#who is this man who dares walk in and treat my flynn like this

[goldentigerfestival]

this is like half a joke bc im just having fun but also half not bc im totally fckn serious abt it, ya know??

[juniartchive]

Besitos - Part 1

Synopsis: After Elle Evans, Marco found it hard to move on with his life. Can he found a way to forget the kiss they shared that day?

[Note: the lack of Marco's imagines (and the power he has to distract me) drive me to write this. I apologize in advance since English isn't my first language. Also, I made up the university in this fic so the college setting might be weird since I don't know how it is abroad. The girl won't appear in the first two chapter. I definitely should rewrite the summary later hhh)

prologue

tag: @mansaaay​ 

---

College life is rough. It is nothing like high school, nothing at all. It is confusing, tiring, and fast-paced. It is five projects in two weeks after you just started college. It is sleeping at 4 AM doing assignments and submitting it at 7 AM. It is treating coffee not as recreation anymore but a primary need to stay alive. It is leaving no space to play guitar and gaze on the sky to contemplate about life. It is busy, and Marco thank God for it.

His busy new life as a freshman in Avery University leave him no time to think about his high school heartbreak. Anyway, for the sake of his sanity, Marco decided he won’t say her name anymore. Pretty childish but whatever. It worked pretty well at making him forgetting everything about her.

Marco always thought he was that kind of guy who just look back at his past loves and said, “Ah, the first time I kissed her it was one of the best moment of my life. I wonder what she is doing right now,” while sporting a melancholic smile then goes to strum his guitar and play that one song associated with her. But hell, plenty of time he wished she broke up with that asshole Flynn and regret her decision choosing him over Marco. Months later that Instagram highlight of their relationship still posting updates.

Well… Not that Marco keeps tabs on their relationship, not at all. He was too busy, remember?

“Oh God, stoooop! You’re miserable dude!”

Marco immediately press the home button of his iPhone, stuttering.

“W-what?”

Michael, his roommate, have this “poor you” look in his face as he shook his head. He really hates it when that guy (or ANYONE) gave him that look.

“Seriously? Doing your stalking routine? That’s fucking creepy.” Michael shuddered. Too tired to defend himself, Marco just shrugged as he placed his iPhone on the coffee table. A little harsher than he intend to. Not that he cared.

Michael, still shaking his head and ticking his tongue in an exaggerated manner, walked in Marco’s direction with two can of beers on his hands. He handed one to Marco, chugging his own, ticking his tongue and shook his head even more.

“If only the girls in the whole campus know the great Marco Peña is a miserable guy who cannot moved on,” Michael paused to take a sip of his beer, “That’s actually a great content for Twitter. I think it will go viral.”

Marco immediately grabbed his phone before Michael put his hand on it, “Don’t you dare,” he warned, earning a laughter of the other guy.

“Come on, you should see yourself. After that long, boring lectures of Introduction to Basic Coding, instead of having fun, you choose to mull over your past love,” Michael stopped to think, “Oh wait, it never even started.”

God damn it, this guy is annoying. Marco really regretted that one night they shared drinks and leading them to spilled their heart content. It was mostly loneliness and homesick that drive Marco to told his story. Fuck Michael, luring him with that story where he got ghosted by a girl (which sounded pretty miserable too).

Marco met Michael on his first day in Avery. A over-friendly guy who get along with everyone. Marco labelled him as “people pleaser” because he always tried to please anyone. From fellow students to lecturers. His motto is: Network make the life Works. That sounded awful but Marco got it. Michael friendliness gained him few new friends as well. The guy’s also a great listener. Well, that friendliness also come hand in hand with the need to stick his nose in the place where he should not.

“Let’s see… hmm… Elle… Evans…” Marco rolled his eyes as he saw Michael typed El- her name in his own Instagram search.

“Woohoo, Elle, that is a nice swimsuit,” Michael whistled. Marco unconsciously peeked on his phone. That was a nice swimsuit indeed.

“Let’s see… hmm… Oh man, they’re still together, too bad.”

Newsflash Michael, I know about it already, inner Marco said.

“But look at that. What does she see in him?” Michael exaggerated another head shaking, “His chin looks weird!” Marco gave subtle nods. Gotta agree there.

“And those lazy eyes, God! Was he smoking weed when they took this picture?” Yeah, I thought about it too, inner Marco chimed in.

“You are far way better man, no doubt,” Michael gave a reassuring smack on his back. Hell yeah I am, inner Marco nods proudly.

“Her lost that she didn’t choose you,” Marco huff a laughter. It does feel like his lost though.

“Elle Evans was not worth it. Repeat after me.”

“She was not worth it.”

She was worth it, inner Marco chimed in again, desperately. She was always worth it. Damn, now he realized he is pathetic.

“Good!” now Michael gave another pat on his back. Thank God he cannot hear inner Marco. “You know what you need? You need to get laid. Dude, when was the last time?”

Marco shrugged, “I don’t know,” it feels like a long time ago indeed.

“Well, thanks to me, I got invited to this party. Basically everyone was invited but you are too busy brooding over Elle that you don’t notice that poor sorority girl whose eyes sparkled when she asked you to go. We should go tonight.” Michael jumped from the sofa then goes to his room. He came back with a wrinkled red Avery t-shirt that Marco realized his roommate had used the night before.  

Marco actually knew about the party, but he wasn’t in the mood. He was never in the mood. He also acknowledged every girls who made move on him, but he was also not in the mood to pay them any attention. Not when they were not the one he wished made a move on him.

“You need to stop thinking about Elle and moved on. Starting from tonight,” Michael said while doing failed attempt at straightening the wrinkles on his t-shirt with his hands, “You, Marco Valentin Pena, need to get your shit tonight and get laid.”

Michael was right. He is going to let loose tonight and maybe kiss a girl or two. He was Marco Valentin Peña, the famous MVP who swooned girls back in his high school years just by a mere smirk. Two-years-ago Marco would laugh at him if he saw his current self. No way.  

Nodding to himself, Marco went straight to his room, analyzing his wardrobe. Tonight he needed to get his shit together and forget her.

[jedimaesteryoda]

Euron: The Deconstruction of the Romantic Pirate Captain

Portrait courtesy of Mike Hallstein. 

Warning: Spoilers for The Winds of Winter

Pirate fiction is a popular sub-genre with a rich history in both literature and film from Treasure Island to Pirates of the Caribbean. As David Cordingly pointed out in Under the Black Flag: The Romance and the Reality of Life Among the Pirates, pirate fiction’s popularity can be given to these stories often taking place in far off places with many of the readers coming from the colder Northern hemisphere, and the bulk of these pirate stories taking place in the tropical Caribbean during the Golden Age of Piracy (1650-1730). It is also the adventure providing a form of escapism with many readers and viewers often living monotonous lives. As a result, pirates have been embedded in public consciousness from real-life pirates like Blackbeard to the fictional Long John Silver. Of course, as we’ll later get into, these fun images often contrast with real-life pirates.

In A Song of Ice and Fire, Martin creates an entire culture of pirates known to themselves as the Ironborn though they are less the pirates of the Caribbean and more pseudo-Vikings. Piracy is enshrined in the Old Way, which has the Ironborn “pay the iron price,” or obtain plunder (which can even include people) by taking them at the point of an axe or sword. Many Ironborn have made names for themselves through daring raids, and it is through these exploits that they raise their standing in society, both in material wealth and reputation.  However, there is one such Ironborn who stands out. 

"Some men look larger at a distance," Asha warned. "Walk amongst the cookfires if you dare, and listen. They are not telling tales of your strength, nor of my famous beauty. They talk only of the Crow's Eye; the far places he has seen, the women he has raped and the men he's killed, the cities he has sacked, the way he burnt Lord Tywin's fleet at Lannisport . . ."

-A Feast for Crows, The Iron Captain

Euron “Crow’s Eye” Greyjoy is introduced in A Feast for Crows right after the death of his brother Balon who had exiled him. In a family of pirates and reavers, he is the black sheep of the family, the one who’s hated by everyone else. He manages to stand out from his family and all the other Ironborn through both his cunning and his sadistic cruelty as well as by boldly sailing places where no Ironborn has gone before like Asshai and (dubiously) Valyria. He is the Ironborn closest to a romantic pirate in appearance (which is intentional). 

Euron’s character, from sailing to far-off places and his treasure to his charisma and even his eye patch, makes it clear that Martin borrowed from other pirates in fiction.

Let’s start with the titular character in Captain Blood: His Odyssey, who is not a Romantic Pirate Captain™, he is the Romantic Pirate Captain™. The book was adapted into the 1935 film seen by a young George R.R. Martin with Blood portrayed by the ever-handsome, charming actor who was typecast as the dashing swashbuckler, Errol Flynn. The film’s final duel between Blood and Levasseur (portrayed by Basil Rathbone) is ranked as one of the top sword fights on-screen, with Martin himself ranking it alongside the duel between Inigo Montoya and the Man in Black in The Princess Bride. 

A common trope in pirate fiction (though less so in real-life in the Golden Age of Piracy) is the pirate captain being an aristocrat or an educated man of some standing in society who is forced to become a pirate as a result of unfortunate circumstances. Peter Blood is a sharp-witted, handsome Irish doctor and veteran who is arrested for treason for attending to a wounded rebel during the Monmouth Rebellion. Blood is later sold as a slave and transported to Barbados to serve under the brutal master, Colonel Bishop, and manages to form a relationship with Bishop’s niece, Arabella. Subsequently, he is forced to become a pirate after the Spanish attack on Barbados, leading a crew of his fellow convict-slaves to freedom, and becoming one of the most feared and well-known pirates in the Caribbean. However, he manages to adhere to his own personal code and maintain some semblance of honor as a pirate while the legitimate authority figures in this story like Deputy-Governor Bishop, French commander Baron de Rivarol and Admiral Don Miguel de Espinoza as well as King James II (unseen) tend to be worse than the actual pirates. He preys on only Spanish ships and settlements (enemies of Great Britain who are treated as stock villains in the story) never on English or Dutch ones, operating more as a privateer than a pirate. He also chivalrously rescues women from other pirates and Spanish soldiers. 

I have said already that he was a papist only when it suited him.

-Captain Blood, Chapter XVI: The Trap

No godless man may sit the Seastone Chair."

-A Feast for Crows, The Prophet

Peter and Euron both can claim descent from island nations (Ireland and Iron Isles) with a history of nationalist sentiment against domination by a larger neighbor (England/Great Britain and mainland Westeros under the Iron Throne). Euron is sharp-witted and “the most comely of Lord Quellon's sons,” coming from the most powerful noble house on the Iron Islands, and is forced to leave after being condemned and exiled by his brother Balon. Euron then pursues a life of piracy, and earns the moniker of “as black a pirate as ever raised a sail,” one of the most feared pirates in the known world. In their respective stories, Euron and Peter demonstrate themselves to be brilliant, talented commanders, always managing to defeat their foes and win battles with their wits, with examples being Blood’s gambit in managing to escape past Espinosa in the raid on Maracaibo and Euron’s strategy in the taking of the Shield Islands. They are also known for their boldness and daring among their fellows. 

What but ruin and disaster could be the end of this grotesque pretension? How could it be hoped that England would ever swallow such a Perkin? And it was on his [James, 1st Duke of Monmouth] behalf, to uphold his fantastic claim, that these West Country clods, led by a few armigerous Whigs, had been seduced into rebellion!

“Quo, quo, scelesti, ruitis?” [Latin for “Where, where are you rushing to, wicked ones?”]

-Captain Blood: His Odyssey, Chapter I: The Messenger

“I shall give you Lannisport. Highgarden. The Arbor. Oldtown. The riverlands and the Reach, the kingswood and the rainwood, Dorne and the marches, the Mountains of the Moon and the Vale of Arryn, Tarth and the Stepstones. I say we take it all! I say, we take Westeros."

- A Feast for Crows, The Drowned Man

Of course, while Blood saw the Monmouth Rebellion as madness with his only involvement being healing a wounded rebel, Euron (described as madder than Balon) actually fought in the Greyjoy Rebellion (where Balon like James, 1st Duke of Monmouth, unsuccessfully tried to crown himself), and hatched the plan to burn the Lannister fleet at port. Blood is an innocent man unjustly condemned for following his Hippocratic Oath while Euron is a guilty man condemned for raping and impregnating his brother’s salt wife. Euron's crew is made up of slaves like Blood’s, but unlike Blood, he was never a slave himself whose slave crewmen joined him willingly, but a slave master who bought or captured them, and then compelled them to serve in his crew. Captain Blood returns after being pardoned (after the king who convicted him, James II, is overthrown) for saving Jamaica from a French assault, and chosen to be its governor, replacing his nemesis, Colonel Bishop, who ironically, was removed for abandoning his post in search of Blood. Euron likewise returns to the Iron Islands after arranging Balon’s death, and takes his post as King of the Iron Islands and Lord of Pyke, at first through intimidation, violence and bribes and later through a kingsmoot. Although, I would argue that like Colonel Bishop, Balon was an unsympathetic, incompetent ruler with an ultimately doomed invasion of the North and uprisings to go with Bishop’s doomed pursuit of Blood.  

Blood looks out for his countrymen, and went to great lengths to avoid the sacrificing of his own men while Greyjoy only looks out for himself, even sacrificing and murdering his fellow Ironborn for his own ends. Peter rescues women from would-be rapists and kidnappers while Euron kidnaps and rapes them. 

If he resisted so long, it was, I think, the thought of Arabella Bishop that restrained him. That they should be destined never to meet again did not weigh at first, or, indeed, ever. He conceived the scorn with which she would come to hear of his having turned pirate, and the scorn, though as yet no more than imagined, hurt him as if it were already a reality. And even when he conquered this, still the thought of her was ever present. He compromised with the conscience that her memory kept so disconcertingly active. He vowed that the thought of her should continue ever before him to help him keep his hands as clean as a man might in this desperate trade upon which he was embarking. And so, although he might entertain no delusive hope of ever winning her for his own, of ever even seeing her again, yet the memory of her was to abide in his soul as a bitter-sweet, purifying influence. The love that is never to be realized will often remain a man's guiding ideal. The resolve being taken, he went actively to work. Ogeron, most accommodating of governors, advanced him money for the proper equipment of his ship the Cinco Llagas, which he renamed the Arabella. This after some little hesitation, fearful of thus setting his heart upon his sleeve. 

-Captain Blood: His Odyssey, Chapter XIII: Tortuga

"Who knows more of gods than I? Horse gods and fire gods, gods made of gold with gemstone eyes, gods carved of cedar wood, gods chiseled into mountains, gods of empty air . . . I know them all. I have seen their peoples garland them with flowers, and shed the blood of goats and bulls and children in their names. And I have heard the prayers, in half a hundred tongues. Cure my withered leg, make the maiden love me, grant me a healthy son. Save me, succor me, make me wealthy . . . protect me! Protect me from mine enemies, protect me from the darkness, protect me from the crabs inside my belly, from the horselords, from the slavers, from the sellswords at my door. Protect me from the Silence." He laughed.

-A Feast for Crows, The Iron Captain

Peter is loyal to one woman, Arabella, never finding companionship with another, and even rescues her from Don Miguel. Euron, by contrast, never had a single romantic relationship, just taking the daughter of the Lord of Oakenshield as his mistress, and later cutting her tongue out, and having her chained to his ship’s prow. Peter named his ship for Arabella, whose name means “yielding to prayer.” As well as reflecting his love for a certain woman, it represented his personal commitment to keeping to some semblance of honor and morality. Euron, in direct contrast, named his ship Silence, as a way of mocking his victims’ prayers of protection that are answered with only silence from both the gods and with death. The ship itself tellingly has a black iron likeness of a beautiful woman without a mouth. 

Peter is shown to be merciful as he spared his enemies like Colonel Bishop and Don Miguel, as opposed to Euron’s mercilessness shown by having Blacktyde cut into seven pieces and Lord Hewett killed after capturing him. Peter is a noble gentleman and honorable rogue while Euron is an ignoble, black-hearted scoundrel. I would argue that as a character, Peter Blood is closer to Jon Snow than he is to Euron Greyjoy, or if you’re going for characters on the Iron Isles, he is closer to Lord Rodrik “the Reader” Harlaw with a shared scholarly disposition, and Harlaw’s attitude towards the Greyjoy rebellions being virtually the same as Blood’s towards the Monmouth Rebellion. 

GRRM likely also had at least one other pirate in fiction in mind when writing Euron.

Long John Silver is the prototypical pirate from Treasure Island where many pirate tropes in pop culture get their inspiration from, and in Long John’s case, he has the talking parrot and the missing leg. He is the ship’s cook who turns out to be the pirate captain organizing a mutiny on the Hispaniola. 

intelligent and smiling. Indeed, he seemed in the most cheerful spirits, whistling as he moved about among the tables, with a merry word or a slap on the shoulder for the more favoured of his guests.  

Now, to tell you the truth, from the very first mention of Long John in Squire Trelawney's letter I had taken a fear in my mind that he might prove to be the very one-legged sailor whom I had watched for so long at the old Benbow. But one look at the man before me was enough. I had seen the captain, and Black Dog, and the blind man, Pew, and I thought I knew what a buccaneer was like — a very different creature, according to me, from this clean and pleasant-tempered landlord.

-Treasure Island, VIII: At the Sign of the Spy-glass

Euron had seduced them with his glib tongue and smiling eye

-A Feast for Crows, The Reaver

Euron and Long John both manage to stand out from their fellow pirates in a number of ways. What people often miss in Treasure Island is that Long John being a pirate captain is a plot twist. Jim doesn’t suspect Silver of being a pirate upon meeting him given while the first pirates we met in the book clearly gave the impression that they’re pirates though their heavy drinking, cursing and violent, threatening behavior, Silver by contrast is polite, well-mannered, courteous, warm and charming. He is usually sober and self-controlled, and greets you with a warm smile on his face. Likewise, the Ironborn reavers tend to display the same rough characteristics as the pirates in Stevenson’s book while Euron by contrast is charming and well-spoken, and we usually see him with a smile on his face. Long John also stands out through his intelligence which is shown in the way he manages his money well rather than spending it all away like other pirates, thinking about long-term planning, and coming up with a plan to find Flint’s treasure by deceiving Squire Trelawney into recruiting his men as crew members on the Hispaniola. Euron is shown to be intelligent and cunning as well when he takes the Shield Islands by not following the coastline and sailing out to sea to avoid being seen, and marrying Asha off to Erik Ironmaker, effectively removing her as a threat. Both men win their leadership positions through their charisma, force of personality, intelligence and lofty promises with taking Flint’s treasure in Long John’s case and all of Westeros in Euron’s case. Of course, Euron’s plan like Long John’s will likely not end well for his followers.  

However, both pirates are basically con men with their friendly demeanor being masks. Ben Gunn noted that Captain Flint feared no one, but added the exception of Silver. One could see why as Silver could be charming and courteous on the outside, but upon reaching the titular island, one witnessed the rage and capacity for violence that existed within this man when he coldly murdered Tom Redruth for refusing to join him. Euron likewise can be charming on the outside, but his true nature comes out in certain moments like drowning Lord Botley in a cask of seawater, and cutting Lord Blacktyde into seven pieces for refusing to submit to him. 

The similarities seem to end there. Look more closely, and you’ll find plenty of contrasts that separate the two characters. 

I’m [Long John] fifty mark you; once, back from this cruise, I set up gentleman in earnest. 

-Treasure Island, XI: What I Heard in the Apple Barrel

Lord Balon's eldest brother had never given up the Old Way, even for a day. His Silence, with its black sails and dark red hull, was infamous in every port from Ibben to Asshai, it was said.

-A Clash of Kings, Theon II

Long John Silver has a talking parrot that repeated phrases while Euron in direct contrast has an entire crew of mutes. Silver is actually missing a leg while Euron wears an eye patch despite not missing an eye. Although to be fair, many pirates wore eye patches despite having both eyes, since they frequently had to move above and below decks, from daylight to near darkness. Keeping a patch over one eye adapted it to the darkness, and if a pirate went below decks, he could just switch the patch to the other eye and see in the darkness more easily. In this case, Euron keeps his eye patch to hide his black “crow’s eye” and show his blue “smiling eye,” symbolically showing how he uses his smiling, charming light exterior to hide his dark side. Long John Silver also managed to be a legitimate businessman by owning a pub in Bristol in between acting as a pirate, and he planned to use his share of Flint’s treasure to settle down as a gentleman and retire from piracy. Euron was never engaged in anything resembling legitimate business as he stuck to piracy, and he only left piracy to set himself up as a reaver king of the Ironborn, and basically just do a large-scale version of what he did before. 

While Long John Silver did employ murder, he used it in a calculated manner in pursuit of a larger goal. He didn’t kill people randomly, but to get rid of the people likely to stand in the way of his obtaining Flint’s treasure: the sailors who wouldn’t mutiny with him and the people commanding the voyage. Euron also uses murder in a calculated manner against people who oppose him such as his brothers and dissident lords, but he also engages in random acts of violence that don’t provide any clear benefit to himself such as when he murdered a hedge wizard and cut out the tongue of Falia. There is also a level of sadism to his actions that Long John’s lacked such as feeding a warlock to his cohorts, chaining people to the bows of ships, and making the Hewett women serve naked. 

Long John Silver also does have some redemptive qualities such as seeming to genuinely care for Jim Hawkins to the point of risking his life when his crew wanted to harm him. Euron wouldn’t have stuck his neck out for Jim, but had the kid’s tongue cut out and used him as a slave at best. Long John also seems to be good to his wife going by the level of trust he put in her while Euron never really seems to genuinely care for anyone but himself. He is unmarried, and doesn’t seem to treat the women he’s laid with well if his mistress Falia is anything to go.

At first glance, Euron Greyjoy has a lot of the qualities that invite admiration of the romantic pirate captain: intelligence, charm, charisma and boldness/daring. However, he lacks the human qualities, ie the honor and nobility often found in these characters that keep them from being just villainous rogues. He is a handsome aristocrat who turns to piracy after being exiled from his home, but unlike other pirates in this trope, neither his backstory nor his present situation evoke any sympathy. He isn’t a good man who is unjustly condemned, but an admitted rapist and murderer who managed to avoid justice for his deeds. He uses the pirate tropes to win support from the Ironborn who esteem the Old Way that glorifies piracy. Martin effectively uses Euron to deconstruct the romantic pirate captain trope by showing how romanticism is often used to pretty up ugly things, in this case, piracy, by revealing the dark reality behind them. Piracy is, at the end of the day, a profession of armed robbery with pirate captains usually being capable of savage cruelty and violence. In real life, good pirate captains like the fictional Peter Blood amongst others were incredibly difficult to find given good people generally avoided such line of work. Even so, no matter how good a man a character like Blood was, he still obtained much of his wealth and prestige from robbing ships and settlements with the justification being that they were Spanish, enemies of Britain. Essentially, it is an argument based on the premise of total war. The Ironborn philosophy is practically the same mindset, but unlike with Blood, we got to see the side of the victims of their predations on the Shield Islands and the North. 

The way the Ironborn view piracy can be similar to how plenty of people in the real world view piracy in fiction and even real-life. The reader could ask how could the Ironborn admire people like Euron, to which one could just as easily ask how could people esteem Sir Henry Morgan to the point of naming a popular rum label for him (with the slogan “Live like the Captain”)? Euron and the rest of the Ironborn effectively have the reader critique the romantic attitudes towards piracy found in popular culture. 

On a final note, another key difference between Euron and the romantic pirate captain will likely be how his story ends. The pirate captain usually gets a happy ending, settling down with all the considerable wealth he acquired over his career in piracy. After his victory against the French in Jamaica in a final battle, Peter Blood gets his pardon, is made Deputy-Governor of Jamaica, gets the girl, Arabella, and settles down to a comfortable retirement from piracy. Long John Silver, even though he was the main antagonist rather than the protagonist, escaped the Hispaniola with "three hundred or four hundred guineas” likely to reunite with his wife. Euron’s story likely won’t be a happy ending with him winning a glorious final battle before settling down to a comfortable retirement with the beautiful girl, Daenerys, but more likely him being killed with the battle turning out to be a disastrous defeat for his fellow Ironborn. 

In this story, where the romantic pirate captain is the villain, he and his fellow pirates will get no hero’s reward, but instead their comeuppance. 

We will likely see how his story ends in The Winds of Winter. 

[fruitylibrarian]

quest of the spear live rewatch!

i already spewed my pre call to adventure flynn thoughts all over a text post but I would like to repeat: pre-canon flynn my beloved <3

yes he is a bit of a bastard but he just loves his books and he’s so genuinely just like. passionate and like…. Big? does that make sense? like i mean inside. not literally. bright

flynn’s mom is so fucking funny

and she’s Trying Her Best

you know one thing I don’t understand, I assume that flynn could afford to keep going to college because of like grants and scholarships since he’s all smart and like, even if his mom is well off, no one below the morally bankrupt millionaire line can pay for 22 degrees and not die of no-money-itis otherwise known as Starving

but like. why not become a professor or some other academia position?

you’d be incredibly overqualified and you’re a white dude, so while academia isn’t exactly bursting with new spaces to fill I’m sure you could find something???? and like. a professor in particular, while baby flynn might not be great at the connection part, seems like a natural progression to at least try for considering it keeps you in that comfort zone and familiar space just in a different albeit familiar role, and allows you to go on long lectures people can’t interrupt. and like, professors literally like, part of their job is research and to continue learning, so like. it seems like the natural choice for him to go for?

don’t get me wrong, baby flynn in particular might not be extremely well suited considering his lack of people skills, but plenty of professors are brilliant slightly odd smarties who give long, super engaging theatrical lectures (sounds like him!) but suck at one on one meetings and talking to people or may be accidentally insulting, but like, their class is genuinely interesting and they grade decently so like, I think he could get past that hurdle is what I’m saying

obviously he’d have to work at it and get the skills necessary but you know what that means? MORE SCHOOL, BABY! just in a different direction! like just? it seems like the obvious choice for his situation

ah yes!!! magic letter!!! it’s kind of funny they do this, it’s a great hook and way to make applicants go Uh Excuse Me and want to know more but also like, there’s no proof magic happened either?

although you’d think some people would get obsessive like let me tell you if i encountered real ass magic like that i wouldn’t stop until i had an answer

ah the Incredibly Long Interview Line. it’s kinda how funny how like. Not Special he is but at the same time he is?

“never been treated so badly in my entire life!” what did you say to him charlene

i’m sure he deserved it i just want to know

wait oh no i just realized

all these people are dead

every single one of them got murdered in the first episode of the series

jesus that’s dark

not gonna be able to stop thinking about that one huh

also love how it’s pretty evenly men and women

although it’s still mostly white

fuck that lady just left crying I know they’re doing this to turn up the drama but DAMN, charlene

god he almost gave up. remember the timeline episode where he never became the librarian? weird.

Gkjlfkgjhfglh Where Do You Think You’re Going? (weak gesture like “me?”) Yes You. Get In Here amazing how can she even see him she’s around the CORNER. camera? magical surveillance? why? just to freak people out? amazing.

i do so love charlene, it’s a shame she wasn’t in the show more

also she literally never explains shit. What Makes You Think You Can Be The Librarian he doesn’t even know what that means, charlene

He Doesn’t Even Have A Library Science Degree

oh wow he does actually have librarian qualifications lmao

why did i not remember that

DLKFGJDFG I did remember him sherlocking her tho

wait her MARRIAGE? to WHO?

i thought her and judson were a thing despite jenkins being into her or something?

huh

also why does this qualify him to be The Librarian™ like oh he can sherlock? ok?

maybe it’s just bc he had the balls to do it

well, the sherlock thing is also not completely unhelpful it just doesn’t seem central to his skills, or at least, not the way he uses it (do we see him use it like this again? he usually applies more obscure knowledge then ye classic deduction sherlockian skills if I remember correctly which I may not because my brain is smooth)

judson is such a fucking drama queen

LKDJFGLKDJFGLDKFJG I FUCKING FORGOT HE LITERALLY JUST FUCKING REPEATED HIS MOM’S LITTLE PHRASE AMAZING

also why did he seem to think her sending everyone home meant he didn’t get it why would she stop all interviews because you fucked up

he just fucking walked out of a wall judson you are so dramatic

also warehouse 13 vibes huh. welcome to a world of endless wonder

I could do a whole fucking thesis on warehouse 13 and the librarians or—well that’s a whole other tangent

anYWYA

this interview was remarkably easy tho, it’s not like he wasn’t impressive but it wasn’t mindblowing either????? this coming from a big fan of flynn

the big shiny wonderous eyes as the library lights up……flynn my beloved

also his floofy hair ldkfgjdlkfgj

he’s like this is too good am I being prank’d

why the mona lisa?????iIs the mona lisa magic??? It only became famous because it got stolen why would it be magic??? Is this one of those we make it magic by believing it or some shit things???

Flynn Do Not Open The Random Box In The Library Of Incredibly Dangerous Artifacts

oh hello excalibur !!

oh rip flynn immediately being like “oh im not worthy, trust me” with 100 percent certainty im hurt oof

KSJFLGKDJGLKDJG THE APPLE “the apple from the garden of eden…….” *judson takes a bite* “actually I just left this here”

excalibur hello properly!!!!

judson is such a fucking DRAMA QUEEN he’s so casual!! and cal you too you slippery bitch!  

ah the jetpack.

DLFKGJDLKFGJ “it usually takes a new librarian four hours to find the jetpack. you did it in three! congratulations” love the implication that every librarian (at least since it was added to the library) has done this no matter how serious like the bad guy of this movie… *checks notes* edware wilde? jetpack. darrington dare, probably? jetpack. i like to think jenkins did it too (not technically a librarian, but you know)

flynn thinking of himself as embarrassing… ☹

HIS MOM IS SO PROUD OF HIM

part sweet, part funny, part rip

I don’t know what she was expecting when he said librarian tho like. originally he literally looked at shit for FRY COOk degrees don’t always mean shit you know

and librarian is up there with professor in Perfect Jobs For Flynn like what did you expect??? Like even if he’d become an archaeologist (a “cool” job) it’s not like that pays super well either as far as I know??

he was never going to be Traditionally Successful

he’s still the same person he still has the same strengths and passions of course he would go into academia and do something like librarian like????? her reaction saddens me.

just be happy for him!! look at him!!!

ok first of all even normal non magic librarians don’t just put books on shelves and that’s a condescending reduction of the job, and second of all, he is so happy!! he has a job, he’s taking responsibility, he’s meeting people, isn’t that enough??? isn’t that literally what you wanted??? even if it WERE what you think it is why couldn’t it just be a good first step??? like??? fuck??? you did been know that he was doing all those fancy degrees because he loved them not because they’d get him some super fancy job??? I mean egyptology is not the most profitable field you know this isn’t med school or whatever

god.

flynn’s mom, visibly not proud and very upset: of course im proud of you!

ok im being a little unfair, she’s trying and clearly she’s been supportive of him, if not straight up enabling of him, but like this is clearly being presented as like. normal person who is normal forced to take care of freakish strange son who is so nerdy and strange and a loser and she is so tired of his shenanigans and all that WORK she put in and he’s NOT FANCY AND CHANGING TO CONFORM TO HER IDEALS OF A GOOD SUCCESSFUL SON/MAN?

and that’s just all very. sigh.

the snake brotherhood are such obnoxiously cheesy villainous villains they’re even called the snake brotherhood

also I think we’re supposed to recognize him as the previous librarian from the painting but if I didn’t already know that I for sure would not know that

smartass flynn is a smartass

I never got people bringing someone coffee to impress them unless they knew their order like there’s no way you know who she likes her coffee so you could so easily get it wrong—like even if you don’t know exactly how much sugar she wants, you could also just get it entirely wrong like assume she likes black coffee but she likes it super sweet, or vice versa, or whatever. it can go wrong so easily!

or she could go “I Hate A Kiss Ass”

she did take it anyway tho so.

ah i did forget (or just not actively think about) how much like… christian mythology there is in this show :/ I mean we did been knew (excalibur and arthurian legend are pretty important to the mythology)

not that christian mythology is inherently bad it just gets a) annoying, b) boring, and c) y’know, very western centric and all

but then trying to reconcile di—you know what that’s a tangent for another time

then again I do assume no one is going to read this

the library really does just throw new librarians into death and go “hope this is fine!” huh

did they just imply god is canon in the “the librarian” universe

you were so cryptic with the no one thing!! just say NOONE

he’s scribbling in his notebook and mumbling out loud what a mood and I love him. what a nerd

ldfkgjdlkjg god sexy jazz music and a breeze this is so dumb

I do hate the forced love interests in all these movies it’s always like Some Hot Girl Is There And They Get It On!

like he really had chemistry with eve and banter but here it kinda feels like that wish fulfilment and then the nerd gets the hot chick the end and im saying that as the nerd

it doesn’t help that each movie has a different one who immediately is dropped as if she never existed afterwards

maybe it’s not as bad as I remember but. sigh

my instant impression of her is to not like her sorry nicole :/

she’s just so rude? she’s like. hot (derogatory)

i get there’s gender politics here with like. she’s used to being treated like a piece of meat and generally like, why not reap the benefits when you are going to get the creeps too, but like, also she’s just so unnecessarily rude—I mean rejecting his clumsy flirting is one thing but you know—ok I won’t even get into that the point is I just don’t really like her that much even tho I don’t think she’s necessarily a bad person or anything you know

but to be fair I think she got better and I remember her being compelling in her return to the show

and like. I do like how the trend in this franchise is “smart little nerd librarian and badass lady guardian kicks ass” but I do wish that it turned around occasionally. we do get cassandra but like. more lady librarians

wow an air marshal? aren’t they rarely even on flights?

sorry im being nitpicky there for sure lmao. please delete the cinamasins ding my words probably summoned from your brain

I get why shoving him out was necessary but also Wow

Gjklhkjfgh imagine sitting next to some mumbling nerd the whole flight and then you see him fly past the windows

LFKGJDLKJDFG he brilliantly lowers our expectations then jumps without a chute! remarkable!

hilarious or commentary on men getting credit for womens’ competency? why not both

i really thought that she was going to be a lying liar the first time I watched this

ah naïve boy. “uh that’s against the law”

flynn’s greatest strength isn’t just his knowledge but his like. breadth of different topics, just like, passion for learning of any time, and like. the ability to not just know a lot of different things but cross-reference and apply them to each other and use them in tandem to understand a greater whole

and we love that for him!

ah flynn therapizing himself lmao

why would she take him going “this bridge is rotting and physically cant support our weight” as a challenge

or him being cowardly like THE STRUCTURAL SUPPORTS ARE ROTTING

YEAH WHAT DID YOU EXPECT OF COURSE HE FUCKING FELL

ok i lied i like nicole i just don’t love their dynamic

i get what they’re going for i just. not my thing

like with eve there was still a clear mutual respect? i guess? idk

maybe it’s just because i’m more sensitive to mean banter? i don’t like mean banter, even when it’s like, def 100 percent well meaning and not mean spirited and no one is actually offended or hurt

although despite not liking their Thing I do a) think it’s very cute how he looks at her, b) their vibe as they start to get to know each other is Better, c) the end of the movie scene where she rides in for maximum drama? now that was good shit.

oh he’s sherlocking her in a shy attempt to impress her but it’s only going to piss her off, right?

oh she’s just sherlocking him back

KSGFJLDKFGJ LMAO “nerd” and that’s it. fair

Cutting Off His Head damn that’s hardcore

hmmmm cringe,

and more cringe

and cringe.

her waking up to him gone right after telling that story about waking up to her librarian gone and then killed—oof

love the serpent brotherhood lady being like wow!! he’s SO COMPETENT!! (cuts to him screaming)

do these ancient traps just have infinite arrows?

also I do love the whole waltzing across trope what can I say im a sucker

DFLKGLDKFGJLDKJG fucking CHUCKS SOMETHING AT IT and immediately where he would be standing is crushed by a huge rock amazing

he literally just chucked a rock at it and it fell over

ah the classic “let the hero get it for us” move

oh there he is! rip

why does he look like macpherson

not really but kind of

also contrast between the lady always being like “omg the librarian is so smart” and him assuming nicole is the one who did the smart thing

“your tears were perfect” how much more of an asshole can you get

They really could have played him as more sympathetic—“oh, we’re always around these powerful artifacts but we never use them for good! I had to do it, I was sick of sitting back and doing nothing” or like “all those years of danger and guarding powerful things and what good did it ever do me? what do I get for my service?” or anything but nah hes just like “mm power good babes. anyway I love sex and being mean”

to be fair flynn he was the librarian too—a real librarian? I mean yeah edward was corrupted and ultimately failed his duties but he had to have been qualified and actually got the job for a reason

flynn I know you think you sound badass but you really don’t

god not shangri-la again. everything the show did with that was. Bad. yikes

why is—god, I should really learn her name [checks notes] lana fangirling so much?

also following the lamia tradition of “serpent brotherhood second in command who is more interesting than the main evil white guy and also a pretty woc” huh

never got like “this is literally impossible” “well do it or I [generic bad guy threat]” like usually that means nothing lmao

LDFKGJLDKFJLDKFGJ ok first of all god is me? bitch?

second of all. me in english? on this fucking ancient very much not english thing? I mean I guess a) it might not be literal, even though he did say “m, e” by letters, b) it is a christian myth so maybe planted later??? but like?????

dude. giving the super powerful artifact to your prisoner? bad idea. if you’re worried about booby traps have a minion do it.

oh yes your gun is so scary in the face of a temple collapsing

why do heroes always think the whatever is safer with them than the temple that’s guarded it for a thousand years

I get it’s been discovered but like. fuck. still

You Are Going To Crash This Helicopter

SLKGJ HORRIBLE HIGH VELOCITY PIE OF DEATH

flynn and judson…..wholesome

oh here comes more forced romance

just let them be friends who grow to mutually respect each other blease

it is very fucking funny that the mom is like ….. oh my god…. oh my god,,, a WOMAN AJUST ANSEWREDM Y SDONGS PHONE?????????OH MY GOFD?????

he is bisexual. but it’s good he’s getting out

ah floofy hair

cahooting,

Yes You Do Need Clothes

that’s a teleporter sir

god eddie wild is such a boring fucking villain and person

and his plan SUCKS

also the serpent brotherhood (why BROTHERhood?) sucks and hates the library why would they just let this guy, a librarian, literally be their new leader

wow he just stabbed a guy on his OWN TEAM for no reason

great going asshole

love how lana is just like…. O-O

we stan lana. she hasn’t done much and she’s technically a bad guy i just love her

“at last we can be one” what does that even mean

why would lana or any of them want to help him he just killed one of their own for no reason hes clearly tripping on power and leaving yall to die

lfkgjdlkfgj flynn dodging so hard while the others is fight and then PUNCHING A GUY

dfglkjdflgkj wait it’s the professor dude why is that so funny

is he WITH THEM??? I think I just missed something

hold on a sec

yeah I think he just appears??? And flynn just fucking broke his nose iconic

wait so was he with them or is he just here going WHY ARE THERE RANDOM PEOPLE IN MY PYRAMID????????????

oh right he built the—ok I got it

Wait what

I mean I did think lana was neat and she seemed impressed with flynn but what shes just like, in love with him now? that makes zero fucking sense why would she want them to Be Together

Is it just so there can be a catfight between the two hot chicks?

seriously tho? morally pure blonde blue eyed girl versus Evil Asian Chick? really?

for the record NOT THAT IT MATTERS but lana is way cuter im just saying

ah badass judson

THE COMEDY OF THE CAPSTONE CRUSHING HIM DLFKGJDLKFGJ

oh………….pulling out excalibur…. predicable but so good

oh the painting….the very Parenty way of revealing it…… wholesome

oh did NOT like that transition

oh here comes the badass fucking entrance with his gf busting in on his mom trying to set him up with girls

HER ENTRANCE IS SO UNNECESSARAILY DRAMATIC I LOVE THEM

I just love the mom’s face ldfkgjldfkgjdlkfgjdlkfjgd shes like WHAT THEGUFVCJK

again I don’t love the vibes of “oh my weird loser son is finally normal!” but to be fair im exaggerating a bit from just facial expressions it’s just. sigh

but ngl the vindication of him being able to be like. yeah that’s right im a badass now and my gf is cool as fuck is still good

him and nicole do have not terrible vibes at the end but if I remember correctly that mission (time travelling ninjas and hg wells’s time machine) is the one that separated them so rip I guess

overall: good movie! as cringe as I remember but I still love flynn so much

[renee-writer]

A Druid Healer Chapter 11 A Fitting Punishment

She cried until she had no tears left then looked up at her mentor, her friend. “Will I be banished? I drew blood. It is a serious thing.”

“It is. Us druids are not to do such. But Earl Jamie told me why. The creature dared to try to take from you what you couldn’t give. No, my daughter, you will not be banished. But, you must be punished.”

“Yes, and what is my punishment?”

“You must stay in the king's service for five years, then you may return. You will be his ward, under guardianship of the court. He will determine who you will marry. That is a good thing as I am not sure I can let you go. You know your uncle was like a brother to me.”

“Let me go?”

“Come Claire, I am not so blind to see how Earl Jamie feels for you.”

“You know then?”

“That he wishes to court you, yes. Just the way he speaks of you, with his eyes alight, tells me thus. Is your punishment, “ another wink,” acceptable.”

“Yes! Thank you Master Flynn.”

“We need to speak to the king. Get dressed while I go and speak to this defiler of woman.” He opens the door and calls for water to be brought in for the healer to be cleaned. When they go to do it, he tells her,” I will be back to escort you to the king. Remember, you are being punished. You may not come home, nor seek our aid, but you may write to me. I just ask you remain a druid.” She nods as water is brought in and he slips out.

Master Raymond finds Claire's assailant still chained to the wall and gagged. He asks his guards to leave. They do and he removes the gag.

“So, I and my Claire, are witches and heretics, are we. Deserve to be burned at the stake.” Frank is frozen in fear against the wall. There is ancient power in this man, power he knows he needs to fear. “You dare try to assualt Claire. Your king let you off easy.” He walks closer and whispers in his ear.He then walks away.

The guards reenter in time to see Frank bang his head against the stone wall. They are unable and maybe a bit unwilling to stop him. He beats his own head in and dies against the wall. The guards decide neither the king or Earl Jamie needs bothered by his death.

“He was to sail with the Spanish today. Let's say he did.” One suggests. They agree and take him down. The wall is washed clean and the former earl thrown into the trash fire outside the castle. He won't be missed.

Master Flynn escorts Claire to the thrown room. They both bow low.

“Master Flynn. I am glad you could join us and Healer Claire I am glad to see you up and about.”

“Thank you your Highness.” They both say.

“King Edward, Claire has been punished for drawing blood. As it was in defense of herself, she will not be banished. But, she needs to stay, in your court for five years. She may serve you during that time and you may see her married, if that suits.

“It does. She will be an asset to my court and village. Why, just today, she treated a kitchen maid's cut when she brought her in water. My servants and my lady wife adore her. As for marriage, I think Earl Jamie will be quite pleased.”

The Queen and Jamie enter. The queen is delighted to see Claire. She cradles the little prince.

“Grand news. Healer Claire will be with us for awhile longer and I will arrange her marriage.”

“Grand news indeed.” Jamie meets her eyes and she blushes.

“How wonderful. Our son and I are happy to hear it.”

“As am I your Majesty. May I hold him.”

“Yes. He has missed you.” She takes the baby in her arms and sits down to sing to him. He relaxes under her song. Jamie watches with his heart hammering. He will ask her to officially court when he takes her into Edinburg in the morrow. He is sure there be herbs she needs.

[unseenthewriter]

CHAPTER 3: TRANSGRESSIONS

Chapter 3: 2865 Words

Fic Total: 8214 Words

Series Total: 8214 Words

"Hey, Dunc." I said softly after sliding the door to his room open.

"Jay you are soaking wet." Dunc said and shut his laptop.

"Yeah, I was taking a walk." I replied.

"When it's pouring out?" He questioned.

"It wasn't raining when I started the walk." I replied while rubbing the back of my neck.

Duncan took a moment to process that. "But it's been raining for almost 3 hours now…" He trailed off.

"Long walk." I said with my voice cracking a little.

"Man you do NOT treat your body well." Duncan sighed.

He's not wrong. I sat down in the chair near him. "Look I uh… need your advice on something but I have to explain a lot of stuff first." I said.

"I mean you've already told me you're trans and all. What bigger secret could you have? You don't have a crush on me do you?" He asked.

"What! No!" I instantly shot down. I do totally have a crush on Duncan but I'm not admitting that to anyone anytime soon. Not even myself.

Duncan squinted at me after that quick denial. "What is it then?" He asked.

I explained the situation with my Mom and finding out about House being my Father. Duncan listened intently the whole time.

Once I explained it all to Dunc he spoke up. "Right so your Mom died a few months ago and you ran off to Princeton to find your Father and you found him." He summed up.

"Basically?" I replied.

"What advice do you need then because if you're thinking about running back to Minnesota I would very much protest to that." Dunc said.

"No, it's not anything like that. I just… House doesn't know I'm Transgender." I stumbled over my words.

"Right. So your options here are. One you tell him and risk being thrown out because he might be transphobic. Or two not tell him. Try to keep it a secret and when he eventually finds out risk being thrown out because you lied to him or he's transphobic." Duncan said.

"Yeah, those are the options." I grumbled.

"You said that Wilson and House are together right?" Duncan asked. "Not surprised by that at all." He added softly.

"Yeah? I don't see why that really applies." I said.

"Look you and I both know Wilson is a nice guy. And if he's you know…" Dunc trailed off letting me fill in that blank. "He might know the best way to approach this."

I blinked. A third option. I mean no matter what I do Wilson would also find out eventually anyway. You all live together-

Woah Jay don't jump to that. This could all still be very much a temporary reprieve.

But this IS a pretty good option. A lot less… Scary than straight-up approaching House. And the not telling option is just a bad choice overall really. "God I'm so glad you're my friend Dunc." I sighed in relief.

"Hey. Just because you're the genius doesn't mean you're not an idiot at times." He joked.

"Hey! You better not be calling your science tutor an idiot!" I protested.

"I didn't say you were an idiot at science. We'd both be in trouble if that was the case." Dunc said.

I laughed at that. "Thanks again, Dunc. You're like my… Relationship Filter. You know how people work I don't."

"Hmmm, shame I suck at science. Maybe I'd be a good therapist." Duncan replied.

"I wouldn't rule it out, man. You got Jay Flynn as your science tutor." I said and flexed one of my arms.

"Dude you are even lankier than me and I'm the one with cancer." Duncan laughed.

"I work out the muscle that counts." I huffed.

"Even I know the brain isn't a muscle." Duncan said.

"See! I am a good tutor!" I replied.

"Hey! Don't you dare move away from me being right about something science wise and YOU being wrong." Dunc protested.

"What? Sorry, can't hear you over my newly inflated sense of self-worth!" I exclaimed while walking out the door.

"I'm texting you about this you ass!" Dunc yelled to me as I shut the door.

I walked off with a smile.

~~~

The weekend passed with me not being able to get up the nerve to come out of the closet to Wilson.

Duncan, of course, told me that he's keeping my copy of Elder Scrolls Oblivion hostage until I tell Wilson. I would've tried to take it back but he's out of the hospital for now.

Teachers have of course noticed that I've been VERY distracted all day. I'm just not even sure how to bring this up. My Mom just found my binder one day making the whole situation out of my hands but this? This is very much all on me.

"Jay! You don't normally volunteer on Mondays. I wasn't expecting you." Wilson said after I walked into his office.

I sat down in the chair in front of his desk. Just tell him, Jay. Just tell him.

"You okay? You look really pale." Wilson commented.

It's fine Jay. Wilson is a nice guy. Probably the nicest guy you've ever met. That's including your old gymnastics coach who would sneak you ice cream every meet.

"Look I uh-" I tried to say what I wanted but couldn't. The words were just getting caught in my throat. My brain just wanted me to run. Getaway from this confrontation.

"Did something happen?" Wilson asked.

I looked up at him. He concerned now. God, you are REALLY screwing this up. "N-No I just." I paused and took a breath. "I'm Transgender." I finished softly.

Wilson blinked. He clearly didn't expect this. "I forgot how awkward this all was." He finally said with a bit of a fond smile.

Ah, right it's because he's Gay or Bi or something. "I-I um. I don't know how to tell House I mean. LGB people can still be transphobic and even other trans people!" I rambled without really realizing what I was saying before it was said.

Wilson chuckled. "He'll be fine with it."

"How do you know?" I asked.

"I'm a Trans Man." Wilson said with a shrug and went back to paperwork.

My brain once again hit a wall at 100 miles per hour.

Wilson is trans? God he must be stealth and… who knows how long he's been on testosterone! I never even expected. Not even a tiny bit.

I let my brain reboot. "So how do I tell House?" I asked.

"Being direct with him." Wilson said.

Yeah, Wilson is probably right about that. House doesn't seem like the guy who would respond well to any sort of indirect approach. Unfortunately, I'm absolutely terrible at confrontation I mean… This conversation with Wilson could've been a lot better.

Wilson was eyeing me. "Does House scare you?" He asked suddenly.

"What! No! I just um…" I trailed off. Sure House is a little intimidating but that's fine. Lots of people who look intimidating aren't that intimidating when you get to know them. I'm not sure if that's the case with House but that's beside the point. I can deal with intimidating people. On a surface level at least. But when I have to go deeper… I don't open up very easily. Nothing quite like the betrayal of opening up to someone and they then proceed to take advantage of that. Sure that probably means I have trust issues or something but is it really an issue if it's to protect yourself? "I'm not good at this stuff." I finished.

Wilson looked at me with a "yeah no shit" face. "You're both bad at it." He responded.

This is going to be a train wreck.

~~~

“I swear to God Bill I’ve told you 100 times I don’t fucking know how to fix TV’s.” I cursed as I was fiddling with the TV in the Doctor’s Lounge.

A cute blond guy with an Australian accent walked up to me. “You stealing our TV?” He asked.

I quickly turned around on pointe. “No trying to fix it.” I said.

He looked me up and down clearly noticing my Princeton Prep uniform. “You seem a bit young to be working for IT.”

“I’m a volunteer.” I sighed and tapped my badge.

The Aussie Doctor took a quick glance at my badge. “Jay Flynn… You’re House’s kid right?” He asked.

I don’t think I’m going to get used to that question any time soon. “Yes.” I said.

“Ah well, I’m Dr. Chase I used to be one of his fellows before he fired me.” Chase said causally.

I blinked. He what? I mean if Chase is still working here it’s not like he did something really bad so either he did something to piss House off or there wasn’t a real good reason. “Uh sorry, I guess?” I said.

Chase blinked. “It’s not like it was your fault. You’re not that much like him are you?”

I sighed. “He didn’t exactly raise me you know.”

“Hmm, I guess.” Chase mumbled. “Need help?”

“Not really but you can hand me that screwdriver over there I’m going to open this sucker up.” I said.

“Sure thing.” Chase said and threw it at me.

I caught the screwdriver. “What’s an Aussie doing in the US anyway?” I asked as I opened up the TV.

“House.” He said simply and sat down on the couch.

Ah, I guess that makes sense. “Seems like a bit of an ass to work with.” I said.

“Can’t even imagine living with him.” Chase joked.

“You ask Wilson?” I said.

“He’s biased.” Chase said.

“And I’m not? He’s my Biological Father.” I said.

“Well, it’s not like you were raised by him.” Chase said quoting me.

“Ah touché.” I said pointing the screwdriver at him before setting it down. Hmm so someone straight-up just totally went into this TV and wrecked it nice. “I guess I am stealing the TV.” I joked.

~~~

The next couple of days were full of Dunc and Wilson trying to sike me up to tell House. With different methods of course. Wilson was more supportive and understanding. Trying to calm my anxiety. Duncan on the other hand…

"Dude please stop holding my Spider-Man cosplay hostage. You are going to disappoint so many kids this Halloween!" I protested over the phone.

"You only have yourself to blame. You've had this whole week. You tell him tonight and I'll make sure the cosplay will be at PPTH tomorrow yeah?" Dunc replied simply.

Yeah, different methods… The thing is that Duncan KNOWS his method works well on me. This is probably like the 6th time he's done something like this. Wilson's method doesn't hurt, of course.

So now I'm sitting in the chair across from House's desk waiting for him to come back to his office. The large tennis ball was not helping me out. I want to mess around with it SO bad but that's not polite Jay. Not polite. Instead, I'm rapidly bouncing my legs. My eyes closed trying to keep calm.

"Aren't you normally half deep in a bunch of wiring by now?" House said while limping into his office and sitting at the desk.

My eyes snapped open. "Bill didn't need any help today." That was because of Wilson. He made sure I wouldn't have anything to distract myself with today. "Seeing the kids tomorrow for Halloween." I added on.

House raised an eyebrow. "You dressing up?" He asked.

Planning on it. If Duncan keeps up his end of the deal.

"I have a nice Spider-Man cospl- costume. Being able to do flips and stuff really seals the deal." I rambled while subconsciously making the web shooter hands. House probably has already figured out how big of a nerd I am but I really don't want to confirm that by saying cosplay.

"Why are you here?" He asked.

I stared at the tennis ball. Just tell him, Jay. You already told Duncan and Wilson! You can do it again. "I'm Transgender." I said keeping my gaze on the tennis ball.

"I know." House said making my head snap to him.

"How? Did Wilson?" I asked.

"No. I looked you up." House said turning to his computer pulling something up.

It was an online article about 13-year-old me quitting gymnastics because of my gender identity. I was on track to be Olympics level so it caused a little bit of a fuss 3 years ago. I bit my lip while watching the video of one of my balance beam routines. "Right that." I mumbled.

"Why the name Jay?" He asked.

My face flushed at that. "M-Mom always called me Her Little Blue Jay growing up. My eyes and all." I replied.

"Little Blue Jay huh?" He said.

"DON'T call me that. Blue Jay is fine just not the uh… Little part." I snapped.

"You're only five feet tall." House pointed out.

That's not the point. I know I'm short as hell and I'm mostly fine with that. "It's not that." I muttered and walked out of House's office.

Definitely could've gone better.

~~~

"Shouldn't you be in New York?" A little boy asked.

"Well Ethan, even superheroes need vacations." I responded while the kid's Mom took a photo of the two of us.

It's pretty nice not having to smile for pictures. Wearing a mask and all.

"Shoot some webs!" A little girl exclaimed.

"All out of web fluid at the moment." I sighed while tapping the replica web-shooters. A white lie of course. I can't actually shoot webs. "It's a long trip from Queens to here."

"How are you getting back then?" The girl asked looking pretty concerned.

Ah, think fast Jay. I looked around and spotted Wilson leaning on the door frame. I moved over to the girl. "You see Dr. Wilson over there." I said while pointing at him.

Dr. Wilson smiled softly and waved at us. I'm still not over the fact that he found a cape this morning and thought that was good enough for a costume. I'll have to find something that works for Wilson later. House could easily just have a Pirate costume or something. I can’t have those two be lazy on my favorite holiday.

"Now Rosie he's a real superhero. Helping all you guys get better. He's also helping me out and getting me some more Web Fluid." I finished.

The little girl's eyes widened and then she nodded in understanding. I smiled even though no one could see. Kids are pretty great. Not sure if I'd ever want any of my own but they are great nonetheless.

A few flips, poses and, conversations later I bid my farewell by saying Green Goblin was nearby or something. I was now in the cafeteria (mask off) trying to regain at least some of the energy I just burned. Kids while great do wear you out. Wilson soon sat on the chair across from me as I nibbled on my fries.

"You were fantastic with the kids." He said.

I leaned back a little in the chair I was in. "Ah only for short stints." I downplayed. "Halloween is my favorite holiday making it quite a bit easier today." I said with a bit of a smirk.

"Really?" Wilson said.

I nodded. "Which means your 'costume' is very disappointing to me." I said pointing a fry at him.

"The cape really is quite enough for me." Wilson protested.

"Mmm, that's quitters talk." I muttered.

We sat in silence for a while before Wilson spoke up. "Noticed you and House don't seem to be talking."

Of course, he'd noticed that. "Nothing really just a minor uh… disagreement. I'm sure it will blow over soon." I mumbled staring at my now empty plate.

"Oh? Things don't exactly blow over with House." Wilson pressed.

"House asked me why I chose the name Jay." I stated.

Wilson just looked at me. Expecting more explanation clearly. I poked at my mask. "Told him that my Mom called me Her Little Blue Jay growing up. I'm fine with people calling me Blue Jay but only she could call me Little Blue Jay. House didn't seem to understand I guess." I explained.

"Your Mother called you that so you don't want anyone else to." Wilson pieced together.

I nodded. There was ONE other person who I used to let me call that but… No. They don't deserve even a second of my thoughts anymore.

"You miss her a lot hmm?" Wilson said after a while of me sitting there lost in thought.

"What? Yeah, of course, I-" I said but stopped myself. "It's fine though I'm fine." I finished.

I'm putting up walls of course. It's only for my own protection! If I open up to Wilson or House and this doesn't work out I don't know what I'd do.

Wilson sighed clearly a little annoyed that I won't open up to him. "I'm here if you need to talk." He said.

"I know." I said while putting the Spider-Man mask back on. "See ya." I said and walked off while giving Wilson double piece signs.

AN: Jeez this chapter is all over the place. Is Jay cosplaying as Spider-Man a not very subtle way of saying I love the Trans Spider-Man headcanons? Yes for sure. Next chapter has more plot I swear to God.

[electricbluebutterflies]

Since we agreed it's Your Mood, "Flynn breaks down silently and Lucy is desperate to comfort him," if you please? :)

And this one inexplicably ended up from her perspective. Post-whatever, pre-relationship, PG-ish, and also on ao3.

She admires him, this man she's starting to realize she loves. She admires his resilience, his determination so much more now that they're on the same side, his protectiveness that would be terrifying if it wasn't so familiar - and still is on occasion, if Lucy is honest with herself, but she is learning the intent behind it. She has been determined to see as much light in him as possible for a while now, and as they drift closer she has learned more and more things she worries no one else sees.

Most of it is easy to pin down as good. The determination, on the other hand…

Flynn has been one of her primary headaches for going on three years now. The reasons have evolved, but the annoyance remains. And this afternoon is no exception.

He's doing that thing again, that thing that happens sometimes when they're both hiding in his room for mixed purposes. Usually all of this happens late at night, and is made easier to deal with by that factor, but today Lucy figured she could do research just as easily with a little less background noise than elsewhere, and…

It would be fine, she thinks from her perch on the bed because that has been clearly defined as her space whenever she wanders down the hallway, if he were talking. But he is not. He is sprawled in the chair, eyes closed and too tense, lost in some kind of flashback.

She should leave him be. He's not her, dammit. He might not respond so well to another human being doing this side of anything about what is clearly a deeply personal crisis.

But on the other hand, she cannot stand back and watch all of this happen to someone who has gotten her through so many bad nights, who has taken bullets for her and not even been an asshole about it afterwards, and who has had more faith in her than she knew another human being could. He's been through far too much alone, and she's here, and she could-

She puts her book aside and crosses the distance. She can do this. She's not sure what she's doing, but she can do it. Probably.

"Hey. I'm here. It's okay. You can-"

He shakes his head, eyes still closed. Whatever's going on in there, it's bad. Worse than that nightmare he had that one time, and she's still not sure what language those swear words were in. Worse than-

"You're not alone. If you want to talk, I'm here."

Still no response. It's times like these that she wishes she felt better about touching him. That's been a decidedly one-sided problem lately - she's collapsed in his arms a few times, enough to become comfortable with that development, and that's nothing on some of the maneuvering that happens on missions. But she's scared to initiate, scared that she might push too far, scared of so many things and-

What scares her most, she might as well admit it now, is the likelihood she'll become one more tragedy for him. She knows she has objectively better survival odds, but what if she's wrong? She doesn't want to cause pain if something bad happens to her, and she's still this side of useless most of the time and she knows that's possible, and-

"Is it okay if I touch you?"

"Please."

One-word answers. They're making progress. She can do this.

She rests one hand on his shoulder and worries that alone is too much. Her body is shaking, and she just might fall, and if this is how she feels about something so innocent then they are probably never going to make out let alone all the other things she sometimes daydreams about, and-

Other hand over his heart. This is good. She feels him respond, a little less tense as her fingers gently curl around the fabric of his sweater. She has no delusions about her abilities in this scenario, but she means well and she hopes that's enough, she hopes-

"I'm here," she says again. As many times as it takes.

"You don't have to be."

Flynn's eyes open, and oh this is worse. There is so much pain made all too visible, and she knows in this moment that she's the first person he's allowed to get close enough to see any of it. She's known for a while now - since their paths crossed, if she ever dares to admit it - but he hides it all so well under layers of hostility and, now that she's gotten close enough to know for fact that he actually does like her, refocusing on anyone who isn't him.

He's always so attentive with her, so willing to focus on whatever her problems are. He takes care of her so easily. She wonders offhandedly if that might be a coping mechanism, at least on some level. Not primary motivation, god no, but part of the picture.

"I want to be here with you," she says.

"Why? I'm not… I am useless to you, like this."

She rolls her eyes. "Do I look like I need anything?"

He shakes his head but doesn't look convinced.

"It's easier for me to focus on things here than anywhere else," she sighs. "And I like being able to talk to you, but I can actually function on my own. I just don't want to. I'm not sure where the line is, but I'm there. I promise."

His hand covers hers, over his heart. "Thank you."

"Don't… don't do that."

"Hmm?"

Lucy takes a deep breath and wonders if she's about to ruin the most consistently good thing currently in her life.

"You fucking panic every time I treat you like a person. And I know there are reasons for that, and this is weird for me too, but it's exhausting sometimes."

"You don't have to-"

"I am well aware of what I am doing to myself. And I can deal. You are a good man and it is mostly not your fault that shit like this happens, and I can wait it out. But it still scares me sometimes."

"Do what you need to. I don't want to weigh you down."

"You don't get it," she mutters, shaking her head. "You really don't get it."

And on impulse, and because she can, she kisses him.

She's thought about this little action for months now, as they've drifted steadily towards each other. She has wondered what he might taste like, what he would let her do. There has never been any question of which of them would lead, and there is not now, as his free hand tangles in her hair. She doesn't think she's ever been this in-control with a would-be lover, and-

Oh, it would be easy to take from him. It would be easy to let her hands wander and let their bodies collide, and she has no doubt he'd allow her to do whatever she wanted right now. But he is too vulnerable, and she is not that kind of person, and she cannot destroy him like that.

Someday, when they are both made whole, but not here and now.

"You don't owe me that either," he breathes against her lips.

"That might be the first time I've ever kissed someone for the hell of it," she counters. "Which is kinda terrifying now that I'm saying it out loud, but… yeah. I don't have a good baseline here."

"I'd like to think I'm better than at least some of your choices…"

There, there is the just-slightly-playful snark that means he's coming back to himself. She did something right, somewhere in there.

"You might be a lot better," she says, because there's no harm in giving him something to be proud of. "I'd like to find out, down the line."

"Not now. I can't… not now."

"I wasn't thinking now. Few weeks, few months, when it happens. No rush on my side."

"Alright."

"Is it okay if I go back over there now?"

"If you want to."

She takes that as a yes and walks away, still focused on him. "If you want to talk, I'm here," she says as she repositions herself on the bed.

"Understood."

[qqueenofhades]

gahh the advanced reviews are giving me anxiety that there going to have lyatt get bck togther romanticly and that all of the beautiful building of Garcy will be for nothing. Help i cant think straight and you alway have a habbit of pionting out things that make me less AHHH THE SHIP IS SINKING and more "did not think of it that way" *starts having flaskbacks to covert affairs with anne/eyal build then nothing*

Tbh, I’m getting the impression that this is in fact going to be a love square out the wazoo? And given that we figured Garcy would only be secondary subtext this season, if acknowledged at all, is ridiculous??? LIKE??? I WAS NEVER PREPARED FOR THEM TO BE ANY KIND OF THING, I’M NOT STRONG ENOUGH FOR IT, I NEED IT BUT ALSO GOD MY HEART?

Like. We already have the spoilers about Flynn about to confess something to Lucy at a tender moment, and Wyatt crashing that, and then one man walking away so the other can have the ILY moment with Lucy. Which man does that is also called the “bigger [read better] man.” And yes. That is with 98% certainty going to be Flynn walking away so Wyatt can say ILY. (Which I’m going to side eye a LOT without substantial resolution of the Jessica drama, but we’ll see.) Because of course (as @extasiswings mentioned), Garcia “what kind of husband or father can I be” Flynn is going to feel unworthy of anything with Lucy, of ever trusting that she could like him, much less love him or want to be with him. So he’s going to do what Someone has not, and walk away from her if that’s what she wants (and deadass if they pull that parallel with Flynn and Lucy both being willing to walk away from someone they have strong feelings for, because it’s more important that they be happy, that is a Choice hoo god). But that also… equivocates Wyatt and Flynn’s feelings in canon??! Straight up. People can’t really talk about “platonic” or “familial” or “non-romantic” or whatever else. (I mean, I’m sure they can and will, but anyway). That STRAIGHT UP GOES THERE with “Flynn is in love with Lucy and is willing to sacrifice his own happiness because of it.” That makes it canon that he loves her. Romantically. Which we’ve seen all along, but still.

I don’t know about y’all, but THERE’S NO WAY I’M PREPARED TO HANDLE THAT.

Also: we’ve had a lot of teases about Lucy going on a rage and grief spiral/going to dark places. That’s probably related to whatever happens with her mom etc, but Dark Lucy is all I have ever wanted, especially if Flynn’s there to see it happen and is the one to pull her back. It looks like they’re off together in at least 2x09 and probably 2x10 as well, to pave the way for a “tender moment” and impending confession (also, Wyatt still has to sort out wtf is going on with Jessica, there’s not going to be much time for him and Lucy to be together even if that was something they decided on). But if Flynn sees Lucy come unglued, the way she saw him come unglued last season, and there are more Soulmate Feelings up the ass, that is also not something I am prepared to handle.

Plus, there’s the fact that Wyatt and Lucy are with 99% probability going to be separated after the finale. Wyatt still has to have a big sacrificial moment/atone for how he’s treated her (though yes, I realize I am expecting there to be consequences for his actions here, which has a… shaky record of happening in canon). If he doesn’t walk away in the teased moment, he has to give up his spot/trust Flynn to take care of Lucy after ordering him to stay away from her in 2x07/give Lucy a chance to be happy with someone else (especially if Flynn has done that earlier in the finale). She’s done that with him and Jessica over and over. It’s only fair that he returns the favor. (Plus we have Flogan working together. He’s… gotta do it. He just gotta.) I just can’t really see Wyatt and Lucy being together when it ends, especially if you’re going for a major cliffhanger to make the fans scream? It feels like seeing if they can find each other again at all has to play into the question of what happens next.

Also, in the promo, we saw Lucy crying in Flynn’s arms. I’m pretty sure that’s to do with whatever goes down with Wyatt, and I’m also pretty sure that Lucy and Flynn end up stuck together/are physically in the same place and have to cling to each other after all the shit hits the fan. Which sets up the fact that Wyatt will have said ILY to Lucy (after not really acting like it all season), but Flynn will have shown it, and then will be the person that is there to cling to/who she has to rebuild her world with. Then yes, she and Wyatt will be reunited at some point, and he will have said ILY and there will still be feelings, but… things will have changed. She will have been recovering from the end of her world with Flynn beside her, not Wyatt (and ask me about my feelings over this trope, because they are legion). That doesn’t necessarily translate into her jumping to be with Wyatt again when they reunite. It will be complicated.

Anyway, besides, in a perfect world (DON’T YOU DARE CANCEL IT AGAIN YOU FUCKERS, JUST DON’T YOU DARE), this is not the end of the story. S3 is digging more into the journal origin, which is Lucy and Flynn’s plot. So honestly, the finale could end up with canon confirmation that Flynn is in love with Lucy/having walked away to make her happy, Flynn pulling Dark Lucy back from the brink, Flynn comforting Lucy when Wyatt does his sacrifice, Flynn and Lucy being stuck together after whatever goes down, and the implication that all they have now is each other and they are going to have to rebuild from there. Of course, all of this might not happen. But it’s also entirely possible that it does, and that gives me… a feeling.

Many feelings.

[roslinadama-sinequanon]

Christmas in Connecticut-Chapter 13

A little fun Christmas fluff-Because it’s pretty evident that Andy is a dog person. Anyone else ever notice how much he seemed to like the dogs they came across on the show, he had real affectdion for them (as a dog lover I noticed and appreciated this). I remember the little one he raced off to catch and was then cuddling in his arms--Provenza made him give the dog to Rusty to walk and get back to work. Provenza is NOT a dog person. Anyway, that’s where the inspiration for the first scene comes from.

Also in this chapter we meet Sharon’s sister and brother in law, Christine and Ed. For reference, when writing them I pictured Dana Delaney and Brian Dennehy.

You can find Chapter 13 here:

https://archiveofourown.org/works/13293105/chapters/30889320

and here:

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12789981/13/Christmas-in-Connecticut

and here:

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening In the lane snow is glistening A beautiful sight, we're happy tonight Walking in a winter wonderland

Gone away is the bluebird Here to stay is a new bird He sings a love song as we go along Walking in a winter wonderland

In the meadow we can build a snowman Then pretend that he is Parson Brown He'll say, "Are you married?" We'll say, "No man" But you can do the job when you're in town

Later on we'll conspire As we dream by the fire To face unafraid, the plans that we've made Walking in a winter wonderland

***

“So, you like dogs?”

Andy glanced away from TV at William’s question. He’d been so engrossed in the football game, he’d hardly been aware that Guinness had jumped up on the couch and had his big golden head resting on his lap. Or that he’d been patting that head.

“Yeah, I do. We had one when Nic was a kid. Cute little mutt.” He’d lost Bandit in the divorce, along with Nicole. At least with Nicole he’d gotten visitation rights. Not so with Bandit.  “After my divorce there was no way I could take care of a dog on my schedule. You can’t have a dog when you’re getting stuck at work for sometimes 13 or 14 hours. But someday, maybe when I retire, I‘d like to get another one.”

“That’s why Mom never let us have a dog,” Ricky said. From the tone of his voice, Andy could tell this had been a bone of contention in the Raydor household.

“Ricky, you know I would love to have had a dog, but like Andy said, it wouldn’t have been fair to the dog. I didn’t work the crazy hours he did, at least not once I moved to the PSB, but with work and you and Emily and all your extracurricular activities there just wasn’t time.” She left out the dealing with everything “on my own” but it was there, and they all knew it.”

“Besides, Mom let us have cats.” Emily jumped in to her mother’s defense.

Ricky nodded. “Princess Buttercup.”

Rusty raised an eyebrow. “Princess Buttercup? That’s what you named your cat?”

“It’s from the Princess Bride,” Emily said.

“What’s the Princess Bride?”

“You’ve never seen the Princess Bride? What did you, live under a…” Ricky stopped himself, horrified at his open mouth insert foot moment.

Rusty flushed, as the room grew quiet. He was embarrassed to know they were all thinking about his horrible childhood of abuse and neglect, but before the moment could become even more awkward with Ricky starting to apologize, Andy interjected.

“It’s a great movie.”

“You watched the Princess Bride? And you liked it?” Rusty snickered at the idea of Andy Flynn watching a movie with that title.

“Dozens of times. It was Nic’s favorite movie. And yes, I liked it.”

“It’s still one of my favorite movies,” Nicole said.

“Don’t let the name fool you. It really is a great movie,” Ricky agreed. “It’s not just some sappy girly love story. It’s funny.”

“And full of swashbuckling adventure,” Andy added.

“Swashbuckling?” Rusty was still skeptical.

“Yeah, you know, pirate stuff, sword fights. When we get back to LA, we’ll have a movie night and watch it together. It’s one of your mother’s favorites too.”

“Not that there is anything wrong with sappy girly love stories.” Sharon ruffled Ricky’s hair as she walked past him to sit beside Andy on the couch. “And as far as pets go, let’s remember that against my better judgment, I let you get a lizard.”

Andy turned to look at her. “You had a lizard?”

“I didn’t have a lizard, Ricky did.”

“After she refused to let me get a snake.”

Sharon shivered at the memory. “No snakes in my house. We compromised on the lizard…What?” She asked at Andy’s grin.

“Nothing. I was just thinking--you’re the master negotiator at work AND at home.”

“Yes, well, that negotiation came back to bite me on the…well, rear end,” she said, keeping it clean for the little ones who were laying on the floor playing ‘Chute‘s and Ladders‘. “Ricky broke his arm playing Pop Warner football and guess who had to clean the lizard cage?”

“Terrarium,” Ricky corrected.

“Cage, terrarium, whatever you want to call it, I had to clean it.”

“Aw, Mom, you know you developed a nice little relationship with Draco.”

“If by nice little relationship you mean I stopped nearly having a nervous breakdown every time I had to pick him up, then yes, I did.”

Andy squeezed Sharon’s hand. “You have a great mom, Ricky. If I’d ever had a lizard my mother would have let it die before touching it.”

****

White wash!” Ricky raced out from behind his fort like a World War 1 soldier charging out of the trenches and chased Emily with a large pile of snow in his hand.

“Don’t you dare!” She shrieked, slipping on the ice as she tried to avoid being slammed in the face with the pile of snow. “Ricky stop, I can’t afford to hurt my foot again.”

Ricky stopped, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. “Oh, you’re good sis.”

“What’s a whitewash?” Scott asked, ducking his head behind the wall of snow that protected him from the snowballs whizzing overhead. Everyone had gone out to the front lawn bundled up against the cold to help the kids build a snowman, after which Ricky had suggested building forts, picking teams and having a snowball fight.

Andy grinned at the boys and bent to pick up a pile of snow before approaching Sharon with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. “I’ll show you what a whitewash is.”  Seeing what he was all about she turned to make her get away but he grabbed her by the coat before she could bolt.

“Andy, Andy stop!” Her tone was far more commanding that Emily’s shriek.

“Just trying to educate the boys.”

“Andy I mean it---”While trying to twist out of his grip, they both lost their balance and fell back into a large snow bank. Andy rolled on top of her his eyebrows twitching in what he thought was a menacing manner but which only made Sharon giggle.

“I’ve got you just where I want you pretty maiden.”

“Andy.” Her voice grew low, threatening. “I swear to God if you whitewash my face there will be a certain part of your anatomy that will not be functioning properly for the rest of this vacation.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Oh, wouldn’t I?”

“You‘d be cutting off your nose to spite your face.”

Sharon lifted her knee. “Try me.”

Andy dropped the snow and quickly rolled off her. “Okay, you win.”

“Oh for goodness sakes. She can‘t knee me in the balls.”

With that statement, Sharon felt an icy handful of snow smashed forcefully into her face. 

“Now that boys, is a whitewash.”

Gasping and sputtering, Sharon quickly rubbed the snow out of her eyes so she could see her assailant. There she stood, familiar hazel eyes dancing with mirth, her hands on her hips and a cocky smile.

Sharon rose, eyes narrowing in her best Darth Raydor glare. “Christine Mary O’Dwyer Simmons, YOU are going to pay for that.”

“Oh yeah, who’s gonna make me?”

Before Christine could even blink Sharon had hooked a foot behind her calf and pulled her feet out from beneath her so she fell into the same soft pile of snow, then treated her to her very own whitewash.

“That’s enough girls.” Colleen had come out of the house when she’d heard the car drive up and was surveying her daughters with a shake of her head. “You two sound exactly like you did when you were eight and nine years old.”

Sharon and Christine grinned at each as Sharon extended a hand to help her sister up out of the snow. “Good to see, sis.” She said.

“You too.” Christine pulled her into an exuberant hug. “Where the hell did you learn how to do that? I didn’t even see it coming.”

“You don’t mess with a cop, Chrissie.”

“Geez. I guess not.”

Andy watched the sisters with amusement. This was a completely new side of Sharon. “You must be Christine,” he said stepping forward with interest. There was no denying the two were blood. Though Christine was a little shorter than Sharon was and as he got closer he noticed that her eyes were hazel rather than Sharon’s vivid green, they shared the same porcelain and rose complexion dotted with a few whimsical freckles and the same thick auburn hair, though Christine wore hers in a shorter pixyish cut while Sharon’s fell over her shoulders in waves. If he had to classify them, he’d call Christine cute, while Sharon was beautiful. Then again, he might be a touch biased. No one, in his eyes, could hold a candle to his Sharon.

“Must be. And you must be the very dashing Andy Flynn.” After shaking his hand, Christine looked him up and down. “You’re even better looking in person.” Andy laughed at the flirtatious flutter of her eyelashes.

Sharon groaned. “For God sake Christine, do you have to say absolutely everything that pops into your head?”

“Uh, yes.” Christine was as irreverent as Sharon was circumspect.

“Are they always like this?” Andy turned to the heavyset bearded man who was also watching with amusement.

“Pretty much.”

“Hey Ed.” Sharon stepped into the big man’s embrace.

“Hey, gorgeous. I don’t know how you do it Sharon; you get more beautiful every time I see you.”

“Quit flirting with my sister.” Christine’s protest was belied by her affectionate smile.

“Just stating facts. The O’Dwyer girls are something to look at, wouldn’t you say?”

“I would,” Andy agreed.

“Andy, this is my brother in law Ed Simmons. He‘s not even Irish but he‘s got the gift of the blarney. Ed, Andy Flynn.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“You too. You’re a cop right?”

“Yes, a lieutenant with the LAPD.”

“And Sharon’s your boss.”

“Yep.” Andy grinned, not at all put out by that fact. “Best boss I‘ve ever had.  

“I bet. So, what’s that like? Is it kind of sexy, being bossed around by your girlfriend? That can be a turn on.”

“Ed!”

“Actually, sometimes it is.”

“Andy!” Sharon shoved at him with her shoulder.

“What? I’m just saying…. “

Sharon cut him off, turning to the rest of the family. “Why don’t we all go in for some hot chocolate? How does that sound? “

“It sounds like you’re changing the subject.” Andy fell in step with her as everyone began heading back toward the house. “And you’re turning a pretty shade of red.”

“Must be a hot flash.”

“Yeah, that’s it.” Andy chuckled at her discomfort.

“You need to behave. “ Sharon pointed a warning finger at him, which only made Andy laugh harder.

“There you go again, getting all bossy. “ He leaned in closer so only she would hear. He didn‘t want to completely embarrass her. “It is a turn on, you know.”

“Andy Flynn you’re incorrigible.” Her reprimand was laced with amusement. This boyish, playful, slightly naughty side to Andy had always been irresistible to her.  

“Mmmhmmm. And you love me for it.”

Oh yes she did.  

***

Once inside the foyer, with coats and hats removed, there were hugs all around. Sharon was hugging her youngest niece Bridget who was in grad school and had come down from Massachusetts with her parents when she saw Christine hugging Ricky. Her sister’s eyes clouded over with pain, but it was only for an instant and anyone who didn’t know her as well as Sharon might have missed it. By the time she had pulled back, to look up at her nephew Christine was grinning and teasing him about his scruff.

“Hard to believe this tall young man came from your body, isn’t it?” she said to Sharon.

Sharon turned wistful. “It is. I can still remember so clearly how easily he fit in the crook of my arm.”

The sad look touched Christine’s face again compelling Sharon to take her hand, squeezing it gently. Their eyes met, acknowledging that pain without a word.

TBC

[taegdcl1018]

3 Billion Dollars [Part 10] - G Dragon Mafia!AU

Summary: When your father owes 3 billion dollars to the mafia, he must repay his debt. Although things don’t exactly go the way he hoped.

Genre: Angst

Warnings: Violence

{part 1} {part 2} {part 3} {part 4} {part 5} {part 6} {part 7} {part 8} {part 9} {part 10} {part 11} {part 12} {part 13} {part 14} {part 15} {part 16} {part 17} {part 18} {part 19} {part 20} {part 21} {part 22} {part 23}

A/N: NOW WE’RE AT DOUBLE DIGITS WE ARE ROUGHLY 18 MORE CHAPTERS TILL THE END. So this is short af. I know my last few chapters haven't been that long and I’m sorry. I swear the longer ones will be coming soon. I hope you like it, and my inbox is always open. Love you!

~ Admin Brooklyn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hello (Y/N). I missed you,” Flynn said calmly. Ji Yong was shocked and pissed. His eyes were wide as you ran past him and went right into Flynn’s open arms. Everyone started at you shocked. You hugged him tightly, memories of your shared past flooded your mind. You pull away from Flynn and smiled at him. He smiled down at you, his tan skin emphasizing his flawlessly white teeth.

“I’m sorry, am I missing something?” Seungri said. Flynn looked at Seungri and smirked, then turning his head to look at Ji Yong. Ji stood rigid, a vein popping out on his forehead. He glared at Flynn as you continued to smile at him.

“He’s my friend. We went to the same college for four years, before he left.” You said, looking at Seungri. Flynn smirked down at you, discreetly putting his gun back in its holster on the back of his pants. He wrapped an arm around your waist.

“We were more than just friends, isn’t that right (Y/N)-ah?” Flynn said pulling you against him. You blushed at the washed away memories. You looked down to hide your burning cheeks, but your eyes widened. A hand was near your foot, the owner of said hand was dead lying inches away from you. You pushed away from Flynn and looked around. Dead bodies and blood were all over the floor. Flynn looked at you confused. You look up at him with shock.

“Did you do this?” You said. Ji Yong smirked at Flynn, although his anger was still evident. Flynn looked at you sympathetically.

“I’m sorry cupcake. They were gonna kill me,” Flynn said. You looked at him nervously. He stepped closer to you, taking your hand in his large one. “I had to go after you when I found out that you were involved with the mafia. I had to save you.”

“She doesn’t need to be saved.” Ji Yong said. You stepped back once more, slipping your hand out of Flynn’s. You continued to walk back until you hit a chest, the familiar cologne putting your nerves at ease. Ji Yong smirked at Flynn as he felt you relax. Flynn frowned and his eyebrows furrowed into anger. “What don’t you tell her why you’re really here Flynn?”

“Yongie, maybe this is a misunderstanding,” you mutter, turning to look at him. Ji Yong looked at you and raised his eyebrow. The look on his face reminded you of Mr. Kwon’s when he was acting threatening. Ji Yong had this playful look about him, but like his father, you knew that it probably had some alternate motive.

“Why would it be a misunderstanding princess?” Ji Yong asked, silently daring you to say something in return. You frowned at him.

“Flynn oppa wouldn’t do anything to hurt me,” you say in return. It was true, he wouldn’t do anything to you. He treated you like a princess whenever you were around him. Ji Yong’s eye showed clear anger.

“Oppa?” He asked, faking amusement. He looked down at you, anger evident in his eyes. “Well then, ask oppa how he got here. How he knew that something was wrong after not seeing you for four years.”

“Sorry cupcake, but he’s right,” Flynn said drawing your attention to him. He held a wicked smirk on his face, one you weren’t fond of. You frowned, looking at Flynn. His demeanor had dramatically changed into something darker. “A lot has changed in the past four years. My dad was murdered. He owed money. I killed someone. Now I own land that wasn’t originally mine. It’s funny what people do to have power.”

“So you’re-”

“Yes cupcake, I’m in the mafia. By choice too, unlike your predicament I presume.” Flynn said. You scowled at him, the subject of your family and Ji Yong still sensitive for you. “I’m still me though cupcake.”

“Oppa, you just killed like fifteen people all at once.”

“And G Dragon here doesn’t?” Flynn said. You look at Ji Yong and blood rushes to your face. Flynn continued talking, a slight smile on his face. “I’m sure you’ve already seen the great G Dragon here while he’s on the job, haven’t you.”

“How would you know?” Ji Yong said, anger clearly in his face. You looked down at the floor at the sensitive comment, but your gaze quickly switched to somewhere else when you caught sight of a wounded leg in a pool of blood. Seunghyun looked at Flynn, studying his calm demeanor. Seungri switched his gaze to you then Flynn, constantly making sure you were okay. You weren’t, but he was satisfied that you weren’t crying right then and there. Flynn smirked.

“I have my ways,” he said. Youngbae pointed his gun at him.

“That’s cool and all, but you made a horrible choice coming here today.” Flynn turned towards Youngbae. His smirk never faltered.

“I think I’ll take my chances,” he said. “I’m honored to be warned by TaeYang though. The most fearless man in the business.”

“He’s right,” Daesung said, pulling out his own gun. “You shouldn’t have come her Flynn. Even if we don’t have any backup it’s still five against one.”

“That’s what you think,” Flynn says, turning towards Daesung. “But I’m sure the powerful Kang Daesung knows who will win.”

“What are you? Our number one fanboy?” Seungri said. Flynn shrugged.

“Who hasn’t heard of you though?” Flynn said. He looked back at Ji Yong. “The newest Kwon with his four friend that leads the world in fear while living like Kings.”

Ji Yong narrowed his eyes at Flynn. You were watching Flynn in horror. He wasn’t the same person you knew in college. You started to doubt Ji Yong as well. Maybe he isn’t the person you thought he was. He wasn’t telling you everything and you did seem to be royalty here. Flynn smirked, knowing that his plan was working as your face contorted in confusion.

“Well then,” Flynn said. “I’ve done what I wanted to do. My cupcake, (Y/N) seems to be alive. Something I can’t always depend on around you, G Dragon.”

The sound of rapid fire gunshots had you and the boys ducking. Seungri lunged towards you, wrapping himself around you to protect you. Everyone covered their heads with their arms, protecting themselves. Everyone except Flynn. He still stood, smirking down at the boys. You closed your eyes, waiting for the noise to stop.

When it did Ji Yong shot up, pointing his gun at Flynn. You slowly stood up, Seungri right behind you. You watched as Flynn whipped out his gun and pulled the trigger. Your eyes widened as you watched the bullet leave the gun. Ji Yong fell to the floor with a groan. You screamed and Flynn smirked. He casually strolled out the door, everyone too shocked to stop him.

[damnfinecup]

♠

For every ♠ I receive, I will post a headcanon about my muse!BONUS: Specify a topic and I’ll make it about that topic!

( beats fists on table )  DALE ! BARTHOLOMEW ! COOPER ! IS ! CHAOTIC ! GOOD ! AT ! BEST !

i made a post a bit earlier abt this perception of dale that he’s a cinnamon roll, and like.  it bothers me so much.  but i also totally get it because i used to feel the same until i read my life, my tapes.  however:  even if you have been only introduced to the show, putting dale under the category of lawful good is Horrendous and Shameful, how very dare of u.  in the show i could understand someone maybe thinking he’s neutral good, but he’s totally chaotic good, and tbh as a kid and growing up he was probably even on the chaotic neutral side cause he was Wild AF.  every time this happens i clench my fist and run through an itemized list of everything fbi special agent dale cooper has ever done to completely contradict this.  off the top of my head:

he broke into a girl’s sexual/reproductive education class, and his reasoning was For Science

he spies on his best friend’s / neighbor’s sister, marie schlurman (MARIE IS SO IMPORTANT !!!) through her open curtains, making special note to his recorder when she’s naked, and other general shenanigans that comes with spying on young girls

he got mad when a girl he liked ended up dating another girl, and got Real Extra, Real Quick.  he considered:  poisoning himself to get her attention, lighting her house on fire while everyone was out of the house before offering her a place to stay at his home, just straight up lighting the rival girlfriend’s house on fire, or forget the girl and become a better boy scout.  “Each plan has merit, and risk.  Though all, I believe, will be very satisfying in the end.”

then he just blew up the rival girlfriend’s mailbox because nothing is a better time than hate crimes when you’re an angsty 15 year old

it’s implied that he poisoned the food of a rival boy scout’s group when they were terrorizing his troop.  he was pleased to announce:  “The Nazis suffered a mysterious case of food poisoning.  Much vomiting and retching could be heard all last night.  Never slept better.”

he doesn’t like birds because he was attacked by one one time, so he killed a crow for no apparent reason, and proceeded to have an existential crisis (aka the quote from my promo lmao)

instead of just going home with his boy scout troop after their jamboree-thing, he decided Fuck The Bus, and he went on a mini adventure over three days where he traveled home by himself, primarily spending his time with some drugged-up hippy lesbians.  “I am driving.  I do not have a license.  I have never driven before, and am driving around in a vehicle that I believe could put a drugstore out of business.  April said I would do just fine and kissed me very long and hard.  If caught, will probably spend most of my life in jail.  Strangely, I do not seem to care.  It has stopped raining.  April and Star are under the pyramid in a sleeping bag making love.”  they stopped and camped outside, the two girls were high, and dale got really drunk while april ran around naked and star slept on a rock.

there’s the july fourth fiasco with marie where they ran through the woods stripping, started messing around, but then the forest caught on fire from the fireworks

he said Fuck School, and got his GED instead of bothering even starting his junior year of high school, and proceeded to fuck off to Who Knows Where for 3 fucking years at the age of 16 ??  dale’s dad is chaotic too like tf ya lettin a 16 yr old boy just walk off with $1,000 in his pocket on a soul-search.  what kind of advice is “watch out for bad water and snakes.”  got me messed up, no wonder dale is too

literally all we know about this time period is that he traveled far and wide, and needed a ship ??  boi

the two choices he gave himself after he got back were:  join the circus or start college.  he looked into the circus and they didn’t really want him.

he went to haverford (all boys) and constantly hung around bryn mawr (all girls), got naked and drunk at a bryn mawr party, and then snuck off to have sex in the grass with a girl and barely didn’t get caught

he started dating that girl and she was married and he kept dating her anyways until she broke up with him lmao

he went to new york city and got chased around by robbers, then by a jealous boyfriend of an artist, then by cops and protesters.  he ended up in jail for the night.

he went to vegas and started card counting and got kicked out of a casino

then he met a girl who loved coffee and he was smitten but she was celibate and all he talked about was when she was going to Not Be That Way.  he never pressured her, but the reason she was celibate was because she had insecurities she had to fix about her relationship with her mother.  ends up her mom had slept with her last boyfriend.  

long story short:  dale almost slept with her mother

almost only because his girlfriend set the house on fire and interrupted

despite finding out she was an arsonist, he wholly welcomed her when she said she was ready to have sex.  while in the driver’s seat of the car.  they ended up breaking the seat and turning off the parking break, sending them down the hill.

then she went to the psychiatric hospital because maybe arsonists aren’t mentally doin too hot (hahahahahahahahhaha kill me)

skipping ahead and relevant to the way he treats his lovers:  CAROLINE EARLE…….  HIS PARTNER’S WIFE.  ALSO MARRIED.  

the sanctimony of marriage:  hey dale could you not

dale:  new phone who dis

even in the show he ogles audrey and the only reason they weren’t a Thing is for reasons related to real life:  i.e. Lara Flynn Boyle dating Kyle Maclachlan at the time and getting jealous, so literally dale’s positive character development was only caused by LFB being a controlling girlfriend ???  so here’s my uncertain thanks, i guess, lara lol

he has no qualms with the bookhouse boys, literally a group of vigilantes

there was also the whole part where he was suspended from the FBI, i mean

anyways this list is already too long but honestly calling coop lawful anything is wildly inaccurate.  tbh he sort of just joined the FBI because it was where he was being called to more in a destined way because he clearly has trouble with the morality of upholding laws that are unjust in his moral compass (he grew up during Vietnam, and his brother fled to Canada, he saw a man arrested at his school for dodging the draft; he had personal experience with how the law was shitty before he ever signed up).  the only reason, imo, dale makes a “good” agent is due to his personality often working well with the role, his goals often align, but he doesn’t actually………  seem to care that much what others deem good, let alone the law.  he just does what he thinks is right or AT LEAST okay because he’s kind of morally dubious at times (thus i think chaotic good-neutral flux is the best alignment for him).

[what-is-sibling-test]

from 'RittenhouseTL' for all things Timeless https://ift.tt/2Orb6gk via Istudy world

Parallel Lines - Chapter 5

Summary:

Amy Preston’s sister went missing in 2016. Two years later, down on her luck and having a miserable day, she meets a handsome stranger who proves to be a lifesaver in more ways than one, who tells her an impossible story - and offers her a choice that changes her whole life.

Jiya Marri has never fully understood her visions, and when given the chance to save the life of the man she loves, she failed. So when visitors from another timeline show up, battered journal in hand, and tell her there’s a way she (and only she) can still save Rufus…well, what has she got to lose?

Lucy Preston has lost everything. When she’s finally given back one of the most important things in her life, she’s determined to keep that safe. But this new journal is recounting events that never happened, things not yet come to pass, and as keepers of the journal, she and Flynn know something is very, very wrong…they just aren’t sure what.

A story of past and present intertwined, of infinite universes, of choices to go left instead of right and all the consequences that go along with that choice.

Fandom: Timeless

Pairing(s):  Garcia Flynn/Lucy Preston, Wyatt Logan/Jessica Logan, Rufus Carlin/Jiya Marri

Read from the start here

_____________________________________________

Rufus waits impatiently as the orderly squeezes his bag of donuts far tighter than he really needs to if he’s looking for sharp objects.  It’s not like this is a prison (well, not technically), and Rufus highly doubted Stanley Fisher would be hopping out of bed anytime soon to make his jailbreak.  Hell, the man couldn’t even walk anymore, his leg muscles had atrophied so severely. This fact never seemed to bother Stanley, in the rare moments of lucidity he had now and then.  He always seemed impatient having to actually speak with someone in the ‘real world’, as if he was hurrying through the conversation so he could quickly get back to his visions.

Part of Rufus envies him.

The orderly finally hands the bag back to Rufus and gets to his feet, nodding for him to follow.  Reaching the door, the orderly pulls a keycard on a retractable cord from his belt and presses it to an access panel next to a patient room.  The door locks disengage loudly, and the orderly tugs the door open, again nodding for Rufus to go in.

Rufus steps into the room, his crumpled bag of donuts clasped in one hand.  No luck - Stanley was having a bad day (though Stanley would argue it’s a good day), his head laying slack against the mattress as his eyes stay permanently rolled back in his head.  It had been disturbing the first few times Rufus had visited, watching his eyes twitch all over while his mouth lolled open, but before long he’d adjusted to it enough that he no longer noticed it.  Hell, he’d even cleaned up the man’s drool once or twice without his one-sided conversation breaking stride.

“Hey Stanley!” he says with false enthusiasm, and as expected gets no response.  A pretty deep one today, then. Oh well, press on. “Looking good buddy. Doing something new with your hair?”

He flops into the seat next to Stanley’s hospital bed.  He’s not sure why he’s still making these weekly visits.  Attempting to keep his sanity, he supposes, seeing as Stanley is officially the only person left with whom he can discuss his life.  He’d considered a therapist briefly, then realized that would be utterly pointless - he’d be admitted to the room next to Stanley immediately.  Thanks a lot, time travel.

“It hasn’t been the most productive week for me so far,” he begins, reaching into the bag to retrieve a smushed donut and taking a bite.  He holds the bag out toward Stanley, offering a donut. He knows he’ll get no response, but it gives him the illusion he’s having an actual conversation and not just talking into the void.  “No? Suit yourself.” He plops the bag down on the table next to the hospital bed, then leans back in his chair. “I’ve managed to collect a bit more information about some of the main Rittenhouse safehouses, not that it does me much good without a government agency behind me, but at least it’s some sort of progress.”

He’s not even sure why he’s continuing to try.  It would be easy to simply collect his family and disappear, let someone else lead the fight against Rittenhouse - what could one man do against them, anyway?  But that idea only ever lasts a few seconds before he imagines a world shaped by Rittenhouse, things changing around him without his even realizing, and knows there’s every chance running away would do nothing, and his life would just get exponentially worse the more Rittenhouse meddled unimpeded.  They could even take a trip back to erase him, and he’d never be aware of it.  He has literally only one option left - fighting back.  

(True, he technically has two options, but the other one - to give up and die - isn’t a real solution so much as his easy way out)

“I’ve still had no luck with my theoretical physics research.  Trying to figure out the science of all this without Connor or-”  He swallows. He hasn’t been able to say her name in months. Each time he thinks about her, he feels like he’s on the edge of a total breakdown, and he just…can’t do that right now.  Not yet. There would be time to mourn her, to mourn them all, later. “Well, anyway. Anthony was better at all this than me. Nothing like learning on the job, huh?”

No response.

“Yeah, you get it.  Anyway, I’ve been trying to figure out how to reproduce the conditions of that Lifeboat trip, the one we did with four people to three seats.  Figured it might be handy to have some visions to give me a vague idea of where to go with everything. Not that we ever proved the visions were tied to something that actually happened during that trip, but I’m desperate if that isn’t obvious.  No luck so far. I’m tempted just to try taking the Lifeboat out and then unstrap from my seat, but that’s probably the dumbest idea I’ve come up with yet and a recipe for a concussion. Running out of them, though, so eventually it’ll come down to what have I got to lose?”

Rufus reaches for his bag of donuts and retrieves another mashed up ring.  “It’ll either work or kill me,” he adds, “and at this point, either one of those options would be good.”

God, she’d hit him so hard upside the head if she were here.   How dare you, Rufus Carlin.  You are not a quitter and you never have been.  And Connor would probably stand just behind her, nodding his assent and giving him a pointed fatherly I’m not mad, just disappointed look.  Not that they could possibly understand his situation.  They’d never had to live in a world without him in it.

“You know, Stanley, you’ve been vision-ing the last three weeks that I’ve come by.  Starting to feel like it’s pointless to visit.” He looks over his shoulder, toward the window currently filled with sunlight.  It’s a beautiful day outside. Why was he even bothering with this, when he could be out there, getting some air before heading back to his makeshift bunker (actually a vacant, run-down warehouse that he’d bought with some cash he had set aside, no questions asked from the seller who obviously wasn’t above board himself).  What he really wished he could go do is visit his mother and Kevin, even just for an hour…but if it wasn’t safe for them before, it was definitely unsafe for them now.

A noise from the bed catches his attention and he turns back to face Stanley.  To his complete and utter shock, Stanley has come to, and is currently blinking as he squints up at the ceiling, his eyes not yet adjusted to the harsh change in lighting.

“Hey Stanley,” Rufus says, grinning.  “Welcome back to the land of the living, bud.”

Stanley turns his head and only then seems to notice Rufus, and his face brightens in response.  He reaches a hand for the bed controls to lift himself into a sitting position (he could, obviously, just sit up, but Rufus is certain his back muscles are starting to atrophy along with the rest of his body and he probably doesn’t have the strength anymore).  Once he’s comfortably able to look at Rufus face to face, he returns the grin. “Rufus. I’m glad you’re here.”

“Oh?  Why’s that?”  He holds out the bag of donuts again, and this time Stanley takes one.  Rufus is fully aware Stanley has a g-tube trailing from his abdomen where his body gets its nutrition, but he still seems to enjoy the treats that Rufus brings all the same.  Which makes sense; he may be unconscious 95% of the time, but he’s still human, and Rufus suspects the routine reminds Stanley of his life before all of…this. The good old days when Rufus would adjust the coding on the fly while Stanley was in the simulator giving him feedback on how it handled, and afterward they’d always make a coffee run for the team, taking turns buying.  If he’s being honest, Rufus enjoys the reminder of a happier time as well. A time when they were all excited about their mind-blowing innovation, excited about changing the future for the better.

Stanley savors his donut, taking only small bites so as to avoid upsetting his stomach.  “I heard whispers of you.”

Ah, so it starts.  Usually he could get a minute or two of real conversation out of Stanley before everything he said switched to ‘batshit insane’ mode.  Still, at least he’d gotten him conscious for once, after three weeks of talking to the wall.

“Who was whispering?”

“Me.”  Stanley grins widely.  “Haunting me through the past, trying to catch my attention, but no, no, it isn’t smart to let down your guard when traveling.  But I caught me.”

This is a new one.  He’d heard Stanley talk about wisdom he’d gleaned from historical figures, heard him rave enthusiastically about ‘forbidden colors’, but he’d never mentioned conversations with himself before.  Maybe his brain was finally starting to break down, and this was the unfortunate first sign of the end.

Still, may as well indulge him.  “And what did you tell yourself, Stanley?”

“We compared notes first.”  Another couple of bites; Rufus waits in pained silence, trying to be patient with his sick friend.  “Such interesting differences.”

“Differences?” he repeats, eyebrow raised.  “Sorry buddy, you lost me.”

“Oh, of course, you don’t have the gift.  It’s a tangled web, Rufus, each of us coming so close to each other but never touching.  But those with the gift transcend, not tethered to any single path-”

Rufus raises a hand.  “Hang on bud, before we get into…that stuff, what did you tell yourself about me?”

Stanley pauses, thrown off by the interruption, then perks again.  “Oh, yes! It was about her.”

“Her?”

Stanley’s grin widens.  “She’s looking for you.”

Read the rest at AO3

[readingontheedge]

Book Tour Grand Finale for

One Night with the Army Doc

By Traci Douglass

We hope you enjoyed the tour! If you missed any of the stops you can see snippets, as well as the link to each full post, below:

Launch - Note from the Author Hi All! I’m so excited to share my debut Medical Romance with you, One Night With The Army Doc. This story developed out of my love for TV medical dramas like ER and House, M.D. and also to show my appreciation for all the brave, courageous medical professionals serving in our armed forces around the world...

It's All About the Romance - Excerpt Dr. Jake Ryder replaced the receiver on the dashboard two-way radio, feeling the familiar buzz of adrenaline that always followed a call to arms pumping through his blood. “Ready for action, Doc?” EMT Zac Taylor asked from the driver’s seat. “Always.” Since taking over the Emergency Medicine Department at Anchorage Mercy Jake didn’t get to spend much time out in the field, so this was a special treat. “I’ll get things ready in the back.”

Book Lover in Florida - Excerpt Molly shook her head and snorted. “Go to Alaska,” her executive producers had said last week. “A high-profile sports case is the best way to raise the ratings.” Normally she would’ve told them that her soon-to-expire contract clearly stipulated she got final say on all cases portrayed on her reality medical drama, Diagnosis Critical. But, considering she was on thin enough ice with the MedStar cable network, those ratings might be the only thing saving her career. And her career was all she had these days.

Declarations of a Fangirl - Excerpt Zac parked the ambulance, then leaned around the partition separating the front cabin from the treatment area. “Looks like a real zoo at the crash scene, Doc. At least the cops have the perimeter blocked off.” “Great. Let’s roll.” Jake zipped up his pack, then pushed out of the rig with the heavy duffle slung over one shoulder. Sirens wailed and red and blue emergency lights blazed from all directions. One of the police officers gave them a rundown while they weaved their way toward the overturned vehicle. 

E-Romance News - Excerpt Determined, Molly pulled back out onto the road and continued around a slight curve—only to slam on her brakes again. Now she could see why oncoming traffic had been virtually non-existent. Judging by the array of emergency vehicles blocking all four lanes, there had been an accident. As a licensed physician, it was her duty to assist when needed. Critics of her show always complained that she had the bedside manner of dry toast, but her real skill was as a diagnostician. And when she was working on a case everything else fell by the wayside—friends, family, romantic relationships. She’d sacrificed everything for her patients, and success was her reward.

underneath the covers - Excerpt Jake walked to the agitated male standing between a police officer and a firefighter. “Evening, sir. I’m Dr. Jake Ryder.” He set his pack on the ground near his feet. “I hear you had a run-in with a moose tonight?” The guy, who looked about forty, and pale as death, nodded. “We’re here on vacation and were out sightseeing. Next thing I knew this huge animal ran out in the road and everything happened so fast and—” Recognizing the lingering signs of shock, Jake cocked his head toward the fireman and together they helped maneuver the father until his weight rested against a nearby squad car.

Nicole's Book Musings - Excerpt Her cell phone buzzed and Molly pulled it from her pocket, hoping for an update from her crew. Instead, all she found was the same dumb message that had been on her screen since before takeoff from O’Hare. The stupid text from her ex glowed brightly, its cheerful white back- ground at direct odds with the dismal words. I can’t do this anymore. Not sure you’ll even notice I’m gone. She resisted the urge to mic-drop the useless device into a nearby mud puddle and instead returned it to her pocket. 

Inside The Mind of an Avid Reader - Review "One Night With The Army Doc by Traci Douglass is inciteful and wonderful. I loved everything about Molly and Jake. They were perfect. They pulled each other out of there comfort zone's..."

Becky on Books - Excerpt He reached into his bag for the stuffed animal, then knelt beside the mangled car, clicked on his flashlight, and peered inside. Two huge dark eyes stared at him from the shadows. It was the child, still protected in his booster seat. “Hey, buddy. My name’s Jake. What’s yours?” The boy’s bottom lip quivered and tears welled anew. Jake hung his head. Here he was—a former special operations combat medic, trained to think on his feet with a hundred snipers poised to take him out at any second—yet all he wanted was to make this scared little boy smile again.

Rockin' Book Reviews - Review "I enjoyed this story. I like the way Jake was able to understand Molly. They have a great relationship. The characters are well-developed and easily visualized. I could feel their emotions well. the setting is also developed well and I would love to see Alaska...I recommend this book to other readers."

Hearts & Scribbles - Excerpt A man stalked over, his gray eyes sparkling with fury, his impressive build only adding to his imposing presence. “The cops are supposed to keep any rubberneckers away.” Molly looked around to see who he was scolding and realized, too late, that it was her. “Get out.” He stood at least a foot taller than her. And from the top of his dark brown hair to the tips of his black work boots the guy looked every inch the alpha protector. “Before you get hurt.” “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

Thoughts of a Blonde - Review "With her first jaunt into the Harlequin Medical Romance line, Traci Douglass brings us a riveting read. It’s fast paced, has an air of intrigue to it and is full of family drama and simmering attraction! I really enjoyed the connection between Molly and Jacob as they raced against time to try to save his friend. He didn’t want to like her, but she was more than he was expecting. Very entertaining!"

Colorimetry - Excerpt Reluctantly, Molly’s curiosity about the daring rescuer blossomed. She watched him cuddle the child, coaxing a smile from the little guy, and a fresh pang of loneliness stabbed her— along with a lingering worry about ever finding someone who’d look at her that way. Considering her relationship with Brian was DOA, Molly had grave doubts. For a woman brilliant in her profession, when it came to her personal life she was one big mess. Not that flirting at an emergency scene was appropriate, but she wasn’t good at it anyway. She’d always been a wallflower—one more check in her Don’t-Date-Much column.

Don't forget to enter the giveaway below, if you haven't already.

One Night with the Army Doc By Traci Douglass

Contemporary Romance

Paperback & ebook, 256 Pages

August 1st 2018 by Harlequin Medical Romance Is one night enough… To convince her to stay? Traveling to Alaska to film the latest episode of her TV show is just what brilliant diagnostician Dr. Molly Flynn needs. It’s the perfect escape from her family’s expectations. Until she clashes with privacy-loving former army doc Jacob Ryder over her patient’s care! Only, as friction turns into flirtation, can Molly trust that Jake sees the real her and loves her—just the way she is? Goodreads│Amazon│Barnes & Noble│Harlequin│iBooks│Kobo

Thrilling Tales of Suspense, Fantasy, and Happily Ever Afters… USA Today Bestselling Author Traci Douglass writes fiction bursting with romance and action, usually mixed with a healthy portion of fantasy, urban edge and/or snark. Her stories feature sizzling heroes with quick wits and dark pasts and smart, independent heroines who always give as good as they get. She’s an active member of Romance Writers of America (RWA), Indiana Romance Writers of America (IRWA), and the International Thriller Writers (ITW), and holds a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Writing Popular Fiction from Seton Hill University. Website│Goodreads│Amazon│Facebook│Twitter│Pinterest│Instagram│BookBub

3 signed paperback copies of One Night with The Army Doc US onlyEnds August 15th

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/b9a55db3301/?

[qqueenofhades]

I am almost reluctant to put in a request for the next piece of the trash saga given my current desire to whack Flynn over the head with a frying pan and physically drag him back to Lucy and Iris, but should your schedule permit the writing of such a thing I would maybe/possibly/definitely love it

a little pre-finale treat; as usual, the foregoing bad choices by garcia flynn, and other things, can be found in the trash saga of flynn and lucy. also tagging @garciiaflynn​ by her request, and @prairiepirate for moar reasons.

“Stop me if I’m stating the obvious,” Rufus says. “But what the hell do we do now?“

Lucy really, really wishes she had an answer for that. They’re sitting in the Lifeboat, not daring to pull out of 1861 entirely just yet, in case this was somehow an elaborate bluff and Flynn was trying to trick them into leaving early, but according to the onboard computers, the Mothership is no longer in the nineteenth century. Nor are they sure where it’s ended up. It’s gone blank. Off the grid. They have absolutely no idea where or when Flynn is, and they may never again. If he thinks he’s done with his mission, if he destroyed the Mothership to prevent Rittenhouse from getting it – but he said he wasn’t, so he must have found some way to break the processing links between the two machines. Needle in a haystack doesn’t even begin to cover the difficulty of finding him again.

“She’s his kid,” Wyatt says, looking at Iris, who is curled up on his jacket on the floor and has fallen asleep, not before crying herself out. “She’s his kid, he’s somehow stumbled his damn way into actually doing what he tried, and he – he what, just freezes up? Dumps her on us? Runs? Yeah. Father of the Year.”

“You can’t tell me you might not have the same reaction if… if Jessica just walked up to you one day on one of our missions. Or I would, with Amy.” Lucy rubs her temples. The Time Team, to say the least, never foresaw becoming the three reluctant adoptive parents of Garcia Flynn’s resurrected child, but that seems to be the role they have been presently stuck with. Just another day at the office. “And either way, this isn’t her fault.”

Wyatt clenches a fist on his knee. “So of all of us who want lost loved ones back, fuckin’ Flynn is the one to do it first, probably has no idea how he did it, and doesn’t even think she’s real, so he just leaves her behind for us to clean up his mess. Typical.”

“We have to find someone to leave her with,” Rufus says. “Unless we’re planning to stick her up on the dash like a bobblehead and make her our mascot. Denise – Agent Christopher, can’t she find some sort of government program for the kids of criminal masterminds who need good homes – “

“We can’t dump her on Denise! And we can’t let either the government or Rittenhouse get hold of her! They killed her once, what makes you think they won’t do it again?” Lucy shifts in her seat, as if to shield Iris from a sudden abduction attempt by armed time-traveling black ops. “Doesn’t Flynn have any other relatives, anything?”

Wyatt’s gaze flickers. Finally he says, very reluctantly, “His older half-brother. Gabriel Thompkins, the one who’s alive because Flynn saved him from the bee sting in 1969. But he has no idea he’s even related to this whack job, we’d put him in danger if we told him, and are we supposed to just turn up on his doorstep and be like, hey, here’s your niece, don’t tell her she’s back from the dead and also your brother is a total – “

Catching sight of Lucy’s face, he finishes rather restrainedly, “Problem.”

“Jesus,” Rufus says. “Emergency childcare for the offspring of your mortal enemy was not one of the issues I thought was specific to time travel.”

“See if you can get the Mothership link back,” Lucy urges him. “If we have to keep her with us for now – we can probably make it work for a mission or two. But if we’re flying blind – “

“If we’re flying blind, there are no missions, are there?” Wyatt slaps his leg in frustration. “Flynn could be literally anywhere. Ancient Egypt or the Year 3000, if he figured out how to make the damn thing go forward from the present instead of just back. We should pretty much just go home and wait for Rittenhouse to arrest us! And since I’m fairly confident none of us want that – “

And at that, he stops. His brow wrinkles, as if he’s having a thought that he’d rather not, but now it’s occurred to him, he can’t dismiss it. “Lucy,” he says slowly. “This whole thing… Flynn’s supposedly following what’s written in your journal, isn’t he? He’s been one step ahead of us the whole time because of it. So…. can’t we find him through it?”

Lucy stares at him, lost. “How? I haven’t written it yet! I don’t even know if I do, or it’s some – some strange future Lucy from an alternate timeline!”

“Yeah, but,” Wyatt says, gaining steam on his crazy theory. “Think of it this way. Anywhere we go, Flynn has to be there, because we’ll have been there, so it’s written down in your journal! So it doesn’t matter that we don’t know where that is, because, well, we know it once we’ve been there, so you do, and so does Flynn! See?”

Lucy and Rufus stare at him. “Dude,” Rufus says. “I think about this stuff for an actual living, and that made my head hurt.”

“He’s right, though.” Lucy’s pulse picks up. “Wyatt, you’re right! Wherever we go, he has to be there, because future me will have already been to wherever past/present me is about to go. Oh my God. So if we can – “

“Can go where?” Rufus reminds her. “We still need a destination. We can’t just launch the Lifeboat like a barrel over Niagara Falls. Think like future you, Lucy. Where did we go after 1861 London?”

It takes Lucy a moment, but – whether it’s some sort of quantum connection with herself, if it’s something, and she has to trust in it. “Baltimore,” she says. “Fort McHenry, September 13, 1814. The British attacked it during the War of 1812, it held out all night under intense bombardment, and the sight of its flag being raised in victory in the morning inspired a poet named Francis Scott Key to write ‘Defence of Fort M’Henry.’ You’d probably know it more like this.” She hums a few bars.

“Oh say can you see? Flynn’s trying to stop the national anthem from being written?” Rufus considers, then throws up his hands. “He’s crazy. Whatever.”

“How is it part of the War of 1812 if it happens in 1814?” Wyatt wants to know.

“Come on, guys,” Lucy says. “Let’s go.”

——————

This is a risky jump to make without returning to the present to juice up the Lifeboat, but none of them want to take the risk that Flynn could then jump two times ahead – technically, the same process should work to find him, but they still have to go wherever they were originally planning, and it gets progressively more complicated, and Rufus has drawn a lot of fiendishly difficult equations to demonstrate this that Lucy and Wyatt have to take his word for. So they land in a thick grove of Maryland forest, step out, and have to borrow the first clothes off a washing line that they find, as they are about fifty years ahead of the fashion curve. Iris perks up a bit at the prospect of another adventure (she’s definitely a Flynn, this one) but is still upset that her father seems to think she’s a cruel figment of his imagination. “Is Daddy here?” she asks Lucy, as they walk a rutted dirt road into Baltimore. British Naval frigates are visible in the harbor, preparing for the attack, and the city has that hushed, cramped, nervous air of a place under siege, the calm before the storm. It reminds Lucy of the Alamo, which isn’t altogether comforting.

“I hope so, honey,” Lucy says. She tries to think what Flynn might be doing – supplying the Brits with modern firepower to ensure the fort falls, depriving the Americans of both a symbolic and a crucially important strategic victory? It has to be about more than the Star-Spangled Banner, though that in itself is fairly weighty. Maybe Key was Rittenhouse, and Flynn is just going to go back to basics and shoot him in the head. She doesn’t know. She’s so tired.

When they reach Baltimore, Wyatt, who is clearly a soldier and is also wearing an old Continental Army jacket, is immediately pressed into the defense of the fort, Rufus is addressed as “boy” and ordered to fetch more supplies, and Lucy and Iris are shuffled out of the way. “It’s not safe for you and your daughter, ma’am,” says Major George Armistead, commander of the American defenses, who Lucy has nearly accidentally addressed as such before remembering not to. “We’ve protected the harbor well, they shouldn’t pass, but – “

Lucy is about to mention that Iris isn’t her daughter, and then is about to mention that exactly due to those defenses, the British ships aren’t going to be able to get close enough to do much damage – the display that so impressed Francis Scott Key is a lot of noise and bombast, but not much substance. Kind of like America itself, especially under its new cheeto-haired fearless leader, but this is definitely not something she can say. Instead, she smiles. “Vice Admiral Cochrane, the British fleet commander – I have a contact, I might be able to get you information on his plans. Have you seen a man – tall, dark? Sounds rather like a Hessian when he talks? His name is Flynn.”

Armistead squints at her. “You know him how?”

“He’s – he’s my husband.” No other obvious lie presents itself. “This is our daughter. I’ve come in search of him.”

Armistead clearly isn’t sure, but also can’t contradict her, and Iris seems to sense the ploy and doesn’t say anything to challenge it. Finally, he says, “Hurry. Cochrane sent notice the bombardment was going to begin at six o’clock. If you’re still in the way, Mrs. Flynn, I can’t guarantee your safety.”

“Thank you,” Lucy says, takes a firmer grip on Iris’ hand, hurries out of his office. She has a quiet word with Rufus to tell him that she’s going to look, and heads out to comb the side streets and quays and muddy alleys and loaded wagons of Baltimore Harbor. The British Navy ships, a few miles out as they might be, still look fairly intimidating. Lucy reminds herself that the guns and rockets won’t be able to reach them here, but what if Flynn does change it?

As promised, the bombardment begins at sundown, and it’s, to say the least, pretty spectacular. The booms and thuds and whistles arc overhead in scarlet traceries, flashing and sparking – the effect is more like fireworks, almost pretty, than an actual military threat. Lucy has not found Flynn, has had to get off the docks as some of the missiles can reach them here, and has found herself back in the fort with Rufus and Wyatt, trying to find supper for Iris and somewhere away from the worst of the noise. They sit against a heavy inner wall, feeling the distant shakes and thuds, as Iris finally, timidly puts her head in Lucy’s lap. “Can you tell me a story?”

Lucy doesn’t feel like a story right now, especially when she is convinced that there’s more she could be doing to ensure history happens correctly, but they can’t really go anywhere right now, and the kid has been through a lot. So she makes one up on the fly, stroking Iris’ hair, until she falls asleep, and a strange, painful tremor squeezes Lucy’s heart. She bends down, lifts Iris up, and stashes her in some grain sacks, then goes to find the boys.

As she feared, things aren’t quite going how they’re promised. The British ships are more powerful than they’re supposed to be, and the fort is starting to wear down under the bombardment. They’ve sunk several ships across the harbor to form a blockade, but the British have some way of clearing them – underwater mines definitely haven’t been invented yet – and while Lucy should be pleased that she’s guessed right, that Flynn is clearly indeed here, she can’t be. They’re not going to make it to the dawn’s early light, at this rate. They’re getting killed in here – figuratively, and clearly soon literally.

She, Wyatt, and Rufus do their best, but there’s only so much they can, and the British ships are getting closer and closer as they blast aside the obstacles. The barrage is full-on and relentless; Lucy’s head is reeling. This isn’t just like the Titanic, where ordinary people live (as well as some powerful ones). She doesn’t know if winning Fort McHenry will give the Brits the permanent upper hand in the War of 1812, but at the very least, it means no national anthem, and it ups the odds of strangling Rittenhouse-born America in its cradle. Wipe the slate clean. Start again. You idiot, she wants to scream. I’m in here. Your daughter’s in here. Evidently Flynn thought that taking the Mothership off the grid would be enough to hide him. He has no idea that they’re here.

Fort McHenry strikes its colors just before dawn, its walls all but reduced to rubble, bodies stacked up everywhere. The Americans were only supposed to lose four people in this attack; the timeline is now compromised beyond recognition. Armistead goes forth grimly to present his surrender to his counterpart, Cochrane, who has drawn ashore in a boat with his own captains and officers. Wyatt, Rufus, and Lucy have convinced Armistead to let them come with him, as they reach the pebbled spit of beach. Iris is back in the fort with the other women and children. It’s no surety that the Lifeboat has enough juice to get home. And there is no support team back at HQ to bail their asses out, such as when they were stranded in 1754. If so, there’s a handy word for their situation. Starts with f, ends with ucked. Might be the case anyway.

One particularly tall soldier steps off the boat after Cochrane. Wearing a British Navy uniform, and yes, he looks very good in it. Black cravat, white waistcoat and breeches, dark blue jacket, polished boots. But as dark and grim and exultant and remorseless and barely held-together as his face is, when his gaze falls on Lucy in the crowd, all of it vanishes completely in shock.

For then, Garcia Flynn wears the unmistakable look of a man who realizes that, no matter the numerous candidates for the title already, he has in fact just made the worst mistake of his life.