#when I grew up I gave mine to kids whose families were struggling so I don't really regret it but ouff I miss them sometimes

[neiptune]

I was exploring one of those platforms where people sell second hand vintage toys & dolls, I found a few ones I used to own and man did I tear up

[writingwithcolor]

Biracial (B/W), Trans, and Cultural Disconnect

I’m a biracial college grad who grew up in a very white, rural area in the northeast US and within the last four years made the realization I’m trans ( or masculine-aligned agender but that’s for another time ). My mother is black and my father is white.

Beauty Standards

Beauty standards haven’t really been something I’ve paid attention to growing up, mostly because dresses and skirts always made be uncomfortable and I didn’t like the weight of makeup on my face. I am very stubborn and so I stuck to not wearing them as much as possible, even getting into arguments with my mother about wearing a dress to a funeral when I had nice dress pants and a blouse to wear instead.

My mother did have a bit of an obsession with my hair growing up; she loved my curls to the point that if I mentioned cutting them she adamantly said no. My hair isn’t the usual tight black coils but rather “banana curls” as my mother described. It was only in my senior year of high school that, out of the blue, she told me if I wanted to cut my hair I could.

Culture / Family Life / Identity Issues

This is the biggest struggle I find I deal with and sort of ties in with like four topics, so this section will be long. I don’t have any attachment to a culture, not even the African-American culture developed in the US. I grew up in a very, very white area and until 5th grade, went to a private religious school where as far as I can remember, I was the only PoC in the whole (under 100) student body.

Both of my parents have no siblings and due to some things, I only actually met my dad’s extended family three or so years ago when we went for a visit aside from phone conversations I had with his father when he was alive. My mother’s parents were gone before I was 5 and she didn’t really have any extended family aside from a couple of cousins up in New York who I saw every so often when I was really young. I had an “aunt” who my mother knew for many years along with her son whom I consider an uncle, but that’s about all the extended family I have. My (half) brother is 13 years older than I, so by the time I was 7 he was out of the house and visiting only a few times a year. So even despite not being an only child, I was raised like one.

Even in the public school I went to, there weren’t a lot of BIPOC and the few that showed up in high school in my small grade and I didn’t really talk. My university had a majority white student body and I found I couldn’t quite relate with the BIPOC community, mostly because it felt like you had to choose between the BIPOC community or the LGBTQIA+ community and most of my classmates, because of my major, and friends were part of the latter.

When I studied abroad, I became good friends with a BIPOC queer group, especially with a black individual from NC. But sometimes they would make references to me and such that I wouldn’t understand and at one point this individual said “How do you not get that, you’re black!” I had to pull them aside and explain my environment growing up and thankfully, they understood immediately and apologized. But it was alienating, and exacerbated the feelings I have of “I don’t belong anywhere”.

I’m not light skinned enough to pass as white, but I don’t have the experiences of growing up in a black community to connect with other black folk. I just feel like I stand alone in that respect.

Micro-aggressions

I don’t know if this counts as a micro-aggression, but the thing that comes to mind immediately happened when I was 14. I had an online friend and we had been voice-chatting for awhile. One night I turned on my camera and the first thing out of their mouth was “You’re black? You don’t sound black!“ 

I don’t speak/use AAVE because I didn’t grow up around people who did, and don’t have any sort of understanding about it, etc. This also adds into the whole identity crisis thing.

Misconceptions

I am frequently assumed to be Hispanic and, on one occasion, Indian. I’ve had people ask me if I’m Mexican outright. At one point I worked in a nursing home and the dementia unit had a lot of nurses who spoke Spanish due to some of the residents forgetting English. One of these nurses spoke to me in Spanish. I gave him a blank look and he sorta paused and went “You don’t speak Spanish?” I was also on a train once and an older Indian gentleman was standing near me? Or took the seat next to me and I believed he asked me if I was Indian outright.

I don’t have enough Workplace experience to make it it’s own category, but I once worked in a Dunkin Donuts with a primarily Indian and Haitian staff and I had these older POC women repeatedly asking me “Where are you from?” when I started. I told them “oh, the western part of the state” and they did the “but where are you from.“ I don’t know, I’m sorry.

Also as a kid my dad picked me up from school and this one girl asked me if I was adopted lmao. Nobody ever thinks biracial.

Self-esteem

I have pretty low self-esteem. While I don’t necessarily think I’m ugly, my struggle with my identity both gender and racially make it hard to be confident and outgoing, at least with strangers. I dunno, existing is hard sometimes.

Things I’d like to see more of

More mixed kids in stories and media as main characters or main supporting characters

More interracial relationships of all kinds, not just black & white.

I don’t know if it’s right to ask for this, but also.. more small families. 

More people whose families are like mine: just myself, my parents and my brother, with an occasional family friend showing up for holidays. All these stories with plenty of cousins and aunts and uncles and grandparents always make me feel alone and like I missed out on a lot.

View more POC Profiles | Submit your own

[knifefather]

Looking Up at Us [Submission]

'Looking Up at Us

|*| DISCLAIMERS:  Hello! It me! This is my first fic ever. Uhhh, Giorno’s a giant dick and Narancia’s an angel (literally and figuratively :] ) So yandere-ish themes, manipulation, and other mean things. This is a three-year span after the events of VA. |*|'

I APPLAUD YOU ON YOUR FIRST FIC ANON!!! This one really hit me right in the feels :'') Honestly you wrote Giorno so well because I literally wanted to strangle him!! He reminds me so much of Dio here and I fucking love it. I can't believe he stole their song ;a; OP outlined the yandere and manipulation content warnings, but there is also some major character death! Please be warned!

  “Hey, when we get married let’s use that Aerosmith song.”

Narancia laughed as the smaller of the two let out an embarrassed squeal and tried burying her head deeper into his neck. They laid together on his bed in his rather untidy room talking about anything and everything that crossed their minds. But he was always so brash, and making her red was a favorite pastime of his. “Duuude, don’t even joke about that!’” she giggled, “We’re, still, ya know teens,” she emphasized that by flicking her hand around. He continued laughing, tightened his grip on her, and kissed the top of her head. Even if he was teasing the poor girl, he always meant what he said.

“You’d look really pretty in this dress I saw the other day. It wasn’t long as shit like those rich people…” Narancia slowly trailed off realizing she wasn’t responding. When he looked down at her, he saw she wasn’t smiling anymore and looked lost in her own thoughts. He wiggled away from her a little to look at her properly and softly called her name. “Hey, you good?”

“Promise me you’ll stay,” she looked at him earnestly and caught the poor boy off guard. What was going through that busy head of hers? He was speechless and for a moment he gawked at her. The frenzied teen then added with intensity, “You better stay with me forever and ever and and- I don’t- just… please..” And it finally clicked what she meant, and he gave her his biggest smile.

            “Don’t worry, miele! You’re gonna have to deal with me for a while,” he chimed as he pulled her closer and gave her another peck to her forehead. She looked up at him with watery eyes and smile, “I’d love nothing more. Just promise me, please?

            He leaned lower to kiss her softly on the lips. They both knew that was an impossible promise but still, “I’ll try my best.” He snuggled back up to her and they both slowly sunk back into the previous loving tranquility. They’ll both try, but mafia life was so unpredictable, but it’ll be worth the try if they could stay together.

“So, what are we gonna name our first kid?”

“Narancia Ghirga!!”

“Yeah, Mrs. Ghirga?” Narancia couldn’t stop laughing even as he was shoved off the bed.

              Three months. It’s been three months, but his voice still rings in her head. His goofy smile, bubbly laughter, his smothering hugs were all nothing but distant memories that no longer warmed her, but instead chilled her core. Their places where they caused mischief and held impromptu dates only held ghosts of what was and what could have been. These thoughts haunted her every waking moment. Even when she slept, they caused nothing but sweet dreams that left her bitter and empty in the morning. But Narancia wasn’t the only one she missed dearly. Finding Abbacchio in the state he was and running back full of hope to the colosseum only to find out Bruno was the final victim. But thanks to him, they find out he was actually the first. Giorno had admitted after their discovery that they had been travelling with a reanimated corpse. At the time her, Mista, Trish, were too busy crying to even care.

            For the new Don’s first year, she was present. When Fugo returned, she welcomed him with open arms. She stayed for as long as could but looking at Giorno mad her sick. Violence and anger grew inside by just being around him and his voice made her gag. Staying there brought her closer to the edge as she struggled between collapsing into tears or killing her Don in a fiery fit. That’s when she distanced herself from everyone. Of course, it worried Fugo and Mista to death when the last surviving member of their gang suddenly went off the radar. Even if it was for the wellbeing of everyone there, it didn’t sit right with anyone. Especially Giorno Giovanna.

             The two-year absence was hell, for her anyways. At first jobs would take her resumes and interviews, but soon they would turn her away at sight of her face or sound of her voice. Her temporary apartment kicked her out and hotels refused service to the point she was forced to either stay in motels or rent somewhere for a while until they too kicked her out. When people started to whisper and gossip as she passed by, that was the final straw. It was lonely. It was frustrating! Was it because of the mafia association? No, that should guarantee a decent job and place to stay. And then it clicked. The root of her problems lies at the head of Passione.

              So, here the young woman stood in front of him, arms wrapped securely around herself, as Mista stood watching them at the closed entrance. Giorno’s grown, nearly six feet and obviously physically stronger than before. She squeezed tighter hoping to mimic Narancia’s hugs as she tried to gather her courage and find the words. For a while it was suffocating silence as no one dared to speak first. They were both strategizing, planning how to attack and counter the other’s words. But finally, the devil’s replacement spoke, “Hello, tersoro. I’m glad to see you’re-“

“Cut the crap. I know what’re you doing. Stop it.” And with that she turned to leave. Mista stepped out the way to let her go until a soft laugh stopped her, “Are you still torn up about them? Really?” She stopped and slowly turned to face him. She finally snapped.

            “Are you serious?” She spat at him. “Why wouldn’t I be upset that you killed my friends? My family?!”

            “The love of your life?” She glared at the blonde as he had the audacity the smile at the thought of their deaths. In that moment, she wanted to kill him. Her stand was at the ready. Mista didn’t even attempt to reach for his gun as he knew she wouldn’t do something stupid like that, but he, too, thought of shooting Giorno as well. Giorno tsked and slowly walked around his desk to lean against the front of it, showing just how little her threat meant to him. “My dear, you don’t understand. They were steppingstones to help change Passione for the greater good.”

“Steppingstones?! Don’t act like their bodies were your path to “greatness”! What exactly have you fixed, huh? There are SEVEN more assassin squads. You haven’t stopped drugs like you promised Bruno. Instead, you’ve barely stopped selling it kids ten and under! Don’t act like they were your sacrifices!”  The rage burned inside her, and she could no longer control her words. “Why did they have to go to heaven, huh?! They deserve to be here, not you! Bruno should be where you are! Leone should’ve left you die! Narancia should be back in school! It’s all your FAULT!” They both lunged at Giorno only for GER to grab the opposing stand and for Giorno to effortlessly grabbed her fist. One arm wrapped firmly around her waist and the other then swooped in and tilted her head up to kiss her ever so softly.

            “My, my such a temper,” he murmured, “I’ve always loved that about you.” In that moment all the fire that was built up for years turned ice cold, as fear gripped her insides. She wasn’t expecting this strength. Wide eyes stared up into the unnatural turquoise of his. He slowly turned her head from side to side, as if examining her. “You poor thing. You look so tired and overworked,” and she was. “I bet those horrible businesses could see it on you. Turned you away like street trash. Poor, poor thing.” The young woman’s voice had left her as she tried to process everything. Just what was he planning?

            “D-Don’t act like you didn’t do all that crap to me” She hated the sudden stutter in her voice but was thankful words even came out. The young woman started fighting in his grip which caused him to tighten. “Let me go! What was that kiss?! WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?!” But she was only met with a chuckle. As he spun her around and pressed her back against his chest. “My dear, I was only trying to bring back what was mine. Tesoro, mia. So independent. We’ll have to break that.” She fought harder and let out a cry of pain as Giorno dug his fingernails in the meat of her cheeks, getting annoyed at her fighting spirit.

            “Now, I want you to listen to listen to me. I really don’t want to repeat myself,” he nipped her neck, “nor do I want to hurt more than I should.” Giorno leaned closer and whispered, “You’re mine. I’ve loved you for too long to let you get away and whore around like you did with him.”  He shoved her to the ground and held her there with his foot, pressing harder with every squirm. “Go against me, and your little angelo will be dug up, burned, and flushed down a portable. Or maybe I’ll finish off the rest of your gang.” She struggled to look up at him as he glared down at her. His mouth quirked into a smirk as he spoke again, “Whose to say mafioso even go to heaven, hm? My sweet, delusional darling.” Giorno dropped to the floor and scooped her up in his arms again hugging her tightly. She was too scared to fight back. Not knowing what would set him off. He quietly laughs at how broken the poor woman was. So easy to break in already.

            “Let me take care you. Love you. Cherish you like you deserve. You’ll learn to love me.” He gripped her arms in a bruising grasp and whispered dangerously smooth, “Or you’ll die trying.”

___________________________________________

Her wedding gown shimmered and swayed gently as she and her new husband made their way to the center of the dance floor. Each step weighted heavy on her heart as the gravity of it all grew. Their movements were calculated and coordinated, just like everything else because it was all artificial for her. There was no true love, no true feelings in this forced arrangement. No more fight in her dull eyes that refused to make eye contact with anyone because then they would see just how much he’s broken her in just a year. One wrong move will surely be the one she’ll ever make.

No one in the ballroom could see the despair ripping away whatever dignity was left as she wrapped her arms around his neck or the bile she choked back as he greedily slipped his arms around her waist. If only she could keep tightening her arms like a noose until he was no more but a horrid memory. The room was filled with ‘awws’ and loving gazes as the couple settled gracefully into the position they had practiced many a times before. She finally turned her emotionless gaze to him. Giorno Giovanna chuckled at her. His new wife was so dramatic.

“And now the newly weds will share their first dance together!” someone, who she didn’t care enough to learn their name, announced as if he was getting paid on his excitement and not on the fact if he squealed, he gets killed. She closed her eyes as the crowd cheered, swallowed her sickness, and sighed. She made it this long without throwing up or crying, she can get through this dance.

 “The groom has picked this song out specifically for his new, beautiful wife. Isn’t that romantic?” The crowd cheered and clapped in blissful ignorance at the display of affection. The bride’s eyes snapped open at this new revelation and stared in shock at Giorno who only smiled. But when the music began, her heart finally burst. Tears welled and spilled freely down her cheeks as that Aerosmith song, their song, played and she was forced to move to its now bittersweet beat. Giorno’s wife shakily looked up at him and chocked on her tears.  Once again, chuckled and lean in to whisper with honeyed venom his final victory,

“Oh miele, I bet he’s looking up at us right now, amore mio.”

(OK Tumblr formatting is weird but I wanna add: Yes it Don’t Wanna Miss a Thing that Narancia and darling picked as their first dance which Girono stole. And Narancia was the only one allowed to call darling Miele as an inside joke for “Honey! I’m Home”. Also WHY WAS THIS 2K+???)

[popculturebuffet]

Ducktales: Woo-oo! Review! or From the Top

Hello all you happy people! And to those of you just joining this blog, welcome I review ducks, other animated shows and comics... and today’s review is special for me. For a number of reasons. For starters it’s a reminder how far i’ve come. See I always wanted to be a reviewer, ever since high school when a friend showed me a certain online reviewer whose now dead to me, and opened me up to a world of much better reviewers who i’m still fans of to this day, and ones who came after them , and after that and so on and so on. I so badly wanted a community to belong to I struggled to be a youtube reviewer but frankly lacked the talent or self confidence back then to try, so my attempts over the decade were a series of stops and starts. Of me starting to find my niche writing only to stop because I hated myself so much, and still struggle with that, i’d tell myself I could never do it, I wasn’t good enough, I wasn’t funny enough and no one cared. I kept shutting myself down AGAIN AND AGAIN, for far too long. 

But that all changed a year ago next month: I’d long been a fan of the Ducktales Reboot. I was caustiously optimistic when it was announced. The optimism came from a deep abiding love of scrooge as a character despite not having dove into his comics that deep, I didn’t have an easy way at the time, thanks to life and times and what comics I had read, and was excited to see a fresh reboot closer to the comics with my eternal boy Donald Duck back in the main character. The caution.. came from the fact that at the time we’d gotten a string of bad to medicore reboots: Teen Titans GO, Powerpuff Girl, and Ben 10 which started pretty meh but has turned into alirght from some of the later episodes I saw. I wanted to be hyped to all hell but I had no proof this wasn’t going to be another dumbed down reboot. Then comic con came, the first teaser poster dropped, and my skepticism died.

It was perfect: a barksian art style with it’s own twists! Donald full on display! And best of all the triplets FINALLY had not only unique outfits but personalities! I’ve long went on in my reviews about how much that annoyed me and while it worked for the barks comics ever since then it’s just felt like a waste to have three characters there.. and not even the SLIGHTEST difference. 

My anticipation only grew with the full trailer, the promo posters as more and more info showed how good this series would be, how unique it’d be, and how much tw as taking what made the comics great, giving us a better distalation of that while still being very much it’s own beast. And once this episode dropped.. that faith was unfounded. Woo-oo! is without hyperbole, one of the best pilots i’ve seen, one that introduced the entire main cast perfectly, gets the series tone and mission statment out just right and in general set the stage for one of the best shows of the 2010′s (and 2020′s, even if it only lasted a year and some change). Wheras Teen Titans GO actively tried to take a dump on it’s source material, they thankfully have stopped that but it dosent�� make those early years any less grating, Ducktales was a breath of fresh air that honored the past while making i’ts own future. I tried talking about it but it was all in other failed attempts at reviewing: solo podcasts, my breif second video review career.. stuff no one rightly cared about and I just couldn’t get the hang of. 

So this is where we loop back to last year: I decided to finally try and cover it one more time, not realizing this would be my last chance as it came out anyway, and since I was doing text reviews but my output had slid in the new year, I decided to review Season 3 as it came out. If it bottomed out I could always stop.... and I just never did. I kept going, eventually finding new fans, a patreon (The other one’s an old friend of mine), and not only got paid doing what I love.. but found some peace.  I reviewed other shows as they came out, covered things i’d wanted to cover for years like life and times, scott pilgrim and x-men,. I covered other shows as they came out, found people willing to talk over my opinions and found my niche at long last. 

So that’s why the long speech folks: After almost a year of reviewing i’m properly covering the start of something that made me happier than I had been in a long time and gave me hope during one of the worst periods of ALL our lives. Something i’ve wanted to cover since I finally got started last year, and something truly amazing. So i’d be honored if you’d join me under the cut as I talk about the genesis of one of the best series Disney has ever put out. 

Behind the Scenes Stuff:  Most details I could find were sparse. it took going back to the first month the show came out and looking at a LOT of unrelated questions to finally find out Frank and Matt outright pitched the show. This dosen’t suprise me as both are huge ducktales fans with Matt having drawn his own duck comics as a kid and Frank taking it an extra mile having sang the theme song in his first grade talent show, worked it into his vows and got his first daughter’s first word to be “Woo-oo”. It’s very clear this show as a labor of love for them something they dreamed of Disney made possible. 

Otherwise I don’t have much on the genisis of the show: It was in the earliest ideas going to be a revivial but Frank and Matt both decided against it , deciding it’d be unfair to expect kids from 30 years after the original to know the source material, and instead just starting it over outright, which was the right call especailly with Alan Young’s passing. 

Design wise I found quite a bit of concept art thanks to one website, and it’s incredibly intresting. This is why i’ve really gotten into art books: I like seeing this early stuff what characters used to be, figuring out or outright hearing from the creators mouths why they changed it that sort of thing. 

Starting off we have some early designs for Donald, with him wearing the sailor suit as a kid but his Quackshot outfit as an adult, something I honestly wish they’d kept but get why they changed it: The iconic sailor suit both helps contrast him with della and fits his reluctance to adventure in season 1 more. I still wish that they worked the Quackshot outfit in somewhere, but they worked in so damn much, it’s hard to complain> Though I probably will make a list of “things I wished they’d worked” in at some point and i’d be lying inf I siad my mind wasn’t currently turning the gears to figure out how to work this into a fanfic. Oohhh maybe as Dewey’s outfit as an adult but blue, obviously. 

Next we have Donald settled more into his final apperance as well as the boy’s first outfits.  As you can tell from both of these the show originally went more with the classic art style before getting the one we’re familiar with now, one I love by the way and was made to combine a classic cartoon style with the visual of the comics. Donald originally had his classic outfit before they transitioned to the more barks style one, a good call.  

The interesting bit though is obviously the boys original outfits which i’m honestly bummed didn’t make it for Huey and Louie, not so much Dewey minus the visor. I do get the changes though: The hoodie Dewey had fit WAY beter on Louie, and the lumberjack shirt didn’t quite fit the nerdier huey. Still look nice. Dewey’s is okay, but only the visor is something I really gregret them removing same with louie’s fedora. It would’ve been neat ot keep the hat thing, but have each hat be unique. Likely they simplified things to make animation easier and simply removed the hats for some reason, but it’s nice ot see these more detailed original drafts and it is VERY interesting to find that differentiating the triplets was something planned from the earliest concept art. Though given Matt and Frank said in interviews they wanted a more natural family feel, it’s not a huge surprise. 

Scrooge like everyone BUT the boys thus far, naturally also had his original outfit at first, but like he ended up doing in the series rotated a bit, if not as much in the final product. We also see a protoype for his final design, the old coat but with a jacket over it in the last image. I also notice Donald seemed a lot more like his old comics self in the concept art with quackshot!donald. 

Like everyone else, Webby and Launchapd were originally their 87 deisgns, though Launchpad’s slightly diffrent jacket and green scarf were changed from the start. Webby is the closest to her 87 design, and as shown in the previous Lena concept art from my “Spies Like Us and Dime after Dime” double feature, she still had her new personality. More on that in a bit. 

Finally we have Flintheart, whose design is a bit diffrent from 87: He was a chub from day one it appears, though they’d exagerate it, and his beard was a bit longer at first like his other incarnations. 

Beakly is largely unchanged form 87, only given a coat, which would gradually be mofidied, much liekt he boys into her current outfit. 

As you can tell Beakly, Webby and Launchpad were all there from day one as they wanted them from the original ducktales just updated. 

Production wise they wanted to go handrawn, chose the style they did to have something close to the comics that felt classicly aniamteda t the same time, I feel they succeeded and wanted a show that felt like the original. I do think this show has it’s own feel but it does feel ducktales. I badly hope for an artbook at some point though as this show probably hada  LOT more intresting concept art. Seriously Disney I will PAY YOU to look at your neat art. Please. 

So they created a fully formed world and put the characters in it, wanting it to feel like the world had existed before and had throughly been explored and letting our young heroes be the watson to Donald and Scrooge’s holmes. 

Finally Della was indeed part of the initial pitch and a core idea from day one as every family has secrets and Della felt like one that had been lurking around the fringes of the story for 80 years. The rest of the production stuff i’ll weave in as we go but first one last stop, the STELLAR voice cast, none of whom outsideo f Tony i’ve talked about before sooooo...

The All Star Cast

The casting was outstanding here, with Matt admitting the cast brought a LOT to the characters, especially Ben Schwartz whose taken on Dewey was so unique and intresting they actually rewrote some of his dialouge for the pilot to fit this version better. This is far and away one of the best casts in western animation, most coming from comedy backgrounds and one or two coming from a voice acting background, but all bringing their absolute best. And since our main 8 are all in the pilot let’s run them down along with Keith Ferguson shall we?

Playing everyone’s faviorite billionare scotsman  and one of the very few to ever do so, we have David Fucking Tennant. David was their “First and only choice” and for good reason: David is a talented actor with a MASSIVE amount of stage, tv and audio drama credits. His biggest and best known role is playing the 10th Doctor on Doctor Who, which while not my faviorite (That’d be matt smith, as he’s both the one I came in on and hte one who got me hooked) he’s still  VERY close second and damn talented and I need to watch more of his tenure. Outside of that just to condense it to his ongoing roles on stuff and bigger roles: Filmwise he’s had starring roles in the Fright Night remake, You, Me and Him, Fish Without Bicycles and Bad Samartains, and is set to do a voice for the upcoming Loud House Movie, which excites me to no end. 

TV wise where most of his roles have been he got his first big starring role on the Telly with the BBC Mini series Taking Over the Asylum in the late 90′s. He’d go on to make a career out of doing mini’s for a while, also taking part in He Knew He Was Right, The Quatermass Experiment Remake, Casanova, Secret Smile.. and Blackpool. I saved Blackpool for last before we move into the Who era as if you’ve never heard of it.. it’s REALY fucking weird. It’s a jukebox musical about a man who wants to make Blackpool, a real city, into the new vegas and Tennat plays a cop investigating a case around the guy and also trying to get with his wife because they used to date and because our lead is philandering jackass. That’s already kinda nuts.. but then you get to the fact the songs are sung OVER the original songs instead of making a new version of them. It’s surreal to be sure but if you can find it it’s worth it for the handful of good numbers and how weird it looks and you can find clips of the songs on youtube if your intrested. Here’s a starter. 

Your also welcome. He’d go on to play Detective Alec Hardy in Broadchurch to critical aclaim as well as be a part of it’s short lived american remake, would play the Fugitoid in tmnt 2007, Kilgrave in Jessica Jones, one of his few post who roles i’ve seen or heard besides Scrooge and easily some of his best work he NAILS that purple bastard perfectly, would make his own show Staged about a fictional version of himself putting on a Stage play that’s still ongoing, and is currently , along with Ducktales as it wraps up, the voice of Lord Commander on Final Space, with the character returning this season judging by the trailers to fan delight and terror. He’s a VERY talented actor and voice actor and I do hope he goes on to do more and more voice work in years to come as, with his background in radio, he was born for it. 

He was also born for this roll, playing Scrooge perfectly and easily matching Alan Young in quality, not a small feat and i’ts VERY obvious why he was their one and only choice. 

Next up is another legend, Tony Anselmo who we’ve talked about before when I covered legend of the Three Cablleros: He’s been Donald’s voice since shortly before Ducktales, hasn’t done much else but given he’s THE voice for the character and this show let him show off one hell of a range with teh voice, he dosen’t really need other credits. The man is a treasure and I fear loosing him one day and fear for whoever replaces him as they have a LOT to live up to. 

Getting into the triplets, we’re going by age so starting off we have Huey, voiced by Danny Pudi. Like most of this cast aside from Toks Ogladyve and Beck Bennet (Who I probably HAD seen on SNL but didn’t really know or look out for him on there till after Ducktales), I not only knew Danny but was a huge fan of his going in. This is due to his breakout role on the glorious sitcom Community, which sadly only had a handful of i’ts cast show up on this show. I mean you got Lin Manuel Miranda I’m sure Donald Glover would’ve said yes too. He grew up with Ducktales. Regardless his role as meta guy Abed was easily the best of the cast on that show, with Glover as troy a very close second and the two working at their best as a duo. Outside of that he’s had a few roles being a regular on Powerless, which I forgot existed and currently on Mythic Quest: Raven’s Banquet, and shockingly hasn’t done a ton of voice work. And given his performance as huey was one of the best parts of this show he REALLY, REALLY SHOULD. Please Danny. He’s also a loving husband, father and surprisingly a marathon runner. Never would’ve guessed.

Next up is SNL Alumn of 9 years, Bobby Monynihan. Bobby is naturally best known for that, my faviorite role of his being Ass Dan. That’s right bitch you know he’s going to live fore..

ASS DAN 1981-2021

He’ll be back. Outside of SNL he’s done a bunch of minor roles. He’s currently on the tragically mediocre sitcom Mr. Mayor, and voiced Panda on We Bare Bears. Hopefully he keeps up the good work as he deserves better than he’s gotten and Ducktales proves it. 

Finally for the triplets we have a rising star in voice acting, Ben Schrwartz. At the time Ducktales launched, I was a fan of his from his roll on parks and Rec as Jen Ralphio, aka older scummier Dewey. 

Outside of his historic recurring role here he played a main role on House of Lies, a show I need to go back to, and has done other live action rolls but has REALLY hit his stride in voice acting. He started with voicing Randy Cunningham in Randy Cunningham 9th grade ninja and since then has hit the ground running: He was Rutabega on Bojack, Josh on Bob’s Burgers, and went on to complete the trifecta of blue nostalgic characters after voicing dewey by voicing Leo in Rise of the TMNT (and having one of the most unique and intresting versions of the character to play) and reprised the roll for the upcoming film. And of course he hit it HUGE by playing Sonic in the suprsingly fantastic Sonic the Hedgehog movie, and will do so again for the sequel and might even take up the roll for the games now Roger Craig Smith has retired. We shall see. Point is this guy’s at the top of his game and Dewey is part of that. Like with his brothers I can’t picture anyone else playing him. 

Rounding out the kids is Webby, played by the wonderous Kate Micucci. Kate is a lovely talented woman who mostly showed up in smaller parts, was part of the musical duo garfunkel and oates which even got their own tv show, and is currently a fairly prolific voice actor with this being her best known roll. I also had a bit of a crush on her once can you tell? Regardless besides absolutely nailing it as Webby she’s voiced Julie Kane in the crimnally short and even more crimnally not on Disney+ Motorcity, “Irma” in the 2012 TMNT cartoon, and the fact that “Irma” is in quotes should tell you how big a waste I felt it was having her NOT actually be Irma, despite Kate’s massive talent, the fact that Irma hadn’t been in anything since the 87 cartoon, and the fact that for added “Fuck you audience points” her krang form was voiced by Gilbert Godfried, who I love but whose casting feels like they wanted to make the twist as grating as possible. Good job there. 

Anyways her second biggest voice gig was as Sadie on Steven Universe, which took WAY too long to show off her absolutely tremendous singing voice. She started voicing Velma Dinkley in the mid-2010′s and has since, voiced Milo’s sister Sarah on Milo Murphy’s Law, Dr. Fox on Unikitty, and most recently voiced a sentient present on close enough who did this. 

So yeah quite the career and like Ben she probably has a long and storied career in Voice Acting ahead. 

Next up is Beck Bennet as everyone’s friend Launchpad where he excels. He’s best known as a castmember on SNL outside of this, and shockingly hasn’t done a ton of voice work. The only other time i’ve caught him is in the same season of Close Enough as Luc, aka dude-bro satan. But like eveyrone else here who hasn’t done a lot of voice work so far or has been more selective I defintely hope he keeps going with it as he’s amazing. He and Ben will be co-starring on MODOK in May so i’m excited for that. 

Last up for the main cast is Beakly, voiced by  Toks Olagundoye, who I hadn’t heard of before this show and hasn’t done a lot outside of the two season sitcom the neighbors, the aliens one not the really terrible looking one, and a stint on Castle, but like everyone here deserves much more and if Beakly is any indication, really should stick with voice acting. 

Last up is Keith Ferguson as only he could as FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD, whose a staple in the voice acting community ever since 2000, and has had a TON of roles some of which I was unaware with him. Given Frank worked with him on Wonder Over Yonder, where he voiced Lord Hater to perfection, the two clearly have a close working relationship. He also has a close working relationship with Wonder creator Craig McCracken and has worked on all of his post-powerpuff girls show, voicing Bloo as his first major role, something I never would’ve guessed, and currently voicing Papa G on Kid Cosmic. 

Outside of Craig and Frank, he played both Karate Kid and Nemisis Kid on Legion of Super Heroes (Which really needs to come to HBO Max), Deputy Durland on Gravity Falls,  and Thunderbolt Ross on Avengers Earth’s Mighteist Heroes. He’s damn good and deserves the world for Glomgold alone and i’m glad Craig rung him up again as so far through my watch of Kid Cosmic he’s great. 

So with our cast in place, our past in place and you all likely ready to get on with it already let’s dive into the episode:

THE EPISODE: Part one Woo-Ooo!

We begin with a shot of a seagull flying overseagulls, a nice way to establish how this world works and how it bends expectations. They’d have to wait till season 3 to get a duck next to ducks but given that gag is one of the best of the series, it was worth it. 

Inside a house boat we meet Donald, Huey and Louie and get a sense of their personalities: Donald is panicked trying to get to a job interview and insists the boys wear life vests, showing his overprotectiveness and responsibility exclusive to this version. Louie stresses that Donald wear a suit instead of his normal clothes to properly impress the interviewer, showing his skill at people reading and manipulation, and Huey is making a nice, if messy, breakfast with a heartwarming message showing his heart and dedication. After finding out said Babysitter was sent to the wrong address, the boys TRY to hustle him out to stay alone.. only for Dewey to blow the scheme by starting the boat too early, letting Donald know he’s been had. Huey’s attempt to lie about it is of course the classic “Who’s Dewey?” Dewey’s caught wiring the boat and Donald throws them in the car, with Donald livid and the boys upset as their chafing at his constant overprotectiveness. 

Both sides aren’t wrong. tThe boys DID do something reckless, putting an old woman in the desert and risking their home just to go on a joyride. What they did was wrong.. but the boys AREN’T wrong for getting annoyed that he won’t let them DO anything and overly hovering over them when they CAN handle themselves as we’ll see. WE now know why: he lost their mother and his sister to her and scrooge’s recklesness. While he got therapy for his anger it’s clear he never properly got help about Della, and thus overcompensates by trying to keep what he has left of her alive. He means well.. but to them it comes off as him being manically overprotective with no good reason. They get into trouble because it’s the only way to DO anything away from him. He’s trying so hard not to loose them he almost has by the time hte series starts, and it’s telling that when they get context in Last Crash, they appricate him more from then on. They do love him, but their frustration is understandable even if what their doing is pretty damn stupid. But their also 10 and Donald’s the grown adult in therapy who should’ve dealt with this or tried to at least by now.

So with no other options Donald sets a course for McDuck manor which excites the boys who have heard of Scrooge McDuck and his exploits, each rattling off something they heard him do that fits their personality (Dewey picks him fighting a stone monster, Huey picks him uncovering a hoax and Louie picks his swimming in money. ) As Donald tries to get them to simmer down, they wonder what he’s up to

He’s up toooo.. depression. He’s in a room with his board, watching them with utter hate and sadness as they talk about cutting the invention and aviation departments. This scene plays ENTIRELY differently after the final two episodes of the season. Before it still plays well as Scrooge clearly resenting being stuck in a boring board meeting, having lost everything that made him him and just having lost his passion for life. Now? It plays as a man utterly disdainful of the men who made him give up on his daughter. While as far as he knows they did it to save his employees from his company collapsing, we know better now... and seriously where IS the rest of the board they just vanished after the Season 3 premiere.

I don’t mind only one being fleshed out, unlike the triplets we only NEED the one I mind that they just never explained it and still haven’t. Hopefully the finale will. 

But back on the plot, it now plays as Scooge just full of hatred for them, knowing they had to do what they did, even if they weren’t emebzlling but still hating them and himself. He’s likely not even paying attention anymore because he just dosen’t CARE: he has all the money int he world.. and it couldn’t bring him his daughter back. As he sadly puts the coins he was fiddling with back and says see you tommorow he can’t even close the vault without a struggle. As we’ll see later the strength never left, it’s not like he stopped execrising.. but he has nothing left to fight for. Nothing left to care about. He could adventure agian so far.. but without Della or Donald, as we’d learn two seasons later the reason he enjoyed it again... what’s the point? He has nothing left except his money. 

This is also a nice parallel to the final Chapter of LIfe and Times. I always felt the first half of woo-ooo was a spiritual adaptation of chapter 12 of that: Scrooge meets the boys for the first time and with their help, and Donalds in the story< Webby and Launchpad here, he regains his passion and more importantly his family after driving them away> The how is very different: he did in life and times due to sinking to his lowest point morally, then cruelly dismissing his family when they tried to welcome him home and bury the hatchet despite what he’d done. Here.. he made a HORRIBLE mistake, one that wasn’t entirely on him but still cost him everything and spent the decade instead of stewing or making more money trying desperately to undo it. The end result is the same, a dried out husk of a man with nothing left to loose and no will to gain anything.

This husk has launchpad though whose introduced as his driver and while good with subs and planes.. isn’t great on the road. After that though Donald pulls up hoping to drop the kids off before Scrooge arrives. Naturally this being a cartoon and Donald having tempted fate with that Scrooge shows up telling him to jettison that Jallopy at once. And finding out who it is, apart from asking how Donald is and Donald doing the same, dosen’t sway him. The boys however freak out after finding out Scrooge is Donald’s and there uncle, with my faivriote bit of that being Dewey exiting the car via a window and rolling across the roof back in. Amazing bit of animation. Wish I had a gif of that. 

Donald makes the situation plane and angry and asks “Can you do that without LOOSING THEM”. And scrooge is so painfully disarmed by his reminder of his past mistakes and the fact his surrogate son still resents him, that he agrees before realizing “Shit I have to watch children now don’t I” as Donald drives off. As you probably guessed, this is another scene that plays differently in hindsight, if not by much: It still plays as two men too stubborn and bitter to reconcile.. but now we know the why behind both their rages it feels even sadder. They both lost the person they cared about most but as it sadly happens in real life both have dug in their heels to reconcile, both feeling their right when neither completely is. While Donald was right to be upset at scrooge and della for what happened, and is mostly taking it out on scrooge because he’s the one left... he’s held onto his anger for 10 years instead of going to help when he’s unemployed, living in a dilapidated houseboat and trying ot raise three children alone and could’ve used what help scrooge would give. Scrooge is right to be upset that Donald is just selectively ignoring everything he’s done to save Della, but is too stubborn and prideful to apologize for what he DID do wrong and feels that’s enough to make up for it when , while it is enough that donald should forgive him, still dosen’t mean he dosen’t have a lot to apologize for. Both are just too angry and too much alike, as much as it woudln’t seem so, to settle with each other and see too much of what they lost. 

So the kids follow Scrooge.. who forgets to open the door, and Beakly lets them in. It’s a nice subtle bit. After some silence, Bentina TRIES to get her old friend and now employer to talk to them, but he naturally refuses and they do the talking, asking tons of questions.. and Dewey ends the conversation by accidently pressing the “imply he USED to be something rather than is something right now “ button

So Scrooge throws them in the twins old room, and Beakly gives them some marbles. You will give them b ack they will be counted. But another subtle touch I missed the first time is there... her sad look. She clearly doesn’t want to do this, but she has to play this carefully or else he might get mad and fire her on the spur of the moment. He’d obviously hire her back, where else is he going to get an ex spy who will both clean for him AND be his bodyguard and security. It’s a very small pool. Mostly because Beakly probably killed most of the other people who’d of fit that description during her spy days. 

Scrooge meanwhile is still rattled by Dewey’s statment, wondering if he really is a “used to be” instead of a “never left”. The fire is starting to spark again.. he just needs more kindling. And more kin. 

Meanwhile Louie and Huey marvel at Dewey’s “Brilliant’ breakout plan: hit the door knob with the sack of marbles til lit breaks. To be fair, they’ve known dewey as long as they’ve been alive and even by season 3 after he’s taken several levels in badass and cunning.. he still crashed a plane because his brother well-meaningly called him basic, and thought being nearly sacrificed the most times was an accomplishment. This is the best he could do and you all know it. It also works, so they can’t fault him for that... though he’s quickly kidnapped as are they. They wake up after the commerical break in a room with pure darkness, hung from the celing with a mystery person asking who they are and who they work for before Louie calls out for “uncle scrooge”... so she claps the lights back on and..

Well close. But it is Webby, who cuts them down, fangirls over meeting the nephews and asks who the evil triplet is. They all point to Louie who shrugs it off. I mean it was funny enough the first time but at this point I know he’s running several fradulent charites, almost all scamming his uncle. He’s earned that title. Webby puts them on the big board and then when asked they find out she’s Webby, her granny Beakly is housekeeper.  She then asks the big questons “Are we friends now?” “If we say yes will you let us live?” “Ha good one new best friend”

She then explains she dosen’t get to leave or anything even eat a hamburger. The boys are moved by this and Louie asks what she does for fun. She leads them to the vents and while Huey and Louie are a bit relcutant, Dewey naturally goes first pointing out it’s better than the marble room. They agree and are on their way. 

Okay unpinning that pin, the crew conciously updated Webby and Beakly as neither really had a lot of purpose in the original. It was also to conciously add more actiony females to the main family lineup, as both creators, both being fathers, preferred someone their daughters could look up to and would enjoy watching. Not someone perfect but someone intresting instead of someone who often got Kidnapped and whose main charactrisitcs were “Sweet and GIRL STEROTYPE” So cleverly they KEPT her being girly, having a skirt, liking ponies. .but also gave her all the training and skill of one Cassandra Cain, a sheltered background and an adorable personality that kept the sweetness but added her probably having killed a man at some point. It worked as Webby is one of the best parts of the show. 

Likewise Beakly was upgraded from fuddy duddy housekeeper, to badass former secret agent whose also a housekeeper, and bodyguard and confidant to scrooge. Demonstrated by her talk with him as he tries to put on his diving suit and go after the jewel of atlantis, having spotted the signs to go after it in the paper.. and wanting to prove a child wrong. Beakly points out the flaws in this, and tries to get him to connect to his family. Having lost hers, it’s easy to see why.. though the how’s a mystery.. for now i’m guess. We’ll see in the finale. But she’s Scrooge’s concisence and the one who can easiest reign him in, to the point two episodes directly have our heroes have to NOT call her or else the plot was end, but have that worked into the plot so it works. She’s the calm in his storm and hte one person he needs more than anyone else even if he dosen’t always realize it. He calls family “nothing but trouble” just as Dewey passes overhead. 

So naturally as Webby shows off Scrooge’s old treasures in a mysterious room, while the other Siblings are rightfully impressed, Dewey dismisses it as “fake” because he’s being a little shit, and they agree after seeing Donald, not knowing his reputation. The cutaway to him struggling with a stapler does not help> it’s only when Webby accidnetly uneleashes Captain Peghook, a vengeful ghost after scrooge, who gets his hand on a ghostly sword do they realize this time the monsters are real. Huey also accidently wakes up Manny, the headless manhorse! 

Things somehow get WORSE as Scrooge finds them.. but is in no state to argue and as our heroes duck and Huey tries to divise a plan.. Scrooge get’s his spark back once agian.. it’s starting to become an ember now... and he charges in despite Dewey’s cries of “No come back your old!”. It then gets VERY badass Scrooge: Oi! Beastie! What's it gonna take to shuffle you off to the afterlife? Captain Peg-Hook: The head of Scrooge McDuck! Scrooge: [cracks his neck, flips his cane around to wield like a sword] Would you settle for his hat?

Now that is how you show how badass Scrooge is in a few lines and gestures. HE proceeds to take both out, as they’ve now teamed up, easily, tricking peghook into cutting off the head of a statue of him in the area, throwinng it at him and finsihing the ghosts buisnesss (”I should’ve been more specifiiiicccccc”) and then giving Manny the head, earning him a loyal employee for life. So our days saved, the kids have faith.. and Scrooge is still pissed. He also reveals this isn’t a treasure room but the garage in what’s easily the best gag of the first half, possibly the whole special but one iconic moment is very close in that one. Webby concedes what about the stack of old magazines or the hose or.. okay he’s probably right. He berates them only for the kids to fire back, pointing out he threw them in a room, they just wanted to spend time with him... but it’s only Dewey throwing his words back in his face that pisses him off. Scrooge bellows at them to get out, clearly having internalized everything with donald into rage and trying to justify pushing eveyrone away instead of working at it... but this dosen’t have time to actually work, nor would Beakly actually throw three children out on the curb, as he hits a mystic gong.. the third time it’s been hit. And after realizing it’s already been hit twice Scrooge is faced with Pixu, the gold hutning dragon! And guess who has a giant bin of it wanting to snack on? Scrooge naturally climbs on the thing and the kids naturally want to follow, with Webby getting her first development by proudly announcing “I’m going to eat a hamburger” then explains the metaphor. They just need a pilto.. and as Launchpad has been saying but I forgot to add in “I’m a pilot”

So we get a GORGEOUS bit of Scrooge riding the dragon over the city, getting banged up as he does before finally being thrown off.. only for the kids to catch him with the planes help and try and come up with a plan. Scrooge overcomes his anger at them not staying put, especailly since Webby brings up the right weakness: as a wise man once said...

So they need some.. like say the Medusa Gauntlet Scrooge had in the garage.. that Louie naturally stole. Huey and Webby eyeroll him but they have what they need.. and Huey brought the hose and quickly comes up with a plan, tying scrooge in, and swinging him to Pixu. The kids hold on tight, Dewey calls his family awesome and our heroes win the day as Scrooge turns the dragon to stone, slips and falls.. and then GRACEFULLY dives into hte bin, showing off his diving skills and his badassery. The day is saved, the gauntlet and the dragon go in the bin for safe keeping and Scrooge calls the kids trouble.. and chuckles fondly. “Curse me kilts how i’ve missed trouble”

He’s impressed: Huey’s quick thinking, Louie’s pickpocketing, Dewey’s drive, and Webby’s magical knowledge all saved them. For once. .he’s happy again. And for the second time in life it took his family to remind him why he does this and show him the true fun of adventure: Getting to share it with those he love. And he finally has people to love again. He has family back, kids who look up to him and want to learn from him again, a REASON to adventure. Money and treasure and eveyrthig couldn’t bring della back.. but he at least sees now that whiel they certianly couldn’t.. they can bring him closely with what he has left. She’s gone, for now.. but she left behind three great kids who could use a mentor and Beakly brought him a fourth. And he just found out he has a pilot. The ember.. is now a raging flame. Scrooge is back. Because i’ts not the money or the glory.. it’s the thrill of it, the discovery.. and the family that makes adventuring worth while and he’s learned that lesson again. So he calls Beakly to clear his schedule.. forgetting she you know PUT A FUCKING PIN INTHE WALL the last time he asked her to play scretary and the onlyr eason she dind’t drive over the choke him to death, is that she’s probably happy he’s back on track.

Back at the interview Donald is stapled to the wall and gets the job.. not as an accountant mind but his employer needs a sailor.. and his employer is FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD. Oh boy. 

Part 2: Escape To/From Atlantis First the last bit of background I saved: Originally, Fenton and Gyro were supposed to show up here, starting a gag of Fenton showing up but not being named until “Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!”, setting up the sub. But the crew decided this took too much away from the focus on the duck family. The not naming him gag was also dropped, and I have two reasons why: Their given reason, which is it’d take up too much time and a logistical reason: While they gave a heartfelt pitch to Lin-Manuel Miranda, as frank wanted a strong Latino superhero to combat the lack of them on film, Frank and Matt probably thought they woudln’t get such a huge name or at least prepared for it.. and were delightfully suprised when Lin happily and tearfully agreed. So they likely scrapped it so they could properly promote the biggest name in their voice cast. Honestly it was for the best and they still go to do the idea with Drake in “The Duck Knight Returns!”, where it worked much better than it probably would have with Fenton. 

We open with the Glomgold Industries Employee Training Video! Encourging IP Theft, making things cheaper and general scumbaggery, and claming your the world’s most beloved scottish billionare. IN short the perfect introduction to everyone’s favorite insane, fake-scottish, scheming, egotistical , short sighted billionaire. As i’ve made transparent before, I fucking love the reboot version of Glomgold and he’s easily one of my favorite parts of the reboot. They clearly needded to find a new place for Glomgold in the grand scheme of things as the show was more about globetrotting adventure and family and less about getting contracts or bets about whose bigger money and more about family. While they DID do a classic bet storyline with season 2, it’s clear the old glomgold was just a bit too stiff to properly fit into this new zanier and deeper universe. 

So they instead remolded him as a half insane, knockoff scrooge, someone who PURPOSFULLY modeled himself after the guy to try and one up him, and instead of being a fairly low pitched schemer, was a bombastic idiot whose schemes were half baked, whose name was on everything he made, and whose only thing bigger than scrooge was his glorious ego. In short he was perfect for this series and perfect to show up way more often as a bumbling thorn in Scrooge’s side.. but one who COULD be effective in the right circumstances, as to not make him completely pointless. Keith was likewise the only person I could see in the roll now as with Hater he had a history of playing bombastic, egosticial morons, and made Glomgold into the enjoyable ball of ego, bombs, sharks and shouting we know and love. Some people didn’t take to this version after a while... I’m not one of those. I loved him here, I love him now, and he’s every bit as good in season 3 as he was at the start. He’s also wearing a kilt mcduck A KILT. A bit that’st STILL funny four years and 70 some episodes later. 

So we meet Gabby McStabberson and the Smashnikovs as they and Donald file in, though Donald is busy wrapping up a call with Scrooge, who assures them he has a low key day planned.. while in the sub getting ready to go to atlantis. And nearly drowning when Dewey tells Launchpad to dive while he and Scrooge are still up top. Cue credits. 

So on the sub we get our setup for the two main plots for the episode: While the main thrust of everything is Scrooge taking them to Atlantis, each leads to a diffrent plot. Louie talks to Donald and lies entirely about their day, worrying Webby.. who then reveals she just didn’t tell Beakly she took off or where she was going and encourages her to call and lie. To save time, i’m going to cover this subplot now minus the conclusion as it’s pretty simple and this review is already a day behind. Louie wants her to lie so she dosen’t worry, which is oddly sweet.. still a bit greasy, but it’s clear he means well and it shows in his own way the boy cares about Donald: Sure he’ll lie to the guy, and set up a fradulent charity to scam him.. but he also knows not to worry his dad-uncle and kows Donald is better off thinking their safe than knowing the truth. Granted it also prevents consequences for Louie.. but he’s not playing here here. He gets nothing out of Beakly not knowing the truth or helping some girl he just met, he’s just being NICE in his own twisty way. It’s a nice show of his depths: While louie will lie, cheat and steal Eddie Gurrero style, he does have a caring side underneath hit. He can read people well and while he primarily uses it to manipulate people, we’ll see time and time again that he can use it for good too and to help those he cares about. He’s nothing but supportive the whole plot, and even when he says “you can’t back that up” it’s more worrying about her and having a bit of crack than actually being a dick. 

So Webby tries lying, but is about as good as Huey is at it, saying “I’m at a friends house nothing, then makes up a clearly fake name, then says their only talking in swedish for a grandpa. Launchpad DOES help, but only by accident and snake venom. We’ll get to that. As I said this wasn’t the most complex plot. 

The main plot is our focus episode for dewey. In theory each of the kids was supposed to have one in the first five episodes: Dewey here, Webby in Daytrip of Doom, Louie in Great Dime Chase and Huey in Impossible Summit of Mt. Nevverest!. Given the last one was horribly delayed, he instead got Terror of the Terra Firmians, which in hindsight wasn’t the best spotlight episode for him. But it’s a good system; Introduce them all in the first half of the pilot then slowly focus on each one.  So now Idoloizing Scrooge, Dewey is desperate to be his sidekick and be seen as an equal and is in deep denial as scrooge instead has them all buckle up for a 17 hour ride and when Dewey questions the route, which skips the direct path.. but is clearly marked with monsters, Scrooge just snaps at him and shuts him down and disapoints the boy who only wants to prove himself to Scrooge. 

Naturally though, telling someone with that kind of need for attention and validation to wait goes poorly as he redirects the map while Launchapd is distracted.. and we find out WHY the trip is 17 hours as the direct route nearly gets them killed by mer-ducks, krakens and some sort of storm elemental. Dewey is bummed it didn’t work and annoyed to realize he’s just lumping them all together like Huey pointed out earlier. Huey is also delightful here, having brought travel bingo and sea shanties, clearly used to trips with his other uncle. And adorably taking after him. 

But Dewey’s deversion has done more than make him even MORE determined to prove himself to Scrooge whose just trying to NOT loose the son of the daughter he lost...

The Merducks have taken up residence in the bathroom, so they have to make a pitstop. Scrooge, CLEARLY forgetting how to take a trip with children, wasn’t prepared for this but they find a frieghter and make a stop. Naturally it’s GLOMGOLD’S freighter, where his sub took off from, and he and his minons including Donald find Scrooge using the bathroom.. and the boys to Donald’s rage. Unfortunately saying ‘I’ll kill him” to a raging sociopath who takes that as a sign to kill ALL of them, isn’t a smart move. 

So while Donald tries to plan to keep his family alive, said family arrives in Atlantis with a great bit of Scrooge trying to give a big speech only for them to see it first and ooh and ah. They touch down in the city.. which is flip turned upside down. Scrooge notes hti is odd but is able to read the hieroglypchs even upside downa nd notes there’s tones of deadly traps and that they shoudl stay back and..

Huey: Dewey ran in as soon as you said traps. 

So while Scrooge tries to prevent dewey loosing his head, Donald prevents launchpad loosing his and makes up an excuse about “if their dead now we can’t tourture them later” to cover his ass. Glomgold is impressed.  Dewey is Dewcipointed that the traps are upside down, though he does trigger some snakes that get launchpad. He’s fine just delirious. And possibly slowly dying but the fact he’s lived this long is a miracle. Maybe that’s why he’s missing for most of season 3 part 2, the snake venom caught up to him and drake and fenton need to find the cure. Anyways the rest of the party stays behind while Scrooge chases after Dewey, who naturally runs ahead AGAIN. 

Donald ducks out to use the bathroom, as Dewey tries the old dance through the laser grid routine.. but forgets the part where your supposed to actually avoid it, leaving it to an unseen Donald to stop the fire traps from barbqueing his boy. IT’s a really awesome sequence that shows off Donald’s still got it even if he dosen’t want it.  Scrooge naturally works smarter not harder and simply ziplines above like a badass and berates Dewey when he tells him he took “The easy way”

“Why would you want to take the hard way?” The argument that’s been brewing all episode bubbles up and once again both sides have a point: Scrooge rightfully points out Dewey’s being reckless, has no experince and needs to listen to Scrooge and learn something. Dewey claps back that Scrooge isn’t TEACHING them, just teling them to get behind him while he does things instead of trying to actively mentor them. He outright told them he was going to teach them so while Dewey’s been a wee bit overbearing, he’s right in being disappointed that Scrooge instead just wants them to be safe. I see it as his subconscious acting up: He wants and needs the kids along and is right ot keep them safe.. but is too scared to properly mentor them after what happened to Della and is just trying not to loose anybody. His methods have been right, to keep them safe.. he’s just been so determined to save them, he can’t properly TEACH them so he won’t have to forever or explain WHY. And given the First Adventure shows that while protective he did eventually let Della and Donald pull their weight.. but here he lost so much between adventures.. he just can’e bear loosing them. Dewey also rightfully points out he just lumps them together which in any other version wouldn’t be an issue, until the reboot I had no idea which one was which here? They have distinct outfits and personalities and you had 17 hours to actually get to know them. Probably less given the shortcut but still, several hours at a minimum. It’s things like this that make the series work: while there’s plenty of internal conflicts, at their best their nuanced ones, where if one character is clearly in the wrong they have a reason, and if both are right both are also a bit wrong, versus the original where it’d be scrooge or the boys grabbing the asshole ball at times (Not always mind you but when they did it was insufferable. 

However they don’t have time to argue as the bridge goes out and Glomgold finds donald.. and another way around as a result and gets to the treasure first. Scrooge notices they have donald but once again Dewey charges in 

“Unhand my uncle” “No” “Okay wasn’t prepared for that”

Naturally both sides are a bit livid, Donald for dragging his boys into danger after being part of the reason his sister is on the moon right now, and Scrooge for working with one of his greatest eneimies.. though Scrooge has less ground to stand on because as Donald points out “I can’t keep track of ALL of your sworn enemies” I mean he has lived like .. 200 years. That’s a long enemies list and Glomgold, while the most persistent, isn’t exactly the most dangerous they probably encountered. Given the guy’s an artist with Bombs and Sharks that does say a lot about how badass Scrooge is.. and how incompitent glomgold usually is. He’s just having an on day today I guess. 

Glomgold naturally holds Donald hostage, takes what is suppsidley the jewel and leaves them to drown to death, hitting a wall to let it start leaking. HIs minons run into the rest of the heroes and a fight breaks out while naturally Donald, after even more naturally getting his ass stuck in a hole, literally, rails out at Scrooge for doing this telling him “I knew I couldn’t trust you and” “This is the spear of selene all over again”

Scrooge’s only response is “I was not responsible for the Spear of Selene!”

Dude you still paid for the rocket. While Della shoulders most of the blame, SHE choose to take an untested rocket, SHE choose not to come back during the turbulence YOU still built it and hid it from donald and didn’t make sure she couldn’t just take off in it. Your both to blame. And as I mentioned earlier to the least extent but still an extent, so was Donald telling his grown, adult sister whose as stubborn as she is what she could and couldn’t do. He had the right idea and was the only person trying to be an adult here in this situation.. but he still took the wrong approach with stopping her. Still he got far more ground to stand on than Scrooge, who also took his nephews out. Dewey stops both by pointing out that while yes Scrooge took them on an adventure he’s been doing NTOHING but keeping him safe and most of it was his fault which disarms donald a bit. Though Dewey is quickly distracted.. but for once by an obersvation: the gem glowing above thaem that glowed when they entered... and since the city got flipped turned upside down.. THAT’S the real jewel. Dewey asks Donald ot let it flood so they can get it and begs his uncle to trust him despite his doubts which he does. They get it and everyone’s okay and even more when they reunite with the others they find they’ve handily beaten them. To me this is where donalds walls go down a bit: he realizes he’s been smothering the kids, and that while he may hate his uncle for good reason... he’s not going to make the same mistake with them and while he lied.. Don probably realized if Scrooge had been honest Donald would never have let them go. He can trust him.. and he can trust his kids will be alright without him. 

So Glomgold naturally leaves his minions to die, but our heroes manage to make it to the sub, and Gabby asks if they can bum a ride. Not wanting to do any murders they agree. On the surface Glomgold is showing off his jewel, only for Scrooge to upstage him second’s later with the real jewel, and point out his is “nice but defintly cursed”... and right on cue Glomgold gets dragged off with an octopus and let’s off his first “Curse you mcduck!”. Scrooge offers clean water and power thorugh it, for a price because of course he does, and has offically made his grand comeback. 

We get back to Webby’s subplot, as she’s confronted by Beakly.. who naturally being a former spy easily figured it out immieditely but is only upset her grandaughter lied to her. And even at that she dosen’t raise her voice or anything about the matter, knowing it’d only make her feel worse and getting that her grandaughter needs to see the world and that much like donald, she walled her up to prevent loosing what little she had left. And since being with Scrooge is safe as with her, she can go with him anytime just tell her first kay? They hug. Awwww. 

Donald likewise apologizes, admitting that whatever has passed, he misjudged his uncle here and while not forgiving him yet, is at least willing to let him back into his life and into the boys.. on holidays and stuff at least. But fate forces his hand.. or rather his 10 year old nephew-son having left the engine on and neither having turned it off, meaning his boat goes boom and is in no liveable condition. But Scrooge has the space in his heart and mansion for them.

So as we close the kids help move the artifacts all around the house instead of just the garage while Launchapd drops the boat. While clearing out Dewey notices the painting from earlier.. and finds part of it was flipped over...

“Mom?!” 

Now keep in mind, while nowadays Della’s inclusion in the show is one of the most famous and treasured parts of the show.. back then this was a fucking shock. Disney never really cared about the boys mother and outside of one comics story never really went into what happened. So the fact she was not only an actual important part of the plot but we’d find out was a HUGE wham moment and left my jaw dropped after seeing the episode. Like I would with the finales I had read no spoilers and had no idea this was coming but damn was it a huge and welcome suprise and how far they’d take it and how much they’d flesh her out was an even bigger one. Easily one of the best big reveals i’ve ever seen. The only better one I can think of from this series itself... is the end of season 2. But that’s for another time. 

Final Thoughts on Woo-Ooo!:

This two parter/hour long special.. is still one of the episodes best and easily one of the best pilots. It does slow down a bit in pacing in the second half, but otherwise is just an immaculate , beautiful pilot movie that introduces and fleshes out all 8 main characters, maybe Launchpad the least but enough to still work, gives us some big mysteries to work out, and even throws in Glomgold’s first apperance. It sets the tone, reverent and adventuerous but also with it’s own weird and wacky sense of humor and world building, and universe perfectly. I .. don’t have much else to say really it’s just THAT good and really worth checking out. If you somehow haven’t seen it go watch it and if you haven’t seen it in a while might be worth a rewatch before the finale. The absolutely perfect start to an amazing ride. 

Next on the Della Arc: Dewey and Webby try to figure out where Della is while Louie learns a valuable life lesson and  pisses off a killer robot along the way.

Next on the Blog: Amphibia Season 2 is back! 

Until then if you liked this review follow for more and if you could please support me on patreon. Even a buck a month helps and juicy stretch goals give you na incentive to contirbute. We’re 5 bucks away from 20 dollars a month which means a review of super ducktales and a Darkwing Duck review EVERY. MONTH. So contribute now! Until the next rainbow it’s been a pleasure. 

[thatssonanii]

Trouble Man

HAHN AU

AN:: Because I ain't like it so rewrite it is. Mitch and Lainey are together, Candace is alive in order for this to work..

Candace tossed and turned in her hotel bed trying to shake the voices of those whose deaths she caused. From Oscar, War and Quincy to Erica and Lil Q. She yelled out in her sleep until she felt someone grab her and her eyes shot open landing on Oliver.

"Stop fighting. Stop. And shut up." Oliver demanded in a hushed tone.

"What are you doing in here? Get out of here! Leave me alone!"

Rolling his eyes, Oliver placed a the handkerchief he held over her mouth only moving it when she stopped fighting. Placing it into the inside pocket of his suit jacket, he stood from the bed and motioned to the men he'd traveled with.

"Restrain her and put her in the trunk."

Landen scoffed stopping the other two service members. "We don't just do what you say, Oliver. You don't make demands."

Oliver stepped into his face. "Who did Charles put in charge of this when the first person fell short? Who knew that there was a job to get done and played around?"

There was silence between the men.

"I'll answer for you. He put me in charge when you played around." Oliver spoke through clenched teeth. "So do what I said. Restrain her and put her in the trunk. Now."

Oliver glared at Landen a little longer then left the room with his phone to his ear.

On the other side of town, Benny sat in Melissa's house changing her locks. The two of them had just come in from their ruined dinner.

"Benny, you don't need to change those right now. They're not coming here. Lemme clean that cut on your forehead."

Benny shook his head still working on the front door locks. "Nah, ima be aight this needs to be done. You don't know these people like I do, they're coming. And when they do you don't wanna be caught slippin. Aight?"

Melissa sighed, "Benny, it's fine. I'll just call Veronica and get this taken care of."

"Isn't she the reason you're in this mess? You not calling her. That kid that they sent its tryna prove a point and I'm not gon let him use you for target practice to prove it."

"Alright, Benny. But when you're done I'm cleaning that cut and you're getting out of here."

Benny shook his head again. "No, I'm not. I gotta make sure you safe. He looking for me too I'm sure now so when he shows up he can get the rest of the ass whoopin he ain't get in that damn restaurant."

"I see you're not budging so I'll give up but I think you should at least go check on your family."

"I got that taken care of, ima call them. Why don't you go fix us something to drink or something. Relax. I got you."

After receiving his punishment from his family, Mitch went to sit across from Vinny in his booth clutching his side. Vinny took a swig of his beer then chuckled.

"Learn ya lesson?"

"Yeah, Uncle Vinny. So we good now?" He asked wincing a bit.

"Yeah we are but you listen to me no more lying to your family and covering up for this kid."

"I was helping my friend. His family is my family too. I told you that."

"No," Vinny barked, "The Malones are your family, not them. We are. Understand?"

Sandy approached the table clutching the ice back to his head. "He's acting like that cause he's dating that guy's sister. He's been hiding it from us."

Mitch turned to glare at his cousin, "Shut your little bitch ass up before you get beat up again, Sandy! Not the time!"

"You ain't gonna do nothin. Guess what else, Uncle Vinny. He's got a baby with the broad. How you like that, Mitch?"

Mitch got up as quick as his injuries would allow and stood in front of Sandy glaring down at him. "What did I say to you? What did I tell you?"

"That dumbass friend of yours is gonna get what he deserves for what he did and if I'm lucky I'll get that broad and that baby too." Sandy taunted with a smirk.

Mitch threw a few punches knocking the smaller man down before being pulled away, backed into a wall. Vinny stood in the open space between them pointing a finger at each of them.

"Sandy, if you knew how to back up the shit you say, you wouldn't be in this mess in the first place. You just love getting your ass kicked, don't you?" Vinny asked sarcastically.

Sandy sucked his teeth. "Oh everybody has jokes now. Aren't you gonna do something? He hit me and he had a baby with the black kid's sister."

Mitch struggled against his cousin, "Oh shut up, you whiny ass cry baby! You're lucky they're holding me!"

"Shut it, Mitch! Sandy, you get outta here and do what you said you were gonna do and I want it done tonight. If it's not done then I'm gonna do it to you."

"You got it, Uncle Vinny. I'll even get extras for you." Sandy answered with a smirk.

"I swear to God, Sandy. If you do this, I'll take you out myself. And unlike you, I'm not afraid to do it."

Vinny waved Sandy out of the bar then got closer to Mitch letting his nephews know that they could move.

"So what ... you're gonna kill your own family over these people? It's that what I just heard?"

Mitch glared at his uncle, "They're my family too."

"You mean the black girl and the black baby? Right?" Vinny chuckled.

"I mean my best friend, my girl, my daughter, all of them."

"When were you gonna tell us the good news? Our boy's a daddy now. Hey," Vinny called out, "Get him a drink. He deserves a congratulations."

Mitch huffed. "I don't want a damn drink. I'm leaving."

"No, you're not. You're gonna sit here and wait for Sandy to call. And while we're waiting you're gonna tell me why you didn't tell us."

"I'm not staying here while he's trying to kill them. I told who needed to know. Mama Rose. That's it. She loves my girl and my baby, she's gonna be pissed when she finds out."

Vinny's nostrils flaired as he grew angrier. "Mama Rose isn't here! I am! I'm in charge!"

"All you are is a placeholder while the heat dies down. She wouldn't leave this to you, Vinny. You couldn't even defend yourself from a drug addict," Mitch laughed.

"You keep it up and you'll end up dead along with your precious family, you lil bastard."

While they were going back and forth, one of Mitch's cousins sent a text to Mama Rose about what was happening. Moments later his phone rung and he stepped away to answer.

Hanna pulled up in front of her house and hopped off after killing the engine. She chuckled to herself approaching her stoop.

"Well ... well ... well ... look at my babygirl. What are you doing here this late with my baby?"

Lainey smiled bouncing her four month old daughter in her arms. "Tell your Nana that we were at home alone and your daddy wasn't answering so we thought he was here with Benny."

Hanna grabbed her grandbaby and gave her daughter her housekeys. "No, he's not here but I'm glad you two came to see me. I missed yall. Let's go in and I'll call your bug head brother, I'm sure they're together."

The three of them went inside the two story home, the older two engaging in conversation with each other.

Oliver stood in front of Candace in the chair she was tied to squinting at her. He took a moment to clean his glasses and put them back on before smacking the side of Candace's face.

"Come on, get up. I don't have all day."

Candace came to with a frantic gasp as she tried to move around.

"You might as well stop moving, you're restrained and that won't change. Now are you going to be quiet while we talk to you or do I need to tape your mouth?"

"No, don't. I just wanna know why I'm here. What's happening?" She asked fearfully.

Oliver stepped to the side as the door opened and in walked Charles. His signature smile plastered on his face.

"We met again, Ms. Young. Bet you thought you got away, didn't you?"

"Charles ... what ... what are you doing? Is this because I didn't want to come back? I'm sorry. Just let me go."

With his hands in his pockets, Charles walked a circle around the chair she sat in laughing loudly. "That's not it. Guess again, Ms. Young."

Candace sat quietly. "It's because I told you that I'm pregnant? It's the truth, I am."

"Its not about that because I know you're not."

"What? I went to the doctor. Yes, I am. Please. I'm go away and I won't bother you. Just let me and my baby go."

Again Charles laughed. "You hear that, Oliver? Just let me and my baby go," he mimicked, "When we met, I told you two things that you shouldn't have ever forgotten. Do you remember?"

Oliver stood back with an amused look on his face.

"No, you told me a lot of things. I don't know, Charles."

Charles stopped in front of her and leaned down so she could see his face. "I told you that I'm not the one to play with and there's nothing that you can do, nothing you can say and nowhere that you can go that I won't know about. That doctor told you that because I wanted her to. Wanted to see how long you'd keep it to yourself before you used the card you thought you had."

"All of this so I would come back? Are you really that delusional and crazy?"

"No, that's not it. Whether you came back on your own or forcefully you were coming back. I always make good on my favors for my friends. And this favor just so happens to be for a best friend of mine."

Candace started to move around in the chair trying to get loose. "This is about that money I took from Jim? He got you being his bitch now?"

"That's cute," he laughed, "You think that shit that you pulled with Jim is gonna work on me and you're wrong ... its not. I wouldn't piss on Jim if he was on fire."

"Then who? Who asked you to do this?"

"Aah, if I tell you then I have to kill you." He smiled wickedly at her. "Well ... I'm gonna do that anyways so I'll tell you. On a few occasions David Harrington let you know that you had no idea who you were playing games with and that he could make your insignificant life disappear just ... like ... that. And you didn't listen, you took him for a joke."

Candace started to get scared but still attempted to hide it. "Why?"

"Oliver, would you please enlighten Ms. Young with the list of offenses, please?"

Oliver stepped forward. "Gladly, sir. You extorted money multiple times, interfered and toyed with his niece, Amanda's well being, inserted his son into a murder and got his fiancé killed. And that's just what you did to Mr. Harrington."

"Thank you, Oliver," Charles said with a smile, "Now let's talk about the things you've done to other people. You screwed a friend over which caused the death of your son so you killed your son, you're the reason your brother has caused heartache in the past, you're the reason your brother almost died twice, you're too blame as to why Benny had bad blood with the Malonrs, and you're the reason you're mother almost died."

Candace bit back tears. "Why does he care about those things? They had nothing to do with David."

"Since you asked so nicely. David sees the pain you put your mother through and he doesn't like it at all. Your mother, Ms. Hanna, it's a beautiful woman and beautiful soul who didn't deserve the pile of shit you left in her lap. But he intends to clean it all up, starting with you being in Itty bitty pieces."

Oliver removed his suit jacket and picked up the electric hand saw starting it. The tears started to fall freely from Candace's eyes as she looked between both men.

"Please ... please don't do this," she sobbed "I'm sorry, I'll give the money back I'll leave them all alone."

"Sorry won't undo any of the shit you did, now will it? Oliver, she's all yours. Have fun."

"Will do, sir."

Furious, Mama Rose called Benny's phone. After speaking with her nephew she knew it was time to come out of her faux retirement to set some things straight. In that moment she didn't care about the heat on her being hot, she was going to protect those she held close to her heart above all else.

Benny looked at his phone and frowned a little before answering. "Who this?"

"Now, Benjamin, is that how you answer your phone for your Mama Rose?"

"No ma'am," he chuckled, "How you doing?"

"Oh I would be better if half of my family wasn't worthless. Where are you?"

Benny glanced up from his spot on the floor at Melissa, so was handing him a glass. "I'm at a friend's house helping her. You need me?"

"Is it the girl Veronica had Vinny go after? Is it her, Benjamin?" Mama Rose asked urgently.

"Yes ma'am and I don't even wanna know how you knew that."

"You know I know everything. Listen, you need to go to your mother's house. I'm on my way there but I don't know if I'll make it in time to stop it."

Benny frowned, "Stop what? What's going on?"Just as she got ready to answer, another call came through from mama. "This her right now calling. I'll call you back, Mama Rose." He answered her call effectively ending the previous call.

"Benjamin, baby. Where are you and that friend of yours?" Hanna asked laughing. "Your sister and niece are not happy that you're stealing him away."

"I'm not with him, Mama. I'm helpin, Melissa out. I'm bout to head that way though."

"Okay, baby and bring Melissa with you. And can you please see if you can find out where Mitch is?"

"Yes ma'am I will. Be there in a few. Love yall."

Benny finished chaging the locks quickly then he and Melissa left her house headed for his mama's house. Thankfully there wasn't much traffic so he was able to speed a bit to get there quicker. While they made their way to the house, Mitch was glaring at his uncle making a plan in his head.

"You got something you wanna say to me?" Vinny asked.

Mitch shook his head. "Nothing that I haven't already told you. You know where I stand on this."

"And you know where your family stands. There were lots of good girls that hang around here that you could've had. And you have too many cousins around here to be lookin elsewhere for friends. You're just gonna try any way you can to get away from us."

"I never wanted this. Ever. And you know that. The only reason I got as involved as I was is because your ass went and got stabbed so I had to help." Mitch fired back smartly. "You're so mad that I'm Mama Rose's favorite and she understood me not wanting to be apart of this."

Vinny grunted, "I don't give a shit about that."

"Yeah ... ya do. That's why you try do hard to find shit on me."

"You know what ... if Sandy doesn't get that broad and that baby I think I'll do it myself. And I think I'll enjoy it."

"The same thing I said to Sandy goes for you too. I'm not about to play this bullshit game with you or him when it comes to my family. I will kill you and not think twice about it. And if I don't," he smirked, "Mama Rose will. Just like I'm her favorite and she would do anything for me ... she feels the same way about those two. You harm any of us and she'll kill you."

Vinny stared at his nephew as he answered his ringing phone. He put it on speaker and sat it on the table.

"Yeah?"

"Just letting you know that we're pulling up to the house."

Mitch's blood boiled as he listened to his younger cousin talk. "You little bastard ... you better not."

"Shut up," Vinny barked, "Good. You do it and then you get your ass back here. Understand?"

Sandy agreed before getting off of the phone. One of the cousins that worked behind the bar approached their table extending the bar phone to Mitch making Vinny frown.

"What the hell are you doin?"

The cousin shrugged urging Mitch to take the phone. "Mama Rose."

Mitch took the phone and the cousin walked away. When he put the phone to his ear, he stared atvhis uncle.

"Yes ma'am?"

"Do not change your face. You keep whatever expression you have, I want him to think I'm pissed at you." Mama Rose instructed quickly.

Mitch sighed harshly, "Yes ma'am., I understand."

"Good, good. I know what's happening and I'm trying to get there and stop it."

Mitch almost broke and cheered but the sight of Vinny's smug smile kept him from doing so.

"But, Mama," Mitch started trying to act as if he was pleading. "Please, that's my baby in that house."

"And I'll make damn sure they all remain safe. But listen to me. Are you listening?"

Mitch dropped his head a bit. "I'm listening."

"If I am unable to get there before it happens and stop it, whether anyone gets hit or not, I will make sure that those involved are handled. In the event that this happens, I will let your cousins behind the bar know and they will do as instructed. Okay?"

Yes, Mama. I understand but please hear me out."

"I know, Mitch. You did good. I have to go."

The phone hung up before Mitch could say anything. The cousin came to retrieve the phone making quick eye contact with Mitch then walked off.

"Mama, can you make her a bottle while you're in the kitchen? She getting all fussy." Lainey yelled from her seat on the sofa in the living room.

"Yeah, baby but you're gonna have to bring her formula! I don't have anymore here!" Hanna yelled back.

Lainey looked through her daughter's diaper bag for the can of formula. Once she had it, she carried it and her daughter to the kitchen. Benny pulled up in front of his mother's house and quickly jumped out of the car with Melissa. He pulled her in front of him then let them into the house.

"Mama! Lainey! Where yall at?" He yelled frantically as he walked through the foyer.

Hanna laughed a little, "We're in the kitchen and stop yelling."

Benny pulled Melissa along with him, when he got to the kitchen he hugged his sister and his mama then kissed his niece's head.

Lainey stared at him strangely and laughed, "Boy what is wrong with you? You squeezing the life outta us."

"Something is going down, it's not safe." He explained quickly. "Mama Rose called to warn me. I'm sure it's about what happened earlier."

Lainey and Hanna shared a look then looked at him. "What did you do, Benjamin?"

Melissa stepped forward. "He was protecting me, Ms. Hanna. Veronica sent the Malones after me and Benny beat him up so now he's pissed."

The black van carrying Sandy and his cousins pulled up slowly in front of the two story home. Inside Sandy readied his gun but kept fumbling.

"You sure you got this? We can do it."

Sandy glared at his cousin. "I don't need help. I got this. You just sit back and watch. I'm gonna take all of them out."

Oliver finished with his task, set up the disposal and went to get cleaned up before going to meet with Charles. He met the president elect in his home office.

"I take it that it's taken care of," Charles said smoothly turning side to side in his office chair.

"Yes sir, of course. She's being disposed of as we speak."

Charles smiled. "Did you save what I asked you to save?"

"Yes sir," Oliver said proudly, "Packaged, sealed and ready to go."

"Good, good. I want to be in Savannah tonight. I like to deliver my good news in person."

Oliver nodded pulling his phone out. "I can make that happen in the next thirty minutes. If I can ask, sir. May I make a personal stop during this trip to Savannah? It won't take long."

Charles leaned back in his chair relaxing, his smile still on his face. "Somce you did such a good job, I'll allow it. What is the stop?"

"I just wanna check in on a friend of mine. She had a baby not too long ago and I haven't been able to see the baby yet."

"You got a girlfriend and a baby, Oliver? Hiding things from me?"

Oliver quickly looked up from his phone laughing, "No, sir. Of course not. Me and her have been friends for years, nothing like that. She's actually Hanna's daughter."

Charles raised a brow, "Alaina? She anything like her sister?"

"No, not at all. If she was, we wouldn't be friends. She's a good girl who doesn't take anybody's shit," Oliver laughed going back to his phone, "She is definitely her mother's child. She loved to fight growing up."

"I think I'd like to make this stop with you."

Oliver glanced at him for a moment then back to his phone. "That's fine with me, sir. But I have to warn you, she is in a relationship."

Charles chuckled. "I just wanna meet her. Nothing else."

"Yes sir of course. We will be ready to take off in about twenty minutes. I'll have a bag prepared for you. "

"Thank you, Oliver. Let Landen know you and Ramsey will be the only ones accompanying me. He is to stay here and make sure that the house gets packed up correctly."

[spaghetwardhoezier]

‘Erase this please’ - Percico secret santa fanfic

@duchessmb (MidnightBunnyy) , I am your Percico Secret Santa, bringing you fluffy & angsty flustered boys after Christmas has long passed but i still got my Christmas tree up so you can’t kill my spirit!

I want to start by saying: Happy late Christmas and Happy New Year! I dearly hope this year brings you and the rest of us some better memories. That being said, i want to apologize for posting my gift on the very last day of the event but, hey! At least it’s in time! (unlike all of my school projects :’) ) I hope it doesn’t seem too rushed. I wrote something, read it, hated it and decided to rewrite everything in the last three days. Also, i hope it doesn’t contain many grammar mistakes. I’ll proof read it the morning but if you see it until then, just know that i’m not actually illiterate, just tired. Now that you know how much of a dumbass i am, let’s go on with the story! Hope you enjoy!

This...

Nico stared down at his arm, eyes almost piercing trough the new-found initial that marked the skin from right near his elbow.

Is so confusing...

... a sturdy ‘P’ stood proudly, as if laughing at the son’s of Hades suffering.

P could come from many things! It can come from... Patrick... Paul... Phineas...

What kind of name is Phineas even, Nico?

The boy sighed deeply, his mind stubbornly struggling to remain attached to the same name it has been focused on since he’s seen his soulmark...

The most beautiful name on his list, the one he’s been dreading to say so badly...

Percy Jackson

But that name isn’t supposed to come out of his mouth, to glide between his two lips... That name isn’t supposed to even stroll so casually around his mind every single goddamn day.

Why? Because the thought of Percy Jackson was stuffed so deeply inside of Nico that it now felt like part of him; it was almost painful. Oh, the thought of him was very close and reachable alright..., but Percy Jackson himself was excruciatingly far away.

Nico would stare helplessly... His heart will scream and his mind would struggle to find a coherent thought, one that didn’t scream ‘you’re alone’ or ‘you’re pathetic’. And in spite of all that, he could imagine... was Percy in the arms of his future lover whose face didn’t reasamble Nico’s in any shape or form. He’d imagine them sneaking out in the middle of the night to go and count the stars from the black abyss of the dark sky, the only light accompanying them being each other’s love and company.

... Why couldn’t Nico have that?

...Why did Percy’s future... seemed like one he could never be part of?

Love was for lucky people. He guessed that he just wasn’t the guy.

The dim sounds of flowing water from the well known Styx river the demigod was currently standing close to grew quieter as Nico's eardrums were filled with the obnoxious sounds of his own consuming thoughts. No. He must not pay attention to that mark. To him, the soulmark had to be no longer. It didn't exist to him.

And yet, for the next following weeks, the only place his eyes seemed to want and glance towards as he roamed around his father's kingdom was that idiotic mark. Not even the hopeless whispers of the dead could distract him from it. Truth be told, he felt just as hopeless then.

-

''Boy.'' Hades's cold voice dared to soften just a dime as he tried to catch his son's attention. Nico remained still by the Styx river in the not so far away distance, eyes lost and heart seemingly sinking alongside the dozens of sticks and rocks from the acid water. ''Boy!'' he bellowed once again, steps becoming bigger as he kept advancing towards the shore.

Nico's head turned suddenly, black eyes harmoniously meeting black eyes. The bond wasn't kept for long, the teenage boy immediately starting to glare back at the water. ''What do you want, father?'' his voice was distant and lost, as if it tried to show itself off as threatening and furious but gave up amid the way.

Hades cleared his throat. ''I want to see your mark.''

Nico's eyes widened. The demigod tried to control his panic before opening his mouth again. ''What mark?''

''Your soulmark.''

''I don't have it.''

''Well, i think you do!''

Hades rushed forward, grabbing his son's arms and bringing back the sleeves. Nico stood up and struggled as tried to escape his father's firm grip with no succes.

''A 'P'... Ah, i see...'' the god spat as if utterly unsatisfied with his own statement. His fingers unclenched from around the demigod's wrists and the poor boy grunted as he stumbled back.

''...I told you, i don't have any soulmark.'' his eyes looked up to meet his father's for a second time. He was speaking through gritted teeth, voice stubborn and decisive. ''It's meaningless to me.''

''Too bad it's not meaningless to me then. As much as i hate that it starts with... that boy's name and i dearly hope it's not him... you are still going to go find said person.''

''That boy?''

''Poseidon's brat!''

Hades sighed and closed his eyes, trying to regain his patience. It didn't work much as his voice trembled with annoyance as the god began speaking once again. "Don't play with me. Don't disagree with me. If going to that... cursed camp is what it takes for you to be happy, then so be it.'' He said the world 'camp' with a tone that revealed worse despise than when he'd talk about one of his brothers.

Nico's eyes widened in confusion. ''Happiness...? Going to camp...? What in Hades are you saying?''

''Soulmarks are made by Aphrodite and Hestia, you idiotic child. Yeah, sure, Aphrodite often goes on and on about the drama and chaos that must take place in a romantic relationship for it to be entertaining enough for her, but Hestia, on the other hand... she doesn't let explosions go off and burst when soulmarks are involved. She doesn't let the chaos lay a finger on that. As much as i hate my family sometimes... soulmarks are a good thing. You are not going to remain alone and pouting. Go to camp. Now.''

Nico followed his father's words, but they simply wouldnt clench around his brain. Now is when his father showed care out of all times? Now? When Nico's heart kept yelling 'no' with an unshaken vigor?

''No.''

''Now!'' Hades spoke again and his words were conclusive. With a simple hand gesture, Nico was sent to the one place he currently dreaded most.

-

A girl's hand wrapped around Percy's wrist and, to him, it felt almost like a betrayal. The mark was right there, staring back at him. It looked like it was gaping up and shaking its head, perhaps mumbling a 'you idiot, wrong soulmate, wrong hand to hold.'. He tried imagining the exact voice a hundred of times. It sounded more pissed off than his french teacher from fifth grade when he'd raise his hand during class to ask if he could go to the bathroom. 'But can't you say it in french, s'il te plait?'

...

Why couldn't Percy listen?

''Let's catch lunch before it's over!'' Naomi from Aphrodite's cabin said sweetly as if trying to lure him in. It felt wrong. Why did he keep following her?

''About the mark...''

''Percy...'' the daughter of the love goddess spoke clearly even as Percy tried to replay the memory in his head. Her voice was sweet and lucid, her vocabulary was rich and her intelligence was definitely blossomed and visible, especially when compared to the other children of Aphrodite's. And yet... he's never been attracted. ''It's an 'N', right?'

Percy stared down at his arm as if he expected the mark to grow legs and run away any following second. "..yes."

"So why not give it a try? When mine will appear, we'll know for sure if we are meant to be or not. Do you have any other guesses...? Please, Percy...?'' her smile was bright, hopeful.

'But it doesn't feel right.' his heart said. Percy didn't say that.

Instead, he smiled back, drowning all of his other thoughts with a simple 'we'll see. we'll see...'

'It's been two months.' his mind kept repeating now.

'I know. But now we'll see soon.'

'You even kissed.'

'...We are basically in a relationship.'

'Did you even agree to that?'

'In a way.'

'Why did you even agree to that?'

What could you expect from a dude that's arguing with himself...

"Percy?"

...

"Percy...!'' a hand tapped his shoulder and he finally woke up, in spite of the fact that his eyes have never been closed. "You've been weirdly staring at your shoe laces. If you were Grover, i'd be sure you were about to eat them up.''

"...Sorry. I'm fine."

Naomi smiled again.

"Then all it's fine. Let's go eat.''

-

"Your name is Pollicem? Doesn't that mean, like, big toe in latin?"

"You asked for my name, kid!" the angry satyr bellowed. "I ain't asked for no judgement!"

"Right, right, sorry..." Nico cleared his throat, straightening his back before speaking again. "What's your soulmark's initial? Is it an 'N'?"

"It's a 'D' and i definitely haven't found the chosen one by going around and asking other people about their love life. It doesn't work like that...," he sniffled the dark haired boy and crunched his nose up in disgust. "..., offspring of Hades. Bleh, you always smell like dead grass and corpses."

He was right. Nico was just stupid. Why would he even search for his chosen one, after all? Not even the Gods of Love could make him desirable. Love has brought anything but happiness to him up until now. Why would things change?

"Say kid, do you fancy anybody?"

"Huh?!" Nico's breath got caught up into his throat, the boy getting mildly startled.

''I see... So, in that case, that person is your soulmate.''

''Impossible.''

''You've got your soulmark today, offspring of Hades?''

''I did.''

''The initial matched your loved one's name?''

''...it did.''

''You still love that person?''

Nico bit down on his lip, self-hatred and anger spilling from his gaze. ''What's this about?'' he mumbled.

''If you still love them, then the gods of love approve. You've found your other half. If that wasn't your case, the affection you held for them would start fading by now.''

''I don't believe that.''

''Stop believing so much in the fact that any child of Hades's destiny is lonliness and isolation. Why do you think soulmarks even exist, kid? To form arguments, envy? No. They are supposed to bring peace. Each person with their designed lover. That way, love is clear and true, unbreakable.''

''I've been assigned... a lover?''

I've been assigned... Percy Jackson... as a lover?

Nico's heartbeat started to freak. ''How am i supposed to believe that?''

''Just like that, demigod. You're currently talking to somebody with two hooves instead of feet and yet you can't believe in love?''

Nico looked back at the other half-bloods from camp, their silhouettes blurry and gray under the dim light of the afternoon. They were all laughing, raising their sleeves and proclaiming that 'look, there's somebody out there for me too' and yet Nico couldn't see himself fitting into the scenery.

''That mark holds a lot of power within you.'' the satyr spoke again. ''I can feel it. Don't be afraid of closure, kid, don't be afraid of vulnerability.'' and off he went into the dark forest, leaving Nico alone.

-

The way Percy stood alone at his table, peacefully eating his usual all blue food plate. The way his lips would slowly, leisurely turn upwards at unexpected times, perhaps thinking about something so weird and stupid that he felt like laughing at himself. So unnoticable... so pretty.

Nico watched in silence. Like always, truth be told... But this time, the moment itself seemed more intense, adrenaline and dread rushing up his veins as a familiar warmth settled in his stomach.

A girl makes her way to the Poseidon tabel.

...What?

That's an intruder. An intruder into this portrait that's been meant to only focus on one single person, on Nico's favourite person.

Her fingers laced around his arm. He looked up. Eyes met. The girl smiled. Her eyes sparkled. She leaned in. She pecked his cheek.

No...

That was not his cheek.

Those were his lips.

Those from between which Percy has said so many stupid, dumb words that somehow Nico didn't find dumb at all. Those that would open and scream in triumph after he'd win yet another battle. Those that were always curving up, forming that beautiful smile.

Nico has always found looking at Percy painful. But now's the moment when the pain did no longer feel good at all.

His eyes filled with hatred. It’s almost funny how the soulmark could turn as meaningless as before oh so easily. He turned around, but that's when he's finally spotted.

"Nico!" Grover yelled with excitement from near a tree, letting a chewed piece of plastic drop out of his mouth.

...stupid satyr

"Nico?" another voice called him from behind. He turned around. He shouldn't have turned around.

Sea blue eyes were staring back at him. How did Percy even get here so fast?

"You've come to visit!" his eyes expressed joy. That felt like a punch in the stomach.

"Like you care." he spat, voice annoyed and hateful.

The glint of joy was dipped in hurt. That felt like another punch in the stomach.

Percy looked him up and down, a sudden act that flustered and startled Nico, who covered it up with even more anger.

"What the hell do you want?"

"You've got musclar.''

...

W-what?

Percy's eyes were glued to Nico's biceps. "Stop staring, weirdo! What the heck...?! What do you want?!''

The taller demigod finally brought his gaze up, looking into the child of Hades's black orbs. They seemed more intense to him this time, mysterious, endering... Percy felt weird.

"What's your soulmark?"




"What?!"

Nico seemed surprised. Percy was surprised, too. He didn't know why he asked. He felt pushed too, interested.

"...It's none of your business." the boy replied.

It felt like his business.

Nico perhaps felt suffocated by Percy's fixed stare because he soon spoke again. "I didn't even get it yet.''

Black and green eyes were locked together still. There was a lot of tension. Dozens of words seemed to be hanging in the air. A sudden realization washed over Percy, but he remained silent. When he tried to open his mouth again, he realized that Nico has already left.

-

''You what?" Percy almost staggered as he listened to Annabeth's words. They were on their morning walk. From what the demigod has heard, Nico came back and stayed at camp over night but Percy didn't get the chance to see his face a second time.

"You gain feelings for your soulmate immediately after you get your mark, as well as loose feelings for anybody else you have previously fallen for." Annabeth explained again. "An organized system through which the gods make sure there are no third parties involved in soulmark work."

"Then Naomi's..."


"...not the one." she finished his thoughts. He's been saying that same goddamn sentence in his mind over and over again, but saying it out loud... it finally felt real, believable.

"You didn't tell me this before?!"

"I'm surprised you didn't know. But i did always think you dated Naomi out of kindness. ...I still think that."

"Maybe you were too scared that i'd finally come to the conclusion that Nemo's my soulmate."


Annabeth rolled her eyes, but her smile was playful. "A fish can't be your soulmate, seaweed brain."

They sank in a comfortable silence for about a minute or two. Then the girl started speaking again.

"But... suddenly finding somebody attractive that you didn't before, feeling the need to see somebody else's soulmark, the sudden feeling that you're deeply connected to someone, emotionally and mentally, are all signs that said person is your soulmate."

The odd interaction with Nico from yesterday was the first thing he thought off.

He stopped in his tracks, sweat covering his forehead and eyes opened wide.

Wait a damn minute-

-

"I'm sorry, Percy."

Huh...?

The girl that stood in front of him - his ex, i suppose you could say - had tears straining her cheeks. Whether the cause of them was guilt of sadness, he didn't know. But they left soft, unnoticable traces down her skin, which were glowing vividly in the summer sun as if they tried showing off hope and relief rather than regret.

"My mark appeared today... It's not a 'P'."

"I know." Percy said softly and the girl looked up in confusion. The male demigod was the one who smiled sweetly this time. "And you've probably talked with somebody else today. And you've probably felt reborned in a way, like you've suddenly found a long lost part of you, a piece of puzzle that didn't fit you before but for some reason it now embraces you so perfectly."

"Percy, how-"

"I know the feeling. And it's alright. I've found him too."

-

Waking up in the morning...

'What a bother' Nico'd say if you were to ask him.

Rolling right and left underneath the covers, the demigod realized that the blanket couldn't even provide him warmth. He's never felt colder.

Knock Knock

"Leave."

Knock Knock

"Leave, god dammit!"

The door creaked open. Nico got up with a snarl.

"Why the f-"

The words got caught up into his throat. A whimper softly slided from between his lips as Percy stepped closer.

"Stay back!" Nico took the stygian sword from near his bed and brought it in front of him to keep the distance. The other demigod raised his arms in surrender and then Nico cursed himself for paying so close attention to his lips as the boy started talking.

"What's your soulmark?"

"I told you i don't have it."

"...liar" Percy mumbled.

"What the fuck is your problem?! I told you i-" he yelped as Poseidon's stupid son kneeled down and rushed forward, avoiding the sword as arms came around Nico's legs and brought him up on his shoulders. The sword fell down on the floor with a quiet thud and the smaller male started cursing and yelling in protest.

"Dumbass! Wait, wait-"

Percy brough him down on the bed, caging the boy and struggling to bring one of his sleeve's down. Nico shoved a fist into his left shoulder, throwing the boy off the bed. The son of Poseidon still had his hand clenched around one of the black-eyed male's wrist, therefore they ended up rolling toghether onto the dusty floor, fighting to be the one on top. They stopped spinning when they hit the wall and Nico still remained the one trapped under Percy's dominating figure. The green haired male reached down and finally managed to work with the other's sleeve and see his bare, naked wrist.

A proud 'P' stood glinting under the pale bedroom lights.

"...why didn't you tell me?"

Nico didn't speak. He looked scared, he looked ashamed.

Percy released the boy's wrist and showed off his own. The 'N' no longer felt wrong. It felt like it's finally found its part, its continuation, its home.

There was some strange tension in the room, hidden from the human eye yet touchable and itchy. It felt as if the air was trying to suffocate them. The boys' limbs felt numb and cold, searching for alleviation. The whole atmosphere around the boys was pushing them together, uniting their souls, their bodies... And not even a demigod could do anything but kneel down in front of such a mighty power.

The next few seconds were so intense and brimmed with emotions and sensations that it almost felt like a lucid dream: blurry and vague but real. Percy leaned down while Nico brought his chin up. The son of Poseidon allowed his arms to find their place around the other's hips, pressing their foreheads together while rubbing the tip of their noses in an ardent manner. Nico's breath was hot against his lips. Without being certain of who started the following act (perhaps it was both of them at the same time), their mouths clashed together, speaking the words and feelings which the two demigods haven't got the courage to say yet. Percy's soft, moisturized lips were gently scratched by Nico's dry ones, moving in perfect sync. It felt as if they've completed that one abberant puzzle that they've been working at for decades, twisting the pieces and always wondering why things didn't fit, why things didn't feel right.

Well, finally... things felt right.

They eventually parted and Percy's lips suddenly felt so empty and full of sorrow that he attempted to dive right back into the affectionate act. Nico's index finger stopped him on the way.

"Your shitty girlfriend..."

"It's no longer."

"You got more explaining to do than that."

"I know- i know... I will... But for now, can't we just enjoy this?"

Who was Nico to complain?

While their lips reconnected, tingling with a newfound passion and desire, while their limbs began tangling toghether, focusing on nothing else except the other's warmth and soft skin, Nico could be heard mumbling one single thing against Percy's parted lips:

"My dad's going to kill me."

[jjba-hell]

Fate and Fortune

Part 4 and we’re finally moving into canon ya’ll.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Content warning: implied unwanted sexual advances, mentioning of prosthetics and amputation (y’know Joseph), mention of substance (marijuana) usage, mild injuries, mention of grief (especially familial loss)

For the moots: @risottoneroo (ya mans is making an appearance) @rat-makes-stuff

Some context: Vera’s stand works in balance- for every good fortune she exploits or bad fortune she reverts, the bad needs to be experienced and because she manipulates it, she’s the one that needs to experience it. This forms the basis of big skills having a “cost”.

The next time Vera had climbed onto an airplane, it was unaccompanied and just a few months shy of two years from when she had first left Egypt.

Mr Joestar had never made an appearance but Avdol kept in touch over the phone almost biweekly. Everything in the world seemed to be running smoothly until Avdol’s calm demeanor seemed to waver over the phone when they spoke, so much so that she knew something big was going on.

“Vera! You’ve got a scheduled call with your benefactor in the counselor’s office after school.” One of her class mates had handed her a time and return number scribbled on a piece of paper as she strolled through the hallway.

Of course she was on time, waiting about three rings before picking up and introducing herself. The voice that returned was definitely not what she was expecting.

Vera had always imagined a weakening, wavering voice from an elder gentleman on the other end of the line when she thought of her benefactor but Mr Joestar was loud, quick- talking and despite the serious order for her to leave her classes, sounded no older than 40.

She landed in Japan a few hours shy of midnight, painfully jet-lagged and half asleep in a vain attempt to forget the time zones she was crossing. Avdol had met her just outside the luggage carousel, giving a tired smile as she approached.

“Long time no see, Avdol.”

“How was your flight?” He gave a huff of laughter, taking her suitcase and guiding her towards one of the exits.

“Oh it was lovely, I stop smoking for a month and suddenly all my hard work is undone by a woman two isles behind me.” She had always had a weakness for cherry cigarillos.

“And you caved?” He raised an eyebrow slightly at her.

“It was an 8 hour flight- I mean at least I stopped asking after she so kindly offered to ‘alleviate some stress in the bathroom’.”

Avdol cringed a breathed a heavy sigh- “I forget for all the luck of your stand you suffer twice the bad luck.”

She shrugged and then sat down on the bench with a groan. “Speaking of which...Do you-?”

The cigarette pack handed to her was enough of an answer.

“Damn Avdol- I knew your nerves were frayed but bad enough for you to pick up smoking again?”

He didn’t answer as he sat down beside her, throwing an arm over the back of the bench and joining her in the vice.

“The man that killed your parents. He came to find me.”

Vera’s stomach dropped, the blood leaving her head as the realization dawned on her. The fact that Avdol was there and seemingly unharmed...

Avdol took a heavy swallow, took another drag and continued. “Your benefactor brought you here because you were probably the first among us to have seen Dio in person in Egypt.”

“And I’m guessing this shitbag’s name is Dio?” She didn’t mind getting information in the form of little snippets but Avdol always spoke to her in a pretty straightforward manner, to see him so disoriented in his thoughts was putting her off ease.

He only nodded.

Vera cleared her throat and then turned towards the man beside her. “And care to explan what my benefacto has to do with him?”

“Dio is a pest that started with the Joestars-“

It took three cigarettes for Avdol to get through the brunt of the Joestar family drama- not even mentioning the finer details not even they were aware of. “So this Kujo kid is just a pit stop before we go back to Egypt?”

The prospect both excited and worried her. She’d be going home but at the cost of possibly facing Dio.

“Don’t think on it too much- Mr Joestar still has to affirm that his grandson doesn’t have a stand.”

Vera laughed with her head back. “I kinda figured a little arrest scare wasn’t enough for him to come all this way.”

The two rose up from the bench, Avdol taking her suitcase as the taxi pulled up.

Vera was nearly convinced Jotaro Kujo didn’t have a stand, so when she crawled into the hotel bed in her room, she was convinced that she’d be able to sleep the jetlag off. The 10 am call from the front desk was enough to prove her very wrong.

“Yes?” She grumbled into the phone.

“Good morning, Vera.” The painfully smug reply from Avdol almost had her dropping the phone back onto the receiver. “The taxi to the police station will be here in half an hour.”

She dropped her head into the pillow and gave a muffled scream. Without much further protest she rolled out of bed and prepared to meet the day. Avdol met her in the front office with her own pack of cigarettes. “You’re supposed to be a good influence on me.”

Avdol only shook his head, a smile behind the cigarette between his lips.

At the police station, they were greeted with a rather frantic looking officer, ushering them through the offices and down to the cells where the inmates cowered from the oversized teenager lounging in the corner cell with junk that, needless to say, didn’t belong in a jail cell.

Before they could approach the problem at hand Avdol greeted Mr Joestar. The sound of his name had her eyes shoot up at the greying monstrosity of a man in front of her. Joseph Joestar smiled at her warmly before extending a white gloved hand for her to shake. “A pleasure to finally meet the student whose report card I get in the mail.”

Vera could’t help but give a laugh- just as much as she only knew the name of her benefactor, he must have only known her for her report cards.

“The honor is all mine, Mr Joes-“ her sentence died out on her tongue due to the subtle metallic click on her palm. Her smile slid off her face and her gaze shot between the clicking on Mr Joestar’s hand and his seemingly oblivious smile.

When the realisation finally dawned on him Joseph swiftly held his other hand out with a toothy grin (and maybe a dust of color on his cheeks). Vera shakily shook it, relieved at the slight heat from a human palm in the hand she held now. “Sorry, I forget not everyone is lacking a right hand.” He chuckled awkwardly but Vera struggled to hide the genuine laugh behind her hand. “A tale for another time?”

Mr Joestar gave a bark of laughter, throwing a jovial arm around her shoulders. “I just knew you had moxy, kid! I knew right after that call I got from your principal about the maurijuana ring you busted because one of the dealers ripped you off.”

Avdol was quick to bring the topic back to the trouble at hand, speaking to both Vera and Mr Joestar (mostly to Vera’s relief since they were still in a police station). “Not to interupt a long-delayed acquiantance but how would you have us remove Jotaro from his cell, Mr Joestar?”

“By whatever means- Avdol, I trust your judgement.”

Avdol looked at Vera, “He simply won’t leave his cell. Any idea if you could get him out?”

Her eyebrows shot up in intrigue, “Without force i suppose you mean?” She looked at one of the officers nearby. “How long has he been in there?”

“About a week.” One of them answered, sounding unsure.

She nodded, looking over to the cot that was visibly too small for a teenager of such bizarre proportions. “I could just bring him out the easy way-“

“After that I’ll take over.” Avdol finished her thought for her.

Vera shrugged, strolling past the other bystanders to stand in front of the cot Jotaro was seated at. She peered down at him between the bars, his aquamarine gaze peaking just beyond the brim of his cap- like he was trying to stare HER down.

When she refused to waver he only gave an angry ‘Tch’ as he pulled his cap lower over his eyes. Vera brought Fortune behind her and waited for him to bring his open soda can to his lips. To his surprise the can was sealed. Jotaro’s gaze angrily shot towards her and her stand, the disk that replaced their pointer finger knuckle still quietly moving backwards.

“So you possess an evil spirit as well, so what?”

“We don’t speak the same language, Kujo. Your default is force but I’d like to mess with your head first. I won’t force you out of your cell. You’ll come out on your own volition.”

Another indifferent scoff as he reached for the pack of sodas that once stood on the table nearby. He looked almost disbelieving at the empty space, soon becoming angry as he rose up on his feet and yelled. “Knock it off, woman.”

“This is gonna sound so childish but seriously, knock what off? Your cap? Because I’m sorry to say...” she held the cap Fortune had phased from his head and into her hand beside her head. “I already have.”

Jotaro’s eyes grew wide for a moment before he reached through the bars at her hand. She only took one step back out of reach as she put the cap onto her own head. “The cell is unlocked, by the way.” Was all she said as she turned to the guard who watched in disbelief as the rest of the junk in Jotaro’s cell phased back to their original places. “May I smoke in here?”

He only shook his head.

“Hey! You annoying bitch! Stop it with the stupid tricks!” Jotaro yelled from behind the bars. Vera continued as if she didn’t even hear him.

“That’s a shame- I’ve never had this brand before.”

In her hand she held the cigarettes from Jotaro’s back pocket. For just a moment she turned her gaze to him, wildly angry eyes meeting her own. “What’s the matter, Jotaro? Familiar pack?”

He didn’t even need to feel his pocket to know it was his. “I said quit the tricks, woman!”

“Oh, then you’re not gonna like this next one.” She smirked as she started walking towards the exit- focusing Fortune onto Jotaro. In her peripherals she could see the extension of his stand’s hand moving past the bars. So she retorted by having Fortune grab hold of the stand’s wrist and force it against the bars with a loud clang. Jotaro’s temper flared and just as he took his first physical step closer to her she had focused Fortune on reverting Jotaro’s body outside of the cell- just like he was last week.

She threw the cap back at him as she stood beside the border wall between the the two cells. “Was that so hard?” She asked as she peered behind her shoulder at the other teenager. He stared in disbelief at his position on the same side of the bars as her.

Vera stepped closer and took hold of his wrist, bringing it up to place his cigarettes into his palm. “You’re welcome. Now, you gonna share a cigarette with me outside and explain why you wanna hide in a dark jail cell or are you gonna do this the hard way?”

“I can’t control the thing that possessed me. For those around me’s safety- I won’t be leaving this cell.”

Vera followed the dramatic bastard as he opened the cell and sat back down on the cot, throwing his legs up once again.

“I mean I saw that ‘spirit’ try and grab your cap back for you so I think you have a bit more control over it than you think but I mean who am I to say, right? Clearly,” she chuckled as she slid her hands into her pockets. “You chose the hard way.”

Vera turned around to take Avdol’s place leaning against the wall, watching the fight unfold before letting Fortune turn back Jotaro’s damages with a wave of the hand.

Fortune’s palm softly rested on Avdol’s shoulder as they left the station, reverting any injuries he could have gotten in the scrap.

“I think Jotaro has burns you could heal.”

Vera’s face scrunched up in disgust. “Nah, he chose violence.”

Avdol laughed, placing a hand on Vera’s shoulder. “I’m surprised at the control you have over your stand. Dare I ask what it had cost you?”

Vera had once told him that every skill she learned, every major thing she had accomplished with Fortune came at a cost.

Most of her healing she had learned on the field hockey team she was forced to participate in- she’d fixed knees and thumbs and sometimes teeth during water breaks but her tricks with time and space came at considerably greater costs.

Some were as simple as having bad luck and slow reflexes that sent her down a flight of stairs too quickly, other times it was tricky little traps set up by boys behind the track field locker rooms.

In a sense it made her smart enough to deal with life, and luckily she only paid a fee per use and when and where the cost would be charged sometimes felt like it would haunt her.

“Just a sprained ankle.” She lied. It was a tale for another day, she wasn’t very excited to tell him the truth in that moment but she would eventually.

At the café they brought Jotaro up to speed with Dio and everything happening in Egypt. Holy also offered her home as a place Vera and Avdol could stay until their departure.

“And when you get up in the morning, you can just roll it up and put it back in the cupboard.” Mrs Kujo cheerfully explained as Vera knelt beside the futon Holy had rolled open for her.

“Thank you, so much. Mrs Kujo.” She bowed her head in thanks- feeling the soft futon gently calling her name to sleep.

“It’s no trouble dear- it’s the least I could do for helpin with my son.”

Vera could see her movements slow down, her hands becoming shakey as she fiddled with the sheets in front of her. The tears streaming down Mrs Kujo’s cheeks broke Vera’s heart as they dripped onto the corner of the comforter. Without second though, Vera got up and brought the tissue box to Holy and tried to comfortingly rub over her back.

“It’s alright Mrs Kujo, you’ve been through a lot.”

Holy’s teary eyes gazed at Vera and even more she wanted to wrap her arms around her and comfort her but she figured that she would be overstepping. “He’s not a bad kid, I promise. He’s really such a sweet boy.”

Vera had to bite her tongue from asking if she was sure- she’d heard how he spoke to Holy, to her it almost seemed unforgivable but she couldn’t deny a mother’s love for their own child. So with a soft smile she answered. “I believe you, Mrs Kujo. Things are just... strange.”

The smile that lit up Holy’s face brought such relief to Vera’s heavy heart and with a dramatic reach, Vera’s neck was caught in Holy’s embrace. “Oh thank you for understanding!”

For a moment Vera had no idea how to react, simply letting the little woman crush her in the hug, swaying happily until she was reminded how long it had been since she’d hugged her own mother... and how she’d never be able to.

“What do you like for breakfast?” Holy suddenly released her from the hug, smiling brightly.

“Uhh-“

“Anything! Even an English breakfast, maybe an American one, anything.”

Vera took hold of Holy’s wrist to try and calm her down. “Show me what you like to eat for breakfast- I’d love to see what a traditional breakfast looks like here.”

She brightened up considerably and like a whorlwind of good nights and sweet dreams she was out the door.

Vera crawled into her futon quietly to try and forget why she hadn’t had a home-cooked breakfast in years.

Bad idea.

With a start she jerked herself up from her nightmare. To cope with the shaking she shot up out of her comforter and grabbed her cigarettes.

She was about to slide her door open but the crack of thunder and the door opening on its own had Fortune leaping from her body defensively. Before her stood Jotaro Kujo, peering down at her with an unreadable expression in the dark.

“Can I help you?” She asked perhaps a bit too aggressively, smoothing her hair back down.

“You made a lot of noise. I came over to make sure you’d shut you up.”

“Do have any idea how much of a creep you sound like? Although I have to admit, I’m not particularly afraid of you.”

She slipped passed the mountain of a man and brought a cigarette to her lips when she stepped outside the room.

“I didn’t mean to come off that way- you sounded like you were crying.”

She turned around to look at Jotaro who had now slid his hands into his sweat pants to watch her walk down the hallway.

“It’s okay, I’ve heard worse. But you need to cut that shit out with your mom- she actually loves you.”

Jotaro’s gaze moved to the garden just beside the elevated wooden hallway, watching the rain drizzle over the little bushes literring the edges of the garden. “I know.”

Vera figured there was more to Jotaro than just being an abrasive asshole- she could probably sit and psycho-analyze him to pieces but she found it best not to pry to far.

“Join me for a smoke break?” She asked as she held the open mouth of her pack out to him.

He padded over and reached in, bringing one to his lips.

[elizabeth-234]

The Hourglass

Previous Chapter Eleven: Where in the World is Peter?

This fills prompt eleven for whumptober: crying, struggling, defiance. Thank you for reading!

Here is a link to summary/ chapter guide: THANK YOU

Chapter Twelve: The President, Shrek, and Sweater Vests

Peter didn’t know what to do so he did the only thing he could. He panicked and ran out the door. He wheezed against the quick motions of his feet. The cold tile was like a bucket of cold water to his body and his mind snapped to attention.

Tony – not Tony – yelled after him but he didn’t stop. Peter made it down the hall before he heard footsteps and an IV pole trailing after him. His smile curled higher despite the butterflies in his stomach. He stepped into an alcove whose walls were filled with self-help pamphlets. The blanket fell off of his shoulders as he pressed himself against the wall. His gown fell down along with it leaving his shoulder bare. He didn’t move to cover himself up and suffered through the shivers wracking his body.

None of this made sense. The blood loss and damage to his head must have been worse than he thought. It was the only logical explanation. All the evidence stuffed his brain until all stream of thought abandoned him. He stayed there leaning against the wall as the wheels of the IV came closer.

Shadows passed by on the floor, walking past him, and then the owner of the shadow stepped into view. The short shadows of hair on his face had the beginnings of a small goatee. He stepped closer to Peter and picked up the blanket drooping on the floor to secure it up around his shoulder.

“I’m sorry. It’s been an off day, well year to be honest. Rhodey is always telling me to control my temper and once again he’s proven right. You were hiding from something right? Come back to my room and we can talk. I have some contraband hot chocolate in there and to be honest, kid, you look like you could use some.”


Peter blinked but was helpless against the arm around his shoulder. They walked in quick, quiet steps. Both sets of eyes on watch for any rogue nurse or doctor on the night shift until they were safe behind Tony’s closed door. Tony settled back on his bed.

“Sit here.” He said with a wave of his hand in a casual manner at the end of the bed. Peter stopped for a moment, looking between the chair and bed. But again, he felt his lack of intelligent thought keenly. He sat on the bed, crossed legged at the end, staring Tony.

Was it him? Everything he’d seen so far led him to believe it had to be him.  

But then again, it wasn’t him at the same time.

“So, let’s start with the first thing. I’m Tony and you are?”

“Peter. Peter Parker.”

“Circumstances could have been better but nice to meet you.” Peter nodded and avoided his eyes.  The brown flecks were so familiar but lacked the warm expression in them. This Tony, or whoever, was a stranger. Peter had a feeling the other one had never been one to begin with. “So, what are you in for?”

“Huh?”

“Why are you in the hospital?” A smirk played on his lips and Peter’s neck grew hot.

“Oh. I, that is, I fell.”

“You fell?”

“Into a lake.”



“You fell into a lake?”


“That’s what I said wasn’t it?” He snapped.  Tony had the decency to look apologetic though Peter noticed that he didn’t apologize for the pestering.

“How’d that happen?”

This line of questioning was going to be the tricky part. He didn’t know how to respond and his brain was thoroughly checked out so he decided to go with the simplest answer and the one he would be most likely to remember in time. The truth at least in part.

“I was attacked – chased- and I got hurt. I was cornered on the dock and it was an accident. I fell into the water. It was cold but calm down there.” He shivered as something stirred in his memory. “It was calm until… until it wasn’t. Something must have stirred up the sand! It was everywhere and there was so much blood until everything went black. Then I was here and it’s so strange here and you look so different.”

Another shiver wracked his body and he hunched in on himself. Tony leaned forward and put his hand on Peter’s knee. His eyebrows were furrowed as he thought about what Peter said. He could only imagine what he looked like. Some strange kid running around the hospital, breaking into rooms, and then running away again. But Tony wasn’t treating him like he was delicate. There was concern in his eyes but a curious glint to get to know the truth as well.  

“Easy there. I’m sorry. That totally sucks. It must have been scary, too. Do you…” Tony swallowed. “Where are your parents?”

“They’re dead.” He said flatly.

The questions were enough to trigger a cacophony of memories. He was back in the hospital standing in the waiting room. Hospital staff rushed by but he was left there surrounded by empty chairs. His aunt and uncle arrived and though they smiled at him, their eyes were filled with tears. Their arms wrapped around him so tight, like they thought he wouldn’t crack under any amount of pressure. Little did they know their embrace was the only thing keeping him from falling apart. It was the last time he saw his parents before the funeral and the first day he went to live with his extended family.

And now in some warped twist of time he was back in a hospital.

“I’m sorry. Mine, too.”

Tony shrugged and quickly looked down at the blankets but not before Peter saw the hurt in his eyes. They held the same dull expression Peter saw for months in his new bathroom of his aunt and uncle’s apartment.

“You’re pretty young, aren’t you?” 



“I’m sixteen. You?”

Peter yawned and Tony frowned again. The restless energy from before his second escape attempt had faded leaving a vague unrest in his stomach and heavy eyes.

“Hey, it’s late. Why don’t you try and get some sleep? Don’t worry,” He said addressing Peter’s glance at the door. “I’ll keep watch if someone comes. They won’t bother you in here.”


At least this evenings toll on his brain was consistent. Peter didn’t even spare another glance at the door when he nodded. Tony tossed down a pillow and Peter curled up along the bottom half of the bed. The room was warmer than his room, his limbs were sore, and this would be the perfect place to hid from everyone. The CPS and any other appointments never would think to find him here. Maybe he wasn’t so bad at escaping, he thought with a small smile. All he had to do was leave in the morning and his escape was complete.

Tony must have turned the TV on and Peter listened half asleep as the news played.

“President Clinton, who is Gennifer Flowers?”

Something tugged at his consciousness. Something important but the sandman had spun his sand too well that night and Peter fell asleep with a revelation tugging at his mind - at the tip of his tongue.

-

“Holy Shit.”

Peter sat up without regard for anything around him. His head was spinning and he planted both hands on the blankets surrounding him. The morning sun filtered into the room. The bed as bigger than the one in his room and the room itself had a more spacious design while looking fancier too. These were all things Peter would have noticed if his mind, miraculously recovered from last night’s vacation of his brain, hadn’t been putting together everything from the past couple days.

President Clinton.

Shrek rocking out to Queen.

The sweater vests.

Tony!

He was, somehow and inexplicably, not in 2017 anymore. It was insane and unthinkable, but he was convinced. Peter had traveled to the past.

He started to hyperventilate. The short bursts of air sent his head spinning dizzy. Too many questions and not enough answers raged in his mind. Peter tried to remember every detail that could prove him wrong. He stared at his clenched fists with a scowl. This was all wrong. How was this real? Surely, there was a reasonable explanation. Surely, he would wake up tomorrow in the blue room.

Peter began crying. The large tears dripped down his face onto the blankets staining them with flecks of dark grey. Loneliness was often a plague he dealt with. It found him in the silent waiting room and followed him, dogging his steps. When Ben was gone it was there. When May died it was there, waiting like an old companion. He’d grown fond of the weariness in some way. It was a familiar comfort to have. The ache in his stomach gave him a place in the world, a feeling to hold onto. All of that was gone. There was an absence now where the ache was. He clenched his fists tighter and couldn’t feel the sting of his nails against his palms. It was all wrong. He didn’t belong here.

Something wrapped around his shoulder.

Tony’s hand.

“Hey there, it’s going to be okay.”



“No.” Peter moaned and fell forward. His head hit the soft bedding. He almost wished it hit him harder. “I can’t… I can’t…”



“It’s going to be okay, Peter. Trust me.”

Peter screamed into his pillow, pounding his fist onto the bed again and again.

“No!” he yelled sitting up to stare at Tony who was standing beside the bed in a hospital gown and socks. He looked so young and Peter knew why. Tears began anew. He heaved a breath. It caught in his throat and ignited a coughing fit. Tony was there in an instant with tissues. He rubbed his hand up and down Peter’s back, hesitant and awkward in his comfort.

Somehow, he ended up leaning boneless against Tony. His breathing was deep but uneven as he came to grips of his new reality. He felt incredibly fragile after his outburst. Like the only thing keeping him together were the rigid arms around him. Tony’s back was stiff and Peter could tell from his body language how uncomfortable he was but it didn’t matter. He was still there trying to help him.

“Are you worried about CPS?” Tony said quietly. “I, don’t be mad but I tried to look you up last night and couldn’t find anything on you. Are you hiding from the people who tried to attack you?”



Peter was so damn tired. The movies taught him the rules of time travel but the problem was each movie had its own rules. He didn’t know what was the correct thing to say so he nodded. Tony squeezed their hands together. His eyes calculated observed him and Peter watched as he came to some conclusion. Tony nodded at him before getting up.

“Alright, I’ll help. You stay here and don’t leave. I’ve got this room to myself without any interference. I’ve got an appointment later today but I will be back with all the paperwork. Stay here, Peter. I promise it will be okay.”

With one last searching look, Tony turned and left the room. Peter barely noticed he was still in the hospital gown for his expression was so similar to the one from old Tony. He was alone again. The sounds of the TV played on but he didn’t pay attention. All of his plans went out the window when he found this room and its occupant. Determination and hope all rolled into one could be a scary and effective combination.

He rolled onto his side to stare out the window. His eyes wilted shut and the room faded from view. The last thought he had was at least he didn’t have to worry about running into his past self as he had not yet been born. Peter hiccuped and wondered what he’d gotten himself into.

Thank you all for reading.

Next Chapter Thirteen: Trust in me

[jabbajambler]

13

Human

The Mandalorian/Din Djarin x f!OC

Word Count: 2,117

*GIF by JStarrC*

        It was dark in the cockpit, but the stars outside shined brighter because of it. I followed the patterns the best I could, trying to remember the constellations that Mando had told me about. That night we shared so many stories, most weren't ours, but they were still nice.

          I told him a story of a young girl. She was ripped from her family as an infant, raised to be a powerful warrior. They told her that one day, she would be the strongest of them all, that no person could ever match her power. In order to keep that power, however, she had to block herself off from the world.

         She could no longer dance in the storms, prank her friends, or even fall in love. But it was too late for all of that.

         They criticized her emotions, taunted her and claimed she could never meet her true potential. So, she left. For a long time, she battled her inner demons. Being alone with her thoughts, she struggled to keep them at bay.

         She fought her darkness her entire life. In the end, she gave up her life for the greater good.

         Mando compared it to the Creed. He wasn't too far off, really. They were similar in many ways. But there was something else to his reaction. A sadness of sorts. Perhaps a realization that him and the girl were not too different.

         When I told him how the girl was reunited with her love in the end, there was a light. He radiated this warm energy that filled the ship with joy.

         Him and the girl truly weren't that different at all.

         The little green child sat on the control panel next to Mando, cooing quietly and pressing the buttons on the box next to him. I likely should have warned him, but the little guy was so cute, I couldn't help but just sit back and watch. It pressed a small green button and quietly looked around when nothing happened.

         "Stop touching things." Mando instructed, not paying too much attention to the curious child. I giggled quietly from my seat, continuing to watch the tiny thing.

         I looked at him as he blinked his big brown eyes. How could you possibly stay upset with something so unbelievably cute.

         His ears perked up and he slyly moved his arm towards the box again, flicking a red switch that caused the entire ship to shake. Mando immediately reached over and turned it off, grabbing the child and placing him in his lap.

         I leaned forward and rubbed the kid's fuzzy green ear while he whined. Glancing up at Mando, I tried to watch for any reaction, but there was nothing. He refused to even turn his head towards me.

         "Let's see... Sorgan." Ah, so now he speaks. "Looks like there's no star port, no industrial centers, no population density. Real backwater skug hole. Which means it's perfect for us...You ready to lay low and stretch your legs for a couple of months, you little womp rat? Nobody's gonna find us here."

         He set the child down in the seat to his right. I assumed it was to get him out of the way, but it was such a soft gesture that it brought a little smile to my face.

         Mando swirled in his chair to face me, his eyes boring into mine from behind the helmet. At least, that's what it felt like. I really hated not being able to read his face. Of course, I could sense his emotions if I wanted to, but it was almost like violating his privacy.

         "What? Can't keep your eyes off me?" I teased and leaned forward in my seat.

         He scoffed. "Whatever you say, Princess."

         My breath hitched and my face grew red from anger. "Keep calling me that and just see what happens."

         So much for getting along again.

         "I'd like to see you try."

┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉

         We managed to find a small clearing of the forest to land. I had never seen such a beautiful sight before. While Mando powered down the Crest, I gawked at the land before me, wondering what the lush grass would feel like.

         I've seen greenery before, but never to this extent and not for a long, long time. It was incredibly difficult to not run out and embrace the nature of the planet.

         "Listen." Mando sighed and stood up, facing the child. "We're gonna go out and look around."

         I was practically shaking with excitement, ready to go outside to actually see everything. Although, I was surprised that he was voluntarily bringing me along. I figured there would be some argument to be had.

         "It shouldn't take too long." He continued. "No, don't touch anything. We'll find some lodging and come back for you. You stay right here." He pointed to the child, his voice firm. "You stay. Don't move. You understand?"

         The child whimpered a response.

         "Great."

        I left towards the hatch with Mando not far behind me. "Any idea where we're headed?" I said as I pressed the button beside me to lower the ramp to the ground.

         "Aren't you the one who knows everything?"

         There was a quiet coo that broke the short, tense silence between us. I could see Mando turn to look at me out of the corner of my eye.

         "It wasn't me." I pointed down at the ground between us where the child now stood, gazing up at us.

         He sighed deeply and shook his head, looking between me and the child. "Oh, what the hell? Come on."

         We walked through the trees with the child waddling behind us. I struggled to take my eyes off of the gorgeous plants. They reached out to me and I could feel myself drawn to the place as we spent more time here.

         The last thing I needed was to get stuck on another planet.

         We walked in silence until we came across a small village filled with huts. All the locals gathered in a spacious restaurant of sorts, talking and drinking with one another.

         On second thought, I wouldn't mind getting stuck here.

         We found ourselves a small table at the back. While Mando stared dead ahead, my attention was immediately drawn to a young woman on the other side of the building, staring at us. Her hair was dark and short and she wore a rebel tattoo proudly on her arm.

         You didn't see many of those anymore.

         Mando helped the child onto a stool before he sat himself down on one next to me "What are you all tense about?" He glanced around before his gaze settled on me.

         I nodded towards the stranger, trying to not alert her. "That woman-"

         "Welcome, travelers. Can I interest you in anything?" A middle-aged waitress came over, interrupting me with a big smile on her face.

         "Bone broth, for the little one." Mando spoke, his voice calm and collected as usual.

         "Oh, well, you're in luck. I just took down a grinjer, so there's plenty. Can I interest either one of you in a porringer of broth as well?"

         "Yes, one for-" He started, gesturing towards me.

         "No thanks. The one is fine." I stopped him, not feeling very hungry with a possible threat on the lovely planet.

         "Very well."

         I nodded again towards the rebel woman. "That woman over there. When did she arrive?"

         "I've seen her here for the last week or so."

         "What's her business here?" Mando questioned, finally noticing the suspicious woman.

         "Business? Oh, well, there's not much business in Sorgan, so I can't say." She chuckled.

          I tossed a small pouch of credits onto the table as I leaned against it. Mando looked over at me, then at his cross-body belt, quickly realizing that his credits were no longer there.

         "She doesn't strike me as a log runner. Well, thank you, ma'am. I will get that broth to you as soon as possible, and I will throw in a flagon of spotchka just for good measure. I will be right back with that." The waitress smiled before turning and leaving to fetch the broth.

         I looked over towards where the woman once sat, only to find it empty. "She's gone."

         I tried to stand, but I was pushed back into my seat by Mando's hand on my shoulder. I scowled and tried to stand again, but of course, was forced back down.

         "Stay here. I'm going to look for her."

         "But-"

         "Stay. Here." He stood up and tossed a credit to the waitress. "Keep an eye on them." He demanded before swiftly leaving the building.

         I groaned and ran my hands over my face. Did he not trust me to go after her? I mean, I am the one who caught sight of her in the first place. Besides, I can take care of myself if anything were to happen. He knows that.

         I couldn't bring myself to sit here any longer. As soon as the waitress returned with the broth and spotchka, I left. Mando had no right to tell me to stay put, especially if he was putting himself in danger.

         There were a few grunts and the sound of fire crackling from behind a couple huts. Of course his first reaction would be to get in a fight.

         I followed the sound, coming across the woman flipping Mando onto his back. They rolled on the ground until they both came to a sudden halt, pointing their blasters at one another.

         The sound of the child slurping his broth caught the attention of the two on the ground. I could hear Mando's exhausted sigh once his gaze landed on me.

         "I told you to stay back there."

         "And how many times do I have to tell you that you can't tell me what to do?" I crossed my arms over my chest and tapped by foot against the ground.

         He glanced over at the woman that held a gun to his head. "You want some soup?"

┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉┉

         The rebel woman, whose name we learned is Cara, sat with us in the hut, sipping a bowl of broth. She had been going on about her time as a fighter and while it was interesting, I couldn't hold back the irritation I had towards Mando.

         I played with the child, avoiding being brought into any sort of conversation. Although, I do recall Cara saying 'I like her' while they were whispering when we first came in. That made me smile.

         "How'd you end up here?" Mando asked her.

         "Let's just call it an early retirement." Cara sipped her broth. "Look, I knew you two were Guild. I figured you had a fob on me. That's why I came at you so hard."

         "Yeah, that's what I figured." He shifted in his seat, his posture straightening.

         "Well, this has been a real treat, but unless you wanna go another round, one of us is gonna have to move on," she stood and finished off her soup, "and I was here first." She shrugged and set the bowl down on the table, leaving without another word.

         "Well, looks like this planet's taken." Mando turned towards me, gently nudging my elbow as he spoke. "Myrah?"

         Nope.

         "Myrah, come on." I refused, keeping my focus on the giggling child. "Are you going to stay mad at me forever?"

         I took a deep breath and tried to keep messing with the green baby. "Are you going to act like a dick forever?" I snapped back.

         In all honesty, I didn't want to be upset with him. I wanted things to go back to the way they were before, but it doesn't seem like that's going to happen any time soon.

         He shook his head and sighed, clearly irritated. "Oh, will you get over yourself?"

         "I'm not the one who got all butt hurt just because someone tried to help them-"

         "I didn't need help, Myrah. I was fine on my own. I didn't need you in the first place. You intruded on my mission."

         That hurt.

         No, that was more than hurt. I knew it was his mission, I knew he never asked for me, but to hear him say it made it so much worse.

         He didn't need me.

         "Whatever... Let's just go back to the ship." I quickly left the hut with my head held high. I couldn't let him know that he had gotten to me.

         I wished that I could just hide behind a helmet like he could.

[belphegor1982]

For the prompts challenge, Rick and Jonathan for #33 (Expectations) and/or #51 (Sport)

I almost went with the second one because I could picture them chatting during one of Alex’s cricket matches, but then I realised I’d have to actually understand cricket (and/or baseball) rules, so... There you go :D

Unexpected

(read on AO3 if you prefer!)

“‘Expect the unexpected’? What sort of a motto is that?”

“You gotta admit, it’s worked for me so far, right?”

“But you can’t expect the unexpected, that’s why it’s unexpected in the first place – oh for God’s sake, are they still shooting?”

There were worst places to be, Jonathan supposed, than hunkering down at the bottom of a narrow L-shaped passageway cut into a hillside while determined people were shooting at you. Right now, though, he couldn’t think of a single one. The only redeeming feature was the company.

“What else do you want them to do, a méchoui?”

Jonathan put aside the creeping panic for thirty seconds to prod his somewhat rusty Arabic back to life.

“A… roast?”

It was almost impossible to be sure in the darkness, but Jonathan thought Rick turned to him and grinned.

“You guys didn’t have that in Egypt? Must be Moroccan, then. I had one in Rabat once. It’s sheep cooked on a spit, with the whole family and neighbours invited. Kind of a big deal.”

“Sorry, old boy, doesn’t ring a bell. Sounds nice, though.”

Rick ducked out of their shelter for a second to shoot once, then twice into their assailants to make them keep their distance. Jonathan, whose only gun had run out of bullets about an hour ago, flattened himself against the wall to give him room. They’d been playing that little game for something like an hour now.

Why don’t you go with Rick, Evy had said, reconnoitre perhaps, and he knew his sister enough to translate it as “I really need to work on this for a while with no distractions.” Well, that was fine by him, really, as he was quite happy to let her be the Egyptologist while he got to play tourist. So he tagged along with his brother-in-law, chatting amiably, until Rick – who took his unofficial role as ‘head of security’ seriously – had decided to go investigate the next wadi and they had come face to face with a band of marauders. Since that very band had been known for picking off diggers when archaeological operations were conducted in places they didn’t like, nobody had been very civil, shots had been fired, and measures had had to be taken – viz, running like hell into the first hole in the ground Jonathan and Rick could find, hoping it led somewhere safe, or failing that, was a decent enough shelter. Too bad they couldn’t find a tunnel high enough to actually stand in.

Maybe there was something to be said for “being prepared”, as Rick had once put it. It certainly helped that the American had been carrying two pistols and quite a few clips. At least it made the raiders think twice before storming their passageway.

God, he needed a drink. Too bad his hip flask probably lay somewhere between there and Nefertari’s tomb…

“Maybe we could have something like that when the dig’s done,” said Rick as though he had not just dodged a storm of bullets so bad it had widened the bend in the passageway.

This was a really shoddy wall, Jonathan decided with the small part of himself that was not either terrified or making ironic comments from the back seat. Bullets were supposed to flatten themselves on earth and rocks, he’d seen it happen, but this wall just let itself be shredded without putting much of a fight. Frightfully bad form.

Jonathan forced himself to take a steady breath and asked, somewhat distractedly, “Something like what? I lost the thread, I’m afraid.”

“A méchoui. Something to celebrate the end of the dig and whatever discoveries Evy will have made. What do you think?”

A sarcastic retort rose in Jonathan’s mind, but he bit down on it. Behind the unnatural calm of the seasoned soldier he could hear Rick struggling to breathe evenly, just like he was.

Well. Much as he hated to admit it, Rick’s stubborn American optimism was a comfort, in its way. Maybe Jonathan could return the favour and offer a bit of English stiff upper-lip, even if he knew he was rubbish at it.

“I think it’s a jolly good idea,” he said, fighting to keep the irony to a minimum. “Give us all something to look forward to…”

His voice trailed off and he grabbed Rick’s arm in the dark.

“Did you hear that?”

“What?” came Rick’s sharp whisper.

“Shh – listen.”

What greeted their ears was silence – unexpected, complete silence.

Then it was pandemonium. Gunfire, shouts, screams, bullets ricocheting everywhere, a tumult that sent Jonathan and Rick huddling at the end of their tunnel, desperately trying to make the smallest targets possible.

It took them a while to realise silence had fallen again, until the last sound they could possibly expect finally reached them.

“Rick? Jonathan? Are you in there?”

Jonathan blinked earth from eyes he didn’t remember closing. The flickering light of a nearby torch was a stab in the brain after getting used to the darkness, but at least it allowed him to see Rick’s jaw dropping.

“Evy!?”

And then she was there, kneeling in front of them, one hand holding the torch and the other running over Rick’s face and Jonathan’s shoulders as if to make sure they really were there.

“Oh thank God,” she said fervently. “When Tariq said he’d heard shots I immediately thought of those raiders from the other day, so I rallied Saleh and Ibrahim and any of the diggers who had experience in handling guns, but I was so afraid we’d be too late…”

As usual, when she was rattled, she was unstoppable. Words tumbled out of her, pronunciation crisp and clipped but without much punctuation. It took Rick taking her hand and rubbing her forearm to get her to slow down and breathe.

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, sweetheart, we’re okay. You got there just in time.”

“With the cavalry in tow, no less,” added Jonathan with a somewhat shaky smile. “Since we’re all intact, against all odds, why don’t we continue this elsewhere? Preferably outside.”

He rose, miscalculated the height of the tunnel, and banged his head against a surprisingly hard and smooth surface.

“Ow! Of all the bloody—”

“Jonathan!” Evy exclaimed. “Are you all right?”

Jonathan rubbed his scalp, wondering if the spots dancing in front of his eyes came from the torch or the impact.

“Yes, but as I was saying, since nobody’s shooting at us anymore I would really like to get the hell out of –”

“Wait a minute,” said Rick slowly. “Is that a wall?”

Jonathan blinked, confused.

“You mean the ceiling?”

“No,” breathed Evy, her eyes shining in the firelight. “This is stone – this was built. I think we might be standing under something, so to speak. Here, hold this.”

She handed her torch to Rick, took out a hard brush from one of her pockets, and began to clear away the dirt.

“It’s a staircase, leading into the hill! The tomb must be a much larger complex than I thought if… Oh, if I could just find an entrance –”

“Evy,” said Rick, “I’m gonna dispatch Mahmud to Luxor so the authorities can deal with the remaining raiders, and then I’m gonna send Tariq and his team to give you a hand here. Be careful in the meantime. Okay?”

“Mh-hm. I mean yes, you do that, thank you. They’ll need to prop up here and widen there –”

She was in full archaeologist mode, talking to herself as she worked, and Jonathan (who, knowing his sister like he did, was familiar with that mode and its derivatives, namely ‘scholar mode’, ‘librarian mode’, and ‘Egyptologist mode’) knew they had temporarily lost her to her passion.

“See what I meant about expectations?” asked Rick as they made their way towards the opening of the tunnel, following light that grew brighter and brighter. Jonathan gingerly shook dirt out of his hair, mindful of the lump on the top of his skull.

“No, not really. What about expectations?”

This time there was well enough light to see Rick’s four-hundred-teeth grin.

“Well,” he said, “that’s the thing about expecting the unexpected – you’re never disappointed.”

Jonathan shot him a deadpan look. Then he gave in to the smile he could feel pulling at his lips. Maybe there was something to that philosophy, after all.

“I’m going to hold you to that méchoui idea, you know,” he remarked once they finally stood in blessed, blinding sunshine, squinting like a couple of moles.

Rick laughed.

______________________

I love the brothers-in-law. Seriously. Wish there were more fics (and better written than mine) that feature the two of them bantering and being ridiculous and united in their love of Evy ♥

Incidentally, I’ve been to a méchoui or two when I was a kid – probably organised by a friend of my mum’s – and I have fond memories of it. To my young eyes it looked very impressive, that big fire against the night, people talking and laughing as we all ate.

[xrikix]

» Hiraeth || Haikyuu AU

❝They will learn how to fly.❞ -- an AU where the kids of Haikyuu characters grow their passion for volleyball and face new problems.

Read Part 1 Here!

Starring our OC's Hoshi, Minami, and Leo! (don't worry they're as fluffy as our babies from Haikyuu but sprinkle in more angst) -- omg this chapter is too fluffy

Prequel 2: Family Feud 

"I watched one of my dad's games last night!" Hoshi said pleasure gleaming in his eyes. His arms were raised as he excitedly recounted the story to Minami and Leo. "The crowd was so loud! They were screaming and I could feel this...this rush of energy and it was so cool!" The kids were outside sitting in the grass of Hoshi's lawn as he animatedly talked about his whereabouts from the day before. Leo and Minami were hooked onto his words as his body tried to recreate some of the scenes. "The lights were so bright and Dad would look over to where I was sometimes and would wave and he looked so amazing when he was setting!" His arms were positioned above his head as he pretended to set an imaginary ball but sheepishly smiled as he spoke, "but I'm not good at setting. I would rather spike the ball!" 

Minami stood up in defiance, "Hey! That's my thing!" 

Hoshi shook his head, "Nuh uh, its mine!" They both got up into each other's faces, angry gazes leveled, before turning around to the sounds of laughter. 

Okiawa approached them laughing at their antics. "There's no need to argue, you both can be spikers." Minami and Hoshi turned to face each other, uncertain at what he said before nodding their agreement. 

"Fine," Minami muttered. 

Hoshi mumbled some words before Leo spoke, "I can be setter." 

Okiawa smiled, "Between you and me kid, being a setter is way cooler." Leo smiled, adjusting his glasses as he happily accepted the pats on his head from Okiawa.

Hoshi stomped his feet, "That's a big lie dad!" 

Okiawa raised his eyebrows, with a smirk on his lips, "Oh yeah?" 

Hoshi smiled defiantly, "Yeah!" Before turning around and yelling, "Dad!" His hands cupped around his mouth. 

Iwazumi soon appeared out of the doorway, “Whats up?" Hoshi pointed towards Okiawa who sassily stood besides them wondering what his child was up to, "tell dad that being a spiker is way cooler!" Iwazumi walked up to them, a smirk crawling onto his face, "being a spiker is way cooler." 

Okiawa huffed, "What proof do you have?" 

"I do!" Minami raised her hand. She turned towards their yard and screamed, "Dad!" And waited a few minutes before Hinata popped out of the doorway. 

"Yes sweetheart?" 

"Tell them being a spiker is way cooler." Hinata's smile grew as he looked towards the other adults, 

"Yeah! Being a spiker is way cooler! Air high-five!" Raising his hand as Minami slapped the air to high-five him back. Okiawa watched in amazement as Iwazumi smirked, 

"See that's the proof," ruffling Hoshi's hair. 

Leo pouted, "That's not fair! It's my turn now!" Minami turned towards her twin already realizing what he was going to do. 

"Leo don't you dare-" 

"Dad!" Leo yelled. 

Now Kageyama appeared at the door, a milk carton in his hand as he looked at them in confusion, "Is there something you need?" 

Leo nodded, "They say being a spiker is cooler, but I think being a setter is the best." Kageyama nodded, sipping his milk, "it's the only position who gets the most contact with the ball. It's the coolest position of all because it makes you the ruler," Before turning around and heading back inside. 

Okiawa high-fived Leo, "Hah! Take that!" 

Hoshi shook his head, his arms crossed, "Nope! We have more people!"

Okiawa stuck his tongue out, "Minor details. I get bonus points because I'm a professional." 

Minami replied, "Then my dad gets bonus points too, because he's also a professional." 

Iwazumi burst out laughing as Okiawa struggled to counter her. "Well-" 

"Minami! Leo! Come back for a few minutes Bokuto came to visit!" Hinata yelled as he waved for them. Both twins turned towards their dad's voice as excitement entered their systems. 

"Did he say Bokuto?" Minami asked. 

"Bokuto!!" Leo replied. They bowed hastily towards Okiawa and Iwazumi and waved goodbye as they rushed home to be embraced by Bokuto who crushed them in a hug with Akaashi watching behind them. 

Hinata turned towards the Hajime family and called, "You guys can come over too if you want!" 

Bokuto with the twins in his arms turned towards them, "Hey hey hey! Is that Okiawa and Iwazumi?! Come, you gotta join us!" As Akaashi nodded. Iwazumi and Okiawa walked next door as Iwazumi held Hoshi's hands. Hoshi suddenly felt small compared to the man named Bokuto whose smile was big as the sun. He played with the twins who were cheerfully smiling and laughing. Akaashi was talking to Kageyama who was fondly looking at the children, and Hinata joined in on the fun with the kids. Bokuto turned towards the Hajime family and cheered, "it's been awhile!" 

Iwazumi laughed as he replied, "Yeah, you would think being in the same careers would make us run into each other more. But before I forget," he slightly pushed Hoshi towards Bokuto, "meet our son Hoshi." 

Bokuto kneeled as Hoshi stared at him, "It's nice to meet you Hoshi." 

"Are you a spiker Bokuto?" He blurted out. Bokuto stared at him before bursting out laughing, 

"What gave it away? My muscles?" As he started to flex, with the sounds of the twins gagging in the background. 

Hoshi pulled on Okiawa, "See dad, being a spiker is way cooler." Okiawa forcefully put a smile on his face, with clenched teeth he muttered, "Of course," with Iwazumi grinning at his irritation, "I'll get you back."

[turdblossommm]

‘Till the End of the Line {2}

Summary: When Bucky married the love of his life he never thought when he’d spend another day without her, then he got his orders. Bucky didn’t know he was not only leaving his wife and Steve behind, but also his son. Flash forward to Steve breaking out of ice and lost in the new world, will he find somewhere he’s belongs? Or someone?

Pairing: Steve x barnes!reader

A/N: Hi sorry it’s been so long I’ve been hunter without any service but I’m back for a bit before I go back out!

masterlist // part one

Steve grew fond of seeing Olive and Bucky’s sisters and secretly more fond of seeing you. You had the wit of Bucky but the wisdom of Olive, he never grew tired of listening to you talking. He always felt worry some of having this baby alone, so when he voice his concerns over dinner one night you shut him down

“Look Steve” You placed a bowl of matzo ball soup in front of him “Olive raised my dad alone, and my dad raised me by himself. I got this” You sat across from him at your tiny dinning room table

“Let me help” You raised your brow

“Why? Why do you want to help? He’s not even your kid”

“Because” Steve looked at you “Because I feel like I owe it to Bucky” He paused “Even though he’s not here anymore and I’m not familiar with anything now. But with you and your family it feels like I didn’t go into the ice, like it’s still the 40’s”

“Okay” You smiled

Steve kept his word to you, he help you through everything in between his missions. He put up the crib, while cursing IKEA the entire time. He held you hand in the delivery room and moved into your apartment when Jimmy turned one, claiming he wanted to be closer to you and Jimmy.

It took another year for Steve to work uptake courage to ask you on a date, which you responded with a ‘finally’. Steve diced to keep everything a secret from everyone aside form Tony who you still worked for.

“Took Cap’s virginity yet?” Tony would ask on a daily basis until you started to give illicit details of your love life. The Battle of New York was a hard day for you, you didn’t know if Steve was okay or what was happening. You stayed awake until he walked through the door that night. You held on to him to make sure he was real

“It’s okay” He kissed the top of your head.

It was the night after Jimmy’s third birthday party they had at the house with girls and Tony who spent way too much on toys. You got home with all the presents as Steve carried the sleeping child to his room. You leaned against the door frame as Steve read from a book, bribing the boy back to bed

“Good night mama” You blew him a kiss “Good night dad” You felt your body freeze as Steve kissed his forehead 

“Night buddy” You backed out of the room as Steve closed the door

“I’m so sorry I’ll explain it to him in the morning” You looked up to Steve as he placed his hands on your cheeks 

“I don’t mind if he calls me that” He kissed your forehead

“What did I do to deserve you” You smiled

“You? I’m the one who caught a break” You shook your head as he laughed before pressing his lips to yours. Steve couldn’t believe that he had all this now, he has a family to come home to now.

So when he found Bucky alive he didn’t know what to tell you, or to lie to you. He didn’t know how to start the conversation with you so he got a sitter for the night and convinced you to have a night in.

“I have to tell you something and you’re going to have to keep an open mind” You pulled yourself away form the stove and joined him on the couch

“What’s going on Steve? Is everything okay” You grabbed his hands

“He’s alive” Steve mumbled 

“Whose alive Steve?” He rained silent “Steve?” You secretly hoped he was talking about your dad, but you saw the end of him

“Bucky” You pulled away form him

“What the hell are you talking about?” Steve turned to you

“I saw him, but he didn’t remember me” You ran your fingers through our hair 

“How is that possible?”

“When I found him in 44’ I think Zola was experimenting on him, I think they injected him with the serum. It’s different than mine but a version of it” Steve grabbed your hands you have to believe me

“I do” You gave him a weak smile 

“You do?” You nodded 

“The serum makes sense” You sighed “My dad had eyesight like no other, thats what made him such an amazing sniper. I can lift things that I shouldn’t be able to”

“Why didn’t you tell me any of that” You shrugged

“I didn’t know, I thought it was some low grade mutantisms, but the serum idea makes sense” You helped him look for Bucky after he explained the aftermath of what happened with the Winter Solider. You continued to look while the Avengers dealt with Ultron

When everything with the Accords happened and then Peggy passed, Steve was struggling and you could see that, you couldn’t imagine loosing any of the girls right now. You went with to Peggy’s funeral and quietly sat as he mourned.

“I need to go somewhere, can you stay here” He asked you and when you questioned him he gave you the look “I found where he is” He discreetly whispered. You wanted to help but you knew you couldn’t, not with Jimmy with you.

When you got back to the hotel Tony called you and asked if you could fly out and help him. You agreed and met him in Germany and walked into the official building and met with Tony who looked over his shoulder at Steve with Sam in a conference room

“Y/N” Natasha gave you nod, while you help Tony, organization was your thing, not his. You glanced up at Steve who couldn’t take his eyes off you. His eyes flicked to the screen where you saw a familiar face, a face you’ve seen a hundred times. Your eyes flicked back to Steve

“Dad” Jimmy smiled and you shushed him, not wanting to give away your relationship, and maybe endanger yourself and Jimmy

“Daddy’s working, we have to quiet” You explained as alarms start going off

“Barnes get out of here” Tony yelled at you and you scooped Jimmy up and ran for the garage you parked in. On your way out you caught sight of the shield and Sam’s wings. You weighed the pro and cons of grabbing them and quickly grabbed them and wheel the black box they were in to the car discreetly. You were strapping Jimmy in the car when your phone rang

“Hello?” You asked breathlessly 

“Hey meet me at the coordinates I send you” Relief flood your system as you heard Steve’s voice

“See you soon” You ended the car and drove to the abandoned bridge and waited for Steve, who pulled up in a tiny car with Sam in the passenger seat and Bucky in the back. You quickly glanced at him before looking at Steve who approached you

Bucky watched from the back seat as Steve embraced the women who spoke frantically, oddly enough the girl reminded him of Olive. He watched as Steve squatted down by the backseat door of her car and reached in and grabbed a little hand. While Steve was talking the women busied herself with the truck. She flipped the trunk up and flung her arms out. Steve laughed as he pulled out the shield and wings

“I love you” You smiled up at him

“I love you too” Steve pressed his lips to yours 

“Go to the safe house and-“

“Don’t stop, don’t talk to anyone, don’t pass go and collect 200 dollars” You smirked and Steve smiled “Be safe Steve”

“You too” Steve waited for you to drive off before getting in the car

“You got a girl?” Sam smiled “One of Stark’s?”

“Shut up”

“Steve’s got a girl on the inside now” Sam chuckled

“She’s staying out of all this” Steve glared

“She kinda reminded me of Olive” Bucky added and Steve stiffened, there was no way he could tell him right now, Sam didn’t know about her for Christ’s sake

[artemisegeria]

Love by Design (Chapter 6/?)

Title: Love by Design (Chapter 6/?)

Rating: T

Word count: 3130

Warnings: None for this chapter.  

Summary: Vision makes elaborate foam art as a barista at the coffee shop that his brother owns. One day a new customer comes in, and he completely loses his cool. As she keeps coming back, they grow closer. A casual acquaintance becomes something much more.

AO3 link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16272371

Chapter 1  | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 |

Vision prepared Wanda’s latte to go, so that it was ready when she arrived. She was in the middle of the end of school year rush and had barely had a chance to say hello most mornings during the past couple of weeks. She came in a few minutes later, looking harried.

“Hey, Vizh. Is that mine?” She pointed at the waiting cup. “Thanks so much.”

“It is.”

She removed some money to pay, but then added, looking at the display case as he hoped she would, “Could I get a croissant, too?”

“Of course.” He ducked down to reach for it and placed it in a paper bag for her. Smiling at his success in encouraging her to have more for breakfast than a cup of coffee, he gave her the new total and the bag.

She took a sip from her cup and put it down, lingering as she carefully replaced her change in her wallet. “Did you hear back from the conference yet?”

“Not yet,” Vision replied regretfully. Every day that passed made him more convinced that his proposal had not been accepted. His advisor had told him through several emails that this was not unusual, but he could not shake the feeling. Wanda sensed his mood and placed her hand over his where it rested on the counter, smiling softly at him.

“Hopefully soon then. Sorry I can’t stay.”

“I am as well, but it’s perfectly alright, Wanda.” He hoped that his smile was sufficiently reassuring and hid the ache he was feeling at her absence in his life. “I know you have been busy.” Vision turned over the hand that was still underneath hers, clasping it back.  

“I won’t be around tomorrow, either. The play is next weekend, and we’re in full rehearsal mode. Some of the kids still don’t have all their lines down.”

“Good luck.”

With a quick wave and a smile, she left the shop, taking the warmth with her and leaving it cold and empty.

***

A week later Wanda hurried into the shop late in the afternoon. “Hi, Vizh.”

A pleased smile appeared on his face, and she couldn’t help but return the gesture, despite the mood she had fallen into all day. “Hello, I wasn’t expecting to see you until after the play was over.”

“I know, but we’re starting a full dress rehearsal in,” she looked down at her watch, “half an hour. I need something to keep me going.” What she did not say was that seeing Vision’s face would keep her going as much as the caffeine. “Could I get just a large black coffee?”

“Right away.” A few minutes later, he handed her a cup and a paper bag. She opened it curiously. Inside was a chocolate chip cookie.

“I didn’t pay for this, Vizh.”

He shrugged. “I hope you don’t mind it’s a little burnt. I wasn’t going to sell it anyway.”

“Oh, thanks.” Seeing his answering grin, she decided she could spare a few more minutes. “By the way, I don’t think I ever officially invited you, but you’re welcome to come see the play tomorrow or Saturday.”

“I would love that, thank you. I am free on Saturday evening.” Visio’s smile grew even wider. They looked directly into each other’s eyes, and she was struck again by how beautiful he was. She couldn’t help smiling back at him.

“I’d love to go, too.” Both Wanda and Vision jumped. She really needed to keep better track of when Ultron was around. Wanda hoped that her face did not betray her displeasure too much as she pasted on an inviting expression.

“The more the merrier.” She glanced at Vision, whose smile now looked equally forced. She was saved by the time. “I’ll see you both then. Got to get back to rehearsal.”

***

That Saturday morning, Vision had a prior commitment volunteering to clear trash from the local river. While removing bottles, wrappers, and other detritus, Vision struck up a conversation with a fellow volunteer. The woman had shoulder-length curly gray hair and wore a long skirt and clogs. “It’s so nice to see a younger person out doing their part.”

“Thank you, ma’am.” He speared a piece of newspaper and stuffed it in his bag.

“You can call me Marian, sweetheart.”

“Marian. I’m Vision.” She didn’t even react oddly to his name. “I am happy to help out. What do you do when you are not volunteering?”

“I’m a retired nurse. I loved helping people, but I couldn’t wait to get out of the hospital structures. Bloodsuckers. Don’t care at all for people’s pain, just profit.” She looked up at him apologetically. “Sorry, I can’t talk about my former job without getting all riled up.”

“That’s perfectly understandable. It seems to me that if they are not following their primary mission of healing people, the hospitals ought to be made to.” Marian grinned at finding a kindred spirit. They continued their designated section of the riverbank and found they had similar opinions on many societal and political ills.

As they were cleaning up their tools, Marian said, “Are you or any of your friends looking for a condo to rent? I’m moving to be closer to my daughter in a few months, but I don’t want to sell my old place. And I hate using the internet to try to find tenants. I much prefer word of mouth, and I have a good feeling about you.”

“Not that I know of, but I will mention it to them.” They exchanged contact information, and he promised to inform her if he found any leads.

Vision returned to the apartment later that afternoon, contemplating Marian’s offer. He showered and took care to dress for the play in a black button down and dark jeans. Through the open door, he could see Ultron smoothing his hair and applying copious amounts of cologne in front of his bedroom mirror. When he emerged, Vision’s eyes watered. Ultron said, “I think you’re going to develop a sudden bout of stomach flu.”

Vision had a brief, unaccountable wish to tell Ultron that his cologne would cause a stomach flu in anyone, but, of course, he held his tongue. He considered the best response for a moment. This time he was not going to give in to his brother. “No, I won’t. I promised her.” Ultron pursed his lips at Vision’s rare open defiance.

“I will explain it to her.” His voice took on a more threatening tone. “And I’ll give her these for you.” Ultron lifted the small bunch of peonies that Vision had bought for Wanda and carefully arranged in a bouquet.

“No, I am going.” Vision and Ultron stared at each other; Vision’s gaze did not break. He did not try to take the flowers back, but this is something he would not compromise on.

Ultron glowered at him, but he made no attempt to argue further. Though Vision was convinced that he would pay for this another time. “Fine.”

They walked over to the school and got seats near the front. Ultron raised a brow when Vision waved at Steve and his other teacher friends, who were taking up most of the back row of the auditorium. When he flipped through the program, he frowned more deeply. “Why is your name in the ‘Special Thanks’ section?”

Vision had not noticed that. He looked down at his name, and happiness glowed within him at the memories of helping her and getting to know her friends better. “I helped build some of the sets.”

“Still trying to get in her pants the slow way?”

Vision tried not to bristle too much at his brother’s crudeness. “Please do not talk like that. As I have told you, we are friends. I was simply doing her a favor.”

Ultron’s sneer conveyed his deep contempt. “You’ll never get laid with an attitude like that. That’s cuck, beta male thinking.” Vision sighed internally; Ultron needed to get away from those forums he loved to frequent. He was saved from replying by the lights going down in the auditorium. The first half of the play passed fairly quickly. Vision could see what Wanda meant when she said that the students were not the best, but the show was still entertaining. When the intermission began and the lights went up, Ultron groaned, “I hope she appreciates this. I have never heard more incompetent singing.”

Vision refrained from saying that he had not had to come at all. “I think they are all doing a decent job.”

“That’s because you refuse to say anything negative about anyone.” Vision did not bother to defend himself. Eventually the lights were turned back down, and the play resumed. As it approached the dramatic conclusion, Vision lost himself in the story. The dark romance of the possible love triangle felt inherently compelling. He joined the standing ovation of supportive friends and family when the whole cast bowed and presented Wanda with a bouquet on stage.

Several minutes after the end of the show, all the actors and stagehands came out to greet their loved ones. The auditorium began to empty, and Wanda emerged from the side of the stage. She smiled when her eyes settled on Vision, preparing to speak when Ultron shoved the flowers into her face. “Thank you.”

“I picked these out for you. I thought you would like them the most.”

“You were right.” She spoke in Ultron’s direction, but her eyes quickly turned to Vision, and her smile brightened. As Wanda re-focused on Ultron, her voice took on a sardonic tone. “It’s amazing that you managed to pick my favorite flowers. I don’t think I ever mentioned that to you.” Her slight emphasis on the last two words was lost on Ultron, based on his smug grin, but Vision beamed at her from behind his brother at the thought that she remembered the conversation from a few months prior.

“I just knew what you would enjoy.” Vision struggled not to roll his eyes, but he could not be too bothered when her eyes continued to be all for him. “And now that you’ll have more free time, I’d love to take you out to dinner. You’ve already denied me twice. Third times the charm.”

“Thank you for the invitation.” Wanda’s eyes flicked briefly back to Ultron. “But I’m seeing someone.” This was news to Vision. He was not sure where Wanda found the time to meet someone between teaching, the play, and spending time with him. They hadn’t had as much time together lately, with her school commitments and his renewed dissertation work, but it was still a significant amount.

As Ultron turned away, Wanda mouthed “thank you” at him, raising the flowers slightly. He nodded at her. But throughout the walk home Vision was consumed with thoughts of the person she might be seeing. He did not think it was any of their friends. Most of them were already attached, or people she seemed to regard as loving and exasperating siblings.

By the time he reached the safety of his bed and brooding space, Vision was convinced that this was for the best. He had no experience with relationships. We would not know how to give her what she deserved. While increasingly their smiles lingered and lengthened, and he felt a greater urge to ask her on a proper date unambiguously, she had also done nothing concrete to indicate that she favored a more romantic shift in their friendship.

With these morose thoughts coating his mind, he fell into a fitful sleep.

***

“Wanda, do you still want to go dressed up on opening night like we planned?”

“Of course, Vizh! I’ve been looking forward to this movie for months.” She wondered why he was even asking. They’d discussed their costumes and bought tickets a few weeks ahead of time because seats were selling out. “Why wouldn’t I?”

“I thought you might want to go with the person you’re seeing.” Vision was doing a very poor job of appearing casual.

She couldn’t help herself. “Oh, Vizh!” she said around a laugh. That explained his unusual stiffness and diffidence over the last couple of weeks. She had thought it was clear that she had no time to form a relationship outside her classes and hobbies and the time spent with him.

“What?” Wanda only laughed harder at his truly bewildered face.

“You believed me when I said that to Ultron?”

Vision ducked his head bashfully. It was adorable. “Well, I thought it was a possibility.”

“I guess, but I just told your brother that because in my experience, men like him won’t give up unless they think they’re intruding on another man’s territory.” She could feel her face screw up in disgust.

Vision shook his head, looking equally dismayed. “I cannot fathom thinking that way, but you understand my brother very well.” She shrugged. Ultron was very transparent; she didn’t consider it a challenge to understand him. But this line of thought did inspire her to ask a question that had been lingering in her mind for some time. “I’ve wondered why he didn’t influence you to think the same way when you were younger.”

He shrugged slightly, the movement neat and precise as all his movements were. “I have considered this much myself. I suppose it is a combination of nature and nurture. I always felt differently from him about a variety of subjects, even before I could truly articulate those differences. He also sought out influences that nourished his worst impulses while I have attempted to cultivate the better angels of my nature.” He seemed embarrassed as the words flowed out of him. Despite the high-flown language, there was a certain matter-of-factness in his tone that did speak of having given this much thought. It was more than he usually said about his upbringing.

Wanda appreciated his honesty, understanding how difficult it could be. “Well, whatever it is, I’m glad you’re who you are,” she rushed to reassure him. Vision smiled gratefully at her.

***

As Vision and Wanda stood in line waiting to be let into the movie theater, they discussed what they thought would happen. The excitement of the crowd was rising in intensity, pushing their own anticipation higher. At least half the people in line were in full costume; others wore various pieces of merchandise from the series. At one point, Wanda held up her phone for them to take a selfie together, moving closer to him so that they would be centered in the frame.

The doors finally opened, and they took their seats. The crowd grew more and more impatient as the previews for upcoming films meandered on. Before the lights dimmed, Wanda showed him a quick post that she had made on her social media account. It was the selfie she had taken with the caption: “@songs_in_scarlet: Excited to see the movie of the year with @whatasight.” In the minute or so since she had posted it, the photo had already received several likes from their friends.

Finally, after twenty or so minutes of previews, the movie started. The entire theater was dead silent. Vision always thought there was nothing to compare to the experience of attending a comic book movie on opening night with a packed house of other fans. Nothing could match how the cheers, gasps, and spontaneous applause of the audience fed off each other, everyone hanging on every moment onscreen. The reactions of the crowd tonight topped any movie he had seen previously. As the credits rolled after the grand finale, the audience sat stock still for several moments before giving a standing ovation.

Wanda and Vision spent the entire ride home excitedly discussing the film and pondering about what would come next. When he pulled into the parking lot of her apartment complex, she said, “Thanks for the ride.” She pushed her door open slightly but lingered in the car. “I had a lot of fun tonight.”

Vision felt an odd sense of déjà vu. This was starting to remind of him the night they went to the concert and he had impulsively kissed her hand. But this time he fancied that Wanda was looking at him almost expectantly. His mind rebelled at the thought that she might want him to kiss her. “I had a wonderful time as well. As always.” Her smile made his heart beat a little faster.

They remained in the same position, neither moving. Wanda finally climbed from the car. “See you tomorrow morning.”

“Have a good night.” He waited for her to reach the inside of the building before pulling out of the parking lot. Vision had to wonder if he imagined the flicker of disappointment in Wanda’s eyes when she waved at him.

***

Ultron stormed past her without even pausing as she entered the shop in the early afternoon, before symphony practice. She raised an eyebrow at Vision, who had a white-knuckle grip on the counter before shaking his head and wiping a cloth in front of her. “What’s up?”

“Ultron was unhappy that my conference proposal was accepted. He hates when I can’t be here, or dare to defy him.”

Ultron forgotten in the wake of her happiness about Vision’s success, Wanda said, “Congrats!” Vision smiled, but he quickly frowned again. “Don’t worry about him. He’ll get over it.”

Seeing that no one else was currently in the shop, he came around the counter and sat next to her. “Thank you. But this does mean that I’ll be away for a week.”

“Where are you going?” Wanda tried not to dwell on her disappointment that Vision would be away so long. This was a wonderful opportunity for him. It’s not like he would be gone forever, she comforted herself.

“My advisor has been wanting me to go back to work on the final version of my dissertation. Now we also have the conference presentation to polish, so we are going to have a round of intensive edits and mock oral defenses.”

“When do you leave?”

“The week after next.”

“What will I do without you?” She had intended to tease, but she cursed herself when her lip quivered just slightly. Wanda hoped Vision didn’t notice.

He gave her one of his small, lopsided smiles. “Well, we have a spare milk frother to make foam and I can teach to you a few simple designs to use while I’m away.” Despite his teasing words, his eyes were sincere as they looked at her. Wanda nudged his shoulder with her own.

“That’s not really what I meant, Vizh.”

He ducked his head shyly but met her eyes directly. “I know. I will miss you as well.”

[sassyshoulderangel319]

Let me tell you something, hiding the fact that I’m a mermaid when my parents literally run a beachside resort and we live in a freaking houseboat around the corner is the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I don’t mind getting splashed when I’m by the pool because it’s not a “One drop of water touching my skin = transformation” deal, but I can’t get in the water if I want to keep my secret safe.

I repeat: I can’t get in the water---at a beachside resort---if I don’t want dozens of bored tourists getting massages under cabanas on the sand finding out that the teenage receptionist is an actual mermaid.

The only people who know about me are my mom and Jason. Jason’s the son of the head custodian. He’s my age and my absolute best friend because there were never any permanent kids around the resort growing up. My parents hired him as the pool boy when we were about fifteen. He found out about me when he was cleaning the pool at the end of the day and I went out into the ocean for a swim after dark. He didn’t know what I was up to so he followed me and saw me dive under, tail lifting out of the water.

That was an awkward conversation when I dragged myself back onto the beach to de-transform and he was waiting for me, hiding behind the decorative rocks that we have.

The resort is on a rather small island, all islands considered, that was almost completely uninhabited when my parents built the place. There were a couple wild animals and tons of plants, but no humans. The animals actually still lived on the island. They just avoided the resort.

Due to the fact that I was raised on an island, I went to school online and didn’t have many friends outside of Jason and his little brother Devin. Two kids my age whose families frequented the resort growing up were good pen pals of mine, but the internet on the island wasn’t fast enough for video chatting so emails and IMing had to do. I usually saw them once a year.

I suspected one of them knew about me, but I couldn’t say for certain.

Jason and I glanced at each other as a guest went racing past the front entrance of the resort to get under the awning over the bar to get out of the rain outside. I was working the front desk, as usual, with Jason leaned against the side of the desk to chat. “Some storm, huh, Tally?” he asked.

“Mm,” I agreed.

The torrential downpour continued to soak the entire island for several minutes. Normally it would relent after a few minutes. Which it did. The rain lightened up to a gentle sprinkle.

Jason sighed. “Time to go de-flood the pool deck,” he joked, pushing off the desk to head outside.

“Don’t fall in,” I said playfully. It was still raining, but the sun was shining too. I slid out the front entrance just to peek around at the sky, searching for a rainbow. Before being dragged back inside by the phone ringing. Someone in the resort, probably. “Paradise Island Resort front desk, this is Tally.”

“Hi Tally. I’m in room fifteen and I’m trying to get a hold of room service.”

“The room service extension is zero-three.”

“Right. Thanks. It was scribbled out on that card that’s in the rooms.”

“If that’s the case, I’ll stop by your room to have that card replaced,” I said.

“Yeah okay. Thanks again. Bye.”

“Goodbye.” I hung up the phone, pulled a spare Resort Information card out of the desk drawer, and trotted out of the reception area with a preprogrammed message turned on for the phone that would say, The receptionist has stepped away from the desk to help a guest. Please try again in a few minutes---or leave a message and she will call you back the moment she returns.

Jason was out on the pool deck was a mop and some buckets. The downpour had overflowed the pool and swamped the deck. “Hey, after closing I’ll help you rebalance the pH, okay?” I called.

“Sure thing, Tal!”

I chuckled and stepped carefully over the soaked deck to get to most of the rooms.

I knocked on the door to room fifteen. The rooms were actually individual huts with stairs.

The woman was in a towel with another one around her hair. “Here’s the replacement card,” I said.

“Oh! I didn’t realize you’d be here so quickly!”

I couldn’t help but grin. “Ma’am, this resort is my home. I grew up here. I know it like the back of my hand so it’s not difficult to get around fast.”

She smiled. “I see,” she said. “Well, thank you.”

“Would you mind handing me the vandalized one?”

“Oh! Not at all!” She took the one I gave her and switched it out for the old one that had been drawn on. That happened sometimes when we had families staying. The younger kids would doodle on anything---didn’t matter that we provided pads of stationary. I didn’t mind too much though. I liked having kids around.

“Thank you, ma’am,” I said, accepting the Resort Information card and bowing out.

Jason was still on the pool deck when I got back to it. Not that I expected him to be finished in the minute-and-a-half that I was at room fifteen. The deck was way too wet for that.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yeah. Just a Resort Info card got vandalized again,” I said, waving the card distractedly.

“Tally watch out!” Jason exclaimed.

Too late.

My foot got caught in a bucket and I went tumbling into the overflowing pool with a SPLASH!

I struggled for a moment, the bucket pulling me up from the air inside it and then dragging me down as it filled. My head broke the surface. “Jason!” I cried out before going under again.

My legs were growing heavier, growing closer together by a force that I couldn’t control.

Whoosh! Someone else jumped in. I felt strong arms wrap around my knees and my waist. My head broke the surface again.

Jason was taller than me by like a foot and I’d gone down at the slope that led from the shallow end to the deep end. He could touch here, I couldn’t. He trudged over to the shallow end and heaved me up onto the side of the pool. “Are you okay?” he asked, boosting himself out and helping me wrangle my foot out of the bucket. I realized he’d taken his shirt off.

“Yeah,” I said, coughing pool water out of my throat. The force that was trying to bind my legs together and reveal my secret to the resort faded away, leaving me in soaked clothes, shivering in the breeze.

“Let me grab you a towel,” Jason said, hopping up and rushing over to the cart where the pool towels had been pushed under an awning during the rain. He didn’t even take one for himself. Just one for me. He returned and wrapped it around my shoulders. “Here.”

“Thanks,” I muttered through chattering teeth.

“Go get a warm shower. I’ll have Molly cover your desk,” he said.

“I’m your boss here,” I teased.

He chuckled. “Yeah but you’re soaked and cold. Go ahead. Your parents won’t mind. It was an accident.”

I nodded.

Jason helped me to my feet, wrapping the towel tighter around me.

I slogged back to the houseboat around the corner of the island where my parents and I lived in sopping wet clothes, the stormy wind chilling me to the bone. If I wasn’t wet it would have felt like a warm, pleasant summer storm wind.

Inside, I stripped everything off, showered, and put on dry clothes. I even blow-dried my hair.

Once I was dry, I ran back through the rain---that had lightened up significantly---to my desk. Molly, the night manager, was sitting at it. “Hey Mol. Thanks for covering for me,” I said.

“It’s no problem, Tally,” Molly said. She was in her forties, had never married, and loved this resort almost as much as my parents and I did. I grew up calling her Aunty Molly. “Jason told me you fell in the pool.”

I made a :-/ face. “I did,” I said as thunder rumbled overhead somewhere.

“How’d that happen?”

“Got my foot stuck in a bucket while he was mopping up after the cloudburst.”

“Ah. Well I’m glad you’re dry now.”

I grinned. “Me too, Molly. Thanks. I can take the desk from here.”

“Okay kiddo. Be careful.”

“I will.” We traded. I sat in the desk chair and Molly went off for her hut to go back to sleep.

“I’ll meet you on the rocks,” I whispered to Jason as we finished cleaning up the pool. Molly was at the front desk for the night shift. Jason and I had been adding chlorine to the pool after the rain and fixing the pH.

He nodded. “Be there soon,” he promised.

I snagged a towel off the cart and ran for the beach. The decorative rocks housed a tiny cubby that the tourists didn’t notice that I used to store things. Like my towel, my T-shirt, and my shorts. I never wore shoes around the resort anyway because even though I was technically an employee, I was also a kid and most of the people I interacted with didn’t care much. Some older travelers had accused me of being unprofessional one time and complained to the managers.

The managers being my parents. Who shrugged it off and said this was a casual resort meant for relaxation.

Though, a lot of other guests didn’t even notice because I sat behind the desk most of the time.

When my clothes were safely tucked into the cubby in the rocks, I stole down the beach and carefully slid into the waves.

Once I was submerged, I felt my legs grow heavy again, pulled together by a force I couldn’t fight. I didn’t bother to fight it this time. No one was out and this part of the beach was hidden from the huts behind a large grassy knoll. I let my legs merge together into my sleek, long silver/teal tail. I smiled with relief. I felt home. It had been a couple days since I’d managed to get out into the ocean.

I swam underwater all the way to some rocks several dozen yards away from shore, pulled myself up onto one to lounge, and waited. I hummed under my breath. It was dangerous for me to sing---especially with my tail---since, as a mermaid, I could enchant normal humans with my voice.

I wasn’t particularly interested in enchanting the entire island though, so I just hummed quietly to myself and waited for Jason to make it out. My tail drifted lazily back and forth through the water, most of it submerged so I didn’t have to go through the process of transforming over and over.

I heard water rushing and turned in time to see Jason pull himself up onto the big flat rock I was lounging on. “Evening,” he greeted. “Come here often?”

I snorted and gave a half-hearted whack to his knee. “Shut up,” I teased, sitting up.

“Have I mentioned that I never get used to seeing you like this?” he asked.

I sighed. “No, you haven’t. But I’ve noticed the sentiment when you stare at the scales,” I said.

“... Right. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I stare at ‘em too.” I slid a little deeper into the water, breathing deeply. “I’ve been like this since I was... what, twelve? And I’m still not used to it either. Not really.”

“It is really cool though,” Jason added.

“Thanks.”

We sat in silence for a minute, watching a speck of light on the beach of the island---some guest taking a late-night walk. They wouldn’t see us way out here. We didn’t have any lights on us and we were too far out to be noticeable as people.

“Tal?” Jason asked when the person had disappeared.

“Hmm?”

“What if... well... my dad has been suggesting that I spend a couple weeks on the mainland. Y’know, do some work, meet knew people, take some sort of class. Get off the island for a while.”

“What about it?”

“Well what if I did? How would you feel?”

“Jay. You’re not tied to this island the same way I am. Not only do my parents own and manage the resort, but given my... condition, I can’t live on the mainland. Too many people, too far away from saltwater. If I don’t swim in the ocean every couple days I start getting sick. Like... the opposite of seasick. I get landsick. I can’t. But if you want to, you should!” I put my hand on his knee. “You should live your life and learn and meet people. We both knew this island was never enough for you. We just... pretended we didn’t so you’d have an excuse to stay here because it’s your home as much as mine.”

Jason regarded me thoughtfully. “But... I don’t want...” He sighed. “I don’t want to leave you.”

“C’mon. If you’re just going to be gone for a couple weeks, I think we’ll both survive. You’re my best friend and I’ll miss you like crazy, but we’ll be okay. Maybe you can find some abandoned dock and text me where it is and I’ll come swim to you.”

Jason scoffed. “You’ve never swum that far,” he pointed out.

“Not in one direction, no,” I said. “I’ve swum around the island five times the distance from here to the mainland in one night.”

“You have?”

“Yeah. I was bored and we were busy that week so I didn’t get enough chance to swim and I was so landsick I didn’t get out of the water all night because I didn’t feel all better until dawn. Mom knew but Dad was like, ‘Why are you wet?’ And I had to say I’d gone for a morning swim. Just trying the exercise life. Thankfully he bought it.”

Jason sighed and watched the moonlight dance on the waves.

“Jay,” I said, flicking my tail in the water enough to push me a little higher onto the rock. “If you want to go to the mainland, just do it. Don’t think about me. You have to live your life. And maybe your life has a smaller role in store for me.”

“It can’t,” Jason said.

Had I had my legs, I would have crossed them. As it was, I just folded my arms and cocked an eyebrow. “Oh?” I challenged. “Why’s that?”

Jason’s eyes met mine. They were sharp blue in the moonlight. “Because you’re my best friend and I love you,” he said.

I sighed. “Jay, please, do what you want. Don’t keep yourself trapped on this island. You’re not tied to it.”

“Who said it’s the island I’m tied to?” Jason asked.

“Don’t miss out on an opportunity just because I’m still here,” I pressed.

“Tally. This resort is your whole world. This resort is my whole world too. I’ve only left the island a couple times. And you---the last time you left the island was before you became a---” He dropped his voice. “---a mermaid.”

I sighed. “I know,” I said. “It’s been a while.” I shook my head. “But this isn’t about me, Jason. This is about you. I want you to be happy. I want you to go to the mainland and meet people and take a couple classes. If it’s just a couple weeks, we’ll be okay. It’s not like I’m gonna forget about you, promise.” I smiled.

Jason rested his hand on my shoulder. “I know. But... I want to stay here too. I like being around you and all I know how to do is what I can do around the resort.”

I pulled Jason deeper into the water. “C’mon. Let’s swim around a little bit and talk about it later, okay?”

Jason sighed. “Okay.”

We splashed down into the ocean. I laughed and pulled him along beside me. My tail was stronger than his legs. It was rare that we got to do this.

“Do you even own a pair of long pants?” I asked Jason as we packed his bag.

“Tal. We live on a tropical island that rarely dips below seventy-degrees-Fahrenheit. Why on Earth would I have a pair of long pants?” Jason replied.

I laughed. “Fair.” I only owned a single pair of long pants. I pulled something else out of his small closet. “At least you own a jacket.”

“Just because of the storms,” Jason remarked casually as I folded the jacket and tucked it in his duffel bag. I grunted in agreement and went back to his closet.

He caught my wrist and tugged till I turned around. “Tally,” he said quietly. “You’re sure you’re okay with me going?”

“Yes, Jason,” I said emphatically. “You deserve this and it’s only for a couple weeks. Even if you decide to stay there, I’ll be okay. Trust me.”

“I know you’re okay,” he muttered. “But we’ve never spent such a long time apart and I don’t want it to be too weird.”

I shrugged. “It’ll be a little weird, but I’ll be just fine. Promise.”

When we were done packing, Jason and I walked to the ferry dock. Jason boarded the ferry and waved to me as it plugged its way to the mainland. I waved back with a smile. I considered diving in and swimming alongside the ferry all the way to the mainland, but then I realized that would be really stupid if I wanted to keep my secret, you know, secret.

So I stood on the edge of the dock and waved. My feet were bare and I was in shorts and a T-shirt, the way I always was.

Once the ferry was too far away to really make out Jason’s figure, I strolled back down the dock.

“Tally!” Mom called, jogging over in her manager’s polo shirt and dressy black capris. She had to dress a lot nicer than I did since I worked behind the front desk.

“Hi Mom,” I greeted.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” I asked.

“Jason leaving?”

I shrugged. “Jason can and should do what he wants.”

“Take a swim, baby. We’ll cover for you.”

I smiled. “Thanks Mom.”

I went running across the island to the main beach behind the knoll. There were several guests of the resort out on loungers and under cabanas. Parents were doing their bests to balance their relaxation with keeping their kids from drowning. We had a lifeguard on the beach but it was still parents’ jobs to watch their kids.

I winked at a little girl who was watching me strip off my shirt and shorts and went running into the waves.

Plunging under, I went exploring the seafloor. At my depth, no one could see me. The water was too murky. But I could see through the murk like it was clear. I had a feeling there was some echolocation going on.

I followed the boat too, catching up easily. Jason was up there, heading off for new experiences.

The water was home---for me. Almost more so than the resort. I loved the resort. I’d grown up there and hadn’t been to the mainland since I was twelve, but the water felt like the relief and satisfaction of getting home after a long day of work to collapse in bed.

The ferry pulled up to the dock at the mainland after I followed it for ages. I considered surfacing and shouting for Jason, but decided against it. I’d only followed the boat so I’d know where to swim underwater if I ever decided to visit Jason on the mainland before he came back.

Turning tail, literally, I swam back for the island and the resort. I kept a good, quick pace and managed to make it back before dinner. I surfaced behind the rocks of the main beach and peeked out to see if it was crowded.

Almost every single guest at the resort was there.

I went to duck back under to swim around the corner and haul myself onto the back deck of the houseboat---but a shriek caught my attention. “Sarah! SARAH!”

I peered around the rocks to see a little girl in pink floaties screaming. Caught in a riptide and fighting it---but fighting it wrong.

Swimming directly against a riptide would tire any person and increase their chances of drowning by exhaustion---even if the little girl had on floaties. Swimming parallel to shore was safer, get out of the riptide off to the side. Most riptides wouldn’t take someone very far out, but they were scary and definitely not something to mess around with.

The lifeguard wasn’t going to get to her before she exhausted herself.

I ducked under the water and sped toward her, thanking Poseidon and every other sea deity that the ocean was murky and the turquoise color of my tail blended in fairly well.

I caught the little girl around the chest and pulled her out of the rip, off to the side, my tail lashing at the water and winning---for the moment.

She gasped as my tail brushed against her feet. “You’re slimy!” she exclaimed through her panting.

I shrugged. “It’s my lotion,” I lied easily.

I swam her closer to the shore, going as shallow as I dared before Lloyd, the lifeguard on duty, caught up to us and took small Sarah back to the beach. “Thanks Tally,” he said as I passed Sarah to him.

“‘Course,” I said.

“You okay?” he asked. “Do I need to grab a surfboard for you?”

“No. I’m fine. Why?”

“I haven’t seen you swim in years.”

“Oh. Yeah. Well, I swim after everyone goes to bed. There’s work to do, you know?” I said.

“True,” he agreed. “But without a lifeguard? Or a buddy?”

“Jason usually swims with me. Now get that girl back to her mom.”

“Right.” Lloyd kicked back toward shore on his back, balancing little Sarah on top of his chest. I ducked under and swam around the corner to the houseboat. Once there I checked to make sure Dad wasn’t home---since he didn’t know about me---and hauled myself onto the back deck.

Once my lower body was no longer submerged, my legs made their reappearance.

I sighed in relief and went inside to shower the saltwater out of my hair and skin.

When I finished, I changed into some dry clothes and went back to the resort.

Only to get swamped in a hug. “Oh my goodness! Thank you for saving my baby!” Sarah’s mother exclaimed, voice laced with tears. I patted her back awkwardly.

“It’s alright. It was no problem. I was out there.”

“You work here, right? At the front desk?”

“Yeah. My parents own and manage the resort,” I said. “I’m usually at the front desk.”

“Good. Because this resort is about to get the best review ever written.”

“Oh. Uh... thank you,” I said, unable to think of anything else to say.

“No, no, no. Thank you for saving my daughter.”

“You’re, uh, you’re welcome.”

The woman let me go and went back to her daughter---who looked tired but otherwise perfectly fine.

I went awkwardly sidling back to the front desk to relieve my mom of her covering for me.

BRRRRRIIIIINNNNNG! The front desk phone rang. I snatched it up. “Paradise Island Resort front desk, this is Tally,” I greeted.

“Tally, hey!”

“Jason! How are you? How’s the mainland?”

“I’m doing great! I miss the resort though. The mainland’s less humid and cooler---temperature-wise. But it’s been really fun. My uncle picked me up at the docks last week when the ferry got there and we haven’t stopped going since then. I woulda called but---”

“No, no! It’s fine. We’ve been busy too. And I totally get it. What have you been doing so far?”

“Oh man. Everything. I went into an actual school building. It was wild. Like, a high school building. It was bigger than almost the entire island! Oh, and supermarkets? They’re huge too! Bigger than I remember. And everyone wears real clothes all the time without swimming trunks or suits under their clothes. That’s wild. And what are business suits all about, anyway? They seem so unnecessary. Like, a necktie is supposed to be the symbol of refined masculinity and it just looks really weird. It just hangs there with no purpose. 

“My cousins say hi, by the way. My aunt feels like she knows you, too, because I’ve talked about you a lot.

“Anyway. We went on a hike longer than the entire island is around and I was exhausted but I’ve had such a blast!” Jason enthused.

“That’s great!” I replied with a big smile, twirling the phone cord around my finger.

“Yeah. I woulda called your cell but I figured you were working.”

I snorted. “Aw thanks.”

“So what have you been doing?”

“Oh, little bit of this-and-that,” I said. “Saved a guest from drowning in a riptide, helped Dad fix the jacuzzi, got a massage from Taylor.”

“Taylor? Doesn’t Taylor specialize in that one thing... Oh what’s it called...”

“Yeah, they do. But they had a free slot and offered. It felt great. It was also my reward from Mom for saving a little girl from drowning.”

“Right. About that. Tell me everything. Who saw you?”

“The water was too murky to see me. Don’t worry, Jay. Lloyd was two feet from me and didn’t notice a thing.”

“Tal, you have to---”

“---be careful. I know, Jason. And I am. I’ve been doing this for years. Trust me. No one’s discovered me yet except you and Mom and no one else is going to discover me unless I decide to let them.”

Jason sighed. “I miss you, Tally.”

“I miss you too. But it’s only been a week and you only have a couple left. Make the most of them. For me.”

“Of course.”

The phone beeped. “Hey, can I put you on hold for two minutes? I’m getting another call.”

“Yeah sure.”

I put Jason on hold and transferred to the other line. “Paradise Island Resort front desk, this is Tally.”

“Tally! How you been, girl?”

“Oliver?” I asked.

“That’s me!”

Oliver was one of my pen pals whose family visited the resort about once a year.

“Wow. I haven’t talked to you since last summer. How are you?”

“I’m doing better. Listen, I’ve been watching the weather reports and I was thinking about flying in to the resort in a couple days. Clear skies from here all the way to the island. Some ridge of high pressure or something. How’s the bookings?”

“Uh... one second...” I typed at my computer. “Looks like we’re mostly full with three huts vacant now and only two next week. But they’re the single rooms so there’s that. We’re completely full by the looks of it in two weeks. Wow.”

“Okay. How about I come on Thursday and stay till Sunday? That okay?”

“Yeah. Want me to put you down?”

“Yes please. When’s Taylor free? Around noon, preferably.”

“Uh... looks like they have a slot from one-fifteen to two-forty-five on Friday,” I said.

“Great. Would you reserve that spot for me before somebody else does?”

“Absolutely. Wait... you’re not ditching school are you?”

“No, no. We have a little break that week.”

“Promise? I can’t condone ditching behavior,” I teased.

Oliver laughed. “I promise.”

“Okay. You’re all booked for Taylor on Friday at one-fifteen.”

“Thank you, Tally. You’re a gem.”

“Nah. Just an employee right now.”

“Ha. Don’t say that. I’ll see you Thursday.”

“See you Thursday, Ollie.” I hung up and switched lines. “You still there Jason?”

Silence.

“Jason?”

Nothing. Maybe he’d stepped away from his phone for a second and couldn’t hear me.

“JASON!” I shouted.

Still nothing.

Slouching, I looked down at my desk and hung up the phone. He’d call me back.

“Totally need to go on a date while you’re here,” Uncle Jim said to Jason, who looked uncomfortable.

“I, uh, I really don’t... date,” he said.

“You’ve never been on a date?” Aunt Millie asked.

“Uh... no not really,” Jason admitted. “I mean, there aren’t many people my age on the island and---”

“What about that girl you called yesterday?”

“Who, Tally? Oh. No. She’s, uh, she’s just...” Just what? A friend? Jason hadn’t considered Tally “just a friend” in years. They were more than friends in... some way. He wasn’t sure which. Never had been. He knew he’d die for Tally in a heartbeat and he was fairly certain she’d do the same for him. “Friends” wasn’t a word with enough nuance to define the closeness of their relationship.

“Ooooh! Sounds like Jay-Jay has a crush!” Jason’s cousin Leah teased. Jason rolled his eyes.

“I don’t have a crush on Tally, Leah,” he retorted. “She’s my best friend and has been one of my only friends my entire life.”

“That’s significantly less fun,” Leah’s older sister Lila remarked, barely looking up from her book. “And Dad’s right. You should go on a date while you’re here. Get to know some mainland ladies. I have a friend our age I could set you up with. She’s nice enough. Or if you’re not into ladies I have another friend---”

“Thanks, Lila,” Jason interrupted, “but really I’m good. I, uh, really don’t know how to go on a date.”

“You’re a disgrace,” Leah exclaimed dramatically, bending backward over her chair with the back of one hand placed on her forehead. “You don’t know how to go on a date!”

“Leah, Lila, give Jason a break,” Aunt Millie said, voice calm but chastising. “He hasn’t left the island much.” She looked at Jason. “Son, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. If you don’t want to go on a date while you’re here, you don’t have to.”

“Thank you, Millie,” Jason said.

Leah and Lila both scoffed and rolled their eyes.

“INCOMING!” a familiar voice shouted. I looked up from the front desk in time to see someone cannonball into the ocean a few dozen yards from the dock. A pair of huge white wings with blue-tipped feathers tucked against their back.

WHOOM! An impressive splash exploded out of the ocean.

“Ollie!” I shrieked, running out the front entrance and down the dock. “Oliver!”

My friend’s head burst out of the water. “Hiya Tal!” he called, already swimming toward the dock. 

“Do you need me to come out there and get you?” I asked.

“Nah, I got this. I waxed my wings before I left!” he replied.

People with wings were more common than mermaids. Mermaids were still creatures of myth but wings... it wasn’t uncommon to have at least one winged person everywhere you went.

Oliver reached the dock and hauled himself out of the ocean, dripping onto the dock.

“How ya been?” he asked, pulling me into a wet hug that I cringed at.

“Not too great, not too bad,” I replied as he let me go.

“The usual, then?”

“Yup.”

“How’s your pal? The, uh, the tall dude with the dark hair who looks like he could crush my head between his pecs.”

“Who, Jason?” I asked. We started walking up the dock. Oliver had dropped his backpack from some great height onto the sand ahead.

“Yeah,” Oliver confirmed. “That was his name. Jason.”

I snorted. “Dude, Jason could not crush your head between his pecs. He may be tall and muscular but he wouldn’t hurt a fly unless I asked him to.”

“Aw how sweet,” Oliver said, voice flat in a way that I could tell he was teasing me.

We reached the top of the dock. Ollie trotted over the sand and scooped up his backpack. “Thanks,” I said. He laughed and nudged me playfully with his elbow. “So, how come you decided to slam dunk yourself into the ocean?”

Oliver shrugged. “It seemed better than face-planting the sand since I’m positive I’d misjudge how soft it is---and running in sand is a pain anyway.”

“You didn’t want to just land on the mainland and take the ferry?”

“Nah. Takes too long,” Oliver said.

I snorted. “I’ll show you to your room if you want,” I said. “But we gotta stop by the desk first.”

“Of course.”

We stopped at the front desk and took care of business like grabbing the key to his room and registering and stuff. Once that was all taken care of, I walked Oliver to his room. “Don’t forget, one-fifteen tomorrow. You want it indoors or outdoors?”

“Out. I’ve been craving a Taylor wing massage with the sound of the ocean and the smell of a sea breeze,” Oliver said. I grinned.

“I’ll add that to your reservation.” I bounced my eyebrows. “Enjoy your stay.”

“I plan on it,” he said.

We both laughed and I headed back for the front desk.

“Hey Tal! You seen Lyric lately?”

“No. She hasn’t been here since last year.”

“Hm. Shame. I was hoping she might be here.”

“Well, shoot her a text. It’d take her a while to get here but I dunno.” I shrugged and went back on my way. “Bye Ollie!”

“Bye Tally!”

“Had a feeling I’d find you out here after dark,” Oliver’s voice said from the rocks. I almost screamed, but managed not to.

“What are you doing out here?” I demanded.

“Same as you. Little late-night swim.”

“We close the beach after dark---”

“Doesn’t stop you,” he teased. “Then again, mermaids don’t have to follow the normal rules of the ocean.”

I froze where I’d been untying my shorts. “How... how did you know?”

Oliver shrugged. “I used to watch you sneak out at night from the window of whatever room I was staying in with my family. One time I saw your fluke slide into the water.”

“See, I always thought it was Lyric who suspected what I am,” I said.

Oliver snickered. “Oh she knows too. We talk about it sometimes.”

“Ollie!” I protested.

“Don’t worry, Tal. We haven’t told anyone.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Oliver...”

“C’mon, Tal. There’s no danger. I know what you are. And I’m not telling anyone. So how about we go for that swim, yeah?”

I sighed. “Sure.” I led the way into the ocean and dove in. Oliver followed pretty quickly. He couldn’t stay under indefinitely like I could, but I didn’t intend on staying under forever.

I surfaced again quickly after the dive. It was so dark out Oliver wouldn’t be able to see me underwater. He probably wouldn’t be able to see me in daylight anyway because the ocean was murky. I led him out to the rocks that Jason and I hung out on sometimes. It was quite a way out, so I let him rest when we got there. He pulled himself onto one and panted as seawater slicked off his waxed wings. His wings were white, but they weren’t a swan’s wings---they weren’t waterproof. He had vulture/hawk wings that he dyed white---and then dyed the tips blue. He’d done that for... as long as I’d known him. I didn’t know what natural color his wings were after they molted.

“That was fun,” he said through heavy breathing. “So. Can you talk to fish? Have you ever had, like, a conversation with a shark or a dolphin or---oh! Or a whale?”

“No. I can’t talk to fish. Not exactly. We get... vibes from each other. Like, ‘Hey don’t come any closer or I’ll attack you’ or ‘Yeah bruh it’s all chill, hang on to me and let’s go for a ride,’ type of thing. Sharks are actually pretty chill dudes. Doesn’t mean I’m not still terrified of them and their completely Extra amount of teeth, but usually they’re just hangin’ around. I’m less scared of them when I can feel how likely they are to attack me.

“As for mammals, it’s similar, but for the most part they’re even more chill. They can tell that technically I’m like them and if they aren’t hungry or threatened, they’re pretty harmless. I have held on to a whale’s fin and let it pull me around for a little. But that was about a year ago. I don’t get too far away from the island usually.”

“That’s so cool, Tal,” Oliver said, draped dramatically over the same flat rock Jason usually sat on, staring up at the stars.

On the mainland, there was so much light pollution that the stars were hard to see. Out in the middle of the ocean? Yeah not so much. I’d been able to see the Milky Way in the sky for most of my life---barring the few visits I’d made to the mainland.

“Thanks.”

“So... I’m guessing you could never come and visit me, could you?” he asked.

“What, out in the desert? Yeah, no,” I said. “I’m a saltwater mermaid. If I’m away from the ocean for too long I start to get sick. I haven’t gone to the mainland since this happened to me because if I get too far from the sea, I could literally die. Yeah I’m technically amphibious, but I’d dry out. And in the hot, dry desert it’d be even worse.” I twisted some of my hair around my fingers. “I’m sorry, Ollie.”

“Nah. Don’t be. I get it,” he said, waving his hand dismissively. “You’re aquatic and I’m avian. We have two different adaptations meant to survive in different environments. Earth is the middle ground---literally---where we can coexist.”

I flicked the fluke of my tail thoughtfully. “Mm. Still. It doesn’t seem fair.”

Oliver nodded. “S’pose,” he agreed. He was quiet for a minute. I was too, listening to the calm ocean lapping gently on the rocks while the three-quarter moon dipped lower to the horizon. “So, what’s it like under there, really?”

“Weird. Ocean life isn’t bound to the same general shapes as land life. I don’t even get too far from this island and some of the marine life is really bizarre.”

“You’d be a great marine biologist.”

“Yeah if I could sit through eight years of university or however long it takes to get people to take you seriously with your degrees. And if I could convince the scientific community that half the stuff down there is real.”

“Are, uh, actual sea serpents a thing?”

I shrugged. “That I don’t know. Yet. I haven’t encountered any.”

“Is the whole ‘mermaid singing is enchanting to humans’ thing real too?”

“Yeah. Which is why I don’t sing anymore when people who aren’t family can hear me.”

“That ever bother you?”

“Not really. Can get rough when Dad is encouraging me to sing at karaoke night though,” I said.

“Hmm,” Oliver grunted.

“You wanna see something cool?” I asked.

“Yeah!” he agreed.

“Dive in and look at my nose,” I said.

“Your nose?”

“You’ll see.”

With some obvious misgiving, Oliver slid back into the ocean. I dropped in after him. I swam till I was in front of him and smiled. He had his goggles on so he could see clearly.

His mouth dropped open upon seeing my freckles underwater. He went kicking back for the surface. I followed.

“You’re bioluminescent!” he hissed the moment my head broke the surface.

“Yup,” I said as he pulled himself back up onto the rock.

“That is so cool!”

I chuckled. “Thanks.” I stayed in the water, sitting on a ledge that was submerged when the tide was coming in.

“So who else knows about you besides me and Lyric?”

“Mom and Jason.”

“Your dad doesn’t know?”

“Nope. It’s been years and I still can’t think of the best way to broach the subject. I can’t just be like, ‘Hey Dad, guess what? I’ve been able to turn into a mermaid in the water since I was twelve!’ If I did he’d freak. And maybe Mom’s told him. I don’t know. If he knows he’s never indicated that he has.”

“How’d Jason find out?”

“Same way you did, kinda. Saw me sneaking into the water and followed me to the beach. Saw my fluke disappear and then watched me wash back up on shore to de-transform. That was an awkward conversation.”

Oliver snorted. “Yeah I’d imagine,” he said, amused and chuckling.

“But he’s kept my secret too. For a long time. He found out when we were fifteen.”

“Wow. So it has been a while.”

“Yeah.”

“Hey Tally!” Mom called. “The ferry’s here!”

I looked down at the clock on my computer, clicking out of Minesweeper and into the Guest Registration screen. “They’re two minutes late,” I said jokingly.

Mom chuckled. “Yeah but there’s someone special on this one!”

“Robert Downey Junior?” I asked flatly. We’d had a couple celebrities visit over the years---a private resort on an otherwise abandoned island in the middle of the ocean? Perfect place to get away from the paparazzi for a vacation without anybody snooping.

Mom snorted. “Nooo. Jason.”

I froze where I’d been moving the mouse to Reservation Registration. “Jason’s back?” I whispered. I’d been so caught up in work that I’d completely lost track of time. Had he really been gone for three weeks? Already? Mom smiled and nodded---yes he had.

I leapt to my feet and took off out the front entrance.

Jason was the first one off the ferry, helping the crew tie it to the dock.

“Jay!” I shouted.

He finished tying off the rope and turned with a huge smile. “Tally!” he called, arms outstretched for a hug.

I bolted down the dock, bare feet pounding the salt-softened wood. “Jason!” I slammed into him, our arms snapping around each other.

“Whoa Tally, watch your steEEEEP!” Jason exclaimed, stumbling back from the force of me smashing into him. We lost our footing and tumbled off the dock and into the water. I shrieked with a laugh before plunging in.

Only when my legs bound together and transformed into a tail did I realize how bad of an idea that was. When my head broke the surface I stared at Jason with wide, scared eyes. He swam over, looking down into the water to see if he could see my tail.

“Did you transform?” he whispered, treading water inches from me. I nodded silently, most of my face sliding down into the water. “Swim to the houseboat. It’s too murky to see very well. Go!” He started heading for the ladder at the end of the dock. I slipped under the gently rolling waves and twisted into a dive, keeping my tail from reaching the surface. I felt the edge of my fluke brush Jason’s leg.

I swam around the island as fast as I could and surfaced next to the houseboat’s back deck. “Dad?” I called when I broke out of the water. No response.

I hauled myself onto the back deck, my tail flopping with a thud on it. I panted for a moment until my legs and wet shorts returned.

Once they did, I walked back to the resort.

“Tally!” Jason called, emerging from the jungle that separated the houseboat from the resort. “Where did you vanish off to?” He was acting for the sake of my mom---who was walking directly behind him and didn’t know he knew about my condition.

“Sorry,” I apologized. “I just... I was embarrassed.”

“Don’t worry. Don’t be embarrassed,” he said, giving me a hug.

“So, I had some time to think while I was on the mainland,” Jason said.

“Yeah?” I prompted, lazing on the rocks out to sea after dark, my tail drifting in the water.

“Yeah,” Jason said.

“About what?” I pressed.

“About you and me and about your secret and my involvement. I took a scuba diving class while I was gone. I got certified and everything. I can join you underwater for a lot longer now. But while I was sitting on the bottom of the pool, I started thinking about your secret.”

“And?”

“And you never told me how you came to be a, uh, aaa...”

“A mermaid?” I finished.

“Yeah. Yeah a mermaid,” Jason agreed. “How’d you become one? I mean, you were twelve.”

I sighed. “My parents and I were out on the houseboat. We were taking it back to the mainland for some repairs. It was late at night. We wanted to drive it there overnight and be there first thing in the morning so they could get it done as soon as possible,” I started. I shuffled on my rock ledge. “The three of us were up on the top deck. It was a beautiful night. There was a pleasant breeze blowing and the Milky Way was slowly fading from the sky as we got closer to the light polluted mainland. I was lying on that couch thing on the top deck, half-asleep, and watching the stars.

“This wave surged up out of nowhere and made the ship rock. I got up so I wouldn’t fall off the couch and took a tumble down the slide on the back of the boat. I back-flopped right into the ocean and sunk like a rock. I heard my mom screaming and then nothing.

“But I could see the moonlight. Shining right on me. The moon was full and... I could hear singing. But it wasn’t someone else singing. It was my voice singing,” I explained.

“So it’s not something you could replicate?” he asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t know. Why on Earth would you want to repli---Wait. You... you want to be like me?” I dropped off my ledge and pushed off with my arms over to Jason’s rock. “Jay, why would you event want to do that?” I pulled myself up onto his rock with the help of my tail working madly to get me high enough out of the water to sit next to him. I dragged my tail out of the ocean and scooted to sit as close to him as I could. “Jay?” I pressed.

He sighed. “Like I said, I had time to think while I was on the mainland. And... you and I have been more than just friends for a long time. I... we already share all of our secrets---”

“Not that we have many.”

“No. But the ones we do have are huge. And since we share the secret... I want to be more than just your swim-on-the-surface buddy. I want to see what you see.”

“But it’s not all fun-and-games being like this, Jason! Sharing the secret is one thing. Sharing the condition is another matter entirely!”

He grabbed my hand. “But I want to be with you down there. Through everything. I don’t want you to be alone.” I opened my mouth to continue my protest, but he wasn’t finished. “It’s my life, Tally. It’d be my choice.”

“But what if you’re choosing it for the wrong reasons?” I asked. “You’re not tied to this island! You can go anywhere. You could go visit Oliver in the desert! I can’t go that far inland with no possible saltwater nearby. You have nothing keeping you here. Wanting to choose my condition in order to be with me underwater is not thinking far enough ahead.”

“I can go anywhere, but anywhere that’s not with you is nowhere at all.”

“That would be sweet if it wasn’t so aggravating,” I muttered.

Jason sat in thoughtful silence for a moment, and I thought he was finally listening to reason. “I get it, Tal,” he said, nodding fast and small. “You like being the only person like this on the island. I get it.” He slid into the water and started swimming for shore.

I splashed in and quickly cut him off. “No, Jason. You don’t get it. I don’t like being like this!”

“Oh come on,” he scoffed. “When we were kids you always talked about how much you dreamed of being a mermaid!”

“Yeah because I knew they weren’t really real and it was a dream. But... being like this... it’s not something I’d wish on anyone. I want you to be free. Free of this island---free of the ocean---free to be whatever and whoever you want! Free to go anywhere---from Nepal to New Mexico. I can’t do that!”

“I don’t want to go anywhere. I want to stay on this island with you!”

“And what if you change your mind ten years down the road, hmm? Five, even? What if you become a merperson and then realize it’s not everything you wanted it to be?” I swam just close enough to him that I was pushing him back towards the rocks. He bumped into one and held onto it. “What if you realize you’ve changed your mind and this island is too boring? What if I bore you? And don’t say ‘I can’t’ because that’s not true.”

He put his other hand on my shoulder. “Tal. Did it ever occur to you in that anxious head of yours that I would do anything to be with you through everything? And, yes, I mean everything.”

“Of course. But I’m saying you don’t need to. You can be your own man far away from here---doing whatever you want!”

“But I don’t want to do anything that I can’t do with you!”

We were getting a little too heated and I prayed no one was listening.

“Why not?” I demanded.

“Because I love you!”

Stunned silence.

I froze completely. My tail stopped treading water to keep my head out of the water and I sunk under as a gentle wave, bringing the first vestiges of low tide, rolled past the rocks.

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #163

i’m too tired to think of song lyrics rn.

Do you have a little sister? Yes. The last person you kissed, how many times have you cried in front of them?  In her actual presence, I think once? Over a phone or Skype, like... two or three times. Do you know anyone who has been arrested? Yes. Think a lot before you fall asleep? SO MUCH. It's part of why I struggle to fall asleep. Brain doesn't stop. Ever been the only one trying to fix a relationship? That's the story of my fucking life. Romantically, just once. Are you guilty of flirting too much? Definitely not. Did you ever set up a lemonade stand when you were a kid? No. Does virginity matter to you? Not really anymore, no. So long you gave it up to someone you sincerely loved and were smart about it. Do you know anybody who was abused? A few emotionally. Have you ever bought or sold something on Facebook Marketplace? No. Do you feel uncomfortable sharing drinks with other people? YEAH. The only case in which it does't bother me too much is when I've been a *truly* s/o with you for a while. Like if I'd go beyond just kissing you, it shouldn't be a bit deal to just drink after you. Is there something that happened in your past you hate talking about? Does anyone not, really? Is there a difference between just love and in love? YEAH. Are you good at admitting your problems? Pretty easy for me. How many times have you dated the person you’re with now? Once. Has your cell phone ever rung in class? No. Do you ever feel like just laying down and giving up? Not really anymore!! I get down, but I never have the urge to just give up entirely. Have you ever lied about your age? When I was younger signing up for websites lmao. Lied about your name? No. Do you sit on the mattresses in furniture stores? Sometimes. Are there some topics that you aren’t very open about? Maybe? It depends on the person. Have you ever had an encounter with a very dangerous animal? No. Have you ever fed a wild animal people food? I mean I fed ducks bread as a kid/before I knew it was bad. Would you rather die or eat another human being? Die. Some things aren't worth living after you've done them. Do you wish that animals could talk? Why or why not? YES!!!!!! BOTH SIDES COULD LEARN SO MUCH!!!!!!! AND PEOPLE WOULD CARE ABOUT THEM MORE!!!!!!!!!!!! Who did you last fall asleep with? Sara. Now your cell phone, what color is it? Dark blue. Who were you last in a car with? Nicole. What color was the last vehicle you were in? White. Have you had “the best night of your life”? Eh. Probably not. Toilet papered someones house? I'm an adult. Who was the last person you high-fived? Probably Aubree or Ryder. Or the girl Colleen watches. Do you own a romper? Noooo, not my thing. What does your computer’s slow-loading cursor look like? Blue circle. Would you rather have a trampoline or swimming pool? Pool. What was the name of the first porcelain doll you got? Oh fuck that shit, I was afraid of porcelain dolls and still am. Do you sell any products? If so, what? No. If not, do you want to start a business? Well I wanna be a freelance photographer. Have your parents ever crushed your dreams? No. Do you own anything cheetah print? No. Have you ever made a collage for your bedroom wall? No. Do you make DIY projects and gifts? No. Don't have the motivation. Owls or peacocks? Owls. Lions or horses? Lions. Is your kitchen floor black and white checkered? No. What do you make wishes on? Nothing. What’s the best natural pain reliever? Sleep. Do you like trees? Yeah! What’s your favorite Paramore song? "That's What You Get." What is your favorite color for bridesmaid dresses? LIGHT PINK. Happy and soft colors! Do you think you are pregnant? That's impossible. Do you like the ocean? Yeah. You wouldn't see me deep it there, but I mean, it's cool. Are you too shy to ask someone out? Apparently not. I guess. I asked Juan, Tyler, and Sara, BUT only because I knew they liked me. The person you like kisses you on the forehead, do you find this cute? YES I FEEL SAFE AND LOVED AND IT'S JUST CUTE!!!!!! Is there a high chance of you going out to the movies soon? Dad and I may go see another soon-ish, but I doubt it. We both think The Meg looks good. What are you listening to? I swear I go back to binge "Cool Patrol" by NSP like every other month. Have you ever dated someone longer than a year? Once, and I can pretty much guarantee this one's gonna hit that mark. Would you be able to climb out your bedroom window to sneak out? If I could open the damn thing. Can you taste the difference between brand name food and store brand food? Sometimes. Would you be embarrassed to buy pads/tampons/condoms? Which one more? No. Do you still own a VCR? No. Have you ever purchased Girl Scout cookies? Yeah. Do you own a nightgown? No. Who is one rapper that just always tends to get on your nerves? Why? I can't stand Kanye, because y'know, he's a god-complexed dick. Has anyone ever made you breakfast in bed? Were they trying to suck up? No. When will be the next time you’ll get a shot? What is this shot anyway? I'unno. When will you next eat tacos? Do you even like tacos, or not so much? I hate tacos. Do you know anyone who is pregnant? One of my very best high school friends recently revealed she is and I am soooo fucking excited for her. Would you or have you ever engaged in casual sex? If we were both single there is one (1) person I probably would fuck I hate myself like a lot and I am a hypocrite. What’s your favorite thing about spring? Just the flowers. And that's it. Have you ever tried belly dancing? If so, did you like it? No, & that would be a blinding display. Were you a part of any clique in high school? Kinda? The goths, emos, metalheads, and scenes all kinda. Naturally came together. Most knew everyone's names and we kinda had this unspoken bond with all the others. We always sat together at lunch. Have you ever given blood? Yeah. I'd actually like to do it again, I think, with me drinking a good amount of water now. Do you like the way you grew up? The only thing I'd change is I wish chores were more firmly enforced. I don't do them enough, and I'm approaching 23. Would you prefer to read or write poetry? Write. If you were to have a child, what would the last name be? Well, mine? But once married I'd definitely get it changed to Sara's. I will not doom her with mine lmao. Are you currently working? And if so do you like your job? No. Have you ever walked out on a job or just not showed up? No. Have you told your parents all of your secrets from when you were a teen? No. Would you rather be able to fly or walk on water? Fly. What’s the best club you’ve ever been to? Never been to one. Which sport are you the best at playing? I wasn't bad at basketball last I played. Do you know anyone who has gotten pregnant despite using contraception? Probably. Are you planning on buying a house in the near future? Not the very recent future. A house/apartment will probably be rented first. What was your favorite family vacation you went on as a kid? Disney World. What's something about you that others might find unpleasant or off-putting? I'm hard to get to know due to me fearing judgment. I can be very defensive if you push me to talk about some things. Have you ever kissed someone with a beard? Jason had more of a goatee sometimes. When you were younger, did you believe in Santa?  Yeah. Are you going to make your kids believe in Santa? I don't want kids. If I did however, I probably would. Have you ever made your own calendar? No. What foreign language did you take in high school? One semester of Latin, German for four semesters. Do your parents have gray hair? Yeah. What's your favorite Katy Perry song? Uhhhhh I guess "E.T." What was the last thing you did that made you feel proud of yourself? I haven't acted on it yet, but I made the decision that I would make a sincere effort to fight AvPD and be way more open about myself. What was the last significant and great thing that happened in your life? Met Sara. What is your favorite Starbucks' drink? I don't go there. Who are your last 3 missed calls from? Vocational rehab, Mom, Colleen. Do you like Skittles? Yesssss. Do you blow dry your hair? No. How do you like your eggs? Fertilized by Mark Fischfuck goddammit What song is the catchiest song you know? Hmmm. I suppose maybe "Bad Romance," because I can enjoy like, ANY cover, as well as the original. What is your greatest life accomplishment? Healing. Who is the last person you left a voicemail for? VR. Which is better: the Twilight book, or the Twilight movie? I haven't read any, never watched any. Do you enjoy crossword puzzles? Yes. Do you own any records? No. I wish. Something I'd love to collect. Who was the last guy you called? Dad, probably. You can only listen to THREE CDs for the rest of your life. What are they? "Black Rain" by Ozzy Osbourne, "Black Album" by Metallica, and "The Ascension" by Otep. What is the most unique or uncommon thing about you? Uh I dunno. I guess having blue eyes??? Idk. What happened the last time you were in a fight with someone? I cut her ass out and ignored her. Have you ever been in a physical fight? Who started it? No. What is your favorite type of kiss/way of kissing? Hardcore making out. Favorite form of affection in general/not sexual/etc? Hand holding. Or tight hugs. What do you think about anime? They have some of the most interesting stories, tbh. Who is the last person you unfollowed on Tumblr, and why did you do this? Someone whose posting content changed and I didn't enjoy, probably. What are some upcoming concerts in your town/city? The only one I know of and care about is Metallica in January. Is there any type of medicine you can’t take? For what reason? Not that I know of. Would you rather have potato or chicken noodle soup if you had to? Never had potato, but I don't think I'd like it, so. I don't really like chicken noodle, either. If something on your body hurts, which part is it most likely to be? My damn knees. Is Russian or Native American history more interesting to you? Native American. Have you ever put gum on the bottom of your desk/chair? I'm not an animal. Would you rather go to the movies, drive-in, or stay at home and watch a movie? Go to the movies. Would you ever be a race-car driver? No. What kind of deodorant do you use? Secret. Have you ever wished you were born the opposite sex? No. What was the last thing you spent a lot of time thinking about? I'm not sure. What do you think about astrology/the zodiac? If you used to believe/not believe in it, what changed your mind? It's absolute bullshit. What is one conspiracy you believe in? Or one you think is total crap? You literally cannot convince me 9/11 wasn't orchestrated by the government. Stupid one, lizard people. Where was the last place you didn’t want to go but had to anyway? Urgent care. When was the last time you yelled/screamed and why? I dunno. What was the last big decision you made? Do you think you made the right choice? Permanently, absolutely, kick Colleen out of my life. I know it was the right choice. What Hogwarts house are you in? What do you think about the “stereotypes” regarding your house? I took a quiz out of boredom before, and I got Hufflepuff, very closely followed by Gryffindor. However, some questions were hard for me, as I know pretty much nothing about the series. So, don't know stereotypes either. What is something you want to do, but you don’t think you’ll ever be able to? Skydive. Don't have the guts. When was the last time you left somewhere for forever (or at least don’t plan on returning)? Ha, mental hospital. What was the last thing you quit? Meat. Do you like to help people? How about animals? Which would you rather help, if it applies? Duh!! And I dunno, really. I see us as equal. I don't really know which I'd go to first if both were in a crisis or something. As an adult, what is the most and least you’ve weighed? I don't even want to say what I weighed at the end of '16. The least was ~120, what I'm desperately trying to get back to. @_@ What is something you like that no one else you know likes too? *shrugs* What is something you don’t like that everyone seems to like? Mexican food came to mind. Do you follow a particular diet/meal-plan/ethic? Currently I do a 16-hour fast every day and then I'm also a vegetarian. What is a subject you tend to avoid with other people, for whatever reason? Politics. What is the longest (or most involved) thing you’ve ever written? Well, RP. You put all the shit I've written together, and it'd probably be longer than the Bible lmao. Do you prefer to live with others or by yourself? Why is this? OTHERS. I GET LONELY. What scares you about getting older? Feeling the physical effects. What about something you’ve done that sounds too wild to believe? I don't think anything, really. What was the last thing someone made fun of you for? I don't know. Do you have a member of the opposite sex you’ve told everything to? Jason knew everything at the time we were together. What color hair do you find sexiest on the opposite gender? I like unnaturally colored hair most, so... but for "normal" colors, black. Who last slept in your bed besides you? Sara. If the last person you had sex with asked you to date them, would you? I would *actually* kick him in the dick if he had the audacity. If you could see any musician live, front row, who would you choose? Metallica with Mom. What is your favorite social networking site? Facebook for the sake of keeping up with people, Tumblr for entertainment purposes. Has anyone in your family fought in any of the wars? No. Has a stray dog ever tried to bite you? No. Are you normally a person to tell people off? Deeefinitely not. Do you even wear any jeans other than skinny anymore? I don't wear jeans anymore period. What did you talk about at lunch today with your friends? I'm not in school. Are you sensitive to caffeine? Nope. How do you usually get around? Mom drives me. Have you ever been accused of being too clingy? No, even though I know I'm very clingy. Do you like vitamin water? I've never tried it. Do you think too little or too much? Waaaay too much. Would you rather vacation by a beach or a lake? Lake. Do you ever keep arguing when you know you’re wrong? It can make me feel embarrassed, but in most cases, I'm quick to drop it. Would your mom care if she found condoms in your room? She'd be confused as fuck considering she knows I'm not with a guy. Are you ticklish? Ugh yes. What do you think of dating websites? They work for some people, but, in general, I don't think they're the greatest idea when you consider how many desperate people there are. Now yes, there's most certainly sincere ones, but. I think you'd have to do some fishing to find the right person. Which show is better: SpongeBob Squarepants or The Fairly Odd Parents? Duuuude the latter. Show was dope my dude. Think you could cut off your own foot if it meant saving your leg? To save my leg, I think so. Well... I dunno, I guess it depends on the situation. I'd be concerned about blood loss. What is the worst thing about having a pet? Knowing they'll die. Have you ever actually seen someone fall on a banana peel? No. Do moths freak you out? They're absolutely beautiful to me, but at the same time, the size of their eyes are a liiittle bit creepy. Did you ever cut your own hair when you were little? No. What is your favorite fruit? Strawberries. Who last messaged you on Facebook? Bethany to let me know when the new wedding date was. Have you ever had surgery or stitches? Both twice. Do you own any clothing that has animal print? No. Does your family eat dinner together? Almost always. What was the last video game you played? Silent Hill 3. Have you ever touched a shark? No. Do you prefer writing in print or cursive? I write mostly in cursive. Do you have any family traditions? Like what? Not that we still do. What is the best time you’ve ever had with your family? I'm not positive. Maybe some summer days when we'd all be swimming and cooking out together. What’s the scariest experience you’ve ever had? The night of the breakup. No overdose or panic attack or anything was scarier than when I realized he was leaving. What’s your favorite computer game? World Of Warcraft kms. What’s the biggest mistake people make on the first date? Just my personal opinion, but some people get sexual way too fast. If you're looking for an actual, long-lasting relationship, you have to connect more emotionally. Do you get turned on easily? It depends on who you are, definitely. Some people can't do anything, yet another person can do the same thing and I'm turned on in an instant. Do you still like to color? Not especially. What’s your favorite children’s show? Pokemon. Would you ever get band artwork tattooed on you? Metallica has some badass designs, but I don't know. Eh, actually, that may be something I'd get whenever my mom passes away considering her quote, "All I need in life are my babies and Metallica," and I think she means it lmao. No one loves them more than this woman. Is there someone you liked so much and nothing ever happened? The biggest crush I had that didn't go anywhere was on Sebastian in high school, but I don't know about "so much?" Like I wasn't desperate to be together. Has the last person you kissed met your family? My mom, Dad, and Nicole. Hopefully Ashley and the kids if her husband doesn't wanna be a homophobic shit. How many people of the opposite sex do you fully trust? Just my dad. What is the one thing you remember most about January of last year? I was in the worst state of my life. Approaching my suicide attempt, so I was having the thoughts badly by that point. How do you think you will look 3 years from now? I better be a skinny legend with bomb-ass hair and more tats, boo. What would be number one on your bucket list? Touch a wild meerkat. Probably a pup above all. How old do you think you’ll be when you make your will? I dunno. Do you get any of your songs from Limewire? Lol how old is this??? I used to. Do you call anybody ‘baby’? Literally all my pets and Sara. Where is the fanciest place you have ever visited? Uhhhh I guess somewhere in Disney World??? Are your parents night owls or morning birds? I guess the latter is more accurate. Where did you buy the shirt you’re wearing now? Somewhere online. I found it on Facebook, don't recall the site it led to. Are you easy to get along with? I think and hope so. I'm very accepting. What do you usually do right when you wake up? Check the time. What’s your biggest passion? SPREADING POSITIVITY!!!!! Have you ever thrown your phone in anger? I believe I might have once when Jason and I were arguing?? If I did, it definitely wasn't that hard. I have a vague memory of throwing in onto the carpeted floor.

[expatimes]

Is Mesut Ozil’s ‘dream’ move to Fenerbahce a gamble?

Fenerbahce’s signing of Mesut Ozil from Arsenal has generated huge excitement among fans of the Turkish football club that has had little to cheer about in recent years.

The Istanbul-based giants – one of Turkish football’s ‘big three’ clubs – have not won the Turkish Super League since 2014, an eternity for a club of its stature.

The signing of 32-year-old Ozil, an attacking midfielder of Turkish origin and a World Cup winner with Germany, became the biggest signing in Turkish football for many years.

So much was the excitement that, according to Flightradar24, at one point more than 300,000 people were tracking his flight from London to Istanbul on January 18.

Yesterday, over 1 million @Fenerbahce fans followed @MesutOzil1088’s flight from London to Istanbul. At peak, over 300,000 people were following the flight at the same time. https://t.co/O2XjKDO5MT pic.twitter.com/WlQvFeZkx4

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) January 18, 2021

But amid the fanfare, Ozil arrives in Istanbul with footballing and political baggage and raises the stakes this season for Fenerbahce and its beleaguered club president Ali Koc.

‘Very excited’

From a financial point of view, the transfer is – ostensibly, at least – astonishing.

Turkish football is mired in debt, partly from years of chronic overspending on players and little financial accountability.

Although Ozil joined as a free agent, Fenerbahce – whose estimated debt stands at more than $500m – had to launch a fundraising campaign to finance his wages, asking fans for donations.

His three-and-a-half-years contract will land Ozil at least nine million euros ($10.9m) as well as a signing bonus of 550,000 euros ($667,340).

While Fenerbahce are banking on selling Ozil merchandise and hoping he leads the club to the league title that would land a hefty dividend with Champions League qualification, his arrival could further limit the club’s ability to meet its obligations under UEFA’s Financial Fair Play rules which dictate that clubs have to break even.

It will add more foreign currency debt to a club at a time when the Turkish lira is notably weak.

📹 Şimdi Fenerbahçe YouTube'da!

👉 https://t.co/y42eTn85zP pic.twitter.com/jxlrppt9Zh

— Fenerbahçe SK (@Fenerbahce) January 26, 2021

Ozil took a huge pay cut to terminate the remaining six months of his contract at Arsenal, which was thought to have been worth up to 350,000 pounds ($480,100) a week.

He could have also earned significantly more money by signing with a club in the United States or Qatar.

But after earning reportedly close to 100 million pounds ($137.4m) during his time at Arsenal, Ozil perhaps did not need the money so much as he needs love and respect after a difficult few years.

Fenerbahce and Turkey seem to hold a strong emotional pull for him.

Born and raised in Gelsenkirchen, western Germany, Ozil says he supported Fenerbahce since childhood and that joining this club was a “dream” move.

“I’m very excited. God gave me the chance to wear this jersey as a Fenerbahce fan. God willing, I will carry it with honour and do everything I can for the team,” he said on Wednesday at his unveiling.

I grew up as a @Fenerbahce fan as a kid in Germany – every German-Turkish person supports a Turkish team when they grow up in Germany. And mine was Fenerbahce. Fenerbahce is like Real Madrid in Spain. The biggest club in the country 🇹🇷 https://t.co/Y3hEba79IO

— Mesut Özil (@MesutOzil1088) January 11, 2021

In Turkey, Ozil is a hero for some.

Part of the excitement is down to his star quality, but it is also seen by some as a kind of ‘homecoming’ for a player who has always been proud of his Turkish heritage.

He will wear the number 67 – the first two digits of the post code and license plate number of his family’s native Zonguldak province in the Black Sea region of Turkey.

It seems likely that Ozil is craving adulation after allegedly facing racism during his international career and becoming an increasingly divisive and forlorn figure at Arsenal over the past few seasons.

Some even joked that the number of people tracking his flight to Istanbul included many Arsenal fans who wanted to be sure he had really gone.

Arriving with baggage

Ozil was Arsenal’s record signing when former manager Arsene Wenger brought him from Real Madrid in 2013.

During his first few seasons in the Premier League, he dazzled with his flair and creativity, and ended up with 44 goals and 77 assists in 254 appearances.

But he also became a lightning rod for criticism and controversy.

While he made 92 international appearances and was a key part of Germany’s 2014 World Cup-winning side, he ended his international career in 2018 after what he called racist criticism and scapegoating following Germany’s first-round exit at the 2018 tournament.

“I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose,” he said.

Ozil was also heavily criticised in Germany when he posed for a photo with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan ahead of the 2018 World Cup.

Erdogan was the best man at Ozil’s wedding the following year.

Ozil’s performances and returns on the pitch for Arsenal declined over time and he was increasing out of favour – especially after Wenger departed in 2018.

He became deeply unpopular among many Arsenal fans. Detractors questioned his commitment to the club while receiving one of the highest salaries in the league.

More sympathetic fans pointed to his languid playing style that belied the significant distance that he used to cover on the pitch and bemoaned the lack of playing time he was given amid his stated desire to break back into the Arsenal team.

He also found himself at odds with the club in December 2019 after his comments regarding China’s persecution of its Turkic and Muslim Uighur minority, which the club distanced itself from.

Ozil took more flak after rejecting a pay cut during the COVID lockdown last year.

His last competitive appearance for Arsenal was in March 2020 but he insists he is in good shape and Koc said he should be ready to make his debut in the Istanbul derby against Galatasaray on February 6, if not sooner.

Looming election

His transfer is still a gamble for Fenerbahce.

Perhaps Ozil will settle down quickly and excel in a league that has a lower standard than the Premier League.

But he has not played for almost a year – it’s not clear how good he is now – and he may struggle to adapt to a more rudimentary style, in a physical and volatile league, alongside some teammates that may be nowhere near his level.

It is a lot to expect one player to transform a team which Fenerbahce, despite being  second in the table, has long struggled for consistent form.

Ozil with Fenerbahce president Ali Koc during official signing

Koc – an urbane scion of one of Turkey’s richest families – was elected president in 2018 after pledging to reverse the club’s fortunes, repair its dire finances, and develop young players while ending excessive transfers that were often burdens and flops.

But with a new election due at some point later this year, the club has yet to win a trophy under his stewardship.

Turkish football is notoriously impatient, the pressure is immense, and disgruntled fans and members need appeasing. Signing Ozil could be a useful and popular gambit ahead of the looming election, but it is also risky.

Koc has delivered Ozil, and now Ozil will be expected to deliver this season’s title.

Read full article: https://expatimes.com/?p=17382&feed_id=30964