie yet again and wrote down all the notable occasions of the main crew getting hit or being visibly injured and/or in pain for unclear reasons.

some clarifications and warnings before I jump into the readmore

[MORE ROTTMNT MOVIE SPOILERS AHEAD]

1. this log does not contain potential injuries sustained during the first fight with the Krang, EXCEPT for Raph. my reasoning: everyone but Raph got to go home in the escape pods and had a chance to recover somewhat. I think it’s best demonstrated by Splinter - he was majorly hurt during the fight, but seemed to be doing well when Leo and the others left to look for Raph. it could’ve been done to ease on the pressure, for comedic effect, it could just be that the escape pods provide some sort of first aid OR he simply had enough time to recover on his own. and while I don’t think it’s sufficient enough evidence, I choose to believe everyone but Raph did a “reset” so to speak in that scene. if you have counter-arguments regarding this, feel free to dm me about it and I’ll see if I agree and whether I should amend my statement!

2. I tried to keep my notes purely observational in nature, so in some cases I do not state specifically that there is an injury present, but rather describe the character’s expression or gestures and what they might imply (such as, someone holding onto their head or the glowing cracks caused by Mikey’s gateway)

3. feel free to dm me or reply to this post if you think I missed anything! as I’ve said, this log is incomplete, simply because I’m just one guy and can only notice so much on my own. although I don’t promise to amend this post in every case

4. my notes contain some light swearing and take on a more conversational tone in some parts

5. I mean this goes without saying, but there are descriptions of physical injuries, sometimes near-fatal. so take that into account if you decide to read through

6. slightly off-topic, but if there is something wrong with how I did the image ID’s or if there are general issues with accessibility, please let me know! i don’t know if i’ll be able to fix all of my errors, because I spent the entire day working on this post instead of preparing for my entrance exams, but I’d like to at least try

with all that out of the way, I present to you: The (Incomplete) Injury Log of the Rise of the TMNT Movie! (under the cut because it is ridiculously long)

Image ID: Image is a high-resolution screenshot from Rise of the TMNT movie. It depicts, from left to right, Leo, Mikey, Raph, and Donnie looking at the photoraph that Casey Jones Junior had brought from the future. The Key is drawn on the flip-side of the photograph, but the turtles haven’t seen it just yet. Mikey and Donnie are peaking at it from behind Raph’s back and Leo is standing at a slight distance from the three of them. End ID.

characters are presented in order of first sustained injury (i.e. Raph was the first one to receive notable damage in the movie, so he is the first on the list, while Mikey’s first potential injury didn’t happen until more than halfway through the movie, so he is last)

if you found this useful or interesting, consider reblogging so that more people can see it :-)

RAPH

- got that giant concrete plate dropped on him during the first fight with the Krang. looked very bad off at first. potentially internal damage? he couldn’t have gotten any chance to treat the injury until the end of the invasion

- well everyone knows both his carapace and plastron got pierced,,, and just looking at that scene again, his shoulder DEFINITELY got hit as well so there would be a wound there too

- GOT HIS BRAIN FUCKING PROBED???? DUDE

- the possession sounded very painful :-(

- when still possessed and strangling Leo, he summons a Krang-ified sai on his left hand and when the blades come out, a bit of black ooze sprinkles out. potentially blood? unclear

- holds onto his right eye, visibly in pain, when Leo gets through to him during their fight at the Technodrome. and then literally rips the Krang bits off of it

- when Leo sends him off to save Donnie and Mikey, he stands up on his LEFT leg and falls before he can lift his right leg. he seems pained at this. then starts running with his right leg first

- he does land shell first into the ground when saving Donnie and Mikey. but considering his hologram was activated, it might’ve considerably cushioned the fall

- holds on to his head after landing in Staten Island

- but THEN when he tries to get up, he starts with his RIGHT leg and it fails him. and then he proceeds to half-crouch, putting the weight on his left leg and resting the right

- orange cracks spread around his left arm as he helps Mikey with the portal. they reach up to his face. EDIT: was rewatching the movie and noticed that the cracks spread around his right arm as well! 

DONNIE

- got his battle shell shattered by the Krang train. he touches his soft shell seemingly in minor pain?.. but I can’t be sure

- got kicked off of a pretty high spot and fell flat on his face in the Technodrome

- unclear if fusing with the krang ship was painful or just gross, but writing it down just in case

- then he gets ripped away from the console by Krang 1? one could assume it’s at least somewhat painful, at least judging by how the ship's bits literally bore into his shell and skin

- seemingly in the process of being possessed and/or crushed to death by Krang 1, (when Leo is trying to help Raph fight the possession), but it could also just be the Krang’s restraining tool, considering Krang 1′s bits are not the same color as his brother’s

- hits his back against a floating building, but his battle shell is in place so supposedly that did not deal much damage

- in all fairness he DOES get hit right in the face and the general front area by krang, although it must’ve been somewhat cushioned by the mystic shield he was trying to summon

- orange cracks spread around his right arm as he helps Mikey with the portal. they reach up to his shoulder

APRIL

- fell on her right side when Krang 2 kicked her off the motorcycle

- unsure if it caused any damage, but she got some Krang gunk on her face when being attacked by Krang 2

- gets hit directly into the stomach area by possessed Raph. then falls on her back and doesnt get up. Donnie checks up on her and looks concerned

- gets blown away by the shock wave caused by Krang 2's mech suit landing

LEO

- smashes into a wall with his carapace when trying to escape the krang train and seems pained

- after falling through the floor, holds onto his left side, mirroring future!Leo's wound. he tries to get up but the wound stops him and he is visibly in a lot of pain and he keeps holding onto his side for the duration of the scene. he even looks over at his hand, I assume, expecting to see blood, although there is none. he also has scratches all over his shoulders, head and face

- got kicked in the face BAD by possessed Raph. holds onto his head in pain after landing

- smashed into the floor and walls of the Krang ship by possessed Raph repeatedly. EDIT: on one occasion, falls from up high headfirst into the floor at a high speed

- LITERALLY was being strangled by possessed Raph

- seemingly in the process of being possessed and/or crushed to death by Krang 1, (when trying to help Raph fight the possession), but it could also just be the Krang’s restraining tool, considering Krang 1′s bits are not the same color as his brother’s

- gets smashed into a wall REALLY badly when they’re all fighting Krang 1 together :[

- tries to get up when left alone with Krang 1, using his swords as levers, but falls to his knees as soon as he stops leaning on the swords and begins to lean on his left leg

- gets thrown into the floor by krang and then crushed by Krang's mech leg, which causes him to spit out a LOT of blood

- continues being crushed in Krang's claw. and there’s a LOT of quite upsetting crunching noises

- gets hit HARD in the left side of his head by krang, TWICE in a row

- hits his back against the floor and a wall when landing in the prison dimension

- gets slapped in the Right side of his head by krang which causes him to spit out some more blood

- 3 consecutive punches by krang follow, but we don’t see how they affect Leo

- then gets hit by Both of Krang's hands so fucking hard that the floor shatters and he goes flying through it

- receives a hit by krang that is not shown on screen, but is so powerful that it shatters an entire giant orb of compressed rubble and sends Leo flying out at incredible speed

CASEY JUNIOR

- was buried under heavy rubble after falling through the floor. doesn’t seem injured though? maybe the genius built armor has some sort of mechanism protecting him from damage

- gets blown away by a shock wave caused by Krang 2's mech suit landing

- gets hit considerably by Krang 2′s mech suit

SPLINTER

- gets hit in the face by possessed Raph

- gets blown away by a shock wave caused by Krang 2's mech suit landing

- gets hit considerably by the Krang mech suit

MIKEY

- got kicked off of a pretty high spot and fell flat on his face in the Technodrome

- seemingly in the process of being possessed and/or crushed to death by Krang 1, (when Leo is trying to help Raph fight the possession), but it could also just be the Krang’s restraining tool, considering Krang 1′s bits are not the same color as his brother’s

- hits the back of his neck against a floating wall. holds on to his head afterwards, eyes closed (this is right before he and Donnie gets thrown off the floating platform by Krang)

- his hands begin "cracking" with orange light when he starts opening the gateway. the cracks reach up to his shoulders and stop where Donnie and Raph’s hands hold on to him, continuing to spread over their arms

[gunterfan1992]

Episode Review: ‘Together Again’ (Distant Lands, Ep. 3)

Airdate: May 20, 2021

Story by: Jack Pendarvis, Kate Tsang, Hanna K. Nyström, Christina Catucci, Jesse Moynihan, Adam Muto

Storyboarded by: Hanna K. Nyström, Anna Syvertsson, Iggy Craig, Maya Petersen, Serena Wu

Directed by: Miki Brewster (supervising), Sandra Lee (art)

Across Adventure Time’s ten season run, the show explored a bevy of “mature” themes and story ideas—topics, like love, sexuality, depression, and grieving. The show also touched upon death, but the emphasis was usually placed on the emotional toll of a loved one dying, not really what happens when you die. We knew there were Dead Worlds and Death. We knew that there was reincarnation. But how does it all fit together? What does it mean? How does it work?

With “Together Again,” we finally have many of the answers.

This special opens with a marvelous fake-out episode simply called “Finn & Jake,” that sees the two steal a magical cartoon of 50-flavor ice cream before rescuing Turtle Princess and LSP from the clutches of the villainous Ice King. This is all deliberately anachronistic and over the top. Ice King is back to his season one ways, Finn has both arms, and he is still wielding his golden sword that he lost in season two’s “The Real You.” There’s lolrandom dialogue and silly monsters; it’s like a parody of seasons 1-2. But then, this adventure starts to get all wonky, and in time Finn realizes that he is in a some sort of trance or illusion: one that ends with Jake being buried in the ground. Suddenly, Finn awakens from his reverie. He’s an old man. And he’s dead. We’re then presented with a new title card that lets us know the episode is actually called “Finn & Jake Are Dead.”

Holy Glob! They actually went there.

Turns out Jake died years before Finn, so naturally Finn is super excited to see his best bud. But something’s wrong—he cannot find Jake!! They planned to spend eternity together. But all that Finn can find is his very own psychopomp, Mr. Fox (voiced by Tom Herpich, whose purposefully stilted line readings are the epitome of delightful). Finn rightfully assumes that Jake is in a different Dead World, and so, being the ball of spunk and energy that he is, he demands to meet with Death, only to discover that there’s a New Death in town (voiced by Chris Fleming). The episode eventually explains that New Death was the son of Death and Life, and after New Death killed his father, he became the sovereign of the afterlife. New Death hates his job and decides to just blow up all the Dead Worlds so he doesn’t have to deal with it all. (I won’t get too much into the details here, because there would be a lot of story to parse out.)

Finn soon learns that Jake has reached nirvana in the 50th Dead World, where there is nothing but peace and serenity. Finn nevertheless tracks down Jake, pulls him from paradise, but in doing so, accidentally lets New Death in, who promptly obliterates Elysium, sending all the enlightened souls—including those from different levels of the afterlife—to the 1st Dead World. This gronks up the afterlife, temporarily halting the reincarnation process.

Well, Finn and Jake are rightfully ticked, and so they haunt the material plane looking for Princess Bubblegum. She’s not home (more on that later), but Peppermint Butler is! After Ghost Finn and Ghost Jake explain the situation, Peppermint Butler tells them what to do: They need to find Life and explain the situation. The duo manage just that, and Life is rightfully angry that her kid has stopped the transmigration of souls. After Life gives Finn a McGuffin sword that can hurt Death, Finn and Jake return to his abode. A brawl ensues wherein we learn that New Death has been possessed… by none other than that spirit of the Lich.

That’s right, it’s the Lich! He’s back, and boy is he evil.

The Lich explains that by possessing Death, he can destroy the afterlife, thereby destroying a key aspect of reality. Naturally, Finn and Jake are not cool with this, and they engage in combat. After Mr. Fox grabs the McGuffin sword and uses it to annihilate the Lich and New Death, he is proclaimed the New New Death and sets everything right. Finn is slated to be reincarnated, and Jake is slated to return to the 50th Dead World where he and Finn will one day be reunited. As Finn is pulled into the wheel of souls, Jake suddenly decides to go back with Finn, too, “Just for fun.” The episode ends with a card letting us know that the episode is neither called “Finn & Jake” nor “Finn & Jake Are Dead.” Instead, it is “Finn and Jake Are Together Again.”

As they say, “And there wasn’t a dry eye in the place.”

If you were to tell me several years ago that the last episode to star Finn and Jake would revolve around them dying, I think I would’ve been upset. Not simply sad, but rather frustrated because “they all died” can feel like a cheap ending. But with “Together Again,” it all works. And a large reason that it works is because the show goes all in with their ideas. Finn and Jake don’t magically leap back into their old life (no, no, they very much do bite the dust). Instead, the special emphasizes the cyclical nature of life through the transmigration of souls. The episode ends with a beautiful scene of Finn and Jake, bound together as soul-brothers, being reborn into a new, mysterious (possibly Ooo 1000+?) world. It’s both aesthetically and emotionally pleasing; it doesn’t feel off the way over finales might. This is right. This is the way life works. “Round and round as nature goes,” and all that jazz.

I loved the series explanation of how death works. It seems that souls land in a specific Dead World, where they ‘marinate’ for a bit, presumably being rewarded or punished based on their life in our meat reality. After a time, they are then reborn. This process repeats, with each soul reaching higher and higher levels of enlightenment until they hit nirvana, which is the 50th Dead World. So in a sense, Adventure Time has a roughly Buddhist cosmology with a dash of Greco-Roman mythos thrown in for flavor. (As to what happens after a soul stays in the 50th Dead World for a long period is anyone’s guess, but I’d speculate that when all the souls in the multiverse have been purified and land in the 50th Dead World, they will all collapse into one another and form one perfect Monad. Perhaps this is the sphere of perfection that the beings who merged into Matthew thought they were connecting to? Who knows! It’s anyone’s guess!) I was a little disappointed that we didn’t get to see who Death, Prismo, Life, etc.’s boss was, but perhaps that’s a mystery better left up to the imagination!

One minor thing that I loved about this special was the number of characters who made cameos as well as all the callbacks that were made to previous episodes. Regarding the former: Finn and Jake’s canine family show up (including the oft-forgotten Jermaine!), as do Tree Trunks and her myriad husbands. Tiffany plays a major role in all these shenanigans as a “death cop” of all things. There is a delightful rogues gallery stuck in the 1st Dead World (including, among others, Maja, Sharon from “The Gut Grinder,” and Wyatt). In the 50th we find Ghost Princess and Clarence happily at peace next to Booshy, the weird spirit mentioned in the Pen Ward classic “High Strangeness.” As far as callbacks go, perhaps my favorite is the clap (from “James Baxter the Horse”) that Jake taught to Finn in case they ever do get separated in the afterlife. And of course, there are myriad references made to “Death in Bloom,” the episode that planted the seed for what this would grow into.

Going into the special suspecting that it would involve Death, I was curious how they were going to handle Miguel Ferrer’s character. (In case a reader is not aware, Ferrer played Death in episodes like “Death in Bloom” and “Betty,” but he sadly passed away a few years ago). The producers’ choice to feature him in a non-speaking cameo—despite playing a relatively significant role in the story—was wise; I’m not sure if I can articulate the exact reasons, but something about his role felt appropriate and not gross, as some post-mortem memorials can be. Speaking of which, the wonderful, lovely Polly Lou Livingston was featured for the last time in this episode as Tree Trunks, happily in heaven with her literal harem of husbands. It was funny, it really was, and I’m sure that Polly Lou would’ve gotten a kick out of seeing it on screen. (Also, this is a pro-Tree Trunks safe space. Any Tree Trunks haters will be chucked into the 1st Dead World with Wyatt.)

The biggest mystery in this whole thing, for me at least, is the question of Princess Bubblegum and Marceline. Several years ago, I wrote an essay about what could’ve happened to them in the Ooo 1000+ universe. I speculated that they peaced out and left Ooo behind. In this special, neither Bubblegum nor Marceline are to be found in the Candy Kingdom—Peppermint Butler seems to be the one in charge, given that he is now wearing Bubblegum’s crown. Likewise, the duo aren’t anywhere in the Dead Worlds either. Maybe the two of them skipped town and got a duplex in the Nightosphere? Who knows… I just want my favorite gals to be OK!

All things considered, “Together Again” was a marvel: An episode that managed to feel like a series finale even more than “Come Along with Me” already did without taking away from the series itself. An episode that managed to make the idea of dying funny. An episode that brought back the Lich in a way that wasn’t forced. An episode that made Mr. Fox the New New Death. An episode that gave us a beautiful ending to Finn and Jake’s story… as well as the beautiful beginning to a new one. I said it on Twitter, and I’ll say it again here: “Together Again” was the end of a sentence in a book with infinite pages. Truly, the fun will never end.

Mushroom War evidence: Everything takes place in the Dead Worlds, so not really. Perhaps a more eagle-eyed viewer can inform us...

Final Grade: That’s right, I’m gonna do it...

Post-script, I actually messaged Jesse Moynihan to ask about his writing credit. He told me that it was for an unused story idea that he had developed. I’m not certain, but I’ll bet it was a part of the cancelled TV movie they were trying to make during season 5, since that would’ve seen Finn and Orgalorg journey to the various Dead Worlds.

[exovapor]

The Adventure - TMNT Bitches:  chapter 10

CHAPTER 10:  Through the Looking Glass  

·         The four brothers exit the parking deck and are immediately overwhelmed by the steady stream of people walking to and fro.  Donnie has his eyes glued to his virtual display while Leo and Mikey each take up flanking positions on either side of him to guard his shoulders so he doesn’t trip over the crowds walking past.

·         “Oh no-no-no, this is not good!”, Donnie exclaims while panning left and right with his display, trying to find the trail that is quickly disappearing right before his eyes.

·         “What is it, Donnie?”, Leo asks, the concern thick in his voice.

·         Donnie frantically pans in a wider arch, but the trail is fading too quickly.  The flow of the foot traffic is causing too much interference and the particle stream is all but faded away, “Leo, I think we have a problem here.  The portal residue isn’t as clear down here on the street as I had hoped.  I’ve lost the trail”.

·         “Great! Now what?”, Raph’s towering figure grumbles from behind them all, where he has taken of the posterior position to keep people from walking dead-straight into Donnie as he stands stationary in the middle of a river of people.

·         “Give me a minute to think, Raph”, Leo chides but he’s feeling his own sense of panic rising. He’s never been claustrophobic, after all he lives under ground, but here with all these bodies pressing in around them, jostling past them, the serum keeping them in human form already on its count-down clock, and their one clue to follow Shredder is literally disappearing before their eyes, he’s never felt so out of his element…so not ready to lead.  However, he doesn’t have the option to quit, to flake out, his brothers are looking to him for guidance.

·         Leo studies their surroundings, the people, the activity….and then he sees it, the thing that gives him a new idea, a new possible solution to their dilemma.  He’s watching people all over pulling out their cell phones to take pictures of each other’s costumes, to stream and vlog about their adventures as they walk down the street, “Donnie, can you search through the media flowing around this event?  Maybe we’ll get lucky can catch a glimpse of Shredder in the background of someone’s post.”.

·         “Can I? Psssshhh.  Does Mikey like pizza?”, Donnie throws Leo a sassy glance before flipping through his virtual screens again.  Almost as soon as he starts flipping and searching the data streams, a ping comes from his computer, then another, and another, “Oh boy, BINGO!”, Donnie exclaims.

·         Mikey leans in close from Donnie’s right shoulder, omitting the concept of personal space, and nearly blocking Donnie’s field of vision of the display, “Dude…that’s Shredder!”.

·         “I KNOW, Mikey”, Donnie says and grabs Mikey’s cute little human face with his large left hand and pushes him back a few inches in order to have some breathing room, “it’s a video that’s quickly going viral of an altercation between Shedder some human kid”.

·         “What’s he saying?”, Leo asks, leaning in from the left.

·         “Hm…not good…he’s looking for fighters but at least we know where he’s going, according to my search this ‘Marriott’ that the guy mentions is a hotel just down the street…the Atlanta Marriott Marquis.”

·         “Then let’s get movin’, Don, lead da way.”, Raph shoves Donnie from behind, where he’s still acting as a barricade between his lithe brother and the crushing public. He’s eager to get moving, standing still when Shredder is out there hunting for a new army is grating on his nerves.

·         The quartet of disguised mutants walk along in the crowd, still in more shock and awe of being able to walk so freely among the general masses.  The laughter, the smiles, the excitement, and comradery are palpable in the air.  Everyone is high spirts and the four brothers are right in the middle of it.  This is truly a new and welcomed experience for them.

·         For too long they have watched from the shadows as people had fun.  They would watch club goers and weekend warriors living it up on Friday and Saturday nights in New York while they stood on roof tops patrolling and keeping watch…from a distance.  They often wondered, and in some of their cases daydreamed, about being part of the crowd below.  And, now, here they were, walking in soft human skins with the rest of the world.  Would they ever be able to go back to the shadows and not feel empty inside?

·         As they each ponder the experience quietly and the implications of these experiences on their future selves, they follow the flow of the crowd as it passes under the carport awning of the Marriott Marquis.  The voices and sounds of laughter echoing and bouncing back under the marquee, adding to the energy of the atmosphere.

·         They enter the establishment through the double sliding doors and are immediately stuck speechless by the activity and the setting.  The hotel was architecturally beautiful, it’s 47 stories visible in the main atrium with a cluster of stylish elevators quickly running crowds of people up and down the inside column of the atrium.  Hundreds, no, thousands of people, most of which that were in some form of costume milled about talking, taking pictures, and celebrating as one.

·         Donnie was sure that he had died and gone to nerd heaven…nerd nirvana…nerd-vana.  A small tear rests at the edge of one of his eyes.  Mikey’s hyperactive mind starts to short circuit as his eyes jump around the celebratory scene in front of him…’now THIS is a PARTY’, he thinks to himself.  Raph bringing up the rear, is stunned into silence himself. There are women…EVERYWHERE…WITH VERY LITTLE ON…AND WITHIN TOUCHING DISTANCE!  

·         Leo quickly assesses the scene and the effect that it is having on his brothers’ attention span, he’s got to set down the rules quickly and keep them focused on the task of finding Shredder.  “Ok, guys, let’s split up and find Shredder quickly as possible.  There are a lot of people here, so he’ll have plenty to blend in with, or use as victims against us, we NEED to find him quickly.  Raph, you’re with me, we’ll down those escalators and search there. Don you and Mike take that upper level.  If you see Shredder call for backup, don’t engage until we can be sure that we can keep the area clear and ensure that people won’t get hurt.”.

·         Leo and Raph descend to the lower level via the escalator.  The level is one large arching circle with various wings and ballrooms off its center.  There is a back entrance where other vehicles are making pit stops, picking up and dropping off of party-goers.  Leo doesn’t like this scenario, it’s going to be like trying to find a needle in a haystack. “We need to move through these wings to make sure he hasn’t made it to some of the maintenance areas.

·         Raph doesn’t hear Leo’s directions as he is fully distracted by a group of women cosplaying as a Sailor Moon group standing around the lower level posing for pictures. He grins devilishly at them as they wave teasingly at him.  Leo lets out an alpha snort, which doesn’t have much impact coming from his smaller human lungs, and he punches the oversexed behemoth in the arm, “Raph, focus!”.  

·         “I am focusing, Fearless, I’m focusing on dat real hard”, he replies slyly while his eyes haven’t left the group of short-skirted women.

·         Leo shakes his head, “I knew I should have brought Donnie with me, but I couldn’t trust you and Mikey together.”.

·         Raph’s eyes finally leave the group of cosplayers to stare pointedly at Leo, “I don’t need ya ta babysit me, LEO.  I’ll find Shredda and kick his ass all da way back ta New York”, he snarls aggressively.

·         “Fine, prove it, let’s move”, Leo challenges and starts leading the way down through the bowels of the hotel.

·         As Donnie and Mikey crested the escalator, their eyes saw even more of the festivities taking place on the main level.  People crowded around the bar and the dance platform, one story up overlooking the main level lobby, was packed to the brim with people grinding and gyrating to the beats from the house DJ.

·         “Don, I think I’ve died and gone to heaven”, Mikey whispers out reverently.

·         “We need to find Shredder, Mikey, we don’t have time to play around”, Donnie says, even though his own eyes are wandering the crowds appreciating the costume designs, period replicas people are carrying, and the….uhm….nice outfits of the ladies. Donnie subtly adjusts the crotch of his cargo pants.  He may be slightly smaller in human form, but proportionally still quite sizable and too many ‘happy thoughts’ still cause an uncomfortable tightness down below.

·         “Ok, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think we need to split up to cover more ground. There is just too many going on and Shredder will be able to hide among it.  Mikey, PLEASE, don’t get lost and stay focused.”, Donnie negotiates with his younger brother.

·         “Don, you can count on me, bro!  Detective Mikey is on the case!”, he clasps Donnie on the shoulder before starting to walk off to circle the atrium from the left.

·         “We’ll meet back up by the bar”, Donnie yells at him over the crowd before he moves off to the right, searching the crowds for a villain but appreciating the other visual interests as well.

@turtle-babe83 @tmntspidergirl @kokokatsworld @nittleboo @the-second-circle-of-shell

[aka-indulgence]

Take Me by the Hand

So I wanted to post this on valentines (it’s not exactly valentine-themed, I just wanted to put something out hjdsk), but decided it was better to post now -w- this is a little fluff fic for @yeosin-n!! She has a really cool au called underwaves, and of course she makes just wonderful wonderful stuff and i love them all- and then its an undertale au!!!! in the ocean!!!!! ahdjkshd I kinda instantly fell in love with it... and UW Sans (Naut) as well, so uh!! Here’s a fluffy self-indulgent fanfic!!

Naut (UW!Sans)/Reader :D!!

"heheh, ya look like a big duck, darlin'."

  You try not to make a frustrated noise at him (lord knows he's already having WAY too much fun with you) and choose to simply mumble to yourself quietly as you take step by heavy step towards the innocently splashing waves, as if taunting your predicament.

  "I'd appreciate some help right about now, I could do without the remarks." You snap (softly) at him as you waddle your way over the sand, your heavy diving equipment jostling a little with every step.

  Naut had been helpful enough to put all the weight on you, and you wanted no more than to strangle the grin off the bastard's face.

  He's lucky you're dating him and love him too much to do that.

  Naut only chuckles for a bit, in your face, and you're about to throw your flippers at him when his laughs finally die down.

  "sorry, sorry," Naut lets a few more chuckles out as he wipes the "tears" away from his top set of eyesockets.

  You could swear you saw his lower eyelights turned into hearts for a second…

  "couldn't help myself. ya sure are a cutie," he says, and you would've made a sound of indignation if you didn't see the flowers happily popping into existence near the hole in his skull, floating down as if a slow waterfall was carrying it.

  You're the one with the happy little flowers, you want to tease, but at the same time, you didn’t want him to hide it. It was cute and pretty, you loved seeing him happy and relaxed.

  Without realizing what he's trying to do, Naut's already by your side, going behind your back. Before you could ask him what he's doing, you make a "hup-!?" Noise when he hoists your tank up.

  "better?"

  He was.. helping you carry your equipment.

  "Y-yeah!" You startle (you're not sure why, but the fact that he's actually helping you makes you feel.. sentimental).

  "ok then, let's keep going,"

  With the help of Naut, the journey to the water’s edge wasn’t as painful as it was when you started trudging down the sand, and you eventually got about chest-deep in the water.

  Naut let go of your tank, keeping you steady while you fit your dive boots into the open heel flippers. You fit your mask onto your face, and Naut starts drifting into deeper waters, now bobbing in the waves (how do skeletons float…? Of course he came from the ocean but… it’s like he has invisible floaties on!). He snrks a little. You make a face at him (well, as much of a face you could make with a mask covering half your face).

  “What?”

  “heheh… nothing. ya just… ya kinda look like a fish? with the goggles…” He makes two C-shapes with his phalanges, bringing them up to his sockets. “oh glowing waves above, i just wanna pinch you.”

  “H-hey! Stay focused!” you fluster, holding your hands out to him as if he was going to bite you. 

  Naut chuckles. “yeah, you’re right… i can always pinch ya later.” he teases, and before you could protest more, he gestures with his hand. “ok, check your second stage first, and let’s swim slowly…”

  You give the purge button of your second stage a couple of times, before attaching it to your mouth, floating towards your sea-lover. You release the air from your BCD, and Naut takes you by the hand, gently guiding you into the water.

  Everything feels different as soon as you are completely submerged, the sounds around you switching from air to water; your surroundings turning blue in an instant. For a few moments, you can only hear the sound of your breathing, the bubbles burbling around you.

  “you doing ok?” Naut’s voice snaps you out of your momentary awe, sounding practically as clear as he does outside the water. “don’t forget to equalize the pressure in your ears.”

  The sand slopes down, and you tilt your head this way and that, giving Naut the ok signal when you think you’re good.

  He’s dropped his teasing and playing around as he slowly brings you away from the surface; you vaguely feel like someone with a blindfold on while someone else’s pulling you somewhere to show you a surprise. He has to keep looking behind him to make sure he doesn’t run into corals or sharks or whatever.

  Your world completely changes around you- not that you’ve never seen ocean scapes before, but actually being in it to see it for yourself sure is a special experience. You see your first fish, catching your eye as it darts away from below you. The sandy bottom keeps going down, and down, and down….

  … Until eventually, you reach a spot where it stops, turning into a plain of sand.

  Naut sits down- just, sits down on the sand, and it's so weird how he just so casually sits, legs apart below you, underwater. He tugs you a bit, pointing to the sand.

  You descend, knees hitting the sand with a soft ‘pwsh’... your hands inadvertently fall onto Naut’s ribcage.

  You see all four of his eyelights looking down, then lighting up, and you have no idea if he can see you blushing underwater-

  But thankfully, Naut knows to set his priorities straight, and right now it’s making sure your diving goes smoothly and safely.

  “good?”

  For a second, seeing Naut completely at home in this environment, you nod your head without thinking- shaking your head before giving him the ok sign.

  His grin grows and he laughs.

  Damn. Even underwater he still sounds smooth as hell…

  “heheheh… ok, bubbles. let’s get started then, shall we?”

  After about a minute of buoyancy practice, Naut kicked off the sand with his slippers (how did they stay on his feet under- you know what? Maybe you shouldn’t question the physics of underwater monsters so much), letting you follow him in your own pace.

  Not too far from the water’s edge, corals started sprouting out from the sand, and no longer than that, more sea life appeared. A rainbow of fish were milling about, shrimp and crabs skitter over the ‘living rocks’, and a sea turtle lazily swims by.

  Naut easily backpedals towards it, and it circles around him.

  Your eyes are taking in the underwater scene all around you with splendor; if you could smile, you would. It was all just so pretty, and your boyfriend’s over there becoming some sort of disney princess, as a few cleaner fish swim towards his skull. You don’t need to hold in your laughter on account of the regulator in your mouth, but your metaphorical smile gets bigger as you watch the tiny striped fish look around his crack while he’s completely unaware… he looks like he’s about to say something when his eyelights go out, as one of them starts nibbling.

  He flaps his hand like he’s swatting a fly away, and maybe you’re being tortured right now because you just want to let out a raucous laugh, purposefully shoving it in his face.

  “oh, of course, you’re entertained.” Naut lids his sockets a little, feigning annoyance, though the cute little flowers only continue to flow out of his skull.

  You want to gesture a “sorry (not sorry)” at him, but without knowing sign language, the most you could do is open your hands for a hug. He’s been wonderfully non-teasing the whole way down, and you think he deserves some credit, especially showing you… all of this.

  You’re thinking about how thankful you are to have him with you when you see his eyelights dart somewhere else with his grin turning mischievous. He points to the turtle still swimming nearby and asks “hey, what kind of turtle do you think that green sea turtle is?”

  … What.

  You blink at him a couple of times, trying to convey your “what kind of question” emotion you’re feeling right now, knowing he’s smart enough to realize what he just said-

  “hahahah, i’m joking i’m joking, i know it’s Chelonia mydas. c’mon, i’m no loggerhead.”

  w-

  …

  Loggerhead. Loggerhead sea turtle.

  …

  You raise your fist at him, and you hope he could hear your internal screaming at him. Looking at the way his sockets crinkle and his grin practically stretching from non-existent ear to ear, you think he can.

The dive was relaxing and pleasant, with Naut completely in his element, giving you the reassurance that you’ll be alright with him. He brought you to different parts of the reef, highlighting some of the animals similarly as to how he addressed the sea turtle.

  He brought you swimming closer to the seafloor, showing you clownfish in their stinging friend-homes, and with a straight face he said, “keep your friends close,” he put a ‘friendly’ arm around the carnivorous invertebrate, “keep your anemones closer.”

  You swam away from him then, closer to whee the sand starts sloping again. You met a singular jellyfish there, to which Naut poked away from you- it could just fit in your palms. You watch with mild glee as he gently poked it around… you know it’s a living creature… but wow did you want to bounce it and play around with it like a toy. He moved it away from you and sent it bobbing in the direction of the open ocean, and he turned to you to say “are you jelly you didn’t get to play with it?”

  You wanted nothing more than to show him a flat face, if you were brave enough to take the regulator off your mouth. You followed him back towards the reef, swimming through a large school of fish that parted as you did.

  “how you feeling seastar? i’m feeling fin-tastic.”

  He turned around to gesture at the school. “aren’t they like living artwork? so beautiful. i like to consider myself sofishticated, you know.”

  You almost couldn’t focus on the reef around you as you were both delighted and desperately trying to hide it from him, that you’re enjoying a diving buddy/instructor that could talk to you as you dive.

  You swam leisurely ahead of him, looking for more “landmarks” (sea… marks…?) to look at before you run out of gas, when you heard a rush of water behind you.

  You almost let the regulator out of your mouth when you see a huge eel flapping about near you, with Naut holding its tail end and keeping it from coming at you. He reeled it in towards him, holding its head.

  “don’t know what got into this guy. maybe your fins surprised him.”

  He goes silent for a while.

  “but i guess thaaat’s a moray for you.”

  Old jokes!!! He’s too much!!!

  You wished you could’ve said something to him so you weren’t simply being subjected to his continuous puns, but at that point it looked like you might just get that; when you saw that your pressure gauge showed less than 100.

  Naut quickly looked to you when you made a wave at him, giving him a 9-0 signal, trying to convey an “up?” as best you can.

  “oh. oh yeah let’s get you up, bubbles.” He said as he swam towards you.

  It was like- he had a switch for professional diving instructor and ‘regular Naut’. He quietly guided your ascent, slowly and steadily, making a stop below the surface to decompress, before finally swimming all the way to the surface and inflating your BCD.

  “Blah!” you ungracefully spit the regulator out, letting it sink into the water and take the mask off your face. “My teeth always feel weird afterwards…”

  “cus’ you’re clenching it all the time.” he floats towards you, putting an arm around you. “how you feeling, gull friend?”

  You open your mouth, only to stop when you realized what he said- as if on time, a seagull keows above you.

  You give him your best attempt at a seething glare, but you take a breath and smile, putting an arm around him as well. “You know what? That was really nice. I haven’t had this much fun in a while. … or really, I didn’t do that much before I met you. I liked this, Naut. Thanks for taking me out here with you.”

  You watch with satisfaction as Naut’s lazy expression and smug-ass grin fade away, his main sockets becoming wide and a light blush colors his cheekbones.

  Ha, gottem.

  “o-oh. you- yeah. i… you're welcome. anything for you, seastar. i’m glad you liked it.” his eyelights shift away from you.

  “Yeah… though not gonna lie, you really were a sun of a beach down there. Punning when you know I can’t say anything to you- it was like, water you doing!”

  “ha, yeah i know, it was-” Naut paused. And then he turned to you, seeing how smug and proud you looked of yourself.

  You watched how his eyelights dilated in his sockets, sparkling like sun rays dancing in the water.

  “heh… heheheh….” he chortled, “oh… don’t be mad now… it’s not a good idea to get too tide down to your emotions.”

  “Well- high tide or low tide, I’ll be by your side.”

  “better make sure you weren’t pier-pressured into that.”

  “Nah. I’m a girl who just wants some sun with my bonefriend!”

  He was smiling like a downright lovable idiot right now, eyelights shining like the sun.

  “hhhhoooh my god, i want to kiss you.”

  You give him a smirk.

  “Oh! So you’re feeling… naut-y?”

  Your grin weakens a little when Naut stops grinning, and his eyelights shrinking back to their regular sizes, shimmering. For a moment you worry if you said something wrong somehow, but your worry was unfounded- just moments later you watch as cute little hearts start coming out of his skull, with four of his eyelights turning into the same shape.

  “i don’t know why kissing’s naut-y, but it’s in my name-ture to be.”

  You’re smiling just as wide as him, ignoring how far he had to reach to make that pun. He closes his eyes and you let him lean in towards you, meeting him in the middle. He wraps his arms around you and kisses you while you reciprocate happily; bobbing in the waves under the sun.

[thoughts-on-bangtan]

YOURS by Jin

Finally Seokjin’s first solo OST song Yours for the K-Drama Jirisan is out and it is even more beautiful, emotional, and haunting than the little preview snippet made it out to be. As of me writing this Yours has broken the record for fastest solo song to reach 50 #1s on iTunes in just a little over four hours, and also has reached (so far) 63 #1s including in the US. Very well deserved!

Much the way it was with Sweet Night last year, Yours MV is also made up of scenes from the drama, and I have a feeling the song might hit a just a tiny bit harder in the context of the show, when you know how it fits into the story, but even without it, it’s definitely the kind of song I can see myself coming back to over and over again, a song that touches your heart and doesn’t let go. As much as Seokjin has the kind of range and vocal abilities that allow him to excel in many different genres, there’s something about his voice in ballads that’s special and magical. You could give him even the blandest ballads and he’d turn it into something outstanding simply with the way he’d sing it, and the way his voice sounds.

It’s moments like these where I’m reminded of the fact that prior to becoming a trainee he had no vocal training or anything and yet, years down the line, he’s become out silver voice. Obviously he must’ve had potential, otherwise all the training in the world wouldn’t have helped, yet his dedication and passion for singing brought him onto a whole new level and turned his voice into one you’d easily recognize and even easier fall in love with.

Earlier Seokjin came to weverse, first replying to someone’s question if he was looking at fan reactions to Yours by saying that he’s at work, and then coming by again to post another bike selca to join the previous two, this time dressed all in dark blue (the sneakers are still there, too). Because Seokjin is Seokjin, he came by again to tell us about how he’s actually too tired to bike home so he put his bike in the car and just drove home instead. I love how he still took that picture for us though.

We also got a picture of Seokjin in the studio from when he was recording Yours which he himself commented by saying that every time when he records he does like a turtle neck where he stretches his neck and head forward. Still looking very handsome though anyway, I think.

[fatehbaz]

The time I met the nicest snapping turtle and the most furious softshell turtle. I was a child. I was forced to go visit some far-removed extended “family,” the kind of passive-aggressive and authoritarian people who took in a distant cousin for a weekend and treated you like an obnoxious dog or something, people who I was only slightly familiar with, which made me uncomfortable. “Family” not being something that I ever consistently had access to, “family” not a concept I was (or am, honestly) used to, “family” being something I only knew less of as time passed. They had a job which they were contracted to do that day. They brought me to a decaying industrial site in northern Appalachia, a paragon of Rust Belt gothic, to clean out the junk from a riverside lot that was scheduled to be redeveloped. My impression:

It felt like that stereotypical scene of pulp Americana, where a middle-aged man sits in a construction job-site trailer, flies buzzing, an old outdated fan from the 1970s unhelpfully churning warm air, and he, face half-obscured in shadow, hires a bunch of 19-year-olds to go to a post-industrial site to “take care of things.” Despite it still being morning, everyone is sweating, nobody is happy. A developer, dealing under the table in cash only, who despite owning several private properties is somehow always on the verge of bankruptcies and calls you from a landline after midnight on Tuesday night to offer you $150 to spend the next morning chugging gas station coffee before clandestinely salvaging some rusted metal from an overgrown property he may or may not actually own.

You wouldn’t know how far you were from Morgantown, Pittsburgh, or Zanesville because of the nature of the hills, hills everywhere, always obscuring the horizon, and the density of western Appalachian slopes’ deep green foilage drunk on late spring rain. I was the youngest person present, like a fragile goofy dainty pre-teen stowaway, barely tolerated on their Gruff-and-Serious Mission to tromp through the stagnating mud to reclaim bent rusted metal in the oppressive humidity. Pungent vernal pools. Too many toads and frogs to count. And in the flooded oxbows, and where the rain puddles collected in gravel, there were two turtles, and both of them were tiny little babies that could fit in the palm of your hand. One was a snapping turtle, the other a spiny softshell.

I almost saw this as a spiritual experience, because: (1) I actually lived far away, nowhere near this kind of humidity, where there were much fewer reptiles and amphibians, in a region at the extreme range limits of both of these turtles, where these turtles were rare. Acres and acres of degraded cattle rangeland or barley monoculture. Not very friendly to streams. There was also yucca-covered badlands, shortgrass prairie, sagebrush steppe. Friendlier to reptiles generally, but not generous in providing streams for the turtles. However, if circumstances aligned, and you paid attention to the humidity and the insects and the goings-on of the prairie, you might be lucky enough to sometimes see a snapping turtle or spiny softshell in little stock ponds and vernal pools in the “wide-open” prairie. They were like harbingers of ... something special, I guess.

And it was also a “spiritual” experience because (2) they were my two favorite North American turtles, at least at that time, partially because they both had interesting distribution ranges on the edge of their range, and I often went out looking but could rarely find them, so the auspiciousness of seeing both species together was cool.

And both turtles are so unique. The snapping turtle is like a dragon or dinosaur, full of personality and charisma. The serrated shell, the rough skin, the mass of muscle escaping bursting out and escaping the shell’s confines, the long dragon-like, almost-horned tail. And spiny softshells are almost alien. The dramatically long neck, the unique flat pancake shell, the leathery soft texture of the shell, they’re highly aquatic even for a turtle, etc. Softshells can sit at the bottom of a river, and extend their neck up to the water’s surface, so that they can breath, like a submarine’s periscope. And they’re very skittish, very fast when you encounter them and they retreat, just a blur, like an apparition.

So these, like, dudes in their twenties, seeing me watch the turtles, they all wanted to either (1) take the turtles home as “pets,” or (2) kill and eat them. (!!! But don’t worry, everything was fine, I eventually convinced them to save the turtles, to re-release at the river nearby.) But for a while, these people placed both turtles together, each in a pail with some water, the pails side by side.

You know how snapping turtles have a reputation for being fiery, grumpy, dangerous to handle?

This little snapping turtle was - to this day, still - the most passive and pleasant turtle I’ve ever encountered. Just completely calm and charming. I swear she was smiling. The dudes “babysitting” me were insisting on handling the snapping turtle to demonstrate their fearlessness or some other bullshit. I don’t like handling reptiles and amphibians unless its necessary for their own safety (remove them from the road or residential yard, transplant amphibians from a dangerously drying vernal pool, transplant a rattlesnake to somewhere it won’t be killed, etc.). But this time, to keep these dudes from harassing the snapping turtle, I was the one who would take it, and place it back into the wet pail after each of these guys had Proved Their Courage or whatever. This snapping turtle, not once did it appear agitated or aggressive. Nervous and uncomfortable with the harassment? Yes, but not a violent turtle.

But the softshell? Violent turtle. In the best way. The two turtles were polar opposites.

To this day, that was the angriest turtle I ever met. Hissing, clawing, wriggling, biting. I was 110% vibing with this softshell, because I shared its righteous fury. This turtle didn’t want to be harassed by these guys, treated like garbage. I myself was not enjoying being teased and harassed by these guys. They had spent their down-time that day fishing for and arbitrarily/sadistically killing carp and catfish to toss to the crows.

The softshell, the snapper, and I, all hostages.

To this day, I still love these two “alien” turtle species.

The turtles ended up being transplanted somewhere safer. So did I, when I returned “home.” The turtles lived. So did I, I guess.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed - Episode 02

Warning: Spoilers for all 50 episodes!

(Masterpost ) (Previous Episode) (Next Episode)

Donkey Riding

way ho and away we go, donkey riding donkey riding way ho and away we go, riding on a donkey

Wei Wuxian and Apple are doing their best for the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. 

Xiao Zhan had trouble riding the donkey sitting side-saddle, so the Department of Questionable Practical Effects made him a fake leg to wear while riding regular style. 

Can you spot it? It’s very hard to spot. It is very convincing.

Simple Pleasures

Wei Wuxian takes his time wandering up the nearest mountain, and half of the cultivators in the land also wander up this mountain because...Night Hunting! The cultivators are hot and thirsty from walking because they forgot that they all know how to fly. 

Wei Wuxian relaxes by a well and listens to people stanning him. 

Also

I’m going to say it: Wei Wuxian never met a drinking vessel he couldn’t blow.

Everything is Beautiful at the Ballet

The actress who plays A-Yan is named Zhang Linran. She probably has studied dance since she was 4 and now she gets her big break which turns out to be feeding an apple to a donkey. So let’s pause for a second to look at how beautifully she moves.  

Reunions are Awkward, Part 1

Wei Wuxian meets up with one of his family members and it goes super well. 

I...like Jin Ling? He’s much less of a douchebag than his dad, his uncles Jin, Jiang, and Mo (the three stooges), and every damn one of his Jin cousins. He’s genuinely brave (his Dad’s primary good quality) and his hair is on fleek. He’s still a whiny diaper baby, but I like him. 

(much more after the cut!)

Then Jiang Cheng shows up, looking fine as hell and radiating peak arrogant-prick energy.

When he discovers that ‘Mo Xuanyu” stuck a piece of paper to Jin Ling, he tells the child to literally murder him. Excellent uncleing! A+++++ would recommend.  

“In fact, literally murder anyone who uses Yiling Laozu’s tools, like talismans, lure flags, or spirit compasses - basically murder everyone in the Lan Clan plus those other fanboys we saw coming up the hill. Then get out there and make some friends, goddamn it!”

These nets full of cultivators on this daytime night hunt are the only time we ever see anything in a net during a night hunt.  In fact dudes constantly go night hunting and the only prey we ever see is rock lady, murder turtle, and a couple of rag mops in the lake. 

You Are Not Qualified to Speak to Me

Also radiating arrogant-prick energy on this occasion is Lan Wangji. He has been using pettiness as a weapon since long before he met this Jiang Cheng turkey, and he *brings it* when Jiang Cheng tries to have a conversation with him.

Letting your eyes wander everywhere except to his punchable face while you ignore his passive-aggressive questions? Quality work. 

Dropping a silence spell on his child and then letting your own child explain it to him? Golden. 

Lan Wangji is never ever going to forgive Jiang Cheng for what he did on cliff day, and his silence here is as pointed as an ice pick. I suspect the last words Lan Wangji actually spoke to him were “Jiang Wanyin, stop it,” sixteen years ago. 

Jiang Cheng is actually the bigger person in this particular interaction, visibly mastering his temper and telling Jin Ling to take his medicine. 

Reflecting

Wei Wuxian hangs out by a beautiful river and hallucinates for a while. River Jiang Yanli is nurturing and River Jiang Cheng is pissed off, so there are no surprises there.  River Jiang Cheng thinks that Wei Wuxian is a promise-breaking douchebag. He’s not exactly wrong. 

Courtesy of convenient gossiping cultivators, Wei Wuxian discovers that the 16 year old arrogant kid from the Jin clan who his brother from the Jiang clan has custody of is actually and quite obviously Jin Rulan.

Well fuck I guess now I care about something, that’s inconvenient. 

Needing to help parent the child of the sister who parented him is what draws Wei Wuxian fully into his new life. 

As soon as he has this realization, Apple comes back from roaming around, and never gives him any trouble after this for the rest of the story. Which...probably doesn’t mean anything. 

Wen Gravesite

Does Wen Ning hang out here because it’s where he and his (dead) people came from? Oh great, now I am sad. 

Judging by all the leaves on this grave thingy I’m going to say that this grave tender dude is, ah, not very good at his job. 

Get him, Jingyi!

I feel like maybe we all focus too much on how Lan Jingyi is so hilarious and sardonic and not enough on how he is a such a biscuit. 

Soul Grass

As mentioned in the previous post, Chinese spiritual concepts don’t always translate well into English. Soul grass? Sure, why not. 

This is where Wei Wuxian’s Sherlock Holmes brain starts to work, although he still doesn’t remember really basic stuff about Dafan Mountain. Dying and changing bodies is rough on the old neurochemistry. This creates more opportunities for flashbacks, however, and if there’s one thing The Untamed deffo needs more of, it’s kissing flashbacks.

Temple Statue

Presumably grave-tender dude is also in charge of clearing away spiderwebs at the temple, because it’s not getting done. 

Jin Ling walks into the temple blaspheming at full volume. 

Since this isn’t a Greek story, he isn’t immediately struck blind for this. Then when he wishes for the statue to come alive, it obligingly does.  Everything’s coming up Rulan!

Wei Wuxian shows up to rescue all the kids by throwing talismans at the monster which does not tip anyone off to who he is. 

Baby Cultivator Babysitting

Lan Wangji chills out in the cultivators’ pavilion with Jiang Cheng and their mutual hate boners.

Meanwhile, Wei Wuxian forgets all about his nephew and turns into cool professor guy, explaining the basics of soul-eating to the baby cultivators and gleefully encouraging their fear of Hanguang-Jun’s punishments. 

Because the Lan babies are good filial children they are super respectful and engaged with this random adult who is lecturing them. They also - like their own Hanguang-Jun at their age - see and admire Wei Wuxian’s intellect. It’s easy to forget how extremely smart Wei Wuxian is, because of how extremely dumb Wei Wuxian is.

Lan Jingyi suddenly figures out Wei Wuxian is not crazy. 

Bis. Kit. 

Then Rock Lady shows up and Jin Ling sticks 6 arrows into her while Lans Jingyi and Sizhui stand around not bothering to draw their swords.

I see a lot of comments about the bad effects in the statue sequences but I think Rock Lady is all right. The figure animation is decent and the lighting is no worse on her than on everything else in the scene. Her hair is nice, for a rock person.

Admittedly I just finished watching Guardian which has CGI monsters so bad they may have injured my retinas and possibly also my DNA, so the bar, for me, is pretty low. Rock lady clears it with room to spare.   

Note: Wei Wuxian’s flute playing does zippity towards controlling the statue. Not sure what his plan was here.

Wen Ning Kicks Ass

Now we get to meet Wen Ning, who appears to be a stone-cold badass. Later we will discover how hilariously inaccurate that assessment is. 

While all versions of Wen Ning are delightful, this version of Wen Ning is also...strangely attractive? He’s got a Patti-Smith-Horses-Era vibe here, instead of his more usual lost-baby-dork vibe. And his dreamy “I have nails in my head” expression is intriguing. 

I mean, he’s not a total snack like zombie Song Lan or pre-zombie Song Lan or blind Song Lan or post-zombie Song Lan, but this look is a good one for Wen Ning, is what I’m saying.

Reunions are Awkward, Part 2

Lan Wangji, who has 99% already recognized Wei Wuxian because of the haunted sword and the fierce jawline and beautiful neck and tiny tiny waist, is summoned by his flute playing as inexorably as the Ghost General was. 

Jiang Cheng also recognizes Wei Wuxian and goes into full beatdown mode, thwarted (silently) by Lan Wangji. Wei Wuxian attempts to preserve his incognito by sassing Jiang Cheng in as sibling-like a manner as possible. 

Hanguang-Jun’s Pro-Ghost Agenda Has Been Clear for Some Time

This Jiang/Lan fight is hilarious when you consider the implications.

Macroexpression vs. Microexpression

Mo Xuanyu brought Wei Wuxian back using sacrifice summons, a dark ritual invented by Wei Wuxian that he, most likely, did NOT show to Lan Wangji back in the day. So it’s a pretty safe bet that Lan Wangji doesn’t know that Wei Wuxian was gifted a body, rather than stealing one.

when your brother turns around, you must whip him you will never live it down unless you whip him

When Jiang Cheng lets loose with Zidian, it’s not just because he’s angry. He’s using purple power to force Wei Wuxian’s ghost out of the body he’s apparently possessed. And Lan Wangji instantly STOPS him from doing that.

Clan Leader Jiang: this person has been possessed, against their will, by an evil ghost

Future Chief Cultivator Lan: Counterpoint: I am banging the ghost

Flashback Time

Welcome to your 30-episode flashback!

Once I used to join in Every boy and girl was my friend Now there's revolution, but they don't know What they're fighting

Let us close our eyes Outside their lives go on much faster Oh, we won't give in We'll keep living in the past

Road Tripping to Summer School

Gosh I’m looking forward to younger, kinder, more relatable Jiang Cheng.

...prick. 

Incidentally, until now this episode didn’t know that Jiang Cheng has smile muscles, and neither did the person who glued his wig on for him.

I Like Rabbits

Here we have our first rabbit in a large collection of rabbit iconography that appears in The Untamed. 

Instead of sending everyone to the Wikipedia page for Tu'er Shen I’m going to take this opportunity to rec the short film Kiss of the Rabbit God by Andrew Thomas Huang (tw: blood, tw:body-mod cutting) which you can read about and watch over at  Nowness.com 

Particularly if you are a queer person of Chinese heritage, check it out. 

So. What the fuck are these? Are they food? 

Are they made from wax? Or corn starch? or pig intestines? 

Wei Wuxian runs off to get laid drunk and Jiang Cheng grumps about it. Jiang Yanli reminds him that being free is a Jiang Clan Rule, so really Wei Wuxian is following the rules by not following the rules. Does that mean he’s not free? My head hurts. 

Jiang Cheng: yes but grump grump grump

Jiang Yanli: Nothing bad will ever happen because of A-Xian’s choices, trust me

Outro

Wei Wuxian faint tally: one  Caught by: the cold hard ground

Soundtrack: 1. Donkey Riding by Great Big Sea 2. Living in the Past by Jethro Tull 3. Whip It by Devo

Fic prompt:  Lan Wangji’s internal monologue while he sits in the pavilion with Jiang Cheng 

If you write a fic from this prompt and want to share, please post a link in comments!

Bonus: Wang Zuocheng, macro-expression king

Episode 03 Restless Rewatch coming soon!

[glowinggator]

Trouvaille

Request: Hi there! If you don’t mind, could you do Headcanons for either the rottmnt boys or mud dogs with a reader /crush that has hazel eyes, since they mainly hangout during the night it looks like plain brown ( usually in the dark hazel eyes looks like brown eyes ) but for the first time they were able to meet up at daylight ( maybe stayed up until sunrise together, or went into a farm for a week vacation, idk are seeing the reader in sunlight for the first time ) and their eyes aren’t actually brown but hazel? Like way lighter, almost like a honey color with a tint of green? How could they react? Thank you and hope you have a good day!

[A/N: Thank you for letting me choose, anon!! <3 I’ll be doing all of the mud dogs, and I might throw in a turtle or two in another post!! I ended up writing a good amount for Leonard, so I’m posting his on his own, haha.]

Pairing: Loathsome Leonard/Reader 

Content Warnings: None!

Word Count: 825

Honestly, he always thought brown eyes on their own were fucking gorgeous. I mean, everyone in his family has brown eyes, all with various ranges of darkness. Brown eyes are so expressive and deep! 

But holy shit, you’re like the patron deity of beauty itself when he sees you in the light for the first time. His breath catches in his throat as he stops in his tracks, taking a moment to really look at you. His brows rise ever so slightly as he stares, breathing stilled and body frozen. You ask him if he’s okay and he blames it on being tired, but he’d give anything to stay like this forever. He finds another reason to fall in love with you every day, doesn’t he?

The morning wind is cold as it brushes by your legs, blowing the steam from your mug in every direction into thin, beautiful, translucent swirls. The wooden bench creaks as you swing back and forth: the lone sound in the bright orange field. Oversized deer and rabbits tread cautiously through the trees from miles away, and you smile softly to yourself. It’s like a scene out of a comic book, you think to yourself.

The city is gorgeous, sure, but nothing can compare to the raw beauty of the countryside. You sip at your drink lazily as you look over your surroundings. You’re only staying here to lay low, but you’ll miss it when you inevitably return to the city for “work.” Your legs ache, still exhausted from running so hard the day prior, but in a way that gives you a complete and utter respect for life. You pull your legs up onto the bench, curling further into your blanket as another gust of wind rushes by. 

You’re brought out of your thoughts by the sound of the plastic screen-door shuddering open. You look over your shoulder, smiling at the man exiting the small house. “Morning,” you say, turning back to the view. You pull your legs closer to yourself, making room for him. 

“Morning,” he replies, sitting down beside you. The bench creaks under his weight before settling, similar to the comfortable silence that settles over your company. The birds chirp and caw in the distance, and you sip at your drink once more. The heat is a calming contrast to the cold morning air, and it soothes the ache in your muscles pleasantly. Leonard rests his head in his hand, sipping at his coffee in your peripherals. He blinks the sleep from his eyes sluggishly, breaths slow and steady. He closes his eyes once more, sighing quietly as he leans further into his hand. He probably still aches from the heist, you muse. And considering how much he was pushing himself, it doesn’t seem too unlikely. 

You turn to him fully, resting your arm on the back of the swinging bench as you try to think of something to say. He’s so pretty in the morning, you think to yourself. Something about the mornings bring out the best in people, the rawest form of oneself. Or, maybe you’re just too deep in your crush to tease him about being so disheveled. 

“How are you feeling?” you murmur. 

He opens his eyes sluggishly, glancing at you from the corner of his vision. He blinks once… twice… and all of the sudden his eyebrows raise, eyes widening a fraction. His breathing slows and damn-near crawls to a halt as he gazes at you, although you don’t feel uncomfortable under his gaze. You look back calmly at first, smiling softly. Although after a few moments of silence, you feel that familiar heat start to spread across your face as your heart pounds a little faster, nervous. You swirl your drink around in your mug as you smile, this time more flustered. 

“Uh, earth to Len? You in there?” 

He blinks again, nodding his head and running his hand through his hair quickly. “Yeah, I’m fine, just tired. I’m sick of being tackled, man. I’m getting too old for this shit,” he jests. His hair bounces back into place quickly with the exception of a few strands, evidently still retaining the product from the day prior and you find yourself longing to push those locks back into place, to feel his head in your hands and his hair between your fingers. Oh, you’re getting far too sweet on this man. 

You smile and sip from your cup. “Amen to that. We should find a city where all the cops are like, halflings or something.” 

He snickers, shaking his head gently and rolling his eyes. “Yeah, let me know when you find a place like that, and we’ll fuckin’ move there.” 

You chuckle and look back out towards the horizon, this time with a smile. Today is a beautiful day, isn’t it? Oh, how nice it would be to spend the rest of your days here. 

“Nice eyes, by the way.”

[wastelandcth]

sesame street - cth

summary: calum’s opportunity to flex the perks of his jobs comes in the form of a very familiar show to his family. 

anon requested: I remember Chrissy teigen posted about how John went onto the Sesame Street show and he got the characters to make a video saying hi to their daughter Luna who was obsessed with Sesame Street at the time. So what I wanted to request was something like that with cal where the guys go onto the show and he gets a video of them saying hi to Charlie or Ellie (or even them and dovey going with him to the show idk). The idea honestly just melts my little heart 

notes: i hope you guys enjoy the doves and their adventure to sesame street! this was a fun one to write and the banner took too long to make but it’s one of my favorites. 

masterlist || request || more doves

When the band had first gotten the offer to show up on the popular kid's show, they had all laughed it off and said they'd think about it. From experience, Calum knew this meant there was no way in hell that the band would be showing up on an episode of Sesame Street anytime soon. But as he watched said show on a rainy afternoon with his two kids, both of whom were so lost in the wonderful world of Elmo and his friends to even pay attention to him, he realized that maybe doing a skit with the puppets wouldn't be such a bad idea. 

So that's how Calum found himself in a studio with his three bandmates, watching as Big Bird walked past them on his way to set. Maybe it was the sleep he'd missed out on the past two days with Eloise being the ever-adventurous baby who kept sneaking out of her crib and crawling over to their bedroom at three in the morning, or the fact that everyone on set was too cheery for it to be nine in the morning, but Calum was grumpy. He'd been trying his best to keep the friendly smile on his face but it was getting harder and harder to do with every reshoot of a scene they were ordered to do. By the time their lunchbreak had rolled around, Calum never wanted to be in the same room as Elmo again. 

"Papa this place is so cool! Does Elmo really live here?" Charlie asked as he ran into Calum's arm, not too long after the band had been allowed to go on lunch, "Can I see his house? I brought him a drawing that Elly and I did."

One of the only reasons why Calum had agreed on doing the show, besides Dovey's constant badgering on the subject, had been how excited his two kids had been to hear the news. Charlie, who had been watching Sesame Street reruns on tv since he was a newborn, had practically begged both him and Dovey to take him on to the set the day of filming. He'd promised he'd be respectful of the filming crews and had even offered to clean his turtle's enclosure for a month straight if he was allowed to go on to the set. Eloise, who had hoped to see another celebrity on set beside her father, was still a sleepy mess who was snoring away on Dovey's shoulder when all three of them had shown up to visit him halfway through his day. 

"It's cool, huh bud? Maybe we can visit Elmo later, yeah? Why don't we grab some food and then we can go say hi?" Calum mumbled, earning a soft chuckle from his wife who could see right through him and could tell exactly just how sick he was of Elmo and his other felt friends. 

By the time lunch had come and gone with Eloise having woken up and Charlie telling her how they were going to meet Elmo and Big Bird, Calum had led his family back onto Sesame Street where his PA had been waiting for them with exciting news. If the Doves wanted to, the two kids could be in the episode during a background scene.  Charlie's gasp and the tugging on Calum's hand from Eloise had been the only convincing the two parents needed and it wasn't long before Dovey found herself off to the side of the set while she watched her two kids and their father move around with the puppets that she'd grown up with and that her kids were now going to be on tv with too. 

"And cut! That's a wrap!" the director called out as the scene ended and everyone cheered. 

Calum looked over to where his two kids stood, Eloise, telling Big Bird a very interesting story about her trip to New York to be here with him while Charlie looked at the large puppet in awe. He handed his bass off to be put back in its cage before he made his way over to Dovey, who looked on the verge of tears as she watched their kids. Calum's arm wrapped around her shoulder, pulling her into an embrace as he chuckled. 

"They were good, huh? Think we have a pair of actors in our family?" Calum asked as he pressed a kiss onto the crown of Dovey's head. 

"Oh god, they're already dramatic enough, Dove. I can't imagine them being actually actors. We're screwed." Dovey mumbled and laughed softly into his shoulder. 

"You want to meet Elmo, don't you?" Calum whispered and smirked as he looked down to meet his wife's eyes. 

"Oh my god, I never thought you would ask." Dovey chuckled and nodded, "He's a legend!" 

And as a day that had started with not enough coffee and a lot of puppets, Calum was more than happy to lead his wife to meet a red puppet who she'd been staring at while Calum had tried his best to not laugh while they filmed. And a few weeks later, when they were all sat in their living room watching the episode play out, Calum couldn't help but feel the pride in his heart as he watched his kids walk past him in the background, both of them happily skipping along with the other children on set towards Big Bird. It was a day that his family wasn't going to forget anytime soon, a framed picture of all of them on set framed and on display in the living room. 

taglist:  @hoodhoran @finelliine @moonlightcriess @dinosaursandsocks @mxgyver @calpops @karajaynetoday @notlukehemmo @calumrose @devilatmydoor @lyss-xo @lowkeyflop

[ladychimera]

I sort of regret getting into Miraculous Ladybug, because the show itself is a raging dumpster fire, but (parts of) the fandom make up for it.  But I still can’t help but bemoan all of the wasted potential.  Like imagine…

(I’m sure this is going to get long, so hope the cut works.)

---

To start off (and this is probably going to piss a lot of people off but bear with me) imagine if there was no Love Square bullshit.  Adrien/Chat can just have a healthy level of admiration towards Ladybug, especially since he’s been there with her from day one and seen how she’s grown into a determined and clever hero.  Marinette and he could still have the umbrella scene if that’s how they clear up the misunderstanding between them, but she can end up finding that he’s a nice boy who she could see herself being friends with.  And that’s what they could be here – just friends - but not in the repetitively, cringe-inducing way like canon keeps pushing.  This would leave them to be able to joke and pun and banter, whether as civilians or superheroes, and both will know it’s all in fun.  This could help with a lot of the problems a lot of us have with Adrien/Chat too beyond the unwanted advances and all of that.  It would likely also help him grow into someone who could be let in on things earlier than he is in canon (so no scenes like That One in Syren).  

Events can still play out similar to canon, but we can get actual character development, and plot development, and world/lore building. Nino and Alya can still get the Turtle and Fox temporarily.  I don’t know about Chloe and the Bee.  If she actually got proper redemption (and not one stretched out over so many episodes without showing much actual progress that most of us just gave up caring before the creators just gave up on it themselves), maybe things could still happen there, but she’d definitely need to actually face consequences for what she did there.  That could even be what helps spur her to try and better herself instead of solely coming from Ladybug.

Then this is kind of where I can’t help but think how things could have gone differently.  Say after Heroes Day and all of that mess Marinette begins thinking that…maybe they should have more permanent heroes.  Trying to deal with an Akuma and realizing they need back-up, going to Fu and picking a Miraculous that could work for the situation, chasing down the person she wants to give it to (If they’re not already there as a matter of convenience. And I’m sure there are enough of us who [kind of] hate someone being given a Miraculous as a matter of convenience.), and going through all of that detracts from dealing with the situation.  She discusses it with Chat, and he quickly agrees, so they go to Fu.

In this ‘verse Fu would be given the chance to actually interact with them regularly beyond “Marinette goes to him for Miraculous” and he’s also able to realize his mistakes.  When the three of them sit down to discuss this situation he might be the one to bring up that, despite Chat Noir being a fitting partner for Plagg and the Black Cat Ring, it was probably a mistake to send out the two Miraculous needed for the reality-bending wish.  Since that can’t be taken back now that Paris knows both are already within the city, they land on maybe the Turtle being the one to sort of give this “Adding More Permanent Heroes” thing a test run, especially since that was probably the one he should have sent out instead.  At this point Adrien and Marinette still haven’t revealed who they are to each other, but when Ladybug suggests Nino again it kind of…just happens lol  They might be a bit chagrinned that they didn’t realize who the other was sooner (and not realizing that Nino’s Carapace might make Adrien want to smack his head into a wall even with the reason being the Miraculous glamor hiding it – THAT’S HIS BEST FRIEND! And they’re actually shown to be in this AU :l ) but it goes over well enough.  There’s still the threat of if one of them is Akumatized and possibly giving the others away, but in this ‘verse they actually have SUPPORT. From each other with no superhero-related secrets between them.  Give my girl the support she needs and deserves especially! Fuck canon with its constant shitting on her.  SERIOUSLY.  They’d also be able to cover for each other whether as heroes or as civilians (so stuff like less ridiculous excuses to go transform).

So…Permanent Turtle!Nino. My boy would deserve it, especially if they kept his first season personality and just built on it (instead of having him be basically relegated to “being pulled around by Alya” whenever the creators deign to even have him show up :l ).  At this point Marinette, Adrien, and Fu might need to discuss how much to bring Nino in on (including meeting Fu), but I don’t think it would take them long to realize that he fits the Turtle and maybe it’s time for him to meet the Guardian and find out who Paris’s heroes are.  How he reacts to that is up to you.  When they get to talking about the old Order of Guardians maybe one of the three kids brings up making a New Order (because Feast hasn’t happened yet for one), maybe as an offhanded comment, but it doesn’t sound like a completely bad idea.  Fu, thinking about his past mistakes (and we also don’t know how much he actually learned before the Fall or what he might have learned from the kwami since), might not know whether to agree with it or not, but the other three have kind of taken off with the idea and Adrien or Nino might even make (another) offhand comment that it’d be like they’re creating their own Miraculous Justice League or something (and that’s what I’m going to refer to this AU as I guess – “Miraculous League AU”) so he’s basically, ‘Well, I guess this is happening then.’  Probably wouldn’t take long to start discussing who would fit the other Miraculous after that.

Now…Alya and the Fox… To be honest I don’t think she really fits the Fox.  That was more one of those “matter of convenience” type of situations.  Since we don’t know much about the ones that haven’t been used yet, if we go sort of by what the zodiac signs mean, maybe she’d be better suited for the Boar/Pig?  I don’t know…  There’s also the problems with her design as Rena ugh. To me the Fox seems better suited for a creative type who can keep themselves out of sight (This is the only credit I’ll give Lila/Volpina – she knew to hide herself when making her illusions.). So who is a quiet, creative type they know?  Well, it probably wouldn’t take long at all for Marinette to think of Marc and Nathaniel. Honestly both of them could work for the Fox, but for this AU I can’t help but lean more toward Marc (and this would mean Nathaniel could have what I picture for the Rooster, but Fox!Marc and Rooster!Nathaniel would probably require their own post).  She might even make up her mind if Nathaniel was Akumatized again and Marc wanted to help.  So now we have the Fox added in (and I don’t know when I’d want Nathaniel brought in on stuff).  Also I know there’s the whole “an Akuma isn’t really who that person IS” thing (though I side-eye that with ones like Silencer or even Bubbler. I think it’s more a matter of the negative emotion being amplified so much they sort of become twisted versions of themselves?), but I don’t think Reverser is given enough credit.  I think he’s been one of the closest after Dark Owl to actually getting the Ladybug and Black Cat Miraculous. I think Marc would make for a good hero.

As they discuss the other Miraculous as soon as they reach the Monkey Marinette and Nino are both, “Kim.” And they’re so quick and blunt and adamant with that response that Fu doesn’t question it. I mean come on who else fits it as well as Kim?!  Not to mention not only was the boy fucking robbed in his own hero debut episode, they’ve known him since kindergarten (and in this ‘verse they’d actually be really close like “He’s/She’s like a brother/sister to me” close. It’s also why Marinette was so adamant about Nino.).  Now the Monkey is still really special, so while they might decide it might not be bad to bring him in as the next permanent user they might make it a point that he’s not necessarily joining every battle even if he’s able to.  All they need to go wrong is him/his summoned item accidentally being knocked into any of them but Ladybug or Chat in particular after using his power.  This also solves the disaster that was Party Crasher.

That leads to talking about the Snake.  I’m not sure whether I’d want Desperada moved up in the timeline or not, but at this point Marinette probably hasn’t had much interaction with Luka just yet to automatically think he’d be a perfect match (which he definitely is) for the Snake so it would probably need to be, though there might still be a slight hiccup with Adrien maybe taking a few turns until he not only realizes that he is NOT fit for the Snake (and that’s ok) but that Luka IS.  On a side note with no Love Square bullshit that whole cringe-inducing guitar scene would also either not happen or happen in a similar way but because Jagged just kind of put the spotlight on Marinette but she doesn’t want to push Luka into working with someone who his mom just kind of tore into so in a kind of bit of panic goes with Adrien.  And no Love Square also prevents that whole thing with Adrien resetting almost 26,000 times because WHAT EVEN.

Since they discussed Kim already (and brought him into the loop), they can’t help but think of Max (whether at Kim’s prompting or otherwise I like Kimax leave me alooone lol).  Which one suiting him might not be obvious at first though, but given what Voyage entails it might not be bad to have an analytical mind like Max using the Horse. I mean his first time using it he managed to get them from SPACE to almost exactly in London where he wanted. Not to mention I can’t see him having been in Marinette’s grandpa’s place to know where to put the portal in order to do so successfully and be right there to grab the radio he needed without him having a natural affinity for the Horse.  Also WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH MAX AND THE HORSE ANYWAY?!  Mind-controlled Max was able to send Chat HURTLING INTO THE SUN. The kid’s a natural with the Horse even when mind controlled, but that’s also making the Horse like stupid OP.  Or at least when Max uses it.  I don’t know how I’d want Startrain to line up with this, though it would be better to happen after (probably right after) he’s brought in so he knows the others are there but they still have a reason for the Horse to be available if anyone questions anything.  This also prevents another “matter of convenience” situation.  They’d need to make it clear to Markov what to say or not to say and when though.

I can’t really say much about Kagami and the Dragon honestly.  I mean at least she’d be familiar with wielding a sword, but I’d need to see her use of the other elements to get a better idea of how it might work in this AU.  Adrien might suggest her after getting to know her some through fencing club, but it might still end up being sort of a “matter of convenience” situation depending on when he does vs when her mom might end up Akumatized.  They would need to press not revealing herself to others outside of the group though.

Alix is in a similar boat. Her situation could go a lot like canon, but she’d actually be included in knowing who was who and the discussions they have like the ones at Fu’s.

On the matter of Lila it would definitely go differently than canon.  With no Love Square Alya has no reason to dismiss Marinette as merely jealous because Lila’s getting so close to Adrien.  Nino and Kim would also have a huge problem if Lila tried to turn the class against Marinette.  Alya would also stand up for her girl and be questioning all of the ridiculous things Lila says anyway (She’s supposed to want to be a journalist. She should be questioning all of the shit Lila spews.). Max would also have a problem just from a logical standpoint with all of the shit she says.  Adrien would also know that Lila’s lying because he knows Marinette is Ladybug, so we could also not have the High Road bullshit talk.  Nathaniel would also probably be questioning things, especially if he’s already become the Rooster, but even if he wasn’t Marc would probably help keep him grounded.  All of this might make Lila either give up on her lame lies, or she could actually become the master manipulator the show wanted her to be but without having to dumb down the entire cast for it to “work.”  This could very well also be the groundwork for why she might be the next Hawkmoth, especially if he partners up with her more often (whether to give her more Akuma or let her help him make more).  

Another thing that would be different in this AU is concerning the Miraculous themselves. While ones like the Ladybug earrings, Black Cat ring, and even ones like the Snake bangle and Turtle bracelet are rather inconspicuous, a lot of the others aren’t.  Not to mention you can’t tell me the Rabbit has always been a pocketwatch or the Horse always having been a pair of sunglasses.  In this AU while they might keep their past/last form while dormant in the Miracle Box if a new, permanent user is chosen then the Miraculous can adjust its appearance to that person.  This could be little things like Nino’s bracelet ending up with a smaller charm but slightly bigger band to better go with his other bracelets (and maybe some beads or winded yarn in his signature blue and red) to bigger changes like Kim’s circlet might become something like an arm band since he’d in no way get away with wearing the circlet unless he took to like…wearing a hat or beanie or something.  A lot of us think Juleka will probably end up with the Tiger since it’s so similar to her mirror, but that thing is kind of monstrous and definitely conspicuous.  It would likely need to change to more match her current mirror.  The Horse sunglasses could just adjust into a replica of Max’s glasses.  Marc could probably get away with the Fox staying a pendant, but I kind of like a choker for him better.  I don’t know if Ivan could pull off a nosering, so the Ox might need to change too. If that double thumb ring with the chain link between is the Rooster, I don’t know if Nathaniel could pull that off, so I picture something more like maybe a bracer cuff kind of deal with maybe a stylized feather motif or a stone that looks like the sun.  It could also be hidden by his sleeve most of the time.

Just…so. Much. Lost. Potential. It’s honestly kept me up some nights (though in part because it’s hard for my brain to turn off).

[quarantineddreamer]

@zutaraweek 2020 Day 4: Celestial

While I am here reblogging all the amazing content I’m seeing for Day 4 I wanted to repost an old one-shot of mine which contains plenty of Celestial imagery. It made my heart happy just to write it and I hope it makes yours happy to read it! 

Also posted on my AO3

Rating: G

Title: Of Lanterns and Turtle Ducks

Summary: Zuko is preparing to propose to Katara in the garden his mom cared for so lovingly, and where he and Katara first kissed 4 years ago... 

He carefully cupped his hand close to the waxed paper of the final lantern and released a small, gentle flame into its center. He stared at it a moment longer, feeling its soft warmth on his cheeks as he brought it closer for inspection. He shut his eyes and everything was orange and red. He began a silent prayer to the spirits, and in particular, to the soul he hoped still visited the pond he had staged so carefully on this night, the anniversary of the first night. A small smile tugged at his lips. I think you’d really, really like her Mom. I hope you’re here tonight..I think you are. He could feel her now, as he often did in this spot, an aura that wrapped itself around him like a blanket, whispering comfort, security, encouragement, love.

He opened his eyes and it was as though he were looking at the stars themselves. The lanterns danced in lazy circles as the light breeze propelled them across the still surface of the water. Their reflections rippled and sparkled. Fire and water united performed this most beautiful scene.

“Wow it looks amazing!” the voice of a friend called, and he turned to see two grinning faces peering out from behind a nearby tree. Suki and Sokka -their expressions made him blush.

“It really does!” another said in his ear, and Zuko jumped, very nearly tumbling into the pond as Aang landed quietly beside him with a whoosh, Toph climbing down from the monk’s shoulders, cackling at his response to her whisper.

The Avatar reached up to the taller man and slapped a hearty hand onto his back. “She’s going to love it!”

Zuko smiled at this, but didn’t reply, his stomach had begun to do flips again. “I hope so,” he mumbled. He looked again at his work. An hour or so of subtle firebending to illuminate the pond, the lotuses plucked and lining the small dock formed a pathway leading to the galaxy, and of course, the longest part had been carefully leading the turtle ducks to a temporary shelter for the night -filled with little treats and soft surfaces to snuggle in.

The group had all drawn towards him to stand beside him by the water. They created a small circle around him and their excitement was like static in the air. They all stared expectantly, even Toph’s sightless eyes landing on him.

“I wasn’t feeling so nervous until you all showed up,” Zuko said gruffly.

“Psh well you should be nervous, you’re going to have Sokka for a brother.” Toph elbowed him playfully.

“If she says yes…” Zuko corrected.

Sokka and Suki rolled their eyes in unison, a habit they had developed over the years. The former wrapped his arm around his wife. “She’s going to say yes. It’s a long time coming.”

Zuko supposed it was… Just two years before they had all been celebrating on a frigid night in the South Pole the union of the Kyoshi warrior and the young Water Tribe leader. He remembered how happy Katara had looked then, so giddy at the sight of her brother, all grown up, and twirling his bride about on the dance floor -stealing kisses.

Two years before that… four years to the day, was the night Zuko had nearly died, the night Katara had saved him.

Azula had been carried away to a secure location at Zuko’s command. He had struggled to rise, trying to find strength to command the Fire Nation soldiers that had come forward following his sister’s defeat, but Katara would have none of it. “Can you please sit still?! For spirits’ sake you just took a bolt of lightning to the chest.” He lay back down when he saw that she was close to tears again.

After she gave him as much healing as she could, and he swore, repeatedly that he really was alright to move, he went about his new duties, organizing troops, setting precedent, establishing himself as their new Fire Lord. Katara sent a message to the rest of their group via hawk, and they received word back within a few hours that Ozai was defeated and in custody, everyone was okay, they had won.

When that message had been received he and Katara had been standing in the palace. They looked at each other, almost in disbelief, and laughed, tension floating away in deep, hysterical chuckles. When that had passed, she had thrown her arms around him and buried her head into his shoulder. He had winced at the pain of her impact on his wound, but hadn’t made a sound, only encircled her in his arms and squeezed, breathed in the scent of her hair -a bit burnt from its near misses with blue fire.

When they separated, he had wordlessly led her away from everyone, through the maze of hallways that were such a part of his childhood, to the one place he knew they would not be bothered. His mother’s garden had looked neglected compared to how it was now, but still pretty, and quiet, peaceful . The sun was nearly rising, the night having flown from them in all the activity of post-war - post-war, could it be true? they both thought.

The sky was a pale blue, the faint light of dawn beginning to grace its depths, and he walked her to the shores of the pond (absent of turtle ducks in that moment) and together they sat, exhausted, and dipped bare feet in the cool liquid. She had her arms out behind her and was looking at the sky, shaking her head as though to ensure she wasn’t dreaming it all, and he thought how absolutely beautiful she was, how brave, how kind…

“Katara…” he reached for her hand and she turned her eyes upon him. Those eyes… And then, more unbelievable to him than the war finally ending, she had leaned towards him and pressed her lips to his, placed a gentle hand across his scar, and curled strong fingers in his hair.

“Zukooooo,” Aang laughed, snapping him back to the present with a wave of his hand across the Fire Lord’s eyes. “You there, buddy?”

Zuko cleared his throat, “Uh, yes, yes, hello, Zuko, here!” His cheeks turned a magnificent scarlet shade, visible even in the dim light.

They all took turns giving him a hug. “She’ll be here soon,” Sokka said, and gave his friend a knowing smile. “Don’t forget to breathe!” And with that they all departed.

Zuko was more concerned his heart would forget to beat, such was the eraticism of its rhythm. He paced the dock. Soon, Suki would be approaching Katara (who was probably in her study finishing up important diplomat work) and coming up with an excuse to guide her to the garden.

He looked out again upon the floating lanterns, then up at the moon and the true stars above him, studying them and their steadfastness for strength. A hand landed like a bird upon his shoulder, tugging him around.

“Zuko?” she asked in wonderment. Those eyes, those sapphire orbs... they could melt greater than any firebender he had ever met.

He took her hand and had her stand beside him, then took her other hand, and… Struggled to speak, a lump lodged in his throat.

The questioning on her face was replaced with affection for his awkwardness. She squeezed his palms gently, supportively, then looked out at his work. “It’s so beautiful,” she whispered, “what fire and water can do together…”

Shadows played on her face, she glowed a soft amber. Zuko felt a small tug at the bottom of his robes, and glanced down to see a stray turtle duck’s little eyes upon him. How did it?... he wondered, but saw that with it was its mother, and the mother…Was he crazy? Had the oil he used on the lanterns gone to his head? The mother duck seemed to bow its head, encouraging, a signal. Truly I am oxygen deprived...Breathe, breathe...

Katara was studying him now, unaware of the discrete audience behind him, but she was patient, knowing that Zuko would speak when he was ready, savoring the joy building in her chest as she began to suspect what this was all for.

Words were not yet ready to befriend him again. Instead he took one hand away from her own, and reached into his pocket feeling the cool touch of stone at his fingertips, the lick of the silk he had carefully selected.

Slowly he knelt, bowing his head, drawing a final breath, before looking back to her. “Katara, four years ago, the world changed... but I never would’ve known peace without you. You are a current that guides me. You remind me every day of the good that exists, of its power, and of its endurance. You gave me a second chance even when I wasn’t sure I deserved one…and you helped me heal wounds in myself I wasn’t sure I could even face. You have made me a better person, the person I was fighting to find again for most my life -the one I always wanted to be.”

"Zuko…” she laughed softly, but waited for him to continue. Her eyes glimmered with tears and lantern light, but there was a smile on her lips.

“Katara, I promise that every day I’m going to continue to prove to you that I can be worthy of the life you gave me. I will support you in your ambitions to rebuild a better world and assist in every way I can. I will comfort you no matter what may come our way. I will stand beside you, Katara,” his voice broke, but he kept going, almost there…  “Katara, I love you, now and always. Will you, uh… Will you marry me?” He held out a shaky hand. Balanced along his fingers was a silvery stone carved with a combined symbol of the sun and moon, clasped carefully to a line of inky silk. And despite Sokka’s advice, he was certain that he was holding his breath, his heart galloping in his chest.

She grabbed the necklace from him and dropped to her knees beside him, placing her elbows on his shoulders and her hands on both his flushed cheeks. “Yes, Fire Lord Zuko,” she laughed. “I will marry you. Of course, I will!”

His nerves evaporated and a smile, so big it hurt his cheeks, flashed onto his face. He kissed her deeply at first, drinking her in, then repeatedly, until she scrunched her nose and began to giggle at his teasing.

“YAY!” came a hoot from up on the roof. Katara and Zuko followed the sound to see the short figure of Aang standing atop the palace, arms triumphantly stretched to the night sky.

The couple laughed as one by one the sheepish faces of their friends appeared. Suki and Sokka both shrugged, and Toph clapped, none-too-guilty at being caught spying. One by one Aang bent them down from their hiding place. They all raced to Zuko and Katara, talking over each other in their “Congratulations” and “Finally!”s.

When finally a lapse in the chatter had come, Sokka frowned. “Wait...Did you say yes?” he asked his sister, pointing an accusing finger at her neck, which still had their mother’s jewelry upon it.

Katara gave the blue carving a fond squeeze one last time, then slowly unknotted it and moved it to her right wrist, her brother assisting her in securing it firmly in its new spot. Then she handed the bethorthal piece back to Zuko and turned her back to him, pulling her hair over her shoulder as she did so, leaving her neck exposed. He gave the exposed skin a small kiss before reaching round to tie the new pendant to her. When he was finished, she turned and gave him a goofy grin and another cheerful kiss. They parted, but he refused to let her stray too far, holding her back against him, arms draped over her shoulders, as she swayed happily and started talking wedding plans with their friends.

Eventually, even the exhilaration of the engagement was not enough to keep the gang awake. They all began to drift off to their beds. Katara and Zuko trailed behind everyone else, Zuko holding her hand and allowing his arm to stretch as he slowed to take one last look at the garden. The lanterns were still a tapestry of light against the black of the pond, a mirror to another world. Thank you, he thought quietly to the presence that he felt always guiding him whenever he stood in that magical place, and then together he and his bride-to-be, bumping playfully against each other, laughter echoing in the quiet of late-night, made their way to their bed.

The little turtle duck waddled back to the sanctuary the Fire Lord had built for them, and the mother… Emitting a faint blue light she shifted into the elegant form of a woman dressed in magnificent robes, gazing fondly at the retreating figures of her son and his love, before fading away, following the path the lanterns made to the spirit world...

[watchathon]

Avatar: The Last Airbender, Series Finale: Sozin’s Comet

In case you’re finding this post just by browsing the tags I’ve used for this post, this is the Watchathon, a blog where I’m hoping to watch an episode of a TV show every weekday, with a short blog post where I write down my thoughts as I watch. Each new thought starts with a hyphen and a bolded first word.

- Like so. Now that the introductions are over with, it’s time to break that one-episode-a-day rule and finish off Avatar: The Last Airbender with the climactic grand finale, Sozin’s Comet:

PART 1: THE PHOENIX KING

- Okay, so, Katara in the intro is still saying “He has a lot to learn before he’s ready to save anyone.” I could’ve sworn they removed that part by this point... Maybe that was just something for the DVD?

- I like that the “Previously on” segment is so long. It really emphasizes how much buildup there was to this. How much the Gaang has been through to get here.

- I gotta say, I was not expecting a beach party in this episode.

- Somehow, for reasons I can’t explain because I don’t understand them myself, this ambush from Zuko made the audio of Nicolas Cage saying “Surprise attack!” in Into the Spider-Verse play in my head.

- Zuko’s really lucky that he earned Katara’s forgiveness before this violent pop quiz, seeing as just a half season ago... “You take one step backwards... one slip up... give me one reason to think you might hurt Aang - and you won't have to worry about your destiny anymore. Because I'll make sure your destiny ends right then and there. Permanently.”

- It never occurred to me that we didn’t get details on the war meeting before now.

- I’d bet hearing about this plan is the thing that tipped the scales and fully convinced Zuko to join the Gaang, and prevent the genocide of the Earth Kingdom.

- It’s so nice to see Zuko being welcomed into the group hugs. Especially when it’s Katara who invites him.

- I like that Zuko is teaching Aang to redirect lightning, the same way Iroh taught him.

- Even before it’s made explicit, you can tell that Aang’s uneasy about the idea of killing.

- Toph is just delighting in her role as Melon Lord, isn’t she?

- Someone out there has definitely written an AU fanfic where someone gets killed during this training and it’s Toph’s origin story as the malicious Melon Lord. If not, then I will write it myself, and it shall be the crackiest crack fic that ever cracked.

- Y’know what, I wish Toph could’ve actually gone on a life-changing field trip with Zuko too! Everyone else got one...

- This scene of Sokka climbing into Appa’s mouth is even more uncomfortable once you’ve... well, once you’ve grown up and... Okay, I tried to put it subtly, but I just can’t: Once you’ve been cursed with the knowledge of what vore is.

- Well, there’s a bait-and-switch if I’ve ever seen one: “Azula, you’re the new Fire Lord!” “=)” “But I am now the Phoenix King and still your superior who you will answer to.” “=O”

- Nice to see June and her Shirshu make a comeback.

- Does this mean Aang wasn’t running away on purpose? I honestly thought he was just going to that island to get some alone time, maybe meditate or contact the previous Avatars’ spirits.

PART 2: THE OLD MASTERS

- I’m not sure if this is something I forgot from June’s first appearance, or if it’s actually just never been brought up before, but I didn’t know her Shirshu had a name.

- It’s sweet that Zuko is seeking out Iroh’s help. Even if the method of finding him is, ah, well... unorthodox.

- Even Avatar Roku doesn’t know where Aang is. And here I thought it was some Avatar thing that had never been brought up before.

- It’s nice to see these people make a comeback. Bumi, Piandao, even Jeong Jeong and Master Pakku are here for the finale.

- I am surprised that we didn’t get an interaction between Toph and Bumi, though. The man Aang wanted to teach him Earthbending, the girl who ended up doing it... But I guess there’s only so much time, and I don’t think there’s any scenes that could be deleted to make room for it.

- It seems like Aang is just searching for confirmation of his beliefs, rather than actually seeking wisdom.

- I like that we get to see Bumi taking full advantage of the eclipse to take back Omashu from the Fire Nation, instead of just being told about it.

- It’s nice to see so many past Avatars beyond just Roku and Kyoshi, Avatars that we never heard of before, but now we hear their stories. But all of these past Avatars echo the same sentiment that Aang should kill Ozai, even an Air Nomad Avatar.

- What can I say about this scene of Zuko and Iroh reuniting? Forgive me for echoing a post I made on my main blog, but this is a scene that’s both sweet and sad.

Sad, because Zuko’s abuse at the hands of Fire Lord Ozai left him anxiously expecting furious punishment for crimes much less than what he did to Iroh. He can’t even comprehend the idea that Iroh would forgive him. His expression while apologizing to Iroh clearly shows he’s expecting the worst.

Sweet, because Iroh still loves Zuko like his own son, and doesn’t even need to forgive him because he never felt anger at Zuko’s betrayal: Only sadness and a worry that Zuko had lost his way, truly lost his honor. And Iroh is so clearly happy to see that Zuko has found his destiny, and joined the fight against the Fire Nation.

I could go on and on about this scene... It’s my absolute favorite scene in the whole series and it brings me to tears every single time I see it.

Gosh... it’s gonna be so awkward going back to the jokes and little mundane thoughts after this, isn’t it?

- Okay, I have officially given up on the idea of finding out what the heck this island is.

- I like the smile on Katara’s face, when she’s asked to team up with Zuko and fight Azula.

- It’s nice to know that Iroh will get the opportunity to run that tea shop, even if Zuko won’t be there to work with him.

- Okay, okay, so the island was actually a lion turtle. Frankly, I’ve still got a lot of questions. Even some new ones.

- It’s nice to see that the Netlix subtitles aren’t ALLCAPS anymore.

PART 3: INTO THE INFERNO

- Gotta hand it to the music, it can make even a scene of Azula making a fuss over a non-pitted cherry rather unnerving.

- Azula’s... Azula-ness has gone straight up to eleven with her newfound role. Hasn’t it? What with all the banishments, even banishing the entire Dai Li.

- Sokka, Suki and Toph are the real dream team. 

- And we get a great final blind joke!

- I like that we get to see everyone doing their part in this final battle. All the members of the Gaang, even the White Lotus, get their moments to shine.

- The hallucination of Ursa shows that Azula, on some level, has an idea of what’s wrong with her. You can tell that they were thinking of a redemption arc for Azula come Book 4, though I am glad that didn’t happen.

- It’s chilling to see Ozai razing the forests of the Earth Kingdom like it’s nothing. And then to realize that this is what Aang will have to face.

- At first I wasn’t sure what Sokka’s plan was, but now that I see it in action, it’s really creative.

- I like the idea of a final one-on-one Zuko vs Azula duel(...a). It’s been a rivalry since Book 2, and it’s nice to finally see it get settled, even if I can’t imagine it’ll end up that easy: Otherwise, what would Katara do?

- It’s so cool to see Aang showing his prowess in all bending techniques, using them all in this final showdown.

- The background music during Zuko and Azula’s Agni Kai really sells it. It makes it sound almost tragic, and it is: two siblings pitted against each other, no choice but to fight to determine the future of the world.

- Azula might be slipping, but she’s still Azula, all too willing to cheat in what’s supposed to be a one-on-one duel.

PART 4: AVATAR AANG

- Netflix isn’t showing the intro for the individual parts, but I’ve gotta say... There’s no way that Katara’s still saying Aang’s “got a lot to learn before he’s ready to save anyone.” Right?

- I like that we get to see one last use of Metalbending from Toph in the finale.

- Dang, I hope this isn’t really the end for Sokka’s sword, or his boomerang. Especially when the sword was so cool, and one could say meaningful.

- I honestly wasn’t sure the Avatar State would ever be a factor again. But if there was ever a time, this is it. (ADDENDUM: This is probably the best time to clarify that I find and add the images at the start after writing the rest of the post.)

- And it’s so epic to see Aang bending all four elements at once.

- I like that Iroh got to burn down the Fire Nation flag.

- Since Zuko’s down for the count, I guess this means a battle between Katara and Azula, the latter powered up by Sozin’s Comet.

- To be honest, I could barely make out what Azula just said. “kjsdbksrbfkjvf family position to look after, kdcbkfh”?

- Katara may not be stronger than Sozin’s Comet-powered Azula, but she’s much more clever than Azula is right now as she loses her marbles.

- This is just the perfect kind of defeat for Azula. There’s no grace to it, no dignity, just writhing around, screaming and spewing fire as Zuko and Katara look on with pity.

- There’s probably a great practical reason someone could find for Spiritbending being a thing, but here’s why I’m glad it exists: Aang gets a happy ending. He gets to take down the Fire Lord, and hold true to his beliefs. If it weren’t for Spiritbending, if Aang killed Ozai, then he would be conflicted to the end.

And I don’t want that. I want Aang to get an unambiguously, undoubtedly happy ending, where the world is saved and that’s all there is to it.

Plus, Spiritbending is quite the spectacle.

- I’m guessing Sokka’s space sword and boomerang really are done for. But hey, there’s always headcanon. Maybe Sokka searched the forest and eventually found them.

- Weird to think that Ty Lee’s gonna be a Kyoshi Warrior.

- Again, I can’t believe Zukaang’s not the most popular Zuko ship in the fandom. Not a ship I’ll go to bat for, but it’s got all the hallmarks of a fan-preferred couple.

- It’s so nice to see Zuko’s coronation, and the official end to the war. It’s a happy ending for the whole world, the start of an era of peace.

- “Love and peace,” huh...? Now that’s funny to hear in the finale to this show, considering the next show I’m covering, come 2021...

- I like that we get to see one last confrontation between Zuko and Ozai. Even if Zuko’s question of where Ursa is doesn’t go anywhere (in the show, I know they touch on that in the comics), it’s nice to see the newly-crowned Fire Lord Zuko having evolved past a need for Ozai’s attention, or a fear of Ozai’s wrath.

- It’s nice to see the whole Gaang having fun at Iroh’s tea shop, in the end. And I stand corrected, this is where we get the final blind joke.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I’m lucky in that most of my childhood cartoons hold up as an adult. I watched Kim Possible, Phineas and Ferb, Code Lyoko, Courage the Cowardly Dog...

Still, there’s something special about Avatar: The Last Airbender. It had a unique aesthetic and world that no other show was quite like. It had a story that was like nothing I’d ever seen as a kid.

And it doesn’t just hold up, it’s even better.

When I was a kid, it was as simple as rooting for the good guys to win, and for the Firebenders to lose, except for Zuko once he turned good.

Now, as an adult (but mostly as someone with a DVD player/Netflix account so I’m not just watching whatever reruns I can catch) I can appreciate the character development, the arcs, the entire story.

I can appreciate how Aang grew from a little boy who does indeed have a lot to learn before he’s ready to save anyone, into a hero who could save the world.

I can appreciate how Zuko was an abuse victim who did what all abused children wish they could do and left his abuser.

I can appreciate... Gosh, Iroh’s entire character and dynamic with Zuko.

Some people say that Avatar “starts off as a kids show, then turns serious”, but I’d disagree. Avatar is a show where our heroes change, where they learn lessons, where they come of age and become the kind of heroes who can end a war that’s been going on for over a century.

As relieved as I am to be (mostly) done with these posts for the rest of the year, I am still oh-so-glad that I’ve rewatched Avatar yet again, and I know that I will be whenever I rewatch it in the future.

Now, with all that said... Farewell! Until the Christmas special, at least...

[hopeless-ro-simptic]

The Death of A Demon - Pt 3

I swear I am working on my other fics and stuff, but I already have like 20 parts written for this and I just wanna keep posting it since it’s my baby. Sorry if you don’t like OC fics. 

Warnings: Anxiety, thoughts of self harm/suicide, threats, not much to warn for this chapter. 

Word Count: 2.6 k

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Back to current day

It was barely a day later. Feral had seen it on the news, the devilish hero that came all the way from Spain in the hero exchange program. The way that all of the girls fawned over him as he smiled and waved to the crowds gathered outside the gated airport. She had recognized his dark features immediately, hair pushed back from his chiseled face, a light scruffy dusting of facial hair accentuating everything he wanted. He was wearing a business suit when he had landed at the private airport that the big named hero’s tended to use, but even without his costume, she knew exactly who he was. The number 1 hero in Spain, Diablo, had come to Japan under the guise that he was working with the Hero’s commission to help locate and stop the League of Villains. Feral knew better though, she knew what, or rather who, he was really here for.

To bring her home.

After years of being on the run, constantly watching over her shoulder, making sure to stay out of the media and to avoid anything whatsoever that could get her caught, Feral had finally made a mistake. She had finally shown up on Diablo’s radar.

He had been immediately caught up in a press conference, smiling his perfect white teeth to the camera, canines bigger than a normal person’s which Feral knew only made him that much more popular with the ladies, talking about the goals for this hero exchange and what he could bring to the table in tracking down and dealing with the league.

“What would you say to the villain Shigaraki Tomura if he was watching this right now?” One of the reporters asked. She looked absolutely enamored with him, looked like she was going to start squealing like a school girl any minute. Especially when he turned his full attention to her and gave her a very obvious once over. Feral was pretty sure the reporter blushed.

Red eyes slid over from the reporter’s face, looking directly into the camera, staring into Feral’s soul as she watched. His oh so charming smile hiding the truth behind it. Hiding just how ruthless this so called ‘hero’ really was.

“I’d tell them that: no matter where they hide, no matter where they go, I will find them.”

Her bags were already packed. She had already triple counted her money she had plenty of it to get her out of the country, to start over. As much as she hated the idea of leaving the one place that was finally starting to feel like home, she couldn’t stay here. He would fine tooth comb the entire country until he found her. He would stop at nothing.

“Is there anything you are going to miss about Spain while you are here?”

Feral could here the background noise of the TV as she double checked everything that she had. She needed to make sure there was no trace of her left behind. Nothing.

“… Barcelona is beautiful this time of year.”

Feral’s hands were shaking, her heartbeat too loud as she turned and stared back into the cheeky smile on the camera. Her mind racing with memories from too long ago, of a mission where they had effectively turned their beloved city into a cage, impossible for anyone to escape. In one fell swoop he had cut off all routes of escape. Of course he had. Feral was stupid to think that he wouldn’t have a plan in place to stop her from running. There was almost no way that she was getting out of the country now. Not without making a very obvious scene. Not without him being able to track her down to her next location just as easily.

She needed a backup. She needed some kind of protection. Something to get rid of him. To keep him off her trail.

Someone.

Fumbling with her phone she pulled up the message from just the day before that she had long forgotten. Looking at the pictures and back at the TV a plan forming in her mind. He was officially brought here to help with the league. Meaning that the Japanese government is fully expecting him to work on it and show results of some sort. Meaning that the league has to now deal with a new Hero that they most likely no nothing about. A Hero that they would want to get rid of just as much as she does.

As much as she really didn’t want to, they were her best chance, and she was theirs.

She just had to track them down, but that was the easy part. She tore through her bags, landing on a particular item, one that she probably should have thrown away years ago but she was just too attached to get rid of. She pulled it out and looked at the torn-up leather jacket, the one that was singed in multiple places, ripped in others and just plain worn out all around.

Everyone has a particular scent, one that is completely and 100% unique to them, and they leave it on basically everything they touch, though it fades significantly over time. The good news is that Feral had a pretty recent run in with a particular fire user, one that had pinned her up against a wall in his most recent attempt to kill her, only for her to easily over power him in strength, his flames not getting hot enough before she could get away.  

She had been too tired to wash her jacket afterwards which meant that it still reeked with his scent. While Feral had a decent sense of smell normally, it got even better when she shifted, to the point of a dogs. As long as she got somewhere close to where Dabi has been in the last few days, she could pick up a trail and track him down.

----

She had been right in her assumptions. Dabi was shockingly easy to find.  Everyone had habits. Things they go back to again and again. Dabi’s happened to be a liquor store in the wrong kind of neighborhood. One that wasn’t going to turn him in any time soon even if they did recognize him through his rather weak disguise. When was the boy going to learn that a turtle neck, a mask and a hoodie was not the most inconspicuous way to walk around when your on the countries most wanted list. Still the workers at the liquor store had turned a blind eye to the shady things that happened around them for years. Feral would know. It was the same liquor store that she shopped at.

Right next to the alley way that he had tried to kill her in last week.

Funny how they both just kept coming back.

As soon as she picked up his scent she tracked it back, weaving in and out of alley ways and halfway across the slums of the city, to what seemed to be a condemned bar. There were several other scents coming and going from the area, all of them seeming to be pretty recent. Feral recognized this must be the leagues current hideout and decided the best course of action.

She can’t just walk in there. At least not with Dabi there, she would need to wait until he at least left and then sneak in. He would just alert the others and they might be less inclined to agree to an alliance if one of their members is so against it. Feral wasn’t 100% sure about how their group worked, but she knew Dabi was considered an important member. One that probably had a lot of sway in the group.

If she could get the leader, Shigaraki Tomura, to agree with her, to understand that she would be valuable to them, she was pretty sure Dabi would have to fall in line and play nice. At least until this was all done.

So she waited. And waited. And waited. For what felt like days, when in reality was only several hours. She had watched a small blonde girl skip into the building, double checking that no one was watching her (she clearly did a bad job) before sliding through the door. She had even watched as another blonde, a tall male with what seemed to have some kind of scarring on his forehead peak his head out of the second story window that seemed to have previously been boarded up with a cigarette between his fingers as he chatted away on the phone. Unbeknownst of the brunette two stories below him keeping a watchful eye on the building. Feral couldn’t help but wonder if she was trusting the right people.  

Finally, after what seemed like forever, well into the darkness of the night, Dabi stepped out onto the street. A lit cigarette between his lips, his hood pulled over his face. He barely glanced around before shambling off down the street, away from the building. Feral watched as he turned a corner three blocks down before she finally moved.

She had barely taken a step out from her hiding spot when the world disappeared from under her.

----

It felt like a weird dream, one moment she was outside, the next she was frozen in time and space, floating in a sea of blue glass, unable to move, until finally, she was breathing fresh air again, only this time standing in the middle of what seemed to be a dimly lit bar, surrounded by some of Japan’s most wanted.

All of them looking more than ready to kill her. Shame that most of them can’t. Most of them.

Her eyes stayed focused on the on in charge. The blue-haired villain standing directly in front of her, a wide smile on his face, which was mostly covered by a severed hand. She couldn’t help but glance down at his hands, hands that wore no gloves, a smile spreading across her own face.

Maybe she should just have him kill her. End it all right here. Wouldn’t that be nice?

“I know you. You’re that werewolf quirk that was on the news.” The petite blonde leaning against the wall next to the door blocking the escape was the first to speak, her eyes widening in what seemed like glee. Feral recognized her from the wanted signs. Toga Himiko

She was still partially shifted, her red eyes glowing for anther moment before she let her body relax, it shifting back into her normal state, a hint of interest in Shigaraki’s face.

She stayed quiet, not sure just how much information she was willing to give them just yet. It seemed a least someone in here had a brain, as Shigaraki’s eyes narrowed onto the collar around her neck, his eyes trailing down the chain that disappeared about a foot down, ghosting away occasionally swinging back and forth just slightly like something was moving it, tugging it.

“That’s not your quirk. Werewolf. It’s something more than that isn’t it.” The mist villain known as Kurogiri was standing behind the bar, polishing a glass casually seemed to mimic Shigaraki’s thoughts, the leader grunting in agreement.

Glancing around Feral meet the eyes of the others in the room, gauging them as she did. There was the man in the black and grey full body suit, a mask pull firmly around his head, he was sitting at the bar. Known as Twice. His quirk was multiplication of some sort. She didn’t understand the logistics but it seemed simple enough.

“What are you looking at? Wanna go freakshow?” Crazy, but a strong ally.

Feral ignored his comment, her eyes flicking to the lizard man in the room who was leaning with his back to the bar behind Shigaraki looking pissed off. Spinner. She was pretty sure he was a Stain fanatic. There wasn’t much information on him from what she had seen, other than he seemed to be able to do things that lizards could do. He was an unknown.

Lastly her eyes slid up to the masked magician standing at her side, his grip loose on her left shoulder, seemingly innocent but she knew better. Mr. Compress. The one with the condensing quirk that turned objects and people into marbles. The one that snuck up on her. He was powerful. A good ally to have, a terrible foe. She had seen how he used his quirk in shaky out of focus videos. A complete mastery of it from what it seemed like.

She couldn’t help but flash him a smile before her eyes focused back on Shigaraki who was still waiting for an answer.

“My quirk is known as Hellhound. A little different than werewolf but they had the right idea.”

“And what are you doing here, Hellhound?”

“I want to join up. Form an alliance. I have something you need and I could use the extra… hands.” Twice snorted at her little joke, Shigaraki’s face turning into a frown, looking like a bratty child.

“And what is it that you think we need so badly as to trust you?”

“Information, on the new hero that has shown up on your doorstop. Diablo. He will hunt you down. He’s rather good at it actually. His quirk is Devil, which sounds simple, sure, but it goes much deeper than you think. And he has friends. Very. Problematic. Friends.” She enunciated the last few words. Her eyes drilling into Shirataki’s as he watched her skeptically.

She would tell him almost anything he wanted to know. As long as it meant they helped her.

“Go on.”

“His quirk almost gives him invulnerability. He’s going to be very hard to kill. Actually pretty sure, you are one of the few people that can kill him. Not to mention he’s strong. Not All Might strong, but he could easily break every bone in your body. He’s faster than your average hero. He’s just an overall powerhouse really. But what you should be most concerned about is his… friend. He’s got someone on his side that rivals All Might in both speed and strength. Someone not unlike your precious Nomu’s. Someone who will kill without hesitation. Though if we play our cards right you won’t ever have to meet them.”

“Why would they kill us? Heroes don’t kill, they put us in prison. It’s why they are so weak. Is it different in Spain?” Toga had been all but scoffing at the idea.

“Legally speaking, no, but the Spanish government is in cahoots with Diablo. They have basically given his free reign to use his friend to deal with problems to big for a simple prison cell. I’m pretty sure the league counts as one of those problems.”

“But he is in Japan. He has to work under Japanese laws.” Twice was the one to jump in this time.

“If you think that for one second he care’s about your laws, you are vastly mistaken. He’s a Hero. But I never said he was a good person.”

“Wait. Wait. Wait. How do you know all of this? Who are you? He didn’t show up until you were on the news.” Spinner narrowed accusing eyes at the athletic female.

Feral rolled her eyes. Time for the 20 questions games about her life. This wasn’t going to be fun. She once again had the thought run through her head, that it would be much faster to just kill her. Get it over with.

“Because, He’s my brother.”

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[hedwigstalons]

High Expectations - Ch15

Yup, this beast is still going and still growing.  Life sapped my energy so it has been a lot longer between updates than I would have liked but I’ve been experimenting with writing out of sequence to make use of whatever creativity I can grasp.  The plus side of this is that ch16 is in the editing stages and ch17 is also half written.  But anyway....it’s taken a while but here is ch15 in the saga that has become affectionately termed ‘Bad Jeff’.

@willow-salix has been wonderful at helping be fix the plot holes and pick out the parts where I contradicted myself.  I now have a proper timeline though (funky multicoloured spreadsheet and everything) so I shouldn’t tie myself in knots so much with the boys ages and milestones.

Earlier parts: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve, Thirteen, Fourteen

AO3 chapter link

Chapter Fifteen

The incoming call notification had Virgil scrambling for his phone, fumbling with the handset while trying to swipe a call accept icon that suddenly seemed too small and fiddly to be practical.  It took him three hasty attempts before managing to complete the action correctly, allowing him to finally speak to the brother who had been frustratingly out of contact.  Scott had been in LA for three days and Virgil was now desperate for news but he had promised he wouldn’t interfere lest he call at the wrong moment and inflame matters further.  It had been a nail-biting wait, forcing himself to be patient and trust Scott to call when he could.

“Scott, how is it?”  It took him a moment to register that the face on the screen wasn’t Scott’s despite what the caller ID proclaimed.  “Gordon?”  He was surprised to see a younger brother rather than an older one.

“Don’t sound so pleased to see me.”  There was an air of the old teasing Gordon making a slow return.

“Sorry.   Of course I’m pleased to see you,” and he genuinely was, the face that looked back at him was still too thin and pale for comfort but the hair was clean again and the eyes had lost their haunted glaze, “I just wasn’t expecting it.  Where’s Scott?”

“He’s here too.”  The scene on Virgil’s screen shifted quickly as the handset at the other end was spun round to reveal its rightful owner who gave a little wave.  “He said he was going to call you so I asked if I could go first.”

“Well, how are you?”

“I’m....okay.”  Virgil had made him promise in the past not to lie about how he was feeling, it was one of the reasons he had been pulling away; it didn’t count as lying if you just omitted the truth.  “It’s been a strange few days.”

“I’ll bet.”

“For a start I’ve found out that flyboy over there gets ever so twitchy if anyone else is at the controls of a plane.  You’d best hope you never have to take him as a passenger in that bumble bee of yours if it ever gets off the drawing board.  Or was it more like a turtle, that beast was green wasn’t it?”  The look of fear that crossed Virgil’s face would have been comical if it wasn’t so genuine and Gordon was given the sudden reminder that, as far as Virgil was concerned, he wasn’t meant to know about their father’s vision.  He was quick with his reassurances.  “It’s okay, Dad told me about his rescue plans”

“He still won’t tell Alan though” Scott called out from across the room, “Dad has taken him out to fetch ice cream so we can talk freely for a few minutes.”

“Ice cream?”

“Yeah,  I think he’s just trying to cover some of his own guilt.  He’s still no Dad of the year though.”  Scott's tone was derisive and Virgil could tell that tensions must still be running high.  “He’s going to have to tell him sooner or later, he can’t just spring it on the kid that he is being dragged out of school and shunted across the world when the island move happens.”

“What, you mean like he gave us time to prepare for the move to LA?”  Gordon snorted.  “I don’t know about you guys but me and Alan didn’t exactly get much warning when we left Kansas.”

This surprised the older two who had known all about the plan, the many arguments were etched in their memories.  In this case the problem child had been John.  Scott had been making the transition from university to the Air Force and Virgil had been busy preparing for his studies at Denver but John had been on a path that didn’t align with their father’s business plans.  The fifteen year old, with a coveted place at Harvard nearly in his grasp, had begged to stay so he could finish high school without interruptions; he had worked hard to stay two grades ahead of the curve and an inter-state move could undo it all.  Of course letting John live alone had been out of the question, and Jeff had not been prepared to delay the move, leading to  flares of temper and defiance that none of them had realised the middle child was capable of.  It was only when Grandma stepped in, offering to return from New Mexico to become custodian of the farm and care for John during that final year that their father relented.  With all of the concerns over John and his university dreams it hadn’t occurred to either of them that the youngest two hadn’t been told about the move.  Evidently their father’s policy of ‘need to know’ was long running. 

“Don’t worry Gords, Scott and I will make sure that Alan gets told.  If Dad’s idea happens, and knowing Dad it probably will, Alan won’t just have another move sprung on him.  I promise.”  There was sincere honesty in those deep brown eyes and Gordon gave a subtle nod of thanks.  “So tell me everything that has been happening over the last few days.”

Gordon recounted everything that had happened since Scott’s arrival, prompted by said older brother if he missed anything out.  Virgil winced at the revelations.  Even with the sanitised highlights he could tell that the last few days had been an emotional rollercoaster.  In some cases the revelations were beyond his worst fears and he couldn’t help feeling proud of his little brother who had been living through harder circumstances than any of them had imagined.

“Which brings us to today,” Gordon brought the tale up to the present, “Dad’s decided I need to learn to fly seeing as this island he’s chosen isn’t exactly on the commercial air routes.  Alan’s going to start learning too; Dad wasn’t happy about that idea but Scott reminded him that he started learning at Alan’s age.  You should have seen him up there, Alan is an absolute natural.”  Gordon’s voice glowed with pride at the achievements of his little brother.

“You didn’t do badly yourself” Scott cut in from across the room.

“So why were your knuckles white the whole time?”

“Hey, as you said, I just like being the one in control.  It was no different when Dad was piloting and he’s clocked up more flight hours than the rest of us put together.”

“I can just imagine it” Virgil snorted, “you should’ve seen him supervising John when he was learning to drive.”

Gordon glanced across at Scott who had visibly paled at the memory, before turning his attention back to Virgil. “So yeah, I’ve now got to fit in pilot training and exams around getting back up to strength for WASP selection.”

“And WASP is definitely what you want?  You aren’t just going along with it so you can get away from Dad?  I know you’ll be able to do it, but please don’t enlist unless you’re really sure.”

Gordon wasn’t sure if that was the concerned older brother or the family pacifist speaking; WASP was still military after all and Virgil had made no secrets of his thoughts in that direction.  But equally Virgil knew how stubborn he was and how he would never back down from a challenge and had managed to resolve his difference with Scott over the Air Force so he chalked the questions up to brotherly concern.

“Yeah, I’m sure.  It’s a good life Virg, something I can really make a career out of and the opportunities for officers…”

“Officer?” This definitely surprised the distant sibling.  The widened eyes elicited a slight blush from Gordon.

“Um, yeah, that was Scott’s idea.”  He was still having a little trouble reconciling himself to the notion that he was cut out to lead.  

“Not just my idea” said brother called out from his perch on the bed, “the Marineville lot wanted to transfer you to officer training too.  This time round you’ll just be applying for the officer steam from the beginning.”

“As I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted,”  Gordon shot Scott a glare of mock indignation, earning a chuckle from Virgil “it’s a good life.  And yes, this time I’ll be trying out as an officer.  I’ll have to redo the aptitude tests, different benchmarks and all that, but we’ve been looking into it and my scores were already at the right level.  There’s just one additional aptitude test for officers that I never took before.  I’ve tried an online practice test and did ok so I should be alright.  I’m booked in to take it for real in a fortnight.  After that it’s selection at Marineville again and then hopefully I’m in.  It’ll take a few months but by the summer I should have my first posting.  The officer intakes don’t happen as frequently as junior ranks so I’ve got time to train.”

“You seem to have it all mapped out and not a college course in sight.”

“Nope.  Thanks, both of you.  It’s...it’s been a hard few months and I couldn’t see a way out of it all.”

There was a noticeable slump in Gordon’s posture and the light went out of his eyes as the memories of his recent trials flooded back in.  It broke Virgil’s heart to see how on a knife edge his brother still was and he knew he and Scott would need to keep a close eye on their younger sibling for a long while yet.  At least Gordon had a goal to work towards again; they both knew his steely determination and drive to succeed. Once he had set his sights on a challenge nothing would stop him, the Olympics had proved that.

“Any time.  And don’t be a stranger.  If Dad starts getting on your case again or you just need to talk to someone you know where I am.  I’ve been told my couch is pretty comfy too if this new schedule of training and flying lessons allows you any time off.”

“Admit it, you just want me back for my cooking” Gordon smirked.

“Maybe…” Virgil gave his best puppy dog eyes, eliciting a chuckle from both his brothers.

Any further chatter was interrupted by the sound of the apartment door crashing open, announcing the return of Jeff and Alan from the grocery store, followed by Alan’s shouts that if they didn’t get out there quick there would be no chocolate chip left for them.  Both knew better than to treat this as an idle threat so with a hurried goodbye to Virgil they departed to claim their portions.

 xoxoxox

Life soon settled into a new routine.  Jeff still rarely made it back for dinner, they couldn’t expect miracles over night, but he was getting better at being home before Alan went to bed at least.  Gordon suspected that had something to do with the ‘discussion’ Scott had with Jeff the night before he returned to his Air Force base.  The voices that drifted through the firmly shut study door had shown a flare of temper from both sides and Gordon had been grateful Alan was already in bed and so not around to witness the argument.  It was just as well Tracys were good at putting on a front, by the morning of Scott’s departure the tension had been firmly suppressed and Alan had been able to say goodbye to his eldest brother without any hint of bad feeling spoiling the moment. 

Where life before the Olympics had been a mix of school and swimming, so life for Gordon going forwards became a mix of physical training and flight theory with time in the air thrown in at the weekends.   He passed the WASP officer aptitude test easily enough but the next available selection course date wasn’t until after his birthday, leaving him with several months to focus on gaining the appropriate endorsements on his pilot’s licence to allow him to transport himself to and from his father’s intended island base.  

Gordon wasn’t bad at flying but he didn’t possess the raw natural talent of his youngest sibling.  He was competent and thorough with a steady hand but he couldn’t miss the looks of pride Jeff directed towards Alan as yet again the youngest of the family performed a manoeuvre as if he had been at the control yoke since birth.  It didn’t stop at looks either, all too often Gordon found himself on the receiving end of an unfavourable comparison only this time it was against his younger brother as opposed to his older ones and the arena was cockpit rather than classroom performance.  Evidently, for Jeff, old habits were hard to quell.

This time though Gordon wasn’t facing his troubles alone.  Scott would check in with him occasionally until an overseas posting took him out of contact but Virgil was his real lifeline.  Virgil made sure there was never more than a week between calls and often the gaps were smaller if he sensed Gordon slipping back and becoming more distant.  The brother who had taken on the role of counselor seemed to have an uncanny intuition when it came to Gordon’s mood.   

The extended time around his father however was still proving difficult and Gordon found himself eagerly boarding a flight to Denver to catch a much needed break.

As ever, Virgil was there to meet him at the airport.

“Good flight?”

“It was ok.”

“Not tempted to crash the cockpit then?”

Gordon just rolled his eyes and carried on out to the taxi ranks.  To his surprise though Virgil directed the cab to take them to the smaller private airfield out of town rather than the apartment.

“Sorry Gords” he got in response to his querying look.  “You know Dad said you gotta keep up your air time and this was the only runway slot I could get.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know the deal.”  One of the conditions of a weekend with Virgil was that he got some time in the sky to make up for the lesson he was missing with his father.  “Are you alright with me taking up your baby?”

“I trust you” Virgil shrugged.  He wasn’t quite as in love with and overprotective of his plane as Scott was of his, but neither was he going to let on to Gordon that he had had a long and in depth discussion with their father about Gordon’s ability and competence before he had agreed to help with Gordon’s pilot education.

Gordon always thought it odd that Virgil had a plane but didn’t bother to run his own car, although the longer he spent in the air the more he could see the appeal.  Scott of course had always loved flight and it was no surprise to anyone that a big proportion of his allowance went on maintaining a craft that screamed billionaire playboy.  Virgil’s choice was more subtle and practical, if operating your own private plane counted as practical; perfect for hopping around the country from his central base in Denver to visit family on his own schedule.  Despite also being in possession of big enough allowance to afford it John had neither car nor plane having declared that flying commercial was much more sensible for his main coast to coast journey and he wasn’t one for pleasure flying; he was much more interested in what lay outside the atmosphere, far beyond the reach of a mere plane.

At the airfield Virgil maneuvered his little hopper out of the hanger he stored her in and then passed control over to Gordon.

“Go on then, show me what you can do” Virgil prompted after giving Gordon a quick rundown of the specific take off speed and other essential details he would need to operate the plane safely.  He settled back in the co-pilot's chair, exuding a calm confidence despite itching to keep his hands on the controls; Gordon might be his brother and Jeff had given assurances that all would be well but Virgil was still uncomfortably aware that he has supervising an unlicensed novice pilot.  

His fears were soon dispelled once Gordon started going through the motions in textbook fashion including performing his own pre-flight checks despite having watched those same checks being performed just a few minutes earlier.  A short burst down the runway and they were up in the air.  It wasn’t graceful and Gordon lacked the finesse that came with experience but Virgil was pleasantly surprised at the amount of  progress Gordon had made in such a short space of time.

The problem with flying though is that unless you are practicing something like aerobatics then just keeping a plane in the air is actually pretty easy, it’s the take off and landing that takes skill.  They weren’t making a journey so there was no real navigation to do beyond avoiding the restricted airspace and corridors used by the commercial flights and the weather was clear so flying by instruments was unnecessary.  All in all it was a thoroughly untaxing lesson, allowing them to relax and enjoy the time together.

“So how’s your project going?” Gordon asked as he banked to avoid flying directly over a village.

“It’s okay.  I’m on track to be done by the summer.”

“What will you do after that?  Move back to LA or stay out here?”

“Neither, hopefully.”  Gordon gave his brother a questioning glance of surprise.  “Got to get space rated for Dad’s project.  Me and John’ll be heading out to Tracy College for that, just waiting for confirmation of a course place.”

“Space rated?”  He had realised John would need to undergo astronaut training in preparation for life on a space station but most of the project specifics were still a mystery to him.

“Yeah.  Someone’s got to be able to play taxi service for John and I might need to take a rotation on call monitoring; he can’t live off planet forever.”

“Sounds like plans are really coming together for it.  Does this mean Scott will need to get space rated at Tracy College too?”

“Scott…”  There was a heavy pause and Gordon took his eye off the sky to regard his brother.  Virgil’s brow had furrowed into a frown and when he spoke again there was a heaviness that told of hidden arguments.  “Scott isn’t joining, he’s sticking to the Air Force.”

This surprised Gordon.  In the few conversations he had had with his father about the project, usually confined to a cockpit where Alan couldn’t overhear, Scott was talked about like Virgil was, as a committed member of the team. His role as first responder and pilot of the envisioned rocket plane had been presented in terms of undisputed fact.  No wonder the topic made Virgil look stormy, he was a peacemaker and if Scott wasn’t fitting in with their father’s vision Gordon could imagine that the arguments had been many and explosive.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.  Oh.”

“So what’s going to happen there?  Surely you can’t manage with just the three of you?”

“I don’t know.  I’d like to think there is a contingency plan but Dad seems so sure Scott’s going to change his mind and do it.  They’re both as stubborn as mules though and neither wants to give up their dream.  It’s a good project, the tech looks amazing and we could really save lives.  I can see Scott’s point though, he’s made a life for himself away from Dad and, well, you know yourself what Dad can be like for giving orders.”

Gordon knew all too well what it felt like to be on the receiving end of those orders, particularly when they were at odds with your own plans.  At least Scott had the advantage of physical distance as a buffer to the disapproval and if push came to shove, if Jeff cut Scott off as punishment, the Air Force pay was enough to live on even if it meant Scott had to change his lifestyle to suit the lower budget.

Gordon made the final approach back towards the airfield, diverting the full attention of both brothers to monitoring the landing.  As with the take off it wasn’t polished and it wasn’t pretty but it was safe and Virgil found himself once again admiring just how far his brother had come in such a short space of time.  He wondered if, given time, Gordon would join the team.  Jeff hadn’t made any mention of Gordon taking on a role in the rescue organisation, even if he was now allowed to know of its existence, but there was no denying that having an extra pilot on books could only be a good thing.  Maybe one day he and Gordon would fly together, the more time he spent with his brother the more he enjoyed the company although, Virgil reflected, if they were to fly as a team he would be happier if Gordon took the co-pilot’s position.

With the plane back on the ground and safely returned to her berth in the hangers Virgil pushed all thoughts of Gordon joining the rescue business out of his mind; unless their father issued the instruction there was no point even considering the option.  And anyway, Gordon was heading off to the military like Scott had so who knew if he would even want to join the project.  Better to just let their father know that the required flying lesson had gone without a hitch then settle back to enjoy the weekend.