#to the things

[starryserenade]

Myth and Magic Ch. 18: Learning to Fly

Fic Description: When Tir Na nÓg--the fabled land of the fae--falls to a dark power, the destinies of two young mice are set in motion. As each struggle to make their way in an ever-darkening world, they must learn to trust one another, or risk forever losing that which they hold most dear.

Chapter Description: Our party of heroes - both mortal and fae - continue onward towards The Haven, a hidden faerie refuge. But where they expect to find safety, hidden dangers may await.

Links:

AO3

Prologue

Previous Chapter

Next Chapter: Coming Soon

~~~

Neither mice had gotten much rest at all, by the time the purples and blues of the Faerie night had dissolved into the brighter shades of pink and gold that heralded the day.  After gently returning Max to a place just beside his father, each had gone back to the spots they’d chosen before…albeit a little closer. And, rather unknowingly to either, their tails had found each other as they drifted off to sleep. 

This didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the group, who woke far before they did, and it was especially evident to Daisy, who was now arguing vehemently with Clarabelle over whether or not they should wake the two now or allow them a little more time.

“Daisy, the poor dears are plum feckered. Just let them rest!”

The duck scoffed. “Pft, they’re feckered all right. Wonder whose fault that was.”

The truth is, Daisy hadn’t minded Mickey when she first met him. But then she’d thought about it. And one thing about Daisy, was that she had the tendency to think herself into a tizzy. So she thought about how he’d probably been the one to get Minnie in trouble in the first place and she thought about how completely clueless he’d been about his own identity (how do you not know you’re a faerie, for feck’s sake, when you’re bleedin’ silver blood at a single touch o’ iron??).  And just when she’d begun to think him just a tad bit competent, he’d gotten them all sent here, leagues away from where they should have entered the realm. It was a waste of precious time, and not Clarabelle or Morgana or Clarice acted quite so worried or furious as Daisy was certain they should be. 

Worst of all, he had Minnie wrapped around his little finger. Watching him fawn over her their whole journey so far, casting her those infuriating little glances and touches here and there, it made Daisy want to explode. No one was that sugary sweet, not really. Abnos knew she and Donald weren’t. 

The last time Minnie had acted like this, things hadn’t ended well. And if Daisy was honest with herself, and she really wasn’t, she’d know she was scared. Scared that her friend was going to be hurt all over again. Scared that she’d lose her, maybe for good this time. That was all she saw in Mickey. 

“...an’ seein’ as the two of them saved us, I think they deserve a little extra rest!” 

Daisy hadn’t been listening to a thing Clarabelle was saying. She was too busy watching the mice snuggled deep into their little mossy beds. Then Mickey stirred and turned over on his side, bringing him close enough to Minnie that his breath must have tickled the fur on her neck. Conscious of this or not, she let out a soft murmur and turned over too, until both of their noses were just about touching. 

That was enough of that.

Only vaguely aware of Clarabelle’s increasingly frustrated, “Are you listening”s, Daisy scanned the place around them for something she could use. Flora in the fae realm were rarely without their unique characteristics, most of them useful in one way or another, almost all of them entirely different from much of anything found in the mortal realm. Take the trees above them for example – Willows were scattered around the clearing. Weeping Willows, specifically, which had gotten their name for a very different reason than their mortal counterparts. 

In the night, when faeries were awake and about, when the whole realm thrived in the coolness it brought, the willows dripped freely with waves of cold starlight. It was in the day, when most fae settled down against the heat, that those same flows gathered instead.They formed little tear-shaped fruits in the branches of the trees, and would come crashing down at the slightest touch or tremor.

Daisy grinned.

“Clarabelle, you’re absolutely right,” she said, in the middle of the faerie’s ramblings-on, and smiled sweetly.  “I’m so sorry for doubtin’ you. In fact, why don’t you head on over to help Goofy out with getting some breakfast on, and I’ll go ahead and keep an eye on Max in the meantime.”

“Oh-OH!” Clarabelle clapped happily, thoroughly unused to having Daisy back down from any argument whatsoever. “Glad you’ve decided to see reason. I’ll be gettin’ on then. Do try to be quiet, all right?” 

“Mmhm, absolutely,” Daisy promised, with absolutely no intention of honoring the words. She caught sight of the little one called Max in the corner of her eye. He was playing with a bunch of pebbles, tossing them as far as he could in his own personal competition. His father had been watching, tossing them in turns (they always landed just short of Max’s throws), but when Clarabelle approached, he stood and dusted himself off, dirtying the surface of his trousers more than they’d been before, and turned to walk a ways with her. 

“Oh, Max!” Daisy grinned with a sugary sweet smile, and the little boy perked up. “Do you want to see how to throw them really far??”

He nodded vehemently, watching with wide eyes as Daisy picked up a pebble of her own and eyed the branches above the two sleeping mice. She tossed it lazily in her hand, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. “See, the trick is to pull back really far an-” 

She let the pebble fly, Max grinning all the while, Daisy grinning even more as she watched it strike a branch in the trees above. The leaves shuddered, and the fruit within them trembled. 

Sorry, Minnie~ 

The whole lot of Teardrops slipped from their branches, crashing to the ground in an enormous splash. Minnie squealed and Mickey shouted in surprise, their slumber immediately shattered by the sudden wave that left them leaping out of their resting places. They were drenched, and looked something like a feral disaster as they stood there with their fur all dripping, eyes wild with shock, and breathless little gasps escaping their lips.   

Clarabelle gasped in horror, and Morgana swiveled to look at Daisy, furious fire blazing in her eyes. 

Daisy only laughed, and when Mickey had finally recovered enough to gain what looked like some semblance of his surroundings, he glared daggers her way. “Why y-!”

He trailed off because Minnie blinked, and then looked at him. Her eyes scanned him for a moment, then she seemed to be overcome by… by something . She brought her fingers to her lips and tears welled in her eyes. 

Daisy’s heart sank. She hadn’t thought the trick would cut so deep. “Oh, Minnie, I’m…”

The hand fell and laughter burst forth from Minnie’s mouth, ringing like a bell across the clearing. “Oh… oh, Mickey!” She managed through fits of giggling, both arms wrapped around her stomach. “You…you look awful !” 

This was enough to dissipate his indignation, apparently, as he stared at Minnie, his eyes wide with surprise. It didn’t take long for that smile of hers to cross over, either, and soon he was laughing too. Soon everyone was laughing, or chuckling, or giggling, except for Daisy herself, who scowled as the mice came closer to each other than before. 

“O-oh, I do, huh?” Mickey chuckled, raising an eyebrow. Minnie nodded sweetly, batting her lashes and waiting for the inevitable swipe at her own pride. She knew she looked as bad as he did, if not worse, with her hair dripping like moss down her shoulder and her silver dress clinging to her skin so close it seemed it might become scales all over again without any magic at all. 

But Mickey only grinned, a twinkle in his eye. “Aw, geez, well if Her Majesty says so it mus’ be true. She’s the epitome of perfection, after all. Poor sap like me could never hope t’compare.” 

And then Minnie was all over him all over again, playfully scolding him for not playing along, reassuring him that he was every bit as lovely as she was and probably more, because she was nothing special, really. 

Daisy groaned and threw up her hands, plopping down on the ground next to Max and dejectedly picking up a few of his pebbles. He looked over her shoulder, that two-toothed grin as wide as ever. “Can ye show m’again! You’re reeeeaallyyyy good!”

She snorted and tossed a pebble. “I’m good at a lot of things.”

It didn’t even clear Max’s worst throw.  

~~~

It took the mice a good while to dry off but that was all right, Morgana had assured them, because it would help keep them cool. The faerie realm had grown warmer of late – too warm for most faeries to be out and about during the day, which is precisely why they’d decided to set out in the morning. Better to avoid unpleasant company, the faeries had assured them, though traveling near the river would be enough to keep the party from getting overwhelmed by the heat. Even so, the fae in the group had armed themselves with some of the Teardrop fruit, should it get too sweltering, although Morgana hadn’t neglected to toss a comment in there about how “nice it would have been not to have had such a good number wasted by the morning’s 'accident.'”

She’d glanced at Daisy then, who had turned a bright shade of red and stuffed her hands into the pockets of her dress, grumbling miserably. 

For a good portion of the morning, Minnie couldn’t keep her eyes off Mickey as she walked behind him. There was a distinct sort of bounciness in the way he moved that might have made her laugh if she wasn’t so busy studying how he seemed to sparkle in time with the rest of the world.  He wasn’t hiding his wings anymore and instead of being pulled in close to his back, they swept behind him in an almost majestic way, swaying along with each of his energetic steps, pulsing with magic in the same way the grass about them pulsed with light in the wake of each warm breeze. He beat them lightly every now and again, and it would take him just an inch or two above the ground before he’d flutter back down and resume his usual stride. It was cute. Really cute. And Minnie found herself blushing, however much she tried to hide it.

“He’s a looker, isn’t he?” The tiny voice giggled in her ear, following a buzz of even tinier wingbeats. Then Clarice landed on her shoulder, folded her hummingbird wings and, dangling her legs, cast Minnie a playful wink.

Minnie laughed softly, and blushed more deeply than before.  “He’s more than that,” she murmured, still staring wistfully. Mickey gave his own feathers a little shake, and then tossed a glance over his shoulder, grinning broadly when he caught Minnie looking his way. 

She smiled and then buried her face in her hands the moment he turned back around. She could feel Clarice’s smirk without even looking. “Certainly helps though, doesn’t it?”

She didn’t respond, only sighed, which sounded a bit more like a squeak than anything else. He didn’t need the help but…it did, it really did. 

Mickey himself was busy asking Morgana all sorts of questions about the fae. About magic and flying and faerie food a-and, and a little bit about faerie weddings, even, for no reason in particular. She did laugh then, but aside from that she didn’t treat it any differently from any of his other questions, which he was grateful for. 

He could hear Minnie behind him, giggling faintly every now and then and speaking in that soft whisper-like voice she used when she thought she was being subtle. Ah…well, she was being subtle, he supposed, considering he couldn’t make out a single word. Of course that only made him want to hear more. It was rude to eavesdrop, he knew this, and he really did try to resist for some time, brushing off the urge with a shake of his wings. But then the temptation grew too much to bear and he turned his head to look behind him. 

There she was, all awash with the light of the Faerie sky, her cheeks a sunrise shade of pink and lips curved into a delicate smile.  Even if she’d kept talking, Mickey wouldn’t have heard a thing. He was too fixated on that sweet smile that widened when her eyes met his. This made him smile back, of course, and he had to turn away before he was altogether overcome by the heat he felt rushing to his face. Morgana must have taken notice, because she chuckled lightly. 

“Love is a splendid motivator of magic, as I’m certain you’ll discover.”

Even as she spoke he felt his fur prickle with energy, like tiny pins were poking through his skin. He let out a subtle gasp and then drew in a breath, trying to calm the sensation while Morgana laughed all the while.

“You’re in the Faerie realm, child. Magic is a part of all things here. You’ve been asking me about magic this whole time, and my answer is this – you’re better off letting it flow through you – Abnos knows it’s been locked away for far too long.”

He chuckled, smoothing his fur. “Yeah? An’ if it does somethin’ I don’t like?”

Morgana furrowed her brow then, and she looked towards Daisy, who was tagging along behind Minnie and keeping just enough distance that she wasn’t quite intruding, but could keep a close eye on her. When she caught Morgana’s stare, she narrowed her eyes, frowned, and abruptly looked away. 

Morgana sighed and looked back at Mickey. “If Daisy’s words frightened you, I’d advise you not to listen. She’s worried for her friend is all, but I don’t believe you’re a danger to us. You saved us with your magic before, don’t you remember?”

“Well, gosh, I didn’t real- ”

“You did, and I think you know that.” She looked him over momentarily, eyes falling on his mended wings. A lift of her head and a slight grin proved her satisfaction. “Your kind prided themselves on their wings, you know. I’m glad to see yours healed.”

Mickey’s tail twitched, and his cheeks grew warm. Morgana didn’t ask just how they’d been healed or who had done it, but he had a feeling she knew. He laughed, and scratched behind his ears.

“Awe gee, well… still don’t really know how to use ‘em. Not properly, anyway.”

Morgana shot him a pointed glance.

“Just because you don’t remember doesn’t mean you don’t know how. It might help to stop wrestling with your magic every time it surfaces.” 

“But, what if-”

“Mickey, listen,” she interrupted, lowering her voice so that its gravity could be heard by him and him alone. Her eyes shone with something like sympathy, and something else akin to a parent’s stern glare.  “A Changeling’s wings are a part of them, and a fae who’s lost connection with the magic in them is one who’s likely to lose themself, too. I’ve seen it happen before.” Then she paused for a moment, waited to make sure he was listening. “I don’t think you realize what a gift your princess has given you in returning them to you now. Don’t squander this chance.”

There was a hidden sharpness behind her words, however softened it was by discretion, and Mickey shuddered in its wake. It didn’t take much for him to think back to the emptiness that had been slowly growing in the years since he’d woken up all alone, a shadow that had encroached on the parts of himself he’d been most proud of. He was still himself, he knew that. But he wondered now how close he’d come to truly slipping before Minnie came along. 

Close, he realized with a twinge of shame, recalling the moments he’d nearly given up entirely.

That was then, this was now. 

“I won’t,” he answered firmly, straightening his posture. It didn’t lend him much height, but anyone could have seen the stark resolve that took hold just then. His wings shone a little brighter. 

“Good.” 

“Still don’t know how to use ‘em though.”

Morgana cracked a smile and nearly laughed, looking as if he’d missed the point entirely. But he hadn’t. There was an excited twinkle in his eye, and as he glanced back Minnie’s way, that flicker of magic began prickling through him all over again. Though he still had no clue what it was going to do, he didn’t feel so inclined to fight it off this time.

“Just have a little fun for once. See what happens.”

~

Minnie had taken a moment to distract herself from swooning over Mickey by taking a look at her surroundings, which weren’t like anything she’d ever seen. The trees had grown thicker and darker, until they didn’t quite seem to be trees at all. It was so dim, in fact, that Minnie didn’t realize at first that these weren’t trees at all. Something like strange mushrooms now towered over their heads, glowing in shifting shades of blue and green, flickering spores drifting about in the air.  Bells chimed in tiny flurries in the distance, echoing through the foliage and shadows until they’d drifted away, yet to be replaced by another lovely sound. She found it beautiful, enchanting even, despite the eerie silence that had fallen over the forest.  

Her fascination was so distracting that she was thoroughly unprepared for the bundle of feathers that came flying at her from out of nowhere to land on top of her head with a gusty flutter of its wings. She saw nothing but a brief silhouette of the thing before feeling it alight upon her head, and so, thoroughly terrified upon its doing so, she immediately screeched, ducked her head, and started flailing her arms in an effort to get it off. It did, quite quickly, though it let out some sort of screeching protest of its own before being snatched up by Daisy who’d practically flown herself just to get her hands on the thing. 

The creature really didn’t like that, and squawked and squirmed and screeched until Daisy was forced to let it go, and it glided to the ground in the center of the group, its feathers fluffed and wings outstretched defensively as it glared Daisy’s way. 

Clarice was laughing hysterically, Clarabelle stifled a snort, and Morgana watched with a humorous twinkle in her eye. As Minnie recovered her breath and tried to soothe the hair that had been ruffled by the creature, she became acutely aware of the faeries’ humor, and finally set her eyes on the thing at the center of them all. Her apprehension dissipated immediately. 

“Oh…Oh!” She gasped, clasping her hands together happily as the bluish hue of the faerie fauna shone down on the creature’s lovely form.  “Oh, it’s just a sweet little owl! Poor thing! Did I frighten you?”

It looked back at her then, feathers slowly flattening as its wide eyes settled on hers. With a shake of its wings, it opened its beak and chirped at her, then seemed altogether unsatisfied with the sound it had produced. 

“Awe, are you trying to talk to me?” She cooed, slowly kneeling down beside it. It didn’t move an inch, didn’t seem spooked by her presence at all.  When she stretched out an arm, it tilted its head as if to think it through, and then stepped up without a moment more of hesitation. “Oh, what a sweetie!” She was giddy with adoration, and scratched between the feathers on its neck. It craned its head upwards and she took that to mean it liked it, as it leaned into her touch. 

“Mickey, are you seeing this?” She laughed without taking her eyes off the bird, and it almost seemed to flinch. When Mickey didn’t respond, it was enough to tear Minnie’s attention away. “Mickey?” 

She looked up and found him nowhere in sight. With a gasp, her eyes darted around them before falling on Morgana, a bit crazed with panic. The faerie didn’t seem worried at all. “Morgana! Where is he?!”

The owl chirped and Morgana nodded its way, a knowing smile drawn across her face. 

Minnie furrowed her brow, utterly confused, until the owl clicked its beak, and nuzzled against her arm. Her gaze fell back to it, and the realization struck. She knew those wings, knew the little twist in his feathers, and the starry pattern drifting up each plume. 

A strange thought, something like a memory maybe, told her she’d seen them in more than one place before. But it was ripped from her mind before she could grasp hold of it, leaving her with only the most recent epiphone. 

“Oh…my…” she breathed, cheeks flushing. “Mickey?”

It dipped its head and screeched, then drew back again at the sound of its own voice. “Oh-oh dear,” Minnie stammered, suddenly feeling a bit nervous as it—er, he— stared back at her. Mostly because she was trying not to laugh. “But how…w-why…erm…” she glanced helplessly at Morgana. “Can he change back?”

“Oh, he will eventually. Once he figures out how.”

Mickey straightened, feathers rising and falling in what Minnie took to be something like irritation. It was adorable either way. He was so…so fluffy. It took everything she had not to nuzzle her cheeks against those downy feathers. But he seemed nervous enough as it was, and she was loath to embarrass him any more. 

“Will that be soon?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.”

Daisy threw back her head and laughed loudly. “Oh, this is rich!”

Goofy, though certainly well-meaning, had the bright idea to pipe in too. “Dontcha mean, ‘‘it’s a hoot!’ ”

Daisy laughed louder, and this time everyone else joined in, save for Minnie who probably should have gotten some sort of reward for just how long she’d been able to maintain a straight face.  

Mickey squawked defiantly, and then swiveled his head to glare at Morgana. Minnie had to bite her lip to keep from commenting on the near 360 degree turn. 

Morgana laughed. “I did not trick you. Every Changeling goes through this, and it will come to you eventually. It won’t do us any good to sit around here squawking about it.”

He opened his beak to interject, but Minnie slipped a finger through his feathers to give him a scritch and with a shiver, he settled back down. “You’ll figure it out, I know it,” she whispered, nuzzling his beak with her nose. He squinted happily and seemed to sigh. “Besides, I was friends with an owl once. They’re extra clever. You’ll be back to your old self in no time.”

They continued onward after that and as they moved deeper into the forest, Mickey pattered back and forth on her forearm, chirping and squeaking like he was testing his voice and finding it unsatisfactory each and every time. At one point, his talon got caught on her sleeve and tore through it, and he looked back at her with such a terribly apologetic expression that she simply couldn’t help but plant a light kiss on his beak to assure him it was perfectly all right. He hopped up to her shoulder after that and stopped pacing, though after a while she noticed him spreading a wing from time to time, shifting it forwards and backwards as the air swept underneath it. When Clarice darted nearby, he would stare at her for a moment too, as if studying every rapid stroke of feathers. 

Eventually, she felt him shift nervously, and then before she knew it he’d hopped off to glide in front of her, and was beating his wings furiously in an attempt to take to the air. She yelped a bit and then giggled at the sight, cheering him on in her heart. It didn’t do much good, though, because he ended up doing nothing but summoning a swirling cloud of dust just before landing clumsily on the ground. 

“Speed won’t do you any good,” Morgana called back to him without turning around, just as Minnie had scooped him back up on her arm. He tossed her a thankful look and shook out his feathers as Morgana continued. “Your wings are far too big for that.  You’ve got to focus on shaping the air beneath them. Don’t fight the wind – use it. Make every stroke count.”

He tilted his head thoughtfully and then shifted his weight again. 

“Want me to give you a boost?” Minnie whispered, and he looked at her momentarily before chirping in what she decided must be agreement. She lowered her arm and he crouched, waggling his feathers. Then he let out a screech she took to mean “go!” and she lifted her arm to send him up in the air.

When he first spread his wings, they looked uneven and clumsy. They caught the air, but nearly sent him tilting too far in either direction. A few choppy beats did nothing to steady him, but then Mickey managed a single, powerful downward sweep, and his wings returned outstretched in perfect time. Minnie cried out happily, and he glanced back at her with an expression she was sure was pride. 

She was right, of course. Mickey wasn’t entirely happy to be stuck the way he was–Morgana had tricked him, no matter how many times she claimed otherwise. But even he could admit, as the air billowed under his feathers in just the right way, there was an unmistakable thrill that flooded his chest. 

On the next stroke, he didn’t fight the air quite so much, instead shaping his wings so that they drew it underneath, the spiraling wind sending him upwards as the tips of his furthest plumes stretched towards the sky. When he looked down to see Minnie beaming up at him, he felt certain he could touch the stars without ever growing tired.

He let out a screech that would have been something like a whoop if he’d been in his human form, and allowed himself to soar higher, breaking through the glowing canopy to rise up into the skies above.

It was nearly twilight again, and the shifting colors sent a rush through Mickey like he’d never felt before. Familiarity and freedom and heartache all at once. Like he’d just found something he’d lost a long, long time ago. The wind rushed around his feathers, as crisp and cold as a river rushing past a hand dipped among its currents. 

The faerie realm stretched on endlessly, and he could hear the quiet breath of the world waking up again, bathed in the coolness of night. He heard flowers unfurling and fog settling like a blanket over the forests. Yawns of waking faeries and ripples of dew puddling beside their homes of wooden knotholes and arching leaves. And…

Oh. Singing. 

It was difficult at first to sort through all the sounds drifting through his ears – which were near and which were far away. It seemed to him he could hear everything there was to hear. But this sound, this song, he knew at once it was nearby. His eyes scanned the surface of the forest until he caught a glimpse of a gap in the canopy. This patch alone was covered in fog, but he could see the river they’d been following flowing from it. Or…well, was it?

Mickey had to squint to make sense of what he was seeing, because it seemed at first that the river itself was being overcome by a rush of earth, as the blue nearest the foggy clearing vanished slowly, replaced instead by a dirty brown. But no, he realized after a moment, there was no river of mud. The water was simply drying, as if some wellspring had suddenly ceased to exist. 

The song grew louder, and his wings missed a beat. The twilight sky had filled him with a blazing excitement only moments ago, but now he found himself feeling lackadaisy, like he wanted nothing more than to forget all his troubles and go dancing the night away. There was no harm in that, surely. He’d worked so hard and he was so tired, so lonely. This music felt like it could take that all away, like if he’d just join in he’d never have to worry about a thing ever again.  

His wings didn’t line up on their next stroke, left him steadily declining. He didn’t notice.

There was a lingering feeling like he was forgetting something, but it was slipping away. That was fine by Mickey. At least he thought it was. He didn’t like the feeling of conflict that arose within him, like there were two pieces of his heart fighting with each other – over what he wasn’t sure.

On the next wingbeat, which he nearly missed again, the speckles in his feathers blazed with light, and a searing pain ignited in his twisted plume. And he remembered. He remembered how he’d gotten the scar, remembered Minnie and the dagger and the swipe of the blade as she set him free, caught him in her arms and bandaged his wounds. And he remembered, in a way that almost seemed as if it wasn’t his memory at all, that it wasn’t the first time they’d met. No…no…he knew her long before that. And, gradually, he grew to remember a moment where there’d been…a song…like this one.  Then, he remembered the thought that scorched his thoughts the moment he’d heard its tune. 

Danger! 

The flare of the memory startled him awake, and he let out a screech to shatter the spell that had fallen over him.  The enchantment fought him, threatened to draw him back in, and he struggled bitterly against its pull. When it only continued to poke at his consciousness, he immediately folded his wings and dove towards where he’d left his friends. He refused to rest his voice long enough to let the song seep through. The sick feeling in his gizzard was enough to remind him. He’d nearly forgotten her. Nearly left her behind.

Now, shrieking and screeching and shaking his head to clear the magic from his mind, he pierced through the canopy towards his friends. He barely had the sense to spread his wings before he reached the ground, but whether he’d thought it or not, they did it for him and cushioned his fall just enough to keep him from getting too badly hurt. He landed in a cloud of dust, the song still filling his ears as he stumbled amidst his friends, several of whom immediately rushed to kneel beside him. 

Minnie gasped, he thought he heard, and gathered him up in her arms, running her fingers through his feathers. “Mickey, what’s wrong?? Mickey! Mickey!” 

[talisidekick]

A while back my pharmacist saw my deadname on my profile and accidentially called it out, he corrected and deleted my deadname from the system so only my preferred name shows up now. There was a crowd of people behind me, so as he hands over the pills he apologized, in equal tone and volume as when he called my deadname and lied saying it's been a long day and he didn't mean to call out -his own- name. I quietly told him it was fine and he didn't need to do that for my sake.

His response: "No, it's my name now."

I went to the pharmacist yesterday, his nametag is my deadname. He informed me he's immigrating and in the process he's changed his first name to my deadname to have an English sounding name. That's why he's now able to get a reprint of his nametag to be my deadname. And repeated, with the intense seriousness of someone who is going to die on this hill: "It's mine now. Not yours. I'm taking." His tone indicated that decision is final.

Bro literally deadnamed me once, and has committed to flat out stealing my deadname. It's his now. Legally. Officially. I over heard his co-workers call him by the name.

[calocera]

my pet mold spore

[willgrahamscock]

not now kitten, daddy's about to have a mental breakdown from seeing the prices at the grocery store

[angelofdumpsterfires]

presented without comment

[vilea777]

sorry i cant hang out i forgot how to mimic human like behaviour

[macdenlover]

it came to my realization that 99% of my fandom related headaches would be cured if everyone understood this

[telebeast]

unoriginal joke

[cunning-and-cool]

idk man but something about Stanley "taught himself extremely advance physics/math/probably many other things while running a relatively successful business" Pines and Stanford "is wanted in almost every dimension with a judicial system of some kind" Pines is sooo fucking funny to me

[sadclowncentral]

shoutout to the guy who after unsuccessfully hitting on my sister and being politely declined asked her "is it okay if i ask your brother instead" and when she said yes gave me a long and searching look before sighing and going "no. i am not drunk enough to go for a dude. but you look like an angel" happy bisexual pride to this man and this man only. hope you figure it out soon king

[koobiie]

shoutout to everyone who wants to infodump but cant string together coherent thoughts to form sentences and instead just look at you like this

[mysteriouseggsbenedict]

I love Matilda because it's a story about a child who sees injustice around her and gets mad about it and questions why things aren't fair, and instead of the ending being that she learns how the world works and that life isn't fair, she catapults one of the adults who abused her out of a building with her mind

[scumbagsblog]

where's that masterpost of quotes that have no right going as hard as they do. I'd like to submit "Protagonism is best left to teens and the insane"

[willgrahamscock]

I cannot believe there's absolutely no way to watch free shows and movies anymore, there are too many paid streaming platforms and pirating websites have viruses and ads preventing you from watching it uninterrupted((.)) click away because I’d rather follow the rules and purchase media moving forward because it is too inconvenient. Seriously, free and no ads or viruses with 1080p streaming is DEAD.

[roach-works]

speculative fiction writers i am going to give you a really urgent piece of advice: don't say numbers. don't give your readers any numbers. how heavy is the sword? lots. how old is that city? plenty. how big is the fort? massive. how fast is the spaceship? not very, it's secondhand.

the minute you say a number your readers can check your math and you cannot do math better than your most autistic critic. i guarantee. don't let your readers do any math. when did something happen? awhile ago. how many bullets can that gun fire? trick question, it shoots lasers, and it shoots em HARD.

you are lying to people for fun. if you let them do math at you the lie collapses and it's no fun anymore.

[valtsv]

stuck between "psychological horror statement" and "objectively the funniest thing you could say to your real flesh and blood dad" in the father's day card aisle