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monster-bcrn · 4 years ago

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SPOOKY’S 100 FOLLOWER SHOUTOUT!

Okay for real this is the fastest growing blog I’ve ever had hehehe. Never expected Grundy to get this popular this quickly!

Freaking love this zombaby and I’m so glad y’all love him too! As promised, gonna shout out some fantabulous bloggos that helped get Grundy to where he is today. XD

@akasupergirl/ @azombieme (I FREAKING ADORE GRUNDY AND KARA AND LIV. I swear Grundy’s loyal to Kara like he was to Shayera and Jade and Liv is totally his baby sister and is gonna protect her from.....everything. :P

Even pigeons, because they’re legion.)

@thecatgoddessbast (A blast from the past! Glad to see you again after I rampaged and caused chaos as a certain deranged pincushion of a mushroom way back in the time before present. XD

Now I get to do that as a zombie. :D Win/win!)

@starcityvigilante (OLLIE. FFFFFF-okay for real I’m HYPED to plot wacky ideas with you. Grundy has a MASSIVE grudge against Green Arrow and I’m like......*push these two together* you both get along right now.)

@folcire (We literally just started talking and I’m loving your Ivy already! Can’t wait to see how Grundy grows to see her the more he talks to her because they’re both sassy plant people that way. XD)

@themartlans (FFFFFF-J’ONN. Everyone’s favorite green uncle :D I freaking adore him and I HATE how the most he ever interacted with Grundy was him being tossed into the bay. >_<

They really need to talk more, and MAN! That Injustice verse of yours is SICK. Definitely hyped for making Grundy into an insurgent and a good zombie instead of Supes’ lapdog.

( Look at this face....LOOK AT IT.)

@blackwingsbluedings (One of the best Dick Grayson’s out there and definitely loving seeing Grundy be less smash and more “......hug?” They both need hugs I swear.)

@marvelousdamsels (We haven’t talked much but I adore your muses and I just hope Grundy doesn’t come off as too weird or clingy.......wait.......that’s......literally Grundy.....

:D)

@theirfirstexperiment (GRUNDY ON A RAMPAGE YOOOOOO! Better run fast. XD)

@amazonexile/ @gothamprens/ @captainstevertrevor ( Freaking love your muses and I love seeing Diana and Bruce actually WANT to help Grundy. It’s too easy just beating on Grundy and I love seeing them actually bother to try to get to the gentler side of the Hulk’s crazy cousin. XD)

@justiceebound / @nighttfight ( *slams fist on the table* YOU ARE AWESOME! Your Shayera is awesome, your Bruce is a national treasure and I can’t wait to throw Grundy at Supes and Diana, because these guys need a big reconciliation thing after all the chaos from literal years of slugging it out.

And I LOVE it. >:D)

@ofamazonia

@theamazondiana (Both of you are AWESOME Wonder Women and MAN I love plotting ideas. I’m tired of seeing Diana being turned into too much of a warrior while negating her role as a peace-maker and y’all NAIL her kindness and wisdom and need to give everyone a chance. Freaking LOVE IT!)

@raininginkyxto (LOL I always love imagining Grundy in Marvel and now poor Weasel is kind of stuck with him. XD Man, if the Hulks meet Grundy then that poor bar is going to really get smashed.....)

@notatomo (GIANT. Man I loved that movie as a kid and I LOVE the subsequent giant robot and tiny kid works inspired from it (example being the CRIMINALLY under-appreciated Sentinel series by UDON.) Can’t wait to see what happens when Grundy talks more to someone bigger than him. XD)

@liminalstctic (GRUNDY HEARTS TINY GIRL. XD Yeah he’s trying his hardest to help her. ;A;)

@dolceclavier

@gobsnacc

@adrenalinesaint

@ninelivesruined

@yellowskinnedwackyman (CREEPER! I’ll forever ADORE these two butts because they’re team Tree Lobsters.)

@collidingxworlds/ @thecursedhellblazer (I. Love. Your. Constantine. I swear I have so much fun writing Grundy trying to get drunk (and failing) and learning to cuss up a storm while still being a mad lad ready to throw down with mega-zombies to protect his tiny friend.

DC, make this friendship canon or so help me Grodd...)

@chaosmultiverse (I love your Klarion so much! He’s so much fun! XD And Teekl for the epic win!)

@raichoose (Herbert West and Solomon Grundy? THAT aIN’T GOOD! D:>)

@gctjinxd (Freaking LOVE your Jinx! LOL how she manipulates Freeze and how Grundy isn’t even REMOTELY phased by her powers. Like he is TOUGH. Even bad luck won’t stop him.)

@killcrcroc (BIG BAD KILLER CROC! I love your Waylon and I adore how he has a collection of watches and that awesome suit. XD Croc definitely deserves more love since he’s much smarter than he looks, and tough enough to even get Grundy to back down in a serious fight.)

@babydxhl (Baby Doll is criminally underappreciated and I love how she’s the opposite to Grundy. She looks child-like but is very crafty, mature and knows how to get what she wants, while Grundy is physically strong and big enough to bully his way into anything he wants, but is very simple and child-like and would rather watch the birds. XD)

@theednygma (An awesome Ed Nygma and I love how Grundy is so unsure of everything yet still goes along for the ride as a support. XD)

@sleightlyoffhand (BUNNY MAN! Okay the idea of Josiah monching on carrots in Grundy’s pocket makes me smile so much. XD)

@thanagrian (BIRD-NOSE! Honestly every time I think of Grundy and Shayera I get the feels big time. These two definitely deserved more than just two episides to give them a unique friendship.

(I love that STAR Labs mission so much in Injustice. XD)

@the-arkham-librarian ( I love Eliza so much! She’s crafty, stubborn, sweet and kind and just cares about everyone so much when few don’t. Grundy grew so attached to her I swear she’s like his little sister at this point. XD And he’s totes the best uncle along with Eddie.)

@fatherdamned ( I LOVE YOUR RIDDLER OMG! He’s so snarky but man he is SO DAMN FUN to write with! Grundy is there for his green friend, no matter what!)

@fartemis-crockpot

( I freaking LOVE Artemis and Grundy, especially in the Injustice Society stuff. Yeah Grundy’s been a butt before but he genuinely likes and cares about her and the rest of the team and I’m like....

Look at these bunch of a-holes. Yeah they’re a family and even if they’re bad.....they’ve got each other. And that’s what counts. C:)

@powerhours/ @lastofmars (Green dad? Green dad. I love your J’onn so much and I’m like *throws Grundy at green dad* Here give this disaster some love. XD)

@gothamdad (YET ANOTHER AWESOME BATMAN. :D)

@redsleuthed (TIM! I love Tim and I swear these two should talk more because Grundy doesn’t WANT to fight and I think just letting someone hear him out would help him immensely.

Plus that stuff with Freeze? Poetic cinema.)

@themusespace

@12thlevel (On this blog we stan socially awkward green boi with angery grandpa genius mastermind. XD)

@pluckyingenue

@seekthedarknesswithin (SHADE! I love Shade in Justice League where he constantly throws Shade at everyone so you can imagine how excited I was to see Shade on Tumblr! We haven’t done much but man.....even Grundy was excited to see an old friend from the Injustice Society/ Injustice Gang.)

@youstolemycoat (Okay, hands down, Nick Necro is so much fun to plot with. His Robin verse is so fun too and poor Grundy tries to help but a certain birdy won’t let him. XD)

@ufotm (Tiny alien baby. :3)

@thetrigonborn

@kitfreeman

@partcfyouruniverse/ @diamondcladclown ( An awesome mun and my goodness her Harley is EPIC! I love the metas about Harley too and you just GET HER. And that????? Is the sign of an excellent writer and mun.)

@bigbadkillercroc ( I love your Croc and the brotherly bond he has with Grundy! It’s so refreshing to see these two bonding instead of Grundy tearing off Waylon’s face like he did in the Solomon Grundy mini-series. :C)

@blizzardmuses (I LOVE YOUR MUSES OMG. Your Batgirl?????? I ADORE HER. I love Freeze as a member of the Birds of Prey and I love tossing Grundy at your muses because the guy needs love and an excuse to smash.....and I really love both lol.)

@starfirechan (You’re Starfire is so freaking CUTE! I love how she and Grundy get along so well since they’re kind of two misfits that aren’t very well-versed in city life. XD)

@gotham-crusader/ @maximummuses (One of the best Batman and Damian Wayne RPers out there! I have a lot of fun with our threads and even if they fizzle out there is so much heart to them that they’re some of my absolute favorites no matter what muse I put on. C:)

@teufortsquidman (PRAWN! Okay, a giant mega-zombie and an Eldritch abomination? Yeah they’re gonna be good pals lol. XD)

@tragedybcrn (Hands down one of the BEST Batman RPers I’ve talked to and plotted with. I love how Bruce helps Freeze and even Grundy try to be better than just crooks. Grundy though has had so many bad experiences that he can’t trust anyone anymore unless there is some SERIOUS help. But he’ll learn to at least try to trust Batman.....because Batman was genuinely nice to him.)

@krygothite ( I freaking LOVE your Bane! We haven’t written much but FFFFF0yeah he’s epic. XD And Grundy is kind of nervous about bringing Bane to Slaughter Swamp because Bane is tough but not kaiju-sized gators and snakes tough....

Or....maybe he is.....let’s test him. >:D)

@batvvmn

@redwinefangs (VAmpire Batman? Vampire Batman. We have an epic trifecta of vampire Bats, Freezy-wolf and zombaby Grundy and I LOVE it. These three are so much fun to plit ideas around. XD)

@bclaur

@stcrshnes

@titanicscionofthestars ( I freaking LOVE Sara! All across my blogs I love her and the way you write her! And I swear her reaction to Grundy being impaled????? MY HEART. ;A;)

@jcinthedance (JERVIS! Okat for real I love the image of Hatter and Grundy just enjoying a tea party at the asylum and being weird dorks. XD)

@adventurepunks (I absolutelky LOVE your Zatanna! She’s so fun and I’d love to plot more with her! :D)

@shesquiinnsane

@laughter-in-white (YOU????? Are??? Like the BEST Joker. Hands down. Your Croptop J is so much fun to plot with and he’s funny and being dramatic for Bats. And Grundy is like ‘yeah he’s crazy but he’s my crazy.’)

@yourfavoritesidekick

@smartvulpix (* glomps on you for being epic*)

@thehouseofivo (Your Freeze and Julian are AWESOME! Love throwing my guys at them both lol)

@lil-miss-romano

@sweet-tea-solly

@slauhter

@occultsleuth

@wiisectrpillar

@wonderlandcarpenter

@gunborn

#Rave to the Grave (Out of Character)#TOOK ME HOUIRS BUT I DID IT #Even if I didn't mention you you are STILL VALID #Love you all!

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stranger-who-writes-fiction · 5 years ago

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Everything Awesome about COIE Hours 4 & 5

IS THIS WHAT ENJOYING THE ENDING TO A BELOVED FRANCHISE FEELS LIKE?

My other posts were very specific, mostly-chronological run-downs of the episodes, done after I’d watched each episode at least twice.

This? This is just happy nerd rambling. SO HERE WE GO:

So I guess I’ll start at the end and work back, maybe? Because that’s what I remember best so: SUPER. FRIENDS. SUPERFRIENDS. GLEEK. HALL OF JUSTICE.

I REPEAT: SUPER. FRIENDS.

I’m just so happy that the DCTV universe version of the Justice League entered the world, NOT with weighty, somber allusions to the dower Snyder-verse, but instead to the technicolor nonsense of Saturday morning cartoons and the friggin’ SPACE MONKEY y’all.

CLARK AND LOIS HAVE SONS! I had a feeling they’d age up li’l Jon, given that a show was in the works (which has been officially ordered to series HECK YEAH, HECK YEAH) my money is on the boys being Jon (obviously) and Chris Kent. But I suppose WE SHALL SEE.

The opening to hour five was perfect, A+ Supergirl content. We got: ASKEW GLASSES, ACCIDENTAL HEAT VISION, KARA RAMBLING, A SWEET SISTER MOMENT, and oh maaaaan, that Lex reveal was a delight.

So JUST LIKE WITH BARRY they teased Kara’s comic death and you know what? I ain’t even mad, bro.

CAUSE WE GOT SO MUCH GOOD KARA STUFF? AND A LI’L BIT OF ALEX AND KARA STUFF???? AND J’ONN GETTING TO DO STUFF, STUFF??????

Within a crossover that has to serve like, four other shows.

GOOD JOB, ARROWVERSE PEOPLE. GOOD. JOB.

Score was great. Across the board. Lovely. Wonderful. 15/10. Would buy a soundtrack.

(Particularly the bits where Barry was exploring the Speedforce)

SPEAKING OF: Good work-around, for scheduling the actors, and it looked pretty good.

Look, I know I’m in the minority here, as far as SG fans go but I really, really liked all of the Oliver stuff.

Season 8 of Arrow has been really awesome. All of the Ollie stuff, therefore, feels really earned and fittingly emotional, because you’ve got the meta stuff going on in the background: This is it for Oliver. For REAL because the show’s ending.

When he’s lying in the crater looking up at the birth of the new Multiverse?

GOOD. GOOD STUFF. NO, I’M NOT CRYING.

Also man it was the perfect level of cheesy, wonderful, earnest superhero nonsense when all of the Paragons just...FOCUSED real hard to help Ollie kickstart the new universe LIKE. WHAT? BUT ALSO ODDLY TOUCHING????

I just loved this crossover, alright?????

Even if my extremely short list of demands wasn’t met, how dare. XD

And they did the thing! The thing I was sure they would not do!

They done merged them there Earths!

Not sure how I feel about that just yet; I really do feel like the separate Earths were to the Arrowverse’s advantage, and I’ve never felt like, ‘make it easier to crossover’ was a good reason to toss aside the creative freedom afforded by that separation, but I suppose we’ll see how it all shakes out.

But just like with the fake-out tease of Kara’s death, am I mad about it? NOPE.

CAUSE ALL THE FAVES HAD A MOMENT TO SHINE. MULTIPLE MOMENTS. IT WAS GREAT.

Also, Ryan is wonderful! I hope he sticks around!

SARA DIGGLE EXISTS ONCE MORE!

LOIS’ COMMENT ABOUT BARRY’S NEW COSTUME!

And man oh man, that cameo. I was, unfortunately, spoiled by YouTube (CURSE YOU, ALGORITHM.) but it was pretty long? And as anyone would expect of two Barrys meeting, just so much fun to watch.

They also got a lot of the comics stuff in there--splitting the teams, sending one group to stop someone from traveling to the dawn of time, sending the other group TO the dawn of time.

Also, the Anti-Matter universe being at a quarry works pretty darn well, as the Anti-Monitor’s ship/homeworld/whathaveyou was like, a big rock fortress.

Also! All of the heroes scrambling to make sense of the newly merged Earth! Comes right outta the comic! (Oh, oh, and! In the comic, it’s Earth-2 Superman who first notices something is amiss when he tries to go to work at the Daily Star, only to discover that SOMETHING IS OFF. So it’s neat that they had Kara discover the same thing via reporting as well.)

(And, awwww, the Wolfman cameo was cute!)

The Anti-Monitor being dead, but not really, but then dead, but not really, and then DEAD AGAIN is also a comic thing.

HNNNNNG IT WAS SO GOOD

Alright that it’s for my nerd rambling....for now.

Wait I just gotta say it one more time: THE AGE OF HEROES WILL CONTINUE WITH...THE SUPER FRIENDS!!!!!

*CUE THEME SONG*

#stranger geeks out #COIE spoilers #crisis on infinite earths spoilers #long post #stranger speaks #DCTV #SG post

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bipercabeth · 5 years ago

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So, can we hear your thoughts on TS7? I remember your breakdown for the Ben Platt album and wanted to hear what you have to say about Lover

oh man, i already know this has to go under the cut. i have,,, so many feelings

i forgot that you existed - this song is such a good opener for the album. both the lyrics and production are so light and carefree, which makes it the perfect transition from the intensity of reputation to the softness of lover. she’s not reinventing herself, she’s growing. i love the way she plays with harmonies in the chorus! and i adore how the last line of the verses swells ominously before releasing into the playful staccato of the chorus, i think it’s really indicative of the anxiety surrounding the situation vs the simple and relative ease with which it was all forgotten

cruel summer - tbh i’m glad this wasn’t a single in the place of ME! or yntcd because listening to this was literally a full body experience. it would’ve killed as a lead single, but it definitely hit harder for me hearing for the first time in the context of the album. i read the lyrics of the first five songs when they leaked and genuinely thought i wasn’t going to like this song, but i went absolutely feral at the bridge. (also upon listening i adored the lyrics, so i will no longer be trusting my opinions based on lyrics alone.) if i wasn’t sold on the rest of it, the bridge is what solidified this as one of my favorites on the album. the way the synths build and then cut out for HE LOOKS UP GRINNIN LIKE A DEVIL,,, i lost my shit. astral projected. if this song is playing, i will not turn it off before i get to scream that line. also “i love you, ain’t that the worst thing you ever heard?” is incredible.

lover - words cannot describe my love for this song. my friend veronica described it as the love song of our generation and honestly? she’s not wrong. lover’s lyrics are simple, but hit like a ton of bricks regardless. the key to simple lyricism is finding the words that everyone has always wanted to say (lean on me is a really good example of this but i’m not going to get into songwriting theory on this post) and lover does exactly that. simple descriptions of simple acts are her window to how all-encompassing this love is. the 6/8 timing (a fucking WALTZ y’all) gives it the 2 in the morning kitchen dance feel. it’s a love song in every aspect. i’m never gonna be over it.

the man - a bop. the low notes in this song? incredible, especially in the bridge. those low harmonies took me OUT! the first line of the chorus is so killer as well. and she says bitch twice! taylor said i am 29 i curse and have sex, get over it. there’s less to analyze in this song, but that doesn’t mean i’m not in love with it.

the archer - i am telling you i heard the first goddamn synth note and KNEW jack antonoff was all over this song. i really needed this song to come out when it did, because after those two singles,, i needed some hope for this album. it did not disappoint. the slow build of the synths into one massive crescendo at the bridge instead of the usual rise and fall of most pop music. every single note builds to the bridge, to the anxiety of that repeated they see right through me, to the cause all of my enemies started out friends / help me hold on to you. it swells like the slow draw of a knocked arrow, like an archer taking aim. and then all at once, it fades like the string was released. i adore every single aspect of this song.

i think he knows - my percabeth loving ass needs to take a second to talk about the line i am an architect, i’m drawing up the plans and how it sent me to the fucking moon. but anyway. different post. it is physically impossible for me to stay still when this song plays. the harmonies on that AH in the chorus made me lose it. i want you, bless my soul is so southern and absolutely beautiful. she’s straight up pining in this song, and she knows it. that way she closes the song with that line on loop? sets the tone so well.

miss americana and the heartbreak prince - i have no idea why i didn’t like this song upon first listen, but now i like it! still not my favorite on the album, but the bar is high.

paper rings - god i cannot believe that she said his friends were high at the met gala i’m fucking dead. this whole song is peak old taylor, just grown up. it’s got the same catchiness as stay stay stay, but with a more grown (but still fun) outlook. this one is real experience talking, and it shows. she’s got the love she always wanted to write about! i’m not okay!

cornelia street - her delivery really makes the song for me. you can physically feel how much she loves joe and how real that fear of losing him. that stripped down chorus after the bridge where her voice breaks? she’s so in love. i’m so in love.

death by a thousand cuts - GOD i love this song with everything in me, even more since watching Someone Great. it’s the perfect narrative song for that movie. it also contains the single most Taylor Swift^tm lyric of all time: but if the story’s over, why am i still writing pages? ALSO? WE WANNA TALK ABOUT BRIDGE CITY?? this bridge goes so hard. i can’t convey my love for it unless we’re in the car together so i can scream it properly. ultimate car song.

london boy - so fun! people who are upset over this song gotta calm down, it’s a fun, catchy song. i don’t have much to say about it, but i enjoy it! i won’t go out of my way to queue it, but it’s cute and cheeky and i like it.

soon you’ll get better - i knew from the first goddamn guitar lick that this was going to wreck me, but once i realized what it was about,,, i didn’t stand a chance. i literally went back after my first listen through the whole album and listened to this song on loop for at least half an hour and just. sobbed. it hits home way too hard for me. again with that devastatingly simple songwriting. you’ll get better soon / cause you have to absolutely destroyed me. also, this is a really small detail, but that breath at 2:41 really does me in. it’s so defeated, i can’t. her delivery in this one is an absolute gut punch.

false god - jack antonoff is all over this one and i love it for that. taylor swift said i fuck and i respect that. the sax? get out of here. it’s so perfect. it’s horny, but like,,, emotionally horny. perfect fit for this album. i adore it.

you need to calm down - okay ngl i don’t like this song or ME!, but i’m really glad they were singles because if i heard them on this album for the first time i would’ve been :/ about it. instead we got that right out of the way and now i can appreciate the good parts of them. the oh’s in the chorus are really pretty! i don’t actively dislike this song, but i don’t actively like it either.

afterglow - i love that taylor put a song about fighting on this album. i think this made the album feel so much more real. it’s about love, and fighting is a part of that! we break a little from the picture perfect aspect of songs like paper rings and get a little grittier. people make mistakes, but the love guides the choice to stay, to ask for forgiveness and promise to do better. this makes the entire narrative of lover so much stronger.

ME! - same sentiment as yntcd in terms of it being the lead single, except i’m really not a fan of this song. i can handle it up until the spelling is fun part. i cannot believe “can’t spell awesome without me” is so close to daylight. i appreciate the point of the song and what she sets out to do with it, but i just. can’t get over that damn bridge.

it’s nice to have a friend - i really didn’t like this song at first and i’m still warming up to it, but i definitely am! it’s such a percabeth song. i’m not sure why i didn’t like it, probably because it doesn’t escalate or go anywhere, but i think that steadiness contributes to the meaning of it

daylight - i could literally write an entire essay on this song alone. it’s the perfect closing song for this album. i don’t want to see anything else now that i saw you / i don’t want to think of anything else now that i’ve thought of you are literally the most tender lines i have heard in my whole life. the comparison between this and her notes from red make me openly weep. the bridge of this song literally feels light daylight, it shines and feels warm and god i love love! i once believed love would be burning red, but it’s golden made me cry when i heard it. i can’t stop thinking about that quote that says “lover is the sound of a songwriter getting to write the album she’s always wanted to write”. i could literally cry just thinking about that. she got to write the album about golden love! her whole career is based around singing and writing about love, and now she has exactly what she’s been grasping at all this time. it’s downright poetic. the monologue/outro only did me in more. she’s spent so long being defined by other people, and here she makes that definition for herself on an album that she owns every part of. it’s perfect.

#please do not ask me how long i spent on this #ts #music #anon #iris messages #bless u anon i would die for u #it makes me so happy to know that people want to hear my thoughts on music okay this is my love language #i mean i'm gonna give em either way but its nice to know they're wanted

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readysetreduce · 5 years ago

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Hello, and welcome to my blog/first post/etc. I am a humble 27 y/o who has not done anything you would have heard of, but I’m here for a place to talk about how and why I have decided to change my habits. This is meant to be a space for people to find an easy way to navigate changing their habits too, and I hope that I can help. You should know that I am not under any circumstances an expert, or even knowledgeable about a lot of these things. I haven’t studied them, I haven’t been paid, and I am doing all of this on my own time and in my own way and that might not work for everyone.

TL/DR: I have no idea what I’m doing. You shouldn’t listen to me, but I need a place to organize my thoughts on this project.

MAIN THEME:

For this blog, my goals are simply this: REDUCE.

I think that a lot of people feel really good about recycling. AND YOU SHOULD RECYCLE, don’t get me wrong, BUT *and this is important* there are more that one step to helping our environment and it’s multitude of issues. In fact, there are THREE. The first one is, you guessed it—Reduce. In my opinion, being the first arrow in the cycle, the first listed, the first named, etc, that makes it IMPORTANT. So without further ado, here’s how last year I started becoming a more aware person.

It all started with a nature documentary. I watched, I cried, I awoke. I was very upset by the prospect of a mother whale’s milk poisoning her baby because of the environment she lives in. It’s fucking tragic and I think that point is beyond being debatable. So in 2019, I made myself a promise that I would try to do my part. Up until that day, I need you to understand, that I felt as if my decisions could not POSSIBLY matter in this issue. It felt stupid that little ‘ol me in this GIANT world giving up water bottles would even matter at all. How could one person really make a difference? I know, what a cliched and boring question, but I still to this day feel like there are some things that are just too big for me to try and solve, fix, think about, prophesize, etc. To be frank, I just felt like it was all not enough, like, no matter WHAT I did it couldn’t POSSIBLY make a difference. I think a lot of this stems from my issues in math and numbers and how they make me feel inferior, but I digress, with a little help from a very math-positive friend, I felt an impact. Small though it may be, an impact nonetheless. So I am going to share some statistics with you that inspired me. So, before you get overwhelmed, I’m gonna start big and then break it down into what made me go, “oh.”

Ok, so scientists think that somewhere around 8 MILLION metric tons of plastic are dumped into the ocean every year. For reference on what this looks like here is what a 6.8 metric tons look like:

SO. Imagine about 1.1 million more of those swimming around in the ocean. What I’m getting at is it’s A LOT, and that’s uninspiring. So of that 8M number, I needed to know how much of it my ONE water bottle really impacted. So....

Americans drink 10 BILLION gallons of plastic bottles every year, and in 2016, less than HALF were collected for recycling. What’s half of 10B...? Idek. I don’t think that number really matters to most people, and for most of my life it certainly didn’t matter to me because that is FAR too much for me to fathom. Most people can’t even fathom 10B of ANYTHING.

I’ll be transparent here, none of these numbers meant a damn thing to me. Watching that baby whale die...that’s what did me in, y’all. I’m not heartless even though I like to pretend to be. So, what made me feel like I was doing something important? Doing it. I just started reducing. It started really really small. I stopped buying water bottles, I got a water filter, and I filled up my cups, and I was like, “SURELY that is enough and I can stop there.” And that’s when it happened. It all started crowding in around me. I started to see how much plastic I was using just to EXIST. Suddenly I realized how MANY things were made of plastic. You guys....it’s like EVERYTHING. Do you remember that time when you were a kid and someone was like, “haha check the labels on your things and see if it says, ‘Made in China,’ lol it’s like China owns us lol so funny.” It was like that. I was like suddenly I realized plastic owned me and I had been living with my eyes closed the whole time. So I started frantically changing like everything I did, and running around looking for new solutions to the things I used every day. It was insanity. It still is. For 2020, I kept my same resolution as last year. It’s reduce. Surprising, right? Anyway, how could I not I still have all this plastic to get rid of, and no, the earth probably doesn’t notice that I don’t use waterbottles anymore, but I sure fucking do. I notice when other people use them, too. I notice when people don’t recycle. I notice when I’m not in LA, and there’s no recycling bin in sight and I am forced to either throw away a recyclable OR litter...it makes me cringe. I now have a PHYSICAL reaction to the inability to decide how I impact my own environment, and for anyone that knows me AT ALL, taking away my right to options is just not a thing you should do to gain my favor.

I want for this to be something that someone reads and thinks about. Just thinking about it was enough for me, and maybe it will be enough for someone else, too. I also want to help be a resource for those people who are just starting out like I am and need help. I am well versed in research as a historian, and sometimes I do it for fun, but other times I do it because I need to know who is profiting from my funding, or what is the best no-waste toothpaste option because my partner gets mouth ulcers from the chemicals in our toothpaste and I’ve suddenly realized that the toothpaste we use is far more impactful than just the risk the chemicals are posing to our bodies. So, without further ado, please enjoy this place as an informational safe space where I can research without judgement, answer questions to the best of my ability, let people know what works or doesn’t work in my life, and to ultimately have my own impact here on tumblr.

—♻️REduces✌️—

Here’s a link from oceanconservancy.org where I found some of this information.

#environment #reduce #reduce reuse recycle #plastic pollution #global impact #environmental action #environmental awareness

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wolfsrainrules · 6 years ago

Text

Bleach:Hellverse Dragon Eclipse

In which myself and @north-peach play in @akaluan ‘Dragon Eclipse’ verse with permission. It’s beautiful by the way, I need ALL THE DAD KISUKE. CHECK THE TAGS Y’ALL,

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

Orihime did not want to be the one to explain everything to Urahara-san. He was going to be furious. Orihime already was, and she’d known what happened from the start. She was informed and as the only healer in their group, she stayed behind to take care of Karin-chan and Sado-kun.

However, Urahara-san….didn’t. She had only just found out that no one had told him that his sons- Kaito, Ichigo, and Uryuu- had all gone down into hell with Renji and Rukia. And granted, Orihime could understand why no one had wanted to draw that short straw, but it was going to be so much worse now.

Because not only had his family walked into hell, but most of them were trapped there (-dead, she deliberately didn’t think), and Ichigo had walked back into the gates to save them. Against the Soutaicho’s direct orders. By himself.

As in, without Urahara-san.

Who she had to tell all of this too.

Orihime squared her shoulders and calmly knocked on the doors of the Urahara Shoten.

LINEBREAK

A monstrously powerful, absolutely furious, crash of reiatsu escaped a normally calm man’s control and a thundering, “MY SONS ARE WHERE?” echoed throughout the shop.

LINEBREAK

Kaito ached, his entire body throbbed, and he hated this place.

Which, okay, Hell. That was the whole point, but he was never supposed to experience it. And he definitely did not want Uryuu, Ichigo, Renji or Rukia to live through it either.

And Yuzu.

This bastard had touched his- Ichigo, and Shiro’s-their sister. Had brought her here. Had allowed Hell’s Chains to attach to her.

Ichigo, Shiro, Zangetsu, and Kaito were all in complete agreement.

This man was going to die.

He could feel the part of him that was still Quincy absorbing the energies of hell and it burned like fire and acid and agony. It ate at his insides like poison and rot, chipping away at his composure, but damn it-

Kaito would not- could not- leave the others here alone. Even as it seemed that his chains were forming quicker than the others. He’d say it was due to his Quincy heritage absorbing what was around him, but Uryuu was still doing well. Mostly. At any rate, his chains were not forming as quickly.

And then Kaito saw Kokuto move, chains glinting in the light, towards Ishida and he darted forward- too slow!- he refused to watch someone else he cared for fall-

He threw himself in front of Uryuu, knowing perfectly well he wasn’t quick enough to bring his sword up to block, but not caring. He choked, eyes widening at the sharp spike of agony as Kokuto’s blade slid home right where his chains had begun to form on his chest.

“KAITO!”

He heard his name from multiple people, even as he twisted his face from agony to rage, Shiro surging forward and lending his regeneration. It didn’t really do anything, not with hell’s energy tearing at him from inside, occupying most of the regeneration factor to begin with, and especially not so close to the chains.

He lifted Shiro’s blade, slashing at the man and driving him backwards even as arrows- Uryuu, infuriated and terrified at his back- flew over and around his body.

Kaito staggered as the blade in his chest was pulled free, and his dad was going to kill him again for this-

Uryuu, Rukia, and Renji lunged around him and no!

Kaito howled, his voice double toned as he watched all three of them fall to Kokuto’s blade. It was echoed soon enough, as Kurosaki’s reiatsu darkened and surged in a way Kaito’s couldn’t for the moment.

“Ichigo!” That was Renji’s voice.

Kaito acknowledged in the back of his mind, where rational thought was still happening, that the red head had quite a decent reason to sound so worried. This was not the smooth and effortless change from previous situations to the orange-ette’s Vasto Lorde form. This was a change triggered by rage. It was complete and utter instinct driven by fury, a desire to destroy.

Kaito’s legs folded, his shrieks of pained anger still double toned and echoing over the landscape to blend with the ones escaping Kurosaki.

And then Kurosaki moved, and-

Kokuto laughed.

And Renji- Renji pressed a kido into Kurosaki’s back, and he was leaving, Yuzu tucked in an arm.

Kaito had a moment to spare the thought that he was glad Yuzu wouldn’t be here to witness his very spirited attempts to murder the already dead. He could already feel his body remaking itself, as Hell brought him back from death, utterly conscious and aware of the painful healing process, the acidic-fire of hell’s energy scorching him from the inside out as it was used in the process.

Kaito staggered to his feet.

LINEBREAK

It was agony and terror and Kaito wanted Urahara, he wanted his father.

Kokuto managed to catch him, a blade in his chest, chains reaching for Uryuu-

He’d managed to catch him and pin him like a bug, to the trees. Renji and Uryuu were hanging from their chains above his head.

They were rotting.

They were rotting while still alive, and Kaito screamed.

This would haunt him until the end of days.

So would Rukia’s screams as she was burned alive and remade only to burn again.

Gods, he wanted his dad, and his comforting-protective-vicious reiatsu. He wanted to feel safe, to know that none of this would be able to touch him again.

Ichigo, Shiro and Zangetsu were the only things holding him together over the scent and feel of rot. The rot that was happening to his body at this very moment. Skin peeling, bubbling, melting away until bone remained, only for hell to heal the damage and begin again.

His breathing was ragged, and he was thankful that Uryuu and Renji had fallen unconscious some time earlier. He couldn’t stop the choked moan as his skin began to rot again, shuddering where he was pinned and his eyes just barely open.

Kokuto was sitting there with his sword stabbed in the rock, like he was relaxing in a park. Kaito wanted him dead.

But any subtle twitch or tug rippled through the decaying muscles of his body, and Kaito couldn’t make muscles that weren’t there to use pull himself off the tree. He really was pinned like a bug in a case. Forced to listen to his friends’ screams, enduring torture of his own.

He loathed.

LINEBREAK

And then Kurosaki was there.

Kaito had expected no less- this was Ichigo after all, and Kaito was certain he’d come back for Uryuu, Renji, and Rukia if nothing else. He wouldn’t leave them here. Not in literal hell. Not while he breathed.

“Uryuu! Renji! Kaito!”

And then:

“Rukia!”

Oh yes.

Kurosaki was in full form as he lunged for Kokuto.

Kaito allowed himself to sag against the blades that pinned him in place. He had faith in Ichigo, no matter when or where.

LINEBREAK

Kisuke did not deal well with panic.

And he was absolutely, definitely, one hundred percent, panicking.

His family was in hell.

His sons and their friends were in hell. The netherworld. The Inferno, the abyss, jigoku, the World of Darkness - HELL.

Without him. His kids up and went to hell, presumably with some kind of plan or reason that neither included him nor informed him.

And really, that was the part that was getting to him. It was the ‘not included’ part. He could have helped them. Would have. Wouldn’t have even hesitated. At the very least it would be a chance to study a realm that literally no one else had before, but considering that Uryuu, Ichigo, Rukia, Renji and Kaito all went without him-

No one told him. No one even mentioned anything. Not even Kaito, who had promised to do so if he had the time- which implied that he hadn’t had it, because Kaito kept his promises.

No one had even mentioned it, hinted at it- hadn’t even told him that Ichigo had come back here only to turn around and save his friends. Kisuke’s sons.

Until Orihime. After the fact.

Kisuke stared at the entire kido corps, all neatly arranged around the entrance to hell- which was broken- containing any and everything that tried to escape it. And things- he wasn’t sure what they were- were trying to get out.

Kisuke snarled, tightening his grip on Benihime as he stared down the gate and the monsters that stood in his way.

He would end them. Them and anyone or thing else that got in his way.

Kisuke’s hands shook, and Benihime needed no call to awaken her, she was already screaming in his head, songs of death and destruction and blood that would reign should what was theirs not return. The Captains that stood inside the barrier, fighting the creatures that tried to escape the gate were dripping sweat, and had obviously been fighting for some time.

(How long had his sons been inside, how long were they going to wait to tell him?)

Kisuke wasted no time in lunging forward to join the battle. The faster this threat was gone, the quicker he would get information on his family.

LINEBREAK

Kaito sagged heavily against Kurosaki’s side, his legs shaking under his weight.

The chains were gone- Kurosaki had cut them- but his body had still been rotting and nothing wanted to work. He kept his eyes closed, faint tremors shivering through his form, and he didn’t fight it when Kurosaki’s arm tightened around him. Uryuu’s palm was a warm weight at his back, firm pressure against his spine that made the tremors worse.

“Let’s go home.”

Kaito’s voice was wrecked from screaming, but he didn’t care. His father was outside that gate, Kaito knew he would be and all he wanted was to curl up in Kisuke’s lap like he was a small child to be shielded from the world. He didn’t care what it made him look like.

He felt safe there, and right now….right now Kaito desperately needed that.

“Can you change back?”

“No!” Kaito interrupted before Kurosaki could begin to follow through with the suggestion. “Keep it for now- it’s what is stopping the Kushanadas from attacking any of us. If you give it up we’re going to have to run and hope we’re not caught again and I-” Kaito paused, his mouth dry. “I’m tired.”

Kurosaki’s eyes burned when he looked at him, and It took Kaito a few moments to realize it was protectiveness that drove the look in his eyes. A dare to the world, to try and touch him. A threat that this Ichigo would follow through on.

“Yeah,” he agreed softly. “Alright. Come on guys.”

Kurosaki’s eyes turned to the still kneeling, yet towering forms of the Kushanada. “Let’s go home.”

Kaito didn’t even startle as the creature reached down, picking all of them up in its massive palm and striding towards the exit. It moved with an odd sort of gait, but the trip was smooth. None of them were afraid. Rukia was looking up in awe at the creature while Renji had a look like exasperation on his face. Ichigo wore the armor, bones that shone gold and as long as he did, he was the driving force behind them- the general and king of hell for the moment- and Kaito knew while that held true these beings would not hurt any of them.

His hands shook as he approached the gate, and he clenched them around his own arms.

(*Easy.*)

His own Ichigo’s voice was steady, powerful as he soothed from within, offering his own strength and swamping their shared mind with his protectiveness. He could feel Zangetsu’s quiet support and Shiro’s intense focus as he tried to heal what he could, despite hell’s energies still burning in Katio’s veins.

Kaito quivered with it, everything in him wanting to break for the moment. Everything in him craving a safe place to fall, to rest.

But not here.

No, not here-

There.

The doors of hell stood tall against the crimson sky, darkly red and wrapped with chains. The Kushanada carrying them reached out it's free hand, pushing them open in a swirl of reiatsu. Hell’s guardians obeying Kurosaki’s will. The one that held their forms stepped forward, thrusting its arm outside the gates and into the World of the Living. All of them instinctively took a deep breath of fresh air. The Kusanada paused a moment, it’s fingers carefully uncurling before it slowly lowered its hand.

Kaito staggered down and off, automatically bracing himself in the air with his reishi. His eyes were immediately fixated on the familiar source of an agitated and furious, viciously, protective presence just as swiftly honed in on his own.

“Dad.”

it was barely a sound at all, that small, breathless word that left his lips, but Kisuke was suddenly there- his arms wrapping desperately around Kaito’s bloodied form. He ignored all the leftover signs of Kaito’s stay in hell- the soot, the blood, the torn clothing, the lingering scent of rot, the faint burns- to instead wrap Kaito in his embrace and-

His father’s reiatsu curled around his shoulder, like a particularly thick and warm blanket. A hand gently carded itself through his hair, a thumb swiping over the clammy skin of his neck, seeking a pulse point. In the same instant, Kurosaki banished the golden armor, along with the Kusanada and the Gates of Hell with a wave of his hand. Such things vanished from the range of his sensing ability.

Kaito sagged like his strings had been cut, a small wounded sound escaping him, even as he snuggled into his father’s chest, hands fisting into the soft, well worn material of a familiar green jinbei. He easily sensed what was the majority of the captains and lieutenants of the Gotei 13, including Yamamoto-soutaicho himself. In that moment he was uncaring of their audience, because he was hurt, he was exhausted and right now he was safesafesafe-

LINEBREAK

Kisuke ponders absently on exactly how he can go about destroying hell. It’s a mess because of all the souls that are currently in hell, and Hell itself, not to mention the whole separate dimension thing. He currently doesn’t have a method to destroy a dimension.

It’s going to wait, because Kaito needs him, but Kisuke is going to look into it. He tries not to think about why Kaito smells like a rotting body over the scent of blood and burned flesh. If he thinks about it too long Benihime’s screams for vengeance and death start to drown out everything else. Kind of like how he’s honing his focus in on his son who is practically crawling into his lap.

In front of an audience.

Which Kaito doesn’t even seem to notice, though Kisuke knows that he does. It’s just not something his son is focusing on at the moment. He’s trembling. A glance up shows the glimmering orange of Orihime-chan’s Shun Shun Rika shield and all of them are pretty much in the same condition. Uryuu-kun’s formerly white Quincy uniform is anything but. Mostly, it looks stiff and reddish brown. Exactly like most of the stains on Kaito’s formerly blue clothing.

Sometime he hates his ability to accurately extrapolate from very little data offered.

Kisuke lowers them both down, an absent flex of reiatsu expanding his platform to allow him to sit with his legs crossed. Kaito shifts easily with him, pushing his body in closer to Kisuke, nuzzling into his chest, arms wrapped as tightly as he can manage around Kisuke’s frame, calloused hands clenching over his coat even as Kaito presses himself flush to Kisuke’s side.

Methods to destroy a dimension while reducing any after effects on any other nearby realms, number two on To-Do list.

Number one….

Number one is to get his family home, behind his wards, into warm showers and fed.

Kisuke stands easily, lifting his son into his arms as he goes, and tried not to let how infuriated he is when Kaito doesn’t even fight him on it, only snuggles into his chest.

“Are we goin’ home?” Kaito’s voice is raw-from screaming, Urahara doesn’t think lest he rampage straight into and then through hell- when he asks the question.

“Of course!” Kisuke forcibly injects cheer into his voice, catching Ichigo’s gaze as Orihime-chan’s shield drifts closer. “Of course, I’m taking everyone home.”

“.....M’tired, dad.”

Kisuke’s throat tightens. He recognizes that tone, what it means to hear the less formal address for himself from Kaito’s mouth, and he aches and rages with it in equal measure.

“I’ve got you.”

Kisuke moves quickly over to the rest of his boys, shifting Kaito to one arm as the other runs over both Ichigo and Uryuu, voicing soft questions on their health and wellbeing escaping even as he pulls them both carefully into his sides.

It soothes the beast in him to have his sons so close, where he can protect them, though it does not satisfy it. No- that will not happen until every being and thing that caused this harm was dead. Preferably in the most painful way Kisuke could think of.

He can think of a lot.

LINEBREAK

Soi Fon is deeply concerned about this situation. First, that Kurosaki Ichigo was allowed to return to hell. Second, that even though the Gates of Hell were mysteriously fixed, aforementioned Substitute Shinigami somehow commanded the Kushanada to open them for him, along with Urahara Kisuke’s son, the Quincy child, Kuchiki Rukia and Lieutenant Abarai of the Six Division.

She assumed it had something to do with the golden skeletal armor that covers him head to toe. It’s the Quincy who confirms it with a flash of his glasses and a dry, pointed-

“You can abdicate your throne now, Kurosaki.”

The response to that statement was when the armor melted away in a golden light, along with the Kushanadas withdrawing back into Hell, the Gates slapping shut in front of them.

“Don’t get so worked up, Ishida. Who would want to rule Hell anyway?”

“People who get possessed by weird things-”

“Oi.”

There’s no father banter between the two, as Urahara Kisuke rises to his feet, his son cradled in his arms. Soi Fon takes this as the moment to insert herself into the situation before it gets even more out of hand.

“Urahara,” Soi Fon barely keeps the disgust out of her tone, but most of the events that transpired are unknown and clarification is required, “A report is needed from all those who were involved with Kurosaki-”

Bloodlust sings and Soi Fon chokes. Eyes wide she stares into cold eyes as Urahara turns to look at her. His arms are full of his son and he hasn’t moved, save to shift his gaze over his shoulder. Yet…

Yet, she can feel cold steel at her throat, a presence that stands before her that sends shivers of fear down her spine. Soi Fon is harshly reminded that Urahara Kisuke was the Head of the Detention Unit and was not removed from the Onmitsukido because someone stronger came along, but rather as a political move initiated by Yoruichi-sama.

“Later.”

It is a statement of fact, law written into word, a dare and a promise for all that the tone in which it is said is steady and soft and even.

Soi Fon knows a command when she hears one, and is well aware of the promise in Urahara Kisuke’s eyes over something as easily ignored as a threat.

She dips her head shallowly once, even though the action grates at her pride.

Agreement or death.

She would get her answers later. Her gaze slides over to the two Shinigami that were present in this mess. A heartbeat later, Urahara steps forward.

“Abarai-san, Kuchiki-san, will you be accompanying us? You are more than welcome,” that man adds with a touch of his usual lackadaisical manner.

Soi Fon grits her teeth, but remains silent at Yamamoto-soutaicho’s inaction. She only watches as relief touches their faces and they readily agree. It’s not even that man that is ready to stand against her. It’s the Substitute Shinigami and the Quincy that have leveled their gazes at her. Still, she makes no move. It’s not worth the fight at this time.

She turns on her heel and shunpos away. She has her own reports to write.

LINEBREAK

It’s still dark when everyone finally slips into sleep.

Shower, food, clean clothes and a mess of futons and blankets dominate the middle of the room. Kisuke himself is holding Kaito, one hand gently stroking his hair. Uryuu-kun is curled on his other side, with Ichigo-kun sprawled out above them. Orihime-chan has somehow snuggled herself between the Quincy and the substitute Shinigami and Rukia-san sleeps across from her. Both Sado-kun and Abarai-kun are tucked on the outside, as if guarding those behind them.

It’s likely the reason for that.

Still, everyone’s reiatsu is calm and sleepy, intertwined with one another and any lingering unwillingness to fall asleep has long since faded. Perhaps there will be nightmares, but Kisuke hopes tonight brings up no new memories or fears into their unconscious minds.

Still- just in case- he allows his reiatsu to blanket the area, projecting his intent to guard and protect across the room. No one and nothing will be allowed in this room while Kisuke breathes.

He pressed a kiss on Kaito’s temple and allows his own eyes to slip shut. He’ll sleep lightly, but it’ll be enough to take the edge of exhaustion off. There was work to be done.

#Bleach:Hellverse reimagined while playing in akaluan’s sandbox #Featuring Urahara Kaito from Dragon Eclipse #Dragon Eclipse Verse #Kisuke will burn the world down and salt the earth for his own do NOT touch his kids any of them here’s a hint they’re all his kids #blood death torture it’s hell hell is not a fun place okay #Kaito gets hurt Kisuke plans on rending entire dimensions to ash #Bleach Hellverse #Parental Urahara Kisuke Shiba Isshin is a shit parent Ishida Ryuuken is a shit parent #time travel #established time travel #Kisuke @ any other male parental figure: THESE ARE MY KIDS I WILL FIGHT YOU #fanfiction of a fanfiction because why not #Do not get between PapaKisuke and taking care of his kids #he was an assassin don’t think he won’t kill you

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noradarhkpalmer · 6 years ago

Text

well versed in etiquette, extraordinarily nice

Title: well versed in etiquette, extraordinarily nice

Rating: PG

Pairing: Nora Darhk/Ray Palmer aka Darhkatom

Warnings: Some pretty anti-arrow feels are in this one, sorry y’all.

Summary/Notes: Ray and the rest of the Legends are invited to another wedding of their allies. After the Nazi invasion from Earth X, Ray is hesitant to go. Nora encourages him only to find out that Team Arrow will be there and Nora is not sure she can be held responsible for what would happen if she were left unsupervised near Oliver Queen

Day nine of 25 days of Darhkatom! Feel free to click the through my blog to see the others! Basically, I will be posted all loosely related (unless stated otherwise) fics for 25 days straight!

Thank you so much to @timetravelingpalmer for encouraging me to publish this.

Ray honestly wasn’t sure whether or not he’d attend another wedding of someone in their general circle of allies after what happened the last time. Nazis. Losing a Legend. Everything that could go wrong, went wrong.

And yet he and the rest of the Legends were all agreeing to RSVP for the wedding of Wally West and Linda Park. He liked Wally, he’d been a part of the Legends for a short while and had saved him from being kidnapped in Berlin and had helped defeat Mallus. Wally was a cool guy and Ray couldn’t be more happy for him.

“Wally feels too young to be getting married. Isn’t he like 15?” Nora asked as they walked back to their room.

“No, I think that’s how old you technically are right now.”

Nora smacked his chest playfully. “So, who’s going to be your hot wedding date?”

Ray shook his head. “You, of course. Though I could always take Zari, she’s not the one with the history that may complicate the jolly festivities…”

Nora arched a brow. “And what’s THAT supposed to mean?”

“Well, Team Arrow is invited and you, for good reason, don’t like them.”

“Yeah cause Oliver Queen killed my dad.”

“Well Oliver Queen is probably going.”

Nora thought for a minute. Really thought if she could be civil and be in the same room as the man that killed her father. She understood from the day that she was free of Mallus that her father was not a good man, not even a good father, but he was still her father and he had sacrificed himself at the very end to give her a second chance. Knots formed in Nora’s stomach. She wanted to be there, with Ray, do something that made her feel normal. Normal people were their boyfriend’s plus ones to weddings.

“As long as I don’t have to talk to him I’ll probably be fine.”

“I’ll make sure we stay clear on the other side of the room of him at all times.”

xxxx

Much like Barry and Iris, Wally and Linda held a party the night before after the wedding rehearsal at Jitters. Ray and Nora were thrilled to be back in the place they had their first date in. The space was a lot smaller than they had remembered and it definitely felt small when Nora spotted Oliver Queen walk in with a pretty blonde on his arm.

Nora tightened her grip on Ray’s arm and he looked down at her.

“What’s up?” Ray asked.

“He’s here.”

Ray followed her gaze to where Oliver and Felicity stood. He saw the ring on Felicity’s finger shine brightly in the fairy lights decorating the room and swallowed. He knew that when he and Felicity ended things she went to be with Oliver but he had no idea they had gotten married after the Nazi’s from Earth X had invaded.

“If you feel like you can’t do this, we can go. Wally and Linda won’t be upset. We’ll just say goodnight and see them at the wedding tomorrow.”

“No I need to do this. I’ve been able to grow so much mostly thanks to your help. I need to be able to at least stand in the same room as him. It was a long time ago for me, I can handle it. I’ll let you know if I can’t. So thank you.” She leaned up and pecked his lips.

They continued to mingle with the others, mostly keeping in groups with the other Legends, occasionally talking with members of Team Flash, congratulating Wally and Linda until two blondes made their way towards them.

Nora tightened her grip again on Ray’s arm. “Relax, I’ll handle it.”

“Ray!” Felicity held out her arms for a hug. “How are you? I’m sorry about Professor Stein, he was a good man.”

Ray nodded. “Thanks, Felicity, I think that there will always be a missing piece of the Legends because of his absence.”

“Yeah. We all saw how many lives he touched at the funeral…” realizing the conversation was dying she turned her attentions towards the brunette with Ray. “Who’s your date?”

Ray pretended to not try and deflect the conversation onto something other than Nora and facepalmed himself. “Of course, you guys haven’t met. Felicity, this is my girlfriend, Nora. Nora, this is Felicity and Oliver Queen.”

Felicity pulled Nora into a hug, which was probably the last thing Nora ever wanted, and thankfully Oliver was standoffish as usual and didn’t even offer a handshake.

“It’s… nice… to meet you guys.” Nora tried to regulate her breathing. She was just a girl, meeting old friends of her boyfriend’s.

Felicity crinkled her nose. “Wow, we have so many Nora’s floating around lately, now another, how fun.”

“Yeah… exhilarating.” Nora deadpanned.

“And your eyes are so pretty, they’re absolutely striking.”

“Thanks, I got them from my dad.”

Nora watched as the comment made Oliver almost visibly flinch. She tried her hardest to hide the smirk. If he had figured it out, watching him squirm at her kindness was going to be almost as fun as all of the things she used to plan to do him if she ever got the chance to see him again.

“Well they’re gorgeous. So are you a Legend?”

“I am. Have been for about three months now.”

“That’s awesome they’re a good group of people.”

“Especially Ray.” Nora leaned her head onto his bicep. “He’s made me a better person.”

“Ray sees the best in people.”

“That he does.” Nora replied in a sickenly sweet but almost ominous tone.

Oliver coughed. “Felicity let’s go get a drink. It’s was nice seeing you again Ray, and meeting you Nora. We’ll talk later.”

Nora watched them walk away and smirked.

“See that wasn’t so bad.” Ray grinned optimistically.

“No, you know, it wasn’t.

xxxx

“Hey, we have drinks back at our table, why did you drag me away like you couldn’t me out of there fast enough? Don’t tell me you’re like jealous of Ray or something.”

Oliver made a face. “No. Something, something’s just off about what just happened.”

“What? The fact that Ray has a girlfriend? I’m really happy for him and Nora seems nice, a little on the dark side, but nice.”

It clicked. If Oliver were in a cartoon, a lightbulb would be turning on.

“Say that again.”

“She’s nice, a little dark but nice.”

“Dark.”

“Yes. The absence of light but also when people act a little mysterious.”

“No. Darhk.”

“Still not following you.”

“I think that’s Damien Darhk’s daughter: Nora.”

Felicity laughed. “That’s not possible. Nora Darhk is about sixteen years old. That can’t be her, that woman is in her thirties.”

“Ray spends his days traveling through time. I don’t know how or why, but I’m telling you, that woman over there is Nora Darhk and she’s dangerous.”

“Oliver, come on. That’s not her. You’re being ridiculous and paranoid. Now can we go back to the party, to celebrate Wally and Linda. Fashion a smile, Mr. Grumpypus.” She pretended to pinch his cheek.

“Fine. But I’m telling you I’m right.”

“Sure.” Felicity patted his chest to appease him.

xxxx

“Felicity… why does that name sound familiar?” Nora asked she stirred her drink while at a bar top table with a few of the other Legends. Ray had left to go talk with Cisco about something on the other side of the room and Nora didn’t trust herself to be left unsupervised.

“Like Felicity Smoak? That’s cause she’s Ray’s ex.” Zari explained and popped an olive in her mouth.

Nora almost choked on her drink. “What?”

“And you didn’t know that. Right well I’m going to exit the conversation now.”

Nora grabbed Zari’s arm. “What do you know about his relationship with her?”

“Brief cause now she hangs on Oliver Queen’s arm. It was right after he bought Queen Consolidated. I’m trying to remember other concrete details but honestly I only know this much cause Amaya and I got Ray super drunk one night and he kept crying about wanting to find love.”

Nora sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Okay. Do you know if they’re still on good terms?”

“Oh yeah, they broke up amicably. Felicity knew her heart was with Oliver and Ray was being a little too Ray about the whole thing. That’s all. Can you let go of my arm now?”

Nora realized she still had it in a tight grip and released it. “Sorry.” She returned to stirring her drink. Oliver had hurt her. Felicity had hurt Ray. She needed Ray to come back before she did something really stupid.

xxxx

Ray finally returned to her side and she kissed him softly.

“Hey, miss me?”

“Always.” She felt him drape an arm around her shoulders and smiled up at him. She was ready to grill his ass.

“Why didn’t you tell me Felicity was your ex-girlfriend?”

“Because we broke up amicably and it didn’t seem relevant and I didn’t want to add to the stress of you being in the same room with the man that killed your dad.”

Nora glared at him. “Your ex married the man that killed my father. It’s definitely relevant, babe.”

“Sorry… I’ll make sure to tell you the next time I run into an ex of mine.”

“How many exes do you have!?”

“Just two others and one died.” Ray squeezed his eyes shut, ready for Nora to hex him.

Nora took in deep breaths to calm herself back down. “Okay. Oliver and Felicity don’t know who I am. We are going to keep it that way because I will not be held responsible for what happens if he confronts me and knows I’m Damien Darhk’s daughter.”

“Don’t worry, I have it all under control.” Ray said and totally lied through his teeth, he did not have it all under control.

xxxx

Oliver caught Sara’s arm and she batted him off.

“Can I help you with something, Mr. Queen?”

“Sara, I’m going to ask you this once and you better tell me the truth. Who is that.” Oliver pointed over to Nora as she and Ray chatted with Wally and Linda.

“That’s Nora, she joined the team three months ago and has been dating Ray for about as long.”

“And?...”

“And she’s really great, she makes really good baked chicken soup and makes Ray really happy.”

Oliver sighed, exasperated. “You know exactly why I’m asking you who she is. Sara, she’s the daughter of the man that killed your sister.”

“And you’re the man that murdered that man in front of her when she was twelve! She’s not dangerous if that’s what you’re wondering. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a hot date to return to.” Sara caught Ava’s eyes from across the room and winked at her.

Oliver shook his head. “She’s dangerous. She’s a Darhk. She’s probably killed tons of people.”

“So have you and so have I. We’re already a team of misfits and felons, why not add another?”

“Because you guys have reformed.”

“You don’t know that she hasn’t. Look at her, really look at her. Remember the little girl you made watch as you killed her father. She’s only just now getting back to being the person she was before you did that. Ray makes her really happy and Ray has really really sad puppy eyes when she’s not around. Leave her alone, Oliver. I mean it.”

“I’m surprised to hear you defending Damien Darhk’s daughter but fine. If she causes trouble...”

“I’ll kill her myself.” Sara replied to appease him.

xxxx

“Nora Darhk, you’re causing quite the stir.” Sara saddled up next to Nora and Ray.

Nora laughed. “Are you talking about Oliver Queen? Did you tell him who I was?”

“I did and I told him to leave you alone and that if you actually started causing trouble that I would kill you. Now that of course, makes him think I’m on his side when in reality I lied through my teeth and will cheer you on if something ends up happening.”

Nora choked on a laugh. “Thanks for the moral support?”

“Anytime.” Sara clapped Nora on the back and went in search of Ava.

Felicity hurried up to them as soon as Sara left. “Okay so Oliver just told me that Sara confirmed what he was thinking and I just have to say that…”

“I’m gonna stop you right there, blondie.” Nora held up a hand. “I might be Damien Darhk’s daughter but I think I am the first person in line ready to bury every atrocity with my father. Also. I stopped you because your opinion is pretty invalid given how terrible your taste is. You left Ray, a true gift to this world, for Oliver... oh what could be said about Oliver? Oliver, a man who thought it would be perfectly okay to murder a twelve year old girl’s father in front of her. That is why your opinion is invalid and I really don’t want to continue talking to you anymore.”

Felicity sputtered out words that weren’t actually words and turned on her heel, leaving the conversation.

Ray was shocked, turned on, and proud of Nora. He couldn’t decide which more he was but she could.

“What do you say we ditch this party early and head back to the Waverider since we’ll be the only ones on board?” She winked and pressed her back into his front further, feeling his need for her.

“I… yeah, that sounds like an excellent idea.”

Nora turned a little and grabbed him by his tie. She kissed him square on the mouth and when she pulled away, glanced over at Oliver Queen with a smirk and then led Ray to the door, ready to spend the rest of her night with the man she loved.

#darhkatom #ray palmer #nora darhk #antiarrow #antioliverqueen #antifelicitysmoak #25 days of darhkatom #fanfic

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bittysvalentines · 7 years ago

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To @stagemanagingsmh

From @beaniebaneenie I had so much fun writing this, thank you so much for the idea. In the future, I may even take this further and write a bit more with it, play in this little AU-verse some more. Thank you again, and I hope you have a lovely Valentine's Day!

______________

Sometimes, Bitty wasn’t quite sure how he’d gotten so lucky. Well, all right. He knew a few things about how he’d gotten here. Applying to the baker’s job at the Boston Whole Foods on a drunken whim was the start of it, really. He’d only done it to get Shitty to shut up – and to procrastinate some more on writing his thesis. Only to get called in for an interview a week later. And get the job a few days after that. Sure, he’d spent months living in Shitty’s guest room, but he’d paid a portion of rent, and eventually, when Chicago had been opening eight new stores, Bitty had been asked how he felt about a move. And a promotion to head baker.

He’d taken it, of course. Chicago had winter, but hell, so did Boston. And it had been awfully nice to truly be on his own, to really stretch his wings. He loved all his friends, he did. But living with Shitty in Boston had felt so much like an extension of college that some days, he wasn’t sure if he’d ever be able to come into his own.

And now, here he was, sipping his coffee in Andersonville on a gorgeous sunny Chicago summer day. He’d left retail behind and had been a personal stylist for almost two years now. He had an apartment with a view of Lake Michigan. And he got to do things like this… just stroll down the street, having time to himself, able to be out of the closet and comfortable in his own skin at twenty-five years old. As he walked past the shops toward George’s – he felt like ice cream – Bitty’s eyes landed on a well-muscled guy in a tight grey tee-shirt and bright teal jeans. He could only see him from the back, but lord, Bitty liked what he saw. Andersonville had a well-deserved reputation as being a very gay-friendly neighborhood, and during the summer, the rainbow stickers and flags came out in full force.

As he got closer, Bitty could hear snatches of the conversation, and couldn’t help but listen a bit.

“-really nice of you, but uh, I’ve-” The guy in the teal pants took a small step backwards, but another guy – a bigger guy, Bitty noticed – put an arm around his shoulders, pulling him closer.

“What, you got somewhere to be that’s better?”

“I just- like I said, I’m flattered,” teal jeans guy said, “but I-”

“Come on,” and now Bitty was close enough to see that the other guy was sneering. “Baby, you’re obviously dressed for it. Are you really trying to tell me your twink ass wasn’t gonna get picked up?”

“I- please-”

Bitty heard the slight tremor in teal jeans guy’s voice. Oh no, this was not going to happen, not on his watch. Bitty caught the eye of one of the employees, who nodded and moved toward the pair. He knew Tim was a good guy, and he was huge… Bitty wasn’t stupid, he wanted to help, but if things got ugly, he knew he couldn’t really do much to stop the other guy.

Quickly sliding up to teal jeans guy, he let his voice get louder, putting as much force behind the volume as he could, and desperately hoping that teal jeans guy would understand that he was trying to help him.

“Oh, there you are sweetpea! I’ve been lookin’ all over for you! Definitely my fault, I thought you said we were gonna meet later, and then I was all rushed – but here you are!” He put an arm around his back, a bit higher than he normally might have if this guy were actually his boyfriend, but he didn’t want to make him any more uncomfortable than he already was. Bitty was halfway up on tiptoe to press a soft kiss to the guy’s cheek to really sell it when he froze. Bitty knew that face, even though he hadn’t seen it since his sophomore year of college.

Kent Parson.

Kent Parson was here. In Chicago. At George’s, getting ice cream. And Bitty had been about to kiss him. This revelation completely stopped him in his tracks, but for his part Kent went with it, his eyes widening slightly as he saw Bitty, but relaxing a second later as he leaned down and pressed a feather-light kiss to Bitty’s jaw.

“Hey babe,” he said softly. “Was about to text you, thanks for finding me.”

Bitty heard the unspoken thank you under this innocuous sentence.

The other guy scoffed. “Figures you’d find the one guy twinkier than you.”

Before either Kent or Bitty could say anything else, Tim growled up from behind the other guy. “We got a problem?”

Bitty smirked as the asshole went about four shades paler, and gently pulled Kent away. “Come on honey, let’s get out of here.”

Kent glanced back once, but quickly followed.

Once they were about a block away, Bitty dropped his hand, trying not to think about the part of him that missed its warm weight in his.

“Um,” Kent said, “that guy, um, is he…” he trailed off a bit, looking lost.

“Oh sure, Tim’ll be fine. He sort of acts as an unofficial bouncer, and he’s helped me out of a couple jams before. I’ve been where you were,” he explained, “honestly, it’s like men are determined to be trash across all sexualities. Ugh, I’m sorry you had to deal with that.”

Kent just gave him a soft smile. “Thanks for the rescue, Eric.”

For the second time in ten minutes, Bitty’s brain stuttered to a halt. “You- you remember me? I mean,” he added quickly, “I definitely know who you are, but back there didn’t seem like the place to say. You had enough unwanted attention and- lord, here I go rambling when I asked you a question-” A horrible thought occurred to Bitty. If Kent remembered him from Epikegster all those years ago, he probably didn’t have the best opinion of him for eavesdropping on what had been a very private conversation.

“Yeah, I remember you,” Kent said. His face has the slightest blush, but his voice seemed easy. “You were really nice about asking for selfies… and you were the only one who asked me something about myself at that party,” he said. “Well, something that didn’t involve hockey.”

Bitty didn’t want to leave the elephant in the room, but before he could say anything, Kent beat him to it.

“I uh… I also remember you from outside Zi- Jack’s room,” he said, and now Kent was blushing in earnest. “So, um. I know you probably don’t- well, thanks for helping me, especially since you probably don’t like me much.”

Kent shuffled his feet, and Bitty’s heart clenched. “Oh honey, no,” he said. Kent’s eyes snapped up to meet his from where they’d been examining a piece of gum on the sidewalk.

“You don’t have to lie to make me feel better,” he said softly. “It’s okay.”

“I’m not lying though,” Bitty said. “Sure, there was a while there where I hated you,” and as he said it, Kent winced, though he looked like he was trying to hide it. That wouldn’t do. Bitty kept talking, trying to get the words out fast enough that he could erase that look from Kent’s face.

“But as I kept thinking about it, I just… honey, I realized that whatever went on, I didn’t know everything, y’know? There was a whole history there, and a door between me’n y’all… and lord knows I’ve seen Jack be a jerk. He’s been one to me enough before. And I’d be a big ol’ hypocrite if I got mad at you for saying things in the heat of the moment, goodness knows that I’ve done that before when I got mad at someone. Jack even said once that y’all both owed each other apologies… honey, I couldn’t hate you anymore for that.”

Kent looked about as lost and confused as Bitty had felt a few minutes ago. “Wow,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone be that nice to their boyfriend’s ex before,” he said, though his eyes had gone soft again and he looked grateful.

“Boy- what are you talking about, Kent?”

And Kent looked confused again. “Aren’t… you and Jack… I mean…”

Oh. Okay, now some things made sense, and as this last piece clicked into place, the knowledge that Kent was aware of Jack’s bisexuality from personal confirmation threw the Epikegster fight into clarity for him. “Kent, no… no, we’re not,” Bitty said gently.

“But – but I saw how he was looking at you. I know what that look means,” he said.

Bitty chuckled. “That makes one of us. I had no idea until he kissed me at his graduation.”

“He didn’t.”

“He did. Ran across campus and everything. But being honest? He’d never given me the slightest hint that he wasn’t straight as an arrow, and I’d gone and gotten over my crush a few months earlier. Plus, he hadn’t ever really apologized to me for all the trouble he’d put me through my freshman year.”

Kent looked like at least this sentiment he understood.

Bitty took a chance. “We’re still friends. But after a while, you know, once I was a few boyfriends into my own love life, I realized that whatever was between y'all – and lord, I am not fixing to pry into your business, that is between y'all two, not me – anyway, whatever it was, there was probably more happening than I realized. So I figured it wasn't worth dwelling on, y'know?"

Kent was looking at him with such a soft smile that Bitty felt stripped bare, open and vulnerable, but he didn’t feel exposed. The air around him felt strange, like something was happening, or beginning to happen, and whatever it was would put Bitty on a path forward.

Kent bit his lip, rubbing his neck. Then he gave Bitty a sort of hopeful grin. "So... I don't actually know what you do for a living, so feel free to tell me to fuck off... but do have any advice for how to spend my afternoon? I only ever get here for games, and like, this city is supposed to be really pretty this time of year?"

Bitty laughed. "So you visit hockey cities during the off season?"

Kent shrugged, looking a little embarrassed, but he didn’t deny it. "I don't really have anything to do until August, and I make more money than I'm ever gonna spend anyway. Might as well see the sights. I travel a lot for games, but we're never anywhere long enough to..." he paused, fingers grasping like he was trying to find the right word.

"To breathe?" Bitty supplied, thinking that if his earlier guess about Kent was correct, and he also wasn't out to his team, he could certainly understand wanting to get away from Vegas and just be another faceless tourist.

Kent nodded. “Is…” he started to talk, but then cut himself off, like maybe Bitty wouldn’t want to hear it.

“Go ahead hun,” Bitty nodded.

“…is it weird that I still kinda want ice cream?”

Bitty laughed. “No, not at all. But for obvious reasons, I think we oughta go somewhere else.”

“We?” Kent seemed more shocked by this than anything.

“Sure, hun. I was there for ice cream too.” Unless Kent wanted to be by himself? “I mean, I’m not trying to impose or anything,” he said.

“Eric, you live here.”

“Exactly,” he argued. “I live here, I can go wherever I want, whenever I want. You’re only here for a little while, I don’t wanna ruin your vacation.”

“You already saved it,” Kent said softly.

“Well then,” Bitty said, knowing by now that Kent would try to hide this unplanned admission under a layer of sarcasm, “let’s get goin’. I know another place that’s got great frozen custard and is only a half mile from the beach.”

Lord, how could anyone in the media ever think they’d seen Kent Parson’s real smile? Compared to this one, the Media Smirk™ was clearly pasted on and faker than a soccer mom’s blonde highlights.

They walked along, chatting companionably about a host of topics, both easily keeping up conversation. Bitty frequently found himself wanting to hold Kent’s hand again, which was weird, considering he’d only held it before for about thirty seconds, and that had all been a ruse anyway.

Roughly forty-five minutes later, they both had big cones of frozen custard. Bitty had chosen chocolate, but he couldn’t stop staring at Kent’s vanilla. Not because he wished he’d chosen that flavor… but because he couldn’t stop staring at Kent’s tongue as he licked long, swirling stripes around the twisted curly-que of his cone. He was positive that Kent wasn’t doing it on purpose. But lord, it was doing things to him to keep watching it. Things. Things like making him imagine what it might be like to kiss Kent.

“-beach?”

“Huh?” Bitty shook his head, dislodging the glorious image of Kent pinning him on a long beach chair and giving him cold sweet kisses that tasted like vanilla until he couldn’t remember his own name. He shouldn’t be thinking like that.

Kent smiled, giving his ice cream another lick. “You said something about a beach,” he repeated. “I mean, we’re probably like, fifteen hundred miles from the ocean in either direction, but I could definitely get us plane tickets if you’re really that desperate.”

And there was a thought. Kent probably would do it too, if Bitty asked him to. For a fleeting moment, Bitty almost considered taking him up on it… but he knew he had a client meeting tomorrow afternoon.

“Oceans aren’t the only beaches in this country, Mr. Parson,” he said, bumping his shoulder against Kent’s, and feeling a flush of warmth when Kent blushed and bumped him back. “Come on, let’s go.”

The ice cream was finished before they rounded the last block, which was good for a few reasons. Bitty wasn’t sure how much longer he could handle watching Kent’s tongue, but he also wanted to be able to fully appreciate Kent’s face when he saw the lake for the first time. He pulled out his phone in anticipation, hoping he could get a decent picture. Bitty wasn’t disappointed. They curved around from Thorndale to Sheridan and there she was, laid out in glittering deep cerulean glory.

Kent gasped softly, and Bitty stayed half a step to the side as he clicked a quick picture of the look of absolute surprise and delight on Kent’s face as he looked out over Lake Michigan. He checked to make sure the picture had taken, and gasped himself. The look on Kent’s face was so – it was – it was perfect. Bitty looked up. He had to see if the real Kent was as beautiful as the photograph.

The photograph didn’t do him justice. The line of his shoulders was open and relaxed, and Bitty followed it up to Kent’s jaw, his mouth gently curving in a delighted smile, his eyes, soft and beautiful, reflecting the bright blue of the lake, his sun-kissed freckles on his nose, and his flyaway golden hair, sunlight made substance as it blew in the soft breeze. This boy… this beautiful boy.

Without quite knowing how it happened, Bitty found his hands closing around Kent’s, who finally looked away from the lake and met Bitty’s eyes.

“Thank you,” Kent murmured. “Thank you so much, Eric. I- Today’s been-”

“Can I kiss you?” The question came out in a whisper, Bitty having asked without consciously deciding to.

Kent’s eyes went wide, his face flushing, though with embarrassment or want, Bitty wasn’t sure. Bitty watched as his eyes shifted, first going a bit grey, then green seeping in. When Kent spoke, it was in a voice even softer than Bitty’s.

“You really want to?”

He sounded so hopeful, but wary, like he expected to hear Bitty change his mind, to offer something he desperately wanted only to take it away.

Bitty couldn’t make the words come out, so he just nodded, bringing one hand up to gently brush his fingers through Kent’s hair.

Kent didn’t wait any longer, leaning down and meeting Bitty’s lips with his own, tentative and shy at first. Bitty’s eyes dropped closed as he let his fingertips slide through Kent’s hair, down his neck, gripping his shoulder. He wanted to hold Kent, to pull him closer, but he also didn’t want to lose the warmth of Kent’s hand in his.

Kent didn’t seem to want to lose it either. One of his hands found its way to Bitty’s waist and curled him closer. Bitty took the hint and pushed himself up on his tiptoes, wanting to be closer, to feel himself entirely pressed up against Kent, to feel every one of his muscles as Kent held him in turn.

After a minute – or several sunlit days, Bitty wasn’t sure – they broke apart, foreheads touching, fingers still intertwined, both breathing a bit heavy. Bitty broke the silence first.

“You got plans for dinner?” he asked, voice a bit husky.

Kent’s answering chuckle was just as deep. “Whatever you’re doing is good enough for me.”

“How long’re you here for?” he asked, meaning Chicago. But Kent’s response sent a thrill through him down to his toes, and Bitty knew that his earlier feeling had been right. This was definitely a new path, but he knew he’d be on this one for good.

“As long as you’ll have me.”

“An awful long time then.”

Kent’s kisses did taste like vanilla.

#stagemanagingsmh #fanfic #bv2018 #bittysvalentines #bittyparse

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theemightypen · 7 years ago

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@eidetictelekinetic tagged me on my personal blog to talk about my WIPs, so I’m directing it over here for neatness’ sake! (Also, for my own sanity, I’m only going to discuss stuff I’m actively working on/planning)

Chapters for Already Published Stories:

Too Wise to Peaceably Woo, Chapter 22 (or 23, if you’re on FF.net): pretty sure most of y’all are familiar with this one, but I’ll give you a little snippet just to be fair!

“I am well-versed in my brother’s tendency to revert to a childlike state when he is ill, and I do not want to force any serving girl to deal with that.”

“A wise woman and a kind one,” the housekeeper chuckles. “Although I feel I would be remiss in not telling you that it is not just your brother who becomes a man-child when sick.”

“Eothred?” Lothiriel guesses.

“Of course. And Gamling as well. Even a certain king is known to behave less like a man grown and more like a petulant child when afflicted with a head cold.”

Lothiriel cannot help but laugh at that particular thought: Eomer, curled in his bed, frowning mightily at a bowl of soup. “I can only imagine.”

“I can imagine you’ll one day see it for yourself,” Merthwyn retorts, grin widening when Lothiriel blushes.

with urgency, but not with haste, chapter 5: aka my poor neglected MCU WIP in which Steve Rogers has a habit of meeting beautiful dark-haired women with mysterious backgrounds in coffeeshops

She chuckles as she sets their coffees down on their usual table. “There are worse things than being interested in the woman you’re on a date with, Steve. I’ve seen plenty of bad blind dates and awkward elbows in my time. It’s refreshing, seeing a couple get along so well.”

“Did you take her to dinner?” Andrew interrupts, his eagerness taking years off of his face. “Escort her home? You young folk don’t do that enough now, but I expect you’ve got more sense than most--”

Steve never met his father, and the memory of his mother’s face fades more every day, no matter how much he tries to hold on to it, but fending off Maria and Andrew’s well-meant meddling feels...familial.

Stuff To Be Published:

None Left to Protest, aka the Sequel to Too Wise to Peaceably Woo: which I can’t tell anymore detail about without spoiling the current story. Just know there’s going to be one!

Something Good: aka the Eomer/Lothiriel Sound of Music-based AU nobody asked for but by God I’m going to write it anyways.

“What’s your name?” She asks, keeping her voice soft. Lothiriel knows a shy child when she sees one, and the way the boy fidgets and keeps his gaze from staying on hers too long all but screams shyness.

“Eodric,” he says, quietly, and then, with a stutter, like he’s only just remembered, “m-my lady.”

The King’s bastard, she realizes. No wonder he had been looking for some peace in the garden, away from the curious and often cruel eyes of the court.

“Hm,” Lothiriel says, “let us agree that here, in the gardens, you need not call me lady. Most ladies do not get dirt on their gowns or keep leaves in their hair.”

The small but bright smile he shoots her is a lovely thing, made even lovelier when he ambles closer and asks her to sing another song.

Being the Sun: aka the Theodred Lives!AU in which there will be Pain and Angst but also Fluff and a Mostly-Happy Ending

Orcs come. And come. There are too many, he knows this, Grimbold knows this, and yet they cannot surrender.

At least I will die a noble death, he thinks, when the second arrow pierces his leg, at least I will die a worthy son of the House of Eorl--

Darkness descends.

Then...

A voice, familiar and beloved--”I do not care what it takes, save him, spare him, for I cannot, the Mark cannot--”

He wakes, at last, and finds his cousins looking down at him.

tagging @grannyweatherwaxofficial @essayofthoughts @mithrilstarlight @tobermoriansass

#my writing #themightypen #Niamh has already yelled at me like 20 times about the Theodred Lives one #which is mostly her fault anyways

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marblesarelost · 7 years ago

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Change Your Mind, Change Your Life

Chapter One

“Uh, guys?” Iron Man squawked over the comm, and Hawkeye cursed under his breath as he loosed another arrow, drawing a new one from his quiver and getting a bead on another of the robotic birds. “We’ve got a serious problem.”

“Robot birds that blow up aren’t enough of a problem, Tony?” Natasha asked, kicking one into the air, away from the plate glass windows of the street.

“Yeah. Apparently not,” Iron Man replied. “Somebody needs to get Strange, now, FRIDAY, call Stephen Strange, he’s in my --“ The roar interrupted him, and Hawkeye looked up to see now a shimmering dragon approaching from the west.

“HOLY SHIT!”

“Language,” ‘Tasha said acerbically over the comm. “I see it. What is that thing?”

“Robot dragon,” Iron Man updated her. “Looks to be about the size of a -- oh now that’s just -- what --“ Confusion filled Iron Man’s voice. “The hell?”

“What is it, Tony? What’s going on?” Hawkeye asked.

“Doom. Doom’s…Doom’s here. And he’s drawing the dragon away from us,” Tony said, disbelief joining the confusion. “No giant proclamation, no DOOM IS THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN SAVE YOU NOW, no bullshit, he’s just…doing it.”

“What are the chances that he sent the damn thing and it’s a PR stunt?” Hawkeye muttered; he had no love for Doctor Doom.

“Yeah, no, I don’t think -- aaaand right on cue, there’s Richards. Have you guys got the Pidgeottos under control, ‘cause this could turn ugly,” Iron Man asked.

“Falcon’s on his way, right?”

“ETA thirty seconds,” Sam chirped over the comm. “That thing is huge as fuck, y’all. Maybe a thousand yards from head to tail, and it’s shooting laser beams at Doom, too.”

“Of course it is,” Tony added. “And there’s Richards trying to wrap around it, that’ll end well, guys, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m gonna go help Doom out.”

“Go, we got this,” Natasha said curtly, and Hawkeye turned his attention completely back to the issue at hand, namely, shooting birdies from the sky before they could detonate.

“Why did you do this?” Tony could hear Reed screaming from a few hundred yards away. “This is insanity, Victor, why --“

“Hey, Stretch,” Tony called as he flew up, firing repulsors at the dragon; it was made of a metal he had never seen before, and he was well versed in metallurgy. “Where’s the rest of the Fearsome Foursome?” Richards’ head turned, slamming towards Tony from his hovercraft.

“Defending the Baxter Building. This is obviously a feint of some kind,” Reed snapped.

“Yeah, no, we’ve been fighting birds made of this same alloy in the city proper for the last two hours,” Tony snapped. “Jaws here only showed up when this came into view, and he was already fighting it, trying to hold it off. So where the hell have you been the last two hours?”

“The birds are a minor inconvenience,” Reed said, and Tony lost his cool completely.

“They’re rigged to blow if they get within two feet of the ground, asshat,” he shouted. “I don’t even want to think about what this would do if it got too close to the surface!” Exasperated, he flew to where Dr. Doom levitated, drawing the dragon towards himself with some kind of purple laser. “No wonder you hate him so much,” Tony sighed. “You got a plan, Doom?”

“I do,” was the reply, and Tony’s head jerked up at the difference in Doom’s speech patterns; usually it would be “Doom does indeed, peasant,” or some shit like that. “I would like to get just a little closer, Iron Man, to ensure that I am correct about the genesis of this creation. Do you think you can hold its attention for a few moments?” Doom cut his eyes toward Tony. “And try to keep Richards from killing us all?”

“I can do the first, no problem, chrome dome, but the second, that’s an issue. He’s a dick.”

“He has ever been so,” Doom sighed. “Sixty seconds is all I ask.”

“Yeah. Yeah, hey Auntie Anne, leave Doom alone while he checks this out,” Tony shouted as Reed came closer.

“It’s obviously a trap, Tony --“

“Just on the off chance he’s playing straight, okay? One full minute. Go, Vic, I got your back.”

“Thank you, Iron Man,” Doom replied, inclining his head just a fraction before flying --

“HOLY CHRIST!”

-- straight between the dragon’s jaws as Tony fired his hand repulsors at full blast at the beast, backing away, away, farther and farther out to sea, drawing the dragon out with him, Richards speechless, his hovercraft directly in the way of --

“Get out of the way, dumbass, Jesus!” Just in the nick of time, the hovercraft zoomed away from the dragon’s wing before it connected, and Doom flew back out of the dragon’s mouth, coming back toward Tony.

“It is an artificial construct created by a madman from another dimension,” he reported. “Someone who calls himself Kang the Conqueror.”

“Oh joy,” Tony sighed. “Ideas?”

“Oh, yes,” Doom nodded. “I propose to return the package to its sender.” He made some sort of motion with his hands, muttering under his breath, and a giant fire rimmed circle appeared, about half a mile away. “A moment, now.” Sure enough, a few seconds later, the dragon began to fade, becoming translucent, then transparent, finally shimmering away.

“Iron Man, report,” Cap’s voice came over the comm. “All the birds have disappeared.”

“Yeah. Yeah, Doom just…Doom just got rid of the dragon, too. We’re clear out here, Cap.”

“Great. We’re going back to the Tower for debrief. Meet us there.”

“Yep, just a sec.” Tony left his comm open as he waited for Doom to close the portal again. “So what brought you here, anyway?”

“I noted the disruption in the space-time continuum,” Doom said, but he wasn’t looking at Tony. “Move!” He dove toward Iron Man, driving both of them down toward the sea, as the Fantastic Four hovercraft hurtled toward the space they had been in. “Sorry, he’s --“

“No, he’s being a serious dick,” Tony agreed. “Why don’t you come back to the tower, we’ll have burritos? It’s Hawkeye’s turn to pick the after-fight food, he always chooses burritos.”

“I…appreciate the invitation, Iron Man, but I’m afraid I must decline. Thank you for your assistance.” Doom straightened, hesitated, then held out his hand. “Mr. Stark.”

“Um. Yeah.” Tony gingerly accepted the handshake, and once they were no longer touching, Doom teleported away. “Huh.”

“Why did you let him get away?” Richards shouted. “He’s going to the Baxter Building now, I know it!”

“Yeah, I don’t think so, Stretch,” Tony said quietly. “I really don’t.” With that, Tony flew off, turning his comm private, just between him and Cap. “Cap. You heard that?”

“I did,” came the answer. “What exactly happened?”

“Richards tried to run us down, he would have gone through me to get to Doom, if Doom hadn’t seen him,” Tony sighed. “I’ll be home in two, just…”

“Just what, Tony?” Steve asked, Steve, not Cap. There was a difference in the tone of his voice, it was gentler, certainly warmer.

“Just something is up with Doom. Definitely something different. He shook hands, Steve. He offered, and he shook hands. And he said thank you. Doom -- you know, he doesn’t do that.”

“No. No, he usually doesn’t.” Steve’s end of the line went quiet. “Maybe…maybe we should look into what’s going on lately in Latveria. You know Putin’s all about recreating the Soviet Union, maybe he’s looking for allies in case things go bad.”

“That’s a possibility, and it’s a good idea,” Tony agreed as he landed on the roof, the suit falling away from him, picked up efficiently by one of the ‘bots. “FRIDAY, download the video and audio of today, especially the last few minutes with Dr. Doom, analyze his voice and body language, get back to me with the results ASAP, okay?”

“Yes, Mr. Stark,” the AI agreed.

“I want you to play the video on my mark in the conference room. It’s important; I want the rest of the team to know just how helpful Reed was.”

“He certainly seemed so willing,” FRIDAY agreed, sarcasm lacing her voice. She was coming along nicely, he thought; she might not ever pass the Turing test, but then again…then again, she might. She just might. Tony grabbed a smoothie from the fridge in the communal kitchen, and headed to the conference room, entering with a smile that hid his current contemplation, nodding to Pepper beside the door.

“Will that be all, Mr. Stark?” She asked, a tiny smile lighting her face, to be met by his own, a bit smugly.

“That will be all, Miss Potts.” He lingered in the doorway, letting her surreptitiously run her fingernails over his back as she walked away, running shivers up his spine. Promises for later. Taking his seat, he propped his feet on the conference table, grinned wildly up at Steve, who was shaking his head with a small smile of his own. “Cap.”

“Tony. Okay. Let’s go over what worked, what didn’t, and what we can learn.” For about ten minutes, Captain America and the Black Widow went over the footage FRIDAY had pulled from surveillance cameras, pointing out holes in their strategies, flaws in their systems, and the team discussed how to do a better job next time. However, they all kept cutting their eyes to Tony, obviously curious about the run-in he’d had with Doom and Richards, and eventually, Cap nodded to him. “Iron Man. You were with the dragon at the end -- God, that sounds weird,” Cap chuckled, shaking his head. “Fill us in.”

“Sure thing. FRIDAY?” Immediately, the screen filled with the silvery dragon, and Doom before it, blasting it and obviously trying to draw it away from New York. “So this is what I flew into. Note the weird purple laser things, if you will, that Doom’s using. They’re obviously keeping the dragon’s attention, but they’re not really like any lasers I’ve seen. Guys?”

“Eldritch magics,” Scarlet Witch said, her eyes narrowing as she watched. “Von Doom is known for wielding such things.” She frowned as the scene unfolded before them. “He isn’t…this is…”

“Why isn’t he being as belligerent and DOOM-y as usual?” Hawkeye asked, leaning forward over the table. “He’s almost…I wouldn’t say he’s being friendly, because I don’t think he knows how to be friendly, but…”

“Casual. He’s being casual,” Tony agreed. “He’s not doing the whole FEAR DOOM thing. He’s…guys, I was there. He was trying to be helpful.”

“Yeah, but Doom, you know? He’s not being an -- oh, Christ, here’s the asshat,” Clint sighed as Richards came into view again. His fists clenched on the table as Richards spoke dismissively of the explosive birds. “That utter bastard! He didn’t care! He didn’t --“

“No.” Tony agreed, his voice and expression flat. “He didn’t. FRIDAY, what are the current civilian casualty numbers?”

“Eight dead, 46 injured, financial damage estimated so far as less than ten million, sir.”

“Do me a solid, send all four members of the Fantastic Four a private email detailing those numbers, and attach the video where Reed says the birds are a minor inconvenience,” Tony ordered. “And ask Pepper to implement Plan Hippocrates for the injured, and offer Hades to the survivors of the dead.”

“Yes, sir.” The Avengers watched the rest of the footage silently until Doom dove toward Tony, the camera in his mask capturing the bright blue F4 on the hovercraft speeding within a foot above the two as they descended, then righted themselves. That drew a whole new round of shouts of “dickmunch!” “Asshole!” “Fuckface!” Captain America, Tony, and Natasha were the only three who remained silent, watching the film carefully.

“FRIDAY, rewind five seconds, replay at half speed,” Natasha ordered, and the film replayed as she watched, her arms crossing over her chest, green eyes sparking in anger as she did so. “Play on at normal speed,” she ordered afterward. They watched as Doom offered his hand, as Tony shook it, then Doom’s disappearance and Richards’ accusation.

“Thoughts?” Captain America asked after the clip was done.

“Richards did not even attempt to pull the hovercraft over Iron Man. He did not call out a warning. He was willing, in that instant, to drive right through Tony in order to perhaps do…something…to Doom,” Natasha said, her words clipped and precise, her eyes cold. “Perhaps he was trusting in the armor, in the warning system, but it was foolish and impulsive.”

“And dangerous,” Steve added, frowning.

“Sir, I have finished the analysis you asked for,” FRIDAY offered. “According to my calculations, there is a 94.6 percent probability that Dr. Doom was indeed attempting to be, if not friendly, at least not unfriendly. At no time does his posture, respiration, or heartbeat indicate a threat toward you or even Mr. Richards.”

“Thanks, FRIDAY. Tell you what, look up any recent news stories -- let’s say within the last six months -- about Latveria, would you?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Download them to my personal terminals. Okay,” he said, turning back to the rest of the Avengers. “So. Thoughts after hearing that?”

“Let’s…I don’t know…” Steve began. “Let’s look at it this way. It appears that maybe, just maybe, Doom showed up to help without an ulterior motive.”

“He had every right to unload on Richards after what he tried to do,” Tony said, crossing his arms over his chest. “And he didn’t.”

“No. He didn’t. But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be cautious, Tony. Let’s put it this way; for now, unless he is actively trying to kill us or anyone else, we’ll treat him as a non-belligerent neutral. Best I can do, until we get more information,” Cap offered, and Natasha nodded.

“It is for the best at this point. He did one good thing. One unselfish act does not mean a change of heart, no matter how one might wish it,” she said slowly. “We wait and observe.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Tony sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Okay. Wait and observe.”

“Why --“ Hawkeye began, and Tony cut him off.

“He’s a genius, he’s extremely powerful in his own right, and I’ve just…I’ve got a feeling.” Tony shrugged, looking down at his crossed arms. “It doesn’t hurt that he built himself a suit, you know?”

“No, cool, I get you,” Hawkeye shrugged. “I get you. Okay. So no aiming at Doom unless he aims at me first, got it.”

“Pass it on?” Wanda asked, and Steve nodded.

“Yes. Call Xavier’s school, if they want details, tell them to call me.” Steve’s chin lifted just a bit into what almost every Avenger liked to call his “Captain America” face. “I’ll explain if necessary.”

“Great. Can we have burritos now?” Sam asked, and everyone laughed.

“Dismissed,” Steve grinned. “Burritos sound really good right now.”

“You guys go on, I want to start a scan on the armor I wore today, be right there,” Tony promised as the Avengers rose to leave the room. He took the elevator to his workshop, waited a few beats just to make sure no one had followed him. “FRIDAY?”

“Yes, sir?” The AI answered.

“Send the footage of our debrief to my terminal here.” He tapped out a quick email to the Latverian embassy in New York, requesting that they forward it to “the Lord Protector of Latveria.” Once done, he attached the video, and added a personal touch. “I want to give you a chance. I’m trying. Don’t let me down, okay?” He clicked send, and breathed a little easier as he left the workshop again, heading up for burritos and camaraderie.

“Short stack!” Tony called the next day as he entered Jane’s labs. “Come with me. Foster, I’m stealing your R2 unit.”

“Beep-fuck-boop-you, Tony,” Darcy Lewis countered, looking up from the notes she was transcribing into English from Janese.

“Even better, you’re Darcy-Wan Kenobi, and you’re my only hope. Come on.” He waved fingers at her, and she sighed, standing and grabbing her bag.

“Janey? You okay?”

“Yeah,” came the distant answer from behind one of Jane’s machines. “Yeah. You’re going with Tony. I ate about an hour ago, right?”

“Uh…yeah, about an hour and a half ago. I’m sure this won’t take too long. This won’t take too long, will it, Tone Loc?”

“No, Salt, it won’t,” he grinned. “What? I already have a Pepa.”

“And I would never dream of attempting to take her place, because she is a saint and a goddess among women,” Darcy said, following him out of the lab and down the hall to the elevator. Tony nodded.

“You have no idea how much I agree with that statement, Darce.” They entered the elevator, and Tony pressed a button to a few floors below, still within the Avengers block. “So. Your degree is in poli sci, right?”

“Yeah,” Darcy agreed. “I’m working on my thesis for my master’s.”

“Awesome. But you get politics.” He cut a very serious look at her, and she nodded, her eyebrows drawing together.

“Well…yeah. I minored in history?”

“Great, that’s fabulous, because you may need both. I have a proposition for you, well, Pepper will explain it better, I think, maybe, but --“ he paused, then nodded to himself, stepping to the far side of the elevator. “Do me a solid, don’t freak out, okay? FRIDAY, halt the elevator, engage prime privacy mode, code HORNDOG.” Immediately, the elevator stopped, a second set of doors engaging over the first, and Darcy’s breath caught. “Listen,” Tony began. “That’s just a code word, it’s a joke, really. Here’s the thing. You know we were called out yesterday?”

“Yeah,” Darcy agreed. “Robot birds and then the dragon thing, it was on the news.”

“Great. Did you see who else was after the dragon thing?”

“No…” she dragged out the word. “Who?”

“Victor Von Doom.”

“Doctor DOOM? Was he --“

“No. He was helping us. And I kind of get the feeling maybe he doesn’t want to be quite such a dick anymore. I asked FRIDAY to give me a heads up on news out of Latveria, you know, political stuff and whatnot, and apparently there’s a lot. A LOT, lot. And I don’t get it all, but you.” Tony pointed at her. “You do. Or at least, I think you will.”

“Okay,” Darcy nodded. “You need me to go through the data and extrapolate what his intentions are?”

“Brilliant. You’re fucking brilliant, Short Stack, that’s it exactly. So Pepper and I talked about it this morning, and she’s going to go over all the paperwork, she’s actually waiting in your new office --“

“I get an office?”

“You get an office. With your own coffee machine. And a paycheck. A fairly decent paycheck. Because when we talked about it, Pepper said, well, I’ll let her tell you what she said. Long story short though, the Avengers Initiative and Stark Enterprises need an in-house political analyst, and guess what, you’ve got the clearance and you’ve got the background, you’re it.” Darcy’s jaw dropped, and Tony chuckled. “Looks like you’re in.”

“Uh, yeah!” Darcy agreed, then sobered. “But who’ll help Jane?”

“Oh, honey, we have minions! We have lots of minions. Minions who are drooling over the chance to maybe be able to work with Janey. No problem there, okay? She’ll have her choice of assistants, I promise.” Tony looked up at the ceiling. “Friday. You may disengage prime privacy mode and set us going again.” The inner elevator doors unlocked, and the elevator began to move again.

“They have to make sure she eats. She’s…” Darcy bit her lip. “She gets caught up, you know? And sleep. You don’t know how many sets of notes I’ve had to save after she fell asleep and knocked cold coffee onto them.”

“I get that,” Tony said, nodding. “I had a Rhodey and a Pepper, Jane had you. We’ll find her somebody, Darce.”

“Pinky swear?” Darcy held out her left hand, pinky extended, and Tony linked his right pinky with it solemnly.

“Pinky swear. I’ll go back up and talk to her in a minute. But I --“ the door opened, and he led her out into the hall, past several doors to where Pepper Potts stood smiling in a chic white dress with emerald green trim. “Pepper! Love of my life! Chatelaine of my tower!”

“Tony, you just saw me an hour ago,” Pepper said, shaking her head softly, though she accepted and returned his hug. “Hi, Darcy. Did Tony get you up to date?”

“Somewhat,” Darcy said as she approached. “He said you’d fill in the details.”

“Of course. What’s next on your agenda, Mr. Stark?” Pepper asked, eyebrows rising.

“I…have to go talk to Foster and explain what’s up, and get her to set up interviews for her new science minions?” Tony offered, and Pepper nodded.

“Correct. And at four o’clock, you have a conference call with Zachary Belman and Paul Franklin, and you will be on that call, Tony. You will.”

“Right. Yes. I promise.” He shook his head no with every word.

“You will. And then we’ll order pizza from Val’s downstairs and watch Heavy Metal.”

“Oh. Well. If that’s on the agenda, absolutely. It’s…” he glanced at his watch. “It’s two. I have plenty of time.”

“Your office, Tony. I want you in your office at three forty-five,” Pepper said. “Not the workshop. Your office.”

“Right. Okay.” He pecked her cheek, clapped Darcy on the shoulder. “Have fun, Artoo, you get to sign lots of stuff now.”

“Sure,” Darcy agreed. “And Tony? Thanks.”

“No problem, squirt,” he offered breezily, passing by her on his way back to the elevator. “See you in a couple hours, Pep.” Pepper shook her head, her delicate gold earrings swaying as she did so, looking after him fondly.

“So, let’s go into your office, Darcy,” she offered, opening the door. The office wasn’t really that big, a standard room in the Tower. A desk faced the door, with two chairs before it, a computer, a coffeemaker on a small cabinet to the left with a ten gallon water cooler beside it. Pepper closed the door behind them, and took a seat in one of the chairs before the desk, Darcy joining her there instead of behind the desk. Not yet. Not yet. “There’s a communal kitchen on this floor as well; this is the Avengers’ legal advisory floor, everyone here has a clearance level or two below yours, but then, yours is special.” Pepper’s smile grew a little wider. “He’s right, I do have quite a few forms for you to fill out. There’s a scanner there,” she pointed. “If you’ll just scan the documents in and email them to HR, we’ll get everything taken care of.” Pepper half-frowned then. “How…have you been getting paid, working for Jane?”

“Yeah. She pays me out of the grants and whatnot,” Darcy said, nodding. “I mean, Tony pays for all of her stuff, right, but she still applies for grants and stuff from the government and NASA and whatnot and pays me out of those; she says it’s to make sure they don’t forget her name and what she’s discovered.”

“As if they could,” Pepper said, her smile returning. “I’m glad. I was concerned when I found you weren’t already on the payroll.”

“Thanks. Yeah, I live here, in Jane’s extra bedroom, to save some money. It’s expensive to live in New York, and it just gets worse every day,” Darcy sighed. “But. Can you fill me in a little more on what exactly you guys are looking for from me?”

“Absolutely,” Pepper nodded, setting the file folder down on the desk and facing Darcy. “Your first long-term assignment is to look through the files already in your Avengers Initiative email, I set that up for you, the password’s written on a Post-It underneath your mouse pad, feel free to change it but let me know what it is, just in case. You’re to read through them and draw what conclusions you can, write a report, and send it to me. FRIDAY will sift through the news for you and update you on any new stories regarding that assignment. Your short-term assignments will be kind of on-call, as it were; if the Avengers have to leave the country for threats on foreign soil, we’ll need to know how friendly or unfriendly those countries are to the Avengers specifically, and to the U.S. in general. I don’t know how much notice you’ll get for those short-term assignments, to be honest, and you will be awakened in the middle of the night to give opinions and advice.”

“Okay,” Darcy agreed. “I guess that’s why I get the personal coffeemaker.” Pepper chuckled.

“And a mini-fridge and microwave,” she agreed. “We’re going to expand the political team in a week or two, but you’ll be the head of it, mainly because you will almost assuredly have the highest clearance. Do you have any experience heading a team?”

“I can do it. Can’t be any harder than herding scientists,” Darcy shrugged.

“I’m going to keep it at your level, bachelor’s degrees going on for master’s, and your team will consult with others who have doctorates in political science if you feel out of your depth or you want to get a second opinion. Can you get me a list of who you’d feel comfortable collaborating with or consulting with?”

“Yes. Absolutely, let me make a note of that,” Darcy nodded, taking her phone from her purse and opening her notepad app. “There we go. With an alarm….you’ll have that by the end of the day tomorrow.”

“Great. Well, I guess I’ll let you get to it. And…” Pepper looked a little…uncomfortable. “If necessary, I can make arrangements with Giada’s downstairs for an expense account? For business wear.”

“I…no. No, I have…I dress like this for the lab, it’s safer,” Darcy said quickly, looking down at her jeans and blouse. “Sparks and stuff, you know.”

“I do,” Pepper nodded. “But the offer’s there, if you need it.”

“No. No, I’ve got business wear, Ms. Potts, I’ll dress for success from now on, no problem.” Pepper nodded briskly, tapping the folder on the desk as she stood, and Darcy stood a second later. “Thank you. For the job and…and everything.”

“It’s my pleasure to work with you, Darcy. Welcome, officially, to the team.” The two women shook hands, and Pepper left the office. Carefully, Darcy closed the office door behind her. Her office door. Her office. She had an office. And she would be using her degree, actually using her so-called “soft science” to help her friends, to help Thor and Clint and Sam and Tony and ‘Tasha. She walked around her desk, looking out over New York in the fall afternoon, and nodded to herself. “You got this, Darcy. You got this.” She made coffee, finding the three bags with a note -- “Didn’t know what roast/brand you preferred, tell Friday and it will be delivered, PP.” Then she sat down at her desk, her desk, she had her own desk, in her own office, and started filling out the paperwork.

@subsilvernight

#darcyland #fanfiction #fanfic #the darcy/victor von doom fic nobody asked for #Darcy Lewis #Victor Von Doom #Avengers #Tony Stark #Pepper Potts #Captain America #reblogs are more than welcome #having fun

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habibialkaysani · 8 years ago

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tag meme take two

I was tagged by @jeffersonjaxson - thank you babe :)

1. what was the first fandom you remember being a part of?

harry potter. I joined it when I was about 13, embarrassingly for the hinny fandom, and left it at about seventeen when I was at my peak shipping the weasley-potter cousins together, lol.

2. who would your Dream Team of characters be?

laurel lance, iris west, amaya jiwe and james olsen. the unappreciated and badly treated faves of mine.

3. what is your opinion on AUs?

I used to avoid them at all costs when I considered canon this sacred thing that I could never go against. but since I started learning to criticise canon things have changed, a lot. also I’ve realised multiple earths can exist, which means aus can be canon-compliant, technically. and I also have such a weakness for soulmate and coffee shop aus.

4. favourite potential ship. you know the one where one half died or left before they could become a THING, but in your heart they were/should have been.

LAURYSSA. they were going to be canon but then idk exactly why but they changed their minds and I will forever be bitter because they were literal soulmates. also laurel’s not dead nope

5. fave poly ship/ot3s?

MERLANCEQUEEN. I could write a freaking novel about their funtimes as young adults.

also westhallen, killerflashvibe, killervibestorm, atomic hawkmates, smoaking canarrow, smoaking flarrow, westallenqueen, constancanarrow.

6. are you the head, heart, or hands? how much do personality tests fit you?

head or heart, probably. personality tests hardly ever fit me tbh.

7. odd habit or thing you do?

according to you I swallow pills weirdly because I drink the water first and then take the pill. which I did not think was wrong?

8. favourite Dead Character

tommy merlyn. my MAN. I miss him.

9. fave thing you’ve ever written/giffed/stanned?

maybe the chase, an earth-7 lauryssa fic, because I love writing green arrow dinah. it’s the best thing ever. and I know it didn’t get much love but I really enjoyed writing and all I want is that you extend your hand to me (nsfw) because smoaking canarrow rocks my socks.

I like this lot one and this olicity one (nsfw) because I just think the lyrics/verse goes really well with the images.

10. notps? (go off y’all)

I’m too exhausted to say much, but k@ramel is the most vile ship ever and I hate it with every fibre of my being tbh. she hated his guts and so did we. why they decided to have her tell him she loved him when he literally called her arrogant and full of herself and she called him a fucking dudebro I have no clue. it makes me so angry that they threw away karolsen - a healthy and beautiful and wholesome interracial ship - in favour of this garbage.

11. Hollywood Chris ranking.

I honestly can’t think of a single film I’ve seen any of the chrises in, and that’s me being serious. (I know. I can’t believe it either) let’s see - probably hemsworth, pine, evans, pratt.

I’ve already done my share of the questions, but if anyone wants to answer these questions and say I tagged them, feel free!

#me.txt #tag meme #jeffersonjaxson #arrow for ts #olicity for ts

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necroarchived · 8 years ago

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really LONG CHARACTER SURVEY. RULES. repost , don’t reblog ! tag 10 ! good luck ! TAGGED. I think I stole it, I don’t remember. TAGGING. I think everyone has already done this? If not, do it and blame me.

BASICS.

FULL NAME : Arthas Menethil. NICKNAMES : Karkut, maybe? TITLES : Lich King, God of Death, Master of Icecrown, Dark Lord of the Dead, Lord of the Damned, Prince of Darkness, Fallen King, Master of the Scourge, Master of Northrend. AGE : 40 as of Legion. BIRTHDAY : July 3. ETHNIC GROUP : Undead, formerly human of Lordaeron. NATIONALITY : Undead Scourge. LANGUAGE / S : Common. Thalassian. Dwarven. The Language of Death. Vrykul. SEXUAL ORIENTATION : Asexual; in life, he identified as heterosexual. ROMANTIC ORIENTATION : Aromantic; in life, identified as heteroromantic. RELATIONSHIP STATUS : ??? with Jaina Proudmoore. HOME TOWN / AREA : Capital City, Lordaeron. CURRENT HOME : Icecrown Citadel, Icecrown, Northrend PROFESSION : Lich King of the Scourge, Master of Northrend.

PHYSICAL.

HAIR : Snow-white hair that hangs past his shoulders, a bit scraggly, but otherwise surprisingly well-kept despite him being a literal zombie. EYES : Lichfire blue. Beneath the glow and eerie smoke they emit, one may see white pupils surrounded by icy blue irises, with only a slightly darker ring of blue separating them from equally-pale sclerae. FACE : He has one. LIPS : He... has them? They’re kinda full, I think. I dunno. COMPLEXION : Undeath has left the fallen prince with a sallow, unhealthy pallor. Dark circles hang under his eyes, as though he suffers from extreme exhaustion. All in all, Arthas would possess a generally drained, depleted look, were it not for how alert and animated he truly is. BLEMISHES : He’s dead. SCARS : Due to his lifestyle and history, Arthas has acquired a number of scars from various battle wounds, such as a burn along his right forearm from Searinox and a circular indention in his shoulder from one of Sylvanas’ arrows. Perhaps his largest and most notable scar would be the one on his chest, gained from when he tore out his own heart. TATTOOS : None. HEIGHT : 6′11″. 2.108 m. WEIGHT : He is not light. BUILD : Mesomorphic as hell, with broad shoulders, considerable muscle mass, and other... mesomorphic... stuff. FEATURES : Arthas finds himself in possession of exceptionally distinguished features, as befitting one of his royal heritage, though the corruption of undeath has twisted them, turned his golden beauty dark and cold. High cheekbones sweep across his face, seeming even higher and sharper than they ought to due to how gaunt he is. The strong jaw and straight nose that had been handsome in life now make him seem implacable, ruthless. Which, to be fair, he is. ALLERGIES : Light, love, not being an asshole. USUAL HAIR STYLE : Long and unadorned. USUAL FACE LOOK : He’s usually wearing a giant bucket on his head, mate. But under the bucket, he’s often sporting the ghost of a smirk, as though all the pain and suffering around him is just so terribly amusing - and his enemies’ belief that they can defeat him, the most amusing thing of all. USUAL CLOTHING : The dread Plate of the Damned, coupled with a dark, tattered cloak and the Helm of Domination.

PSYCHOLOGY.

FEAR / S : Permanent death. ASPIRATION / S : World domination. Vengeance. Possibly universal domination, but that’s kind of out of his capabilities at the moment. POSITIVE TRAITS : Clever, intelligent, witty, strategic, good leader. NEGATIVE TRAITS : Murderous, tyrannical, sadistic, literally heartless, cruel, vengeful, impulsive, manipulative, irreverent, treacherous, deceitful, misanthropic, mean, wrathful. Monologues. MBTI : ENTJ-A (although I feel he’s more P than J) ZODIAC : Cancer. TEMPEREMENT : Choleric. SOUL TYPE / S : Hunter/Leader. ANIMALS : Lion. VICE HABIT / S : He murders people all the fucking time. FAITH : He thinks he himself is a god. GHOSTS ? : Yes. AFTERLIFE ? : Yes. REINCARNATION ? : Yes. ALIENS ? : Yes POLITICAL ALIGNMENT : Undead Scourge. EDUCATION LEVEL : Arthas is highly educated, as befitting the Crown Prince of a prosperous nation. He is well-versed in matters of governance, warfare, history, law, politics, languages, cultures, and any other matters which might be considered important for the future ruler of Lordaeron. He is also trained in various martial arts and in the ways of the paladins of the Order of the Silver Hand.

FAMILY.

FATHER : Terenas Menethil MOTHER : Lianna Menethil SIBLINGS : Calia Menethil CHILDREN : Zoen Mith EXTENDED FAMILY : Aura Menethil (niece), Anduin Wrynn (godson) NAME MEANING / S : I don’t know, man, go ask Blizzard. HISTORICAL CONNECTION ? : He has some parallels with King Arthur, apparently.

FAVORITES.

BOOK : Decree of the Scourge. MOVIE : n/a 5 SONGS : “Seven Devils” ; “In the Dark of the Night” ; “Orb of Winter” ; “Emperor’s New Clothes” ; “When You’re Evil” DEITY : Himself. HOLIDAY : None. MONTH : December. SEASON : Winter. PLACE : Icecrown. WEATHER : Raging blizzard. SOUND : Screams of anguish. The lonely echo of a single voice in a large hall. Heavy footsteps on stone. The crunch of bone. SCENT / S : Blood spilled on the snow; the harsh, clean scent of true winter, that kind of death. TASTE / S : The Plague of Undeath. Blood, both fresh from the vein and dried on a blade. The ashes of a pyre. FEEL / S : Metal armor, dented from battle and etched with runes. The sheer wall of a glacier. A handful of snow. Rotting flesh dripping from the bone. ANIMAL / S : While Arthas used to be fond of animals in general, he now regards them with a level of indifferent disdain. The ghost of that fondness would be extended to animals that have been corrupted by undeath. (Invincible of course being favored above all.) NUMBER : n/a. COLORS : Black, white, blue, purple, gray.

EXTRA.

TALENTS : Murder, chess, playing the guitar, swordsmanship, necromancy, kingship, snapping, whistling, singing. BAD AT : Feelings, being a decent person, Hearthstone, naval warfare, cooking, dancing. TURN ONS : uh. TURN OFFS : uh. HOBBIES : Wandering around judging people and being a general dick to everyone. Committing murder and discovering new and increasingly horrifying necromantic magics. TROPES : He has his own tropes page. He has a few tropes pages, actually! QUOTES : “Frostmourne hungers.” ; “All that I am: anger, cruelty, vengeance, I bestow upon you, my chosen knight.” ; “No. No we. No one tells me what to do. I’ve got everything I need from you—now the power is mine and mine alone. Now there is only I. I am the Lich King. And I am ready.”

FC INFO.

MAIN FC / S : Alexander Skarsgard. ALT FC / S : Uhhh, himself? I tried Heath Ledger for like a day before realizing he was too baby-faced. So if any of y’all got faceclaim suggests - *finger bangs at you.* OLDER FC / S : n/a. YOUNGER FC / S : n/a. VOICE CLAIM / S : Himself. GENDERBENT FC / S : n/a.

MUN QUESTIONS.

Q1 : if you could write your character your way in their own movie , what would it be called , what style would it be filmed in , and what would it be about ?

SCREW YOU, WARCRAFT II MOVIE, WE’RE GOING STRAIGHT TO WARCRAFT III AND IT’S GOING TO BE GREAT, IT’S GOING TO BE FANTASTIC. THE CRITICS ARE GOING TO WATCH IT AND THEY’LL CRY AT THE GLORY AND THEY’LL EAT THEIR OWN SOCKS, DO YOU HEAR ME?! THEIR OWN SOCKS.

And while the live-action of the Warcraft movie was gorgeous, I think everyone’s been clamoring for an animated film of Blizzard cinematic quality, which I wholly agree with and in a perfect world, the Warcraft III movie would be in that format.

Q2 : what would their soundtrack / score sound like ?

I have no idea, but Arthas, My Son and Invincible would be on the track.

Q3 : why did you start writing this character ?

I’d rather not answer that.

Q4 : what first attracted you to this character ?

I don’t even know, man, I don’t even know. I used to think he was the dumbest character ever because “Lich King” didn’t register as something frightening in my head. (In my defense, I was like ten.) Now look at me. Look at me.

More seriously, I think part of it is because making and playing a death knight was a huge thing for me when it happened. I’m a terrible leveler, so my main character at the time (a hunter) was only like... level 20. My mom, who’s the better player between the two of us, and with whom I shared an account until like... MoP, I think, had a level 60 warlock, and she let me have the “one per server” death knight so I could player higher content, too. That death knight was the first character I ever leveled up all the way, and

And then the Wrathgate happened, and suddenly I gave a damn about lore, and then a family friend gave me access to Warcraft III, and I’ve been in love with Arthas ever since.

Q5 : describe the biggest thing you dislike about your muse.

As a character, he’s one of the best I’ve ever come across. As a person, he’s an evil dirtbag who murdered and slaughtered THOUSANDS of innocent people because a goddamn SWORD TOLD HIM TO, WHAT THE FUCK, ARTHAS -

Q6 : what do you have in common with your muse ?

I too take really long naps, prefer the cold to the heat, am a bit impulsive, and don’t know when to keep my mouth shut.

Q7 : how does your muse feel about you ?

Dude I gave him a kid and won’t let him kill people indiscriminately, he’d fuckin’ murder me if he had the chance.

Q8 : what characters does your muse have interesting interactions with ?

So many. My main shout outs would have to be to @warmcngerer, @renuntiatum, @thesealovesme, @heavenly-grievance, @theplaguelord, and @crownofstormwind. With them, I’ve been able to play around with fascinating facets of Arthas’ personality, whether through threads, through plotting, or through talking about the relationships with the muns. (All of whom are wonderful, and should definitely be followed ASAP.)

Q9 : what gives you inspiration to write your muse ?

Hearing his voice, interacting with the Scourge, forcing myself to sit down and write.

Q10 : how long did this take you to complete ?

It’s been in my drafts for literal months.

#oh my god this took forever #long post #//#m. secrets of the monarchy. headcanons.#r. kill them all and you're a god. arthas menethil.#ooc. shipments of grain. memes and prompts.

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